Beautiful Another World Red Tide

"Tell them, wait in the main hall, I will come in a while." Lao Yuan shook his sleeves and ordered the waiter.

"Your Highness."

An old figure stood behind Lao Yuan, and Lao Yuan couldn't help but snorted coldly when he heard this treacherous voice.This old guy, Gegroot, has been elusive recently, and he doesn't know what he's doing.Every time he wants to inquire about the news of the demons, he can only cheat something out of Geglut's mouth by trying to find out.This old guy must be planning something bad.

"I'm going down to meet the ministers, I don't have time to gossip." Lao Yuan put on the crown served respectfully by the waiter and said coldly to Gegroot.

"I came to see you for something important." Geglut said with a joyful expression behind his back.

"Our Holy Majesty, how fond of you is. She asked me to send you a letter, asking you to continue to deepen the friendship between the two countries. If it is best, the two emperors can become the main emperor and husband emperor." Geglut smiled and took out a delicate letter and said.

"What does your demon emperor look like? I don't know. Let it go, just say I thank you, and I will reply when I have time." Lao Yuan laughed disdainfully. The demon emperor regarded himself as Wu Zetian. Woolen cloth?Do you think you are an eternal queen?Going to submit yourself to him?What is the master emperor, the husband emperor, really want to emulate the two masters of the Tang Dynasty and share the sky.

"I don't even look at whether I am worthy or not. How can a group of barbarians compare with me." Lao Yuan thought again with disdain.

"You will agree." Geglut said as if he had been prepared for a long time, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it for Lao Yuan to read.

"The barbarian, I will..."

Lao Yuan stopped talking before he finished speaking. It was as if his chest had been hit by the heavy hammer of an ogre, or as if a shark hunting in the ocean had been rammed at full speed by a humpback whale.The appearance of the empress in the portrait is vivid, but it is a pity that it is black and white, which cannot fully show the perfect and beautiful appearance of the character.Even so, Lao Yuan was still dumbfounded, and stood there in a daze. The saber that was supposed to be taken over was still in the waiter's hand, and he forgot to take it.

"This!" Old Yuan Mumu touched his chin and asked dryly.

"His Majesty, the emperor of the Holy Empire, conquers the world and is worshiped by the world. Your majesty is the most beautiful in the whole continent. No one can compare with her." Geglut raised his head proudly and said.

"Beautiful is beautiful, but..." Lao Yuan said puzzledly.

"But what?" Geglut asked curiously.

"I really want to see her in a dream." Lao Yuan looked closer and continued rubbing his chin.

"In my dream, I dreamed of a woman many times. She was also so lightly dressed and so beautiful. It's just that I couldn't see the woman's face, and I didn't know what she looked like. It's really strange. Could it be, me and you Your emperor has a tacit understanding?" Lao Yuan said to himself.

"That's right, heroes cherish heroes, and emperors cherish emperors."

Geglut stared back hard at Pin Ke's movement of wanting to ask questions, but Pin Ke could only lower his head again when he saw the master like this. After all, this was just her guess. Who knows if the royal secret is true.

"What a coincidence, Your Highness, you should seize this opportunity and make friends with my emperor more." Geglut continued to seduce.

"Well, such a fate is really rare." Lao Yuan waved his hand to signal the waiters to go down, and finally answered casually after looking at his appearance in the room.

"Your Majesty, is there any theory about the harem?" Lao Yuan asked again as if he had remembered something.

"There are three hundred concubines in the harem, but it's just a rumor among the people of our demon race. There are only eleven or twelve concubines who are truly blessed by His Majesty." Geglut hesitated for a while and said.

"Well, it's normal for the emperor to have a harem."

Lao Yuan said this under Pinke's stunned eyes, while Gegroot was in ecstasy. It must be a success if they have reached this point.Sure enough, it really succeeded. After extracting the magic power of a human magister and using his bones to strengthen the magic circle, the rumored royal secret spell actually succeeded.It's not easy to do this with just a few hairs and nails.

"I'm going to meet the officials." Lao Yuan seemed completely unaware of what kind of thunderous words he had just said, waved his hand, walked out of the room, and walked towards the main hall of the Winter Palace.

"Teacher." Pinke said.

"Shut up!" Geglut replied gloomyly.

"This is despicable! I don't approve of this!"

