Chapter 1,431 Secret Constituent Assembly
When the mystery is revealed, many people will feel that way. This time is no exception.
Those who can get the title of Grand Duke are all human beings. As long as the IQ is low, in the environment of the Karlsruhe Empire where meritocracy is selected rather than senior, it is impossible to inherit the family business unless all other heirs die.
So when faced with the Empress's invitation, the invited grand dukes actually arrived near the temple of the Church of Three Holy Lights early. And arranged the people, ready to see who are the other invitees.
Although the real owner was well hidden, the capable people sent out to spy on the news just found out that they were all acquaintances. Everyone has fought against each other publicly and privately, and it is not clear who is the master behind it.
Now everyone is here, and there are no new faces around. A group of people simply met and made a summary, then turned around and reported back to their respective masters. Only then did the grand dukes realize that those who had been invited were old rivals of the same rank as themselves.
Now that the mystery has been revealed, everyone has no intention of dancing according to the empress's arrangements and directly enters the temple of the Church of Three Holy Lights. A group of people secretly entered through the side door, leaving only one personal guard, while the rest of the entourage was scattered around the temple, vaguely surrounding the temple.
The priest on call quickly led these noble people to the prayer room where the empress was waiting. This is not a place where Calamus receives medical treatment, but a place where church people actually pray to the gods.
The three holy symbols of the Lord of Justice, the Lord of Life, and the Lord of Protection are hung on the altar. Except for the last one, which was dim and dull, the other two exuded a faint holy light.
Saint Alegria did not kneel in prayer. The pride of the emperor is not allowed to kneel down to any god.
But when the grand dukes arrived, the empress looked at the sacred objects of the three gods with a hesitant expression. And the magician who trespassed rudely was standing by. Other than that, there are no other followers.
The early arrival of the grand dukes did not cause any trouble to the inviters. The empress did not have a panicked expression as the grand dukes imagined, and when they appeared, she knelt down and begged for protection.
On the contrary, the empress still maintained her usual indifferent demeanor. This can't help but make the grand dukes doubt the correctness of the magician's words. Does His Majesty the Emperor really mean to seek peace?
"My lords, the meaning of the great magician Gabrash Tripwood is mine. He will discuss it with you in detail here." After saying the opening words, the empress looked back at the holy emblem of the god. Like in silent prayer.
With the Empress opening the show, Lin directly asked a few soul-searching questions, asking the masters present to prevent them from talking about their qualifications. If you really want to argue with the nobles, you won't see the end for three days and three nights. So let’s get right to the point.
Lin said: "My lords, how long do you think the current political situation can last? All the nobles unite to suppress His Majesty the Emperor until the end? Can the status quo be maintained if another emperor comes to power? Or can it be replaced? Which emperor do you all feel satisfied with? When His Majesty was able to be crowned and ascended the throne, wasn't it because you thought she was qualified and could satisfy you? Why are you not satisfied today?"
Grand Duke Muxi, as the leading figure of the hardliners, still said what he would say based on his character: "As long as I live, this situation will not change. Or do you think that with your own efforts, There are ways to turn things around.”
"My lord, I believe you can do what you say. But what about a hundred years from now? Even if we don't say a hundred years, this generation will all be dead. Each of your lords is older than your majesty. Although the tomb only pretends to be dead, isn't it? You just pretend to be an old man, but in terms of your remaining life span, Your Majesty has a chance to live longer than any of you. Then will the situation be the same then?"
"Just say what you want to say, and don't ask questions that are just like nonsense." Grand Duke Oz, although he does not belong to any faction within the empire, the weight of his words is not light at all. Because he has maintained a state of war with the Haider Empire for a long time, his style of acting is quite bright, and he does not like long-winded and hidden speech methods.
"If there is a way to make the current situation a regular practice and continue it for a long time. And the so-called long-term means that no matter who the emperor is, your family has been passed down for several generations, and political affairs are still dominated by the nobles; the emperor is far away from the power of governance. Only as a symbol of the empire. Then would you, your lords, be willing to support Your Majesty, especially to keep her away from things like today."
The most knowledgeable Archduke of Parma said: "It sounds like the Republican Parliament that existed in the Elven Empire a long time ago. If this is the case, then why do we support an emperor?"
Lin praised the other party and said: "Sir, you are indeed knowledgeable about the past and the present. This is very good. But you don't know why the Elf Empire was not transformed into an Elf Republic during the period when there was no emperor. The Republic Council lasted for a period of time, and then it was restored. There will be several generations of emperors; after several generations of emperors, it will become dominated by the Republican Parliament. In this way, the ancient dynasty era, the golden age, the silver age, the Elf Empire went through a period of time, and finally fell apart."
