Matt Louis, the seventh prince of the Kabasi Empire, is a very unique character!
One year, several of the princes of the Qabas Empire came of age, and Emperor Louis XIII returned to the Lisbon Palace after a court meeting.
After reviewing official documents in the Saint's Hall for a while, Louis XIII suddenly felt tired, so he left his chair and walked around in the hall to rest.
When passing by a floor-to-ceiling mirror, Louis XIII accidentally glanced at his own image in it, and suddenly noticed some graying in his golden hair.
Louis XIII was stunned for a moment, realizing that he was about to enter old age.
Time passed, and the emperor of the Kabasi Empire had been in power for thousands of years. He ruled internally by doing nothing, delegating power to Duke Pat and Earl Donald, allowing the country's strength to grow steadily. He also competed and cooperated with the old enemy Fuluo Federation externally, and he was still able to keep up. He can be regarded as a qualified monarch.
Louis XIII was not an ambitious emperor. He was satisfied with his current achievements and did not want to open up new territories.
Louis XIII looked around the Hall of Saints with complex eyes. This was the place where emperors of the empire handled government affairs. Too many beautiful or bloody stories had happened. His ability to become an emperor here was due to various coincidences!
Now Louis XIII only wants to cultivate excellent heirs and pass on the throne in a stable and orderly manner.
However, Louis XIII understood that this matter was not that simple. But Louis XIII, who had been emperor for thousands of years, would not give up easily and secretly clenched his fists.
Louis XIII was preparing to select one of the many princes to be crown prince, but how to choose has become his biggest headache at present.
Throughout history and all countries in the universe, in all imperial countries, it is not uncommon for princes to fight for the right to inherit the throne, leading to fratricide and the collapse of the wall.
Although Louis XIII did not want his princes to turn against each other because of the throne, he also understood that this kind of thing could not be completely prevented.
Louis XIII wanted to think more about establishing a heir apparent. However, the emperor's hard-working life has made his health deteriorate. He must choose a prince who suits his wishes while he is still healthy, put an end to the delusions of the other princes, and test the reactions of the ministers, otherwise trouble will occur in the future.
But to be honest, even Louis XIII himself had trouble deciding which prince to choose!
"Hugo" called Louis XIII.
Hugo was chamberlain to Louis XIII. When Louis XIII was just a prince, Hugo had already followed him. After Louis XIII became emperor, Hugo's status rose sharply and he became the emperor's left-hand chamberlain, firmly occupying the first place among the emperor's left-hand chamberlains. Aides-de-camp were private officials of the emperor and could stay with the emperor all day long. Legally speaking, they did not have a high status, but they had great power and could influence various decisions of the emperor overtly or covertly.
"My subordinate is here." Hugo, who had been standing quietly with one hand behind his back, bowed his upper body and saluted, and responded in a low voice.
Emperor Louis XIII pondered for a moment and asked: "Which of the princes do you think is suitable to be the crown prince?"
Hugo couldn't help twitching his eyebrows when he heard this. Although he was Louis XIII's left chamberlain, and Louis XIII trusted him very much, he did not dare to speak nonsense when it came to the Crown Prince. Hugo put on a troubled smile and said: "Your Majesty, the matter of the crown prince is of great importance. Your Majesty can discuss it with the Queen, or you can discuss it with the ministers... I have little knowledge, how dare I speak nonsense about national affairs!"
After hearing this, Louis XIII frowned, glared at Hugo, and said impatiently: "You can just say it, and I will atone your innocence first!"
Hugo couldn't help but feel bitter in his heart. Although Louis XIII would not blame him, he still did not want to touch upon this topic. After all, the crown prince's matter involves a lot of things, not only involving several princes, but also the imperial nobles, ministers, etc. If you accidentally say something wrong, you will offend certain forces.
After thinking for a moment, Hugo said with a smile: "My subordinates feel that the empire and other countries in the universe have followed the primogeniture system, so... so..." What he said was very smart, because Louis XIII has been until now. She has been married four times, and the queen is also the fourth. No one can tell clearly which prince is the eldest son, so
It's like saying nothing.
Louis XIII was not satisfied with Hugo's answer.
However, Louis XIII did not embarrass Hugo anymore. After all, he also knew that the more Hugo was a close minister around him, the more secretive he became about the crown prince.
No matter where you are, talking about the candidate for the crown prince is taboo!
"Hugo, by word of mouth, summon all the princes to the Hall of Saints before the court meeting tomorrow morning. I want to personally test their knowledge and see what their learning results are these days... Let the ministers and nobles of the empire Stay with me!"
"I obey His Majesty's instructions." Hugo turned around and hurriedly delivered the order.
The next day, it was still dark, and the ten princes under Louis XIII were ordered to gather in the Saint's Hall. But if you count carefully, you can find that there are only nine people present, and there is still one missing person.
