Chapter 1274: Chapter 1273: Face to Face
In the wind and snow, a young man from Gafura panted heavily.
With each breath, a large cloud of white mist puffed from his mouth, blurring everything before his eyes for a moment.
The weather was freezing, yet he was drenched in sweat; fighting was always the most physically demanding activity.
The stick in his hand no longer moved as nimbly as it did at the start; he’d been hit on the head by someone’s club, and his head buzzed.
This was a brawl; the nobles did not wish to get involved personally in such cold weather, and of course, their elegance prevented them from fighting by themselves.
The incident of the old nobles getting brutally beaten by the young count several times had fermented, and the nobles saw this as clearly uncivilized behavior.
Like their medieval noble ancestors, they led their retainers into battle—mainly having the retainers do the fighting while they watched from the sidelines.
This way, they could retain their dignity and vent their anger, perfectly in line with the nobles’ preferences.
Today, such a battle erupted.
Two nobles had a conflict over business competition. In the past, they had no good way to handle such animosities, but now they did.
After staggering, the youth unexpectedly struck the opponent’s shin with his club, causing a sudden fracture in the lower leg. Coupled with the fear of pain, his opponent immediately fell to the ground.
His own head had just been hit by the opponent’s club, and everything he saw now had a reddish tint. The world kept spinning, and he felt unbalanced even standing upright!
Overwhelmed with extreme anger, perhaps due to rage or some other reason, he looked at the opponent on the ground and raised his club!
He smashed it down hard on the person’s head!
Once...
Twice...
Three times!
With a cracking sound, the side of the person’s head caved in, their eyeball looked like it was about to be squeezed out, protruding from the socket.
Blood flowed out from the person’s facial features, and the body began to convulse.
The person was likely... no, definitely beyond saving.
An unexpected pleasure grew from within him; humans are undoubtedly the most brutal species of all, whether it’s killing a different kind or their own—after a brief moment of fear, a certain suppressed pleasure always follows!
Taking away another’s life, controlling another’s life—this is inherently one of the core elements of power.
Actually, from the beginning of the fight between the young count and Kipling up until just a second ago, the nobles maintained a basic bottom line: they could get injured but not die.
After all, death is a very barbaric affair; people keep reminding others that even the Emperor doesn’t have the right to arbitrarily take lives.
Nobles, naturally, are no exception.
People have gotten injured all along, but no one has died, that was the bottom line.
However, today, this bottom line seemed to have been crossed.
When someone dies, his friends, those close to him, will go on a frenzied attack for revenge until the killer is taken down.
Conversely, the same applies; this melee was quickly spiraling out of control.
The Prime Minister was dealing with work gathered from all over the country, as well as some international matters. With the Federation’s grain arriving at Gafura’s Main Island, the public’s anxiety had been greatly alleviated.
The nobles discovered that the public could fill their bellies without their grain, prompting the grain merchants to voluntarily lower prices.
They could have done this long ago, but they refused for the sake of some profit, causing Gafura to lose some critical technological achievements instead.
The Prime Minister was very angry, yet he had no better solution.
Behind those grain merchants were the nobles.
It’s easy to deal with the grain merchants, but dealing with the nobles proves very troublesome.
As he was handling work, his butler, with an expression of surprise, stood at the door of the study.
The Prime Minister heard footsteps, put down his pen, took off his glasses, and looked at the butler standing at the door. "Is there something I need to know?"
The butler had a hint of joy in his voice, "Sir, they’ve killed someone, and it’s said that more than twenty people died!"
The Prime Minister paused his action of wiping his glasses with a small deerskin cloth, immediately reacting, "More than twenty people died?"
The butler nodded vigorously, as if to confirm that all this was indeed true.
"That’s terrible!" In the next second, the Prime Minister’s face was all smiles, but what he was saying and how he acted were entirely opposite.
He stood up and paced back and forth a few steps, "It’s terrible, have the police take action, arrest those involved, and don’t spare the nobles behind them..."
He said as he headed toward the door, "I need to go to the Imperial Palace, won’t be back for dinner tonight."
The deaths were actually very, very good news for the Prime Minister. The actions of the nobles in recent times had completely made him understand Lynch’s words.
Overthrowing the Imperial Family and the nobles, the Prime Minister is still merely an individual. What he did seemed to help the nation on the surface.
