Chapter 1405 - 1319: His Eminence Is Fun

Chapter 1405: Chapter 1319: His Eminence Is Fun

During September, the weather remained scorching.

As Horn landed at the new dock of the Holy Mechanism Court, he could see bustling crowds.

Along the lake, the birch and poplar trees already had a touch of yellow at the tips of their leaves.

Sitting in the carriage, Horn lifted a corner of the curtain and observed the town’s appearance.

The new town where the new dock was originally located surprisingly had a population of over ten thousand, with shipping, ship repairs, warehousing, and timber processing as its pillar industries.

Such industries were mostly private, and the Holy Alliance mostly supervised, with little direct intervention from Catherine.

On the cobblestone-paved ground, rows of two or three-story small buildings and semi-open workshops lined both sides.

The streets sprouted with a tavern street, specifically catering to the sailors, merchants, and crew passing through.

The Cheka had reported to Horn earlier that these places were in the gray area, and several nominal barmaids were providing boarding services for sailors.

The overall cultural quality level of the Holy Alliance had improved significantly, but personal quality was indeed a challenge.

Horn couldn’t truly brainwash people like the church’s propaganda suggested, though Serafe could, but it was limited to a few vampires only.

Moreover, the Cheka resources were limited, and the mobility at the docks was high, making regular surveillance impossible; aside from catching them red-handed, there were no other ways to convict.

What Horn could do was periodically send people to crack down on prostitution, besides criminalizing forced prostitution, intermediaries, and organized trafficking.

Then call on the Divination Department for cooperation, and turn to find the ticket buyers.

The Holy Alliance in the past, after substantial reforms, was fully capable of eradicating the red-light industry within its core circles.

However, recent population influxes not only brought abundant manpower and capital but also quite a bit of filth.

Various gangsters, bandit deserters, aristocratic remnants... things almost extinct in the Holy Alliance emerged again.

These tavern prostitutes were from foreign lands; once a batch was caught and reformed, another batch would come.

All docks of the Holy Alliance were on the verge of becoming centers for the systematic destruction of prostitutes.

These prostitutes were mostly sent for labor reform for two to three years and taught skills before being released back into society.

If caught again, they had to settle as pioneering immigrants in Shattered Stone Plain, the eastern county of Black Snake Bay, and North County.

Anyway, the ratio of men to women over there was skewed, and they were mostly mixed up with the rogues from the Trinity Education Team who didn’t care about chastity issues, as long as they could bear children.

Speaking of childbirth, it brought up Horn’s primary reason for returning this time.

Despite currently having seized Golden Soup Castle, whether he could swallow these fifty thousand troops was another matter.

Plus, André was stabilizing the situation near Fat Cow Castle, aiming to encircle these fifty thousand vampire soldiers, and Golden Soup Castle was likely to be attacked by Serafe.

Therefore, before this, it was essential to repair the city defenses and fortifications of Golden Soup Castle, and at least fend off the nearby military attacks.

If there were other choices, Horn would certainly choose to stay at the frontline.

But Jia Li’s due date was near, Catherine’s menopause had arrived, and Hilov’s rebellious phase was underway, leaving him no choice but to return.

If these three were to go awry, it would genuinely affect the frontline battle situation.

Especially Jia Li, as she approached her due date, her irritability and severity were almost akin to a great purge.

During this period, officials across the Holy Alliance felt as if they were walking on thin ice, sending letter after letter urging Horn to return quickly.

Helplessly, Horn had to hand over the battlefield to Jeanne and return alone.

Closing the curtain, Horn turned to Catherine and asked, "I heard you’ve hit menopause?"

"I heard your growth spurt is here? Why haven’t you grown taller?" Catherine glared at Horn, "The doctor’s report just mentioned night sweats and anxiety. I’m anxious for Jia Li, how did it turn into menopause in your mouth!"

Horn chuckled twice but continued to inquire about the situation at the Holy Mechanism Court during this time.

