People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

Wow! That's a really big opening!

Even Ernst, with his composure, couldn't help but be somewhat surprised.

High-speed warships—these are genuine strategic weapons. Are you serious about selling them to Shelag?

Would you, Ahmoni, really ask for that? Or is the Duke of Wellington truly that generous?

Ernst was somewhat skeptical.

However, upon closer reflection, Ernst realized what was going on.

Ahmoni is just making empty promises to herself!

High-speed warships are something that even if you were to sell them, Kjerag couldn't afford them. Even if he managed to scrape together enough money to buy one, Ernst wouldn't dare to actually buy it.

Many countries in the world can afford to buy nuclear weapons, but how many actually dare to? The saying goes, "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime." Holding this thing would be a hot potato. Unless Ernst completely aligns Sherag with the Duke of Wellington's camp, buying high-speed battleships will only bring him trouble. And Ernst clearly won't do that.

Choosing sides is a delicate matter; completely siding with one side can sow the seeds of future problems. Italy, after all, has always been a victorious nation, demonstrating remarkable skill in this regard.

“I appreciate the Duke of Wellington’s kindness. Perhaps Envoy Ahmoni could first explain in detail what the Duke of Wellington wants me to do?”

Seeing that Ernst hadn't been swayed by this "sugar-coated bullet," Ahmoni looked at Ernst a few more times with some surprise, raising her opinion of him even higher.

It's a pity Ernst was born in a small country like Sherrag. If he had been born in Victoria, he could have secured a decent position under the Duke of Wellington with just that kind of composure.

She paused for a moment and then said:

"The first thing: the evacuation of Lentinium."

"You may not know this, but Lentinium is currently in chaos due to some disobedient Sarkaz mercenaries. I cannot go into the details, but the problem is that there are still a large number of civilians in Lentinium."

"According to our intelligence, the president of Victoria National University recently sent a letter to the Duke of Caesar seeking help to get the university staff to leave Londinium through the Duke's assistance."

"The first thing is to ask you all to cause some trouble for the Duke of Caesar and make her evacuation plan not go so smoothly."

To prevent the Duke of Caesar from evacuating the faculty and students of Victoria National University from Londinium.

Ernst frowned.

Ahmoni assumed Ernst was worried about how to complete the task, so she smiled slightly, indicating that Ernst didn't need to worry, and simply reminded him:

"This task is actually quite simple. All you need to do is find a way to remind those unruly Sarkaz mercenaries in the city..."

“Can you tell me about the next one?” Ernst interrupted.

Ahmonie raised an eyebrow, silently stared at Ernst for two seconds, and nodded.

"The second thing is that the Duke of Caster will be attending an art exhibition in the city of Londinium in a while. The Duke of Wellington doesn't want her to have such an easy time, but according to the Duke's decree issued by the council, the Grand Duke cannot approach Londinium."

"So he hopes that you can find a way to either make it less smooth for the Duke of Caesar to come to the city to participate in the exhibition, or to ruin the art exhibition."

Ernst nodded thoughtfully.

It sounds like a simple task, but it's not.

Ahmoni's words contain a very obvious contradiction: the parliament's decree forbidding the Grand Duke from entering Londinium, so why was the Duke of Castells allowed to openly enter the city to participate in the art exhibition?

Openly entering the city is a completely different concept from sneaking into the city like the Duke of Stafford or the Duke of Cavendish.

Not to mention, they entered a city that had been occupied by the Sarkaz.

Ernst had no idea what cards the Duke of Caesar was hiding that gave her such confidence. And to directly disrupt the planned itinerary of a duke who had such cards up his sleeve was even more difficult.

Perhaps starting with art exhibitions would be much simpler, but Ernst couldn't think of a good way to connect himself with art exhibitions.

Do the people of Lentinium enjoy listening to the Jeragunda Song and watching the Jeragunda fireworks?

These unbelievers who dislike Jeragand are unlikely to do so.

“And the third thing?” Ernst continued.

Ahmoni: "The third thing is also very simple. Even simpler than the first two things."

"The Duke of Wellington hopes that Sherag can cause some trouble on the Duke of Castle's lands."

"To cause trouble?" Ernst did not immediately understand Ahmoni's meaning.

But Ahmoni's explanation came quickly: "Well, for example, blowing up one or two restaurants, assassinating one or two nobles, or better yet, making the entire Dukedom of Caesar tremble with fear."

"Weapons, bombs, personnel training—the Duke of Wellington is happy to help. This could even be a long-term project; the Duke of Wellington will pay for each successful completion of a task—"

"Stop talking," Ernst interrupted Ahmoni with a serious expression.

