The officials of the Kingdom of Muxi have recently been surprised to find that a strange old man is always standing next to King Todd, whether in meetings or during reports.
He wore a simple yet well-fitting formal suit, and his mustache was neatly groomed. His demeanor and temperament left a deep impression.
No matter the occasion, this old man named Emerson never offered any opinion on anything, nor did he ever show any expression of agreement or disagreement; he simply stood there observing and listening.
After making inquiries from various sources, people finally learned the old man's identity—the former Minister of the Interior of the Silver Ring.
However, King Todd bestowed upon the old man an unheard-of position—Chief Privy Councillor.
In the king's vision, the Privy Council, though nominally an advisory body, actually served as the central administrative body.
Under the direct control of the King, the Privy Council formulates laws, holds supreme judicial power, and presides over the highest court. The Chief Privy Councilor is the King's assistant in the first seat of office and acts only according to the King's will.
What puzzled Todd was that after Emerson was appointed Chief Privy Councilor, he only attended meetings and events, but did not take any substantive action.
Todd asked the old man more than once for his advice on the future direction of the kingdom.
The other party always replied with the same sentence: "Your Majesty, I am untying the knot in the yarn, please wait a little longer."
Fortunately, the wait didn't last long.
On the tenth day of Emerson's reign, the old man walked into the king's room carrying a roll of paper.
As Emerson laid out sheet after sheet of white paper on the ground, curious Todd leaned closer and examined it carefully for a while.
The white paper was covered with countless names written in tiny characters, with a long note below each name. The names were connected by horizontal lines, and various relationships were written above the lines.
Todd read aloud one of the descriptions: "Elijah, a native of the Eastern Holy City, is currently a professor of civil engineering, bridge construction, and painting at the Muxi Academy. He studied at the Royal Academy of Taylor for seven years before leaving the capital to pursue further studies..."
Todd looked at Elijah's diagram again, and there were many familiar names connected to him: Master Terence, Ulysses, Dion... and these people were all surrounded by a "great circle" called the "Emerald Society".
Emerson pointed to the contents of the paper and said to Todd, "There's a saying that goes, the strongest fortresses often collapse from within. As a monarch, the first thing you must do is understand your subjects."
“As you can see, these are all people with positions or power in the Kingdom of Muxi.” Emerson found a cushion, sat cross-legged on it, and pointed to the names on the map, saying, “They have different experiences and backgrounds, but they have a common alliance in terms of interpersonal relationships and shared interests.”
Emerson lightly pointed to a few names with his pen: 'Ratchel,' 'Terrence,' 'Cumberland,' and 'Mary,' and said, 'In the city of Twilight, from the perspective of the balance of power and factional will, we can roughly divide ourselves into four factions. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to them as the 'Heterodox Faction,' 'Scholar Faction,' 'Military Faction,' and 'Old Aristocratic Faction.'
"The so-called 'Alien Faction,' as the name suggests, is an alliance of alien races. Due to long-term oppression and persecution, this faction appears exceptionally united. Although their numbers constitute the smallest proportion in the entire Twilight City, their influence in the kingdom is the highest due to their supernatural abilities. The faction leader is Rachel. For some reason, she has a particularly hostile attitude towards the Scholar Faction. Perhaps it is because their race was once subjected to human experiments and supernatural training by the Elders under the guise of academic research, which has caused her current aversion."
"The Scholars' Faction—this is perhaps the fastest-growing force in the Kingdom of Muxi. With members of the 'Emerald Society' and the faculty and students of Muxi Academy, the total number of members in this faction is conservatively estimated to exceed one thousand! One thousand scholars! Your Majesty, this is truly a rare spectacle, and it's no wonder that more and more people are calling Muxi City the 'City of Scholarship'! The scholars' alliance is relatively loose; due to differences in disciplines, directions, and theories, the faction can be further subdivided into dozens of smaller factions. The faction leader is Terence, an academic giant of the Royal Academy of Tero, with students in every country on the continent. Having experienced the tragedy perpetrated by the Church, he is more inclined to fight for the right to academic freedom."
"The military faction, led by Cumberland, that loudmouth. They have the largest number of members in Twilight City. Everyone in the army or guards belongs to this faction, and in a sense, I belong to it too. Under Cumberland's leadership, the loyalty of the military faction is beyond question, but it is inevitable that people from other factions are interspersed within the faction."
"Finally... the old aristocracy..."
Emerson pointed to Queen Mary's name with his pen, paused for a long while, and finally said in a low voice, "Mary... as the former queen of the Silver Ring Kingdom, she has close ties with the refugee nobles of the Silver Ring Kingdom, both in terms of connections and social standing. However, Your Majesty, you need not worry; she has not done anything excessive. On the contrary, she has been actively persuading those former nobles to invest their gold and silver in the industries of Twilight City, such as the commercial street, wool workshops, glass factories, and the port. Those former nobles who followed her advice have all made a fortune. I heard that she is currently planning a textile factory..."
"The old aristocracy may be the smallest of the four factions, and their organization is the loosest, mostly communicating through parties and dinners. But they are also the wealthiest of the four factions, and their influence can be seen in commerce, trade, transportation and manufacturing."
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