People in Terra, governing a weird little country

Enchiodis has been having a great time lately.

His diplomatic strategy in Victoria made great progress. The Duke of Castor, who had always been indifferent to him and only sent Viscount Walton to contact him most of the time, finally softened his attitude recently.

Just a few days ago, she personally invited Enchiodis to the capital of the Duchy of Caister to attend an aristocratic dinner.

As everyone knows, in Victorian political rules, only VIPs of a certain status are eligible to attend social gatherings such as dinner parties. Although Enciodis has participated in many similar dinner parties, he has rarely participated in a dinner party of this scale hosted by the Duke of Caister, let alone as a specially invited guest.

The lowest rank of the Victorian nobles who applauded the Duke of Caster when he was introduced were earls. Close associates like Viscount Walton were not even qualified to enter the inner venue for dinner and could only wander around the dance outside.

Enchiodis was not a man who admired the strong. He knew very well that there must be a reason for the Duke of Caister's sudden change of attitude.

Thinking of the recent major events on Terra, the only one that could be connected to Kjerag was the incident of [Ernst's Humanitarian Speech].

Most ordinary people focused on the content of Ernst's speech, which was a call for humanitarianism, while nobles like Victoria paid more attention to the location where Ernst gave his speech.

"Your brother's speech was very good. But it's a bit of a pity that he shouldn't have given it in the Duke of Wellington's territory."

Enchiodis still remembered the Duke of Caister's vague warnings and reminders to him during the tea party after the dinner.

"Let's say a few words behind closed doors. Our [Empire's Death Knell] His Excellency the Duke of Wellington, I don't want to describe him like this, but he is an out-and-out warmongerer. What he did was purely for profit, without any honor or faith. In the trial of the king's hanging, he was the first duke to sign."

"What a terrible thing this is. Enchiodis, you are studying in Victoria, you should know this. The Duke of Wellington is different from us. Our status, identity, glory and the corresponding noble title come from the management and inheritance of our family from generation to generation, and from the ancient covenant. This cannot be changed or questioned."

She asked coldly,

"But what about the Duke of Wellington?"

She ended with a question, but Enthiotis had already flashed through the history of the Duke of Wellington's rise to power.

Born in the Tara region of Victoria, he concealed his identity and joined the Victorian army. In the era of Gallic hegemony, he fought with Victorian troops in the south and north, accumulated military merits, and was canonized by King Aslan, becoming a military noble like the Earl of White Wolf and the Duke of Cumberland.

He really rose to become the Grand Duke who unified the Tara region during the War of the Four Emperors. At that time, Emperor Frederick III of Victoria rejected the advice of the Council of Nobles and led Victoria to join the war in Gaul-Letania. The further expansion of the war led to the Tara region, which had always been a hard-hit area for Victoria's conscription, taxation, and exploitation, and suffered heavy losses. It was at that time that the Duke of Wellington emerged as a rising star. As a Tara noble, he announced his unconditional support for Frederick III's war and even led his army into the battlefield in person.

The outcome of the war is now written in every Terran history book. The Gallic Empire fell, and the world capital Lingones was reduced to ruins. One of the keels of the moving city was taken away and built into the high-speed battleship Gastril, the flagship of the Duke of Wellington.

It was after this war that Frederick III granted the Duke of Wellington the title of Duke of Wellington and ruled the Tara region as a military noble.

So, what the Duke of Caster said was not wrong.

Compared to these hereditary nobles, the Duke of Wellington, as a military noble, was undoubtedly an outlier. And everything he did afterwards was indeed outrageous.

He did not remain silent and retreat from the Londinium Incident like Earl White Wolf, nor did he stand by King Aslan like the Duke of Cumberland and fight against the rebellious noble forces until the last moment as a military noble of Aslan's faction.

He chose to surrender to the enemy.

Enchiodis didn't know whether what Caister said, "The Duke of Wellington was the first to sign," was true or not. But he knew that no matter the order, the Duke of Wellington must have agreed.

Otherwise, a military noble from King Aslan's faction, who commands a large army, has a record of destroying nations, has unlimited prestige in the army, and also has the most powerful high-speed warships of the time and even today, even if he just stands there and does not express his opinion, the rebellious grand dukes will need to send envoys every day to inquire about the Duke of Wellington's intentions and will never dare to act rashly.

"Such a nobleman without honor, loyalty, or credibility, his existence is a great irony to Victoria. That's why I spent more than ten years weaving this big net, hoping to wear him down quietly."

Duke Caister said slowly. Coming from her mouth, these words seemed a little too humorous to Enchiodis.

Apart from anything else, the Duke of Wellington was indeed a military noble of Aslan who defected and rebelled, but you were one of the initiators of the rebellion.

You two are nothing more than a pure traitor and a traitor pretending to be one. Who is better than the other? Why are you still comparing yourself to others?

Not to mention, the Duke of Wellington's character does not represent his political skills. The Duke of Caster is obviously very good at confusing this.

The fatal attacks that bring down a politician are often his political loopholes, such as his unsteady thoughts, making a wrong decision on a major issue, or choosing the wrong side when he should.

