After the Prime Minister led the group around the Privy Council, they entered the meeting room further inside.
Since the Privy Council was an administrative organization, there would definitely be a hierarchy.
In the past, when the Privy Council was still able to carry out its duties, the highest authority in the Privy Council was known as the "Elder."
There was a period of time when the Privy Council was also known as the "Elder Council." It implied that this organization was the territory of the "Elder Council." Everything had to be listened to.
Under the Elder Council was the "Elder." The way to differentiate between the Elder Council and the Elder Council was very simple. It was not like now, where the nobles were particularly particular about their appearance.
At that time, the nobles were still wearing linen robes. Therefore, the Elder Council's robes would have golden barley ears while the Elder Council's robes would have silver ears of wheat ears. This was to distinguish the status of the two.
The rest were the ordinary nobles. They also wore robes, but there were only clan emblems on the robes. There were no ears of wheat.
Later on, the power of the Privy Council was gradually abandoned. The Elder Council also began to put down their airs and tried to unite all the nobles. Unfortunately, the changes in the political system and the transfer of power made it meaningless even if they really did that.
The meeting room here was for the Elder Council and the Elder Council. As for the nobles in the hall outside, they were not allowed to enter without permission.
The Prime Minister was not a member of the Privy Council, but he could enter directly without the permission of others. This was the characteristic of power. He could ignore most of the rules.
After everyone sat down, the Prime Minister looked at the nobles around him. The smile on his face was very lively. "Have you all come to a conclusion during this period of time? Who will be the Minister of Finance?"
The nobles around the meeting table communicated with their eyes. The noble sitting at the head of the table coughed softly, attracting everyone's attention.
"Prime Minister, we have been discussing this problem during this period of time. After all, it involves an important position and we do not have enough time, so …"
The Prime Minister shook his head. "So there is no conclusion, is there?"
The nobles around him nodded. One of them explained, "There are too many outstanding people. It is difficult for us to make a choice. There is only one position. If we choose this, we will not be able to care about the other."
"When the time comes, there will definitely be people arguing because of this. They might even doubt whether our selection was fair and just. You know, the losers will always have many reasons."
The Prime Minister didn't deny it. He was like a gambler. Anything could be the reason for him to lose money.
Today, he was unlucky. He didn't wash his hands after going to the toilet. He was either facing the window or with his back facing the window. Someone borrowed money from him and didn't return it …
Those gamblers could easily find dozens or hundreds of reasons to take responsibility for the money they had lost, and the same went for the nobles who had failed to be selected. They could casually come up with excuses such as' under-the-table manipulation 'without even thinking about it.
Therefore, it would take a long time to select this candidate.
The Prime Minister's brows furrowed. "What we lack most now is time. We can't keep the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer empty and wait for you to appoint someone. This will delay a lot of our work."
"This isn't some other job. It's related to the planning and allocation of the entire country's budget. I can't give you that much time."
"You must choose a candidate before the end of the month."
At this moment, one of the nobles suddenly reminded, "Prime Minister, it's already the end of the month."
"It's already the end of the month?"
The Prime Minister's expression changed for a moment. He lowered his head and glanced at his watch. There was a small window with a calendar on it.
Now, such a watch with a calendar was very popular. The key technology was only mastered by a few companies. It was hard to find a watch on the market.
He glanced at the calendar and sighed. "It's really the end of the month. I didn't even feel it!"
He shook his head as he spoke. "I've been too busy recently. There are too many things for me to deal with. I really miss the peaceful days before.
Although it's boring, there's a lot of personal time. "
The nobles in the room just smiled and didn't take it seriously. Just like what they were discussing now, it was just a discussion. It didn't mean that the content of the discussion had any direct relation to the outcome of the matter.
"A few days is indeed a little tight. Why don't you give it a try?"
The Prime Minister asked again.
It seemed like he was asking about this matter, but in reality, everyone knew what he was asking and how to answer.
"Prime Minister, although the Privy Council is jokingly called a nursing home, it doesn't mean that we don't have a sense of responsibility. We can't choose a suitable candidate in a short period of time. Why don't …"
The chief noble looked at the nobles around him and said softly, "You'll take on this position first."
The Prime Minister was a little stunned. He looked at the nobles in front of him, then smiled bitterly and shook his head. "This won't do. I've suggested to His Majesty before to let me take on the part-time position first, but … he refused."
The chief noble smiled and continued, "This time, we'll talk to His Majesty personally about this matter. I'm sure His Majesty will agree."
