Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 165

Lucien still longed for this.

Lucien moved his hand. "You can go now. I want to talk to Anli."

Ronan stood up, bowed to Lucien, and quickly left the bedroom and went outside.

Only Lucien and his daughter Ambrina remained in the room.

"I've left you two lists. One is a list of young officials who have been suppressed in recent years for opposing me. These young people haven't lost their principles and are people who want to get things done. After you take the throne, promote them. A new king needs to promote some talented people."

"The other one is a list of some mid-level officials that I have assigned over the past few years. They are the right-hand men of certain people in the central government. Because I am a dying madman, the leaders of their respective factions have not done anything to protect them. They are just waiting for me to die so they can launch a counterattack and have Ronan clean them all up."

"I have already prepared the candidate for the new Chief of the Military Staff for you. Just do as I say and do not discuss it with Ronan. Also, I know that you have plans to open more magic academies in the future. You must personally handle this matter and not leave it entirely to him. In short, military power and magicians must be in your own hands."

“You should nominate Dinia as the next prime minister. At the same time, transfer Ronan out of the Ministry of the Interior and make him the chief secretary. The Ministry of the Interior cannot be directly controlled by him for long.”

"Finally, if you develop the same symptoms as me before you turn thirty, then entrust your affairs to him after your death; if you develop the same symptoms as me at forty, then divorce him."

“Anli, I don’t mean for you to be wary of him or even create distance between you. It’s just that only in this way can your relationship be maintained. You don’t want your relationship to have problems, right? He’s a smart man, he’ll understand.”

Just then, Lucien suddenly changed the subject, saying, "When I was young, I was so handsome and charming to girls. Your husband couldn't compare to me."

Normally, Ambrina might have disagreed, but at this moment, she just nodded, as long as her father was happy.

"Alas, in a few more days, I'm afraid I won't be able to control this body anymore. How outrageous and ugly that would be."

Lucien then sighed.

Upon hearing this, Ambrina gripped her father's hand tightly, and tears suddenly streamed down her face uncontrollably.

"That's all I wanted to say. You can go now." Lucien told Ambrina to leave.

Ambrina sniffed hard, wiped away her tears, stood up and turned to leave. She took one step, then another, walking very slowly. She was afraid that she would never see her father so lucid again. Just as she was about to step out the door, she suddenly felt a magical fluctuation.

Ambrina turned around abruptly, only to realize that in that instant, her father, Lucien, had killed himself with magic.

This man, who was carefree and unrestrained in his youth, suffered a defeat in his first battle after ascending to the throne, and struggled in the vortex of power for more than a decade without accomplishing anything, could not accept his shameful state of incontinence in the final moments of his life. When he was barely conscious and still had a sliver of strength left, he chose to commit suicide.

Ambrina threw herself at the bedside and burst into tears.

Outside the door, Ronan, who had been crying, rushed in and found Ambrina kneeling by the bed, grieving over her father's body, while Lucien on the bed was already lifeless.

King Lucien died.

Recalling his words from a few minutes earlier that he would not see the sun of the new year, Ronan understood that Lucien had summoned the two of them here with the intention of ending his own life after delivering his last words.

At this moment, Ronan didn't know how to react, so he could only stand quietly beside Ambrina.

Half an hour later, Ronan helped the somewhat limp Ambrina to her feet, summoned the palace servants, and ordered the palace guards to temporarily seal off the palace.

The following day, news of the king's death spread.

On the third day, the central government temporarily shut down and began preparations for the king's funeral.

Although the funeral of the king here was far less grand than that of the emperor in Seris, it was still not something that could be done casually.

Moreover, there is Ambrina's coronation ceremony to follow.

The first month of the new year is anything but peaceful.

Chapter 377 January is busy, February is even busier, prepare a few more pairs of stockings

Throughout January of the year 1588, Ronan was extremely busy, to the point of being overwhelmed.

He had to take care of his father-in-law's funeral. The church said it should be grand, and Ronan couldn't very well say it shouldn't be grand. Although people in the Western Continent are generally not very filial, people still have to be respectful when someone dies.

