69novels Page 115
Page 115
Um...
He gave the impression that he couldn't handle anything if he went out alone. He wasn't like that, so... unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn't complain to his wife and Monica except to text them to let them know he was safe. Naturally, he wouldn't let Monica come over to take care of him despite her busy schedule.
"My lord, according to the itinerary, we will proceed to His Majesty the Emperor's court immediately upon arriving at Saint-Germain Castle." Just as Yang Hao was lost in thought, the Templar Knight squad leader suddenly came over and said this to him, "If there are no unforeseen circumstances, our mode of transportation will be the protective sedan we brought with us."
"You make arrangements."
"Yes."
However, although Sonia did a very thorough job in selecting her "contacts," Yang Hao always seemed a little lost when facing her... Was it because she was too beautiful? Or was there some other reason? He glanced back at Sonia and, noticing she was watching him, calmly gestured for her to be ready to work at any time.
Perhaps it's because I've been separated from my wife for so long that I've rekindled my worldly desires. He attributed the reason to this, but didn't deny that he did indeed have a good impression of Sonia.
......
The commercial land-based vessel arrived at Saint-Germain Castle as scheduled, and Yang Hao got into his car, ready to go to Her Majesty the Emperor's palace to discuss the next steps.
"How long will it take us?" he asked the driver. Sonia also got into his car—although the car was specially made, it was still moving at an unusually slow speed after Sonia got in, due to being "overburdened".
The other vehicles also used by the Deepsea Hunter were the same. Although his wife had arranged for these specially made vehicles to be produced before he left, it seems that further development of vehicle technology is still necessary...
“My lord, it will take us about two and a half hours to reach His Majesty’s palace. If we encounter traffic jams or other issues along the way, our time will increase accordingly.” The Templar Knight in charge of driving nodded. “However, to ensure your safety, we will proceed at the highest level of alert and at a very slow pace... So, it may take about three hours.”
"That's fine. Try to hurry."
"Yes."
The driver started the car, and Sonia, sitting next to Yang Hao with her weapon on her lap to avoid damaging the interior, watched the street scenes approaching or receding outside the window as she whispered to Yang Hao:
"Mr. Yang Hao, if there are no unforeseen circumstances, has His Majesty the Emperor already finalized the accommodation arrangements?"
"Probably. Sigh, but that would actually be a bit troublesome. After all, if I'm separated from you, I might be left helpless to do whatever she wants to me." Yang Hao sighed helplessly. "But this is His Majesty the Emperor's private territory after all... I can tolerate it."
"...Is that so? Please allow me to inspect the building's structural strength on-site. If all else fails, our Deep Sea Hunters are indeed capable of breaching walls and protecting you at the fastest possible straight distance."
"Haha, what about the compensation later? Your rabbi still hasn't earned enough to pay off that highway... If I hadn't forgiven that part of the debt, that rabbi lady would probably have had to work in our territory for over ten years to pay off her debts, right?"
"hehe."
Sonia smiled and said that if given time, she could simply go back to the coast and bring over some local specialties to exchange for the debt.
However, when it comes to local specialties, it seems that coastal specialties can indeed fetch a good price no matter where they are...
Yang Hao initially thought the greatest use of coastal specialties was to find the "string" for his ascension. However, after serious consideration, he concluded that the commercial value of the coast was, in some ways, far greater than that of the inland areas. Of course, this was on the premise that Yang Hao would eventually have developed the Ursus coastline and established trade routes connecting the various coastal cities.
But how long would that take? Ten years? Twenty years? Thirty years? Hmm...
Yang Hao optimistically estimated that once the civil war ended and his plan against Kazimir succeeded, he would have time to do so.
Who knows, he might even have time to adopt a daughter with Kosiché in the future! Looking at it this way, why am I in such a hurry?
He leaned back comfortably in his chair, satisfied, and began to close his eyes to rest.
Meanwhile, news arrived from the Imperial Guard that Emperor Ursus was also in his palace, awaiting the arrival of the future prime minister and the new Speaker of the Imperial Council.