"What's despicable, I'm just promoting the friendship between the two countries, but the brave man is also willing to raise any objections." Geglut still has to defend his image in front of the students, he can At the national level, he is ruthless, but he must also establish the image of a good teacher in front of his students.

"Then let the teacher accept such a woman, would the teacher be willing? Besides, Koichiro still has a girl he likes, and also has a crush on each other. How can you do this!" Pin Kebushi said fiercely.

"You don't come here. Girls are from every family, what do you know. If you can understand that the future of the country is important, how can you help the abomination." Geglut turned his head and said.

......

"His Royal Highness is here!"

Accompanied by the high-spirited shouts of the court officials, all the generals, nobles, and officials stopped making noise and waited silently for Lao Yuan's arrival.On the luxurious steps, the figure of Old Yuan wearing a bright yellow robe slowly emerged from the stairs, followed by the small and thin figure of His Majesty, who was half pushed and half led by an officer to follow Old Yuan, He was wearing a white military uniform with all kinds of medals hanging on his chest, but his dazed and panicked eyes still made him look extremely pitiful. He closed his eyes and shook his head and turned away.

"Your Majesty, take your seat." Old Yuan said calmly to His Majesty behind him, pressing the heavens and the earth with one hand and holding his other hand.

How could His Majesty say no?He hurriedly sat on the throne in fear, then immediately lowered his head, making a cute appearance, not daring to look at anyone's face or eyes.

"All the ministers bow down." Lao Yuan stretched out his hand and shouted again.

"Your Majesty is in good health, Your Highness is in good health." The ministers obediently bowed and stroked their chests in respect.

"Tell me, what's going on today?" Lao Yuan asked with narrowed eyes.

"Your Highness, His Majesty is getting older, and it is time to find a teacher to teach His Majesty. Besides, it will be inconvenient for His Majesty to continue living in the Winter Palace, so it is time to move out." A minister first stood up and said.

"Your Highness, the supply of grain and grass in each city and the transfer of personnel should be negotiated between the army and the officials. Now the commanders of the armies do not consult with the local officials at all to seek opinions, and directly order the officials to supply grain and grass. I am afraid that it is a bit of a violation of the imperial law, right? "

"Your Highness, the appointment and dismissal of the nobles should be decided by His Majesty himself. I'm afraid it's inappropriate for you to raise the noble titles of many legion officers, and lower the titles of many nobles in the royal city, depriving them of their fiefs?"

"Your Highness, I oppose the transfer of troops. The garrison has guarded the imperial capital for many years. It may not be so easy to use other troops to defend the imperial capital. For the safety of the imperial capital and Your Majesty, I oppose the transfer of the garrison troops."

The last sentence was said by Marshal Shivanov, and it was also the most lethal sentence, which made Lao Yuan frown the most.

347 Old Yuan's Ambition

"Ministers, you can talk about things one by one, don't be so anxious." Lao Yuan said in a deep voice while holding down his sword.

The conflicts have flared up again after the last big enfeoffment. The last big enfeoffment of Lao Yuan gave these people a higher status and power, including the officials present. Last year, all officials were either promoted to honor and position, Or increase the salary.Very few were demoted and dismissed, and the original government framework was basically maintained.

Lao Yuan also specially promoted some neutral officials or officials who wanted to take refuge in him, so that they were in important positions.A small number of royalists were dismissed and sent to the border, and some diehards were executed.In addition, no matter which faction it is, they are rarely punished and have maintained their status.

Lao Yuan is very clear that the law does not blame the public.If it is really necessary to clean up all the officials, let alone whether there are any follow-up officials who can make up for it, the ensuing counterattack alone is definitely not something that many soldiers can handle.As long as there is no clear opposition and ideas, no matter whether it is a democrat, aristocrat, or old-school officials, they are all worth wooing and tolerating.

Most of the former nobles were also granted their original titles of nobility, and all viscounts and above were restored, and the earls were promoted to marquises by one level, and at least they were given more territories to become grand earls.The ex-Northwestern nobles were also appeased. Those with high noble titles stayed in the imperial capital, and those with small noble titles but close to Lao Yuan were sent back to continue to control the Northwest. It can be said that the newly promoted nobles of his own side did not even have One-tenth of the restoration of the original nobles.

