OR1-EP4: Prelude to the Millennium (2)

The morning after the rebellion had died down a bit, McNeil went to meet with Wang Shuang at the offices of the South Court Protectorate as usual. He was not advised to do so by Father Alexandros Palaskas, who said that there were still rebels within the city who were still resisting, in addition to the fact that McNeil's actions could get both him and Wang Shuang labeled as traitors by others. However, having gained the approval of the other embassy, the priest had little reason to oppose McNeil, and he only attached a condition: that he would go along as well.

"Then again, we haven't seen that Duke in days." Father Palaskas remembered the great man who could truly assist those exiles, "I hope he still remembers the agreement between us."

"The Duke may not get a chance to show up." McNeil sighed, "I heard from Emperor Charles yesterday that the Duke was wounded in a shootout at the palace and has been taken to the hospital, where outsiders are not allowed to visit."

"What a pity." The priest pinched the cross around his neck, "If it wasn't for the Breisgau family sending tens of thousands of family slaves to the battle, not to mention whether the royalists would have been able to achieve victory, I'm afraid that we ourselves would still be surrounded by rebels until now. If there is an opportunity in the future, I must thank the Duke personally."

Emperor Charles said that these Europeans and the visitors from the Nanting Protectorate were among the heroes of the Britannian Empire, and thus the Imperial Army gradually relaxed their guard and treated them as friendly troops for the time being. However, these foreigners were alone and could not really take part in the battle, and they could do little more than wave the flag and declare the legitimacy of Emperor Charles. Even McNeil and Wang Shuang, who seemed incredibly brave to outsiders, didn't want to take part in the next battle, and there was no need for them to get involved when the rebels fell into disarray. They needed to let Emperor Charles win, but they wouldn't want the Emperor to win that easily either.

Wang Shuang himself was wearing his normal tracksuit today, saying that all those official clothes of his had been pressed in his trunk so that they wouldn't be damaged in the battle. The halls of the Nanting Protectorate's embassy were similarly filled with a group of refugees, mostly local businessmen who had decided to flee to the embassy to take shelter because they lacked the ability to defend themselves in the war. The three of them barely managed to find broken sofas and casually sat on them to start chatting.

"Were you telling the truth yesterday?"

"I'm not in the habit of lying." Wang Shuang said frankly, "Everything that I said is the long-standing consensus from top to bottom of our Nanting Protectorate."

"Frankly speaking, both of us are gambling." McNeil voiced his concerns, "If the Magnate Noble Group is victorious, the EU and the Nanting Protectorate will almost certainly suffer losses; and if Emperor Charles is victorious, the losses may be lower, but there is also a certain probability that we will encounter even more grievous losses-all-out war. "

Father Palaskas mumbled something under his breath throughout, only occasionally opening his mouth to say something when the two men spoke of issues with which he was familiar. The defeat of the rebels was irreversible, the armies loyal to the Emperor were rounding up the diehard rebels in every part of Pendragon, and this time they would show no mercy or deliberately give their enemies a chance to escape. This is a feast for the nobles and commoners who are loyal to the Emperor, and the ones who will gain the most from it will be the new aristocrats that Emperor Charles is trying to support.

"Colonel Wang, we're going back to EU in a few days." McNeil was eager to take a look around the other corners of the world, especially those areas that had changed drastically compared to his impressions, such as the Nanting Protectorate or the Chinese Federation, "I don't know how much longer you're going to be here as a military attaché stationed abroad, but I would personally recommend that you return to your home country as soon as possible, this is not the place to stay for long."

"What does that mean?" Wang Shuang asked with interest, "I know what you are trying to say, but even if he, Charles, has that kind of ambition, he still has to consider whether the Britannian Empire's national strength can support the next war, right?"

McNeil shook his head; he had seen a similar phenomenon in GDI before. Behind any grandiose slogan there was a darkness that could not be seen, a darkness that would one day completely consume the impractical idealists, and a group of ambitious people would be doing the same thing under the same banner as before, not unlike before. Indeed, McNeil decided to support Emperor Charles and the royalists for no other reason than the fact that the magnate aristocratic clique was even more repulsive. To the commoners of the Britannian Empire, Emperor Charles's victory was their victory; to McNeil, the victory was merely the handing over of the whip from the nobility to the Emperor himself.

