People's Choice
The sound of the Provincial Governor Drag slamming his fist on the table caught the attention of his son.
What's wrong?
The Provincial Governor Drag looked up at his son standing at the door of the room, pondered for a moment, then beckoned and handed him the letter in his hand. "From now on, you will be sitting in my current position and making choices. You will share your thoughts."
Everyone has likes and dislikes, which is normal. Even a father will have children he likes and children he doesn't like.
In the heart of the Provincial Governor Drag, his eldest and youngest sons were undoubtedly the people who pleased him the most.
The eldest son spends the most time with his father, which is an advantage for almost all "eldest" children. They come into the world earlier than their brothers and sisters, and as long as they don't behave too badly, they will be loved by their parents.
His fondness for his youngest son stemmed from a kind of indulgence, or perhaps a change in himself. He had been strict enough with his other children and no longer wanted to be like that. In addition, he was a bit older when his youngest son was born, which left him with no particular reason to spoil him excessively.
As for his second son, he didn't like him very much; he was too focused on scheming and neglected the advantages of being a ruler.
It's not that intrigue and scheming are bad, but those methods are not suitable for rulers to govern their subjects. Whatever a ruler needs to do, he only needs to have a notice posted to achieve his goal; he doesn't need intrigue or trickery.
Using intrigue and trickery to achieve the ruler's goals and to sway people's minds to make them cooperate with the ruler may seem to reduce the coldness and ruthlessness of power on the surface, but once exposed, it will only make things more troublesome.
People may despise a tyrant, but they abhor those rulers who are cunning, treacherous, and despicable.
As for the third son... the one in front of us, he seems to be very smart. He can summarize the ideas of his other brothers, find their strengths and add some of his own ideas. No matter what kind of test it is, the answer he gives is always the most reliable. But Drag just doesn't like him.
You don't need many reasons to like someone, but you can have too many reasons to dislike someone.
He disliked that his son lacked his own opinions; he always combined the ideas of his eldest and second sons and never expressed his own views.
If the eldest and second eldest siblings don't offer their opinions and he's not allowed to express his thoughts first, what he says is often inferior to what the eldest and second eldest siblings say.
He also managed to win over the Provincial Governor Drag's favorite youngest son to be his own talisman, which often forced the Provincial Governor Drag to favor his youngest son over his own when considering the suggestions put forward by his brothers.
He always tried to please the Provincial Governor Drag, pretending to be very outstanding, but the Provincial Governor Drag could see through him at a glance, which made him dislike the boy even more—how could he expect his parents to like him if he had to hide his scheming even when he was with his brothers?
So when he had to make a choice last time, he sent his eldest, youngest, and second eldest sons to the Federal, but kept only his youngest son.
The other three children were somewhat disappointed, especially the eldest, who was the most disappointed, but he would never understand that this was the real protection for him.
As for the third son, who thinks all day long that he will inherit the position and power of the Provincial Governor, this is not true affection for him, but an act of giving up. Unfortunately, the third son cannot see this at all.
The third son respectfully accepted the letter, quickly read it through, and gave him an answer with a speed that the Provincial Governor Drag had not expected.
"Father, I think we should be the first to stand up and advocate for secession from the United Kingdom." The third son gave his answer so quickly that the Provincial Governor Drag didn't even have time to react.
In his imagination, his son would probably only feel "fear" and "unease" after seeing the letter.
The fear stemmed from the fact that the letter was instructing his father, the most powerful man in the region and province, on how to do things, and in a very disrespectful tone.
Some of the content should also make his son feel that families like theirs are also subject to the control of the Federal, and that sense of helplessness and uncontrollability will bring fear.
Then, betrayal of one's country will cause one's conscience to be troubled.
But none of that happened. All that remained was the young man, suppressing his excitement, who quickly made a decision he least wanted to face, yet had no choice but to confront.
After a moment of silence, he looked up at his son, who was trying hard to appear calm, and asked, "Why did you choose this answer?"
The third son answered the question almost without thinking, "Father, everyone knows that the Federal People in Nagaril will only grow stronger. You haven't been out to see the world for a long time. If you had been out during this time, you would understand that everything is different!"
