Just when there was silence in the venue, and no one dared to object to the motion of the Minister of Police, a projection of a person suddenly appeared on the twelve royal thrones at the feet of the emperor.
"Geksash-Zorbagis? Ha, now it's time to have fun..."
When everyone took a closer look and realized that the person who came was actually the current head of the Zorbagis family, they all sat up straight and pretended to be watching the show seriously, as if they had foreseen the fierce debate that was about to take place between the two royal families. .
Seeing a playful smile on Speaker Zuo Erchi's face, Jia Tu also laughed after recalling the information he sent people to collect about the Wangjue family.
Since the Twelve Princes' families each separated themselves from each other hundreds of years ago, although the relationship between the two families is not good, there is no major grudge, and they even often cooperate in the military and police circles due to different development fields.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. About fifty years ago, because the Qien people had a tradition of passing on the throne to their descendants before they grew old, the heads of two major families who were in their prime at that time actually started fighting over a stunning singer from a humble background.
The two heads of the family are young and energetic, and neither of them wants to bow to the other. Seeing that the smell of gunpowder between the two tribes was getting stronger and stronger, and it could develop into a large-scale armed conflict at any time, the late Emperor Sazha XXI, who did not want to cause division within the empire, summoned the singer and asked her to Choose one of the two.
Under the gaze of the emperor and all the princes, the singer finally chose Zacharis-Zorbagis, the tall and burly head of the Zorbagis family who was wearing military uniform and then the marshal of the empire.
However, what everyone did not expect was that the head of the Hilizaga family, who was nicknamed the "Joker" by the nobles afterwards, actually sent a dead soldier to assassinate the singer whom he could not love. This assassination involved countless cases. It immediately caused a sensation throughout Chiennia, and even the emperor himself personally asked about the matter.
According to the description of those present at the time, at the funeral three days after the assassination, Zacharis kissed the deceased's forehead and then formally proposed a life-or-death duel to the head of the Hilizaga family, which the other party could not refuse.
The outcome of the duel was no surprise. Zacharis, who was proficient in fighting, easily killed his opponent. What is regrettable is that after the victory, the Imperial Marshal, who knew that his character was not stable enough to bear the responsibilities of a king, took the initiative to apply for exile from the emperor, and his whereabouts are still unknown.
Since then, the two families, which lost their respective heads, have been completely at odds. They have transformed from a cooperative relationship in the past into irreconcilable enemies, and bloody conflicts have occurred from time to time.
What is even more noteworthy is that, according to rumors circulating in the palace, it was Police Minister Hilizaga who presented evidence of treason to Sazha XXII regarding the commander of the Outer Circle, Innarim Zorbagis. The emperor, who was already suspicious of the outer ring army, ordered Yinarim to be arrested overnight, which caused the morale of the garrison on Krohoka to become chaotic for a while.
Even laymen know that it is taboo to change generals on the spot. The Minister of Police is in charge of the national security force. There is no reason to not know what impact the sudden removal of the top frontline commander during wartime will have on the military.
Therefore, in the eyes of many officers, Tino Hilizaga, the descendant of the "Joker", also bears some responsibility for the failure of the Battle of Krohoka.
There are even a few people who believe that if Inarim Zorbagis can continue to command, the revitalized Imperial Army may not be defeated by the also exhausted People's Alliance Army.
Nowadays, a new generation of Zorbagis' family head has suddenly appeared, and I'm afraid the reason is not just because he is interested in Hilizaga's secret police reform proposal.
As expected, before the Minister of Police could say anything, the head of the Goksash family took the lead and said: "Tino Hilizaga, you are so majestic! Before the princes arrived, you planned to use this kind of dirty trick. Are you using cruel means to destroy the relationship between His Majesty and the nobles?"
Naturally, the Minister of Police, who had been slapped with a big hat, would not give in easily. After glancing at the silent Sazhar 22 on the throne with his peripheral vision, he replied confidently: "Zorbaji. Lord Si, this is an empire conference, and you have to consider the consequences of what you say and do. If you can't produce evidence, please be patient and don't interfere with the normal meeting process."
Geksash narrowed his eyes when he heard this, and secretly thought that this boy has not learned other skills, but he has inherited a lot of the Silizaga family's smoothness from ancient times from his ancestors, and his airtight speaking skills are not good for him. If he said anything else, he snorted coldly and sat down.
But soon, the quick-thinking Gekesash discovered a major loophole in the Minister of Police's reform proposal.
Although the other party claimed that the targets of secret police surveillance would be raised from civilians to the aristocratic class, he did not mention whether the royal family and the Twelve Lords family would also accept the supervision of Amanda Hunter.
So after the Minister of Police finished preaching the reform plan, Gekesash immediately said in a sinister tone: "Boy Tino, the plan is well made, but I don't seem to have heard the part about the king and the royal family. It was you who accidentally forgot Or did you deliberately fail to make a plan?"