The bigger the entourage, the more money spent is secondary; the key is that there are more things to deal with.

He also had to worry about Ambrina's coronation ceremony.

She was the first queen of the Golden Eagle Dynasty, and also the first queen of the entire Kingdom of Fas.

In other words, the kingdom's nobility had been reduced for three hundred years, the civil service system had been completely stabilized, and only Lucien's elder brother was still alive among the male members of the royal family. In addition, Lucien went on a crazy purge of dissidents in his last few years to pave the way for Ambrina. Otherwise, the throne might have fallen to a distant relative of the royal family, or even a foreigner.

Even so, there were still some people, namely some old nobles, who planned to manipulate etiquette to diminish Ambrina's authority.

Ronan had no choice but to use money to solve the problem.

Using her iron fist at this point would only make her seem hasty, and more importantly, it would be detrimental to Ambrina's "benevolent ruler" persona that she was trying to establish.

At the same time, he also had to fulfill his father-in-law's dying wish to eliminate more than a dozen mid-level officials on the list. He simply couldn't spare the time, so he could only entrust the matter to Isabel and Ashley, whom he could trust and who were capable of doing so.

January was spent in a flurry of activity, and February will be just as busy.

Because a new law needs to be enacted.

While Ambrina, who had recently ascended to the throne, was busy meeting with various important figures in the military, Ronan had already arrived at the law school of the Royal University of Paristo.

This is a university with a long history, founded in the 13th century, at the end of the previous dynasty.

That was the most prosperous period for the church, but also the eve of its schism.

As the saying goes, where there is oppression, there is resistance.

During that period, the church could be considered the absolute ruler at the grassroots level. The gentry and landowners, who were the grassroots rulers in the countryside of Berris, were far more powerful. This was because the gentry were also born from the imperial system; without official rank, one could not become a gentry. But the priests were self-made, their own people, ruling the grassroots of the country with their own rules.

Any king who isn't brain-damaged would want to wipe out the Dogecoin Church.

Of course, they couldn't do it. Although the doctrines of the Seven Churches were more secular than the Catholicism in Ronan's original timeline, the Seven Churches were rich and powerful. If you disagreed with the Pope, it wasn't something you could just do by kneeling down in the snow and shouting "I'm sorry!"

The king dreamed of having a group of his own people replace the priests.

Against this backdrop, universities were born, and the most crucial of these was law.

It can be said that the reason why universities were established in the Western Continent had little to do with any humanistic thought; it was mainly because the king wanted to create some executors to seize power from the church.

However, although universities existed and trained many people, it was the end of a dynasty. Although there wouldn't be the kind of upheaval that occurred during the transition of the Seres dynasty, these scholars really didn't have the opportunity to use their talents. Later, the founding monarch of the Golden Eagle Dynasty, Aurant, seized the opportunity and started the civil service system.

Without these universities, things would be very different.

Even today, the Royal University of Parish Law School remains a cradle for high-ranking officials in the kingdom's central government. However, only one in several graduating classes actually becomes a high-ranking official. Many students can only manage to become low-level civil servants, and many others can't even reach that level.

However, for students still in school, they are all ambitious and passionate young people who often say things like "If I were prime minister, I would do this and that," and are also known as political commentators.

That's exactly the kind of person Ronan was looking for.

With several male secretaries sent by the prime minister and people from the central court, they found a few professors and had them recommend a group of students, and that's how the team to draft the new law was formed.

The current legal system is a hodgepodge. Its core foundation is the old imperial law, which is roughly equivalent to the Roman law of Ronan's original timeline. It encompasses all aspects of the country and society. Most of the current written laws are based on it, with deletions, additions, and modifications.

Then came the Golden Eagle Code, which was completed by Lawrence based on several dozen decrees from the founding of the state of Holland. This code did not cover much civil law; it mainly focused on criminal law.

In addition, there are many local laws enacted by the council that are limited to a particular city.

