Yes, Madam Prime Minister

"It's nothing," Mrs. Antari calmly replied.

Soon, Ronan sat down at the table.

“Ronan, I’m going back to the capital in a few days,” Ambrina said. “But I will write to you.”

Upon hearing those words, Ronan felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. His face turned as white as if it had been frozen, and he wished he could sew Ambrina's mouth shut and make her shut up completely.

I feel like I'm not far from being blasted to smithereens by a group of mages.

“The letter will be sent to her and given to you,” Ambrina continued.

Ronan looked at Madame Antari in astonishment, but her face remained completely expressionless. This... this was something she had known all along, and had even agreed to.

It's obvious; she's one of Ambrina's people.

“I was originally planning to invite Ronan over,” Ambrina said. “Now that you’re here, Vera, you can talk to Ronan.” Vera was probably a shortened version of Mrs. Antari’s name.

Lady Antari crossed her arms and said, “It would be my pleasure, Your Highness.”

Chapter Ninety-Four: Three People, Three Rows, Three Moves

Mrs. Antari gave a brief self-introduction.

Winora Antari worked in the court system when she was young. After getting married, she quit her job. Later, her husband passed away unexpectedly. Through her late husband's connections, she got a job as an administrator in the case file management department, which had only been established for about ten years. The job was very easy.

Her past was certainly not that simple, but Ronan did not intend to ask.

Then, Mrs. Antari introduced the two of them to Ronan.

A young officer named Adrian Ndott, 33 years old, originally served in the Fifth Army with the rank of major and was in charge of logistics for part of the Fifth Army.

"Ten years ago, the Fifth Army was besieged on three sides during its battle with the Empire on the Eastern Front. At that time, our commander-in-chief was afraid of being surrounded and having reinforcements delivered without any help. He hoped that they could hold on and then march straight to the enemy's rear. However, some officers of the Fifth Army surrendered with their troops, which almost led to the collapse of the war. After the war, the Fifth Army underwent two rounds of purges, resulting in many middle-level officers being very young. These young officers are basically the student soldiers who refused to surrender back then. Many of them like the 'retro' ideology and advocate external expansion."

Madame Antari told Ronan about the Fifth Army.

Ronan of the Fifth Army was unaware of the term "retro" but knew about it. While they were called "retro," they were anything but conservative; they were a radical group that wanted to overthrow the church and even the rule of the nobility.

Since Lady Antari has said so, then this Adrian must be a supporter of the second princess.

He didn't know Princess Isabel, nor had Ambrina mentioned her. But this princess was much more famous than Ambrina. At only fifteen, she was already a second-tier mage and usually wore a military uniform. Of course, what truly made Ronan, in this remote little town, aware of her was something else entirely.

This second princess killed a famous writer who liked to sing hymns to the church, criticize the retrogressives, and even allude to and criticize her in his novels.

Although the subsequent investigation concluded that the writer had mistakenly entered a military exercise area and was killed by mistake, the more widely circulated version is that he was tied to a wooden stake and bombarded to death by three shots from a bronze cannon.

"And who is that merchant?" Ronan asked.

“A supporter of the Third Princess,” Lady Antari replied.

"what?"

Ronan was slightly surprised; if he remembered correctly, the third princess was only nine years old.

"The Queen is very fond of this youngest daughter. The Queen is a rather simple person, not interested in politics, but she has high aspirations for a good standard of living," Mrs. Antari said, adding, "Of course, her uncles probably like her even more."

understood.

The eldest daughter, Ambrina, disliked the extravagant lifestyle and had been tricked by her uncle, so the Queen disliked her even more. The second daughter, Isabelle, was a radical and might start reforming her own family first, so the Queen disliked her even more.

After all the calculations, only the third child is left.

Well, the three of them are on different sides, but it's clear that their common goal is Dinia.

"You're all here for Dinia, but surely you're not here to try and win her over?"

Ronan asked.

Dinia certainly possesses formidable military strength, but she is currently just a minor mayor, and it will take her at least twenty more years to climb to a higher position.

The reason is simple: Dinia is too young. A magician of her level can live to be over a hundred years old without any accidents, and she can almost stay young forever. If someone like that were to rise to the top at such a young age, how many years would she have to sit in that high position?

Let alone the ministers, even the king would find it unacceptable.

Of course, all signs indicate that the current emperor will not live much longer. Dinia is a card left for his successor. It is estimated that when Ambrina comes to power, Dinia will be able to become the governor.

It's too early to win her over.

“Mr. Ronan, you are right. In fact, my task is only to assist her in her work, and the others should also be without any special mission.”

After taking a sip of tea, Mrs. Antari took a deep breath and continued, "For this newly established city, perhaps the arrival of the three of us can have some impact, but for the overall situation, our arrival is just a move made casually by the players. It may be useful, or it may not."

