Chapter 440 Who Knows How Many Hats You Have (Six Thousand)

Holt, Barumonger.

One dares to speak, the other dares to listen.

These two people are simply a perfect match, a perfect match made in heaven.

Holt didn't even think about it. If he was so awesome, how could he have ended up in such a situation? Although he was talking so well now, did he really care about what would happen to the border? Now Holt sincerely believed that he had put too much energy on the border and neglected the internal control. In order to deceive Barumong, he even deceived himself. Perhaps this is the highest level of deception.

As for Barumong, he had never considered that if Holt was really so shrewd, how could he be easily deprived of the throne by a princess who had no foundation and almost no supporters.

All in all, the two had a very pleasant conversation.

Barumonger had no doubts about Holt.

He thought he had a perfect grasp of Holt's mentality.

Now Holt's biggest goal must be to restore his country, and the only one who can help Holt accomplish this task is himself. This cunning old man will certainly try his best to assist him, and the suggestions Holt puts forward now must be credible.

There is no way, Barumong’s family knows their own business.

In the Douglas royal family, he is the one with the best talent in cultivation. It can even be said that he is the most talented person in the three thousand years since Douglas seized the royal status. However, it seems that he has added all his attribute points to cultivation. His level of dealing with people and manipulating power is completely at the other extreme from his talent in cultivation.

In fact, Barumong's father also hesitated for a long time on the position of king.

Barumong's talent in spiritual practice is so great that it would be a pity for such a powerful member of the royal family not to become king, but on the other hand, people are worried that Barumong's brain might be fooled by the nobles and the church.

In the end, because all of Barumong's other brothers died overnight for inexplicable reasons, with no competitors left, the position of king had to fall on Barumong.

This is similar to what Ashburn did.

But as the saying goes, some things can be seen through but not spoken out. Since there is only one heir left, we can only train him as much as possible. Unfortunately, Barumongge's IQ in handling government affairs is too low, and he is just a piece of cake. Coincidentally, Barumongge has a cousin in the royal family who is naturally intelligent and resourceful. Based on the principle of keeping things within the family, Barumongge's father brought the two together. With this cousin becoming Barumongge's queen, and with Barumongge's own strength, the royal family can guarantee decades of prosperity.

Unfortunately, this princess is the exact opposite of Barumonger. She has no talent for spiritual practice and her life span is just that of a normal person. Even though the royal family has a good living condition, the best healers, and the most sophisticated medicines, they cannot resist their fate.

Just a few years ago, the princess passed away.

Without the princess to give him advice and control, Barumong was like a magic sword without its scabbard. He was completely out of control.

If he is just stupid, that's okay. At least the royal foundation is still there and will not be easily shaken.

It doesn't matter if he is stupid but strong. This strength is enough to guarantee the royal family wealth and prosperity for decades.

But if one is stupid, strong, and suspicious, then it will be a real disaster.

After the death of the princess, Barumong got a disease, which was called: There are always villains who want to harm me! He became more and more arbitrary. No matter who he looked at, he always felt that the guy wanted to seize his throne, especially when he looked at the members of the royal family, each of their eyes seemed to be full of greed.

Once, a nobleman inadvertently mentioned to him that his cousins ​​were very dissatisfied with the throne falling on his head, and that a fool could not be a good king. As a result, within half a year, almost all of his cousins ​​were killed or injured.

Someone else told him, is there any prince in this world who can serve for sixty years?

So he killed his three sons, including the crown prince, in one day.

The throne is his, and no one can take it away.

It was under Barumong's personal massacre that the influence of the royal family continued to decline. Although there were still princes alive, most of the remaining princes were mediocre and incompetent. It was the princesses who had no inheritance rights who survived.

But such a fool who was extremely suspicious of his own son had almost unconditional trust in Holt. The biggest reason for this was that Barumong was convinced that no matter how things developed, Holt would not pose any threat to his throne.

It was just to help Holt restore his country. Barumong didn't mind helping his ally a little. Besides, even if he helped, he couldn't help for free. It wouldn't be too much to charge a little for the reward, right? Granville's territory was so large, so it wouldn't be a problem to cede a little bit, right?

It would be best if this territory could produce black oil.