Volume Two
Chapter One
When Yang Hao's car arrived at the Royal Palace of Saint-Germain at 11:7 a.m. on July 6, he was warmly received and received special care from His Majesty the Emperor's representatives.
Those are His Majesty the Emperor's personal guards.
"Her Majesty awaits your arrival in the audience hall." He bowed very low to Yang Hao and conveyed the Emperor's expectations to him in a sincere tone: "She has been waiting for you for a long time. Our great Her Majesty needs your help to completely eradicate the greatest scourge of this country."
"...I understand. Please take me there. I don't know the way."
"Please rest assured, you will get to know each other later."
"Haha."
I'll probably be going home soon, so what's the harm in getting to know the way in these ten days or so? Yang Hao didn't think too much about it. After the Templars had arranged their accommodations and vehicle parking with the person in charge, he led five Deepsea Hunters and ten fully armed Templars as his guards, following the Emperor's inner guards, toward the audience hall.
Perhaps to show Yang Hao the utmost respect, the imperial guards made no attempt to make Yang Hao's bodyguards lay down their weapons along the way. They were taciturn and had a clear division of labor: one person was responsible for leading the way, while the other was responsible for explaining to Yang Hao the Emperor's current predicament.
"Her Majesty the Emperor cannot cleanse the corrupt elements of the Council alone. Although she holds military power in Ursus, if those warlords and nobles are not dealt with in one fell swoop during the upcoming meeting, Ursus will face a long civil war."
“I understand. In short, how many supporters does His Majesty the Emperor have—ah, may I answer that question?”
"Her Majesty the Emperor has only 80 staunch supporters in Parliament, and if you include her supporters, the total is only 120."
"This is not good news..."
In an imperial parliament with 500 members, how could there be less than 150 members supporting him? Yang Hao raised an eyebrow, wondering why this seemingly capable emperor was behaving so poorly.
Seemingly understanding what Yang Hao was thinking, the Imperial Guard offered a very reasonable explanation: No matter how capable Her Majesty the Emperor was, she couldn't gamble with the fate of Ursus. She had the ability to eliminate all opponents in the Imperial Council within two months, but doing so could lead to 20 years of civil war and chaos for Ursus.
"Her Majesty the Emperor is willing to gamble two years of civil war on a single tumor surgery for the Empire, but she cannot gamble with 20 years of civil war. She needs you."
"Yes, yes, let me meet her in person first... Oh, by the way, Her Majesty Catherine told me before that I could get the contact information of the highest-ranking officials in the fire department and police department? Can you give it to me now?"
"It has been placed at your temporary accommodation."
"Okay, I'll go check it out later..."
His Majesty's problem was far more difficult than Yang Hao had imagined. He pondered, [this couldn't be explained simply by the emperor's incompetence], and thought, if he truly was determined not to come, Ursus might just disintegrate like the former Soviet Union...
...
They were quickly led to the audience hall of the palace. Outside the audience hall, Yang Hao was instructed to bring only one guard inside. After some deliberation, he asked the Templar Knights and the younger members to stay outside and rest before leading Sonia into the audience hall.
To be honest, the Ursus Palace is nothing special—it's just a bit bigger and more ornately decorated than the audience hall of the Duke of Kosiché's mansion... But Yang Hao isn't envious at all.
Really. He looked at those decorations where gold was simply inlaid on the pillars and sculpted into various human figures... He really... wasn't... envious.
Damn it! The pure gold from that single pillar could build a small school in the current Duchy of Kosiché! Your Majesty, why are you using so much hard currency for decoration?! If your ancestors requested this construction, why don't you just give me that pure gold now?!
"Welcome, Mr. Yang Hao."
Seated on the most opulent throne in the palace, His Majesty the Emperor was quite pleased with Yang Hao's envious and jealous expression. However, upon noticing the taciturn deep-sea hunter beside Yang Hao, her expression stiffened slightly before returning to normal in an instant. "Although I would love to treat you well right now, things have become so dire that we must immediately plan and handle the aftermath. Come, let's go to a quieter meeting room to talk."
