People in Terra, governing a weird little country

But what interest could the Duke of Wellington have in Kjerag? His territory had nothing to do with Kjerag.

Unable to figure out the other party's intentions, Ernst calmly reached out his hand to "Abrana":

"Please convey my gratitude to His Excellency the Duke of Wellington. I will have to trouble you again in Leinster County."

Upon hearing this, Abrana also stretched out her hand and shook hands with Ernst.

The first moment he touched that hand, Ernst had only one thought.

"Good ice."

Then he realized and confirmed one thing.

"She's shivering."

"It's definitely not cold."

Chapter 120 Ernst: I see. I completely understand.

Leinster, a relatively unremarkable mobile city in the Duke of Wellington.

Without any particularly famous specialties, no culture worth mentioning, or eye-catching scenery, everything about Leinster County seems very mediocre. The only thing worth mentioning in its Victorian history may be the time it existed.

From the era of King Victoria Drake, to the era of King Aslan, and then to the present day, the era of aristocratic warlords.

The fight between the Red Dragon of Londinium and the Red Dragon King of Taraguer did not destroy it, the conquest of Aslan Pasha did not destroy it, the Battle of the Four Emperors only caused it to decline, and the separatism of the nobles only turned it from a county of Victoria into a county of the Duke of Wellington.

When encountering an enemy that they can deal with, they will never retreat a single step. When encountering an enemy that they cannot defeat, they can create a miracle in the history of office efficiency by having Parliament pass a surrender bill in three minutes. These achievements may not sound glorious, but there is no doubt that - from the perspective of civilization, this is already an outstanding achievement.

After all, there are so many people and so many civilizations that want to continue themselves, but the survival of civilization remains a problem to this day.

Ernst had no doubt that the former rulers of Leinster were a group of realistic politicians, who would have gladly told their conquerors about their own principles of life:

"Existence is everything, everything is for existence!"

"Leinster millet is good for health. Eat more, eat more."

This is not a politician's motto, it was said by Ahmoni.

The Duke of Wellington's deputy envoy seemed much more active than her leader. During the reception of Ernst, Miss Abula said almost nothing except for the initial self-introduction. It was Ahmonie who asked Ernst all kinds of questions.

"The Duke of Wellington is very surprised by your arrival. As far as he knows, Shelag should have already contacted the Duke of Caister, right?"

Ernst nodded without hesitation.

This kind of thing cannot be concealed, and there is no need to conceal it.

This is the fact that the parents of Ernst and Enthiotis, the two true pioneers of Kjerag's modernization, had already met Viscount Walton of Victoria.

Although Viscount does not seem to be a very high noble title, friends who are familiar with the Western title system should all know that the rank of the title generally does not represent specific strength, and most of the time, it can only serve as an indirect confirmation.

Not to mention that Viscount Walton has another identity.

His last name was Caister.

Unlike the Duke of Godottin, who implemented a city council system in his territory and most of the time did not personally participate in decision-making, but spent his days leisurely in the winery, the Duke of Castor and the Castor family behind him emphasized nepotism in the governance of the territory.

As long as it is a city within the Duke of Caister's sphere of influence, even if its top leader is not a member of the Caister family, there must be a seat for the Caister family next to the top leader. Otherwise, this position will be unstable.

It is undeniable that whether it was the gradual and moderate modernization promoted by Ernst's parents in Kjerag in the early days, or Enthiotis's later study in Victoria, the shadow of Viscount Walton and the Castor family was behind them.

It is normal for the Duke of Wellington to ask this question. Anyone who knows this relationship would have asked a few more questions. Who knows if I put a gray hat on your head without you noticing?

The Victorian nobles' level of PTSD from this action is no less than that of a fool seeing Amon wearing a monocle.

But Ernst's answer was also very concise: "It was my brother who had contact with the Duke of Caister. I personally had contact with the Duke of Windermere."

Ahmoni nodded in understanding and breathed a sigh of relief:

"Then it is indeed impossible for you to have any connection with the Duke of Caister."