During Horn’s absence, aside from a backlog of documents only he could decide on, there wasn’t much major happening.

It’s just that Jia Li harshly criticized documents, being stricter with wrongdoer monks and officials.

Moreover, it involved Hilov’s research department, producing a portable crown restriction aura, which could just run to High Castle and Rapids City.

However, the Celestial Maiden City she intended to go to was suppressed jointly by Catherine and Jia Li.

They were unsure what Cynthia wanted to do.

At this juncture, if Hilov were to have trouble, it would be a big mess.

Hilov might truly be in her rebellious phase, being quite stubborn, with several escape attempts, and the furthest being caught at the Black Snake Bay border.

Currently, as the Chairwoman of the Holy Council, after discussion by the Cardinal Group, she’s temporarily stripped of her chairwoman identity and put under house arrest in the Mechanical Palace.

"She really wants to go to Celestial Maiden City?" Horn was astonished, Hilov didn’t seem like someone who would do such a thing.

"Who knows?" Catherine reflected, "I heard her say it seemed related to her dream."

"Dream?"

"Yes, both the Divination Department and the Dream Bureau have analyzed Hilov’s dream, but they haven’t decoded it."

"What kind of dream?" Horn followed up, curious.

"Reportedly, a towering tree floating in endless darkness, a dream she had back around 1450, just becoming more frequent recently... She thinks she can find answers from Cynthia..."

Horn’s face became serious: "Could it be related to Serafe?"

"Uncertain, but Hilov really wants to go to Celestial Maiden City, you’d better be mindful." Catherine handed over the physicians’ reports to Horn.

Horn quickly flipped through them, closed his eyes to ponder for a moment, and then reopened them: "If she wants to go, I’ll accompany her."

"You have the time?"

"Two weeks can always be squeezed out, and political warfare in the Royal Court always needs time to ferment."

"Political warfare? What political warfare?"

"Certainly those besieged vampire soldiers; they’re perfect assets."

Among those fifty thousand soldiers trapped, clan troops occupy the majority.

Determining how to accommodate them was a challenge because truly driving the opposition into desperation would equal gifting Serafe several thousand troops.

But, upon analysis, Horn discovered a problem; those fifty thousand Royal Court troops included multiple clan troop units.

This means they’re essentially routed troops, with incomplete rosters.

From another viewpoint, while seemingly only five clans were involved, careful counting revealed that at least two-thirds of the Royal Court’s northern clan core strength was besieged within this circle.

The essence of the Royal Court is essentially a union of large clans.

This is dictated by vampire racial characteristics; it’s naturally impossible to divide by region but rather by family clans.

Under such circumstances, the optimal solution is naturally controlling small families, but the Long Life Teaching was previously dismembered by the old Princes.

The new Long Life Teaching construction takes too much time, and Serafe can’t control lower-tier small families, thus opted to reconstruct a middle-tier layer.

The middle-tier layer is the large clans.

Serafe’s process of reworking the Royal Court is essentially dismantling the old large clans, then planting new large clans upon their ruins.

In essence, it only alleviates conflicts, not resolves them.

At this moment, Horn held most of the northern clan core forces to pressure Serafe, predict whether their internal conflicts would erupt into division?

To illustrate a straightforward point, without mentioning any conditions, agreeing to release prisoners of war annually, completing the release within five years.

Guess whether Serafe agrees, whether the Central Army agrees, whether southern clans in the Southern Army agree, whether northern clans in the Northern Army agree?

Additionally, proposing to release them all at once, but Serafe must cede parts of southern territory (practically occupied by Southern Army).

The fiercer the debate at the negotiation table, the greater the joy.

Coupled with the public opinion offensive and Cheka’s provocations, along with the tense atmosphere from Serafe’s recent supply line scandal...

Horn, who delights in stirring things, could already foresee a grand spectacle unfolding right before him.