"Your Majesty the Emperor..."
Completely bewildered, Yang Hao opened his mouth, wondering if the problem was really that serious.
"I allow you to call me by my first name. By the way, who's next to you?"
“My bodyguard, Sonia.”
"Okay. Come on."
...
Following behind the emperor, Yang Hao and Sonia arrived at a private meeting room behind the audience hall. Inside, the necessary materials for the upcoming meeting were already laid out: information on the councilors who were not supporters of the emperor, a list and map of all the cities in the Ursus Empire, and information on the territories effectively controlled by the councilors of the Sherlock Holmes nightclub.
Aside from His Majesty the Emperor and her servants, it seemed only Yang Hao and Sonia were allowed into this conference room. He couldn't find a second set of chairs, nor could he find a place for anyone else to stand and listen in... In short, this was a very private conference room.
A meeting room specifically used to resolve His Majesty the Emperor's little secrets that he doesn't want others to know.
"Your Majesty Catherine, in short, just how dire is the current situation?"
To figure out the workload ahead, Yang Hao cautiously stood opposite Her Majesty Catherine, who was already seated in the main seat, and asked her across the conference table piled high with documents. He was also reviewing the information on the table and discovered that the area effectively controlled by the councilors of the Sherlock Holmes nightclub already covered almost half of the Ursus Empire.
However, the territories they control are mainly mobile towns. Besides the cities in the Duchy of Nikolai, the only other major mobile city is a count's territory relatively close to Saint-Jun Castle. Furthermore, the total number of their soldiers is currently unknown, but according to the intelligence above, the Sherlock Nightclub's manpower is insufficient, and the quality of their weapons and equipment is also very poor.
"It's so serious that I either have to order the army to raid homes and plunge the Ursus Empire into a civil war that it might not be able to win in 20 years, or I have to wait and see and let Ursus face a protracted civil war in 20 years—that's why I need you."
"This is really..."
"Let me make it clear beforehand that I have tried to control the Imperial Council, but as you know, as a new emperor who has inherited my father's legacy, I don't have much power in the council. And what's worse, this time I can't enhance my reputation through foreign wars like my father did."
"Economic crisis and war are not the real problem. The real problem is that when you're at war, a bunch of hindrances will bring down the empire?"
That's exactly what I mean.
His Majesty the Emperor nodded, holding a pointer he'd produced from who-knows-where, and pointed to a corner of the conference table. Yang Hao, after telling Sonia to stay where she wouldn't get in the way and watch them, followed the Emperor's pointer—that corner held intelligence about the Imperial Diet. More precisely, it was a topographical map of the Imperial Diet.
“I know what you’re planning, so I had the scholars retrieve the Imperial Council’s topographical maps from the archives under the guise of ‘reconstruction,’” Her Majesty Catherine stated calmly. “Similarly, for this reason, I have to keep my engineering corps on standby. They will be at your command for the foreseeable future—of course, you can take them back if you wish, but you’ll have to let me know beforehand.”
"Your Majesty, is this your royal architect?"
"That's it."
"I understand now... I can order them to work now?"
“Anytime is fine—but the Imperial Council’s recess has long ended, so if you want them to work, it’s best to do it at night.”
"Are they absolutely loyal to you?" Yang Hao asked the question that concerned him most. If these architects were not loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, then Yang Hao's grand plan might be exposed—after all, to plant enough ignition materials under the Imperial Parliament building, those architects had to be trustworthy.
"Don't worry, they are my loyal engineering team. Although I can't order them to die for the country with verbal orders, they are trustworthy people—in fact, I've had them help me deal with some troublemakers before."
"I understand."
Since these were architects who had participated in similar assassination operations under the emperor's orders in the past, Yang Hao decided to first determine that they were a trustworthy unit.
