Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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"Alright, let's stop here." Ronan was also exhausted.

In the afternoon, Ronan arrived at the rehabilitation center.

After letting Noodles' two brothers, who were still alive, leave, Ronan sat down in front of Noodles.

This was the second time Noodles had seen his idol since he regained consciousness, and he was still very excited. Last time, Ronan had only greeted him briefly before leaving.

“You’re recovering well,” Ronan said.

Noodles tried to get up, but Ronan gestured for him to stop, so he lay down and replied, "Yes, Your Excellency Marquis."

“You saved Lucien’s life, and I want to thank you,” Ronan added.

"No, I didn't. Your Highness was saved because of those two. Moreover, I was more focused on creating opportunities for Your Highness by risking injury," Noodles quickly explained, indicating that he didn't actually intend to risk his life to save Lucien.

“That’s not important. I said you were kind to him, and that’s it.” Ronan’s tone was unquestionable. “In short, to repay this kindness, I’ll give you two choices. First, I’ll clean up your past, find a minor nobleman to adopt you, and send you to a school in the capital. If you work hard enough, you can easily become a civil servant.”

"Secondly, I'll give you some money and send you to a coastal city. There are many opportunities there, but it will really test your skills."

After Ronan finished speaking, he looked at Noodles and noticed a slight surprise on the face of the fourteen-year-old boy, but not a strong one.

“It seems you had some idea,” Ronan said.

"Yes, but I didn't expect it to be like this."

Noodles admitted that he felt Ronan would definitely make some arrangements for him. He had been thinking about how Ronan would deal with him these past two days, but he guessed that Ronan would give him a sum of money and send him far away.

However, an idol is an idol, and his thoughts are beyond the comprehension of a dirty thug like him.

After hesitating for a long time, Noodles finally mustered up his courage and spoke his mind, "Can I suggest one myself?" He didn't want to keep the capital, nor did he want to go to the coast and follow the old path.

"Speak," Ronan urged him.

“I want to join the army,” Noodles said.

"Hahahaha." Ronan laughed out loud, but after laughing, his face darkened. "You are very cautious, but your ambition is not small."

The noodles were stunned by those words. Had they been seen through?

Ronan patted him on the shoulder. "Sure, Northern Legion, earn merit, and then come back as an officer, right? However, we can only arrange for you to attend a military training course and then become a regular soldier."

"I knew I'd been seen through," Noodles thought to himself.

“That’s settled then. You won’t have a chance to back out.” Ronan said, standing up. “Once you’ve fully recovered, someone will make arrangements for you. As for your two brothers, they can come along too.”

After saying that, Ronan left.

In the following days, the two boys changed. Lucien was no longer so averse to history class, and even started reading on his own, asking questions in class, although they were all naive, but at least he was no longer so arrogant.

Ina has been running around less frequently and still sneaks into Lucien's history classes, but she still finds ways to skip etiquette and art classes. It seems she has no hope of becoming a lady.

Chapter 468 "The Anti-Luo Rally": They Can't Just Kill Him Through Insults, the Key to the Election

That's about it for now regarding the issue of children's education.

Ronan returned to his daily political duties and the affairs of the prime ministerial election.

On this day, a group of nobles held a "de-Luo conference" at Baron Renn's house.

Baron Renn was a typical wealthy nobleman with a fiefdom, living in the capital. His house was a large villa with dozens of rooms and two large courtyards. The rooms were luxuriously decorated and filled with valuable collections and furnishings. He had dozens of servants, including maids, gardeners, cooks, coachmen and all sorts of miscellaneous servants. He had only a few legitimate children, but a large number of mistresses and illegitimate children.

At this moment, Baron Renn's clothes appear to be the same as the ones he wore while playing cards last night, but upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that they are not the same.

That's just how nobles are; their clothes may look the same, but they've actually been changed.

“Ronan went too far this time. We only made a few suggestive requests, and he killed the Earl of Champagne and my brother, and then forced us to vote for Egis.”

Baron Renn complained.

His fiefdom was in Rennes, and he was the first person to "exchange land for shares," one of the first beneficiaries of Ronan's policies, getting rich among the richest. However, he was also the mastermind behind this conspiracy.

In the Kingdom of Fas, there are two main types of nobles: counts and barons. The differences between counts and barons are greater than the differences between a person and a dog.

For three hundred years, successive monarchs have been weakening the nobility, each with their own outrageous measures. Now, there are only a few dukes and a few marquises.

The title of duke is not an honorary title given to members of the royal family, such as the Duke of Loire, or it is a transitional title before the crown prince ascends the throne, without any real fiefdom.

