Chapter 16 Chapter One

The Four Kingdoms... In the early days of the Foundation Era, the Star Province of Anacreon broke away from the First Empire, forming four independent kingdoms with a very short duration.Among them, the kingdom with the largest territory and the strongest power is the kingdom of Anacreon, whose territory is... Undoubtedly the most interesting situation in the history of the Four Kingdoms was the bizarre social formation imposed on it during the reign of Sepher Harding... —— "Encyclopedia of the Galaxy" The delegation is coming! Harding had known for a long time that they would come, but this did not help; on the contrary, he found the waiting very annoying.

John Lee advocated extreme measures, saying to Harding: "I don't think we should waste any more time, Harding, and there's no way they can do anything—at least within the law—before the next election. So We still have a year to go and ignore them now, don't see them at all." Harding pouted and said, "You've known me for forty years, John, and you've never learned the art of roundabout strategy." "That would never be my strategy," John grumbled. "Well, I know, I think that's why I trust you so much." Harding paused here, reached for a cigar, and continued: "John, since we staged a coup and deposed the It's been a long time since the scholars who compiled the encyclopedia. Time flies, I'm getting old--sixty-two years old, can you imagine how quickly these thirty years have passed? "

John snorted and said, "I don't feel old, and I'm sixty-six." "Really? I don't have such a high fighting spirit like you." Harding smoked a cigar lazily - he hadn't dreamed of smoking a cigar from the Vega galaxy for a long time, the gold that the terminal star maintains trade with all parts of the Galactic Empire Time has become a dusty memory, and even the Galactic Empire itself is entering history.Who is the current emperor of the empire?Is there a new emperor, thought Harding?Even, does the empire continue to exist?God!Thirty years have passed since this corner of the galaxy was cut off from the rest of the world, and the entire world of Terminus is nothing but itself and the surrounding Four Kingdoms.

The failure of the empire is too dramatic!These so-called "kingdoms" now were just counties in the same star province.There is also a star area above the star province, and the star area is only a part of the quadrant, and the collection of each quadrant is the all-encompassing galaxy empire.Now that the ruling power of the Empire can no longer reach the outermost reaches of the Milky Way, these scattered and sparse planets form kingdoms-and also produce ridiculous mini-princes and nobles, and many meaningless small wars have occurred, causing people to die in ruins. Hard and miserable life.

Civilization has declined, nuclear power has been forgotten, and science has degenerated into myth—until the Foundation joins the stage.This base is the "base" established by Hari Seldon on Terminal Star for that long-term goal. John's voice interrupted Harding's contemplation. He stood at the window and said, "Here they come, driving the latest sports cars, these young brats." He took two or three hesitant steps towards the door. , and then looked back at Harding. Harding smiled and waved him back: "I ordered them to come here." "Here! Why? Isn't that flattering them too much?"

"Why do they have to formally meet the mayor with the official ceremony? I'm old and don't like the red tape. Besides, when dealing with young people, it's still good to give them a lot of praise-especially like this. A free opportunity." Harding winked at John, and said, "John, sit down and give me some moral support. I really need it when I'm dealing with this young man, Cermack." "That guy named Cermack is very dangerous," John said in a heavy tone. "He has a group of followers under him. Don't underestimate him, Harding." "When did I underestimate anyone?"

"Then arrest him, and the reasons and charges will be found later." Harding ignored John's last word of advice, saying only, "Here they come, John." At this time, the signal of knocking on the door came, and Harding immediately stepped on the pedal under the desk, and the door of the office slid open to one side. There were a total of four people in the delegation, and they came in one after another.Harding waved cordially and motioned for them to sit in the armchairs arranged in a semicircle in front of the table.The four representatives sat down after bowing, waiting for the mayor to speak first.

Harding first opened the silver lid of the cigar box—this cigar box originally belonged to Jude Farah, the encyclopedia editor and one of the council members. There are exquisite carvings on it, but now it is filled with local products.The four representatives took the cigars one by one solemnly, and then lit the fire in the most elegant and polite manner. Saifu Cermak is sitting second from the right. He is the youngest of this group of young people, and he seems to be the most interesting one.He has a golden mustache that is neatly trimmed, and his deep-set eyes have no obvious color.Harding ignored the other three people almost immediately. Judging from their expressions, one could tell that they were just followers.Harding focused his attention on Cermack, a new city councilor who had more than once turned the no-nonsense council upside down.