Both of them had their own ulterior motives. While Barumong was thinking in his mind, he spoke again: "You are right. Now is indeed a good opportunity to get rid of Marcelino. So what do you think we should do?"

Holt smiled leisurely, full of confidence. Compared with the muscular but brainless king in front of him, he, the former king of Granville, really had the capital to be confident: "The church is now divided into two factions, one is Marcelino, and the other is Saint Isabel..."

"What Isabel did has aroused a lot of sympathy in the church. Of course, this sympathy is not easy to transform into real power. In fact, Isabel still does not have much real power in the Church of Nature's Heart. The opposition in the church only pushes Isabel, the saint, out as a facade. At least with this saint in the front, everything they do has a name."

"And Marcelino, although they seem to be in a very bad situation this time, their family has been deeply involved in the church for so many years, and their power is deeply rooted. It is definitely not so easy to overthrow. Although the opposition seems to be very powerful, do you think their turmoil for half a year is of any use?"

"As for Marcelino, apart from his reputation becoming more dirty, his actual power has not suffered any loss."

"In this case, we have to start from four aspects. On the one hand, we should contact the opposition, secretly provide them with strength, and increase their power. It would be best to start from the edge and clip Marcelino's wings little by little. We have to be very careful in this regard and never let Marcelino notice."

"Secondly, we secretly sent people to stir up public opinion. Although the reputations of Marcelino and Achiborn are already bad, it is not enough. The royal family has been fighting against the church for so many years, and they should have a lot of negative information about the church. We will pin all this information on the Marcelino family, so that everyone in the Spang Theocracy will feel sick when they hear the name Marcelino, and will want to rush up and spit at the members of the Marcelino family, or the clergy who are attached to Marcelino. In this way, when we completely eradicate Marcelino in the future, we can avoid a lot of pressure from public opinion, and we can also prevent the nobles from colluding with Marcelino."

"After all, although nobles care about their interests, they also care about their reputation."

"After the second plan is implemented, we can proceed to the third plan. We will find a few civilians or nobles who have been bullied by Marcelino's men, report them to the royal family, and use the public outcry as an excuse to publicly eliminate some of Marcelino's loyal men. On the one hand, we can continue to weaken Marcelino's power, and on the other hand, we can shape the reputation of the royal family. Marcelino will have to endure the loss."

"Fourth, contact Isabel secretly. Isabel is in a miserable situation now. Her original fiancé, Ashbern, hates her for being unfaithful. He sacrificed his body for her, but in the end, he got nothing. Marcelino will never allow his son's wife to be unfaithful. Once Marcelino gains a foothold, he will definitely find a way to expel Isabel. Although the opposition nominally respects Isabel, few people actually care about her. It can be said that this cowardly saint has no one to rely on now."

"As for the royal family, you can stand behind Isabel secretly. You can even arrange for one of your offspring to come into contact with Isabel. It would be best if the two of them could get engaged."

Barumonger frowned immediately: "What a joke, how can the wife of the heir of my Douglas family be a fallen woman, this..."

Holt sneered in his heart.

Still looking down on the withered flowers and withered willows? Come on.

If the nobles and royal families really care about this, would you still be alive?

Those princesses in your harem have accused you of so many things behind your back.

My princess is very playful, how much better do you think you can be?

Of course, the two sides are still in the cooperation stage, so they still have to give Barumong some face. Holt coughed hard and forcibly changed the subject: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to care about these things."

"Think about it, which is more important, the royal family's reputation or the actual power?"

“Although Isabel has no real power, she is still a benchmark and a banner. She has sacrificed so much for the Church of Nature’s Heart. Even if Marcelino can suppress the opposition, it will not be easy to expel Isabel.”

"Once Isabel becomes the princess of a certain prince, there will be a substantial force behind her. With the power of the royal family, you can help Isabel and the opposition suppress Marcelino. Then, through Isabel, you can eliminate the opposition. By then, the royal family and the church will all be under your control. Then, it will be easy to suppress the nobles."

"Once the internal situation is completely stable, you can control the royal family, the nobility, and the church at the same time, and then quell the troubles on the border. Wouldn't it be easy?"

At the same time, he was in charge of the nobility, the church, the royal family... and completely brought the Theocracy of Spang under his control. Holt's words made Barumong's blood boil, his breathing became particularly heavy, and a scarlet light appeared in his eyes.