Marquis, on the other hand, is a functional title, specifically given to a very few individuals who hold important positions on the border and need to wield significant military and political power.

Dukes and marquises would naturally not attend such events.

As for counts, some of them were actually dukes before. Aquitaine, Brittany, and Lorraine were all dukes before being forced to become counts. Although their fiefdoms were extremely small compared to the countdoms of the feudal era, they were still among the most powerful nobles in the kingdom.

They didn't want to come, but as election committee members, they held a vote and had no choice but to.

Many of the other earls, who were originally earls, are now so destitute that they don't even own a piece of land and are left with only empty titles. They usually rely on their privileges and connections to freeload. They came to this grievance meeting purely to join in the fun and, incidentally, to get a free meal.

Viscount? There's no such thing as a viscount in the kingdom.

Then there are the barons, including Baron Renn, who was an earl hundreds of years ago and still has a considerable fiefdom.

These "capitalist barons" are the masterminds behind this incident.

There were also some barons, who were military nobles appointed by Lawrence to the magicians who helped him quell the rebellion. Although called military nobles, they were actually small estate owners and village chiefs who "passed down their skills through farming and swordsmanship." Compared to the "capitalist barons," they were all poor, but they were the backbone of the country.

"Yes, yes, Ronan went a bit too far. We just wanted to do our part for the country."

"He not only refused to let me, but he also killed someone."

"It's one thing to kill people, but to destroy their spirit as well, insisting that the Earl of Champagne and his family committed suicide and even forging a suicide note."

"Moreover, the two fake wills implied that the earls were responsible. Is there no justice or law left?"

The barons first echoed Baron Renn, then criticized Ronan, and finally turned their attention to the several heavyweight earls present, especially Earl Marcus of Lorraine, who was the one who could talk to Ronan the most.

Marcus simply smiled. "After all that talk, should we vote for that lady, or not?"

One question, and everyone fell silent.

“There are no free lunches in this world. I can understand that you want to participate in politics, but now that you all have money, and you still want to participate in politics, are you Ronan, are you His Majesty the King? Can you allow that?” Marcus questioned. “Unless you are willing to give up your shares in state-owned enterprises, state-owned enterprises, and municipal enterprises.”

"On what grounds?"

"That's right, we got this in exchange for our fiefdom."

“Our family has been lords for generations. We were nobles when the Freigo family was still feeding pigs in the Black Forest.”

"The Freigo family are just savages from that rotten place in the Black Forest. They're not French at all. What are they?"

A group of barons were shouting and their insults were getting more and more outrageous.

If you curse him day and night, will you be able to kill Ronan with your words?

Marcus felt an immense headache coming on. He suddenly realized it wasn't surprising at all that Ronan dared to distribute state-owned enterprise shares to these people. This group of insatiable yet incompetent good-for-nothings couldn't possibly cause any trouble, and their descendants, who would simply sit back and collect money through these shares, would only become more useless.

Sooner or later, they'll all fall into Ronan's hands, and they'll have to give up all their shares. In the end, all they'll have left is a noble title, nothing else.

Marcus felt it was time to plan a break, sacrificing his incompetent teammates to ensure his family's wealth for generations to come; it shouldn't be a big problem.

Meanwhile, in the Interior Minister's office, Dinia was also discussing the conspiracy that had taken several days to unfold with Ronan.

“Pierre and William the Elder competed with me for the position of Prime Minister. There was an element of power struggle, but it was more of a struggle over political direction, in order to realize our respective political ambitions.”

"These nobles are simply after more profit."

“I know that desires are endless, but they already have more wealth that can be passed down, so what are they fighting for? Don’t they understand the risks of fighting for power at this time? Don’t they understand how serious the consequences would be if they failed to win? I understand that penniless commoners and newly rich merchants risk their lives to fight for power, but they are nobles with hundreds of years of heritage. I really can’t understand it.”

Dinia was furious. She had already compromised to this extent, and these people still wanted to challenge her bottom line.

"You really don't understand?" Ronan asked rhetorically.

Dinia fell silent at the question, then sighed deeply before speaking again after a long while, "Exploitation without the protection of power is fragile, isn't it?"

“Isn’t it clear, Madam Minister?” Ronan said with a smile.

"But can't they use the resources they have to create and expand their wealth? Their knowledge, financial resources, and connections far exceed those of ordinary people. Instead of thinking about innovation and progress, they try every means to establish a solid system of exploitation," Dinia questioned.

“Because exploitation is easier than starting a business,” Ronan replied, followed by another reactionary statement: “The highest form of business is the most primitive form, which is collecting rent and lending money. Neither of these can last long. Isn’t the so-called state also collecting rent and lending money?”