"Why? This is how history is recorded, and this is how things change. There are so many reasons to explain." said the Grand Duke of Piercenza, who belonged to the same camp as the Grand Duke of Parma and was still in a leadership position.
With this explanation, even the Archduke of Parma, who was his younger brother, sighed and was too lazy to criticize. Of course, Lin was even less likely to accept such a brainless explanation, and said:
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"Whether you are a human or an elf, laziness is a trait that exists in your personality. When you are in a republican parliamentary system, as long as a strong man comes out and solves most of the problems for most people, then everyone will be happy to use their power. Put it in his hands so that he can deal with more problems. If this continues to accumulate, eventually this person will become the emperor, a being who combines all power. Then several generations will not be as good as the first generation, and the hereditary dynasty will be gone. , and so on. If your lords plan to exclude the emperor and restore the old republican parliamentary system, are you hoping that one day I will be replaced as emperor? You must know that under such a system, once you fall from the altar, you will easily die. The clan is destroyed. Even if it is not completely destroyed, it is still seriously injured. How many times can your family survive?"
"So, what are you going to do?" Duke Infanta, one of the two great dukes in charge of maritime affairs in the empire, knows more about things on Dragon Island than others, so his attitude is more cautious. I don't want to mess with this magician who can face the Dragon God at all.
"It's true that it is still the parliament, but the parliament supports the emperor, and the parliament performs the responsibility of governing on the emperor's behalf. If this is implemented as a routine, even if a strongman appears in the parliament, he will not be able to establish himself as emperor or replace him. Because supporting and loyal to the emperor is a big deal. That’s the premise.”
As a rational member of the hard-liners, Grand Duke Montezuma said: "You speak very well, but how can you guarantee that His Majesty's successor will admit such a thing? If you cannot do this, then what you said before will not last long." Continuation is a joke.”
Lin smiled and asked an irrelevant question. Said: "You adults can play chess, no matter what kind of chess it is. What do you think is the most important thing in playing chess? Intelligence? Chess records? Guidance by famous teachers? In fact, none of them. A kind of chess can be accepted by most people, and can be accepted by most people. When studying ways to achieve victory, the most important thing is a common and unchangeable rule. What we have to do is not to support the emperor or Saint Alegria, but to support this set of rules."
While speaking, Lin displayed the content of the constitution he had prepared on the water mirror screen, enlarging it for the nobles to watch. There are a lot of words, but it’s not a history-level tome, and it can be scanned in a short time.
The grand dukes naturally know that the content of this text titled "Constitution" should be the focus of today. Even if I didn't study the content carefully and judge the pros and cons, I still skimmed it briefly to give myself some idea.
At the beginning of the content, it explains the powers possessed by human beings, the methods of electing and being elected, and also involves the composition of parliament, and then the legislative, executive and judicial powers. The final focus is on the legal status of the constitution, and the ratification process.
In particular, the ratification process emphasizes that the parliament supports the constitution and swears allegiance to the emperor and fulfills its duties for the empire, so that the constitution can be effective. It can be said that once someone tries to depose the emperor, the constitution will be abolished as well, and the two will be tied together.
After reading it once, the grand dukes turned back to look at the part they were most concerned about, which was the composition of the parliament. The parliament is divided into upper and lower chambers. The upper chamber is composed of nobles, and all those who hold titles are ex officio members.
The members of the lower assembly are elected by the people in various places and are re-elected regularly.
To form a cabinet to govern, members of the lower assembly elect members of the upper assembly to form a cabinet, who then appoints the remaining ministers. The term of office of the cabinet is re-appointed following the re-election of the lower parliament.
It can be said that this minister, like the former imperial prime minister, holds the power to govern the empire. The difference between the two is that the imperial prime minister is appointed by the emperor. Basically, who the emperor wants to appoint depends entirely on the emperor's mood. The cabinet ministers are elected by members of the lower parliament and appointed unconditionally by the emperor.
"Why is there a lower parliament? And what about this term?" asked the Grand Duke of Oz. In fact, this is also the issue that other grand dukes are most concerned about.
Lin still asked a rhetorical question, but this time he didn't go off topic. "Then what do you think, sir, how should Ge Kui be born?"
"Let the most powerful person serve." Grand Duke Mu Xi said decisively.
"Yes, that's the truth. But what kind of person is considered the most powerful? And will this person who is considered powerful be recognized by others? Just like now, who do several adults think is the most powerful? To serve as the cabinet minister?" Lin asked with a smile.
The current Karlsruhe Empire does not have the position of Imperial Chancellor. Basically, the positions of ruling ministers are divided among the great nobles of each camp.
To put it simply, although everyone is now united to deal with the emperor, no one is convinced by anyone. That's why the nobles are divided into five camps, because this is the current situation of the empire.