Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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Nine years ago, a large number of people abstained in the second round, resulting in a tie between Alexander and the candidate who had gained a huge advantage in the first round. Then, the late King Lucien directly chose Alexander.

However, King Lucien did not expect that Alexander, whom he had manipulated into becoming prime minister, would not be the obedient prime minister he had imagined. He was only slightly better than his predecessor, not so much so that he would oppose him in every way and put on a lecturing act, even though the previous prime minister was indeed Lucien's teacher in a certain sense.

The month from October to November is roughly the time for campaigning.

The kingdom's officials work five days a week. On Saturdays, departments only have shifts, and on Sundays, as religious holidays, they are completely off work. Unless there is an emergency, no one will come to work.

In addition to the four regular Sundays off in October, there are three holidays, which together give a five-day holiday. In other words, officials have nine days off this month when they are completely off work.

These nine days of full holidays are enough for candidates to throw parties and campaign for votes.

It can only be said that the Kingdom is indeed a Frankenstein's monster country that is both feudal and centralized, both democratic and autocratic.

At this moment, Ronan, Dinia, and the rest of his party were all present at Ronan's manor.

As a marquis, Ronan naturally had a manor, but he never lived there. He had a small one in the capital, covering just over 10,000 square meters, and a larger one outside the capital, with a castle, but it had already been rented out to the Ministry of the Interior as a training base.

As for the rent, the Ministry of the Interior is renting his own private land, so the amount is naturally negotiable.

In addition, Ronan licensed various patented technologies he held to state-owned enterprises that were subject to the supervision of the Bureau of Industry and Commerce Security of the Ministry of the Interior. He also leased many of his mechanical equipment, such as new steam engines and spinning machines, to state-owned enterprises. At the same time, Ronan's own consulting firm and contracted some outsourced evaluation business to the Bureau of Industry and Commerce Security.

Otherwise, where would Ronan get the money to buy stockings?

Ambrina was the most frugal queen in history, never spending money recklessly, and she would never give Ronan a single penny of pocket money.

Grand was the first to speak, "Marquis, we have a lot of dirt on Pierre and William, don't we?"

Ronan looked at Cheney, the head of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of the Interior, who had been playing dead for several years but finally surrendered before the change of leadership. "Mr. Cheney, please explain this to our Miss Golan."

Grandland still lacks a certain vision.

In the past, Cheney, who was born into a noble family, preferred to work quietly rather than collude with local officials. He was always an anomaly among the mid-level officials in the aristocratic faction. Later, after joining the Ministry of the Interior, he began to play dead. Not long ago, he gave up his right of succession and transferred it to his younger brother's faction. He was gambling everything and wanted to go further and succeed Dinia as the second minister since the establishment of the Ministry of the Interior.

"More than a hundred years have passed since His Majesty Lawrence improved upon the civil service system established by His Majesty Hollande to create the current system. In these hundred years, there have been more than ten prime ministers and more than ten general elections. To date, there has never been a case of candidates digging up dirt on each other and then attacking each other."

"This is not because the previous candidates were clean, nor because the previous candidates did not want to do it, but because of a tacit understanding among officials."

“If the election competition turns into mutual attacks, then suspicion will exist from the very beginning, and distinct party strife will form from the very beginning, which will shake the entire existing system.”

“The election of a prime minister is fundamentally different from the election of local councilors.”

"Ultimately, it is the centralized civil service that needs a deputy to the king. But if this deputy can be decided by the king, sooner or later it will develop into a situation where the king can change prime ministers at will, just like a child changing toys. At that time, the prime minister himself will be meaningless."

"The rise and fall of a nation depends on one person; I personally find that rather ridiculous."

"However, if the prime minister is elected, the situation will undoubtedly be even worse, because the elected prime minister is no longer a person who is responsible for the whole, but just a mouthpiece who has temporarily taken office. It is terrible if there is no ultimate person in charge in the system. Just like before the end of the republican era of the old empire, there was no ultimate person in charge. The elders talked about national affairs back and forth, and no one took responsibility. In the end, the citizens could not stand it anymore, and so the emperor was born."

"The key to the prime minister is that he cannot be appointed or dismissed arbitrarily by the king, nor can he be elected by the public."

"Therefore, it is unacceptable to use aggressive tactics to disqualify other candidates."

After speaking, Cheney's face showed obvious frustration. He had been pretending to be stupid for several years and had actually become stupid. His long speech was somewhat illogical and unclear. He could only hope that Ronan would not be too disappointed in him.

"Then how do we do it?" Golan asked.

“Just wait,” Elena said.