"Is the Duke of Wellington trying to send the Sheragans to be KBFZs, using their lives to cause trouble for the Duke of Castle?!"

“There’s no need to put it so harshly.” Ahmoni seemed surprised by Ernst’s strong reaction and quickly retorted, “Your Excellency, you should understand that with the compensation offered by the Duke of Wellington, such an investment is entirely worthwhile. Not to mention, it’s also a good way to help you maximize the value of the domestic opposition.”

“All Shelag people are citizens of Yelagand, citizens of the Shelag government, regardless of whether they are in the opposition.”

“Oh, Your Excellency, politicians only need to say empty words to their subordinates. The Duke of Wellington is talking to you about cooperation.” Ahmoni said, both amused and exasperated.

Ernst took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his intention to end the conversation and transaction.

“Then I will absolutely not choose option three,” he replied. “That doesn’t align with the negotiation principles I initially proposed.”

Everything else is negotiable as long as it doesn't harm Sherag's fundamental interests.

What are Sherag's fundamental interests?

The Sherag government? The religion of the Manjushri Monastery? The money brought by the Kalan trade?

neither.

The fundamental interests of Shelag belong solely to the people of Shelag.

If there are no people, where do the people come from?

Ernst wouldn't send the Sherags to their deaths.

Some might question whether Ernst's practice of sending people from the Perroch territory to sweatshops, where they worked ten hours a day with at most one day off a week, and sometimes even worked overtime, was also a form of brutal exploitation, essentially sending the Sherag people to their deaths.

Ernst didn't explain. Because this is an ironclad rule of civilization's development.

If you call this hypocrisy, then you're right. Politicians aren't good people to begin with, and hypocrisy is their way of paying homage to virtue with evil.

But even evil has its limits. When capitalist exploitation and concentration camp massacres are placed side by side, people with a conscience will always prioritize saving the latter. Social development cannot be accompanied by moral decline; otherwise, what will ultimately be built is a cold, extreme, and modern prison.

"I understand." Ahmoni frowned and shook her head helplessly.

As a Terran, a servant of the Duke of Wellington, a spy and strategist, she found it difficult to understand Ernst's decision.

If she were in her shoes, she would definitely choose the third option. A small sacrifice can bring greater benefits, and even political influence. Even if it's exposed, it doesn't matter; it's just a moral issue. And when faced with their own interests, people are always willing to temporarily set aside morality.

If you could get millions of dollars and your family could live a good life by letting someone you've probably never met die, what would you choose?

Why not?

But since Ernst firmly rejected this option, she was also curious about which one Ernst would ultimately choose.

"Let me think about it for a moment and I'll get back to you later." Ernst maintained his usual style, considering things carefully before acting. After saying this, without waiting for Ahmoni to recover, he stood up and left the room.

Watching his retreating figure, Ahmoni pouted, tapping her fingers lightly on the table, and muttered to herself:

"The strange Sherag people."

Chapter 125 The correct approach is to take credit!

"Rationally speaking, apart from the third option which is basically not considered, the difficulty of the second option is actually about the same as that of the first option."

"Just as Ahmoni said, it is actually very simple to disrupt, or rather, prevent the Duke of Kester from evacuating the personnel of Victoria National University out of the city. We just need to send someone who can speak with the Sarkaz to inform the leader of the Sarkaz who occupied Londinium about this."

Ernst analyzed it simply,

"The simplest point about this option is that while we may appear to be annoying the Duke of Caster, we don't actually need to confront him and his Grey Hats directly. If the Sarkaz just does a little bit of work and sends even a small force to monitor Victoria National University, the Duke of Caster's plans will be disrupted."

Jesston shrugged: "What else is there to say? Of course, I'll choose this one."

"The second option is too troublesome. It's almost impossible to stop Caesar from entering the city."

Jeston's statement makes sense.

Unlike the first option, Ernst had virtually no way to stop Caesar from entering the city. Tell the Duke? That was impossible; the fact that the Duke of Caesar dared to openly enter the city showed that she didn't care about the Duke's decree at all.

Don't say anything, we can use this to get the Duke of Wellington or the Duke of Windermere to come forward and criticize the Duke of Castle.

Why do you think the old fox, the Duke of Wellington, would rather spend more money to dump this troublesome task on Ernst?

He simply doesn't want to get involved in this matter personally! To put it bluntly, he's still biding his time and preparing his own grand tour of his territory, which is meant to keep things under wraps. If he were willing to step forward and condemn it, he would have done so long ago.

Ernst would never allow Windermere to get involved. Even if Duke Windermere knew about this, he would be very happy to condemn it. This condemnation would not be instigated by Ernst, but rather by Amphilis Windermere herself.

