Aiglon could see that although Haidee had initially acquired the self-awareness of a monarch, she still didn't understand the specific things at all.
But this was the result he deliberately created, so he was not dissatisfied with it.
Now Haidee is completely dependent on him and obeys his orders, so he can dominate the kingdom as he pleases without worrying about her ambitions and causing trouble for himself for no reason.
It was noon, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Even standing on the high ground, Aigron felt unbearably hot. He looked at Haidee and found that there was already a lot of sweat on her forehead.
This is normal. Aigron felt so hot even though he took off his coat and only wore a shirt. Haidee, who was wearing a long skirt, would naturally feel even more uncomfortable.
"Let's go down and rest -" he ordered Haidee.
"Yes." Haidee would not question his order, she just nodded, then picked up a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her head.
When the two of them walked off the construction site, the person in charge of the construction site immediately greeted them.
"Is our lunch ready?" Aigron asked.
"It's ready, Your Majesty." The person in charge replied quickly, "But please forgive me, the conditions here are limited. Even if we have made every effort to prepare, I'm afraid it will make you feel rudimentary."
"It doesn't matter. We are here to inspect, not to show off. Your energy should not be focused on the reception, but on your own duties." Aigron replied casually, "I am quite satisfied with the progress here. , please continue to work hard and strictly abide by the schedule of the plan."
"Okay, Your Majesty!" The person in charge was overjoyed after being praised by Aigron, and repeatedly assured Aigron, "Please rest assured, we will ensure the progress!"
After finishing speaking, he was going to take his two "majesties" Aigron and Haidee to have a meal together.
However, to everyone's surprise, Haidee suddenly stopped and then looked at those people who were still working under the scorching sun.
"When will they take a break?" she asked the person in charge.
"Well..." The person in charge pondered for a moment, then looked at Aigron.
Although both of them are majesties, people with normal IQs know which one should be pleased with and whose meaning should prevail.
Aiglon made a gesture to indicate that he knew everything about Haidee.
After getting permission from Aiglon, the person in charge replied to Haidee, "Your Majesty, they start work at eight o'clock in the morning and finish work at six o'clock in the afternoon. If sometimes they need to catch up with the progress, it will be later."
"Don't you want to take a break for lunch?" Haidee asked.
"Yes, but they are eating on the construction site, and there is no time now." The person in charge quickly replied, "They will continue to work after eating until the end of work."
"That's too tiring..." Haidee looked at the people who were still working, and then whispered. "They have to work hard in this weather. Will they not get sick?"
The person in charge's face suddenly became embarrassed, and then he secretly glanced at Aiglon.
Aigron has given orders many times to ensure the progress of the plan and to stick to the tight schedule. Since he is urging his subordinates, they will naturally increase their execution and make the labor intensity very strict.
Of course Aigron knew that doing this would lead to someone dying, but for him, the conscripts this time were mainly prisoners and captives, and he didn't feel bad about dying at all. It could even be said that he was eliminating unstable factors, so he simply not give a damn about--
If he wants to save money and time, he has to pay a corresponding price, and he is willing to pay.
"This is indeed a hard job, but their hard work is worth it." Aigron spoke at the right time, resolving the embarrassment of the person in charge, "Haidee, you may not be able to see anything now, but when After our entire project is completed, your people will benefit greatly from it, and future generations will also be grateful to them."
——Of course I won’t be grateful. Who in future generations will remember the dead buried in those mass graves around the construction site? They will only remember Aiglon, who ordered the construction of these aqueduct facilities, and at most they will remember the engineers responsible for the design. This has been the case at home and abroad, and since ancient times.
However, these words were enough to fool Haidee. She blinked and stopped questioning.
"Okay, let's go, don't delay the work of the people here anymore." Aigron made a gesture.
Haidee took one last look at the still-busy construction site, her eyes filled with sympathy, but she said nothing more and followed Aigron away.
Since it is a construction site, of course the living conditions are not very good. They just built some pergolas on a flat ground. The largest pergola was the one that hosted Aigron and Haidee for lunch.
The person in charge took the two His Majesty to sit at the dining table - it can be seen that they have really tried their best to receive His Majesty. Although the dishes on the table are not luxurious, they are quite rich, including chicken and beef, inferior table wine, and I don't know where I got fresh milk, and some fruits picked from around, all placed on the table.
After wandering around here all morning, Aigron was a little hungry, so he picked up the tableware and prepared to start work. However, Haidee did not eat immediately, but asked the person in charge another question.
"What do the workers here usually eat? Are they the same as us?"
The person in charge was stunned again, then laughed off the stupid question. "In order to ensure the progress of the project, we will do our best to ensure the food supply for every worker, Your Majesty."
Haidee heard what the other party really meant from this answer.
"Can you explain it to me in detail?" she asked.
Seeing her reluctance, the person in charge asked Aigron for mercy again, but Aigron just sighed and motioned for the other party to answer the truth.
So, the person in charge took Haidee to the kitchen where the workers were cooking and had a look. After a while, Haidee came back, and her face became quite ugly.
Seeing her fidgeting, Aigron waved his hand and signaled the person in charge to go out.
Then, Aigron ignored Haidee and picked up the tableware to eat by himself.
"Your Majesty...please allow me to tell you what I saw." Seeing his calm look, Haidee couldn't sit still anymore, so she confided to him in a low voice, "The people here eat very poorly and only have mashed potatoes. , wheat cakes, and broth with no trace of meat..."
"But at least they have something to eat, right?" Aigron said as he cut a piece of beef for himself and put it in his mouth, and took a sip of fresh milk. "I stipulate that they can eat two meals a day, which is enough for them to do. Alive.”
