Volume 6: Helping the World Chapter 172 The Nature of the Noble Council
"This highly respected gentleman is the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Earl of Lyndon East Collins."
St. Bridges' political system was slightly backward compared to the Chinese feudal dynasty. There was no upward channel for the lower classes, and the classes were basically non-circulating. The civil service group was essentially a re-skin of the aristocracy.
Of course, nobles who are too incompetent cannot undertake the core administrative work of the kingdom. People like Earl Harris who was asked to go back for vacation usually serve as Home Secretary, a position that seems to have a wide range of powers, but in fact most of the powers overlap with other departments. Earl Collins, who can serve as Chancellor of the Exchequer, is obviously different from the former, and the fact that Carlisle introduces this old nobleman first can explain this.
On Earth, the person in charge of financial power is equivalent to a prime minister or president. His position is clear and straightforward. Xiao Yun smiled, curved his eyes, stuck out his tongue, and exhaled an arm-length of white air: " Hello, Earl Collins, it's an honor to meet you."
Earl Collins was over sixty years old, and it was the first time in his life that a big wolf got so close to him. The old man's face turned a little pale, but his posture remained quite elegant and calm. He nodded slightly and reservedly: "Me too, a sage of the Snow Wolf Clan."
After introducing the old man, Carlisle introduced Xiao Yun to the civil minister, the military minister and the kingdom's marshal, and the chief justice and minister of justice. These three, like the chancellor of the exchequer, were leading figures among the noble bureaucracy of St. Bridget, but the latter three were obviously much less well-educated than the chancellor of the exchequer, Earl Collins. When Xiao Yun deliberately moved a little closer to Carlisle when introducing them, these three could not maintain the dignity of the top aristocrats, and either staggered back or spoke incoherently.
"It's really of poor quality." Xiao Yun smiled on the surface, but he was laughing in his heart. The land area and population of Saint Bridger are almost equal to a province on Earth. If they are so impatient, they will have trouble even at the provincial level, let alone the municipal level.
Carlisle knew that the Snow Wolf Clan had to be naked to transform from a wolf to a human, and he didn't want his teacher to be seen walking around in front of so many subordinates, so he pretended not to have thought about it at all, and walked beside Xiao Yun all the way to the palace; Carlisle ignored the surprised looks from passers-by and the reluctant discomfort of the bureaucrats, and introduced the city to the guests along the way very naturally, with a self-righteous attitude that had a bit of Xiao Yun's charm...
Finally they entered the royal palace surrounded by the inner city wall. Without the shouting and yelling of the royal city citizens on the streets, the noble bureaucrats who had followed them all the way all breathed a sigh of relief - it’s not like these bureaucrats had never experienced big scenes before, but they just wanted to avoid being chased by citizens to see something strange like this!
When the procession passed through the main gate of the palace, the Minister of War approached Earl Collins and said in a low voice with dissatisfaction: "After all, they are foreigners. They are really undignified."
Earl Collins looked straight ahead, as if he had not heard the military minister's complaint, and even quickened his pace to take a few steps forward to create some distance.
The Minister of Military Affairs did not expect Earl Collins to be so disrespectful and rolled his eyes.
When the officials went out of the city, they could still take carriages, but when they came back, except for a few older ones who rode horses, everyone else had to hold their noses and accompany His Royal Highness on foot. They were all very tired. His Royal Highness considerately let everyone rest in the main hall, and only took a few of his trusted confidants to take the visiting guests to the side hall for accommodation.
The Minister of Military Affairs sat on the sofa, panting. He glanced at the bureaucrats who followed Prince Carlisle away and snorted.
"Hockley has completely thrown away the glory of his ancestors. Look at how fawning he is. Where is the elegance of the Hockley family?"
The President of the Parliament, the Minister of State for Affairs and others spoke in agreement sparsely, allowing the Minister of War to regain some face that was snubbed by Collins, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Unfortunately, there were not many bureaucrats who could sit in the main hall, and the response from the crowd lacked some momentum.
Earl Collins frowned, looked around, raised his hand and signaled his guards to come forward and help him up.
“Count, what are you doing…?” The captain of the guards who had been waiting on the side hurried over and bowed to ask for instructions.