Dinia clenched her fist. "I'll deal with these bastards when I have some free time."

"Take it slow, the key right now is the second round of elections," Ronan said calmly, pointing out the main point.

By a twist of fate, Dinia managed to secure the nobles' votes, and she was only evenly matched with old William.

The key to the outcome of this election rested on the shoulders of the church and the magician representatives.

It's that time of year again for the traditional exchange of favors, and Ronan has to handle these things personally.

Chapter 469 The First Round Ends with Surprises: The Church's "Advanced Nature"

The first round of elections took place in November.

Unsurprisingly, Commerce Minister Pierre was ousted.

Dinya's votes and old William's votes were roughly split 50/50, and Pierre barely got any votes.

Although the ballot pattern is not visible, everyone can guess what it is. In the next round, the outcome will depend on the representatives of the church and the magician.

Old William had already decided on a strategy in advance.

First, try to get the magicians' representatives, or more precisely, the principal of the magic academy, to choose neutrality, that is, to abstain from voting.

Old William wasn't very skilled in magic, and despite his advanced age, he had little interaction with the magical world, making it difficult for wizards to side with him. His base of support was in the agricultural sector, but he couldn't offer any real benefits; all he could do was make empty promises, but even those promises were unrealistic.

The ideal outcome would be to keep them neutral and prevent Dinia from taking all the magicians' votes.

Second, we must do everything we can to win over the archbishop.

Since the system of electing a prime minister was established, the church's votes have been largely unanimous, meaning that the four leaders of the church basically vote for the same person.

Winning over the archbishop is roughly equivalent to winning four votes.

Although old William was not much better at religion—in fact, in the kingdom, only the impious and the very impious could become ministers—it should be said that the only types of people who could become ministers were those who were not devout.

However, when it comes to the church, making empty promises is still relatively easy.

However, it's not so convenient in Dinia.

The reason is that Dinia's relationship with the church is rather delicate.

Nearly twenty years ago, Dinia returned to the capital as a hero of the kingdom. At that time, the late King Lucien planned to cultivate her because Dinia came from a respectable background, having come from the Igis orphanage. She had no relatives or even many friends. She was strong, being a fifth-tier individual at the time, which put her among the most outstanding people in the kingdom. Most importantly, she was ideologically sound, a staunch reformer who did not believe in religion and did not identify with the nobility.

But immediately a bunch of people started smearing her, and the church was one of them. Of course, the church would never admit to such a thing.

After Dinia was stripped of all her public office, the church baptized her again and appointed her as an apologist.

Does this mean the feud is over? It's hard to say.

Given Dinia's current status, if she, as an apologist, makes promises to the church but fails to deliver on them, she will be in serious trouble.

If you don't dare to make empty promises, how can you engage in insider trading?

"The advantage is mine."

Old William said this in a private gathering.

But a few days later, old William was dumbfounded.

Because Dinia's status as an apologist was revoked, or more accurately, replaced.

Although the title of Apostle is actually an honorary one, it is given by the Church to certain magicians who have a lot of face, so that these magicians can give the Church face in certain situations.

However, in name, apologists are also members of the church, and they are officially employed with limited positions.

The new apologist is said to be the younger brother of the Grand Master of the Knights of the Apostles. It's a mystery how an old man who is almost eighty years old, whose father has been dead for almost twenty years, suddenly has a long-lost brother who has just turned twenty.

But if the Grand Master of the Knights says so, then so be it, after all, he's a sixth-rank knight.

Besides, the younger brother and older brother didn't look exactly alike when they were young; they were practically identical. Both had light brown hair, grayish-brown eyes, high noses, long faces, large jaws, small mustaches, and double chins—handsome men.

Now that Dinia is free from the burden of being the patron saint, she may even be able to get the vote from the Grand Master of the Knights.

Think this is over?

That wasn't all. Ronan then donated a sum of money to the church, along with a series of patented technologies.

This money naturally ended up in the hands of the archbishop's assistant.

He is the Archbishop's assistant, not just the Archbishop's assistant; he still has a vote.

This prompted William's faction to erupt in anger. "So what if they have a little money? Does money give them the right to do whatever they want? And the church? Can't they be a little more honest? How dare they call themselves Protestants? What's the difference between them and those heretics who collect tithes and sell indulgences?"

William's faction feels that when they close their eyes now, all they see is darkness, and within that darkness is a large "danger".

With no other option, William's faction had to turn to lobbying the magician's representative.

Although Ronan knew Stefan and Ussel, those two old men had long since withdrawn from worldly affairs and could not influence the voting.