Greedy, excited, he seemed to have seen the day when he would become the true master.

"That's what I did."

…

The other side.

The Church of Sbon.

Nature's Heart Church Headquarters.

The Papal Palace.

Pope Marcelino Brant had a gloomy expression on his face. The recent events had made him extremely anxious. This was the biggest challenge he had faced since becoming Pope. His eyes swept over Ashburn who was sitting in the lower position, and he felt a surge of anger and even murderous intent in his heart.

In this life, he was ferocious and cruel, suppressing opposition within the church, and his hands were stained with blood, but he did not expect to suffer a major setback in front of his own son.

He originally wanted to transfer the Son of God from Ashburn to his eldest son, but he didn't expect that Ashburn's second son was so cruel that he killed all four brothers.

Especially the fifth child, he is not even ten years old.

The most important thing is that Lao Wu has always had a good relationship with Ashburn, and this bastard who is as cruel as a devil can really do such a thing.

God knows how Marcelino felt after hearing the news. At that moment, he felt dizzy and almost fainted. He wished he could crush Ashburn's head with his own hands.

But in the end, Marcelino could only suppress all his murderous intent. He had no choice but to save his only son...

It's not impossible to retrain the trumpet, but it would take too long, and who can guarantee that the trumpet can be trained into a big one? With Ashburn's viciousness, there is a high probability that the trumpet will die suddenly due to an accident.

Therefore, no matter how unhappy he was, Marcelino had no choice but to protect Ashburn. With his power in the church, it was not difficult for him to protect Ashburn. However, this also caused serious damage to the family's reputation, and his own authority as the Pope began to be questioned.

Compared to Marcelino's rage, the Great Saint Mireya next to him was quite calm. She was not too angry about the death of her sons. After all... those were Marcelino's sons, not her sons.

The mothers of those sons were nuns whom Marcelino had harmed in the church.

It would be best to kill him, she wouldn't feel sad.

Ashburn looked even more relaxed, but unfortunately, his face was covered with scars and pits, so even in his relaxed look, he looked particularly hideous.

"Come on, tell me, what should we do now?" After a long while, Marcelino finally suppressed the murderous intent and anger in his heart and spoke in a gloomy voice. "Recently, the voices against our family in the church have been getting louder and louder. I can still calm them down now, but if things continue to develop like this, I may have to make some concessions."

We can't just kill them all. If we do that, it will inevitably cause disunity.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Ashburn, who had been drinking tea leisurely, finally put down his teacup and smiled with his uneven lips: "Actually, the solution is very simple."

"Divert the trouble to others..."

Marcelino narrowed his eyes as well.

To be honest, if it weren't for what happened this time, Ashburn would really be the best heir to the family.

Compared with his strength, his flexible mind is also very suitable for being a helmsman.

"How?" Marcelino asked.

"It's not that simple. After years of management by our family, the church headquarters has some rebels, but they are ultimately insignificant. Those who dare to clamor for my father to abdicate are basically believers from the branch."

“And now, Barumonger is having a hard time too.”

"You know, the lives of the common people in the Kingdom of Spang have been getting harder and harder over the years. The common people in the royal city can barely fill their stomachs by relying on leftovers, but outside the royal city, especially in places near the border, life is getting harder and harder. Last winter alone, millions of common people starved to death or froze to death in the entire kingdom."

"Some of the minor nobles have a hard life and are quite dissatisfied with the royal family. If we stir up trouble at this time, do you think the people will rebel?"

"The people are rebelling? How... is this possible?" Barumongge frowned.

He felt it was really incredible.

All along, struggles for power and profit have only taken place in the upper world.

As for the common people at the bottom, to put it bluntly, fighting for power and rebelling? Do you have the qualifications?

"What's impossible... Father, can't you see the current situation clearly?"

"Without the dragon clan, the shackles that suppress us are gone, but at the same time, the chains tied around the necks of ordinary people are also gone. Those soldiers of Granville can follow Dolores to drive Holt off the throne, and Dolores's civilians can eat the nobles alive on the streets..."

"Without repression and forced into a desperate situation, what can't civilians do?"

It has to be said that at this time, Ashburn behaved more wisely than Barumong.

