Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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To put it nicely, it means starting over; to put it bluntly, it means becoming a useless person.

More importantly, such a body cannot last long without sufficient strength to support it.

For Lawrence at that time, the chances of success were very low. Even if he succeeded, he would only be able to barely survive. Even if he were sitting on the throne at that time, he might not be able to survive if he lost his power.

How many crown princes aren't accompanied by their fathers in mourning?

That's why Lionel laughed.

"Boss, should we give up?" one of his men asked.

“No need. His Majesty Lawrence was too old at the time, and he was born at the wrong time. I am different,” Lionel said.

What made him different was not only that he was not in that dangerous position and was younger, and his soul had not yet begun to decay, but more importantly, that he knew an immortal, a Seres man from the distant East.

I'll take this body, go to Seris to study, and start over. This path doesn't require the original power, and it leads to immortality.

Wealth and power are fleeting, only immortality is worth pursuing.

Chapter 329 Tactical Victory, Too Greasy, Carrot and Stick

The battle between Ronan and Dinia continued. Visually, their fight was so fast that only afterimages could be seen. Ronan and Dinia were nothing but red flashes, constantly colliding with each other.

However, if one uses magic to perceive, one will understand that the two are not colliding, but constantly intersecting, exchanging blows and countering moves dozens of times in the instant of intersection.

In terms of martial arts skills, Dinia is inferior to Ronan. She is a typical turret-style mage who doesn't have any special moves when it comes to close combat.

However, she is too fast and too fierce. She will give you an axe with the fastest speed and the greatest power. You will catch the first axe, and there will be a second axe. Her speed and power will not weaken in the slightest. She has already chopped hundreds of times, and her speed and power have not decreased at all. Moreover, her body does not belong to the category of humans. It can be understood as a nano-cluster that can be deformed at will and has extremely high strength.

Dinia suddenly stepped back, slinging the battle axe over her shoulder with one hand. "How come you're done after only three minutes? What happened to your stamina?"

Ronan was like a broken bellows, panting heavily. "Do you have to be so serious? Are you jealous?"

Dinya understands what jealousy means because Ronan often tells stories about Seris.

She wasn't jealous at all; she just wanted to take this opportunity to beat up Ronan. Beating up Ronan was her number one source of entertainment, the second was drinking and chatting with him, and that other thing was third. But after Ronan said that, she actually felt a little uncomfortable.

In that split second of distraction caused by such a thought, Ronan's sword was already less than a finger's width away from her neck.

However, Dinah reacted quickly, kicking Ronan's shield with a force like a cannonball. The force sent Ronan flying five or six meters backward, his shield slipping from his grasp.

Dinia looked at Ronan, "So you only know how to resort to these petty thug tricks?"

Ronan stretched his left hand, which was almost numb from the shock, and twirled his sword with his right hand. "Since you're getting serious, I'll naturally get serious too. This is how I am when I'm serious."

If Ronan was a strategist who employed overt tactics in politics, then in battle he was a complete schemer; even his casual conversation tactics were the least underhanded of his methods.

As he spoke, Ronan released his sword and launched a whirlwind attack on Dinia.

Dinia deflected the blow with an axe.

"Well..." Dinia was about to speak when she suddenly tripped and fell.

It turned out that after Ronan's shield left his hand, it shrank into a small round shield and burrowed into the ground. Because of Karl's previous magic, the ground had become very wet and muddy, so the shield took advantage of the moment of conversation to dig underground and then suddenly emerged from the ground, hitting Dinia.

"I cleared the level in three minutes and forty-six seconds. My attack hit successfully," Ronan said with a smile.

In the distance, Ambrina excitedly stood up and clapped her hands.

The farcical part of the engagement ceremony has finally come to an end.

Ronan glanced into the distance with a hint of disappointment. This fleeting disappointment stemmed from the same reason as his father-in-law's earlier anxiety: the fishing attempt had failed.

Ronan immediately ran towards Ambrina with a joyful expression.

The group left the island in the middle of the lake and returned to the original banquet venue.

Under the watchful eye of his father, Lucien, Ronan took out the diamond ring. The pink diamond in the center, the size of a pigeon's egg, was bought from a governor of the Suleiman Sultanate through connections. It cost fifty large gold eagles. Even though prices have risen now, and a copper flintlock pistol is only enough to buy two baguettes, this amount of money could still buy 100,000 baguettes, easily piled up like a mountain.

Although Ronan was indifferent to diamonds, and Ambrina herself didn't care about such things, they still needed to have them.

After personally placing the engagement ring on Ambrina's finger, Ronan began memorizing his lines.

After Ronan finished reciting, Ambrina, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately accepted the proposal and dragged Ronan to the dining table.

In a wedding ceremony, the bride and groom wouldn't even get to eat, but the Freigo family tradition is to transfer those very old-fashioned traditions to the engagement ceremony.

So they started eating right away.