This is not some trivial matter of "doing a favor." Asking someone to do something according to your advice is different from them doing it voluntarily out of self-interest. The former constitutes interference in another country's internal affairs, which is a taboo!

The US can do this because it has the power. Sherag doesn't have that ability; it's not a country with a six-pointed star on its flag, and it can't be the juxtaposition of father and son with Colombia.

Not to mention, this was a deal between him and Wellington. The good thing about the Duke of Windermere is that she's very stubborn, so Ernst isn't too worried that Amphilis might have any designs on Sherag. But given her personality, she probably wouldn't want to be used as a pawn by Ernst to exchange for another Duke of Victoria's reward.

She wished that Ernst would only have a Grand Duke like herself by his side, and that he wouldn't know anyone else.

To sabotage an art exhibition would be even more troublesome.

First, Ernst's entry into the city was a problem. If he wanted to attend the art exhibition, he needed legitimate entry. The Duke of Caesar's art exhibitions wouldn't allow unidentified, unauthorized individuals to participate.

Entering the city was only the first hurdle. Where would Ernst get an invitation to the art exhibition? Even assuming he managed to smooth things over from all the other fronts, how would he manage to leave Lentinham unscathed in the end?

By daring to personally enter Londinium, which had already been occupied by the Sarkaz, Duke Castells must have not only been bold but also had more than one or two backup plans. Among these, military force was certainly a factor.

Ernst wasn't sure if it could handle the Sarkaz, but it would definitely be enough to deal with him without summoning Yeragand.

This doesn't even take into account that Ernst and Sherag were not the Duke of Windermere and her vast, militarily powerful duchy. If Ernst were to openly offend the Duke of Caesar, he would inevitably pay the price.

Therefore, the best choice is definitely the first one.

Instead of confronting the Duke of Castells directly, they leaked information to the Sarkaz to thwart the Duke's plan to evacuate his personnel.

Given the Sarkaz's implicit hostility towards the Grand Dukes after taking control of Lentinium, there was absolutely no way they would have revealed the source of this information to the Duke of Caesar, who clearly had ambitions for Lentinium.

In this way, he could extricate himself unscathed, prove his abilities to the Duke of Wellington, and obtain the funding.

"But... but what about the faculty and students at Victoria National University?"

Hinterlea's voice was faint, but in the quiet room, it sounded like a heavy hammer striking steel.

This is also the hurdle that Ernst has never been able to overcome.

The high walls of Londinium were a prison. Those imprisoned within faced the constant threat of Sarkaz attacks. They had finally found a way out, seeking help from the Grand Duke of Victoria, who possessed the power to free them. Was Ernst going to extinguish this small glimmer of hope?

Yes, Ernst was well aware that the Duke of Castells's actions to rescue the faculty and students of Victoria National University were by no means purely altruistic. Even just from the name of the school and its location in the heart of Londinium, Ernst could guess that the vast majority of its members came from families with considerable social standing.

But so what?

Regardless of any attempts to smear him, the Duke of Custer was saving lives. Perhaps those he saved will later make you angry or sad, thinking you should have just not saved them. But the act of saving lives should never be condemned!

To reiterate, Ernst might believe there are good people among the Sarkaz, but the overall reputation of the Sarkaz over the past millennium dictates that they are not worthy of trust.

Ernst could not bring himself to entrust the lives of tens of thousands of people to the possibility that the Sarkaz on guard duty might be a moderate, after revealing the information to the Sarkaz.

Who knows how they will stop the teachers and students when they see them starting to evacuate?

Ernst took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then looked at the three people in the room, including Lavshini, and shook his head.

"No, we can't tell the Sarkaz this."

Scherrag missed out on the Duke of Wellington's investment opportunity, which wouldn't destroy him, but the lives of the faculty and students of Victoria National University were only given once. Ernst couldn't take such a gamble.

He has a flexible moral compass, extensive experience in passing the buck, and is a typical civil servant within the system.

That's why, thanks to all the ideological training courses he'd attended, he still vividly remembers the persuasive teachings his predecessors gave him while he sat in the "chair of regret":

"Hold the line."

Ernst closed his eyes silently, feeling a sense of relief despite his regret.

Conscience is something that's not worth much if you sell it, but if you want to keep it, it'll cost a fortune.

He finally understood what that sentence meant.

A long silence fell over the room.

Jeston couldn't understand Ernst's hesitation. Hinterlea silently sat down next to Ernst, reached out and hugged him, gently patting his back.

Only Raphsini didn't understand Ernst's hesitation, nor could she understand why Hinterlea wanted to comfort Ernst.

So she broke free from the vicious cycle of "choice" and raised her own question with doubt: