Seven Seas Beacon Fire

"Being regent has always been a thankless and arduous task. A slight misstep could destroy a harmonious father-son relationship or a grandfather-grandson relationship. You may not know anything else, but you must have seen that very popular TV series 'Ming Dynasty,' right?" Under the threatening look in someone's eyes, Li Che did not add any more sarcasm, but still gave a timely "princess's little lesson."

"I have seen it."

"Do you still remember the King of Han in the story?" Li Che clapped his hands: "Before he was fooled by his father, it was 'You are like me' and 'The Crown Prince is often ill, you should encourage him.' After being fooled into becoming regent and then not doing a good job, it became 'pointed mouth and monkey cheeks' and 'How are you like me?'"

"So you think your grandfather might have been like the Yongle Emperor..."

"Hey, hey, hey, I never said that." Li Che immediately struck a pose like a husky pointing at someone.jpg.

"Besides, no matter what, I'm only 20 years old now. What era are we living in now? It's not ancient times anymore. Do you think a 20-year-old has the ability to oversee the country? Do you think I don't know whether I have the ability or not?" Li Che shook his head: "Of course, based on my understanding of the old man, he probably doesn't really intend for me to oversee the country."

"He issued an imperial edict to you, and even made me come here specifically to deliver the edict to you, without even sending you a telegram."

I've been busy with naval affairs lately and haven't paid much attention to things in Yingtian. Counting the days, another month has passed. Although my father's condition wasn't particularly good when I went back last time, it was basically stable. After another month of recuperation, in my grandfather's eyes, my father has probably recovered. He's just deliberately avoiding him and doesn't want to go out and work. After all, my father still has a lot of opinions about my grandfather focusing his main energy on military affairs all day long, and he feels that my grandfather is not a good enough emperor of Tang.

"So His Majesty's intention is actually... to put pressure on you, so that he can force Father to come out and do work?"

"Yes, what can I do if I encounter a problem that I can't solve? I'll definitely go and discuss it with my dad. It's actually the same principle as in your world, where sometimes the school assigns homework that is supposed to be assigned to the students, but it's actually assigned to the parents."

After figuring out the key point, Zhu Miaoyun shook her head speechlessly: "Seriously, how can His Majesty treat his own family members like capitalists exploiting their employees? It's practically treating the Crown Prince like a slave."

Li Che shrugged: "I can't say for sure. On the one hand, it might be because of my grandfather's personality that he was so uncomfortable sitting in the palace as a clay idol. On the other hand, he probably realized that he wasn't good at governing the country from the perspective of a monarch. Although he ascended to the throne with the support of the people, he was never prepared to become the Tang Emperor in the first half of his life."

"But... if that's the case, wouldn't it be enough to just send you an imperial decree by telegram? Why make me make this whole trip?"

"The decree you brought is a trap that Grandpa set for me and Dad, but the reason he sent you here is probably because he has other plans."

"What's the plan?"

Zhu Miaoyun still didn't realize what this had to do with her until this point. Li Che looked at this princess who was sometimes clever and sometimes silly, and pinched Zhu Miaoyun's cheek affectionately: "What other plans could there be? Old people always want to hold their grandchildren."

As soon as this was mentioned, Zhu Miaoyun's eyes turned sharp: "What? You want to have a baby, but I'm not the only one in your belly. Why don't you find that Japanese girl? Haven't you had anyone keep you company lately?"

Li Che coughed twice: "What are you talking about? How can that be the same? I won't have any other children before you have yours. For the sake of stability, it's best if the eldest son and the legitimate son are the same person."

Are you sure you can maintain perfect control every time you're playing Big Head Son and Small Head Dad?

"So the two of us need to work even harder now." After Li Che finished speaking, he stepped forward and pulled Zhu Miaoyun into the inner room. Zhu Miaoyun, who was suddenly attacked like this, quickly realized what this guy was going to do, and a blush quickly crept onto the princess's cheeks.

"It's still daytime!"

"We need to catch the train back to Beijing tonight, so there's no time like the present."

"You're still turning on the light?"

"It's not like we're in Goose City, what? Are we an old married couple who still need to keep the lights off?"

-------------------------------------

When Li Che returned to Yingtian Prefecture with the imperial decree given to him by his grandfather, he thought that he would face his grandfather's many schemes as soon as he got off the train. He had already imagined what kind of situation he might encounter on the train. This good grandson had studied his grandfather quite a bit in the past.

However, when he stepped off the special train carriage, he was surprised to find that no one came to the station to pick him up.

Of course, to be precise, it wasn't that no one was there to pick him up, but rather that no one of sufficient stature was at the station to meet him. It should be clarified here that our Crown Prince was not being arrogant or throwing a tantrum; he was simply dissatisfied because no prominent figure personally came to pick him up.

He couldn't be more free like this.

The main problem was that he had already figured out how his grandfather would treat him like a nobody on the train, but then he realized that the old man hadn't made a move.

It shouldn't be.

Given the old man's personality, shouldn't he be trying to put himself in a difficult position at this time, and then use the grandson to control the crown prince?

"What's going on?" Li Che decided to try to find out the information from the official who was waiting for him at the station.

"Your Highness may not know, but a major incident has occurred in the north."

"Something big has happened in the north?" Li Che's mind raced for a moment before he asked, "What happened to the King of Zhao?"

Before this, it seemed that his second uncle had been staying in the north, also busy with military preparations, especially in Silla, where he was practically the de facto emperor of the peninsula. At this moment, he wasn't sure if some unspeakable thoughts had suddenly surfaced in his mind. Upon hearing that something had happened in the north, the first thing he asked about was his second uncle's situation.

"Huh?" The official paused for a moment, then quickly replied, "It's not that King Zhao is in trouble, it's that something has happened to the Ursus Federation."

“Ursus…” Li Che exhaled a breath of stale air. He didn’t know whether he felt relieved or disappointed. His relationship with his second uncle was pretty good, so why did he feel so complicated? He couldn’t even figure it out himself. However, when he heard that something had happened in Ursus, the thought that “it can’t be anything serious” involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

Is it news that something happened in Ursus? It would be news if the Ursus Federation didn't have an accident. This country is practically a flammable and explosive substance, a complete mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, giving people the feeling that it would explode at the slightest spark.

After all, any entrepreneur, seeing the current political system of the Ursus Federation and the domestic political situation, would probably have the same thoughts and have a certain famous meme come to mind.

Ursus is the most abstract country in the world. (jpg)

It's really not surprising that this country occasionally acts erratically. Speaking of which, aren't they still at war with Polania? When I last watched the news, I saw that these two countries, which are so different in size, were fighting a terrible war... I really don't know how these Ursus people managed to fight like this. They were doing quite well in the first half of the Brusinov Offensive.

"A large-scale armed conflict occurred in Moskva last night. We lost contact with our embassy in Moskva for 12 hours, and communication was only restored an hour ago."

The official's words made Li Che's eyes widen like O'Neal's.

Armed conflict broke out in Moscow Fortress?

How did the conflict arise?

Did the Polanians acquire the teleportation technology from a novice mage and then teleport their troops directly to Moscow Fortress?

"Ursus is in turmoil?" This was the only possibility Li Che could think of. Could it be that the Red and White Song Festival in the north, which had been postponed for several years, was finally going to take place now? At this critical juncture?

"The unrest has now been largely quelled," the official said. "When I was ordered to come and welcome Your Highness, His Highness guessed that Your Highness would have many questions after understanding the situation. Therefore, I was specifically allowed to read the latest telegram sent back by the embassy before I set off."

"My dad?"

"His Highness the Crown Prince has already gone to the Wuying Hall after receiving the news."

No wonder the old man didn't roast himself; after the incident in the north, the black slave went back to work on his own.

“Let’s talk as we walk. Tell me everything you know about what happened in Ursus.”

