While Edmond Dantès was working conscientiously for his majesty in Paris, his monarch was also conscientiously performing his duties.
Since reaching a consensus with Father Faria on the distribution of the next affairs, Aigron has begun to devote his energy to performing the political affairs of the principality.
At the beginning, he asked the priest to provide him with regular weekly reports and lists of various affairs, so as to learn the various government affairs of the principality. He even attended the principality's cabinet meetings in person, but only listened and did not speak. .
After all, he was a smart man and had the heart to learn, so as time passed, he quickly became familiar with these matters with the help of Father Faria.
In addition to copying Father Faria's experience, he also made a little innovation. He made a list of various tasks according to his own priorities, and then had people supervise the most urgent tasks at any time. Report your progress at any time.
Compared with Father Faria, Agron has one advantage - he has a young and healthy body, so he can personally supervise on the ground, and no one can fool him just by relying on word games.
Today, Aiglon took Grand Duchess Haidee to a large construction site on the outskirts of Ioannina to supervise the progress of the project.
This is the latest planned aqueduct outside the city, and it is also listed as the highest priority by Aigron.
As an ancient city, Ioannina had similar facilities in ancient times. However, due to various natural and man-made disasters over the years, many facilities were slowly destroyed or abandoned, especially when Ali Pasha's rebellion and the Greek War of Independence broke out. After that, this place suffered from wars that lasted for more than ten years, and the related facilities naturally became even more dilapidated.
These aqueducts not only benefit the surrounding farmers, but can also solve the increasingly serious drinking water problem in Ioannina. Naturally, this has become Aigron's top priority.
According to Father Faria's plan, several engineers had already drawn the design drawings, and the relevant human and material resources had been allocated. After Aiglon took over, he made the decision to start construction, and he also found time to Supervise in person to show that you attach importance to it.
Aiglon and Haidee arrived at the site in person, which naturally made the person in charge here panic. However, neither of them likes to show off, and they don't want to plunge the construction site into chaos because of themselves, so they just dress lightly.
Under the leadership of the person in charge, they came to a high ground not far away, from where they could overlook the entire construction site.
It was summer, and the weather was quite sultry. Although there was wind on the highlands, it was still a bit unbearable. Aigron couldn't help but take off his coat and unbutton the top button of his shirt to cool himself down.
This is true for Aiglon in the highlands. The migrant workers working below are naturally even hotter. They are sweating profusely under the scorching sun. Some of them directly take off their shirts and work shirtless.
Like Aigron, Haidee also held a telescope on the high ground and looked at the scenes on the construction site.
When she saw this scene, she, who was already well versed in human affairs, put away her binoculars a little shyly.
Then, she blushed slightly and turned to look at Aigron.
"Your Majesty! How many people are here?"
"There are thousands of people here. If other locations are included, the manpower used in the entire project is close to 10,000."
Aigron answered casually while playing with the telescope,
"Ten thousand people!" Haidee couldn't help but was a little stunned, obviously frightened by this number. "Recruiting so many people at the same time must cost a lot of money, right?"
Aigron was stunned for a moment, then put down the telescope and looked at Haidee.
It seems that the education that Theresa personally took charge of was very successful, and Haidee has begun to learn to see things from the perspective of a monarch.
"It will indeed cost a lot of money, but there is nothing we can do. If we don't do it now, Ioannina will be overwhelmed sooner or later." Then, Aiglon replied, "Besides, we still have some criminals and prisoners on our hands. You can use them cheaply, but it won’t be that easy later.”
"I see." Haidee nodded, "It is reasonable and reasonable to ask them to use their labor to compensate us for the money we spend to feed them!"
After finishing speaking, Haidee picked up the telescope again and looked around.
After all, Haidee was still young and didn't have many opportunities to go out of the city, so she paid more attention to the surrounding scenery than inspecting the construction site. The sound of gunpowder explosions and the smoke rising from the gunpowder explosions came from the surroundings from time to time. , which brought her a different kind of lively experience.
