Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 131

Over three hundred years ago, roughly equivalent to the timeline of Ronan, the son of a lord in the Black Forest region of southwestern Germany, Oran Freigo emerged. In his rise to power, he brought about a civil service system and a magic academy, dealing a heavy blow to the Church. Subsequently, the Church began to split, with various countries vying for the title of "the Father's First Filial Son," which was quite a spectacle. Even the Greens of the Crescent Moon region were laughing at his filial piety.

More than a hundred years ago, the Golden Eagle Dynasty established by Oranus faced its greatest crisis. The king's second son, Lawrence, stepped forward, but in the process of repelling foreign enemies and crushing his own brother, he had no money and had to divide the land.

Feudalism made a comeback, along with democracy, and the Golden Eagle Dynasty "revived." What, you say this is a step backward? Go to the palace and say that to the king's face if you dare.

In short, at the city level, that is, at the local level, councils began to be established.

"That's about enough for the first chapter."

Ronan finalized the outline for the first chapter.

Anyway, there's only one theme: democracy, yay!

Just then, Ronan suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "I should write them in contrast. What I boast about in 'A Brief History of Democracy' should be criticized and refuted point by point in 'Communitarianism,' making it seem as if Dinia is specifically targeting me. Then the two books can be published one after the other."

Who would have thought that the person who both advocates for and vehemently criticizes democracy is the same person?

As someone who grew up under the red flag, Ronan is naturally good at looking at issues dialectically; he can discuss both sides of a problem, which is a basic skill for him.

"The second chapter is similar to the content of the two books. They both discuss the current situation in various countries. You can just copy and paste it and change the wording."

The outline for the second chapter has also been finalized.

The third chapter is about envisioning the future.

In the book "A Short History of Democracy," the viewpoint is, of course, to break free from the church and feudal aristocracy, to carry out reforms after enlightened monarchical centralization, to promote liberalism, to uphold the individual, to protect private property, to reduce state intervention, and to develop capitalism.

In the book "Communitarianism," the same idea is to oppose the church and the aristocracy, then to have an enlightened monarchy centralize power, revise laws, and carry out reforms. However, the focus is on concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks, resolutely rejecting individualism, not allowing chaotic values ​​to affect public morality domestically, and ensuring that freedom is under strict legal control. Private property cannot be protected indefinitely, and the state must take strong action when necessary.

The two books present completely opposite viewpoints, but they also have things in common.

That is, to oppose the church, oppose the aristocracy, support centralized power, and support reform.

"That's basically the outline. As for the specifics, I'll be busy with that."

"No, I can't just talk nonsense in the third chapter. I still need to introduce concepts such as productive forces, relations of production, superstructure, and labor value in order to form a theoretical system and make these theories convincing."

In this way, he could live off his wife more comfortably, smoothly become a high-ranking official, and seize power.

"I've poured all my savings into this gigolo job."

Ronan couldn't help but sigh.

Chapter 297 Transplantation, Advancement, and the Difference Between People

After Ronan finalized the writing outline, the day after Dinia attended the cocktail party, the two performed a crystal skeleton transplant on Ambrina.

The whole process went very smoothly and quickly, taking less than a minute to complete.

In short, it can be explained in two steps: first, take out the crystal skull skeleton; second, put the skeleton into Ambrina's body.

That's it, nothing more.

"How are you?" Ronan asked with concern.

Ambrina paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and then replied, "I don't feel anything unusual, I just feel that my magic power has increased a bit."

Ronan nodded. Just like he had done before, the main effect was to increase magic power.

"Uh." Ambrina suddenly covered her forehead, making an unusual sound.

A look of anxiety crossed Ronan's face. "What happened?"

Ambrina took a few breaths and answered in a strained voice, "I... my magic has advanced." She went from second-tier to third-tier.

Ronan and Dinia both showed expressions of surprise.

As we all know, the three types of magic have different ways of advancing. Destiny magic is advanced when one's magic power reaches or exceeds the corresponding limit, and one encounters a major choice in life. The changes that result from the advancement depend on one's own choices.

The way to advance in the Heavenly Oath Magic is to continuously fulfill one's oath. When the number of times and the time spent fulfilling the oath accumulate to a certain level, an advancement will occur. The changes brought about by the advancement depend on the choices the magician makes in order to fulfill the oath throughout the entire process.

Ritual magic differs in that elemental magic is about control, while summoning is about cultivation. Essentially, they can be considered the same thing, which is to fill the experience bar to the maximum.

It now appears that the direct positive benefits of the Crystal Skull Skeleton are not limited to increasing the maximum mana, but include other benefits as well.

"What has become of your magic now?" Ronan asked.

Ambrina, with her feet slightly turned inward and hands gripping her knees, hesitated for a moment, then said, "It seems that it can be projected into reality."