The Prime Minister was a little moved, but he appeared to be a little hesitant. "But those people outside …"
The chief noble raised his hand and gestured. "Fighting for power is never as important as the stability of the Empire!"
This matter was actually a process. Just as Lynch and the others had said, from the beginning, His Majesty didn't want to fight the Prime Minister to the end. He had been giving in from the beginning.
However, this kind of concession didn't mean that everything was given away. The Prime Minister also had to pay a price.
If their current conversation was leaked out, most of the nobles outside would definitely be angry.
During this period of time, they had been building relationships everywhere, holding all kinds of secret meetings, doing business everywhere, all for the sake of that position.
If they couldn't get that position, they would at least be able to gain some benefits.
However, they didn't expect that the nobles in the Privy Council would turn around and betray them. They even helped the Prime Minister get this financial power. They were happy for nothing and lost some things. At this time, if His Majesty the Emperor showed the appropriate goodwill, some of these nobles would not hesitate to lean towards His Majesty the Emperor.
In other words, the Prime Minister had actually pushed some of the nobles to lean towards His Majesty in exchange for the opportunity to take on the financial power and realize his own power plan.
Did His Majesty suffer a loss?
It seemed so, but not completely.
Although he had lost his financial power, the development plan of the entire country was there. The Prime Minister couldn't go against it at will. Moreover, everyone was in the same general direction, which was for the sake of the country.
The Emperor's power had been reduced, but in exchange, he had the support of a large number of nobles. These nobles would become his trump card the next time he regained control.
One had to know that the Prime Minister was very old. No one knew how many years he could stay in this position.
Three to five years, at most ten years!
Ten years later, there would definitely be a new war that would affect the whole world. By then, how could the Prime Minister, whose physical, mental, and mental strength would have begun to deteriorate, continue to stay in this position?
As long as he stepped down, with the support of the nobles, His Majesty the Emperor would have the opportunity and possibility of a dictatorship to a certain extent. As long as there were enough nobles to support him, he could even take on the role of Prime Minister and Minister of Finance when the war broke out!
In addition to the special permission from the Emperor to control the military, administration, finance, military, and politics would all be highly unified. A dictator would be born!
Even if the nobles didn't support him in realizing his dictatorship dream, he would at least have the opportunity to regain his financial power. As long as he had the financial power, even if the Prime Minister was compromised, he would still have power.
Using the opportunity in front of him in exchange for limitless possibilities in the future, His Majesty didn't lose out in this deal.
The Prime Minister was very clear about His Majesty's plan, but he didn't mind. He was even very cooperative. They were all betting, betting on who would reveal a flaw first!
The contents of the meeting room weren't revealed for the time being, but it wouldn't be long before it was revealed.
In three days, which would be the next court meeting, the whole country would know!
At that time, a big show would begin. His Majesty the Emperor, the 'victim,' would begin to rope in the resentful nobles to stand on his side.
Of course, the Privy Council would do their best to unite the nobles. They couldn't just let all the nobles fall to His Majesty's side. That would be irresponsible.
The Prime Minister stayed in the Privy Council for less than an hour before leaving. Not long after he left, some gossip from the outside world flowed into the Privy Council.
People didn't know where they heard some information, but it was related to Lynch.
They heard that Lynch planned to take the money they earned to develop in Amelia Province, and that His Majesty the Emperor had given them some preferential policies.
If this news had happened to anyone else, it would have just been a normal piece of news. However, it happened to Lynch, so it had to attract people's attention.
After all, not long ago, Lynch had brought a bunch of useless nobles to the financial market to take hundreds of millions in dividends. Even now, the nobles' eyes were still a little red when they thought about it.
The big nobles didn't care, but not all of them were that rich. There would always be nobles who only had the face of nobles left, and not much money.
Just as everyone was about to leave for lunch, a few nobles came looking for Lynch.
"Mister Lynch, I heard that you're planning to invest in Amelia Province?"
Lynch looked at these people, and the young Earl very cleverly introduced them to Lynch. These were all small nobles, and most of them had some sort of relationship with the royal family. For example, they were close by blood.
No matter how cruel the Emperor was, he was still human. As long as he was human, he would have some 'small problems'. For example, he would be more willing to trust his blood relatives than strangers.
So looking at the small nobles of the Gefra Empire, almost half of them had ancestors who were members of the royal family, or had very close relationships with the royal family. That was why they were constantly rewarded.
After the young Earl finished introducing these people to Lynch, Lynch smiled and nodded. "That is indeed the case!"
The leader of the small nobles was very humble. "Can you talk to us about Amelia Province?"