Although many of the nobles at the bottom have not recovered their titles, the officers who used to be nobles have all received different military promotions.Most of the noble officers have been promoted, and as long as they are willing to be loyal to Lao Yuan, they will be entrusted with important tasks under the recommendation of several Lao Yuan's cronies.It can almost be said that Lao Yuan attached great importance to the feelings of the nobles and officials, and gave them a lot of interests to compromise and win over.It was under this kind of high-intensity wooing that many nobles, military officers, and officials gave up the idea of ​​​​confronting Lao Yuan at the beginning, and instead either threw themselves under Lao Yuan's influence, or turned a blind eye and closed their eyes. Can't see anything.

But with the passage of time, only half a year later, Lao Yuan began to tentatively weaken the opposition's power.He first began to force some former neutrals to stand in line, and then began to dismiss some officials and aristocrats who were still criticizing him or remove their titles.At the beginning, everyone tolerated it, but some people were indeed too vague in their positions, and they were always displeased with both sides, even if they refused to cooperate with their "compromise but not surrender" conspirators, they also pretended to be aloof and ignored them. Lao Yuan.This kind of affirmation will not get any support once it is attacked. It is normal for those officials who criticize too much to be knocked out, but when the scope of attack is expanded, this kind of tolerance cannot be maintained.

Officials and aristocrats who criticized too much were revoked their titles and official positions, or it could be considered a round of blows, but Lao Yuan was consolidating his power.But after Lao Yuan made these two actions, he quickly began to expand the scope of attack. He used many students from the Engineering College and the Royal Academy to be officials, and inserted several important positions into his own people, and dismissed some officials.Among the nobles, many upstarts and those who took the lead in the faction were severely hit, even the army was not spared. Many noble officers with vague attitudes were also attacked, and ordinary officers with no roots and no success took office.

The Compromisers thought Lao Yuan was crazy, and after only half a year, they couldn't wait to weaken their power.But Lao Yuan felt that the Compromisers were hopeless, given so much preferential treatment, they were still vague, and it was said that there were some conspiracies.If they are really allowed to maintain their current power, once Lao Yuan's control over the army weakens, Lao Yuan feels that he will immediately become the second Grand Master.

Therefore, he could only start to weaken the power of these guys. First, he emptied the local officials, stationed his trusted officers in these places, and ordered them to assist in defense or work in a higher-level capacity.The nobles began to be recruited aggressively, and the nobles with fiefdoms must respond to the imperial order to participate in the upcoming southward war.Taking advantage of more young officers graduating from military academies entering the army, Lao Yuan also began to entrust them with positions, letting them replace the group of noble officers who had gradually formed a force.

The conflict finally broke out today. Lao Yuan's attack on their forces in the name of going south has caused a strong backlash. They have made up their minds, and they will start to declare that it is not appropriate to go south, and they should only guard the border.As long as they can hold on, when Lao Yuan's control over the army becomes weak, they can take advantage of the situation to imprison Lao Yuan and restore the legal order of the empire.

"Hmph, a bunch of idiots." Lao Yuan cursed inwardly.

"Want to fight against me, eagerly preparing to contact the garrison for rebellion, but because of the fear of uneven distribution of spoils with the other faction, he has always succumbed to me. Just procrastinate, I can't clean you up completely today, wait half a month and you will There are good fruits to eat." Lao Yuan sneered in his heart.

"As for finding a teacher for His Majesty, I don't think it is necessary to find someone without talent or virtue to tutor His Majesty. It is enough for me to teach His Majesty myself as His Majesty's teacher." After thinking for a while, Lao Yuan still spoke coldly. the officials said.

"Is Maxim's right minister also a man without talent and virtue?" Minister Yefim stood up and said.

"Did he go west with Her Majesty Aisha back then?" Lao Yuan pointed at Maxim's face and said bluntly.

"Maxim's right minister has meritorious service, so he is the right minister and an extremely human minister. However, the emperor's teacher can't be appointed only by merit. This point, Maxim's right minister can understand." Lao Yuan asked him again road.

"Understood, understandable." Maxim gritted his teeth and said helplessly, suppressing his anger.

"Peasants and bandits everywhere are waiting for opportunities. There are especially many workers and peasants in cities. Without the presence of troops from all over the country, it is difficult for officials to deal with it. At such a dangerous moment, the army is more needed to take charge of the overall situation to avoid unexpected emergencies. Incident and unable to deal with it." Lao Yuan looked at another official and explained.