He began studying the topographical map of the Imperial Diet's architectural structure. He discovered that although the Imperial Diet appeared to have a complex layout, in reality, there were only four main passageways and eight security exits leading to the central meeting hall. The meeting hall had a large number of ventilation ducts, but that massive ventilation system was not capable of expelling all the smoke within five minutes when the interior was filled with dense smoke.
Moreover, sealing off those ventilation ducts is quite easy. All it takes is for the architects to climb to the top of the Imperial Council building under the guise of nighttime renovations, and then seal it off from the outside with thick fabric.
After sealing off the simplest ventilation system, Yang Hao's biggest problem now is how to block off the four main roads and eight safety passages.
"Your Majesty, how much support can I obtain?"
This is a plan that requires a large number of people to accomplish. With only the guards he brought, Yang Hao wasn't confident he could block all the entrances and exits.
“Militarily, you can get support from the garrison and all the police force in Saint-Germain—and if needed, you can also dispatch my personal guards at any time. But unless it’s absolutely necessary, I don’t want my personal guards to handle this. I want the whole arson incident to look like an accident.”
When faced with Yang Hao's question, Her Majesty Catherine was quite generous, handing over all the manpower she could to him in the next instant, without any concern that Yang Hao might take the opportunity to stab her in the back.
“An accident? That’s what I thought too. But an accident wouldn’t just have soldiers standing outside blocking the people being roasted alive inside… Your Majesty, could you please close some of the Imperial Council’s entrances for ‘engineering reasons’?”
Yang Hao agreed with Empress Catherine's idea—after all, who doesn't like accidents? Accidentally burning to death, accidentally being hit by a car, even an unexpected pregnancy. Accidents bring countless surprises and shocks, and for Yang Hao, a genuine accident could save him a lot of trouble, whether it's something close at hand or far away.
That being said... if the Imperial Council couldn't close off a few roads to reduce the difficulty for Yang Hao's side due to certain "engineering reasons," this "accident" would probably turn into an "open" assassination.
"I'm not an engineer. And those things... can't you even get a proper suggestion from architects?"
Her Majesty the Emperor was clearly somewhat amused and exasperated by Yang Hao's request: she was the Emperor, not an engineer. How would she know how to legally seal off the Imperial Council's passageways? That was, after all, the job of engineers and architects... At most, she would grant Yang Hao the necessary authority; she wouldn't concern herself too much with the details.
Since His Majesty the Emperor had spoken, Yang Hao understood the intensity of his work: he needed to be responsible for all the details and report the situation to His Majesty the Emperor regularly. Most importantly, he would likely have to personally visit the Imperial Council in the next few days to assess the situation. Without understanding the environment, it would be difficult for him to act or, more importantly, to leave a safe escape route for His Majesty's loyal followers at the scene.
Thinking of this, he nodded helplessly to indicate that he understood the situation. Then he suddenly became very curious about some things about Her Majesty Catherine: after all, given their relationship, had Catherine placed too much trust in him?
Whether it's the executive power to burn down the parliament, the temporary control of the garrison and the capital's police forces, or even control of His Majesty the Emperor's personal architect... she has given Yang Hao so much, and Yang Hao hadn't previously shown anything that made him worthy of her such trust...
He is indeed capable... but isn't Her Majesty Catherine worried that Yang Hao might suddenly stab her in the back?
He nodded thoughtfully, feeling incredibly curious about the matter.
Chapter two
Yang Hao discussed matters with His Majesty the Emperor in the conference room for almost an hour before finally stopping. During this time, he gained a new understanding of His Majesty the Emperor—she was not a mediocre person of noble birth who lacked ability. On the contrary, she possessed great ability, but the current Ursus Empire lacked the material conditions to create for her to realize her ideals and make full use of her abilities.
For example, Her Majesty the Emperor attaches great importance to the existence of a new intelligence agency, and she herself has a deep understanding of intelligence agencies. However, the problem is that after several years, all she has done is build a new, temporary agency on top of the existing internal security forces, specifically designed to monitor and infiltrate corrupt nobles within the organization, such as those at the Sherlock Holmes nightclub. Is this a result of her incompetence?