But when this politician falls, the first thing listed among the crimes he is accused of is often an attack on his personal morality, such as cheating on his wife or having a mistress, or making some targeted, discriminatory remarks at some point in time.

why?

Because politics is dirty, if all the dirty stuff is exposed one by one, who knows what might be revealed?

As for private morality. People often have extremely high expectations for the private morality of public figures, especially those in power, and any flaws may lead to the collapse of the reputation. The pros and cons of private morality are easy to understand, and everyone can understand what it is and how to deal with it at a glance. His reputation can be dragged down in an instant.

For a person with a bad reputation, whatever he does is wrong. Even if he is right, it is right with ulterior motives.

However, even though he knew this, Enthiotis still had to ponder along with Duke Caister's reasoning.

After all, even though the Duke of Caster slandered her, there was still a lot of truth in her lies. The person dealing with the Duke of Wellington was his own brother, so he couldn't help but worry about it.

Never trust the moral standards of a Victorian Grand Duke too much. Even the Duke of Windermere, who seemed to be the most upright, had thrown the infected people who were sick in the war off the warship without mercy.

"So, you invited me this time to remind me to be careful of the Duke of Wellington?"

Now that things have come to this, Enthiotis is no longer trying to hide anything.

In response to Silver Gray's slightly offensive question, Duke Caister smiled and shook his head.

"Of course more than that."

"more than?"

Duke of Caister nodded:

"I know that Kjerag is in a very difficult situation right now. You don't know enough about the outside world, so it's understandable that you would be careless in making friends. As a friend, I don't blame your brother for his actions. On the contrary, I admire him."

"Because of his humanitarian speech?" said Enthiotis.

The Duke of Caister's mouth twitched, and he subconsciously said, "No." Fortunately, her good ability to change her expression allowed her to control her expression in time, and she changed her words, "It's not just the speech. He was able to impress the Duke of Windermere, which surprised me greatly."

"Of course, that's not the point." She forcibly skipped this hurtful topic and continued,

"In fact, after learning about Kjerag's situation and watching Ernst's speech, many Victorian nobles, including me, were deeply moved. They may not be able to reach out to Londinium to rescue students and teachers like I did. But they are happy to provide help to those areas that are also in poverty and backwardness."

You Victorians are so polite in your speech.

Enchiodis smiled and asked, "For example, Sherag?"

Kaister pursed his lips, managing his expression well: "Including Kjerag."

“Is the help free?”

"Of course, since it's help, it's free of charge. This is just a little concern based on humanitarianism."

Caister Road,

"Of course, as their representative, I want to meet with Prime Minister Ernst in person and deliver this help to him personally. Is this reasonable?"

Enthyodis held his chin and thought for a moment, then suddenly sighed:

"Duke Caister, you may not know that my brother has been missing recently, and even I have a hard time finding him. In addition, the business of Kalan Trade has not been doing well recently, so I have to stay in Victoria. If the business does not improve, I am afraid it will be difficult for me to return to Kjerag in the short term. So although I really want to help you with this request, I am really a little overwhelmed."

The Duke of Caster kept his expression unchanged, smiled and raised a finger.

Enthyodis sighed again and took a sip of wine with a worried look on his face.

The Duke of Caister's smile froze for a moment, and he raised another finger.

Enchiodis looked concerned about his country and its people. He picked up the bottle and poured himself a full glass.

Duke Caister frowned, gritted his teeth, and suddenly stood up:

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Enchiodis. I'm a little tired too. Why don't we just stop here today..."

Enchiodis nodded immediately, "Okay, Your Excellency the Duke, I will take my leave now. Please rest assured about what you said. When he comes back, no matter how busy I am, I will ask for his opinion as soon as possible."

Return to Kjerag, Tukarim, the headquarters of the Kharan trade.

Ernst had just returned and had not had time to settle down when Jiaofeng took him directly from the train station to Yinhui's office at the headquarters of Kalan Trade.

The brother whom he hadn't seen for a long time was now standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window that took up an entire wall. He was leaning on a cane and looking at the construction site in the distance with an unfathomable look.

But since the Snow Mountain Incident, Ernst would not give his brother any chance to show off. Enxioudis stood in front of the window, and he walked behind the desk and sat down on Boss Yin's office chair unscrupulously:

"Brother, why are you looking for me so urgently?"

Seeing that his deep image did not receive any respect from Ernst, Enthyotis could only sigh sadly and turned back and said:

"Brother, do you know how much you are worth now?"

"What's the value?" Ernst was startled and looked around quickly to make sure there was no place in the room where three hundred swordsmen could hide. Then he turned around and said, "You scared me."

"What are you thinking about?" Enchiodis glanced at him speechlessly, "Duke Caister wants to meet you. For this, he is even willing to pay me, the middleman, up to 200,000 yuan in introduction fees."

Ernst was stunned and immediately asked, "Only 20W?"

I, Ernst, am a bit of a celebrity now, but my net worth is only 200,000? Don’t you know that some stars in my previous life received appearance fees in the hundreds of millions?

Never mind, you really don’t know.