"The military must be responsible for the safety of important border towns, but it's not enough to just guard against the border. You also need to be careful inside the city. Don't you know how Zhongnan City was breached? Or do you want to experience the officials in Zhongnan City? The treatment of nobles, feel the tightness around the neck?" Lao Yuan squinted his eyes again and asked.

"Your Highness is not free to adjust and change the nobles. Are you a little hasty in doing so? It's only been half a year, and you have to remove many people from their positions. I'm afraid it's not right?" A big nobleman stood up and said .

"Let's go south to conquer. The empire has just recovered from the war and still needs to recuperate. Your Highness, you also know that the peasants and bandits are rampant, so the nobles and lords are even more needed to guard the place. Isn't this contradictory?" Another A nobleman also bravely stood up and asked.

"Then you mean that His Majesty who is only ten years old is responsible?" Lao Yuan pointed to His Majesty who was cowering behind him and asked.

"At the beginning, the title was restored because many nobles were loyal and should be restored. However, after half a year, many nobles have no morals and incompetence. They made their territories angry and ran amok in their posts. As the Regent , has the right to dispose of this part of the nobles." Old Yuan warned viciously.

"It's nonsense, you lose your virtue, what virtue can you lose?" the Viscount Slovakia muttered dissatisfied.

"Viscount of Slovakia! Since you resumed your title, you have accumulated a total of three thousand gold coins. Don't say that the money is all produced in the territory." Lao Yuan continued.

"Moreover, many factory owners have already complained to the legal department of the empire, saying that you have taken over many factories. I think you have suppressed these things because of your meritorious deeds. In the end, you refused to change after repeated admonitions, and you still behave like this!" the old man said. Yuan Qian drew out his sword and cursed.

"You! Your Highness! I, I..." The Viscount of Slovakia couldn't find Bei after being frightened by Lao Yuan's aura. The aura of a brave man is so powerful, which can be compared with him, a nobleman who only knows how to plot and manipulate.Under the eyes of Lao Yuan, the Viscount Slovakia couldn't even utter a word of begging for mercy.

"Remove his title of nobility, demote him to a commoner, and ban him from joining the army for life." Lao Yuan ordered the soldiers in the hall.

"Yes!" The great knights who were loyal to Lao Yuan immediately raised their golden spear blades, carried the Viscount Slovakia with one hand and walked out of the hall, dragging him out like a dead dog.

"I am in full charge of the army. Appointing officers, dismissing officers, and dividing their origins? Or maybe all the officers are nobles or descendants of officials. How about it? As long as you dare to agree, I will do it immediately. "Old Yuan said disdainfully again.

"Fight with me." Seeing the helpless faces of the officials and nobles below, Lao Yuan couldn't help sneering. These noble officials were obviously forced to unite this time, but they were intimidated by the army he controlled. I dare not turn my face now.This is the fate of not controlling the army. You can only let Lao Yuan press them hard, but there is no way to resist.

"The garrison temporarily suspends the transfer, and continues to guard the imperial capital. After the training of the new army is completed, it will be adjusted in batches." Lao Yuan's compromise condition made the officials heave a sigh of relief, and Marshal Shivanov also softened his expression. , bowed his head in silence and said nothing more.

"So what if the garrison is in their hands? I have more than a thousand knights of the Great Knights in my hands. One of them is equal to ten, which is enough to compete with the garrison. What's more, I am not afraid of assassination. How many people can kill me?" Beat me?!" Lao Yuan thought confidently.

"My army is coming back, it's only a few days before it's all over."

348 Royal Cooperation

Since when did the Great Knights completely obey Lao Yuan?This question is both clear and vague. As for the process of Lao Yuan's control of this ultimate army, a noble official who is aware of the events in the west can tell all about it.But what made these great knights from the noble and royal families so determined, it has always been a mystery that makes people puzzled.

The composition of the great knights is very simple, consisting of royalist nobles who are most loyal to the Yongdalim royal family and the children of the royal family.Or there are also a small number of talented nobles, or very talented descendants of civilians and officials.However, this team is generally composed of royal children and royalists, which also made many officials and nobles wonder how Lao Yuan managed to control this army that was finally the royal family, so that they ignored Lao Yuan. All kinds of deeds, betraying their former majesty, turning a blind eye and pretending not to see it?Should they have a conflict of interest?