"The Treasury still has some things to deal with, so I'll leave first." Earl Collins said casually.
"Yes. I'll have someone call the carriage for you right away." The captain of the guards said hurriedly.
Collins nodded and left the main hall expressionlessly under the stunned gaze of six or seven ministers.
As soon as this old gentleman, who always insisted on a neutral style and whom even Ferdinand's family had to respect, left, the ministers who were sitting in the palace to rest realized... It seemed that they had been left behind?
The side hall is a guest courtyard in the small garden.
Xiao Yun regained his human form, put on his clothes, and came out to meet Carlisle's confidants - Home Secretary Hockley, Chief Guard Claudy, needless to say, the military and political talents that Carlisle had gradually recruited in the past few years were also introduced to Xiao Yun one by one; it was not to show off, but a bit like "handing in homework"... After all, the teacher had given Xiao Yun a lot of guidance on the use of people, and Carlisle really wanted to let Xiao Yun know the results of his efforts in this regard.
Xiao Yun smiled and shook hands with Carlisle's trusted team one by one. After a brief chat, everyone left. When Carlisle looked at him expectantly, Xiao Yun did not hesitate to praise him and gave him a thumbs up, saying, "You have worked hard in the past few years, Carlisle. You really deserve the praise from the outside world."
Carlisle was a little embarrassed: "Teacher, actually... it wasn't until two years ago that I realized that hiring people is not an easy thing. It wasn't until last year that I deeply realized what a difference it is to have my own team..."
"Oh, so you didn't take my words seriously at first?" Xiao Yun teased.
"Well……"
"Don't mind. How can you understand how deep a pit is that can hurt you if you don't fall into it yourself and experience its depth?" Xiao Yun smiled and waved his hand. "Let's not talk about this anymore. You mentioned in your letter that you hope Dahe and I can help educate your two sisters, right? That's fine. In addition, I have an unwelcome request. You know that my people have been trapped on the grassland for more than 200 years and don't know enough about the outside world. If you don't bother them, I hope to let them know about the operation of the government affairs of the royal city. Of course, it doesn't involve the secret public parts. Is it feasible?"
"Of course." Carlisle said quickly, "This is not a secret. It can be seen in any city's city hall... Then, teacher, shall I have someone notify the officer to be prepared?"
"Then thank you for your help." Xiao Yun nodded.
Carlisle readily called in the chief guard Claudy and told him to notify the official in charge of the royal city's municipal affairs - there was no suitable replacement for the Minister of Affairs, so the original Viscount would still hold the position. Of course, in order to facilitate handling of matters, Carlisle had replaced most of the middle-level staff of the Ministry of Royal Affairs with his own people, so it didn't matter if the semi-empty Minister of Affairs temporarily occupied the position.
Before the affairs officer sorted out the government documents of Wangcheng last year, the people who had traveled for more than ten days had a good time to wash up...
The tribesmen who had been dirty for several days helped each other to wash themselves clean and jumped into the swimming pool-sized bath to play and fight. Harris, who wanted to go into the water, sat by the pool and couldn't squeeze in. Primo and Balk, who knew how to enjoy the comfort of life, lay on the lounge chairs and let the servants trim their nails. Dahe and Xiao Yun, who were still in wolf form, lay beside the concave flowing hot spring water and had their hair brushed.
Carlisle took off his dress uniform, wearing only a shirt and shorts, and took a brush to scrub the dust off the wolf's body. At first, when he did this, the guards kept looking at him sideways, struggling whether to dissuade him, but gradually, even the chief guard, Viscount Claudy, became eager to help... It feels great to scrub the big white wolf, doesn't it? It's much more fulfilling than brushing the horse yourself occasionally~!
The two servants assigned to brush Dahe's fur became more and more energetic the more they brushed...
After brushing the dust off his fur, Xiao Yun stood up and shouted to the green dragon on the recliner: "Balke!"
Balk lazily raised his upper body and gestured in this direction with his other hand. He then saw the water vapor on Xiao Yun's body automatically detach and form water droplets, which fell down like rain. The originally wet white hair instantly became fresh and fluffy... (Carlisle's eyes lit up)
Xiao Yun shook the hair on his neck comfortably, turned back into human form (his highness showed a barely visible regretful expression), took a large towel from the shelf next to him, tied it around his waist to cover his bird, and shouted into the bathtub: "Mumu, come over and brush your hair!"