Seeing that the head of the family was the first to speak, the supporters of the Zorbagis family in the venue also echoed: "Yes! Although I think the princes must be loyal and patriotic, it is inevitable that there will be moths among the people below. Now even Even the dukes and marquises cannot escape the screening of the secret police, so can the members of the royal family be exempted?"
When the police minister heard this, his expression suddenly dropped, he opened his mouth, and finally fell silent.
It's not that he didn't make a reform plan related to the core of the empire's power, but that his father, Kurnir Hilizaga, the current head of the Hilizaga family, specifically asked him to delete the relevant information about the king and the royal family after seeing the plan. part, and strictly ordered him not to make up for it for any reason or form in the Imperial Congress.
"Child, you have to understand that the power of the Twelve Kings is based on unity. Maybe you think that we can become the strongest Royal Family with the help of the secret police, but have you ever thought about it? Discordant and suspicious of each other, even the most powerful prince is nothing more than an ordinary nobleman who can be destroyed at any time to the royal family."
His father's explanation was very weighty and reasonable, so the Minister of Police would naturally not disobey Kurnier's wishes. However, seeing that the initiative he had spent a lot of effort on was about to be turned into a pot of mud by the Zorbagis family, he felt in his heart. Who can understand the unwillingness?
Just when the motion was about to be scrapped due to insufficient support, the emperor spoke.
"I can see that you are very dissatisfied with Sir Hilizaga's proposal, so I just thought about it and think that the reform plan should be slightly supplemented."
"From today on, based on the Amanda Hunter organization under the Imperial Police Department, the Amanda Royal Internal Affairs Bureau will be established to select the best secret police and direct members of the royal family to participate in supervising the work of the prince and the royal family. If there is any discovery , you must report it directly to me, and you must not borrow it from others."
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As soon as these words came out, the noisy venue suddenly became quiet. Even the police minister, who had discussed the reform content with the emperor in advance, could not help but widen his eyes. Apparently, he did not expect that Sazha XXII would take the initiative to challenge the secret police organization. Open the door of convenience.
However, he thought about it again and soon understood the deep meaning behind the emperor's move.
There is no doubt that the Internal Affairs Bureau with the involvement of royal personnel will definitely take the emperor's orders as its top priority. Even if he can still maintain a certain influence in the Internal Affairs Bureau with the help of Amanda Hunter's relationship, he will not be able to make the Internal Affairs Bureau give up investigating Healy. The possible treason of the Zaga family, not to mention the other royal families.
The reason why his father did not allow him to propose these plans was probably because Kurnir realized that after Sazhar 22 came to the throne, the three major forces of the Inner Ring Council, the Slave Traders' Guild and the Twelve Kings had joined forces. The power encirclement network formed is about to push the royal family to a dead end.
The huge pressure brought by the three families joining forces is extremely uncontrollable. If used properly, the royal family will indeed be gradually emptied into a vase by powerful ministers like them. But the key point is that once the royal family loses power, won't the Inner Circle Council and the Slave Traders' Guild, which only have interests in mind, make trouble for the princes who have lost their role?
Instead of tightening the noose so that the royal family has to fight to the death with the nobles, it is better to relax a little and sell Sazha 22nd a favor. Anyway, the Twelve Princes family cannot lose much benefit because of some unfounded crimes. At most Just giving up some petty profits is not worth mentioning at all.
Speaker Zuo Erchi, who was sitting on the colonial representative seat, rolled his eyes and clearly saw that this was a naked exchange of interests between the princes and the royal family, and most of the relevant parties were not easy to obstruct it. Otherwise, no one can bear the label of treason.
The emperor personally came forward to make the decision, and many princely families and inner-ring colonies pledged their support. The motion to reform the secret police was quickly passed with a high vote. What excited Jatu was that among all the colonial representatives who came to the meeting , more than 90% of representatives from the Central and Outer Rings voted in favor.
Although 30% of the representatives of the inner circle, where the traditional aristocratic power has been rooted for a long time, abstained from voting and 20% of the representatives opposed, it is obvious that this small group of opponents alone is not enough to overwhelm most of the empire in terms of their right to speak.
After the motion to reform the secret police, Geksash-Zorbagis, who had been silent for a long time on the royal throne, stood up and made a ground-breaking motion to everyone present.
"Dear guests who have come from afar, I, Gekesash-Zorbagis, have some good news to tell you."
"The empire's new generation of capital ships and army combat equipment have been designed. In order to prevent the army from repeating the same mistakes as in the Cross Nebula battle, I think..."
Seeing everyone in the venue sitting upright and pricking up their ears, Lord Geksash waved his hand, as if he was confident.
"Military reform is imperative!"