"I think of you as a friend, so I am willing to take the initiative in talking to you about this; when you relay these points later, say you came up with them yourself."

McNeil collected all the important news of the Britannian Empire since Charles ascended the throne and became Emperor. He focused on analyzing the new policies that Charles had adopted, which focused first and foremost on the economy, with the aim of taking the Empire's economy back from the aristocratic groups that firmly controlled those lifelines. The nobility may be able to intimidate people with their bloodlines and reputations, but they are unable to fight the laws of economics, and when Charles pushed for these reforms in the name of the Empire, the economic foundations on which the nobility depended disintegrated.

"By the end of Stephen II, the late Emperor of Britannia, Crown Prince Charles already had many supporters." McNeil held out two fingers, "One of them is the citizens who are about to turn from paupers to citizens. If Charles's new policy can be thoroughly implemented, a significant portion of the commoners will get rid of the dilemma of being forced to make a living and become ordinary citizens who maintain a moderate standard of living. They may never have the privileges of nobility, but Emperor Charles will endeavor to narrow the gap between them and the downtrodden nobles, making this newly-born middle class group the most appreciative of his civilian base."

"I see." Wang Shuang thought deeply, "Then, if I am correct ... Mr. McNeil, this second group of people, are the entrepreneurs of the Britannian Empire, right?"

"I think the word consortium is more suitable to describe them." McNeil laughed, "Emperor Charles dug out the roots of the nobles, but the royal family itself doesn't have the ability to replace them. The nobles enjoyed privileges while also becoming important helpers in assisting the Emperor against foreign countries, and now the Emperor needs new fighters ... that is the businessmen of the Britannian Empire who have gradually been able to separate themselves from the big noble groups since the First World War. Gentlemen, the Emperor has supreme authority, he can order someone's house with full of people killed at anytime, anywhere, but he cannot conjure up money out of thin air, nor can he increase or cut consumer demand out of thin air."

The middle class and the consortia were loyal subjects of Emperor Charles, so naturally it was the conservative group of magnate aristocrats who stood against them. The European- and American-clique aristocrats were still fighting it out, and they probably never knew that Emperor Charles had found new pillars that could replace them. There was no need for nobles to act as intermediaries between monarchs and subjects, and letting that buffer zone go was probably the better way to go.

"But ..." whispered the priest, "they won't be able to keep the peace with foreign countries that way. McNeil, these Britannian consortiums will eat into the EU's market share in the Empire, and once this economic war is over, the commoners of the Empire will feel as enslaved as the magnate noble groups. The only way for the Emperor to fill the bellies of the consortia and for the commoners to unconditionally embrace the monarch who has given them everything is to start a war of aggression. Only by making foreign countries colonies and making foreigners slaves will the Britannian civilians forget that they are also slaves."

"Exactly." McNeil clapped his hands together, "You see, Colonel King, we have almost the same opinion on this issue."

The hall was filled with some more dusty people, who anxiously gathered around Ambassador Huo Xingtian on the sidelines, hoping to get an accurate answer. McNeil was so used to hearing similar statements from people who wagered and swore that they would never come to the Britannian Empire again that he wasn't going to be curious about any of the venting that came out of the mouths of these new guests.

"Why are you telling me these words?" Wang Shuang asked suspiciously, "With my status, I might have the opportunity to pass similar remarks to the king."

"I'm conflicted, sometimes I suspect I'm crazy." McNeil sighed, "We made what we thought was the right decision today, and I don't want others to feel remorse for my choice. If the Britannian Empire does become a problem for us later, I think we should have a plan to deal with the situation."

"No one can say what will happen tomorrow."

It was the truth. McNeil was going to return to South Africa to continue his work there. The priest was going to return to his native Europe to be his priest in Greece and perhaps have a chance to be promoted to bishop. Wang Shuang might step down and return to the South Court Protectorate at some point in the future, and he would continue to be an officer of the South Court Protectorate. The two superpowers, the EU, and the Chinese Federation, had been at loggerheads for almost a hundred years now, and most of the people in the world were convinced that the standoff would last forever, and that neither the Britannian Empire nor any other nation would be able to break it.

