Chapter 164: Imperial Meeting·Part 1
After a short interlude, the Imperial Meeting was finally officially held.
The first topic of the meeting was, not surprisingly, the issue of post-war disposal of the three countries that had surrendered.
“For France and other countries, I suggest adopting a gentle policy. Our country’s main goal now is to deal with the coming cold winter, and we do not have too much energy to devote to the post-war disposal of the three countries, so It is a good choice to adopt a gentle policy to reduce unnecessary troubles." A middle-aged knight wearing a knight's uniform spoke first. While speaking, he also cast a disapproving look in the direction of Purficott: "In addition, treating the three countries that have surrendered kindly is also an act in line with the spirit of chivalry. We have already caused such horrific killings, and we should not add unnecessary persecution to the innocent people of the three countries now."
What he proposed It was obviously not very popular, and there was a lot of opposition before the words were finished.
"That is the vice-president of the Knights Association. The Knights Association has expressed great dissatisfaction with your actions this time. It believes that massacring civilians is an evil act that violates the spirit of chivalry. It even wants to persuade the church to conduct a religious trial on you and require all The knight refuses to be loyal to you." Princess Anne sat next to Perfectcott and introduced her in a low voice.
"They are either mentally ill or have ulterior motives." Purficott didn't care about this, and at the same time he could see at a glance that their purpose was not this at all.
Let the church judge itself? This is not the era of the Dark Middle Ages, when the power of the church is greater than the power of the king. To conduct a religious trial on a nobleman with real power in the empire is an extremely serious provocation to the king's power.
If the Knights Association and the Church really do this, the entire Victoria aristocracy will be extremely dissatisfied with it.
And to be honest, we are already in the steam age, and we are still using the outdated tactics of the feudal era. I really think that religious trials and guild bans can have any impact on a powerful noble in the empire. Can't keep up with the times.
Regarding Purfict's comments, Princess Anne smiled noncommittally and did not care about the wantonness of Purfict's words.
The Knights Association did have a decisive influence within the empire in the past, but with the rise of the Industrial Revolution and military reform, today's Knights Association has long been different from what it used to be, and its influence is not as good as before.
The reason why they are still allowed to participate in the imperial meeting is because a skinny camel is bigger than a horse, and the group of knights controlled by the Knights Association still has a considerable proportion in the imperial army.
As for their political demands and actions against Purficott, in Princess Anne's view, they are just seeking interests and enhancing their own voice.
Based on all the things that happened in the empire during this period, it is not difficult to judge that the core they are targeting is not Purficott, but the Steam Knight she invented.
After all, steam knights are still called knights, and those who use steam knight armor are still knights in the past. In a sense, the Knights Association's desire to bring steam knights under their management is a reasonable and compliant request.
But obviously, it is impossible for the empire to hand over such a heavyweight armed force to an association for management.
In fact, for the empire, the Steam Knight can only be directly subordinate to the military department, and it is unlikely that it will even be controlled by the royal family.
This is not to say that the royal family cannot control the army, but that the current political structure of the Victoria Empire no longer allows the royal family to control too much military power.
There are a few knights loyal to the royal family and a part of the royal guards directly affiliated with the royal family to ensure the safety of the royal family, which is the maximum that all parties can accept. This is also the prerequisite for various local lords to be willing to hand over their military power during the military reform. It cannot be said that the royal family has taken back all their military power, and then the royal family still controls absolute force. Wouldn't the nobles become lambs to be slaughtered?
So the army nominally belongs to the country, and even the imperial power cannot override the country.
This is also a new idea formed after the industrial revolution. Some people even think that the country does not need the royal family. The so-called aristocrats are just worms in the country, so the French royal family next door was overthrown. things.
The royal family of Victoria is naturally worried about the same thing happening, but it is obviously impossible to rely on the military to suppress it.
So there was a compromise between the imperial power, the nobility, and the emerging bourgeoisie, and the gradual transfer of imperial power formed a new power structure similar to a constitutional monarchy.
However, the royal family still holds a considerable degree of power and considerable influence, so Victoya's imperial power is still very stable.
The nobility and the emerging bourgeoisie were also happy to demarcate their respective spheres of influence. The traditional military aristocrats poured into the military, while the court aristocrats and the emerging bourgeoisie were competing for various political rights, while the imperial power Dominate all parties from above.
Under this power structure, it is really a fantasy for the Knights Association to gain control of the Steam Knights.
Even before the vice-president of the Knights Association had time to put forward his real proposal, a military boss immediately sprayed him in the face, and even the civilian group on the side sent representatives. He ridiculed the Knights Association and almost vomited blood after being so angry.
Of course this is normal. After all, if Perficott could see through it at a glance, how could he hide it from these old foxes present?
Who doesn’t know what the Knights Association is planning? They had already wanted to interfere with the military's formation of the Steam Knights before.
It’s just that the military and civil servants have long agreed on this, and they didn’t give the Knights Association any chance.
They have hit a wall, and now they have the opportunity to try to pin the matter on Purficott and get a breakthrough from her. How can things go as they want?
If they really follow their ideas, then Perfectcott, who has made great contributions to the country, will suddenly become very embarrassed. Losing his reputation is a trivial matter. The key is that he can't hurt you with these guys. I'm disgusted. Keeping Perficott tied up with this matter will only make her restrained and ultimately affect the entire northern development plan.
If nothing else, before the empire announces the end of the world, neither Purficott nor the imperial government will carry out immigration operations in a big way. At most, they can only encourage and call on the locals to make life difficult. Those who went down went to the north to explore.
If the Knights Association really persuaded the church to deliberately tarnish Perfectikt's reputation and pin the name of the massacre on Perfectikt's head, it would inevitably affect those who went to the north to pioneer.
After all, no one wants to work under a murderous devil.
(End of this chapter)