"Here I come!" Mumu climbed out of the bathtub and walked over.
The guards standing by the bathroom door didn't do anything at first, but when Mumu got closer and found that she didn't have a bird, their eyes widened...
"Can't you just cover it up... forget it." Xiao Yun twitched his mouth. Everyone took off their clothes happily when they saw this luxurious bath. There was no chance to distinguish between men and women. He called Mumu to lie down and turn into a wolf, and brushed her fur together with Carlisle.
Daha was brushed until she was snow-white. She asked Balke to use his "human dryer" to remove the water and then stretched herself to regain her human form. Her torso was solid but not blindingly strong, her long limbs, her tough and handsome face, and her cool temperament instantly attracted the hatred of the guards. Even the two male servants who were enthusiastically brushing her hair looked a little green.
But soon, the guards and the male servants discovered that she didn't have a bird either, and their eyes almost popped out of their rims...
Daha ran to take a bath (human body) in high spirits, and Ashan was called over.
This guy finally had a bird, and the guards and the butler secretly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate that their worldview had been saved.
Then Mumu finished brushing his fur and left. The next contestant who came over was the grassroots chief with a very intimidating body...
Guards & Male Servant: "..." What on earth are the Snow Wolf Tribe like? !
The grassland visiting group that dealt with the sanitation problem split into two groups. One group went to the Royal City Affairs Department to observe St. Bridget's government work, and the other group accompanied Carlisle to visit the two princesses.
The little princess was still young, and the eldest princess was eighteen years old, which was already an age that made her brother Carlisle very worried. According to the joke circulating privately in the palace, young male mosquitoes were not allowed to approach the side hall where the princess lived...
There is definitely no need to worry about Teacher Ayun, as she is still a long way from the estrus period; there is even less need to worry about Dahe, as the object of estrus does not include his beloved sister; Primo is outside the defense range, and as for the green dragon Balk... Based on Carlisle's understanding of this green dragon, it is completely impossible.
Then His Royal Highness the Prince stared at Harris, the snake walker, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"Hey, Harris is still following us." Primo was a little surprised.
"Oh, right, aren't you only sending us to St. Bridget's?" Balk said carelessly.
Harris: “…”
"Balke, is this your attitude towards the friends who have accompanied us all the way?" Xiao Yun looked at him with dissatisfaction.
"Eh? Wait, it was Primo who said it first!" Balke was surprised.
"Ha, what did I say?" Primo looked innocent.
Balk: “…”
"Let's go, Carlisle." Xiao Yun put his hand on Carlisle's shoulder, "Don't worry, I know what you are worried about. No matter how lustful a snake is, it can't be lustful enough to cross species. They have two penises and can only mate with their bodies. Humans have no chance~"
Even Harris almost slipped.
For a moment, the guards didn't know whether they should despise the sage of the Snow Wolf Clan for being ungraceful, or sympathize with the one of the Snake Clan...
The Grassroots Chief led another team of people, led by the Chief Guard Claudy, to the Royal City Affairs Department outside the palace.
The chief guard personally brought the people, and His Royal Highness the Prince specifically instructed them, so the officials of the Ministry of Affairs naturally did not dare to neglect them. The official on duty, along with two clerks, politely invited the visitors from the grassland to the meeting room, and spread out the documents of the government affairs report, summary, and financial expenditure of the Royal City last year on the table for them to read.
The Grassroots Chief picked up one of the documents and flipped through it. He then turned to the official standing next to him and said, "We don't recognize the words on this. Could you please read it for us?"
"...Of course." The clerk almost couldn't hold back his laughter. He took the document and said politely, "Gentlemen, do you want me to read it from the beginning?"
The grassroots patriarch made a gesture of invitation.
The official nodded calmly, hiding the disdain in his eyes, and read out in a reciting tone with the standard of aristocracy: "The 'Proposal for the Repair of the Pavement of the Eleventh Avenue', advocated by Congressman Baron Rodney. I would like to inform all the respected ministers that the section of the Eleventh Avenue from Red Maple Lane to Bird Tail Lane was last repaired thirteen years ago..."
