Chapter 342 County Council
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For the nobles, being summoned by His Majesty the King is of course a pleasant thing, but at this time, for the three of them, His Majesty the King must have other plans.
Come to London in a mood full of ups and downs. This is, the three of them met His Majesty the King with fear.
Who knows, His Majesty the King met with the three of them in a pleasant manner, and from time to time learned about interesting things about their place, and by the way, asked them to express their views on the New Deal.
Seeing that His Majesty the King didn't mean to blame himself and the others, Baron Chester and the other three immediately felt relieved, relieved their nervousness, and began to fluently talk about interesting things about the county where the three of them lived.
Edward listened with a smile on his face, and expressed his opinions from time to time. Suddenly, the entire reception room was filled with a pleasant atmosphere.
Finally, seeing that the atmosphere finally became harmonious, Edward talked about the petition letter.
"For your petition letter, I think—"
As soon as His Majesty the King talked about the words of petition letter, the smiles of the three barons who were still smiling on their faces suddenly froze.
Edward paused when he said this, his blue eyes looked at the three people who were standing still, and a smile slowly emerged from the corner of his mouth.
The three barons immediately raised their hearts, their hearts were beating thumpingly, and they stared blankly at the king's lips, fearing that the next sentence would be an abyss.
"I think, in fact, there is still some truth to speak of, which has benefited me a lot!"
Edward said with emotion with a full expression on his face.
"Although your names are not signed on it, I still see your loyalty to the royal family!"
The three people who were going to plead guilty suddenly heard such a turning point. Not only did the three of them have no faults, but they had meritorious deeds. This made the three of them full of puzzlement.
Seeing this, Edward did not pay attention to their expressions, but stood up and said happily.
"I can still see your loyalty to the royal family. I am very happy about this. If other nobles can be like you, wholeheartedly thinking about the royal family, then the whole of Scotland has already surrendered!"
Speaking of this, the three barons couldn't bear to let His Majesty the King perform alone, and began to get involved.
"It's all thanks to His Majesty's blessing that Scotland was annexed. It can be seen that the Almighty God has always been attached to the royal family!"
Baron Burnley said flatteringly.
"Having said that, it is impossible to govern the country smoothly, and you will always encounter various difficulties. I have been in London with the ministers of the Privy Council, and there are inevitably omissions in policies.
And at this time, you need the help of nobles who have been in the place all year round! "
Edward looked at the flattering expressions on the faces of the three, and said earnestly.
"Of course, it is our nobles' duty to be loyal to the royal family. We will definitely offer advice and suggestions on this!"
"Yes!" "It must be!"
The three barons said with certainty. Be as sincere as possible.
"I don't doubt your loyalty, but if you use a letter of love every time, it would be too grand!"
Speaking of the letter of love again, although the king was smiling, the three barons immediately shrank, their hearts rose again, and a trace of embarrassment appeared on their faces.
"Of course, I also know that everyone wants to serve the royal family. It is inevitable that you will be impulsive. I can understand!"
Hearing this, the three barons breathed a sigh of relief again, but their moods were still tense. They were made miserable by His Majesty's sudden words, so it's better to be careful.
Edward stood for a while, then sat down again.
"The House of Lords does not convene frequently, and it is difficult for you to convey your opinions to my ears. I am still somewhat at fault for this!"
"Nothing!" "Your Majesty is not wrong!" "It's all our fault!"
For the three of them, Edward shook his head lightly and said excitedly:
"Since the House of Lords still lacks something, I want to make up for it!"
Speaking of this, our Majesty the King stood up again, and the three barons also stood up, as if listening.
"Laura, write it down and send it to the Privy Council and Parliament later. This is my proposal!"
Edward called out, and after Laura came in, he ordered.
"From now on, each county will set up a council with 23 members. Members will be appointed by local gentlemen and nobles. The candidates will be jointly selected by the House of Lords and the Privy Council, and then appointed by the king!"
"The county council's duty is to supervise local finances and corruption of local officials. It has the ability to impeach any officials to the Privy Council and the king, and it can also directly write to the Privy Council!"
"However, we must remember that the county council does not have any power to recall or even interfere with local judicial and administrative rights, but only has the right to supervise officials!"
Speaking of the last, Edward emphasized the word supervision, which is very meaningful.
"Of course, the three barons are the new county councilors of each county, and there is no need to submit candidates!"
"It's my honor!" Seeing this, the three of them said in unison, with surprise on their faces and radiant eyes.
Seeing this, Edward just smiled slightly.
From the moment we met, it was all just acting.
Even if it is to establish a county council, he had already discussed it with Faris, the speaker of the Privy Council, earlier, and even the House of Lords had already read it for the first time, and only waited for the House of Commons to read it for the second time.
The establishment of the County Council had long been mentioned in Edward's mind, but this time it was established in advance under this pretext.
After the centralization of power, although the royal family's control over the whole of England has been greatly enhanced, at the same time, the bureaucratic team of the whole of England has grown rapidly like a balloon.
According to statistics, in the thirty-nine counties of England, the total number of employees has reached 10,000, from local officials to senior county officials.
What kind of concept is this? This is equivalent to one official among the three hundred Englishmen.
Almost half of England's tax revenue is spent on this group of people.
With such a huge team, good and bad are naturally mixed, and all kinds of corrupt officials emerge in endlessly.
In the past few years, if it is the busiest institution, it is nothing more than the Palace Intelligence Service, which has almost become England's Anti-Corruption Bureau.
In the past few years, there have been fewer and fewer refugees and local riots. Among the immigrants exiled to Scotland, the proportion of corrupt officials and their families is increasing day by day.
In view of this, Edward finally decided that it is still necessary to set up the necessary supervisory agencies, and it must not consume salaries, so that the government agencies will no longer be bloated.
And this is, the county council suddenly appeared in Edward's mind.
(end of this chapter)