Harding began to address Cirmak: "Mr. Congressman, I've been wanting to meet you since your brilliant speech last month. Your attack on the foreign policy of the government has been quite brilliant." Cermak looked very dissatisfied, and he replied, "It's an honor to have your attention. Regardless of whether the attack I made is incisive or not, it is quite correct." "Perhaps so! Of course, that's just your personal opinion. You're too young." Cermak replied coldly: "If youth is a shortcoming, then most people will inevitably experience this shortcoming for a while in their lives. And when you are two years younger than me now, you have already become the mayor."

Harding laughed secretly in his heart, this young man is indeed a powerful guy.He said to Cermak again: "I think the purpose of your meeting with me is probably to talk about the external issues that you desperately emphasized in the city hall. Do you want to speak on behalf of the other three colleagues? Or should I listen to you all?" Send out books one by one?" The four young people looked at each other quickly, and with a slight movement of their eyelids, they had reached a tacit understanding. Then Cirmak said in a serious tone: "I speak for the people of Terminus—the so-called parliament today does not really represent the people, it is just a rubber stamp of the government."

"I see, okay, let's continue." "The thing is, Mr. Mayor, we are not satisfied..." "By 'we' you mean 'the people,' don't you?" Cermack felt that there was a trap in Harding's words, so he stared at the other party with hostility, and then replied calmly: "I believe my opinion is the opinion of the majority of voters in Terminus. Are you satisfied with this?" "This kind of statement needs real evidence, but let's go on first, you say you are not satisfied?" "Yes, in the face of inevitable foreign attacks, Terminus has remained undefended for thirty years. We are just dissatisfied with this policy." "I get it, so what? Go on, go on—" "Thank you for continuing to listen to me - therefore, we have decided to form a new political party. This political party is not to serve the mysterious "self-evident destiny" of the future empire, but to meet the immediate needs of Terminus. We will send you Get out of City Hall with your appeasement folks, and it will be over quickly." "Unless? Everything comes with an 'unless', you know." "It makes no difference in this matter - 'unless' you resign immediately. I'm not here to ask you to change your policy because I don't trust you that much and your guarantees are worthless to me, we have to accept yours resign unconditionally." "I understand," Harding raised his legs and swayed the chair's feet back and forth: "This is your ultimatum. Thank you for letting me know, but, you know? I decided to ignore it. " "Don't take it as a warning, Mr. Mayor, this is a declaration of our principles and actions. The new political party has been formed and will start its official activities tomorrow. We have no room for compromise or interest. Frankly speaking, due to our empathy Recognizing your contribution to the city government, I am proposing this simple solution to you. I don't believe you will accept it, but if I do, I can have a clear conscience. After the next election, we have formed a strong The pressure will force you to resign." Cermak stood up after finishing speaking, and motioned for the other three to act together. Harding immediately raised his hand and said, "Wait a minute, sit down!" Sir Mike sat down again according to his words, but his movements seemed a little too hasty.Harding couldn't help laughing secretly - although he said so resolutely, he was still waiting for the terms of compromise. So Harding said: "I want to ask, how do you want our foreign policy to change? Do you want us to attack the kingdoms? Are you going to attack the four kingdoms at the same time?" "We didn't mean that, Mr. Mayor. We just advocated stopping the appeasement policy immediately. It's as simple as that. During your time in power, you have been carrying out the policy of scientific assistance to the kingdoms. You provide them with nuclear energy and assist them in rebuilding in the domain. power plants, and set up medical clinics, chemical laboratories, factories, etc. for them.” "Yes, what do you object to?" "You did it to prevent them from attacking us. You've been playing the role of the kingpin in this massive blackmail scheme, only knowing to keep bribing them. You acquiesced to let Terminus be sucked dry by them , as a result, let those savages now take whatever they want from us." "How do you say that?" "Because you give them energy and give them weapons, which is actually tantamount to assisting them in repairing the Starfleet. Therefore, they are much stronger than thirty years ago, and their appetites are getting bigger and bigger. It seems that in order to satisfy all Demanding, it's bound to end up annexing Terminus with new weapons. That's how blackmail