The first thing served wasn't an appetizer, but a snack: fried vegetables. Fresh vegetables were coated in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs before being deep-fried.

Previously, only fried onion rings were available, but after the Age of Exploration, fried tomatoes and fried potatoes were added.

According to custom, the fiancé must feed his fiancée by hand.

The second dish was chicken soup.

The third course was the main course, but it wasn't like French cuisine. It was just a plate of whole pork knuckle.

The first two bites were incredibly satisfying, but the rest became really cloying.

The key point is that the fiancé cannot refuse to eat, because in the past people believed that being able to eat a lot meant being able to fight, and the most important thing for a lord's son-in-law is being able to fight.

Of course, as a magician, Ronan ate whatever he wanted, and his appetite was indeed quite large.

The food at this banquet was just... well, let's just say it was really bad.

The engagement ceremony featured all the same old dishes, and these dishes all had one thing in common: they were very oily.

Thinking about it, it makes sense. Hundreds of years ago, with the limited productivity, even knights rarely had the chance to eat a decent meal of meat and vegetables. Such a banquet would have to be quite lavish and flavorful.

After finishing the meal, Ronan had only one thought: if he and Ambrina's daughter were to get engaged in the future, the menu would definitely be expanded to a higher level. The suffering he had endured, the next generation would not be spared.

The engagement ceremony has ended.

Ronan pulled Carl and the other man aside.

"Isn't that a bit much? Are we just going to leave Her Highness the princess like this?" Karl said in a low voice.

Ronan chuckled and patted Karl on the shoulder. “My princess isn’t like yours, who always carries around a giant sword that looks like a door panel. It’s terrifying.”

“Ha, in front of me, she’s like a little hen.” Karl said, putting on an air of superiority.

"Alright, let's not talk about that anymore, let's get down to business." Ronan stopped joking and became serious. "The land-for-shares deal?"

“That’s right,” Karl replied. “If you make a promise, they will help you suppress dissenting voices.” “They” of course referred to the powerful nobles in the country.

“Nobles can participate in the management of local municipal factories to a certain extent. In the future, when large state-owned enterprises are established, you can exchange land for shares, but you can only receive dividends. If you participate in the management, that would be embezzling state assets, which is absolutely unacceptable,” Ronan said.

“I personally agree with you, but I’m afraid it won’t be so easy for them to talk to.” Karl’s tone was tinged with regret. In some ways, he was an individual who betrayed his class, a fact that Ronan had been very clear about back then.

Ronan sneered, "Don't worry, I have plenty of ways to deal with you people using a carrot and stick approach."

Karl was surprised. He understood Big Stick very well. There was such a strong anti-aristocratic voice now, including some people in the military. Otherwise, why would the great nobles be so eager to give up their land as soon as they heard about exchanging land for shares?

But he really couldn't understand carrots.

Ronan saw Karl's confusion. "The carrot is that you nobles will form a state-owned enterprise oversight committee to ensure your dividends, and then secretly give you some other powers so you can continue to enjoy your privileged life."

Chapter 330 A Message, Fear of Difficulty, and Kitchen Matters

Karl fell into thought.

After the land-for-shares swap, the interests of state-owned enterprises will become the interests of the nobility, and the state-owned enterprises will definitely operate projects that make money effortlessly. The nobility will then truly be living and dying with the state.

On the other hand, as supervisors, the nobles would certainly not allow officials in charge of operating state-owned enterprises to be corrupt, because it was their money that was being embezzled. However, the nobles could not interfere with the operation of state-owned enterprises and could not directly embezzle their assets.

Collusion? There are too many nobles and officials involved, and too many intermediaries involved; it's difficult to handle.

The aristocratic and bureaucratic groups checked and balanced each other, but overall neither side suffered losses, and this also helped avoid some of the problems that state-owned enterprises would encounter.

As expected of Ronan, this is a perfect example of killing three birds with one stone.

Karl seemed to think Ronan's move was brilliant, but Ronan showed no pride. "Don't be too happy. There are always ways around the rules. What I did was just to confine them to my own rules. Nobles will always think they are superior, and officials will always be corrupt. It's an unsolvable problem."

"However, I won't be thinking about solving these problems."

"Don't worry, I will not advocate extreme measures. You must convey this message."

Ronan said.

To reiterate, if a ruler can only deal with the nobles, bureaucrats, and capitalists after problems arise, and sometimes, in desperation, resorts to the iron fist, then he is truly a failure.

From New Sea City to the colonies, and then to the series of new policies implemented in Rennes City in the struggle for the throne, Ronan certainly wielded his iron fist quite often. But he never used his iron fist because he was desperate or because he couldn't control a certain person or group of people. Rather, it was because he wanted to achieve a certain situation through his iron fist. Ronan's imperialist iron fist was wielded before he established new rules.

Ultimately, from the moment Ronan entered politics, he consistently used the approach of resolving bilateral relations through multilateral relations. Take, for example, the initial crackdown on landowners in New Sea City. He didn't directly use coercive measures against the landowners; instead, he leveraged the conflicts arising from the various factions after the new mayor, Dinia, took office to bring down some of the landowners.

