Hearing the loud noise from underground, Huggins rushed over with his guards.
As they waved to disperse the acrid smoke, they groped their way forward through the dust and smog. A few minutes later, Huggins saw the disheveled king slowly emerge from the underground laboratory.
He opened his eyes wide and exclaimed, "Your Majesty, what has happened?!"
Leaning against the lab door, Todd dusted himself off, coughed twice from the smoke, and looked at his tattered, smoke-stained clothes. He shook his head and smiled wryly, "It's a long story. Anyway, have the guards seal off the scene first. Also, don't touch any of the reagents or samples inside! I'm going to get some sleep. We'll talk about it when I wake up."
Back in his palace, Todd quickly washed himself with water brought by a servant, and, exhausted, lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.
When he woke up again, it was already nine o'clock the next morning. The warm winter sun shone through the door, bringing warmth into the room and the sound of Hudgens outside.
"Your Majesty, if you are awake, please come to the council chamber. Today is the weekly meeting of the kingdom, and the officials are waiting to report to you on state affairs."
Shaking his groggy head, Todd grumbled about the king's arduous life as he mustered all his strength to climb off the warm, cozy bed.
Thirty minutes later, in the King's Council Chamber.
Dressed impeccably, Todd sat at the head of the long table, holding the report handed to him by Emerson. The more he read, the more alarmed he became: "Has the famine in Holy Guard City really gotten this bad?!"
Faced with the king's question, Emerson put on his newly fitted crystal glasses and, while referring to the data in the report, said, "According to the head of the delegation, Gordon, the famine in Holy Guard City has pushed the entire kingdom to the brink of collapse. Even the royal family has drastically reduced their daily rations, not to mention the nobles and commoners."
"In the past two years, as one of the conditions for participating in the war, the food and supplies of Holy Guard City have all come from the church. It is precisely because they no longer have to worry about logistics that they have recruited and transferred a large number of young and strong men from the farmland and focused their main efforts on combat."
Emerson sighed helplessly as he arrived at this point: "The farmland has been left unattended and turned into wasteland; the national treasury has become empty due to the war. The people of Holy Guard City have always believed that the outcome of this war will be the same as hundreds of years ago. The church's allied forces will defeat the barbarians, and all participating parties will receive a large share of the spoils. But no one has considered what will happen to the kingdom if it is defeated or turns into a meaningless tug-of-war."
Todd put down the report in his hand and asked, "Isn't it obvious that Holy Guard City is facing a food shortage and has not considered asking the Papal States for help?"
Cumberland crossed his arms and said in a muffled voice, “They did it. They did it before the war was over. Not only did they ask for help, the Holy Guard delegation went to the Pope and loudly proclaimed that their kingdom had paid a heavy price in this war and deserved the reward it was due.”
Todd gave Cumberland a questioning look: "So, the Papal States have agreed to reward them?"
The old knight snorted: "The Pope bestowed upon them a holy hymn and agreed to transfer the Silver Ring City Tribunal to the Holy Guard City as a reward for their participation in the war."
Todd suddenly realized that this was how the document awarding the territory of Silver Ring City to the Holy Guard City's Holy Ministry came about. But upon closer reflection, he couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time at this so-called "reward."
Imagine this: the kingdom is already starving, and at this critical juncture, its allies refuse to provide food or money, offering only a banner praising their "righteous act," and then dumping a mess on them.
Anyone would be furious in that situation.
Emerson added at this point: "It was precisely because of this 'interlude' that a rift appeared in the relationship between the Holy City and the Papal States. In the later stages of the war, there were instances of disobeying military orders between the two sides. In the end, the Holy City even withdrew from the war ahead of schedule, which was also an indirect reason why the barbarian army was able to escape with the treasure."
Todd tapped his finger on the table and continued, "What's the current situation in Holy Guard City?"
Emerson picked up the three silver water glasses on the table, turned them upside down, first placed two glasses side by side, and then placed the third glass on top of the bottom of the first two glasses, forming a "品" shape.
Emerson explained, "The nobles of Holy Guard City are divided into three different factions with differing opinions on how to resolve the food crisis."
Pointing to the two cups below, Emerson said, “There is a faction that hopes to negotiate with the Church and is even willing to cede part of the kingdom’s interests if necessary to obtain its assistance. Let’s call this faction the ‘Church Faction’. The other faction hopes that the country can break free from the Church’s influence, obtain relative autonomy, and negotiate with other powers to solve the food crisis. Let’s call this faction the ‘Independence Faction’.”
Emerson tapped the bottom of the top cup with the knuckle of his middle finger, pondered for a moment, and said to Todd, "The last faction, they are neither biased towards the church nor willing to take the risk of independence, they only obey the orders of the King of the Holy City, they are the so-called 'King's Faction'."
"The current relationship between these three factions is as follows: the 'King's Faction' is in control of the 'Church's Faction' and the 'Independence' Faction. The latter two are evenly matched and are seeking assistance from all sides for their respective political views. Gordon, who is on a mission to the Kingdom of Muxi this time, is from the 'Independence' Faction. The 'King's Faction has neither opposed nor supported this mission; they are simply observing how things develop."
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