Chapter 891: Chapter 382: How Can Stilan Change If the Voices Aren’t Loud Enough! Wu Chang eliminated the source of the great stench, temporarily relieving Grimland’s major crisis, and secured Olivia’s promise to support Randy in the Prime Minister election.
Admittedly, he felt a bit embarrassed; he and Olivia made an agreement behind the scenes, yet this proposal hadn’t even been mentioned to Randy himself.
So currently, Wu Chang and Raventon were traveling by carriage to the residence of Randy, the Minister of Internal Affairs, with Raventon once again acting as the coachman.
Raventon, driving the carriage, muttered quietly:
"I just knew it, those old landed aristocrats have grown accustomed to getting something for nothing. They are like mosquitoes, sucking the blood and life of the strong to nourish themselves."
Not until the proposal of the "Industrial Supervision Law" and the "Environmental Protection Law" did people realize the long-term schemes of the landed aristocracy, and understood why they were so cooperative when opposing the Corn Laws.
Although old aristocrats are conservative and dislike change, they are not foolish.
Grimland, as the center of world industry, produces countless industrial products every day, shipped to various parts of the world through a continuous stream of ships at its docks.
The wealth generated by industry and trade is astronomical, already far exceeding the profits they gained through the Corn Laws.
In public, they may disdain the new aristocrats, referring to them as "upstarts" or "oil-stained workshop owners."
Yet watching the rapid accumulation of wealth by the new aristocrats, they secretly gnash their teeth in envy.
They are well aware that the era belonging to landowners and agriculture has passed, and the future unquestionably belongs to industry and trade.
They are unwilling and unable to sit idly by and do nothing.
So from very early on, their adamant support for the Corn Laws and rejection of industry were mere facades.
Their real plot was the industrial regulatory power mentioned at this moment.
As Raventon said, the old aristocrats have grown accustomed to being parasites; they dislike innovation because it is fraught with risk, and they dislike labor and industry because it lacks elegance.
Before the world entered industrialization, they were great landowners who never tilled the land themselves, yet could extract vast wealth from the farmers who did.
After industrialization, factories became their new "lands" in their eyes.
As long as they gained control over industrial regulation and definition, the life and death of the industry would be in their hands.
With the power of life and death, how could they not extract enough benefits?
Then they could restore their past glory, not needing to personally participate in industrialization, but still drawing wealth directly through their power.
Moreover, if successful this time, they would firmly keep the new aristocrats underfoot, preventing them from ever rising.
This is the old aristocrats’ composure.
Raventon, through his network, had already caught wind that the Conservative Party was making dual preparations.
Whether the Industrial Supervision Law passes or not, it has reached this point where Glad, the acting Prime Minister, finds it exceedingly difficult to be confirmed.
The old aristocrats within the Conservative Party who still have energy are ready to take a gamble, nominating the Chief Justice as the next Prime Minister.
The Chief Justice is not only a cabinet member but also serves as the Speaker of the Upper House, an important post that combines executive, legislative, and judicial powers.
For a long time, it is only by relying on the Chief Justice’s power that the Upper House can barely maintain its dignity and not be completely sidelined by the Lower House.
From a party perspective, the Chief Justice is the leader of the old aristocrats.
As long as the Chief Justice becomes Prime Minister, good days await the Conservative Faction and the old aristocrats.
In a strict sense, members of the Secret Magic Knight Order were once landed aristocrats.
But Raventon holds little regard for the landed aristocracy and the Conservative Faction, often speaking with sarcasm.
Wu Chang pondered over the sequence of actions by the landed aristocracy and asked:
"If the landed aristocrats’ plan succeeds, it seems like they are the beneficiaries behind the scenes of every event that has transpired along the way."
First was the death of Prime Minister Ron, who had significant prestige within the Conservative Faction but was viewed as a traitor to the land.
If Prime Minister Ron were still alive, the Conservative Faction and the old aristocrats of the Upper House wouldn’t unite as one, and their current push for industrial regulatory power could not have materialized.
After all, Prime Minister Ron was a staunch industrialist who would never allow such restrictions on industrial development to happen.
Then there were the Pine Tree Coal Mine explosion and the Sloan Textile Factory incident, which both successfully stirred up the workers’ resistance emotions, inciting a massive strike.
If it weren’t for the successful strike, it would have been difficult for the Conservative Party to contend with the rising new aristocrats.
Now that the Corn Laws have been abolished, the conflict between the landed aristocrats and the workers has dissolved, and they are displaying opposition to factory owners, seemingly advocating for workers’ benefits to draw workers to their side.
Looking back, even the great strike and the passage of the anti-Corn Laws ended up benefiting the Conservative Party.
Not to mention the ensuing great stench and the Steam Council’s continuous industrial turmoil, endlessly providing negative cases for industrial regulation.
When investigating a murder case, both police and detectives will examine the beneficiaries of the crime.
Since the start of the Steam Phantom Dungeon, the Conservative Party has been winning, overwhelmingly so, and previously dismissed possibilities now resurface.
Wu Chang said, "Previously, you mentioned that the Conservative Faction was powerless to stop the anti-Corn Laws, so the Conservative Party wouldn’t have assassinated Prime Minister Ron just for that."
"But now it seems their motives may have been more substantial than we imagined."