operations usually end up, right?" "And what is your remedy?" "Stop bribing immediately, stop now while it's still too late. Use your energy to strengthen the power of the terminal star, and then take the initiative to strike first!" Harding looked at the young man's short golden mustache with almost strange eyes.Cermak was rather conceited, or he wouldn't have said that, Harding thought.And the propositions he puts forward obviously reflect the thinking of quite a few people—must be quite a lot. Harding's thoughts were slightly confused, but he still pretended to be nonchalant, and deliberately asked in a nonchalant tone: "Have you finished?" "It's over for now." "Well, do you see that phrase framed on the wall behind me? Would you please read it?" So Cermack read with his mouth curled up, "It says on it: 'Force is the last resort of the powerless'. Mr. Mayor, this is the creed of the elderly." "I practiced this creed when I was young, Mr. Congressman - and it was very successful. You were busy crawling out of your mother's womb, but you should have read about this history in school." Harding stared at Cermak, and continued in a calm tone: "When Hari Seldon established a base here, the ostensible purpose was to compile the giant book of the Encyclopedia of the Galaxy. We have worked hard for this shadow goal for fifty years. , and then discovered his true purpose, but it was too late. When we lost contact with the core area of ​​​​the empire, we became a world composed of a single city of scientists, without any industry at all. Around us are emerging The barbaric kingdoms in the world are all full of hostility towards us. We are a small nuclear island in the wild ocean, and of course we have become the most coveted target of our neighbors. "Among the four kingdoms, Anacreon has always been the most powerful. Back then they requested to establish a military base on Terminus, and it was indeed realized later. The encyclopedia editors who ruled Terminus at that time fully understood That's just the first step in their takeover of the entire planet. That's when I...well... officially took over the government. If you were me then, what would you do?" Shrugging, Cermak said, "That's a theoretical question, of course I know how you do it." "But let me tell you again, maybe you don't understand the crux of the matter. At that time, no one could help but think of the way to gather all the strength to fight the enemy to the death. This is the simplest way, and it is also the most satisfying way. The best way for self-esteem - but, it must be the most stupid. If it were you, you would probably do it, as you just called 'pre-strike'. But my approach is to visit the other three kingdoms in turn , pointing out to them that if they stood by and let the secrets of nuclear power fall into the hands of Anacreon, it would undoubtedly be slitting their own throats. Then I gently suggested to them an obvious way to go. The result was in A month after Anacreon's army landed on Terminus, their king received a joint ultimatum from the other three kingdoms. Within seven days, the Anakrians were all evacuated from Terminus. "Please tell me, why does this require the use of force?" Looking thoughtfully at the end of the cigar, the young MP replied, before throwing it into the cremation chute, "I don't think the two things can be compared - diabetes can be cured with insulin, no surgery at all, but appendicitis is Surgery is definitely needed, and no one can change it. When all other methods fail, the last remaining path is what you call—'the last resort'? In fact, it is all because of your mistakes that the that drove us down this road." "Me? Oh, are you referring to my palliative policy again? You still don't seem to understand our situation and basic needs at the time. When the Anakrians left, our problems didn't end, they just started .Since then, the Four Kingdoms have become more hostile to us than before, because each kingdom wants to seize nuclear power, but dare not act rashly against us because of fear of the other three kingdoms.We are balanced on the tip of the knife, the slightest Deviations—such as one kingdom becoming too strong, or two kingdoms allied—then we're screwed, you know what I mean?" "Of course, then you should be fully prepared to fight." "On the contrary, all efforts should then be made to prevent the start of war. I pitted them against each other and assisted them separately, providing them with science, trade, education, orthodox medicine, etc. I made them feel that making Terminus a prosperous world , was more beneficial to them than a spoil of war, and this policy has remained unscathed for thirty years." "Yes, however, you are forced to package those scientific aids in the most nonsensical form, treating them as a mixture of religion and nonsense. You have fostered a priestly class and invented cumbersome and meaningless rituals." Harding frowned and said, "So what? I don't see how it has anything to do with the question. I