“That’s right, we can just wait for them to come to us.” Ronan’s old subordinate, “Blind” Seth, who had worked with Elena, chimed in.

“But aren’t we the most disadvantaged party?” asked Abelard, the current director of the Bureau of Industry and Commerce Security and an old friend of Ronan.

If Dinah succeeds in taking office, he will have a chance to become the Minister of Commerce.

Isabel explained, "It's precisely because they're at a disadvantage that they've come to us." After all, she was a former candidate for the throne, so she understood the situation quite well.

Commerce Minister Pierre does not have a clear advantage over Agriculture Minister William.

Pierre's votes largely overlap with those of Dinia, since Ronan controls the Bureau of Commerce and Industry of the Ministry of the Interior and knows many nobles and church people who have large businesses.

His most conventional strategy is to form an alliance with Dinya in the first round, preventing Dinya from poaching his votes, and then the two of them will work together to poach William's votes, thus eliminating him.

Then try to beat Diniya in the second round.

On the other hand, William is aware of this as well, so he will encourage Dinia to get rid of Pierre.

In this way, Dinia simply had to wait for people to come to her.

Chapter 450 Section Chief's Counterattack, Military Transfer Cadre, True Master

Ronan and Dinah were discussing the prime ministerial election, and so were Pierre and Henry.

Pierre Nantes, full name Pierre di Brittany Trigault Fran Nantes, is 56 years old. As you can tell from the "di" in his name, he is a knight, which means he has an honorary title but no land. He was born in the Brittany Academy of Magic and is a magician. His mother was a noblewoman with the surname Fran, and his father was also a noblewoman with the surname Nantes.

And that was indeed the case. His father was a baron, but he himself was the second son without the right of inheritance. In his early years, like most second sons of barons, he was a scoundrel who did all sorts of business, whether it was profitable or not.

He married his cousin at the age of seventeen. Under pressure from his wife, he began to take the civil service exam. Fortunately, he was born in the west, a coastal area with developed industry and commerce. There are many civil service positions in coastal areas, and the city hall recruits people every year. However, Pierre still took the exam for five years before he passed. There was no way around it. Although he was quick-witted, eloquent, and had connections, he was basically guaranteed to pass the interview. However, his academic level was really a bit low.

He was already twenty-two when he became a low-level civil servant in the city hall; Ronan, at twenty-two, was already the secretary general of Wright City, the second-in-command of the region.

After six years of wasting time at the city hall, 28-year-old Pierre was only a section chief under the Commerce and Industry Administration, a "deputy section-level cadre".

But when he was twenty-nine years old, twenty-seven years ago, he happened to meet the then Minister of Foreign Trade, who was on his way to become the governor of the colony and happened to be staying in his area. By chance, he also went to the colony in the New World.

Five years later, Pierre, then thirty-three, returned to his country and took up a post as secretary-general in a city in the south.

This year marked the invasion of the Kingdom of Fas by Weyland and the Empire, and the outbreak of rebellion in the south. It was also the year that Ronan transmigrated and stepped onto the historical stage of this world.

Thanks to his correct alignment and good performance during the rebellion, he was promoted to the state level, serving as the head of a department. Later, he joined the central government, then became the governor, and finally, at the governor's convention six years ago, due to his clear support for the new policies, the new king, and his excellent attitude, coupled with the fact that the original Minister of Commerce had just retired, he became the new Minister of Commerce, a position he holds to this day.

“Minister Nantes, do we really want to ally with that woman? After all, she has the Queen’s support. We might not be able to beat her in the second round. On the contrary, that old man Henry isn’t actually that strong. In the second round, Her Majesty the Queen, including the faction that has already lost, will be more inclined to side with us.”

One of Pierre's trusted lieutenants objected to the alliance with Dinia and provided his analysis.

Pierre nodded, admitting that the other person was right. "But if I don't ally with her, she'll definitely try to poach my votes, since it's easier for her. In that case, I might not be able to get past the first round."

"Gentlemen, actually, I am the one in the worst situation."

Pierre remarked with emotion.

His accomplices also lowered their heads and remained silent, forced to acquiesce to this fact.

Meanwhile, William was also discussing the upcoming election with several former enemies who are now friends.

One is Austin, the soon-to-be-retired Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's Office and a veteran No. 1 Secretary; another is Gary, the Minister of Territory Management who is not retired but is close to retirement; and the third is Adrian, the Director of the Plantation Management Division under the Ministry of Agriculture, with whom he has a close relationship despite their age difference.

The reason William was able to become friends with Adrian was that he was also a "demobilized military officer".