Conflict of interest, where is the conflict of interest?What exactly is a conflict of interest?For other forces, this is just old Yuan Quan's indulgence to suppress His Majesty's own regent.But what about the great knights?Are they going to kill Lao Yuan at the risk of dying together, and then let the nobles or officials take control of the government again, and become a co-government or a republic of the nobles?Isn't that hard work and danger but making wedding dresses for others?What they royalists pursue is their own supreme power, and they want to form a new powerful political group centered on themselves.

Everyone understands Lao Yuan's current ambitions, including the great knights.Sooner or later, he will force the current majesty to abdicate, and then take the throne by himself.But Lao Yuan also has a very big weakness in front of him, which is also the reason why the great knights and many small factions are willing to take refuge in him.That is, Lao Yuan came to this world as an orphan with no roots and no Ping. He has no father and no power of his own.Even now, his cronies are from people of all backgrounds. It can be said that as long as he is willing to support Lao Yuan, he can have a place in Lao Yuan's account.The great knights thought through this matter more thoroughly than the noble officials, and they had a better understanding of the situation.

Lao Yuan will become the emperor in the future, does he have any particularly reliable cronies?Yes, but how many are there in total, and how many are prestigious?Now it is not enough just to control the senior officials of the military, let alone the people inside the government.There are even fewer highly respected officials and nobles who are really standing beside Lao Yuan. The only one who is the most worthy is the great magician Ge Gelut. Except for the strong support of the magician world, others People with status kept laughing and rejecting Lao Yuan's invitation.

Lao Yuan was also anxious. He knew that if no one in this world was willing to endorse him, even if he won the throne, he would not be able to pass it on to the second generation, and he would even die in his later years.But who is willing to stand for Lao Yuan?The aristocrats seem to be in harmony with each other, and the officials have long had their own plans.The composition of the army is more complicated. Although they are all subordinate to Lao Yuan now, they will definitely fight on their own in the future.The great knights were also a little dissatisfied at first, but when their father or elder brother united in time to persuade them, a cooperation began.

The royalists and the old royal family chose to support Lao Yuan's orthodoxy, stand for him and help him.The only requirement is that after the coronation, the present majesty must not be murdered, nor exiled abroad, and must be rewarded with the title of grand duke or prince.The rest of the requirements are self-evident, and both parties are smart people, so it goes without saying.Lao Yuan has now begun to use many people from the royalist faction and the old royal family to serve as officers and soldiers, and regards these people as his own faction.

In addition, Lao Yuan took the initiative to get closer to Princess Aisha again. This is an unspoken condition that the two parties have not mentioned. The old royal family of Yuan and the Baowang faction officially became a family.The subsequent abolition of the establishment will no longer be a struggle between powerful officials and His Majesty, but will become an internal struggle among the royal family.With the size of the old royal family and the identity of Princess Aisha, the Yongdalim Empire changed its majesty and the name of the country in the future, and it was not their Yongdalim family that ruled.

Both sides are satisfied, both sides are happy, Lao Yuan is happy that he has supporters, he will have more legal authority in the future, and he will have more confidence in fighting against noble officials.The old royal family is happy that they can return to the political arena to take power. How could they get involved in politics before? The power of the aristocracy and the power of the bourgeoisie have nothing to do with them. They will always stand aside.Instead of cooperating with those people and still standing aside with only reputation in the end, how can it compare to the joy of enjoying power as a relative of the emperor?

Having no foundation is Lao Yuan's greatest weakness and also his greatest strength.If he were someone else, a native Yongdalim, he would probably end up with the Grand Master.

......

"Come in." Lao Yuan said impatiently to the outsider.

"Your Highness seems to be in a bad mood."

A short-haired old man with two big white beards was wearing a white military uniform, holding a hat in one hand while pushing the door open with a smile and said.

"Earl Browning." Lao Yuan nodded and sat up from the sofa.

The military uniform of Earl Browning Yundalim is obviously different from that of ordinary generals. There are two long ribbons hanging on his military uniform, and various red or yellow medals and decorations adorn the white military uniform. The military uniform looks more noble.There are not many who dare to wear such a huge Yongdalim, His Majesty counts as one, Lao Yuan counts as one, Grand Duke Nicholas is also qualified to wear this dress because he is a duke, and the Earl of Windsor is theoretically as long as he is a duke. If he asks for it, the royal family will give it.In addition to these supreme ministers, there is also Earl Browning who is qualified to continue wearing this military uniform.