Carl nodded. "I'll pass on your message. Goodbye."

Ronan didn't say anything more and simply took his leave.

No sooner had Karl left than the King's father-in-law arrived. "How was it?"

“Not bad. If they’re not stupid, they’ll support me,” Ronan replied.

“There are bound to be fools among the nobility,” Lucien said. “But they’re not the main point, nor are the capitalists. The main point is the Prime Minister. Guess why he’s opposed it?”

Ronan was well aware of this: "Opposition is just a means to an end; the goal is to prove one's own power and, ideally, to gain some benefits."

“Not bad.” Lucien nodded approvingly.

“I cannot comment,” Ronan added.

At this, Lucien smiled. "Clever."

“You’re definitely going to express your dissatisfaction, maybe even give a warning, and then Ambrina will jump out and contradict you, right?” Ronan read the script aloud.

"Haha, absolutely right." Lucien was growing to admire Ronan more and more.

“I will explain everything to Ambrina,” Ronan replied.

Lucien nodded. "I have to go back now. No need to see me off. It's just the two of you now. Remember to have Anli come to the royal audience tomorrow morning." He was becoming increasingly exhausted. Just walking a few extra steps and standing for a while at an engagement ceremony made him feel tired.

The king left, and the few guests at the engagement ceremony also departed.

Actually, if everything went smoothly, the engagement ceremony should have been a lively affair, with Ronan's family and Ambrina's family in attendance, along with some other friends from both sides.

Unfortunately, Ronan's mother and brothers were killed by King Lucien's men, and Ambrina's two cousins ​​were killed by Ronan.

Everyone else had left, leaving only Ambrina, her three maids, and Ronan.

Ambrina had originally intended to show Ronan around the royal gardens, since she had participated in the design of many parts during the renovation two years ago, and she really wanted to show them to Ronan. However, the presence of the three maids made Ambrina very uncomfortable, and she was too embarrassed to be too intimate with Ronan. So after a quick walk around, Ambrina immediately told Ronan to go back.

Ronan followed Ambrina back to the princess's palace.

Normally, after an engagement, the woman should stay at the man's house for a few days, but Ronan didn't have a house, especially since he was a kept man.

Upon returning to the princess's residence, Ambrina went straight to her bedroom. As soon as she entered, she took off her dress and lay down on the sofa.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted," Ambrina complained.

Ronan sat down at Ambrina's feet, massaging them as he said, "The worst is yet to come. You have to attend the Imperial Council tomorrow."

"Huh?" Ambrina was surprised.

Ronan smiled and told her the whole story.

Ambrina understood after hearing this, but looked hesitant. "Ronan, come with me."

“How could I be qualified?” Ronan retorted with a smile.

The Royal Council is where the Prime Minister and a few ministers with important duties discuss national affairs with the King. Someone of Ronan's rank is only qualified to be discussed with.

"You don't know, I'm terrified of the Prime Minister. That guy has a mustache, a nose like an eagle's beak, and eyes like a wolf." Ambrina was terrified just thinking about the Prime Minister's appearance.

Ronan chuckled, "Ha, your task isn't to fight him, but to support him."

"Alright then," Ambrina agreed.

"Actually, the wedding day is the most tiring, with so many ceremonies and procedures to go through," Ronan sighed.

Ambrina rolled over and nestled into Ronan's arms, resting her head on his lap. She stroked the prickly stubble that had just grown on his chin with one hand. "I'm definitely not tired."

"Hmm," Ronan responded softly.

Ambrina looked up at Ronan. "I haven't had your cooking in so long."

“No problem, my princess,” Ronan agreed. “Let’s have something light; this engagement banquet has really made me dizzy.”

Ronan had even come up with the menu: chicken tofu, okra salad, crab meat stir-fried with corn kernels, and mashed potatoes with meat sauce as the main dish. It was just the two of them, Ambrina, so that would be about it.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Ronan went straight to the kitchen.

The kitchen staff were also startled by Ronan, thinking he was there to audit the accounts and establish his authority. After the cold cake incident years ago, the staff in Princess Kitchen had been replaced and were all relatively honest. However, being relatively honest only meant that they no longer inflated prices. Does not inflating prices mean they can't embezzle?

The princess's residence purchases so many ingredients every day that they can't finish them all. Under the guise of ensuring quality and quantity, anything that can't be cooked is labeled as not fresh and either taken away or sold. Many items bought from the market early in the morning are sold at the market by noon. Even oil and sugar are left out for a while before being disposed of under the pretext of being unsafe or unhygienic. The head of the kitchen and the head chefs take the lion's share of the profits from purchasing, while the kitchen helpers and general laborers take smaller shares.

When the group saw that Ronan had actually come to cook for them, their hearts, which had been in their throats, finally settled down, and they began to fawn over him.