Chapter 391 Griffith's Hostility
After the round table meeting ended this morning, the ministers had a simple lunch and then gathered together quietly again.
This was not a formal Privy Council meeting.
On the surface, they all belonged to the ancient "Chocolate Club" and were all chocolate lovers. But in reality, it was a small club with only a dozen ministers, including the Privy Councilor and the Minister of Trade.
Before and after the Round Table meeting, knights with common interests or good friends would gather together to confirm each other's ideas and suggestions to avoid fighting with each other during the Round Table meeting.
Although it is not like the Iris, which has two distinct and opposing factions, it is actually forming cliques.
The difference was that these knights knew what was happening, and there must have been more than one such gathering. At this moment, the knights, surprised by what they saw and heard, must have gathered in groups of three or five to discuss it.
Even every minister here may not have joined just one such small meeting. They speak ill of others in the Chocolate Club, and some of them may even hold a small meeting like the "Candy Club" or "Honey Club" in the evening to speak ill of them again.
"I think something is wrong with your majesty."
Privy Councilor Camelot's expression was serious: "This is completely different from the reaction we expected."
"It seems you and Her Majesty the Queen aren't that close."
The white-haired old man said sarcastically, "I don't even know when she changed her personal style."
He is the Minister of Education of Avalon.
The Minister of Camelot remained silent.
Prior to this, the Privy Councilor had assured her that Isabel was a gentle and soft child. She would not be able to adapt to the position of Queen and would feel a lot of pressure.
At this time, if there is a force that can show goodwill and provide help enthusiastically, the helpless and confused young queen will subconsciously rely on it.
This was their chance—the perfect opportunity to exclude the high-rise faction.
The term "high-rise group" refers to the high-rise building at Lloyd's headquarters, and refers to those ministers who frequently enter Lloyd's. This usually means that they have close interests in Lloyd's.
Although Lloyd's is now in decline and no longer as powerful as it once was, it still exists. The enormous wealth it holds is still enviable.
Under these circumstances... Lloyd's, having lost its deterrent power, has instead become a cash machine. Lloyd's is now leaderless, with no single leader capable of commanding all. This collective of business interests is constantly engaged in internal strife.
Because they no longer have the huge, hidden control that can convert wealth into political influence. It has been completely exposed in the open, and in this case, just to maintain its existence, it needs to continue to cede a large amount of interests.
The result is that ministers who originally received money from Lloyd's continue to receive money.
They can even more safely take more money and gain more benefits than before, but only by doing less, or even nothing at all - not destroying them is already friendly.
Perhaps after a while, merchants will be able to recover, but at least not now.
Under this close alliance of interests, the influence of the Lloyds' Knights of the Round Table grew rather than declined. Led by the Foreign Secretary, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary of State for Housing and Communities, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the President of the Board of Trade, and the Lord High Lord, they were more closely united than ever before. On many issues, they stood together, supporting each other.
Their main inclinations are to open up free trade, free markets, and comprehensive tax cuts, as well as to vigorously promote the "merchant knight" system, which means that outstanding entrepreneurs can also enter the Round Table.
As the only family of the founders of the nation that has been engaged in business for generations, the Moriarty family naturally belongs to this faction.
Because the core of the faction, former Trade Minister Droste, was under investigation, the position of Trade Minister was also assigned by the Queen to another large faction that was opposed to them as a check and balance.
That is the "Chocolate Club" headed by the Privy Councillor. They are also known as the Chocolate Party.
Chocolate, a sweet treat, became popular in Avalon during the last days of the Herasil Empire. Due to the high cost of transportation, only a select few knights had the power and wealth to enjoy this expensive treat. The "Chocolate Club" established during that period was open only to veteran knights and the founding families.
But just as chocolate gradually spread to the common people, the wealth that was previously controlled by these knight families was gradually controlled by the common people.
They were the same knights who had initially rejected Lloyd's bribes. But this doesn't mean they were honest and upright—they advocated suppressing the power and trade practices of merchants, striving to prevent the establishment of "merchant knights," and even demanding higher taxes on merchants and improved welfare and income for the knights.
Tax increases and tax cuts, discussions on the feasibility of "merchant knights", constraints on knights and social welfare... these are the enduring topics of discussion in the Round Table.
Although they are still informal factions, they can be said to be the prototypes of political parties.
Because of this, the personal positions of these knights are not stable.
They also have their own personal interests, so they each have their own approaches to the same goal, which creates room for discussion.
For example, the Chancellor of the Exchequer likes to impose large-scale tax increases on various inexpensive commodities. For example, he plans to impose a tax on matches and kerosene lamps starting next spring. This will, on the one hand, continue to promote the use of electric lighting, on the other hand, improve the accounts through tax increases, and on the other hand, it will increase people's subconscious resistance to tax increases, thereby indirectly protecting merchants.
What makes them most unsure at the moment is which faction the current "Minister without Portfolio" who enjoys the Queen's trust should belong to.
