203 – Partitioning (2)
The leader of this group, Chief Berta Ishtaven of the Ishtaven tribe, was troubled.
‘f*ck, it was almost like baked bread. Why would that damned Khan Slayer come as the commander of the Northern Army? Oh, sh*t. Even if the others don’t know, that bastard is dangerous.’
As it happens, 60 chieftains were gathered together for a meeting when they received a letter and news that Lieutenant General Yeager had arrived.
In front of the chieftains who were buzzing in embarrassment, I answered while pretending to be as nonchalant as possible.
“Please start by reading what the letter was sent to. Wouldn’t you like to know that first before you can do anything?”
“It’s just as you said.”
After saying that, one of the chieftains grabbed the letter handed to him by the messenger and began to read it.
“This is Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, newly appointed commander of the Northern Army. The letter sent today is none other than that he will be appointed commander of the Northern Army and will hold an inauguration ceremony in earnest next week. “I hope you will come and grace this occasion.”
Although they were still in the middle of reading the letter, all the chieftains were so surprised and nervous that they began to mutter again.
“f*ck, honestly, wouldn’t it be nice if you surrendered to the Kingdom of Stockholm so you could be knighted and live a prosperous life like the famous nobles of the Reich Empire?”
“You have to look at your opponent and extend his foot. If it were another Northern Army commander, I could beat him once or twice by hitting him in the back. But Lieutenant General Peter Yeager? Even that bastard Ludvik was no match for him…?”
“It just won’t work for us. Even now, you have to show some cuteness by licking her head and at least the soles of her feet. Otherwise, we are all dead.”
Meanwhile, Chief Ishtaven lamented and thought about the fact that the new commander who had been appointed at this time was that Peter Jaeger.
‘I have already received a promise that if I lead the bastards here and surrender, my power will be recognized and I will be made the Count of Stockholm. This is an opportunity we created, but we can’t let it go to waste because of that guy Jaeger.’
So Ishtaven began to think hard about how he could take all 60 tribes here and transfer to Stockholm.
“Also attending this event is Anastasia Kergit, the leader of the White Wolf Tribe and a colonel of the Imperial Army. She wants to see you guys, with whom she has had a close relationship for a long time, so she really wants you to come. “I will treat you with the utmost sincerity.”
After reading up to this point, the chieftain who was reading the letter sighed and quietly put it down.
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“It seems the Empire has made up its mind, Chief Ishtaven. What do you plan to do? To be honest, the empire has given us a lot, starting with Chief Khergit. Thanks to the empire’s aid, not a single tribesman starved to death last winter or this winter. Also, next year, my son will be given the benefit of going to the academy, which can be said to be the gateway to becoming a noble of the Reich Empire.”
He did not continue what he said, but everyone here knew the message that the chieftain who read the letter did not say.
‘The reason 60 of us want to follow you to Stockholm is because the Empire offers us more generous aid and treatment than the benefits we are currently providing. But, what good is it if you die?’
On the other hand, for Ishtaven, this letter also had this meaning.
Lieutenant General Jaeger’s warning that if any of the chieftains you are currently working with come back to their senses, the other chieftains except for the instigator, Chief Ishtaven, will be especially forgiven.
For Ishtaven, who had gone through countless mayhems, this kind of threat was honestly as natural as waking up in the morning and eating bread or soup.
What if the person making this threat is the commander of the Northern Army, Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, who cut off his Khan with his own hands?
Of course, a chill runs down my spine and I start to shiver.
However, Ishtaven knew well that in order to survive in a situation like this, you had to at least pretend to maintain a normal attitude to increase your chances of survival.
“Yes, the Empire has definitely done a lot for us. It’s just as you said. Honestly, if you ask me to bow down in front of Peter Yeager three times a day, I have the confidence to do it. If it weren’t for that guy, you and I would have been used as meat shields in the border castles of the Kingdom of Stockholm or the Kingdom of Sweden. Or hug your tribe members in the snow and freeze to death.”
“Didn’t he come again? “And that’s for the north.”
“But I ask you, no, I ask you all here. Since when did we become so concerned about loyalty, and even if your child is admitted to the academy, Lieutenant General Jaeger? No, I will not talk about that man since his rise to prominence is overwhelmingly faster than that of the imperial officers who are the most prominent in the empire. Do you think you will be treated equally with the children of knightly nobles who originally lived in the empire? “I don’t think so, Chief Kinga.”