However, from a long-term perspective, it will instead lead Gafura to be completely eliminated from the first tier.
The greed and shortsightedness of the nobles are exasperating. Once the Imperial Family is overthrown, the nobles will have wealth and power, and if they are further granted control of the Cabinet, they will have no political rivals.
An absolute ruling class is absolutely destructive to a country.
The idea of suppressing the nobles has been etched in Lynch’s mind ever since his casual chat with him.
The fundamental reason he has allowed the nobles to become increasingly unruly during this period, and even cooperated with some of their antics, is that he hopes the nobles will first make mistakes.
Only when the nobles make mistakes first, will he have a way to reclaim their power.
This time the Prime Minister did not organize a convoy for his trip, just an inconspicuous car that took him to the Imperial Palace, unnoticed by anyone.
The meeting with the Emperor was in His Majesty’s study, once again face-to-face alone, both with a sense of reflection.
One is a volatile autocrat, maybe his ascension fostered such a fiery character, with outside evaluations consistently revolving around "tyrant" and "dictator".
Especially with the Prime Minister idle, holding the reins of the nation alone, his name as dictator is even more pronounced.
And the Prime Minister, a great noble who has been idle almost his entire life.
When the Emperor selected him as Prime Minister, he thought it would be a great opportunity to prove his political capabilities.
He devised several policy plans to rejuvenate Gafura!
Yet what greeted him was a prolonged spell as a ceremonial mascot.
He held neither a shred of power in his hands.
Any matters related to finance or budget required the approval of the Finance Minister and His Majesty the Emperor; only with their nod did they truly pass.
Matters unrelated to finance... other ministers could handle on their own, making additional procedures unnecessary.
Thus he continued awkwardly as Prime Minister, believing he would never have any opportunities in life, and the Emperor wouldn’t allow him to resign.
Where to find such an obedient and manipulable Prime Minister?
Until this moment, the status of both had greatly changed, making their hearts more complicated.
"Aren’t you afraid you won’t return?" The Emperor looked at the Prime Minister, casually uttering a phrase that could make ordinary people sweat.
Everyone knows he doesn’t lie; he was ruthless when killing his siblings, so executing a Prime Minister would be just a swift matter.
The Prime Minister was unfazed, shaking his head with a smile, "You won’t kill me."
"Why?" asked the Emperor, curious about the Prime Minister’s certainty.
That feeling was actually unpleasant, as no one likes their actions being anticipated and controlled by others. The Emperor pursued, "Why do you think I won’t kill you? I can do it, and it’s very easy for me."
"Whether I do it or not, people say I’m a tyrant—it’s exactly the tyrant’s ’business scope’!"
Indeed, killing a minister is typical tyrant behavior, so saying it isn’t wrong.
The Prime Minister laughed, entirely relaxed, "Killing me won’t change the current situation—the noble wish for the Imperial Family’s downfall is unanimous."
"Generations of the Imperial Family have suppressed the nobles severely while giving them fantasies, allowing them to accumulate strength."
"Now they know how to resolve the conflict between the Noble Group and the Imperial Family; this isn’t something my life or death can change."
The Emperor nodded, "Yes, you’re quite right; whether you live or die makes no difference at all."
"Then, can you tell me what you intend to do here?"
He refrained from saying "came here to mock a loser" nonsense, knowing the Emperor may not necessarily be a loser.
The Prime Minister mentioned the outside events, "Today’s brawl left more than twenty dead. They grow increasingly audacious—I need your strength."
The Emperor was silent for a moment, "I’m very reluctant."
He shook his head, "Try to persuade me—if you manage to convince me, I’ll help you."
The Prime Minister sighed with a smile; many think Gafura’s Emperor is merely volatile, lacking the art of governance.
Yet how could a volatile person maintain Gafura’s two-decade peak?
He’s just a bit volatile, making emotional decisions in crises.
In the past, such actions were inconsequential.
Back then, the world was indeed small.
But now it’s unacceptable, because the world is vast.
The war between Gafura and Peng Jieao actually originated from His Majesty’s emotionalism.
If he hadn’t viewed Peng Jieao’s denial of harbor access for Gafura’s Navy as an insult at the time, the ensuing war affecting the whole world wouldn’t have unfolded!
Gafura shouldn’t bear the costs of an individual’s mistake—this isn’t the Middle Ages anymore!