"This little food is not enough to cope with such a long period of labor! They can't survive it." Haidee became a little anxious, and then defended him, "Don't you think this is too harsh?"
"It depends on dialectics -" Aigron replied, "Although we may be a little harsh on them, given their special status, if I don't treat them like this, they will not be able to escape their fate, or they will die of abuse. Either they died of illness or something else. From this point of view, I am relatively merciful to them. At least they have a chance to survive, right?"
Haidee was suddenly at a loss for words. This was the first time she had experienced Aiglon's eloquence, so she didn't know how to deal with it for a while.
Moreover, subconsciously, she had a sense of fear that "His Majesty cannot disobey", and she did not dare to argue with His Majesty anymore.
But in her young and kind heart, she still disagreed with this statement.
"You said that all men were equal, and you spoke out against slavery..." she muttered.
"Yes, I said that, but there is another thing I didn't say -" Aigron put down the tableware, and then answered the other party sternly, "I will not treat everyone equally without cost, and everyone who is my enemy should Only after paying a certain price can you gain my forgiveness and respect. Take these people, for example. They have either committed crimes or have fought with me before. In other words, they have all caused me losses. In this case, they They should atone for their previous offenses. Now is the time for them to atone. If they can survive after paying their blood and sweat for the principality, then it will prove that they have been reborn and are qualified to become citizens of the principality and enjoy the treatment of free people. Isn’t this great? If they can’t survive it, they are just meeting their destined end.”
Haidee knew in her heart that His Majesty's words actually made some sense, but when she recalled the scene she had just witnessed, she still couldn't bear it.
"There are more French people who betray you and are your enemies... Do you plan to retaliate against them all in this way?" So she asked again.
Hearing this question, Aigron was not angry. On the contrary, he wanted to laugh.
Haidee was indeed growing, and her thinking ability, logic, and debating skills had improved greatly. He was even a little pleased.
"Of course not." Then, he replied easily, "There are too many French people who have opposed me. They overthrew the empire I inherited. I cannot retaliate against everyone one by one. I can only choose to forgive and Reconciliation. The people's bargaining power comes from what they can bring to the ruler, and what the latter can threaten. The French have proven that they can overthrow the dynasty and chop off the monarch's head, so of course I have to be careful... But the people here are different. They dare not resist me, and they are unable to resist me, so they can only accept all the cruelty I bring to them. Isn't this natural? Haidee, you are already a monarch. , so you must also believe that all concessions made by the monarch to the people were won by the people themselves with their own strength and blood. There has never been any savior. The French are bolder, so they deserve to have more rights than the Ioannina people. And the king’s mercy, this is not unfair, this is precisely the greatest fairness.”
After finishing speaking, as if to increase his persuasiveness, Aigron added, "After overthrowing my throne, the Bourbons returned to France, and as soon as their leader King Louis XVIII set foot on the border of France, He announced that he wanted to reconcile, to heal old pain, and to recognize the existence of France as a constitutional government - is his kindness because he is inherently soft-hearted? Wrong, that is what the French people paid for with endless blood. !”
When he got excited, Aigron simply raised his hand and pointed at the workers outside who were still working hard under the scorching sun, "What if these people can unite and rush towards us without fear of death and kill us all?" Guards, then they can make us agree to whatever they want us to agree to, even killing the king and establishing an independent country. However, since they can't do it, they have to accept all the disasters I have brought to them. They are not worthy of peace. Compared to the people over there.”
Haidee gasped, and then subconsciously looked outside the pergola, as if to confirm whether a group of people were really attacking her desperately.
After confirming that everything was safe, she breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, she realized that, objectively speaking, she and His Majesty were on the same side now. No matter how much she sympathized with those outside, they were still on opposite sides in the end.
She knew clearly that His Majesty was making excuses, but she felt that he was right. This contradictory situation made Haidee almost at a loss.
Seeing her troubled look, Aigron couldn't help laughing again.
"Haidee, you are kind-hearted and care about the welfare of the people. This is a good thing. It shows that you will become a beloved monarch. However, you have not experienced real training and have not learned to distinguish kindness from stance - —And Teresa didn’t, she knew when to be kind and when to turn a blind eye.”
"How can I possibly compare to Her Majesty Theresa..." Haidee was a little discouraged.
She looked at the food spread on the dining table again, and then looked at Aiglon again.
"Then, Your Majesty, at least I can do my best to improve their treatment, right? I can't control the principal's finances, but I can control my stomach - I can't eat so much every day, so many meals are completely You can cut down some of the waste and spend the saved food and money on the people here. I think you can agree to this trivial request, right?"
Seeing Haidee's expectant eyes, Aigron laughed inwardly.
As the monarch of the principality, Haidee's daily meals are naturally quite rich, and most of them are indeed wasted, but what can be done even if these things are saved? It’s not enough to give these workers half a meal a day.
It's just a stupid little favor, just a woman's kindness. Aigron will not do such superficial things.
He wanted to be emperor, not to become a Puritan - on the contrary, he wanted to have power and taste all the luxuries and enjoyments that power brings.
These two purposes have always been integrated. Otherwise, why would people fight for power and gain?
However, since this was Haidee's request, he was willing to grant her this wish, just think of it as psychological comfort.
"Okay, just do as you say, halve your meal budget, and use the money saved to provide extra meals to the people on the construction site." He replied with a smile, "Are you satisfied with this?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Haidee replied cheerfully.
Not only for my own kindness, but also for my little stubbornness to be recognized by His Majesty.
She felt that she was growing up, and she hoped to grow up as soon as possible and become a qualified monarch and a qualified vassal of His Majesty. She knew that she still had a lot to learn, but she knew that she would definitely learn it.
This will also reflect the value of her future life.