But for Aigron, there is still a lot to consider.
His attitude towards the principality he created was also changing.
At the beginning, he just regarded this place as the territory he had captured, an accidental landing place during the journey, or a transit point. He only planned to stay here for a while and then leave, so he didn't bother to care about the life and death here; but After seeing Father Faria working so hard for this principality and even exhausting his own life force, he slowly began to change his mind.
He did not want the priest's hard work to be in vain, and he also hoped that the principality would be able to maintain long-term stability in the future and become an "ancestral property" of the Bonaparte family.
Compared to France, which is constantly changing dynasties and dynasties, why can't this quiet, remote country in the Balkans be regarded as the family's last resort?
He couldn't help but feel sad when he thought about how the originally illustrious Habsburg family ended up as an empty royal family in exile without an inch of territory in the original historical line.
Perhaps as Teresa approaches her due date, he gradually becomes aware of becoming a father, or even the "ancestor" of others.
He couldn't talk about these things to anyone, he could only bury them in his heart.
So he began to invest his energy and began to focus on building this new principality.
Of course, even if you want to build, you cannot act haphazardly. You must prioritize things, otherwise it will be counterproductive.
His resources are limited, the principality is a small country, and its manpower and material resources are quite poor. Although he still has some money, it is no problem for a person to become a rich man with that little money. If he wants to build a country, it will be a drop in the bucket.
In addition, due to successive years of war, the principality is now in dire straits, and its financial revenue is also quite meager.
Therefore, from a practical perspective, he must control the scale of construction and not allow the principality's remaining resources to be completely consumed.
This is a paradox - if he does not want to do any construction, but just replaces the previous ruler as a conqueror and allows the people here to continue their previous life intact, then the people will not feel anything is wrong. Life has always been painful, and Aiglon will not make them more painful. They will continue to live silently and endure the new ruler; but once Aiglon wants to do something for their future, then they must Mobilizing them to carry out construction requires the deployment of labor force, the consumption of a large amount of stored materials, and the expenditure of a large amount of money - then he will definitely reduce the quality of life of the people of the principality in the initial period, and will reduce the already insufficient material resources of the principality. Strength adds insult to injury.
After weighing the balance, Aigron could only make the most logical choice - first concentrate most of the manpower and material resources that could be used to build the city of Ioannina and the surrounding areas, making it the absolute center of the principality. ——The aqueduct project outside the city is the most important part of his entire plan.
Firstly, building the capital can improve the cohesion of the ruling class of his principality; secondly, after the resources of the capital absolutely crush the surrounding areas, he will have stronger repressive capabilities, and then he can levy labor and taxes on a larger scale. There is no need to worry about stirring up rebellion and resistance.
Next, he planned to expand the port, develop external commerce, and expand the kingdom's tax base.
Next, after the principality's financial strength becomes more substantial, it can gradually develop other places according to the plan.
This is a rather long-term plan, and when it is carried out, Aigron will probably no longer be in Ioannina, but even so, he still hopes that this plan can be implemented smoothly.
He is the de facto ruler of the Principality of Ioannina, and naturally has certain obligations for the future of the Principality.
These conclusions were the result of many meetings and discussions between Aiglon, Father Faria, and several other senior counselors, and he did not intend to tell Haidee all of them.
Haidee just needs to be the titular monarch she is - she certainly doesn't care about these details anyway.
"Your Majesty, what are you thinking about?" Haidee couldn't help but ask, perhaps sensing that he was thinking.
"I'm thinking about how to make our principality more stable and stable." Aiglon replied casually. "The existing structure can only guarantee temporary peace, but cannot stimulate its vitality. On the contrary, it only temporarily relies on violence to suppress all potential dissatisfaction. That’s all, if we don’t remove the obstacles as soon as possible, sooner or later, the long-standing anger will make this country never have peace.”
Haidee blinked her eyes and looked at Aigron in confusion.
"You...what do you mean?"