Ronan's eyes lit up.

Projecting reality? If he remembered correctly, no one in the Freigo family had been able to do that since their founding monarch, Oran.

"Let's find a place to try right away," Ronan said urgently.

There's nothing special about colonies; you can find vast tracts of open land anywhere.

Soon, Ronan, Dinia, and Ambrina arrived at an open area north of Cardina City. This area was a rocky wasteland not far from the coast, almost barren, with not a single blade of grass growing on it, and not a single human being could be found there.

Ambrina unleashed her special summoning magic, and soon a rectangular dining table appeared in front of her, while the surrounding environment was completely transformed from wasteland into a rural village.

“Try using magic,” Ambrina said.

Ronan and Dinia unleashed their magic simultaneously, but Ronan was unable to cast it at all; he couldn't even materialize his sword and shield, and instead wasted some of his magic power and his life force was reduced. Dinia fared better, but the mushrooms she grew withered quickly, and her magic power began to drain away rapidly after she used it.

“This is called ‘etiquette,’ which forbids the use of magic,” Ambrina explained.

"How large is the area?" Dinia asked.

“A sphere with a diameter of one kilometer, centered on the dining table,” Ambrina replied.

“I’ll go outside and try,” Dinia said, then quickly moved five hundred meters away and began casting magic inward.

The magic released from the outside is completely unaffected, but once the magic enters the interior, it begins to weaken.

However, Dinia anticipated that even without magic, she could easily defeat Ambrina inside, and if she used her full power from the outside, she could still kill Ambrina instantly inside.

Generally speaking, mages below the fourth rank pose almost no threat to Ambrina.

After the experiment was completed, Dinia returned inside and told the two of them her test results.

“Very good,” Ronan commented.

Many of the fifth-tier mages are among the top 100 on the continent, not to mention those above them. These mages are highly independent, most of them have their own small factions, and a few are officials in some national institutions. They would not casually act as assassins.

Ambrina now at least has the ability to protect herself.

“And this.” Ambrina raised her hand, and a food item appeared in Ronan’s hand.

Ronan ate it without thinking, and then he felt his magic power was replenished.

“This is ‘sharing’, which allows me to give the magic stored here to others. The magic that Dinia just used up here has all been given to you. If I use this magic again, it will consume my own magic.”

"However, once you leave here, the magic you received from me will start to return rapidly, and the amount returned will be half again as much as you received."

Ambrina explained.

Ronan understood: a return of 1.5 times.

Dinia smiled, "Fine, I'll just fill it up for you directly." After saying that, she immediately began to unleash the Red Giant's attack, and the magic power was rapidly absorbed by the entire space.

The red giant failed to spawn and only managed to grow into a three-meter-tall, incomplete form.

Just one minute later, Ambrina hurriedly called for a stop, "Stop, it's full." The magic capacity here is very limited, roughly equivalent to her own magic capacity limit.

As a third-tier mage, her maximum magic power wasn't particularly high.

“This is the last one.” Ambrina raised her hand, and quiet, soothing music filled the air.

Ronan felt a hypnotic effect.

Ambrina then explained, "There are special kinds of music that induce three kinds of emotional changes: hypnotic, exciting, and repressive."

"That's about it," Ambrina said, not particularly excited. This was the extent of her summoning power at the moment.

“That’s already very good. This is an ability that can be applied to the battlefield,” Ronan said. Ambrina’s magic, like that of her ancestors, has extremely high tactical value.

Summoning magic has both significant advantages and disadvantages. The advantage lies in its heritability, while the disadvantage is that different summons require different training methods, making it difficult to know how to upgrade them later on. As one of the oldest forms of magic, over thousands of years, there have been countless instances of fathers who are not as capable as sons. The Freigo family is a prime example. To date, there have only been two truly powerful individuals: the founding monarch, Orlans, and the restorer, Lawrence. In fact, one could argue that there was only one, because Orlans's magic was actually a form of fate magic, which was mutated and passed down to his descendants. Lawrence, on the other hand, is the only one who has successfully trained the summon "Space" to its highest level.

Therefore, it's estimated that Ambrina will only reach the fourth rank at most in her lifetime.

However, things are different now. If nothing unexpected happens, she will live a long time. As long as a person is alive, there are endless possibilities.

Ronan is the same; one day, he will reach the summit.

Let's not even talk about Dinia. This freak is already at the sixth level, and he's only thirty years old. He'll probably reach the top before he's forty and break the historical record.

At that time, the "female" in her title of the continent's number one female magician may have to be removed.

People really can't be generalized.

Chapter 298 To Fight or Not to Fight: The Nobles Won't Die, But the Church Will Take Poison

July, one afternoon, at an open-air café by the sea.

Elena and Alice sat facing each other.

Alice took a bite of the butter cookie. "I thought you were going to make a scene and demand that skeleton."