Could it be that you, kid, just offered a price of 200,000 yuan just because someone raised two fingers?

It’s too small, the pattern is too narrow, brother!

Chapter 137: There are bad people among the crowd

"Does this mean you think it's not enough?"

Enthiotis was also left speechless by Ernst.

You kid, you're so proud of yourself after going out for a stroll, right? Two hundred thousand Victorian gold pounds is not a small amount of money. I used to work so hard in the past, but I could only earn about a million from Kalan Trade. Now life is a little better. Orders from Windermere and Wellington can bring a lot of income to Kalan Trade, but this doesn't mean we can "enjoy it"!

Recall the past and cherish the present!

Ernst naturally understood his brother's thoughts. In fact, he didn't care about money...at least not entirely!

"Have you promised the Duke of Castor?" Ernst asked.

Enchiodis shook his head with an expression that said, "How could I not understand?" "Of course not. I just told her that I would tell you about this as soon as possible. As for whether you will accept it or not, that is your business."

He paused, as if he was worried that Ernst might get too excited, and added a few more words to remind him:

"But, Ernst, I personally recommend that you accept her interview."

"I have seen your diplomatic efforts and achievements during this period. Kjerag has established relations with the two Grand Dukes, the Duke of Windermere and the Duke of Wellington, which has far exceeded my expectations. But this does not mean that you must draw a line with the Duke of Caister."

It was a well-known fact that the Duke of Windermere and the Duke of Castor were at odds with each other, and Enthiotis was naturally aware of that. As for the Duke of Wellington, if Enthiotis still had doubts about his relationship with the Duke of Castor before the banquet, then after the banquet, he could basically confirm that the two of them were indeed at odds with each other.

It is precisely because of this that Enthiotis is very afraid that Ernst will fall into a misunderstanding, that is, if you have a good relationship with the Duke of Windermere and flirt with the Duke of Wellington, then you will definitely have to give up the piece of cake of the Duke of Castle.

"The Duke of Castor is one of the most powerful dukes in Victoria. There is no doubt that if you take into account the network of relationships she has organized and the noble vassals who follow her, it is not an exaggeration to say that she controls half of Victoria."

"Even if we can't win over a Grand Duke like this, at least we shouldn't offend him completely."

Ernst nodded.

He naturally understood what Enthiotis meant.

To put it bluntly, "There are no eternal enemies, no eternal friends, only eternal interests."

national interests.

Ernst could be dissatisfied with the Duke of Castor, or even disgusted with him, but this was his personal emotion as a leader. It was best not to and could not affect the country's policy.

But what bothered Ernst was not whether he would offend the Duke of Castor.

Ensiotis's thinking was obviously too simple. Ernst could receive the Duke of Kast openly, and Kjerag could accept the investment from the Duke of Kast openly. But how to explain it?

Let's not talk about the Duke of Wellington for now. Ernst had no idea what kind of person the old man who hid behind the scenes and only communicated with him through Ahmonie and Ravshini was. But considering that he had been surrounded by Caister for more than ten years, and he could still endure the whole Dukedom parade and party on a warship, Ernst thought that the old man should have expected it long ago and was fully willing to accept the possibility of Ernst and the Duke of Caister coming into contact.

But what about the Duke of Windermere?

The Duke of Windermere was a person who had actually suffered a serious threat from the Duke of Castor. Because of the Duke of Castor, Amphillis's family was almost destroyed.

Given her personality, Ernst didn't think she would tolerate it.

This is what Ernst always mentioned, the difference between the will of the state and the will of the leader.

From the perspective of the overall situation and the country, even the Duke of Windermere had no reason to break up with the Duke of Castor, because this would obviously put him in opposition to the vast majority of Victorian nobles, which would do more harm than good.

But Ampherice Windermere dared to do it!

Just like in the original world line, even though she knew that this would bring huge risks to herself, she still drove her flagship alone, leaving the battleship group, and went to Londinium to pick up her daughter.

You can say she is affectionate and righteous, or you can say she is too concerned about her children's private affairs. She wants to protect her own family and everyone else. You accuse her of the righteousness of the country and say how much chaos her death will bring to the Dukedom of Windermere. Why don't you think about how she has been guarding the border alone for many years, enduring the life dilemma of her husband's death and her daughter's danger?

It is impossible for human beings to be rational forever, otherwise the world would be full of utopias.

Ernst couldn't gamble on whether his contact with the Duke of Caster would touch the sensitive nerves of the Duke of Windermere, or whether he would be regarded as a betrayal by the Duke of Windermere.

He was also not sure that the Duke of Caster would give him support and protection that was no less than that of the Duke of Windermere after he took the risk of making this change and "betraying" the Duke of Windermere.

After all, Enthiotis is not a "vested interest" in the diplomatic achievements with Windermere, so he can persuade Ernst to do things that are "right in theory, but difficult to do in practice, or even impractical."

As a "vested interest" in this diplomacy, Ernst must maintain his achievements unless he sees an absolute advantage. This takes precedence over any changes.

For a small country with limited strength, the most important thing is to strike a balance and try not to offend either side and please both sides.

But if there must be a trade-off.