Darkstone Code-Chapter 757 - 0755 For instance
Every inch of the lavish, exquisite room exudes the scent of money, with priceless artworks and gold jewels everywhere, making those who enter here have an illusion—
Those ubiquitous things aren’t really that valuable!
But this is only limited to here, as soon as they leave this place overflowing with wealth at every corner, and stand outside in the cold wind to calm down, they realize that some things are not as beautiful as they imagined.
Artworks are valuable, gold and jewels are valuable, but noble titles are even more valuable.
In the Gafura Empire, there are two kinds of noble titles. The first are hereditary nobles. Most of these nobles have been active among the lords of Gafura since the period of chaotic lord wars.
They have been nobles for generations, and to this day, they still remain nobles.
Their titles aren’t something the Emperor can easily change; only after a vote by all the nobles of the Secretariat could there be any slight change, and even then, it’s just a slight one, not a change to all of them.
Hereditary nobles are the foundation of the Secretariat’s existence, and the nobles within are well aware of this. They will not allow the Emperor to casually alter hereditary noble titles.
Another type of nobility emerged in the "post-Gafura period," which began once the Imperial family stepped onto the political stage and unified all of Gafura.
During this period, "lords" hadn’t fully exited the historical stage, but it was nearly the end. When the Emperor ennobled titled nobles, hereditary nobility was no longer granted.
In essence, hereditary nobles don’t offer much benefit to a country.
They wield various privileges. Look at those capitalists; to develop and expand, they can’t do without the nobles’ support.
This also led to the domestic market in Gafura losing competitiveness, with everyone engaged in monopoly-like, non-competitive businesses on their turf.
Even more terrifying is that these nobles will exist for generations, ultimately twisting this framework into a distorted structure.
Since then, the Emperor has never ennobled hereditary nobles again, only granting titles that aren’t hereditary.
Among these nobles, there are two more situations. One is the reduced inheritance nobility. With each generation, the title gets downgraded a notch, with such titles ennobled up to the Count level.
Higher titles such as Marquis, Duke, and Prince are only granted when there’s a royal marriage to elevate the status of minor nobles, so they can at least match royal members in appearance.
These titles, Marquis, Duke, even Prince, have no inheritance. In other words, the children of these nobles do not inherit their parents’ titles, but the Princess must petition the Emperor for a re-grant.
This is the second type of non-hereditary nobility, lasting only one generation. When they die, their noble status and privileges are canceled.
But rules are rules, and execution can be a different matter.
When a Prince dies, his title doesn’t pass down. If the Princess is close to the Imperial family and the Emperor, the Emperor may choose a pleasing descendant from the Prince’s family to re-grant the title.
If the Emperor isn’t close to the Princess and refuses to re-grant, the "Prince family" ends with them, and the descendants become "ordinary people with noble blood."
Other than those married into the Imperial family, some people can still receive the Emperor’s favor, such as the Emperor’s bootlickers, those courtiers who amused the Emperor.
For instance... Lynch.
These people are minor nobles: Barons, Viscounts, or Counts, lasting only one generation. But if they are on good terms with the Emperor, when they pass away or are about to pass away while the Emperor is still reigning, they may petition the Emperor for another re-grant to extend their lineage by one generation.
But no matter what, these people are seen as minor nobles, inferior among the traditional "lord nobles," who at any time might lose their noble status if the Emperor dislikes them or upon the Emperor’s death.
If these people behave appropriately, aren’t ostentatious, and aren’t disliked, they might live as affluent individuals after losing noble status.
If their predecessors acted arrogantly while holding the title, nobles would start targeting them once they lost the title.
Sometimes nobles lead lives not as glorious as imagined; only a few truly shine.
Hence, while they still have some privileges and remain part of the noble class, they try to band together, and the Secretariat has opportunities to petition for re-granting favors.
In short, to gain prosperity and long-term power, one must make sacrifices.
In the room, well-dressed gentlemen and colorful ladies gather in the small space. The scent in the room is pleasant from floral incense, unlike the sharp scent of chemical perfumes.
The men gather to discuss matters, seemingly born with a passion for various current affairs.
The ladies gather too, but they mostly discuss a handsome young man among the crowd.
Some of them occasionally make shocking remarks, but no one is too surprised, being long accustomed to it.
Some customs are hard to say whether they’re good or bad; one can only say that when there’s demand, they’re good, and without demand, they’re bad.
