This was not Arno’s first encounter with Pars; he had seen her from a distance before.

  Commoners might wonder: relying solely on birth order to determine the heir to the throne seemed too frivolous for a nation. What if a fool or a madman was born? Would that mean ruin for everyone? In reality, this was a misunderstanding of the royal family’s method of selecting heirs. Even a fool or a madman, educated by the empire’s top-tier system, could be trained to handle government affairs correctly.

  So-called elite education was, in essence, a cramming method.

  On a specific date in a certain year, such-and-such an incident occurred, with such-and-such a handling method, leading to such-and-such consequences. What was the correct solution, and what consequences would it bring?

  Real-life cases were drilled into the crown heir’s mind through cramming and constant recitation until they were engraved deep in their memory like inescapable nightmares, retrievable at any time. Even a fool, faced with the same situation, would subconsciously make sufficiently correct judgments. As for other matters, the Imperial Chancellor would handle those trivialities that did not affect the nation’s destiny.

  Conditioned reflex was the way of elite education in the royal family.

  Pars had been in such an educational environment since birth, year after year reciting and studying. Whether she understood or accepted it was irrelevant; first, she had to memorize how to solve these past problems. As for personality and governance philosophy, those were things that could only emerge after she gained unanimous recognition.

  This period might be very long, or it might be extremely short.

  When facing this familiar stranger again, Arno acted very calmly, as if he did not attach much importance to Pars’ status or the significance she represented.

  Golden Nobles were essentially equal; no one was nobler or more lowly than another.

  Now that Pars had become the leader of the royal family, she was on equal footing with Arno.

  "I hear you’ve done well in Pramisburg," nearly everyone who met Arno used this as an opening remark. Besides the fact that Arno had indeed done well, it was also a conversational technique. Everyone liked to hear praise, to have their most proud achievements admired. Even the gods could not do without the hymns of choirs, let alone mere mortals.

  Arno maintained a polite smile, his arm tucked at his waist as he bowed slightly. "You praise me too highly. I merely did what I should."

  Pars was not the type of beauty who struck one at first glance; she was merely above-average in looks, but she had an aura that no other woman possessed. The added prestige from her status raised her appearance from seventy points to eighty-five. Beneath her elongated eyebrows were a pair of narrow eyes that naturally squinted into slits when she smiled. Though not large, these eyes were extremely expressive. She looked at Arno and nodded slightly. "I’m merely speaking the truth. The franchise system has interested Father, myself, and others greatly. I wish to ask: would it be appropriate for the royal family to control this franchise system?"

  Unlike other politicians—or perhaps intentionally—Pars did not beat around the bush, getting straight to the point at the dinner table.

  Ever since Arno introduced the franchise system, the old emperor and the chancellor had been closely monitoring it. The imperial treasury’s funds primarily came from taxes across the empire, excluding those from enfeoffed territories. In other words, the royal family, as the empire’s largest noble family, was not wealthier than other nobles. They had to not only pay salaries to all royal members but also spend heavily on the empire’s policies and infrastructure.

  Funding shortages had always been a challenge for the royal family; otherwise, there would not have been civil wars broken out due to tax resistance.

  He paused for a moment and said, "The royal family could take the lead, but you should know that the profits involved affect all aspects of interest. If you don’t want to wage war with all noble groups, I suggest you slow down and start from the basics."

  Pars put down her cutlery; she had clearly lost interest in food. She asked again, "Please elaborate. To be honest, I just ascended the throne and did not know the treasury was in such a tight spot before. The entire empire is like a messy desk; it’s hard for me to clean up alone, and I need everyone’s help." Her eyes shimmered. "Especially you, Baron Arno. Your measures have greatly alleviated your finances. How should I face this messy situation in my hands?"

  Successive emperors had not found good solutions to financial problems. Excessive taxation could only trigger conflicts between multiple classes, eventually leading to war. The royal family also had no good methods for opening new revenue streams. Though there were royal merchants, their effectiveness was limited. From the perspective of a single family, the profits from royal merchants were enough for the royal family to live well, but from a national perspective, that money was far from sufficient.

  Commercial competition was also fierce. As centralization continued to advance, major noble groups had developed a sense of crisis. Outside the Capital, struggles between imperial power and nobles were almost everywhere. Squeezing the living space of royal merchants was just a trivial tactic; they also intensified preferential policies for commoners under their rule to attract more immigrants, opened various trade routes, and competed with the royal family on prices.