And some customary laws formed by ancient traditions mixed with religious thought.

What Ronan wanted to work on was the property law within civil law.

Without a doubt, Ronan is the editor-in-chief.

Ronan's plan for this new Property Law is quite simple: he will first copy the relevant parts of Napoleon's Code of Law, and then combine them with practical considerations and discussions with others to make revisions and improvements.

Overall, it wasn't too difficult; it took about a month to finalize the decision.

Then it's just a matter of following the procedures.

Fortunately, there is an autocratic monarch like Ambrina, so procedures are handled quickly.

On the other hand, some of the students who participated in drafting the new law and won Ronan's favor have been recorded on a list and are planned to be recruited into the Bureau of Commerce and Industry Protection of the Ministry of the Interior in the future.

After all, the new Property Law establishes the principles of fair transactions and protection of private property, which can be considered as loosening the reins on capitalists of all sizes in China, allowing them to make money with peace of mind.

However, loosening the restrictions is not an option without putting on some chains. Therefore, after the sale of the Royal Chamber of Commerce's assets is completed, Ronan will need to create another "Commercial Law" and have the Bureau of Industry and Commerce Security supervise and manage the market, laying the groundwork for intervention when appropriate.

Liberalism is unacceptable. If Ronan dares to embrace liberalism, he'll definitely get a severe beating from Dinia.

“You’re right, aren’t you?” Ronan asked Dinia.

"Hmph." Dinia snorted coldly, her expression saying, "You'd better know what's good for you." "Take your hand away, it's working hours."

Ronan ran his fingers over the stockings on Dinya's legs. "I've been holding back for a month, and I just couldn't control myself."

It's March now, the temperature is warming up, and it's stocking season again.

Dinia looked at the document in her hand, twirling a pen in one hand. "You should go to Ambrina's first."

“She’s pregnant,” Ronan replied.

"Huh?" Dinia was stunned for a moment.

"It's been about a month," Ronan said. He couldn't be sure for sure, but he was certain she was pregnant, because a female mage's magical energy fluctuations would change when she was pregnant.

Dinia put down the documents in her hand. "Congratulations!"

“This is the beginning of a disaster.” Ronan sighed and turned to leave. Just as he was about to close the office door, he suddenly opened it again and peeked out from the crack. “Tonight, at your house, prepare a few extra pairs of socks.”

After saying that, Ronan returned to his office, where he would have some rare free time in the next few days.

A few days later, Ronan would be busy again, because the sale of assets under the Wangli United Chamber of Commerce was about to begin. Although Ronan would not be directly involved, everything was arranged, and he would have to act as a firefighter if anything happened.

Chapter 378 With a hint of sweetness, don't worry, you ride me and I'll ride you.

The asset liquidation and valuation of the Wang Li United Chamber of Commerce has been completed in the past two months, with Elena and Alice leading a team to participate.

Things didn't go smoothly at first, of course. There were hardly any good-for-nothings in the Chamber of Commerce who knew right from wrong. One group came to Ambrina crying, while the other group used every trick in the book.

To put it in my own words, it's like a group of people coming over crying out that our ancestors shed blood for the founding emperor, that our ancestors made contributions to the restoration of the dynasty for the founding emperor, that we are all old Paris Plain White Banner people, and that Your Majesty, please open your eyes and give us, these die-hard peasants, a way to survive!

Another group concocted a drama of "ghost soldiers borrowing grain and fire dragons burning the granary," and the assets? Don't ask, they were just given to the devil.

However, these old men forgot one thing: Ambrina, this "Empress," was anything but wise. From then on, the monarch stopped holding court in the mornings, and the government was now controlled by Ronan, this "femme fatale."

A way out? Of course there is a way out. Being a dog gives you a way out. Dogs, after all, are supposed to bite people, and they have to bite whoever their owner tells them to.

Demons? If it's a demon, then we need to ask a professional to identify it. Anyone in the unit mentioned as having demons should undergo an exorcism.