In the political structure of St. Bridget's, the royal family and ministers have absolute say and are in charge of coordinating national affairs; but the House of Representatives is at least a place for nobles who are not qualified to discuss politics in the palace to make their presence felt. When a member of parliament proposes a motion and it is approved by the House of Representatives, it can be submitted to the palace.
This document records a proposal for urban reorganization proposed by a baronial councillor last March.
It took the House of Representatives a month to pass this bill. The Speaker of the Parliament submitted it to the Royal Palace. With the permission of the Minister of Affairs and the funding of the Minister of Finance, the Ministry of Affairs sent it to the Royal City Hall, contacted and communicated with the members of parliament responsible for supervision, and under the supervision of the Parliament, the civilians who should serve were checked and recruited, materials were prepared, etc. The work officially started in August last year, and it is expected that the damaged road surface repair work of Eleventh Avenue will be completed by the middle of this year... and so on.
The official who read the document in a rhythmic manner was quite proud. Although this matter was initiated by the House of Representatives, he was actually the one who handled it. The whole process was well-organized and the steps were clear. It was a wonderful political achievement that no one could find fault with.
After learning that a delegation of alien races was coming to visit, the official deliberately placed this document in the most conspicuous place, intending to let these alien races see his capabilities... It would be even better if it could reach the ears of His Royal Highness the Prince.
Closing the file, the officer smiled and looked at the grassland visiting group who were listening quietly. Not surprisingly, he found that these aliens were indeed stunned with shock.
Grassroots leader & everyone: "......(o言o)"
In the spirit of learning with an open mind, the grassroots leader wiped his sweat and asked carefully: "Uh... Excuse me... If we heard correctly... This document means that in order to build a street with a length of 800 meters and a width of 12 meters... The road surface took... Five months to prepare?"
As he spoke, the grassroots chief's deep and mellow voice began to tremble.
The officer felt something was wrong and nodded, "Yes, this is the result of consultation among all departments. Every department has done their duty diligently and without slacking off, and has completely eliminated any possibility of malfeasance—"
He couldn't continue, because as long as he was not blind, he could see that the shock expressed by these grassland people seemed to be different from what he imagined...
"So, with so many people and so much money, it takes more than a year to build a road?" Rosemary said with great interest, "If I came to work here, I would definitely be the most diligent one, right?"
Qingyan glanced sideways: "You are quite self-aware..."
"That's ridiculous. How can it be so slow?" Mumu said incredulously. "Even if we dig an 800-meter river channel, it won't take this long. Let alone building river embankments and bridge decks, even if we dig twice as long, it won't take this long."
"Grassroots, how long did it take to build the 16-kilometer dirt road from our factory to the Elf Port?" said Chief Ali.
"Let me think...A Yue and the others built the road with us, and the elves' vassal races helped us. We only dug two meters of roadbed, backfilled the earth, and then laid the gravel road surface... It seemed to take a month to build? There was a section of the road in the middle that was difficult to build, so we filled it with mud and it took a lot of time to dig the stones." The Grassroots Chief noticed that the affairs officer's face was extremely ugly, and he quickly tried to save face for others. "We were building roads in the wild, and they were building roads in the city. It should be much more troublesome than ours."
"Hehe." Qingyan sneered, but did not complain.
Rosemary is not the type to save face for others. She gestured and said, "It can't be that troublesome. It will just take a little more effort to transport the stones and earth. If you want to leave space for pedestrians to pass, then divide it in the middle and repair half first. After the road is paved and passable, repair the other half. It won't delay much."
The Grassroots Clan leader discovered that it made sense for Ayun to be so busy picking up Rosemary...
As an official of noble affairs, it is impossible for him to endure such "humiliation". He does not have the courage to turn hostile on the spot, but he can just walk away.
The official with a face as black as the bottom of a pot left, but the two civil servants with angry and resentful faces did not dare to leave... They secretly cast their eyes on the chief guard who brought the foreigners, and the two civil servants suddenly lost their rationality and chose to run away.
The chief guard Claude rose to a high position thanks to the friendship between his son and the prince, and was often treated harshly by the former bureaucratic group. Now seeing the usually arrogant Ministry of Affairs in such a state of disgrace, this marginal aristocrat with zero political sense was smiling with schadenfreude, without any concealment.