  The first thing Pars had to solve after taking office was money. If she wanted to secure the throne, she first needed tangible benefits to balance the conflicts arising from interest disputes. Otherwise, she would only be like a puppet, lacking the capital to carry out her political ambitions.

  Arno hesitated, then decided to offer some practical advice. As the saying went, the interests of Golden Nobles were aligned, at least before greater conflicts emerged. Of course, this did not prevent him from digging a small pit for the royal family.

  "You could designate certain goods as exclusive to the royal family, such as certain luxury items, special gemstones, or other products. These items could only be used by the royal family, and nobles and wealthy merchants could only use them in limited quantities with royal permission. Through this method, the royal family would grasp the monopoly power of certain commodities. You should understand that the greatest profits always come from monopolies. Once these commodities are monopolized, whether exporting them to other countries or authorizing exclusive sales within the empire, the treasury could raise a large amount of funds."

  This pit was dug with great precision. If scored on a scale of ten, Arno gave himself a perfect ten for his subtle pit-digging technique. On the surface, the plan was perfect, with full justifications and excuses. To reflect the royal family’s dignity and uniqueness, it was reasonable for certain items to be exclusive to them. Moreover, the steps were not too drastic, avoiding immediate involvement of the entire empire’s noble interests while leaving room for further manipulation. But if one thought differently, how would nobles and merchants relying on these items for profit react to suddenly losing their largest income?

  First, they would hate the royal family’s policies, for it was the royal family seizing their profits. Second, they would consider how to use this new policy to their advantage and profit from it.

  Cutting off someone’s livelihood is like killing their parents. As long as Pars decided to adopt Arno’s idea, the royal family would be destined to conflict with a small group of people. These conflicts would not manifest in daily life, like a calm lake without waves. But once they broke out, even thunder and lightning could not describe their intensity.

  Pars seriously pondered Arno’s suggestion. This was fundamentally no different from the franchise system, but the excuse was better, and it could better demonstrate the royal family’s majesty and nobility across all classes. She even extended this idea to gather a group of forces loyal to the royal family through monopoly rights. These forces would be closely united around the group led by Empress Pars due to interests, forming a community of shared interests and a new noble group to counter other noble groups.

  As for the resulting disputes and conflicts, they did not concern her. She only needed to select commodities that would not cause too much conflict. Moreover, if Arno, a man with little power, could make monopoly operations work in Pramisburg, why should she, an imperial emperor, need to scruple so many things? Disobedient? Just fight! The Imperial Marshal’s iron fist could break through anything; if they had the guts, let them start a war!

  It had to be said that Empress Pars, in both mindset and thought, was more akin to a man, even more outstanding than some men. She instantly weighed the pros and cons and her opinion of Arno continued to improve.

  She nodded with restraint. "Your suggestion is very to the point and has practical operational possibilities. I, on my behalf, thank you for your support of the royal family."

  "You flatter me. This is what I should do as a member of the empire."

  Pars changed the topic to privateering. "Baron Arno, I’ve also looked into the matter of plunder licenses. How do you restrict these authorized armed forces from expanding without limit and affecting your rule? Once these forces surpass your power, they might no longer obey your command but instead coerce you to serve them."

  Arno smiled. Empress Pars was bold and intelligent enough. She had discovered the benefits of privateering but was also worried about it, which was normal. The information and generational gap meant people in this world did not have as broad a vision as Arno, making many things hard to comprehend.

  Take privateering: in reality, what constrained these plundering teams was not force but a form of righteousness and a different kind of interest. Yes, once these armed forces grew strong, they might disregard Arno, but conversely, if Arno, the issuer of plunder licenses, denied their just cause and their contributions to Pramisburg and the empire, then in the final analysis, they would be no more than a group of bandits and robbers.

  When recognized, they held the moral high ground, and people would cooperate with them. When they lost that righteousness, people would only deny them along with mainstream values.

  Was the empire so powerful that it should fear a group of bandits with known roots?

  Don’t be ridiculous. A provincial governor would be enough to suppress these people, let alone an empire.

  Furthermore, armed forces that plundered supplies always needed to convert them into cash. If they could not do so, what was the point of holding onto things that could not be eaten, drunk, or consumed? What was the difference between unusable supplies and stones?

  Those who always held the initiative were those who issued such powers—Arno.

  As long as he held the initiative, armed forces were nothing more than playthings in his hands.