Alien Knights

Todd put a small piece of sashimi into his mouth, chewed it carefully, and sighed that the food in Muxi City is more refined, and asked: "I heard that the main competitor for this reelection is the Chamber of Commerce Alliance. Who are they?"

Emerson cleared his throat: "Let me introduce it. The business alliance is composed of forty-nine large chambers of commerce. The industry covers industry, textiles, maritime merchants, printing, farming, brewing, etc., basically including All industries other than heterogeneous affairs."

"The high-level personnel of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance talk about their origins. For example, the president of the Nielsko Mining Chamber of Commerce was a priest personally authorized by the Pope in the past, and the president of the Sand Traversing Sea Merchant was a retired military officer of the empire..."

Todd asked suddenly: "Are these people eligible for cabinet election?"

Huggins, who was standing aside, explained softly: "According to the investigation of the Security Bureau, they have all settled in Muxi City for more than three years, and they have all obtained the status of honorary knights..."

Emerson shook his head and said, "But the relationship between these people and other forces is intricate. Many of them own properties and families in cities of other kingdoms."

Todd asked: "Who is the leader of the business alliance?"

"Rutledge Dawson." Emerson said the name, with a headache on his face: "An old nobleman from a family in the Silver Ring Kingdom, who once served as a leader in the Northern Legion, was captured in Muxi City as a prisoner. lived there for a while, and became a knight of honour."

Todd was a little surprised: "How did such a person become the leader of the chamber of commerce?"

Huggins helped explain at this time: "The Dawson family themselves are the great nobles of the Silver Ring Kingdom. Rutledge's father and grandfather have made great achievements on the battlefield against the North, so they and the other The young and old aristocratic forces are inextricably linked. During the war of annihilating the country, the Dawson family saw the weakness of the Yinhuan royal family and transferred their family wealth to other places early on, and they were the first to join A noble family in Muxi City."

Todd looked at Huggins and questioned, "How did he get his honorary knighthood?"

Huggins lowered his head and said: "After the Dawson family entered Muxi City, they funded universities, built academic societies, supported artists, and helped the poor... The citizens of Muxi City have a great affection for this family. At the canonization ceremony for the knights elected by the citizens, the Dawson family accounted for six places."

Todd frowned and nodded at Emerson, "Go on."

"The Dawson family controls nearly 27% of the daily processed products in Muxi City, 25% of the smelting and processing industry, 14% of the textile industry, about 9% of the land property rights, and about 5% of the land transportation."

Following Emerson's topic, Terrence added: "The Dawson family is also the largest sponsor of Muxi University. He has sponsored more than 90 professors and nearly 600 students. There are more than 130 studios and research rooms named after his family in the entire university."

Emerson glanced at Todd and said, "Your Majesty, by the way, the chair you are sitting on and the tableware you are using are all made by manufacturers under Dawson."

Todd put the silver dinner fork in front of his eyes, and there was a special mark at the beginning of the letter D on the handle, which made him fall into silence.

"Not only that, in the past few years, Dawson has used methods such as marriage and equity replacement to form a solid business organization with Sanchez, Tobias Rees and other families in Muxi City. Whether it is negotiations, disputes, appeals, etc. etc., they all have clear rules of interests and division of roles.”

Todd rubbed his forehead with his hands: "We have been busy dealing with external threats all these years, but we never thought that we would grow such a behemoth by our side."

Glancing at the guilty look on Huggins' face, Emerson explained: "Your Majesty, we can't blame our carelessness. The Dawson family registered multiple business names, and used agents and indirect control to control the There are many assets and industries in Muxi City. Even if we go to investigate, we can only find many irrelevant controllers, and it is impossible to find out the real masters behind them."

Todd waved his hand: "I don't need to talk about other things. Let's talk about this reelection. What are your chances of winning?"

Emerson and the others looked at each other, and said awkwardly: "The chances of winning are not great."

"Why?"

"Some campaign slogans and governing policies put forward by Dawson won the approval of the vast majority of citizens."

Emerson stretched out his index finger: "The first thing to bear the brunt is the parish war. The Dawson family proposed to launch a "war against God" to completely wipe out the filth of the church from the world. They said that the church's The liars, who have deceived and exploited believers, deprived them of their wealth and humanity with a false god that does not exist, now is the time to pay it all back."

The person in charge of Muxi Cathedral, Moore Rupert, who was sitting at the end of the table, couldn't help but say at this time: "The remarks made by these people are not only attacking the Church of the Heavenly Father and the Orthodox Church, but also You are attacking Protestantism, and you are questioning Your Majesty’s sacred identity. Now, at the gate of Muxi Cathedral, a group of ignorant students are distributing leaflets to believers who come and go, claiming that God does not exist, and religion is just A deceptive hoax."

Hearing this, Cumberland, who had been patient for a long time, finally couldn't hold back the anger in his chest.

The grumpy old knight jumped up and shouted loudly: "If you want me to say, just send out soldiers and send all these rioters to the gallows! Then hang the corpses on the flagpole in the center of the square, let those Help the bastards see what the fate of being dishonest is!"

Elijah, who was a scholar, immediately stood up and objected: "If we do that, what is the difference between us and the cruel and unkind Inquisition?!"

Terrence touched Elijah with his elbow, beckoned him to sit down, and said slowly: "Killing can only solve a temporary predicament, but it cannot completely eradicate the source of the problem."

Mrs. Raglan, who was in charge of the kingdom's economy, suddenly proposed: "Let those people go to the kingdom of heaven to have a look, won't everything be resolved?"

Emerson and Cumberland glanced at each other, and they turned their questioning gazes to Todd at the same time.

The latter shook his head with a wry smile, and said softly, "The kingdom of heaven is only open to devout believers."

That was the way it was said, but Todd knew it was just an excuse.

The real reason is that he pinned his hope on people's self-government. If the soul space is used as a means to recruit believers, Muxi City will return to the old road of monarchy.

When Todd is still alive, he may be able to maintain the sacred palace of the kingdom of heaven; but once he dies, the soul space will completely collapse, the belief in this kingdom will come to an end, and society will return to darkness and turmoil.

This is not the result he wants to see.

Seeing that everyone fell silent, Emerson coughed and continued: "Declaring war on God sounds like a bloody thing, but it will completely destroy the religious image that Muxi City has painstakingly managed for many years, and completely destroy this kingdom. Pushed against other parish kingdoms."

Dangling half a sausage in his hand, Cumberland said coldly: "Those idiot businessmen only have their eyes on occupying land and finding workers. They think that fighting a war is as simple as a child's play house. If it is true that all parishes The kingdom is at war, and what we will face is no longer the army directly under the church, but the coalition army of 190,000 secular kingdoms!"

Moore Rupert went on to say: "Moreover, the plan to use Protestantism to divide the diocesan kingdom has initially achieved results. Twenty-six kingdoms have separated from the Church of the Heavenly Father and joined Protestantism, and this number is still accelerating. growth...but if Mussey turns on God, then our enemy will change from the Church of the Father to all the Diocesan Kingdoms, and so-called Protestantism becomes a joke."

Todd put down the wine glass in his hand, looked at the cabinet members in front of him, and asked, "Didn't you mention these reasons to the public? Anyone with common sense should know that launching a war at this time is the worst decision. "

Emerson sighed heavily: "Your Majesty, common sense is one thing, but public opinion is another. There will be a political debate in the morning the day after tomorrow. If you are free, please come and visit. When the time comes, you will See what I mean."