Kinga could not question those words.
“If there is anything similar between us, the northern nomads, and the empire, it is that if you want to get ahead in life, you have to build military skills. So, in order for our tribe members to not be discriminated against, they have to join the military. By the way, King, I have a question for you. Why can’t young men from our tribe find it easy to join the military? “Aren’t the people who followed that b*tch Kergit and abandoned their territory the only ones having fun?”
“…… That’s bullsh*t. “Isn’t that because our tribesmen, as citizens of the empire, still don’t know much about the empire’s culture?”
“No, if that’s the case, honestly, shouldn’t they be allowed to serve at least in the Northern Army? You still don’t know, Kinga. We are discriminated against. So, although I am grateful that Lieutenant General Peter Jaeger killed Khan, I must move to the Kingdom of Stockholm in order to live a better and more properly treated life.”
Ishtaven realized.
This means that the leadership and atmosphere of the conversation has begun to shift in a direction that is favorable to oneself.
After finishing assessing his mood, he handed over a document he had received from the director of the Kingdom of Stockholm a few days ago, granting titles and territories to everyone except himself.
The chieftains could not hide their curiosity when they first saw that the seal of the King of Stockholm, which they had often seen, was stamped there.
He hurriedly opened and read a document that should have been opened carefully.
“Oh my gosh, this is a document that officially grants us knighthood.”
“Not only that, this document states that additional land will be distributed after occupying the north according to merit.”
“It says that you will be treated respectfully as a noble of the Kingdom of Stockholm. “I think this document is real.”
Ishtaven pointed to a pile of boxes covered with cloth to make the poor people who still seemed full of doubt believe.
“Think about it, honestly, isn’t the Empire generously giving us a corner of bread to the point of simply prolonging our lives because we surrendered on our own? But think about it. From the perspective of His Majesty the King of Stockholm, we are credited with giving up the territory of the Reich Empire. So, you will be able to enjoy greater voice, power, and wealth than if you were part of an empire.”
After these words were finished, several of the chieftains lifted the cloth that covered them.
Inside the cloth, there were about 60 boxes about 40cm wide and 40cm filled with gold and silver coins.
I couldn’t confirm the contents exactly, but the amount inside was about 1,000 gold per box.
This amount was equivalent to the minimum living expenses needed for 1,000 households of serfs to survive for a year.
For the northern chieftains, who were much poorer than other regions of the empire, it was an enormous sum of money, enough to paralyze reason.
“I received it from Director Karpelen, who came from Stockholm a few days ago. It was given directly by His Majesty the King of Stockholm. We had only declared our intention to surrender, but they paid us generously. Can you imagine how much compensation we would receive if we took over the entire tribes and the land and, at the right time, turned the backs of the empire and presented it to the King of Stockholm?”
In an empire or other country, nobles cannot change their country without permission, but the nomadic northern peoples are willing to move at any time if they think it will make money.
Because if you get sick, you can just ride a horse and run away, and that trend has been in place for a long time, so even now that I have become a citizen of the Reich Empire, that thought has not changed much.
In addition, Ishtaven did not tell the other chieftains, but he even had a plan to link up with the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and the Kingdom of Stockholm as soon as he betrayed the 60 chieftains.
“So, you decide for yourself. If you’re planning on going with me, don’t go to the inauguration ceremony sung by Lieutenant General Jaeger. If you’re planning on being a coward and shaking your tail at the Empire bastards, get out. “Think about it carefully until tomorrow.”
Ishu Taven’s heart was that he wanted to kill the chieftain who disagreed with him right now.
‘If you do something like that, other people who want to share the same ideas as me may get scared and leave. ‘This might be best.’
After leaving the meeting hall, he looked at the sky and muttered.
“f*ck, the size of my force is determined by how many of the 60 people are left. Only by eating all 60 tribes in the North would he be able to exercise proper political influence in the Kingdom of Stockholm. “I wonder how many people will leave me…”
What was fortunate for him was that the next day, only 20 tribes, or about 1/3 of the total, broke away from Ishtaven and went to the empire.