On the one hand, he was the heir to the Moriarty family. He was also the future head of the family—although there was no succession ceremony, he could even be said to be the current head of the family. He naturally belonged to the Gaolou faction.
On the other hand, the successive blows suffered by the High-Rise faction—the arrests of the president and vice-president of Lloyd's, the arrests of the Secretary of State for Trade and the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the execution of the Lord High Lord—all stemmed from the direct intervention of Edwards Moriarty.
Now, even the Privy Councillors were silenced.
The loyalty of the House of Camelot is unquestionable. Of the twelve monarchs of Avalon to date, eight have had their privy councilors drawn from the House of Camelot.
But he was sent to the fifth position.
If it moves a little further, it can be understood that Isabel is closer to the high-rise faction, and Avalon will then lean towards peace and economic development. In that case, they will also have to make certain concessions and self-transformation.
But the fifth position... is actually quite high.
The first four were all the "big generation" of the country's four pillars, none of whom belonged to any faction. In other words, he was the first after the four fifth-level powerhouses.
"I think Her Majesty Isabel's attitude is actually very clear."
It was the Secretary of Defense who spoke.
The old general, still wearing armor even in the private meeting, said with a serious expression, "'Before the Privy Council, there are the Four Protectors.' This means that Your Majesty, while maintaining an attitude of utmost fairness, believes that 'individual strength' is the more important factor.
"When the status of the four protectors is higher than that of the Privy Council, it means that what Avalon needs most now is a fifth-level extraordinary person."
"...You mean, His Majesty's idea is war?"
The Education Minister asked rhetorically.
"Combined with the idea of increasing military spending and conscription, I don't rule out this possibility. I can even say it's very likely."
The Minister of Defense said in a deep voice: "Everyone, prepare for war."
"When Her Excellency Meg is most likely dead?"
The new Trade Secretary, Griffiths, could not help but ask in return: "Don't you think we have no chance of winning?"
"I'm wondering, is there a possibility," the Privy Councilor said slowly, "that even though Her Majesty lacked affinity for the Path of Authority when she was young, that doesn't mean she can't awaken this path later in life?
"Just as when we grow old, some people awaken to the path of wisdom, while others awaken to the path of dusk. This is all due to the influence of acquired factors.
"Although we all say that Her Majesty may be the only Du Lak who cannot inherit the path of authority...but she still has Du Lak blood flowing in her body. What if she awakens again in the future?"
The old man said slowly, "My dear elders, please don't be so harsh. Before today, who would have thought that Her Majesty would be so imposing at the first round table? And Lady Ligeia might not be inferior to Meg."
"I think it's not a question of whether we can compare or not."
The Minister of Trade retorted, "It's more that 'as long as we think we might not be able to win,' then we will definitely not be able to win. Lord Meg is indeed powerful, but we can maintain peace not by relying on Meg to defeat every enemy. Rather, as long as the Star Antimony and Iris people know we have Meg, they will not attack us."
"Whether Ligeia possesses the power of Maegor—and, of course, she cannot possess it—it is of no use even if she does, for she is another person. If her name does not frighten men, then war may begin.
"Once war breaks out, it might be too late. Today's Xingtan is different from Iris 20 years ago. There's a strong desire for war within Xingtan."
Griffith warned, "Once they start fighting, they will never stop. Because if they stop, they will collapse on their own. So once a war begins, it will be a battle of life and death."
Before being appointed Minister of Trade by the Queen, he had been a diplomatic ambassador to the Star Embassy, but he withdrew after Star's diplomatic stance deteriorated. Now that the diplomatic stance between Star and Avalon has improved, Griffith, who has a friendly relationship with Star, has been appointed by Queen Sofia as the new Minister of Trade to negotiate the next phase of trade contracts.
Therefore, Minister Griffith may be the one who knows the Star Antimony Kingdom best among all the people present.
"So what do you mean?"
The Defense Minister sarcastically asked, “Raise your hands in surrender?”
He had never liked Minister Griffith.
Perhaps due to his many years on Star, Griffith had a strong Star style. He lacked the knight's toughness and courage, instead coming off as timid. He also had a penchant for boasting about the strength and advancement of the Star people—something that greatly annoyed the Minister of Defense.
"We could have just turned them around and gone hunting irises."
Minister Griffith whispered, "We can provide covert assistance—to the Star People and the Iris People. As long as the Star People believe victory is possible, they will not stop fighting. And if they continue to fail to capture the city, they will most likely disintegrate on their own."
"A good suggestion."
The Minister of Camelot said slowly, "But this matter must be decided by Her Majesty the Queen."
"Should it be handed over to Queen Isabel or to Minister Moriarty?"
Minister Griffith sarcastically said, "Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to understand? His Majesty's attitude today is so unusual, it's obvious he was prepared. Minister Moriarty was with His Majesty last night, but he's not here today—what did His Majesty say? He's unwell? He's a priest!"
"If this happened on Xingti, it would be called harem meddling in government affairs. Who are you loyal to, Queen Isabel or Minister Moriarty?"
(End of this chapter)
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