On the way back, Li Che learned from the official about the information available to the Tang Dynasty. As expected, the Ursus Federation was indeed experiencing a conflict between the New School and some royalists.

Although this conflict has existed in the past, the recent war with Polania has not progressed smoothly, which should have contributed to the outbreak of this conflict. Some royalists mobilized their forces and launched a surprise attack on the leaders of the New School yesterday.

These royalists claimed that the new school of thought was ruining Ursus. They argued that during the previous world war, Ursus could not withstand the double attack from Letania and Ming, both of which were top-tier land powers in the world, one with elite troops and the other with a massive army.

But I can understand that I can't beat Letania Superman or Da Ming Superman, but how can you tolerate that you can't even beat Polania?

Ursus is a country that can tolerate the Tsar's cruelty and his madness, but it absolutely cannot tolerate his incompetence.

Although Ursus is no longer an empire, the head of the new school of thought, now the chairman of the Ursus Federation, is seen by many as "a new interpretation and explanation of the Tsar in the modern era."

Therefore, because more troops have been concentrated on the front lines and the Polanian forces that chose to launch a surprise attack have not yet been completely driven out of their territory, public support for the current New School government is rapidly declining.

Under these circumstances, the royalists saw an opportunity—a good chance to restore the Ursus Empire to its former glory.

"They orchestrated the assassination of Antonov, the chairman of the Supreme Council of the Ursus Federation? Don't tell me they succeeded."

“They did not succeed, at least not completely. Mr. Antonov is still alive, but he does appear to have been shot.”

"Then how can you be sure he's alive?"

"Because the new school of thought in Ursus has now taken control of the situation around Fort Moscow, the royalists' actions have failed, and Mr. Antonov has at least given one radio address, so Mr. Antonov may indeed be injured, but he is still alive, only..."

"what is this?"

"While the royalists were operating in the city of Moscow Fortress, they also sent men to the suburbs to rescue the Tsar and his family who were being held captive. However, those men sent to rescue the Tsar clashed with the New School troops responsible for guarding him."

"Therefore... to prevent the Tsar from falling into the hands of these royalists, the guards wouldn't keep the whole family in the basement..."

"The situation is still unclear. The royalists claim they rescued the Tsar, while the new school claims he died in the conflict. Both sides have their own version of events, but we don't have any more information to corroborate which side is telling the truth."

Chapter 322 What do you mean by "lost"?!

“Prime Minister, Mr. Leonard just came by this morning and he would like to meet with you.”

Just as Prime Minister Lloyd George returned to 10 Downing Street, his secretary came forward to inform him that Leonard had visited again that morning.

"Ignore that madman jumping around over there." Prime Minister Lloyd George shook his head. "Sending troops to Ursus now? I think he hopes that a bunch of new intellectuals will emerge in Great Britain too?"

The secretary smiled and said, "After all, Mr. Leonard is the founding father of the Ursus Federation."

Even the Prime Minister, who had maintained his composure for so many years, couldn't help but burst out laughing. After the Ursus Empire collapsed and withdrew from the war, establishing the Ursus Federation, the first non-monarchical country in Europe, Leonard was jokingly called "the Father of Ursus" by a political commentator in a newspaper at the time.

Moreover, the political commentator's reasoning was quite convincing to the public. The reason why the Ursus Empire could not survive the war was because you messed up and withheld a battleship that was originally going to be sold to the Ottomans, which caused the already wavering Ottomans to join the Allied Powers in a fit of rage.

Although the Ottoman Empire's siding with the Allied Powers was not enough to change the outcome of the war between the two camps, the blocked Bosphorus Strait clearly became a noose around the Ursus Empire's head. Aid supplies from countries such as the Victorian Empire and the Kingdom of Gaul could not be delivered to the Ursus Empire, ultimately leading to the fall of the Ursus Empire. If it were not for this, there would be no Ursus Federation as we know it today.

So it's all Leonard's fault. You, Leonard, are the de facto founding father of the Ursus Federation! Without you, there would be no Ursus Federation!