Both of them already knew about the skeleton and that Ambrina had received a skeleton transplant.

"I'm the kind of person who never competes or fights, unlike you, who writes a letter to that princess all the time, as if you're afraid she won't know how loyal you are," Elena said sarcastically as she added milk to her coffee. "From childhood to adulthood, what I have, don't you have too?"

Alice stirred her coffee. "Your mouth is as sharp as ever."

"Heh." Elena sneered, taking a sip of her coffee filled with milk. "I'm not far from advancing to the next level. When that happens, I'll be two ranks ahead of you."

“What a coincidence, me too,” Alice replied, as she was about to advance to the second tier.

In an instant, Elena's interest was dampened by half.

“We’ll be going back in less than a year. The mainland isn’t a colony where you can do whatever you want. You’d better watch out then,” Alice said, picking up her coffee. “I reckon Ms. Dinia will become the Minister of the newly established Ministry of the Interior, and Ronan will probably be the head of the next bureau. We’ll at most become minor leaders in the bureau, or maybe not even that.”

Elena tucked a strand of golden hair behind her ear and looked at Alice. "Me, restrain yourself? You're the one who should restrain yourself. You really need to change your habit of hanging out with those who love to talk big."

"Every person I killed was done after fully understanding the young master's instructions."

"Whatever makes you happy." Alice didn't want to argue with Elena.

"Anyway, as long as the young master has no complaints about you," Elena said, taking out a document. "These three people are suspected of embezzlement. They are all senior executives of state-owned factories and Her Highness the Princess's people. This falls under the jurisdiction of your inspection bureau, so handle it properly. If I were to handle it, they would probably suffer more than if they were dead."

She handled the matter without even conducting a trial, directly mobilizing the union's power to strip these three typical individuals bare and parade them through the streets in public.

“Okay,” Alice agreed. “I will make sure they are treated with dignity.”

"Oh?" Elena was slightly surprised. As someone raised by Ronan, she had grown up hearing certain Seris-style words, and she understood the meaning of the word "decency" all too well.

“The princess is a person full of emotions but also cold-hearted,” Alice said. “She would be very sad if the things she cares about, even the flowers and plants, withered. But she doesn’t care so much about things like this corrupt official, or even the maid who has served her for several years. If she dies, she’s fine with it.”

"Our future Queen is just such a person."

Two days later, the deputy director of the glass factory, the finance director of the leather goods factory, and the sales manager of the bone china factory, all under immense work-related stress, went on a trip together and were attacked by a bear, resulting in their accidental deaths.

As Alice had predicted, Ambrina showed no reaction; she didn't care if someone died, so be it.

Ten days later, at night.

Ambrina sat in a rocking chair in Ronan's study, looking at the manuscript Ronan was writing, while Ronan continued writing on the other side.

“Ronan,” Ambrina suddenly called out.

Ronan stopped writing. "Anli, what's up?"

"Do we really want to eliminate the nobility?" Ambrina asked. Through some of Ronan's remarks, she had already discerned a clear element of opposition to the nobility within him.

“Nobility isn’t something that can be easily eliminated. Nobility, or rather, that status that places one above ordinary people, that mindset that ten years of hard work can surpass the efforts of several generations of my family, will not disappear,” Ronan said. “Even if the noble crests on one’s body disappear, that thing in one’s heart will not disappear.”

“With the change of power, nobles will naturally appear in new forms, such as reformers, patriotic entrepreneurs, and conscientious real estate developers. If they can’t even do that, then all we can say is, ‘My lord, times have changed.’”

"What I advocate is simply to break up the great nobility and then provide a new platform. Those who are unwilling to come to this new platform can fend for themselves, while those who are willing to come can become the new nobility, since I will definitely give them preferential treatment. Of course, the 'inbreeding' characteristic still needs to be suppressed."

Ronan explained.

Huang Silang is immortal. Even if the old Huang Silang dies, the new Huang Silang can still put on the clerk's clothes and go to Pudong.

The only thing we can do is prevent him from wearing Master Huang's black jacket again; it's just a white jacket.

“What about the church?” Ambrina asked again.

Ronan turned to Ambrina and said, "I'm going to sell them the technology for the steam engine."

"Huh?" Ambrina was so shocked that she couldn't close her mouth for a moment.

“If we cut off some of their privileges and stop giving them benefits, the church will really panic and they’re capable of anything,” Ronan said. The church in this world is not as easy to deal with as the church in his original world; it’s a “violent organization” that has mastered a lot of high-end combat power.

“In your words, this is advanced productivity!” Ambrina said incredulously. The Church was already very powerful; if it gained such power, could it still control the Church?

“Anli, do you know that the Kingdom of Fas is an agricultural country with a population of 20 million, and the national treasury mainly relies on land output?”