Everyone knows that the Duke of Windermere and the Duke of Castor do not get along, and this incompatibility is not just talk.

The nobles are all very particular about propriety. Normally, everyone maintains the social etiquette of smiling on the surface but acting like MMP in their hearts.

Generally speaking, people like the Duke of Windermere, who openly tore his face off in the annual speech of the Duchy and declared, "Duke of Castor, right? Don't let me catch you! If I catch you, I will give you a big beating every time I see you!" are indeed quite rare.

The relationship has become so strained that, to put it bluntly, within the Duke of Windermere's sphere of influence, even a dog would simply bark when seeing someone from the Duke of Caster.

Of course, doing so is not without cost. The Duke of Windermere openly opposes the Duke of Castor, and this behavior will naturally be countered by the Duke of Castor's faction.

The Duke of Windermere is a military commander after all. He has indeed lost his way in the field of public opinion when he is arguing with the civil aristocratic Caister, who is known for forming cliques.

Ahmonie heard that when the community around the Duke of Windermere was still using "nmsl" as a slur, the community around Caster had already upgraded.

For people who have "How dare you say that, is your mother a wholesaler?"

For dogs, there is "How dare you say that? Your father is sterilized?"

Even targeting the machines and electronic equipment produced by the Duke of Windermere: "How dare you say that? Is your mother open source?"

But what does this have to do with the Duke of Wellington?

The Duke of Wellington would have loved to see the Duke of Windermere and the Duke of Caster quarrelling with each other.

why?

It's very simple. Let's put aside national hatred, family feuds, the Tara nation, and the Victorian cause.

Regardless of the era, it is always interesting to watch two women fighting. Who knows, when the Duke of Windermere is unable to defeat him, the old bitch Wellington may even step in to lend a hand, pay money to hire some water troops, add fuel to the fire, and watch for a while longer.

"In that case, can I assume that you came to the Duke of Wellington's territory this time to seek the support of the Duke of Wellington? To fight against your brother's Caister faction?"

Ernst leaned back with a surprised look on his face:

"Against my brother's Caister faction?"

Seeing Ernst's reaction, Ahmonie rolled her eyes and couldn't help but complain in her heart, we are all thousand-year-old foxes, why are you pretending to be such a loremaster?

Do you think I haven't read that letter you wrote to the Duke of Wellington or something?

"Isn't it? You sent a messenger to visit the Duke of Wellington. In the letter, you directly stated that you wanted to meet with the Duke of Wellington and hoped that the Duke of Wellington would allow and arrange for you to carry out activities in the inner cities of the duchy so as to recruit talents and revitalize Kjerag. Isn't this the content of your letter?"

Ernst blinked:

"Ah.....that's right."

"That's it." Mandela, who had been silent, seemed to be a little fed up with Ernst's "playing dumb" and said bluntly, "Even a fool can see it. Can't we and the Duke of Wellington see it?"

"You visited the Duke of Wellington just to seek his support. Are you going there to curry favor with him?"

"You're holding a recruitment event in a city within the Duke's territory, aren't you just looking for an excuse to get the Duke to give you a few people to keep you going?"

"Return to Kjerag and work with the Kjerag government to revitalize Kjerag. Isn't this just saying that you want to use the Duke's power to resolve the Kast faction in the country so that you can take control of Kjerag?"

Mandela finished speaking in one breath, and then he noticed that the people around him were looking at him with an inexplicable look of surprise. He was a little flustered for a moment, and said with his neck stiff:

"Am I wrong?"

"Well, that's not a problem, but when did you become so smart?" Ahmoni exclaimed from the bottom of her heart.

If Ahmoni didn't know that someone like Mandela could not be won over, she would have suspected that the child had secretly hidden a gray hat somewhere on his body.

And Ravshini was confused. Before she was forcibly sent here by her sister, her sister told her two sentences.

First: Listen to Ahmoni.

Second: Don’t run around in unfamiliar places.

She didn't know that this trip had so much meaning.