Having acquired such a reputation, the Ursus Federation became an absolute non-negotiable entity for Leonard. Leonard had to stand more clearly on the opposite side of the New School than anyone else, and he had to be more proactive than anyone else in strangling the Ursus Federation, because only in this way could he prolong his political life.

However, in Prime Minister Lloyd George's view, although Leonard had a lot of ideas, many of them were terrible, and he seemed to have no regard for whether the rank-and-file soldiers could survive to complete the mission.

While it's true that most of the high-ranking nobles in the Victorian Empire wouldn't care too much about the lives of ordinary soldiers, it depends on the situation. You might not care about the lives of one or two people, but you can't not care about the lives of hundreds or thousands, because these ordinary soldiers are one of the pillars supporting the nobles' positions.

Just like Leonard's current attempt to sell him the so-called suggestion of sending troops to Ursus, this completely disregards the soldiers of the Victorian Empire. Given the recent end of the modern world war and the public's reaction, if anyone dared to suggest that the Victorian Empire would be plunged into a new war at this time, that guy would be kicked out of 10 Downing Street by the citizens of London as quickly as possible.

As for why Leonard went crazy... to be honest, if it weren't for the fact that they had just experienced a world war, and that the Victorian Empire had indeed been severely weakened in the war, Lloyd George would have thought this was a good opportunity to take action.

Has there been any new news from Moskva Fortress?

Lloyd George has just entered the palace to meet with the King of the Victorian Empire and reported on the situation in Ursus. Compared to the Tang Dynasty, the Victorian Empire does indeed have more information at present.

After all, the fact that Polania dared to attack Ursus and its own disputed territory, and that the royalists within the Ursus Federation who remained loyal to the Tsar were able to be organized this time, was largely due to the efforts of the Victorian Empire.

Even Prime Minister Lloyd George never expected the situation to develop to this point. The Victorian Empire only provided some money and some leftover weapons and equipment from the war, but now the Ursus Federation feels like a piece of porcelain that is about to be completely shattered.

"One good news and one bad news?"

"At this critical juncture, you're playing this game with me? I'm not in the mood for jokes. Let's get to the good news first."

The secretary nodded: "First of all, the good news is that Nikolai is still alive. Although His Majesty the Tsar was shot twice in the chest, neither shot hit a vital organ like the heart. So Nikolai is indeed still alive, but his condition is very serious."

"Is this good news?"

"At least Nikolai is still alive, isn't he?"

“But he is clearly dying now,” said Prime Minister Lloyd George. “Although I am not a doctor, I have a doctor friend who, given Nikolai’s current condition, even in the best private hospital in the world, even if he were to undergo open-heart surgery immediately, he might not be able to be saved. So the focus now should be on the Crown Prince. They should find a way to take Crown Prince Alexei out of the country.”

Prime Minister Lloyd George is not prepared to intervene on a large scale in the current excellent matchmaking hall of Ursus, but that does not prevent him from seizing some opportunities in this once-in-a-lifetime chance.

Prime Minister Lloyd George certainly hadn't read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms about using the emperor to command the princes, but he was equally clear that it would have been best if the Tsar could have been successfully restored—although that possibility no longer existed, those guys must have had that thought in their hearts back then.

However, as Nicholas II and his family were leaving, during their journey to their residence, no one expected that the most crucial figure, Nicholas, would be shot. This is why the New School claimed Nicholas II was dead, while the Royalists insisted the Tsar was still alive. To some extent, both sides were telling the truth. From the perspective of the New School, Nicholas II was already a future dead man.

Meanwhile, the royalists were still hoping to use Nicholas II to win over the centrists and part of the army. He was the former "little father" of the Ursus people; even if he were dead, news of him would be temporarily suppressed, let alone now that he was still alive.

In this situation, the former Crown Prince Alexei becomes extremely important. With this ailing Crown Prince around, the Victorian Empire can use him as a bargaining chip to annoy the Ursus Federation at any time in the future.