“You’re right, Madam,” Ronan admitted, then changed the subject, “but I don’t agree with Madam Antari’s statement that it’s useless.”

"Let's take chess as an example again. If one person places a piece in a certain place, and two other people also place their pieces, it doesn't mean that they can compete for the victory, but it is enough to show that they are also players in the same game. The important thing about this move is not the role of the piece itself, but to tell others that they are also players."

Ronan's meaning was simple: if one of Ambrina's people came, others should too. It wasn't really about competing, but rather telling those who were watching that they were now competing on the same stage.

Mrs. Antari's eyes lit up; she realized that Ronan was more perceptive in this regard than she had imagined.

“Oh? Perhaps it’s really as you say,” said Mrs. Antari, her face bearing an inscrutable expression.

"Ha, just a wild guess," Ronan laughed, then suddenly asked, "Really, there's no mission?"

Mrs. Antari gently shook her head. "No."

"Maybe it will happen in the future."

Ronan said.

In Ronan's view, Dinia, a former soldier and a reformist with a tough style, was, in a sense, more like the second princess.

"We'll talk about that later. I'll take my leave now. I plan to visit a few other special cities."

Mrs. Antari rose to take her leave.

As she stood up, Ronan caught a glimpse of her calves beneath her long skirt, her men's style leather shoes, and her ribbed knit stockings.

"Do you need someone to accompany you?" Ronan asked.

It wasn't that he wanted to plant spies, but rather that this Lady Antari wasn't even a novice mage, and it wouldn't be good if she encountered any security issues.

Since she wasn't even a novice mage, the first thing to sense was her aura; there was almost no magical fluctuation on her.

She has at most mastered meditation and manipulation, but she doesn't even know how to enhance her abilities. She hasn't reached the level of a novice mage whose physique begins to deviate from the ordinary.

Moreover, judging from her dress and shoes, she must be quite wealthy, but she wasn't wearing one of those three types of pantyhose; instead, she was wearing a pair of ordinary cotton ribbed knit stockings.

Female mages above the novice level generally wear pantyhose woven by magical creatures, as these serve to train their magical abilities, enhance their strength, and form a magical protective barrier. Of course, beautifying and enhancing their legs is also a function.

If you're not even a novice mage, you can't wear it, because most women's bodies can't withstand the negative effects of this thing, and it will cause various adverse reactions, or even irreversible damage.

Needless to say, even for men, wearing it for an extended period of time could lead to certain functional impairments, so Ronan said that it's practically impossible for men to wear it.

"Thank you for your kindness, but no need."

Mrs. Antari refused; she had hired female guards.

Soon, Madame Antari left, leaving only Ronan and Ambrina in the courtyard.

Chapter Ninety-Five: Public and private interests coexist, and both can be mutually beneficial.

After Mrs. Antari left, Ronan offered a few words of blessing and then also took his leave.

Getting on the ship is fine, but going to bed with someone is absolutely out of the question.

Four days later, Ambrina left Wright City and returned to the capital. Before leaving, she spoke to Ronan again, saying that she would write to him.

Ronan believed he had never felt powerless towards anyone in his past or present lives, but with this princess, he truly felt powerless. She seemed interested in him, yet she hadn't explicitly expressed it; conversely, she didn't seem indifferent.

Ambrina is like someone who has an intention but doesn't make a move. If she doesn't make a move, how can you counter her moves? There's no way to counter them.

Two weeks later, the mayoral election officially began.

The voting lasted three days, and Dinia unsurprisingly won seven votes, becoming the mayor of the new city.

For the next month, until the New Year, the work in the entire new city will focus on personnel changes.

Aside from those pre-selected and parachuted in, many departments need to decide on their department heads, and in addition, the positions in each department also need to be selected.

There are limited positions, but each position has at least seven candidates.

Organizing an internal selection exam is imperative.

In the mayor's office of Wright, which was being used as a temporary workspace, Dinia was deep in thought, while Mrs. Antari had been watching her silently for quite some time.

Mrs. Antari has now officially taken up the post of Dinia's private secretary.

"Madam Mayor, what are you considering?" Mrs. Antari asked Dinia.

Dinia twirled her pen and spoke of what she was considering: "Ronan proposed that the original seven special cities be turned into seven districts. Except for the positions of mayor and secretary-general, all other staff positions would be retained. The positions vacated by the transferred personnel would be filled by people from the original departments. The last vacant positions would be filled by recruiting a new batch of people through examinations next year. Not only that, he also proposed to add several more departments next year and recruit a large number of civil servants."

Dinia originally intended to streamline the organization and reduce staff.

She didn't make this decision on a whim; it was an idea that came to her after reviewing relevant information.

For the past few decades, the seven special cities have been treated as "prisons," with the authorities adopting a completely laissez-faire attitude. As long as taxes are paid on time and no one causes trouble, they can do whatever they want.

