Time is a wonderful thing; sometimes, when you hope it passes quickly, it always seems to drag on.
But sometimes, when you wish it would slow down a little, it slips away almost unnoticed.
For Perfikot, the past week seemed busy, although it went by quickly, as he was constantly busy with various matters. At least the week's time was not wasted.
He finalized the research project developed in cooperation with Langton University and prepared a royal banquet with Eldest Princess Annie to raise funds for the "Arctic Expedition." It can be said that Perfikot made very efficient use of his time over the past week.
However, for Duke Grosvenor, the past week was a disaster.
He spent a great deal of time arguing and negotiating with members of the Noble Council, engaging in numerous formal and informal discussions without reaching any useful consensus or accomplishing anything significant.
Those nobles indeed believed that a catastrophic disaster would occur in the future, but they felt it wouldn't affect them, or even if it did, they would only suffer certain property losses, not any disastrous consequences.
After all, they had been noble families for hundreds of years, serving as the "foundation stone" that supported the Victor Empire. They should not and could not suffer losses due to a natural disaster; even if they did, they would receive enough compensation from the Empire to mitigate their losses.
Not all nobles were so shortsighted, but it must be said that indeed some nobles could only see their immediate interests, forgetting the responsibilities they should fulfill as nobles.
Some even believed that the Empire's prosperity was due to them, these nobles. Therefore, when disaster strikes, the Empire must first ensure their interests, for only when their interests are guaranteed can the Empire's interests be upheld.
Although, from a certain perspective, this viewpoint is not entirely wrong. It was even correct a hundred years ago. However, for Duke Grosvenor, who realized that times have changed, this viewpoint was explosively unacceptable, even wishing to toss a white glove at nobles who spoke such words.
In the end, Duke Grosvenor restrained himself, patiently explaining the risks to these nobles, hoping they would put aside their disputes and unite to contribute to the safety of the Empire.
Yet, the Duke's efforts resulted only in the nobles unanimously responding, "The Empire requires us, so we will send family members to govern and serve in the military, loyal and sacrificing for the Empire. In return, the Empire will reward us with power and status. The Royal Family and the nobility have ruled together since ancient times, and it will always be so."
This was the promise made by the founding emperor of the Victor Empire to the supporting nobles, and the longstanding foundation and governance model of the Empire.
It must be said, in the era of cold weapons, there were no issues with this approach.
After all, during a stage when productivity was not advanced, only noble families could afford qualified knights and provide their family members with educational expenses.
To know that a qualified knight not only needs at least a warhorse and a packhorse, a suitable set of armor and weapons but also requires at least five to seven years of martial training and military education.
A knight is not merely about charging in on horseback and dueling for a woman; he needs to learn how to fight on horseback as well as learning how to battle on foot, and importantly, how to command his followers on the battlefield rather than getting them slaughtered like pigs.
Contrary to popular belief, the primary role of knights is to serve as junior officers in the army, rather than performing glamorous charge scenes depicted in certain films.
This is why the power and status of nobles within the Empire would become increasingly higher, and their influence would also become deeply rooted along with the family's proliferation.
The emperor would enfeoff the nobles who governed local areas, thus forming the stable national structure of the Victor Empire before the invention of the steam engine.
Yet the emergence of the steam engine not only brought rapid development in productivity and revolutionary changes in the military but also significant changes in the social structure of the Empire.
From the appearance of the steam engine to now, seventy years have passed. The Empire has experienced four changes of emperors, and the emerging big merchants are impatiently aspiring to become the new nobility of the Empire.
But the old nobility still firmly occupied high positions in the Empire, persistently trying to maintain their old ways.
The conflict between the new and old nobility has become a major issue in the Empire over the years. If it weren't for the colonies continuously expanding, with colonial profits supplementing internal contradictions, a problem might have erupted long ago.
Therefore, for today's Empire, the old nobility's method has gradually become unsuitable.
This was clearly seen by Duke Grosvenor during the preparatory work for the Crisis Response Committee.
Old nobles care more about their tiny territories; they want to strengthen their fief's ability to tackle disasters. In the face of this disaster, they still intend to maintain their rule over the fiefdom and even, taking advantage of the disaster's influence, return to the era when the fiefdom was a closed country and vassals were local emperors.
They choose not to believe in Perfikot's scientific calculations but want to trust the Astronomical Society's astrological predictions. However, they remain indifferent to the horrors of disaster.
Or rather, nobles aren't afraid of this extreme cold disaster that can freeze most commoners to death. They have enough conditions to ensure their survival and sufficient power to guarantee that their interests are prioritized when the Empire is doing relief work.
As for the confidence? Just look at the problem Duke Grosvenor is facing now to understand where their confidence lies.
In contrast, as the new noble merchant class, they similarly want to defend their interests but prefer that it remains a unified country rather than isolated fiefdoms. Only when the entire nation is one entity can they capitalize on the nation's power, expanding larger markets and earning more profits.
Thus, in responding to crises and disasters, they hope to preserve cities, ports, and their factories, maintaining the operation of industrial production.
The Empire's capabilities are limited and cannot safeguard everything, and the differing interests between the new and old aristocrats lead to endless disputes and arguments, making the establishment of the crisis response committee fraught with difficulties.