Sometimes, Emperor Guevra hated his father, his grandfather, and his so-called ancestors.
They had the opportunity to make the country a toy in the hands of the royal family, but they chose the stupidest way to rule the country.
Giving power to the nobles and letting the nobles restrict the power of the royal family seemed to be a very balanced approach.
The power of the nobles would not be too inflated, and the power in the hands of the emperor would not be out of control because of dictatorship. But as an emperor, he was very unhappy now.
The request of the defense minister was very reasonable. A country's finance was very important. Now that the position of the finance minister was vacant, the specific matters would be discussed and decided by everyone.
At first glance, this approach seemed very good. The result of everyone's discussion would certainly not be biased towards one side, and everyone … at least most people thought that this was the right thing to do, so they would make the same decision.
But the fact was that this seriously interfered with the normal operation of the financial work, and the new finance minister had not filled the vacancy, so the position of the finance department could not be casually placed in for the time being.
In case the future candidate and the current situation changed, the people who were placed in various places were likely to be kicked out, which would make everyone look bad. So far, the deputy of each place was still in charge of the work.
There must be a constitution to choose the finance minister as soon as possible, so that some small things such as the position of the finance minister would not seriously affect the speed of work.
But the problem was, at this time, in this place, it did not seem like a discussion, but more like forcing the emperor to make a decision. Whether it was good or bad, these people were forcing him, and they were not willing to give him more time to prepare.
His Majesty was silent for a moment, then said, "Do you have any good suggestions for the new finance minister?"
Using a new finance minister to stabilize the other ministers, the emperor gave the ministers the right to nominate. His meaning was actually very clear. He still wanted the finance minister to maintain a relatively neutral position. For the time being, he did not want to have a falling out with these ministers.
The minister of the navy was silent. He lowered his head and looked at the ring on his finger, as if thinking about something.
For the minister of the navy, no matter who became the finance minister, it was impossible to lack the various budgets of the navy. Currently, the most powerful force of the Gefra, and the only force they could use, was the navy.
Not giving money to the navy is tantamount to cutting yourself in the most painful place. No matter who becomes the finance minister, they will inevitably talk and laugh with him like before.
Minister of Army raised his head and looked at the paintings on the ceiling of the palace like a scholar who was obsessed with all kinds of art. He was immersed in the ocean of art.
Strengthening the construction of the army was also the result of everyone's discussion. Moreover, with the shift in focus, the value of the navy in the Amelia region was actually not that great.
They couldn't possibly fire their cannons at their own cities. The navy's deterrence was almost non-existent. The army was the most important one.
Now that the plan of "Gigantic Land Nation" had entered the implementation stage, the role of the army was becoming more and more obvious and important. He was not worried that anyone would dare to seize the army's money bag. That would be purely because they did not want to live.
Most of the other ministers either had some fluctuations or were silent. They were not very interested in the proposal of who would be the finance minister.
Some people were already looking at the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister was also silent. It was as if everyone in the hall had lost the ability to speak.
After some time, maybe two or three minutes, or maybe even longer, the Prime Minister suddenly broke the silence in the hall.
"It seems that no one has a suitable candidate in mind. Why don't I take on this job for the time being? When everyone has thought of a suitable candidate, we will redistribute the work."
He did not hesitate as he looked directly at the Emperor. The two looked at each other with a distance of more than ten meters between them.
The Emperor looked down at the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister raised his head. The two looked at each other.
The Prime Minister's gaze was gentle and without any aggression. There was a hint of a smile in his eyes, as if he was a minister trying to please the Emperor.
The Emperor's gaze was a little sharp, as if he was questioning the Prime Minister on what basis he dared to do this.
Neither of them backed down. After looking at each other for a moment, the Emperor shook his head. "The Prime Minister is busy with work. You don't look well during this period. If you take on the role of finance minister, I don't want … to call and scold me for exploiting her husband."
The woman the Emperor was talking about was the Prime Minister's wife. She was also the daughter of a noble and had some blood relations with the royal family.
Her father's aunt was the granddaughter of the Emperor's grandfather's grandfather. It sounded like she was one of the Emperor's grannies.
According to the relationship, that was indeed the case. However, when the royal family and the nobles discussed these issues, the "nobility" they talked about was always related to bloodline.
First, it was half, then a quarter, then an eighth, a sixteenth, and a thirty-second. According to the family hierarchy, the Prime Minister should be the Emperor's "brother."
Even though the two sides seemed to be related by blood, once the matter involved power, everyone in this hall could kill their own family with their own hands.