William Amor Rossi Morandi Schneider, now 68 years old, as his surname suggests, his ancestors were from the Will Region. His father was a baron, and he was the eldest son. In his youth, William followed the typical path of an eldest son of a military aristocracy: studying, practicing martial arts, discovering his magical talent, entering a magic academy, graduating, and joining the army.

William was already the captain of a dragoon squad at the age of twenty, with a promising future ahead of him.

However, he was unlucky enough to be thrown from his horse during a retreat, breaking his leg, and was then captured.

Dragoons have horses, and normally if they lose their horses or have broken legs, their men can come and carry them on their way. But the fact is that William was captured.

After being ransomed, William left the army and entered politics.

He became Minister of Agriculture during the later years of King Lucien's reign and has held this position for almost ten years, making him the most senior minister.

“Austin, my friend, could you give me some advice?” asked William, the Minister of Agriculture. He was old, and this was his last chance. If he couldn’t be elected prime minister, he would probably have to retire.

"We can rule out the option of allying with the Minister of the Interior to eliminate Pierre, because you can't beat her in the second round," said Austin, the current First Secretary, with great certainty. "So what we need to do is actually very simple: persuade Pierre not to ally with Dinia. As long as neither of you takes any action, Dinia Egis will be eliminated in the first round without a doubt. On the contrary, if you try to take action, one of you will definitely be eliminated."

"Will he agree?" asked Gary, the Minister of Territory Management.

“This certainly requires some deals.” Austin was quite blunt in private. “Generally speaking, a new prime minister can replace three ministers. You can promise each other that after you two squeeze her out in the first round, whoever wins will let the loser choose a minister.”

Austin paused for a moment, then said, "I think Mr. Adrian can find an opportunity to discuss this matter."

“Me?” Adrian was slightly surprised. He had worked with Ronan before and was once on Isabel’s side. Was it really appropriate for him to talk about this kind of thing?

"Is there a problem?" Secretary Austin asked in return.

Adrian straightened his back, nodded, and answered crisply, "No." Even though he was almost fifty years old after leaving the army, he still hadn't lost the mark the army had left on him.

Austin nodded and looked at Agriculture Minister William. "That's all the advice I can give, my friend."

“That’s enough,” William said.

Austin and Adrian then left, leaving only William and Gary inside.

Austin was brought in as an outside helper, and although Adrian was a friend, he wasn't actually that reliable.

"Are you really comfortable letting Adrian handle this?" Territory Minister Gary asked.

“It’s a good opportunity to give it a try,” William replied. He admired Adrian and, if he came to power, he would need someone like Adrian who understood the new policies.

William was an old-fashioned man. He disliked Ronan and Dinia's brutal approach of "prosperity through compliance and ruin through resistance," but he knew very well that the country's current prosperity was due to the new policies. Anyone who came to power had to appoint officials who knew how to implement new policies, otherwise it would only cause trouble.

“We all still support you, William,” said Territory Minister Gary.

William nodded, but he knew that the support of high-ranking officials alone was not enough.

Chapter 451 Making Moves, Countering Moves, and the Composition of Tickets

With a "pleasant collaboration," the two candidates, Pierre and William the Elder, reached a deal through a liaison.

The first condition for the deal is, naturally, that the two sides form an alliance and try to eliminate Dinya in the first round.

In the second round of the deal, if Commerce Minister Pierre wins, firstly, the Minister of Agriculture will remain William. Secondly, Pierre will give one of the ministerial positions to William, the Minister of Agriculture, to decide. At the same time, the Ministry of Handicrafts and Commerce, currently referred to as the Ministry of Commerce, will be split into the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry, and people from William's party will be appointed as directors of the subordinate departments in these two new departments.

In other words, even if Pierre became prime minister, William would still retain control of agriculture and extend his influence into industry and commerce.

If William the Elder wins, Pierre will remain Minister of Commerce, that is the primary concern. Secondly, William will have to relinquish two ministerial positions.

In other words, William the Elder won, and Pierre and his associates will occupy three ministerial seats, greatly increasing their power.

In a sense, once the deal is finalized, it's a win-win situation regardless of who wins.

A few nights later, a group of people from the Ministry of the Interior came to Ronan's estate again to discuss the election.

After waiting for several days, no one came to the door, which meant that something unexpected had happened.

"It seems the old scoundrel and the old military rogue have formed an alliance," Abelaad said, very bluntly, calling the Minister of Commerce an old scoundrel and the Minister of Agriculture an old military rogue.

Cheney, unlike his previous demeanor, fell silent as he struggled to think of a way to break the deadlock.