How does the church perform exorcism? By burning you at the stake, pouring holy water into your mouth, piercing you from your anus to your throat, locking you in a red-hot bronze urn, and smashing your limbs and hanging them on the wall.

As for certain capitalists and even nobles who took over "bad assets" in advance.

That's relatively easy. First, confiscate their property, then behead them. It's that simple.

After these three key steps, the liquidation and assessment process went smoothly.

Now, a specially established Royal Chamber of Commerce Asset Sale Committee has been formed, with members including officials from the Ministry of Finance, people drawn from other relevant departments, professionals from third-party consulting firms, and senior executives and key personnel from several banks involved in this sale.

The Ministry of the Interior should have also been involved and played a supervisory role, but Ronan had Dinia find an excuse to avoid it.

At that moment, Dinia was sitting on the sofa at home, and Ronan was sitting on the carpet in front of her.

"You'd better watch out, these people have already learned the tricks you're using."

Dinia said she was fully aware of Ronan's "fishing" plan, but she also knew that today's bureaucrats were different from before. They had learned Ronan's "legal" methods of corruption, and it was difficult to find corresponding crimes in the current legal provisions, so it was difficult to arrest them legally.

"Heh, just arrest them on other charges first, and then let them confess their crimes themselves."

As he spoke, Ronan lifted Dinia's leg with one hand and raised his wine glass with the other.

The glistening liquid was poured onto Dinia's long legs, which were encased in flesh-colored, silky stockings. Normally, most liquid would have soaked through and wet the surrounding area, but the magic prevented this. Instead, the liquid formed a stream and flowed down her thigh. Although the stockings felt smooth and delicate to the touch, they weren't actually like that. The flow, which should have been irregular, was instead shaped by the magic into a straight line, from her thigh to her knee, then past her knee to her calf, and finally over her instep, where it condensed into a puddle of liquid at her toes.

Ronan lifted Dinia's feet with both hands and took a sip of the wine.

Dinia found it hard to describe her feelings at that moment. She didn't like these strange and unusual ways of playing, and deep down she was also somewhat repulsed by Ronan's extreme obsession with her body. But seeing Ronan, the man who led the entire kingdom's high-ranking officials around like sheep, kneeling in front of her, she still felt a strange sense of pleasure.

Ronan got up and pressed himself against her. With Dinya's cooperation, he took off her turtleneck sweater, ripped off her bra, and her large, white breasts sprang out. Ronan grabbed the breasts, which were too big for his hands to fully enclose, and sucked on the nipples.

Dinia tilted her head back, closed her eyes, and gently tapped her teeth together.

Soon, her nipples became erect from being sucked, and Dinia involuntarily wrapped her arms around the back of Ronan's neck.

Ronan released one hand and began to move it downwards, slipping it inside the pantyhose and rubbing the plump, tender flesh through the underwear. Soon, fluid seeped out. Ronan pulled aside the underwear, inserted two fingers, and began to move them in and out rapidly. More and more fluid appeared, gradually soaking the crotch of the pantyhose. The crotch of the originally lustrous, silky pantyhose was now a light brown color from the water.

Dinia sensed it and patted Ronan on the back, signaling him to get started.

Ronan, however, kept talking but his hands simply pulled down his pants and rubbed his penis against something without actually penetrating it.

Dinia opened her eyes. "Don't even think about me giving you oral sex first."

"Then I won't go in," Ronan pouted like a little boy.

"Heh." Dinia sneered, one hand pressed against Ronan's back, and the entire hand suddenly turned into countless red fungus-like aggregates, like a large tentacle formed by countless fine tendrils. The tendrils grew further, completely locking Ronan's limbs.

With her other hand, Dinia grabbed Ronan's already hard and swollen member and shoved it inside, the entire thing sliding in instantly.

Immediately, Dinia pushed Ronan onto the sofa and mounted him, starting to move.

“Uh, oh, ah, you cheated,” Ronan said.

Dinia's hands had returned to their original position, pressing down on Ronan's two pectoral muscles. "What cheating? You've ridden me so many times, I'm going to ride you once."