To them, they could lose anything, but power.
Just like the capitalists in the Federation, they could throw away everything that people thought was precious, but they could not let others touch their wealth.
The principle was the same. Having power or wealth was equivalent to having everything. Everything else was just an "illusion" of life, used to spice up their boring lives.
The Emperor's evasive attitude gave the Prime Minister some ideas. He could feel that the Emperor was avoiding the issue and sharpening it. If it was any other time, the Prime Minister would have let it go, but this time, he could not.
"Your Majesty, we can delay some things, but for this kind of thing, the sooner we have a result, the more responsible it is for us, the country, and the people."
The Prime Minister looked at the Emperor and said what he wanted to say. "If Your Majesty does not have any suitable candidates, why not let the nobles in the Privy Council discuss it together?"
This was a tradition from many years ago. When the ministers and the Emperor had different opinions, the Privy Council could intervene.
At the beginning of the dynasty, the Emperor's idea was that the three interest groups of the royal family, the ministers, and the nobles were against each other, but they also helped each other and did not let any interest group surpass the other two.
However, in the implementation process, the Privy Council and the nobles, who were supposed to be like the members of the Federation Congress, gradually became bystanders.
Now, the Prime Minister wanted the Privy Council to discuss it, which was in line with the laws and policies of the Gefra, but … the Prime Minister's intention was too obvious.
The Emperor hesitated for a while and finally nodded. "Okay, let the Privy Council discuss it."
The Emperor took a step back, and the Prime Minister also took a step back. They moved the main battlefield from the Great Hall of Rulers to the Privy Council. Next, both sides would have to try their best to win over the nobles.
In the Emperor's opinion, he had a natural advantage over the Prime Minister.
This was not an advantage because he was the Emperor, but because the Finance Minister was an individual.
If the Prime Minister was also the Finance Minister, then a lot of the Prime Minister's people would be stuffed into the Finance Department, and there would be one less position for a powerful minister.
However, if the Prime Minister was not appointed and someone else was appointed, more nobles in the Privy Council would have power, and some of them could even become the next powerful minister.
This temptation was more attractive than the Prime Minister being the Finance Minister.
The two of them looked away, and everyone began to discuss other things, such as … the aftermath of Yuan Rong Capital.
Hundreds of millions of funds and hundreds of millions of black holes. The whole world was paying attention to this case, and the Emperor and his ministers were having a headache.
If they did not handle it well, they would become an international laughingstock, and this was not something they wanted to accept.
"Your Majesty, the problem of the gold certificates is easy to solve …" The Prime Minister, who had entered work mode, had a completely different attitude from before. He had become serious and responsible.
He adjusted his sitting position. The "court meeting" between the Guevra ministers and the Emperor was more like a morning tea that might not be so leisurely at times.
"We will refund different amounts of gold certificates according to the different batches. The gold certificates are the only proof. Previously, many people tore up their gold certificates, and this also saved us some money …"
After Yuan Rong Capital was defined as a fraud, the gold certificates immediately became worthless. The financial products that people were willing to spend money to buy were instantly worth the price of a piece of worthless paper.
Many people tore up the gold certificates out of anger, and with some of the Prime Minister's strategies, although some of the money had been secretly transferred by Richard through various methods and could not be recovered.
However, in general, it was not a big problem to refund the loss of the gold certificates. Everyone would lose some money, and at this time, as long as not all of it was lost, everyone could accept it.
"The most troublesome problem now is the stock of Yuan Rong Capital. This is the disaster area. Many people invested in Yuan Rong Capital, and they think their losses should be paid by the Empire."
"If we want to use our own money to compensate these people for their losses, it is obviously impossible. But if they don't get compensated, they will continue to cause trouble."
"So we should think of a countermeasure to solve this problem. At least, we should stop them from causing trouble."
Now, the people's view was that the Prime Minister of Finance colluded with the chairman of Yuan Rong Capital, Richard, and through some behind-the-scenes transactions, Yuan Rong Capital was listed illegally.
Therefore, the losses of the shareholders should be paid by two parties. The first party was Yuan Rong Capital, and the second party was the country represented by the Prime Minister of Finance.
Yuan Rong Capital was finished, and it was impossible to ask them for money, but the Empire was still there. Those people thought that at least 50% would be enough.
It was easy to say, but difficult to do.
A black hole of hundreds of millions, even 50%, was still one or two hundred million. This money was not easy to make up for!
At least, it was impossible to make up for it from the national treasury!