Self-interest will make them true to you. You
might find some means to pay them, for they would be a good
buffer between you and your enemies. The president of the Diet
and the members are passing bills which will eventually
undermine you. How long it will take I can not say. But this
last folly, the loan, which you could have got on without, caps
the climax. The duke was in the city last week unknown to you.
Your minister of finance is his intimate. This loan was a
connivance of them all. Why ten years, when it could easily be
liquidated in five? I shall tell you. The duke expects to force
you into bankruptcy within that time, and when the creditor
demands and you can not pay, you will be driven from here in
disgrace.
"And where will you go? Certainly not to Osia, since you traded
it for this throne. It was understood, when you assumed the
reign, that the finances of the kingdom would remain
unimpeachable. Bankrupt, the confederation will be forced to
disavow you. They will be compelled to restore the throne to
your enemy, who, believe me, is most anxious to become your
creditor.
"This is an independent state,--conditionally.
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