No, that's not it. Yang Hao had seen it; she had done her best to provide the best conditions and genuinely useful ideas for this nascent organization. However, these ideas were over a decade ahead of their time... The Ursus Empire currently lacked the technological level and industrial capacity to meet the needs of an intelligence agency. Otherwise, if that intelligence agency had been established as scheduled, Yang Hao probably wouldn't have had a role to play with the Sherlock Nightclub... They would have been wiped out in their infancy, truly.
"His Majesty..."
“I told you, you can call me by my first name. I hope our relationship is more than just that of ruler and subject, but also like that of friends.” In His Majesty’s private dining room, the Emperor, who was dining elegantly, interrupted Yang Hao’s words, just to ask him to correct a form of address. “Furthermore, my relationship with Duke Koschei is better than you might imagine. Although I only met Duke Koschei when she was young and she was still an Ursusian, I am well aware of her loyalty and love for Ursus. Naturally, although we have had some unpleasant encounters because of past events, I still consider her my friend.”
"Your Majesty, you considered Koschei a friend, but now Koschei sees you as a ferocious beast?" Yang Hao muttered to himself, recalling the bad things Koschei had said about His Majesty the Emperor to scare him the other night. He suddenly realized that the two of them did seem to have a very good relationship.
Well, Koschei's respect for His Majesty the Emperor was genuine, no matter what. Although His Majesty had some conflicts with Koschei because of my work, their relationship seemed quite stable...
...Or should I relax a bit?
Yang Hao gave in easily. Sitting beside him, silently eating, Ms. Sonia stared strangely at Yang Hao's profile, lost in thought.
"Ah... alright. Ekaterina... to be honest, your intelligence agency is way ahead of its time. The equipment you requested will take Ursus more than a decade to develop, and without widespread education, the talent you need might not even emerge for another twenty years... In other words, the intelligence agency you're envisioning is a product of decades to come. I personally suggest you don't think about things that far ahead for now. We have an immediate crisis to deal with."
“Yes, so I’ve temporarily shelved that plan. Alas, if that plan had been completed a few years earlier, Ursus might already be on the verge of complete dictatorship… What a pity, what a pity! If I had known of your existence sooner, perhaps Ursus wouldn’t be teetering on the brink of civil war like this.” Empress Ekaterina sighed, seemingly genuinely regretting not having met Yang Hao a few years earlier. “But let’s leave this topic here. Um, if nothing unexpected happens, Mr. Yang Hao, you’ll be staying with me for about ten days?”
"Probably. After all, burning a senator alive requires some preparation time. And Your Majesty, besides the matter of burning the senator, the most important reason I've come here is to discuss with you verbally the matters to come..."
"Oh, about Colombia and Casimir?"
Although Yang Hao's words were ambiguous, His Majesty the Emperor could immediately see that the man's mind was focused on more important matters. As an emperor capable of discerning what was truly important, His Majesty didn't hesitate to temporarily set aside his own thoughts. He wanted to handle all the work first before carefully and slowly trying to open the man's heart.
Moreover, the affairs of Columbia and Casimir were indeed matters of concern to His Majesty the Emperor. She knew very well that if the intelligence provided by Yang Hao was true, it would be a golden opportunity for Ursus, which had only recently ended its civil war. They could not only use the war to rebuild their authority within the chaotic Ursus after the civil war, but also gain gratitude, vassalage, economic rewards, and commercial penetration from Casimir.
But the problem for the future is—can Yang Hao produce evidence? If he cannot produce the corresponding evidence, then Her Majesty Catherine will only be able to regretfully provide him with a small amount of support and that will be the end of it.
“Yes, I have obtained the evidence.” Yang Hao was well aware of Empress Catherine’s thoughts. He knew that Empress Catherine craved evidence, and coincidentally, he did have it. However, this evidence might take several months to be confirmed by the Emperor. “It is this evidence that might take several months. Would you be free to come to our place then? Or perhaps we could bring the evidence here?”