Earl Browning, you can know his noble status from his surname.The old earl of the royal family is the most respected by everyone. Grand Duke Nicholas is a generation younger than him. His Majesty Ivan who died will call him uncle. As for His Majesty Alexander or Princess Aisha, he must also call him grandpa.Although the old earl had never made a name for himself in the political arena, no faction dared to despise him.

You know, when His Majesty Ivan succeeded to the throne and was preparing to succeed, he did not know how many members of the royal family were killed. His elder brothers' families were almost extinct. The Earl Browning, His Majesty Ivan's little uncle, was the only one whom His Majesty Ivan respected even without doing anything from the beginning to the end.

"Those guys made me uncomfortable. I just rested, and I didn't expect you to come." Lao Yuan greeted the waiter with his usual gentle smile and said, pouring tea for the old earl of the royal family.

"I also heard about this, so I came here non-stop from the city." Old Earl Browning sat down slowly, first twisted his white beard, and then straightened his booted legs and hugged him with both hands. Said cheerfully in the abdomen.

According to the seniority of the Yongdalim royal family, if Lao Yuan married Princess Aisha, he would have to call Earl Browning grandpa.Recognizing a foreigner as a grandfather is more uncomfortable than strangling the now vigorous old Yuan, but considering his grand plans in the future, it seems that there is nothing wrong with accepting him as an advantage.In the past, Gou Jian would suffer from hardships, King Wen still endured King Zhou's revenge for murdering his son, and Sima Yi could pretend to be sick for more than ten years, so there is nothing wrong with his younger generation following suit.

"They all want to restore their dominance, and they all want to step on Yongdalim again. The nobles want to restore the situation where the nobles rule together, and they plan to push me out of the game, and re-entitle Your Majesty to enjoy the once Ivan The glory of the times. As for the officials, they want to restore the republic, so that the royal family can be completely suspended, and no one can override them. After the last incident, can they still be as willing to establish a constitution as His Majesty Alexander was then? Not sure." Old Yuan said with a cold snort.

"They can't make waves." Earl Browning said casually, picking up the cup of black tea and blowing on it.

"When the army is dispatched to surround the imperial capital, we will kill those who should be killed, and arrest those who should be arrested. If they submit, we will spare their lives first. When our southward war is over, we will completely dispose of them. They, make sure they never come back from the ashes again."

"At that time, I must take these guys with me. If something goes wrong, I'll just kill them before the battle. Anyway, no matter whether we win or lose, these guys will definitely not be able to survive, and I will not allow them to continue to live. Then I will leave it to you, Earl, to guard the rear, and I feel more at ease with you as my assistants." Lao Yuan nodded in agreement.

"Schvanov must be dealt with, and it cannot be dealt with too severely. If he is not dealt with, then sooner or later he will lead the garrison to confront him due to his prestige in the army. But if we talk about dealing with it, we will You have to consider the rebound of the garrison, and you can't push too hard and let them rebel directly." Earl Browning suggested again.

"He has to die, at least he can't continue to live when he is on the expedition. Some people are more dangerous to die than to live, and some people are more dangerous to live than to die. Schvanov is such a person, if he is not dealt with Sooner or later, there will be another change in the garrison." Old Yuan said coldly.

"All of this is up to you to decide for yourself. You are a very independent person. As a subject, I don't need to put forward too many opinions." Earl Browning smiled and did not refute Lao Yuan's words. Drinking black tea no longer speak.

"I'm afraid that's not the only reason why you came to see me?" Old Yuan asked tentatively seeing that Earl Browning had no intention of leaving.

"There is such a thing." Earl Browning nodded and replied.

"You are also clear that I shouldn't have reminded you of this matter. But today I can't help but interrupt to tell you something."

"You should keep a little distance from other women, including that elf slave Emily."

349 Offensive and defensive reversal

"Let's talk about it, there's no rush on this matter, let's get busy with what's in front of us first." Old Yuan replied, frowning involuntarily.

"I can't say any more. This matter must be prepared sooner rather than later." Earl Browning shook his head and refused.