"According to you, by the time economic consolidation begins, the Britannian Empire will encounter a window of time within five years when it will have to wage war against foreign countries-unless Emperor Charles intends to be overthrown." Wang Shuang came to a shocking conclusion, and he repeatedly scrutinized all the details of what McNeil had said, but he couldn't find any evidence worthy of skepticism from start to finish. Besides, this was only their private speculation after all, and if they were able to consider these elements, then the decision makers of the EU and Nanting Protectorate would likewise be able to think of them, and both sides would have a set of preconceived plans when the time came.

"I hope so." McNeil rubbed his hands together, "However, throughout the history of mankind, there will always be decision makers who make mistakes that will seem incredibly stupid to later generations. Were they really stupid? Not really. But they do become veritable fools at critical moments. Accumulating advantage requires making a hundred correct judgments, while failure requires only one miscalculation."

"Interesting. If we have a chance to meet in the future, I think I need to ask you for some more advice." Wang Shuang laughed out loud, "In my life, this official has never seen someone like you who is out of power but has his heart in the ruling role."

"It can't be helped, those culprits who push the world toward chaos can never hear our voices, and everything I do is for self-preservation ... in order to survive." McNeil said with a serious expression, "Ah, if you don't mind, we can pay a visit to those Britannians who have been kind to us before we leave."

While the EU and the Nanting Protectorate 's behavior in this conflict was striking, the other three parties seemed to be as unresponsive as if they were wooden. Japan was in no position to intervene in a civil conflict of this magnitude, and the Middle Eastern Federation never cared about anything other than oil and sakuradite. As for the Chinese Federation, perhaps their ministers thought that barbarians outside their borders were not worth the concern of the Son of Heaven in Luoyang.

Michael McNeil first decided to visit the Zevon family, the siblings of this family had saved his life, if he disappeared without a word, he would not be able to save face. It just so happened that he still had quite a few collectibles that he hadn't disposed of, so Michael McNeil picked out a few of them with the intention of gifting them to the Zevon family, but they were rejected by Olivia. However, Oiagros was interested in these collectibles, and he explained to McNeil that the Zevon family was actually not short of the various treasures rewarded by the Emperor, and with their special status, they rarely accepted gifts from outsiders.

"It seems like I didn't do my intelligence work properly." McNeil laughed to himself, "By the way, since you were able to learn so much secret information, I wonder how His Imperial Majesty the Emperor has decided to deal with this rebellion?"

According to Oiagros Zevon, the total number of nobles on the arrest list this time exceeded 2,500, and all of them were truly prestigious nobles, not thugs who relied on their money to get a knighthood and then flaunt their power.6 out of the 9 rebel Knights of the Rounds were killed in battle, 3 were imprisoned after their defeat, and it was feared that the fate that awaited them would be execution as well, Emperor Charles couldn't tolerate any Traitors. As for the culprit of this rebellion, Grand Duke Louis, it is said that Emperor Charles mercifully allowed him to cut himself in order to maintain the decency of the royal family, but the Archduke had the will to rebel but did not have the courage to commit suicide, and ultimately let the Emperor's retainers do it for him. The chief villain had been brought to justice, and the defeat of the rebels was only a matter of time.

"2,500 people, a large portion of the Empire's nobility can be said to have been swept away." McNeil sighed, "By the way, I do have a proposal - would you be interested in being the adopted son of another noble?"

"It's-"Oiagros was momentarily speechless, this teenager had not yet clarified his life goal, he was somewhat moved by McNeil's proposal, but his usual intuition told him that there were some victorious fruits that needed to be paid a heavy price in order to get his hands on them. "Is there a chance?"

"Many noble families are expected to lose their rightful heirs in this rebellion, and I would venture to guess that the Emperor doesn't really want to eliminate the nobility from the empire ..." McNeil flashed the blonde teenager across the table a smile. "You will always be nothing more than an expendable character in House Zevon, whereas you might have had a different life if you had chosen to inherit another house."

To McNeil's surprise, Oiagros refused. He said he didn't want to win a victory that wasn't his by speculative means.

TBC

Chapter Notes:

An interesting fact is that we don't know if polygamy in the Britannian Empire was limited to the royal family or widespread. If it was widespread, one would imagine that the social culture of the Britannian Empire would have been very different from that of Europe or the Americas today.

In a way, Oiagros was compelled to kill Olivia in Code Geass canon.