"I don't know... how to describe what's happening. Society as a whole is rapidly transforming from an old person on the verge of death into a young and vibrant one!"
"When you pass by the street, you can no longer see those lazy people sitting by the roadside chatting and sunbathing; everyone is busy looking for work."
"When people have free time, the topics they talk about have shifted from vulgar ones to work and life issues."
"What I'm about to say may not be to your liking, but it's the truth. The influence of the Federal and Federal people is replacing us, the traditional rulers. The future of Nagaril will belong to the Federal!"
Looking at the boastful child, the Provincial Governor Drag seemed to be meeting him for the first time, which made him realize the terrifying influence of the Federal, so terrifying that it had begun to affect those around the rulers.
He suddenly realized that his choice was no longer important to the people of the Federal. The Federal's plans and strategies had begun to take effect, and at this point, no one could easily stop the changes of the times and the transformation of society.
People no longer care what the traditional rulers said, or even respect them—look, that's what the Federal is doing.
They are attacking the monarchy, and once the monarchy falls, the authority that symbolizes secular power in traditional power will be removed from people's minds, and then the religious authority.
Nagaril may become a "mini -Federal" at that time, and he, the other Provincial Governor, and even the royal family will be powerless to stop it, because these are the people's own choices, the things they want.
His gaze involuntarily fell on the newspaper on the corner of the table. The headline, "Who is hurting us?" was half-covered. Who else but a ruler like the Provincial Governor Drag could so brazenly harm the people?
This is the choice of the times. There may be some ripples in this process of change, such as the rise of Nagaril Youth Party, but they are just ripples and will not affect the direction of the trend.
When history and eras, these weighty words, begin to exert their power, human will appears exceptionally insignificant.
"Go do your business," the Provincial Governor Drag sighed, somewhat bored. The deep impression the old kingdom had left on him was beginning to blur. He almost laughed. How could these people withstand the volcanic eruption from the bottom of society, suppressed for over a hundred years? The third son bowed and left. Just as he was about to leave, the Provincial Governor Drag spoke again, "Get ready and have the tailor finish your clothes."
The third son suddenly turned to look at the Provincial Governor Drag, somewhat bewildered, his face filled with uncontrollable elation. "Father, you..."
The Provincial Governor Drag said nothing, but simply waved his hand to let his son leave.
His meaning was quite clear: he was preparing to "step down".
Watching his son walk away with a joyful expression and light steps, the Provincial Governor Drag suddenly felt it was absurd and ridiculous.
A son is overjoyed because his father is about to lose power. That... is probably what power is all about!
He sighed heavily, glanced at the letter in his hand, and recalled the butler's words, "The Third Young Master has recently been reading many books from the Federal and has become friends with some young Federal merchants in the city."
Life is a series of choices. No matter how lost, fearful, or helpless you feel, you must make a choice.
At this time, the High Priest was making roughly the same decision as the Provincial Governor, Drag.
Beneath his "throne," priests from all over the province had gathered. Looking at these priests with their sinister and cold faces, the High Priest felt a sense of unease for the first time.
He licked his lips, and his expression instantly turned fervent.
"The god told me in my dream last night that it wants to choose a new High Priest. Each of you should go back and make Golden Idol for the god, and then send it to me."
"Whoever's idol the gods descend upon will become the next High Priest!"
He opened his eyes, which seemed barely open, and the tattoos on his face looked somewhat disgusting due to his loose skin, but his eyes were very bright, and his gaze fell on everyone as if they were real.
Whenever he looked at someone, that person would lower their head and place their forehead on the ground as a sign of respect for the deity.
After all, the High Priest, to a certain extent, represents the Avatar of the gods walking among humans, and respecting the High Priest is to respect the gods.
"No one close to me will participate in this selection process. The final choice will definitely be made from among you. Do you understand?"
The priests weren't too enthusiastic before. Every generation of High Priest would do this once they got old. To put it bluntly, it was just a way to make money. In the end, it was up to them to decide who got the money. Anyway, it never went to anyone else.
But now, everyone is excited. The High Priest's words mean that a family of religious rulers is about to exit the stage of history.
At the same time, a brand new religious family will be born! They will do everything in their power to send piles of gold, hoping to win the High Priest's final choice!