"This is the second piece of bad news we just received... The royalists have lost Crown Prince Alexei and several princesses!"

Chapter 323 The Missing Princess and Prince

"What do you mean the crown prince and several princesses are missing?"

Prime Minister Lloyd George thought that after living so long, navigating the political arena for so long, and even experiencing things like world wars that he had never encountered before, there shouldn't be anything in this world that he hadn't seen.

Unexpectedly, the Ursus people brought him a pleasant surprise.

"They're gone... We don't know where the Crown Prince and the princesses are. The Empress took a bullet for the Tsar and died before he died, but after the chaos subsided, nobody knows where the Crown Prince and the princesses are."

"Who doesn't know where the Crown Prince and the princesses are?"

Lloyd George's voice rose three octaves; he had never felt his secretary was so unprofessional as he did today.

How could such important figures simply disappear into thin air? This must be a matter of great concern for both the New School and the Royalist faction.

The so-called close monitoring naturally means that if we can't get it, we have to destroy it. There should be an explanation for whether it lives or dies, right?

"Neither side knows where the Crown Prince and Princess are right now," the secretary said helplessly. "Because the situation was quite chaotic at the time, the turmoil in Moscow wasn't just between the New School and the Royalists. According to some of our sources, it seems that the Royalists themselves also experienced internal strife after suffering setbacks... So..."

"What a bunch of incompetent fools who are good for nothing but causing trouble!" Lloyd George shook his head. "What's the situation at Fort Moskva now?"

"The royalist movement has largely failed. Some of the royalist members who planned the restoration have been arrested, some have committed suicide, and others have been killed in the conflict. Most of the other royalist members who did not participate in the operation have also been temporarily detained..."

"So, the new school of thought has now basically taken control of the situation in Moskvaburg?"

"Although according to information from our embassy, ​​there are still some sporadic clashes in some districts, these should mainly be criminal acts committed under the guise of chaos. Overall, the new school has indeed taken control of the situation in Moskva, but many royalist members have fled Moscow, and they still have considerable power in some places."

“In that case, no news is the best news,” Lloyd George said. “In this situation, either the princesses and the crown prince are hiding in a commoner’s house in Fort Moscow, or they are with the royalists who fled Fort Moscow and are heading to a safe place. These royalists didn’t even take the bodies of the Tsar and Tsarina with them, and if the crown prince and the princesses meet with misfortune on the way, they certainly won’t take the bodies with them either.”

“But… within the entire territory of Ursus, I’m afraid there’s nowhere they can go, right?” the secretary said cautiously. “When those new school members and those reformers joined forces, they deliberately purged the royalists in the army. Those units that were close to the Tsar were either transferred to the frontier or simply disbanded. Only the navy… but the navy can’t go ashore either.”

"That's hard to say. At least in the last world war, the Ursus sailors performed much better than their Ursus army counterparts in combat." After muttering this, the Prime Minister shook his head. It was one thing for the Ursus sailors to be good at fighting, but now it was impossible to expect them to support the Crown Prince and the new school of thought currently in power in the Ursus Federation in a major civil war.

Putting aside the issue of the sailors and the attitude of the Ursus naval leadership, the Ursus Federation previously supported the navy in completing the construction of two Ismail ships and battlecruisers, and even sent a special envoy team to the Tang Dynasty to purchase military equipment. This was no secret to the Victoria Empire. It can be said that the Ursus Federation was definitely generous to the navy, providing them with ample food. The Ursus naval leadership couldn't possibly refuse to eat for the sake of political stance, could they?

Moreover, the fundamental reason why Ursus sailors are capable of fighting is that their average quality is much higher than that of the peasants in the army. In this day and age, the combat effectiveness of the army is largely linked to the level of education. However, precisely because of this, the Ursus Navy has absorbed most of the country's high-quality personnel. If the Ursus Navy really decides to support the Crown Prince and fight a civil war, then the sailors, after the expansion, will lose their original combat effectiveness.