"Haidee, are you devoted to the Lord?" Aigron suddenly asked.
"of course!"
A flash of panic flashed in Haidee's eyes, and she quickly answered loudly. "Your Majesty, since I was baptized, I have always thanked the Lord for the favor bestowed upon me, and I have never forgotten for a moment that I am one of the Lord's people... Please believe in my piety!"
No wonder she reacted so strongly, because Aigron's question touched her sensitive nerves.
As a convert, what she fears and hates most is that others question the piety of her faith - after all, her status as an Orthodox Christian is the basic condition for her to become the Grand Duchess of the Principality of Ioannina. If she does not convert If so, neither Greece nor the Russian Empire would be able to recognize the existence of her as a monarch.
And Aigron's inquiry frightened her even more. She was afraid that His Majesty would doubt her loyalty, so she immediately expressed her loyalty without thinking.
Aigron saw her panic, so he reached out his hand and gently stroked Haidee's hair.
"Haidee, don't be nervous. I don't care whether you are really pious or not - although I often claim to be under the orders of the Lord, my loyalty to the Lord is definitely not more than yours."
These words made Haidee's heart tremble with fear. The little girl subconsciously looked up at the sky, fearing that there would be some thunder to threaten the blasphemous king.
Fortunately nothing happened.
Seeing Haidee cowering, Aigron couldn't help but laugh.
He continued to rub Haidee's hair, trying to reassure the little girl.
"I ask you this question to remind you that you are a converted former Muslim, and there are still a large group of unconverted Muslims living in our country. That's right - the superstructure of our principality is We are Christians, and there is a large group of Greek peasants guarding us around the capital, but in general, we have fallen into a sea of MSL Christians. They now accept the rule of us pagans because they have experienced many years of war. They just want peace as quickly as possible and don’t care who rules them; but if time goes by, sooner or later someone will feel that we Christians are not qualified to rule them, and they are so numerous that they can shake our rule at any time.”
Hearing that Aigron had placed herself as one of "us", Haidee felt a little happy - this proved that His Majesty would never doubt the loyalty of a reformed Christian.
However, she also felt a little worried when Aigron mentioned the problem.
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Aiglon did not answer her immediately, but continued to look at the crowded fertile fields under the highlands.
"Haidee, you know, it's 1828 now. Two thousand years ago, there were no Christians in the world. However, a thousand years later, there are Christians everywhere; similarly, thirteen hundred years ago, The world was originally YSL, but after a thousand years, people here have become MSL... Time has changed, everything can be changed, just like you were born as MSL, but eventually became a Christian , we have seen its changes in the past, so I have to promote new changes myself - if I don't do this, our principality will not be able to integrate into Europe."
Haidee listened to Aiglon's words silently. After this period of education, this young girl didn't understand anything.
"Are you saying...that you want to proselytize the people on a large scale?" she asked in a low voice.
"Do you mind?" Aigron asked.
"No! I don't mind." Haidee replied without hesitation, "As long as it is your wish, I think it is fine. Besides, I am a Christian now. Since everyone is my subject, they should be the same as me... "
Aiglon couldn't help but laugh.
"Haidee, you have the courage and look like a king! However, we cannot be anxious, and there is no need to be anxious. When we first entered this country, I had already issued a proclamation declaring that we respect someone's religious beliefs. There is no doubt that I plan to break my promise, but I can’t do it so quickly, and I can’t do it so obviously, I want to take it step by step, and by the time someone finds out, it’s already too late!”
After a pause, Agron explained to Haidee in a low voice, "Haidee, I have publicly declared that I agree with civil rights and the republic. It won't be long before all Europeans know what I said. In this case, I can't He acts like a butcher and a tyrant, so I want to grant citizenship to everyone in the principality and try to solve the problem as softly as possible. Let's start with education. All educated people must swear allegiance to you and your Christian successors. "
"Successors..." Haidee murmured to herself.
The word was too far away for her, but it seemed very close.