Ernst silently took a tissue and swallowed the words "I'm done" that were about to come out of his mouth after "I want to defeat the Kaister faction". Then he nodded solemnly:

"I see... No, so you already knew that."

"Then I wonder what His Excellency the Duke of Wellington has to say about this?"

“We are here to make a statement.”

Ahmoni has a bit of the arrogance of a female ghost.

"The Duke of Wellington is busy with important matters and cannot spare the time to meet with you, but she has sent us as special envoys."

"This envoy is more than just a host."

Ahmoni said,

"Miss Abrana has volunteered to go to Kjerag as the Duke of Wellington's special envoy as a collaborator, and Mandela and I will accompany her. The Duke has also made a promise - as long as Kjerag can make progress in the work against the Duke of Caister, we will definitely support you."

What was the result? Put anti-Kast slogans on all of Kjerag's camels? So that when people see the camels baring their teeth, they can also be anti-Kast?

This won't work. It's not that Ernst is not firm in his position. If you give him money, everything will be fine.

But are there so many people in Kjerag who can read?

"What do you think, Your Excellency?"

Ahmoni asked.

Ernst came back to his senses from his thoughts, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Can you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course." Ahmoni said readily.

She hadn't expected Ernst to agree immediately. If Mandela hadn't disobeyed her orders again and made a blind move, she would have planned to drag it out for a few more days to test Ernst's bottom line.

Ernst's attitude is also very simple. Regardless of whether this matter is beneficial or not to Kjerag, whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages or the disadvantages outweigh the benefits, as a politician, he must always remain calm. When it comes to choices, he can never be overwhelmed by superficial interests and give an answer at the first time.

Careful and prudent thinking is a good virtue. Any decision made without repeated thinking is irresponsible to all the people under you.

Moreover, Ernst was very concerned about Miss Ablana, who "volunteered" as Ahmonie said.

Speak up, sister, why are you silent?

Chapter 121: Testing

As soon as they arrived at the hotel and saw off Ahmonie and the other two, Jeston walked up impatiently and shouted anxiously:

"Prime Minister, we cannot accept their conditions!"

Ernst was stunned by the shout, and it took him a long time to react. He looked at Jeston in confusion and asked:

"Why not? The conditions they offer are pretty good."

"But they are sending spies! Those three people, they say they are special envoys, but they are obviously spies of the Duke of Wellington!"

Jeston explained.

Ernst couldn't help laughing.

"Yes, but is there anything strange about that? Diplomats are a kind of spy."

Jeston was stunned, a little confused.

“A diplomat is a spy?”

"Yes and no." Ernst shrugged.

Not to mention that Kjerag had nothing worth hiding, even if he did, so what?

Clear all foreigners from the country? I isolate the whole world?

How is that possible? Ernst didn't build a lot of bunkers in Kjerag, nor did he want to experience the treatment that Colonel Kasparov received.

Besides, even at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union also established an embassy in Britain. Diplomats are an upgraded version of legal spies. They are there when they are not needed, and can be notified and condemned when they are needed. If the situation is urgent and the attention of the domestic public needs to be diverted immediately, a group of them can be expelled.

This is basically the norm.

However, it was understandable that Jeston was so sensitive. He was a Colombian and didn't have much affection for Victoria. In addition, he joined Ernst's team relatively late and had not experienced the Duke of Windermere incident. Naturally, he didn't know that even if Aburana, Ahmonie and Mandela were not included, there were others who had been spies in Kjerag.

Yes, Ernst was talking about that little kitten named Daphne.

The child had been wandering around Kjerag ever since the day she arrived, ostensibly to "get to know the local customs and people," but in reality, Ernst knew what was going on in her mind.

She was fine with being a spy, and she didn't hide it from anyone. She mentioned to Ernst more than once that she had received "intelligence officer training", and used this as a capital to show off.

This is why when Ernst responded to the Snow Mountain Incident in Enthiotis, he informed Daphne directly of the matter as soon as possible.