"We've driven people away, and no one will recite to us anymore." The grassroots chief glared at Rosemary.
"Take it back to Carlisle and have someone read it. We can't just read it casually anyway." Rosemary said indifferently.
The Grassroots Chief hesitated and turned to look at Claudy who had brought them here.
Hmm... this human who looks like Dan doesn't seem very reliable...
There was no other choice, so the grassroots chief had to ask everyone to carry a stack of documents and go back to the palace first.
I have to say that the grassroots clan leader's intuition is quite accurate. Viscount Claudy is indeed illiterate... He went back to the palace and mentioned it to Carlisle, who immediately arranged for two female officials to come over and did not count on his own chief guard at all.
With the arrival of the female official, everyone was finally able to continue to understand the administrative measures of other countries, and then... the worldview was refreshed crazily, with a frequency so high that it was overwhelming. Not to mention that the construction of a street was delayed for half a year, the proposal to clean up the moat was still on paper after two years of wrangling...
"Ha ha ha ha……"
That night, Xiao Yun returned to the guest room in the small garden that Carlisle had arranged for him. Facing everyone's confusion, he smiled for ten seconds.
"It's not that Saint Bridge's administration is inefficient, but the palace, as the administrative core, will classify events by priority. Matters that are not urgent to deal with will naturally be handed over to the lower departments to deal with slowly." Xiao Yun patted the female official who had read the document to everyone, and said with a smile, "As for the parliament's wrangling, there is an unspoken rule that is unique to Saint Bridge, or unique to the human kingdom... Everyone has heard a lot today, so tell me, what unspoken rule is affecting the country of Carlisle?"
Everyone looked at each other, even those as smart as Rosemary and Dahe, and those as naive as Chief Ali, all looked confused.
"In our tribe, except for Haitai and the others, everyone else has to bear the labor obligations to a certain extent." Xiao Yun said with a smile, "And in the human kingdom, some people don't have to bear the labor obligations. They have been facing a life of eating and waiting to die since they were born. They don't need to shed blood and sweat, and they don't need to work hard. A life with abundant supplies is waiting for them."
"You said nobles, right?" Rosemary interrupted.
Xiao Yun nodded: "The rulers of the human kingdom are the royal family and the nobles. Everyone knows that it is very easy to rule the people under the lazy feudal system of power division. A small number of nobles with certain abilities can assist the royal family. There is no need for so many... But if we don't use these nobles and just feed them for free, even if the royal family is willing, the nobles will not agree. How can they get the power if they don't take care of things? How can they prove their noble status and make extra money without power?"
"So, the Nobles' Council came into being." Xiao Yun laughed. "Nobles who were unwilling to serve as sheriffs or consuls in local areas, and who were incapable of participating in the royal palace's political affairs, but who were eager to gain a sense of presence and want to have a say in national affairs, were all stuffed into this Nobles' Council."
"There are too many MPs, and too many MPs will easily lead to bickering , which wastes a lot of time. Let this parliament take care of trivial matters, give them the power to propose bills and decide whether they are feasible, and the power to supervise the implementation of bills; a bunch of noble MPs bickered for a month over building a road, and fought fiercely over the 'legitimate right to corrupt' in such government affairs that have nothing to do with the country. These guys with only loud voices can't get in the way."
Everyone: "……(o言o)"
Primo had a dazed look on his face. Explaining the aristocratic parliaments of various countries from this perspective was absolutely unprecedented in every aspect... and it was estimated that there would be no one like it.
Harris, who was sitting quietly in the corner, was shocked, and his cold and indifferent facial features gradually revealed rare emotions.
"However, this is still a lazy and shortcut approach. It looks good in the short term and can solve the problem, but the hidden dangers are extremely huge." Xiao Yun's face straightened. "The king and the ruling ministers who are clear-headed know what the Noble Parliament is all about. It is indeed not wrong to just follow their lead. But if the king's IQ is not online or not strong enough, or if the ruling ministers use the Noble Parliament as a pawn in political struggles and accidentally give the parliament real decision-making power, then it is no exaggeration to say that the country is on the countdown to its destruction."
"Huh?!" Everyone was shocked.