He relinquished his inheritance rights and sold some of his shares, using his own interests to exchange for a vote from a noble election committee. With this vote, he joined Ronandinia's party, all so that after Dinia became prime minister, he, as the head of the oversight bureau, could succeed as the Minister of the Interior and accomplish great things. He didn't want to lose, and he couldn't afford to lose.

"Blind" Seth pushed up his glasses. He wasn't that anxious because he was only a year older than Ronan. Even if Dinia lost, she would never lose her position as Minister of the Interior, while Seth's position was still relatively stable, and he still had a lot of room for improvement, unlike Abelard and Cheney.

Moreover, he is still very young; he will be under fifty years old in the next election nine years from now.

He's really not in a hurry.

Dinia glanced at Agustina, who was taken aback. She wasn't good at this kind of thing, so she looked at Elena.

Elena then looked at Ronan and asked, "Should we try to break up their alliance, or should we focus on one of them and beat them to a pulp?"

“We’re all adults, why not have them all?” Ronan asked with a smile.

“I understand.” Cheney suddenly shouted after hearing Ronan’s words, “We’ll go to Pierre’s stronghold to dig up votes. If William doesn’t go all out to help him, a crisis of trust will definitely arise between them. Once a crisis of trust arises, it will be easy to break up their alliance.”

The distribution of votes in the election commission is roughly as follows.

First, regarding the officials, excluding the Military Staff Department, plus the newly added Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Taxation separated from the Ministry of Finance, there are twelve ministries, and each of the twelve ministers holds one vote.

Next up are the meritorious nobles, a total of nine committee members. These nine committee members generally come from the nine great earl families in the country. These earls were once dukes, or you could say they were kings, since the Western Continent Duchy is also a country.

The Seven Saints Church has a total of four tickets.

The biggest difference between the Kingdom of Fas and France in another timeline is that it is a Protestant country, dominated by a sect called the "Justices," which advocates self-enlightenment and self-affirmation through the ideas of the scriptures. The Justices Church is both new and old, and is relatively lenient in its constraints on its members, typical of Protestantism, but like the Old Church, it also has a hierarchical organizational structure.

There's no pope, of course. The highest-ranking official is the archbishop, the leader of the divine, who holds a vote. The archbishop's assistant holds another vote; however, the assistant isn't just an assistant, but the head of a business conglomerate under the church. The Grand Master of the Knights of the Faith holds a vote; the Knights of the Faith are a violent armed group within the church, primarily composed of mages. Finally, the regional bishop of the capital city holds a vote—after all, it's the capital.

There are a total of six votes from the civilian representatives. Four of these votes are held by the principals of the four major magic academies, while the other two votes belong to two other committee members who have generally made significant academic contributions.

It's normal for civilian representatives not to represent the people; nobody finds it strange, since even in a supposedly democratic parliament, there are no civilians.

Finally, there is the king. The king usually has four votes. The reason for using the word "usually" is that the king himself, who represents royal power, only has three votes. The other vote is held by the leader of the mage guild, but unless the leader wants to resign, his vote will not be the same as the king's.

There were a total of thirty-five votes.

“Cheney, that’s a great idea,” Ronan praised, then quickly added, “However, I personally think we should try to get William’s votes, not Pierre’s.”

“Well…” Cheney hesitated for a moment before finally stating his opinion, “It might be a bit difficult to get other ministers to choose a female minister.”

Ronan glanced at Elena, who understood. "That's right. But if we want to get Pierre's votes, it means we have to promise some benefits to the nobles and the church. It's not difficult, but because it involves relatively complex business negotiations, it takes a long time to operate. And if it takes too long, things can easily go wrong."

Ronan shook his head. Elena was right, but her understanding wasn't comprehensive enough. He then looked at Isabel.

Isabel took a deep breath and said, "Winning over William's votes is actually much simpler. His voter base is the ministers. All we need to do is promise not to replace them after we come to power and return a piece of dirt on them. We're not attacking the candidates, nor are we attacking the voters, so it's not against the rules. The key is that this operation is particularly simple and quick; all we need to do is send someone to deliver a message. I imagine that William and Pierre were able to form an alliance in just a few days by trading ministerial positions."

"If they were to make the same promise as us not to change players at this point, their alliance would collapse on its own."

After Isabel finished speaking, she looked at Ronan with a hint of pride.

Ronan nodded in agreement. He could only say that Isabel was indeed his defeated opponent in the battle for the throne, a woman once recognized by a group of young officers and revivalist scholars. Her judgment was exactly the same as his.