did it in the first place because those savages saw our science as magic and witchcraft, so it was done in a religious form." It is the easiest way for them to accept. The priest class is formed naturally, if we say that we have made efforts, we can only say that we made the best use of the situation, and this is really a trivial matter." "But with those priests running the power plant, that's no small thing." "That's right, but it's still up to us to train. Their knowledge of all kinds of machines is all apprenticeship. They know it but don't know why, and they also believe in the religious cloak wrapped around the machine." "What if someone sees through the cloak of religion? What if someone removes the veil of experience and develops a theory by himself? Then how do you stop him from learning real technology and then selling it to the highest bidder? At that time, What are we worth to the kingdoms?" "Probably not so, Cermak, you are too superficial. Every year, the Four Kingdoms select the best people to come to Terminal Star to receive priest education, and those with the best grades will stay here to continue their studies. If you think those The priests who have returned from their studies—not only do they have no scientific foundation at all, what is worse, what they have learned is deliberately distorted knowledge, and they can actually penetrate the theories of nuclear energy engineering, electronics, and hyperwarp. If so, Then your idea of ​​science is too romantic and stupid. It takes a lifetime of training and a good brain to get there." While Harding was babbling, John Lee once stood up suddenly and walked out, only to return now.As soon as Harding finished speaking, John leaned into the boss's ear, whispered a word, and handed Harding a lead tube.Then John gave the delegation another hard look before sitting back in his seat. Harding turned the cylinder back and forth with his hands, squinted his eyes and looked at the members of the delegation, and then twisted suddenly to open the cylinder.Except for Harding, Cermak was the only one who held back his curiosity and didn't glance at the rolling scroll. "At the end of the day, folks," Harding said, "the government thinks it knows what it's doing." As he spoke and read, the scroll was filled with many lines of complex and meaningless symbols, but only the three words written in pencil in one corner conveyed the real message.Harding only glanced at it before throwing the scroll into the incinerator. "I think the meeting is over," Harding said. "Nice to meet you all, thank you for coming." He shook hands with each of the four perfunctorily, and watched them file out. Harding could hardly help laughing, but it wasn't until Cirmak and his three young companions had walked away that he gave a few uninhibited giggles and smiled pleasantly at John. "Did you like that bragging contest just now, John?" John snorted unhappily and replied, "I don't think he's bragging, you'll have to be careful with him. He'll probably win the next election, as he claims to be." "Well, very likely, very likely—if nothing happens before then." "Harding, be careful not to be self-defeating. I said Cermack has a following, and if he doesn't wait until the next election to act, what are you going to do? You and I have used force to achieve our goals, although you have always spoken against force. " Harding raised one eyebrow and said, "You seem very pessimistic today, John, and very conflicted, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned force. We had that little coup that didn't kill anyone, don't you remember?" Is it? That was a decisive measure taken at the right time. The process was peaceful, painless, and almost effortless. As for what Cermak objected to, it was completely different from ours. Neither you nor I are scientists who compile encyclopedias, We've always been safe. Old comrades, send your men down to keep an eye on them, but don't let them know they're being watched—keep your eyes bright, understand?" John smiled wryly and said, "Harding, if I have to wait for your order to do everything, that would be too bad, right? Cermak and his men have been under surveillance for a month." Mayor Harding giggled again. "You strike first? Very good. Oh, yes," he added softly, "Ambassador Verisov is coming back to Terminus, and I hope he's only temporarily stay." John was silent for a while, seemed a little worried, and then asked: "Is this the message I received just now? It has exploded?" "I don't know, I didn't know anything until I met Vrysov. But maybe it really broke out. Anyway, those things have to happen before the election—why do you look so ugly?" "Because I don't know how things will turn out. You are too deep, Harding, to hide everything in the bottom of your heart." "Even you say that?" Harding murmured, and then raised his voice: "Does this mean that you also want to join Cermak's new party?" John had to force a smile: "Okay, you win, how about we go to lunch?"