In special municipalities, it's possible to create several civil service positions simply by seizing any pretext.

At this point, Mrs. Antari spoke up, “Madam Mayor, expanding the staff is necessary. To promote reform, we need more implementers. That’s only one reason. Secondly, we have promised to establish a council. Before the council is formed, we need more civil servants to infiltrate all aspects of the process to prevent local elected members from launching a counterattack.”

Dinia's expression changed, and she looked at Mrs. Antari in surprise.

“That’s what he said, isn’t it?” Mrs. Antari said with a smile.

Dinia was stunned. Mrs. Antari was practically Ronan reincarnated. Except for a few words, what she just said was almost exactly the same reason Ronan had given her before.

"What do you think?" Dinia asked.

“He makes a good point,” Mrs. Antari replied.

Admittedly, this is where Ronan's brilliance lies; his suggestions were genuinely beneficial to his superiors, cleverly concealing his own selfish motives within them.

The expansion process also represents the expansion of Ronan's personal network, which will further expand his power.

Over time, Ronan will make his superiors feel comfortable entrusting tasks to him, while the superiors themselves will only act as those who grasp the overall direction.

However, from this point on, Ronan will gradually influence his superiors' thinking, thereby guiding the "general direction".

Ultimately, you make your boss's decision your own.

Although she was well aware of Ronan's thoughts, Madame Antari had no intention of saying anything.

Because she was new and had no personal relationship with Dinia, while Ronan, although he hadn't known Dinia for long, had been through a lot together and had a good personal relationship, and Ronan was the one who made the greatest contribution to Dinia's success in winning the mayoral position.

"Could we send it back and have him revise it again?" Dinia asked. The idea of ​​rejecting the proposal, having Ronan revise it, and finally reaching a compromise was a trick that Yvette had once demonstrated to her.

“Madam Mayor, this approach will only incite his rebellious spirit, especially since Mr. Ronan is a man who is extremely adept at implementing plans that please others as if they were his own.”

Mrs. Antari said.

Ronan not only possesses the deceitful tactics of lower-level officials, but also the vision and perspective that only high-level officials have.

When dealing with this kind of person, you can't just passively take the initiative.

"If he wants to expand, then expand; if he wants to add departments, then add departments. Add an oversight department to catch the corrupt officials in the civil service system. Also, set aside a department to conduct performance evaluations and, depending on the department, set a certain number of bottom performers to eliminate. Those with poor performance will have their salaries reduced, and those who consistently rank at the bottom will be dismissed."

Mrs. Antari offered her suggestion.

“That’s a good idea,” Dinia immediately agreed.

Soon, Ronan was summoned to his office, where Mrs. Antari explained the supplementary plan to him.

Ronan showed absolutely no resistance, and didn't even bother with those long, complicated sentences. He immediately began praising, "This plan is absolutely brilliant, a truly invaluable solution. It's long overdue to crack down on those corrupt parasites and lazy good-for-nothings. So, what kind of people should be selected for the two departments responsible for oversight and evaluation? We can't just select from the existing officials, can we? That would be pure self-monitoring and become mere formalism."

“But choosing older immigrants or Haidi people would provoke fierce opposition.”

“I have a personal suggestion: each of the seven special municipalities should have a ‘Northern Reading Club,’ which should consist mainly of knowledgeable and spirited young people. Most of them are descendants of those who were implicated by the rebels back then, and they are not the same kind of people as the current officials, but their backgrounds are not likely to provoke opposition.”

Ronan said.

The so-called "Northern Reading Club" was a place where the descendants of the fallen nobles and middle-class intellectuals who had sided with the rebels banded together for mutual support. These people had studied but could not become officials. They were new immigrants and were unwilling to associate with the old immigrants. They would gather together every day under the guise of reading to argue and criticize how officials were.

Ronan's maid, Alice, is also a member of the Northern Book Club, and even its vice president.

Why was Alice accepted and even made vice president? Of course, it's because these guys don't really dislike officials; they just hate that they aren't officials themselves and can't do anything about them.

“You agreed so readily, there must be something wrong,” Dinia said.

"Nothing can be hidden from the wise and insightful Mayor," Ronan said humbly. "My Alice is the vice president of this Northern Book Club."

Chapter Ninety-Six: Business, Patriotism, and a Dream

Ronan believed that, given Mrs. Antari's insight and wisdom, she would certainly not advise Dinia to reject his proposal, but would instead take the opportunity to give him a taste of his own medicine.

But Ronan was happy to see this happen.

"Madam, you've met Alice. She's a very principled person. If you're still worried, how about we have Miss Yvette join us? This way, with oversight and evaluation, we can definitely prevent the new recruits from being led astray by bad practices after the expansion, and ensure they become steadfast implementers of reform."