Of course, Simmons actually told him this.

Before, he listened to Simmons' advice and killed all his brothers, which really secured his position as the Son of God. Now, Ashburn regards Simmons as his close confidant and trusts him extremely.

Moreover, it has to be said that Simmons is really talented.

For Ashburn, who has lost his original support at this stage, the appearance of Simmons is simply a treasure given to him by heaven.

"Now, as long as someone can take the lead, I guarantee that the spark of rebellion will be like a whirlwind, sweeping across the entire kingdom in a very short time."

"Since they have already rebelled, it is normal for the church to be accidentally attacked, right?"

"If we are not careful, it is normal for those clergymen who oppose us to be killed, right?"

Because he already had a draft in mind, Ashburn spoke fluently and with full confidence.

After these words were spoken, Marcelino's eyes became brighter.

That's very good.

I said before that I couldn't kill all the opponents, mainly because I was worried that killing these people would affect my reputation and lead to more people opposing me. But if these people were killed by the rebellious mob, then it would have nothing to do with me.

"Moreover, if there is a rebellion on the border, old Barumonger will be extremely worried and will certainly mobilize forces to suppress it. A large number of soldiers have already been deployed to the north and south to guard against the orcs and the Granville Kingdom. If more troops are deployed, the forces that Barumonger can mobilize in the royal city will certainly be even less."

"In this case, if we can find the right opportunity, it is not impossible to drive Barumong from the throne."

"By then, we will have the royal power and divine authority in our control. As for the nobles, they will have no power to resist us at all."

It has to be said that the way of thinking of ambitious people is very similar.

Ashburn's plan and Holt's arrangement for Barumong are exactly the same.

Marcelino became more and more excited, and his eyes towards Ashburn were more and more satisfied. This son was indeed quite good. It would have been better if he was not so cruel and ruthless and killed all four brothers at once.

He reviewed Ashburn's plan in his mind again and nodded again: "This plan is indeed feasible, but how to do it specifically?"

"I don't think that ordinary nobles, or commoners, have the ability and courage to rebel."

"Moreover, once the common people rebel, it is certain that those who want to overthrow the country will not only be the royal family, but also the nobles. Maybe by then, there will be no need for Barumonger to take action, as the nobles will be able to suppress the rebellion."

"That's right." Ashburn nodded and said, "So, we need to provide a banner for this kind of rebellion. It would be best if we could cooperate with the royal family and let a member of the royal family rebel."

Marcelino frowned. "The royal family rebels against itself? Are you sure you're not kidding?"

Ashburn laughed and said, "My father, you have to believe that everything is possible."

"So what if they are members of the royal family? Not every member of the royal family is eligible to inherit the throne. Don't forget, there is only one throne."

"Moreover, even among the royal family, there must be people who are dissatisfied with Barumonger, such as... the third princess Lydia."

"Granville can have a queen, so why can't the Theocracy of Spang have one?"

"Don't forget, Lydia and the third prince are twin siblings with a very good relationship. A few years ago, the third prince was killed together with the eldest prince and the second prince. Lydia was very dissatisfied and her relationship with her father Barumonger became very distant. Recently, I heard that Barumonger planned to marry Lydia to a legitimate son of the Copperfield family in order to win over Grand Duke Copperfield."

"Lydia is also very dissatisfied with this marriage. She has quarreled with Barumonger many times over this matter. Their relationship is getting worse and worse. It is no exaggeration to say that they are incompatible. There are even rumors that Lydia is preparing to leave the royal family and end the father-daughter relationship with Barumonger..."

"Both sides even started fighting..."

"Tell me, if we sow discord and provide support behind the scenes, will Lydia rebel in order not to marry into the Copperfield family?"

"Right now, Lydia is all alone and at her most vulnerable. If we offer help now, Lydia will definitely fall completely on our side."

"She is just a woman. How many schemes can she have? We will definitely control her. Then, we can become the master of this country by manipulating Lydia."

"I even said that if Lydia were to marry a male member of the family, from then on, the royal bloodline would also be half our family's."

And now, all the members of the family have been killed by Ashburn, and he is the only man who can become the future queen's husband, and it must be Ashburn.

Six thousand is given, and there will be another chapter later

(End of this chapter)