Sitting among the crowd, Lynch is unaware he’s become the topic of the ladies’ discussion. He occasionally glances at where the ladies gather, nodding and smiling, often making them burst into laughter.
"The Prime Minister has already secured the ticket; next, he will need to assemble his own team."
What happened this morning in the Ruler’s Hall unsurprisingly leaked out. The Ruler’s Hall and the Congress Building are known as "rooms without walls," meaning that whatever happens there cannot be kept hidden.
A noble softly echoed, "Mr. Lynch, do you think there is a possibility that we could..." He stopped short, keenly looking at Lynch.
The others were slightly stunned, their eyes taking on a different expression.
The Prime Minister wants to form his own team, which implies that if he wins in the upcoming struggle, those under him will gain real power.
For the nobility, the most painful thing is having wealth, status, and influence, yet lacking any authority.
They are indeed more esteemed than ordinary officials, but those officials possess the real power they cannot attain.
If they get close to the Prime Minister at this moment and become the Prime Minister’s "own people," once the Prime Minister successfully seizes power, they will be able to hold true authority.
These minor nobles all became a bit restless, looking at Lynch with eyes that seemed "heated."
However, Lynch shook his head, "That’s impossible."
After speaking, he detailed an explanation to prevent these fools from meddling and ruining his plan, "Firstly, the Prime Minister is a major noble; he will only place his kin in the core positions."
"As for some less important roles, they will be handed over to the Secretariat to select talents. The last time he visited the Secretariat, it was to express his closeness to the nobility."
"If the Secretariat can stand beside him, exerting pressure on His Majesty, then he must also make appropriate concessions."
"As for us, we haven’t even entered the Prime Minister’s sight. At most, he might offer two or three secondary positions like Deputy Director of a Police Station to us."
"Whether we take these positions or not, they have no real impact. But refusing them would hurt the Prime Minister’s dignity, so at this point, you need to be able to endure and not act impulsively."
Looking at their expressions, Lynch thought they could only be minor nobles, and the poorest of them, not without reason. Intelligence is a hard flaw to ignore.
The one who asked the question was a bit disheartened, nodded, and closed his mouth, unsure of what he was thinking.
Meanwhile, someone else posed a question, "Mr. Lynch, do you think the Prime Minister will succeed in this power struggle?"
The question was asked quite suddenly; not only the minor nobles around, but even the ladies a bit farther away were drawn in by the question, and the room fell silent.
Though the power struggle between the Prime Minister and the Emperor seems unrelated to the people here, it actually isn’t. Not only is there a connection, but it’s a very close one.
Lynch pursed his lips, stretched out a hand to make a gesture of holding a cup. The nineteen-year-old ardent young Count immediately poured a glass of wine for Lynch and handed it to him, not feeling it diminishes his noble image at all.
He moistened his throat with the fragrant wine, then smiled and said, "The Prime Minister stands a considerable chance of winning..."
The room buzzed with murmurs of discussion; people’s expressions varied immensely, but overall, they were satisfied with this outcome.
Previously, Lynch had told them that if the Prime Minister wins, everyone would earn more money.
If the Emperor wins, then it’s almost time to let go; holding on would lead to losses.
From a purely profitability standpoint this time, the Prime Minister winning aligns more with their interests.
The noble who posed the question continued, "Then should we side with the Prime Minister?"
The room again fell silent; everyone held their breath, attentively watching Lynch, as if every word he said was the truth.
He merely smiled and shook his head, "I have not yet decided whom we should side with."
The questioning noble wished to say more, but Lynch raised his hand to stop him, "I know what you’re about to ask: since the Prime Minister can win, why don’t we side with him..."
The noble nodded; others were also curious; they thought the same way, with only a few showing a slightly different contemplative expression.
Lynch chuckled softly, "When we resolve a problem, we often perceive it as a whole."
"If the problem itself isn’t complex, then obviously this approach isn’t flawed, just like the simplest math problem of one plus one equals what."
"But when a problem is exceedingly complex, viewing it as a whole may lead us to make errors in handling it."
"We need to break this complex problem down for a clearer view."
"For instance, isolating the act of shorting financial indexes makes it a very straightforward issue. We short, the Prime Minister lowers the index, and beyond this factor, we don’t consider any other elements."
"Again, for example..."