However, Louis XIII did not seem to notice it and was preparing to announce the examination questions.
Seeing this, Hugo quickly bowed and reminded in the emperor's ear: "Your Majesty, wait a moment, there is a prince who has not arrived yet!"
Louis XIII was stunned when he heard this. He squinted his eyes and carefully counted the number of people in the palace. Sure enough, he found that only nine princes were present.
But for a while, he couldn't tell which prince was missing. He only knew that the three princes he paid attention to were all present. These three princes are the eldest prince Jason Louis, the third prince Brad Louis and the fifth prince Tom Louis.
These three princes are all potential candidates for Louis XIII to be crown prince. The eldest prince, Jason Louis, was born to his first queen and was also his first child. The third prince Brad Louis and the fifth prince Tom Louis were both children of his second queen.
The second queen was also the favorite woman of Louis XIII. Unfortunately, she was not lucky and died after giving birth to three princes. Therefore, Louis XIII paid special attention to the children of the second queen and showed obvious favoritism.
The remaining princes did not show enough ability, and Louis XIII usually had no time to pay attention to them.
"Which prince is here?" Louis XIII frowned.
"It's the Seventh Prince Matt Louis." Hugo, the left attendant in charge of this examination, whispered to himself: "Your Majesty, it is your fault. I have sent someone to urge you. I believe that the Seventh Prince will be there soon." Will come soon."
Louis XIII looked displeased.
The seventh prince, Matt Louis, is his seventh son, born from the third queen, and has already reached adulthood.
In the early years, Louis XIII heard that this son was naughty, greedy for pleasure, and not good at learning, which caused the teachers of the Royal Academy to complain privately.
Louis XIII had many princes, and the seventh prince had no talent for worldly affairs. He was not on his list of crown princes, so he simply let the seventh prince go his own way and didn't pay much attention to him.
Unexpectedly, the Seventh Prince was late for the exam held at the Saints Hall today, which made Louis XIII very upset. :
The emperor sat back in his chair silently, his expression gloomy and ugly.
This made the ministers and nobles who were watching the examination look at each other in confusion, and it was inconvenient to say anything.
The princes who had already arrived showed expressions that had nothing to do with them. Yu Moran was prepared to watch the excitement, but the sixth prince, Chris Louis, had a worried look on his face.
Among the princes, Chris Louis and Matt Louis have the closest relationship because their biological mother is the same person, Cleopatra, the third queen of Louis XIII.
About ten minutes later, several palace guards led the prince, who they thought was young, into the Saints' Hall. They saw this man with sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, a majestic appearance, a typical handsome man. The only fly in the ointment is that this son has just woken up, his behavior is a bit lazy and sleepy, and his eyes are far less bright than other princes.
Seeing the look on the face of the seventh prince, Matt Louis, Louis XIII immediately guessed that this son must have been dragged out of bed by the palace guards. But all the ministers and nobles in the palace were there, and he was too embarrassed to reveal the matter. He could only give Matt Louis a fierce look and motioned for him to take a seat immediately.
Seeing that all the princes had arrived, Louis XIII announced the contents of this examination.
There are two questions in total, No.
The first test tests talent and learning, requiring ten princes to write an article based on their personal ambitions, with no limit to the questions; the second test tests the princes' ability to govern the country, requiring all princes to write a "Policy Theory", which can analyze the current national affairs and people's conditions of the empire. , you can also evaluate the pros and cons of various policies being implemented by the empire, and propose your own ways to think about solutions. In short, you can write down both good and bad.
After promulgating the examination questions, Louis XIII got up and took the ministers and nobles to the court for discussion, leaving only the attendants to stare at his princes.
About two hours later, the court meeting ended, and Louis XIII led everyone back to the Hall of Saints, preparing to inspect the results of these princes within two hours.
At this time, the ten princes had completed their articles, put down their quantum notebooks, and sat at the examination table waiting for their father to review and accept them.
Louis XIII was very satisfied at first, but as his eyes swept across the entire hall, the smile on his face froze.
This is wrong. There are obviously ten princes, but one is missing.
After counting carefully with his eyes wide open, Louis XIII discovered that there were indeed only nine princes present, and one of them had gone somewhere.
After careful recall, Louis XIII discovered that the missing person was actually the seventh prince Matt Louis who was late just now.
"Where is Matt?" Louis XIII asked with an unkind expression.
The other princes felt the emperor's anger. They didn't want to get burned, so they lowered their heads to protect themselves and pretended not to hear.
Brad Louis, the favored third prince, was more courageous. He sat on the chair and said with a smile: "Tell me back to my father, is Matt going back?"
"Going back?" Louis XIII's voice suddenly rose an octave, and the timid prince couldn't help being frightened and shook his body.
