204 – Partitioning (3)
Northern Army Headquarters, Grand Banquet Room.
In normal times, it is a place where banquets are held free of charge for officers of the Northern Army during imperial holidays, anniversaries, or when ministerial officers (generals) have special occasions.
Now here, officers of the Northern Army and chiefs of more than 100 tribes are gathering and enjoying food and a banquet.
In such a situation, it would be nice if the officers and chieftains of rank or higher got along naturally and got along well…
Perhaps their relationship is still uneasy, but the chieftains are gathered together and the officers are chatting with each other.
“Fortress, it was difficult because the Kingdom of Sweden and Stockholm kept putting pressure on us. Ha, now that Lieutenant General Jaeger has come, life will open up and we will feel more comfortable.”
“Honestly, I don’t know if it’s any other general in the empire, but I can trust Lieutenant General Yeager. “He personally killed Ludvik with a sword and also mediated well with the empire.”
“I’ve been worrying a lot these days, but how can I get better? “It’s a great day. You can eat the empire’s expensive food for free and you won’t have to worry about anything.”
First of all, looking around, the atmosphere itself is not bad even though there is no ‘close relationship’ between the officers and the chieftains.
Because Anya knows many chieftains, she wears the uniform of an imperial army officer and chats intimately among the chieftains.
“How many years has it been, Mr. Viata? “Is Dita married now?”
“Don’t even talk. These days, I’m trying to connect with an imperial girl from a decent family. They say that if you want to get married, you have to graduate from the academy first. “I will be 26 when I graduate, but it is not easy.”
“We, Northerners, are subject to special treatment, so please make us study and get the officer ranks first. Then, there is a system that provides a diploma in two years.”
“After all, you are a colonel, so you know a lot. Ha, when you were young, you and Dita…”
“About that… the lieutenant general might be nearby.”
At those words, the chief named Viata turned around, and as soon as our eyes met, his face turned pale.
He spoke hurriedly, waving his hands left and right.
“Lieutenant General, that’s not it, he was just happy to see the daughter of Kergit, with whom he used to be close…”
Anyway, Anya is my wife, and that guy named Viata probably just said that out of pleasure, so I have no intention of saying anything.
However, I think I can use this to ask something honestly.
“Did you say Viata? “She is the chief of a tribe.”
“I am the chief of the Swedenmori tribe, Lieutenant General.”
“It’s the Swedenmori tribe… They defected 15 days after the Kergit tribe defected, right? Nice to meet you. “As you may already know, this is Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, the new commander of the Northern Army.”
After saying that and I held out my hand, Viata bent down at her waist, stretched out both his hands, and took my hand in greeting.
“Before I give my inauguration speech, I want to ask you something. Is that okay?”
“Ask anything, Lieutenant General. “I must answer whatever the Lieutenant General, who killed Khan and liberated us, asks.”
“What is it like living in a fortress? Is there anything that makes you uncomfortable or really bothers you? “Please speak without any pressure.”
When Viata heard those words, a look of fear appeared on his face.
I think they are worried that the situation where ordinary commanders only pretend to look outwardly and pay a huge amount of trouble in return if they actually complain of inconvenience will be repeated.
I quickly showed the royal decree with His Majesty’s seal in my arms and said,
“Your Majesty already knows that damned Ishtaven tried to instigate the 60 tribes under him to go over to the Kingdom of Stockholm. And as a result of analyzing the cause at the Imperial Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was determined that the reason was that your lives were difficult. So, His Majesty ordered us to listen directly to your grievances and resolve them.”
In fact, there was a process like this before receiving this edict.
After receiving the appointment letter from the Commander of the Northern Army, Anya and I discussed the problems the Northerners were experiencing, and I summarized the contents into a report.
Next, I submitted it to my father-in-law, the head of the Chiefs of Staff, and based on the report handed over by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he directly analyzed the expected problems and prepared almost all countermeasures.
Now that I am here, I will talk directly with them about the issue and submit a report to the Chief of Staff, and the final revised policy will be reflected based on that.
“Is that really true?”
“Why would I even create a fake edict to persuade you? The reason I came here in the first place was because His Majesty ordered it. Otherwise, would His Majesty bother sending me all the way to the north?”
“It’s because I’m so moved. To be honest, I was worried that all the northerners would be caught because Ishtaven was trying to persuade them to rebel. As you know, except for those like the Khergit tribe who even donated their tribe’s home, weren’t they slightly wary of the empire?”
It wasn’t just a little bit, but in fact, the empire was very wary of them.
It is true that the quality of life of Northerners living in the North has improved compared to before, thanks to the provision of food to prevent them from starving to death.
However, in return for providing food to these people, they received a large amount of livestock such as horses, cows, and sheep owned by the tribe.
In addition, because the empire could not yet completely trust the northerners, it strictly restricted the military enlistment and conscription of northerners except for the chieftain’s son.
Instead, men aged between 18 and 54 are mobilized and made to work for about two days a week.
Also, according to the laws of the empire, people who did not serve in the military had to pay about 20% more taxes than those who did not, so their backs would have been bent to pay taxes with fur, good lumber, meat, and live animals. That’s it.
However, the reason they are not complaining now is because although they pay a lot of taxes, their lives are much better now than before they became citizens of the empire.
From noble mtl dot com
According to a report I read before taking office as commander of the Northern Army, it was said that Northerners used to have a hard time eating two meals a day.
However, after returning to the empire, two meals a day became the norm, and during the harvest season, it is said that one could eat all three meals.
“Maybe that’s why, but because we can’t go to the military, the tribesmen are very upset because they have to pay more taxes than the imperial serfs. In fact, if we become soldiers, wouldn’t we be able to do well as archers?”
“I know well. “I know very well the power of the archer cavalry led by my wife, Colonel Kergit.”
“So, please consider that we have already shown loyalty to the empire for nearly four years, and allow us to join the army and pay less taxes on an equal footing with the people of the empire.”
I expected this request to be clear, but it was also a very strange request that was difficult for me to understand as someone who has lived in Korea.
That is also true, in Korea, it is thought that it is unconditionally beneficial to not serve as a soldier if possible.
It was amazing to see the tribal leader sincerely requesting military service.
Of course, this person and other nomadic peoples want to prove their worth in the military and be reborn as citizens of the empire living in the north in name and reality.
“Is there anything else?”
“Other than that, I would like you to raise the price a little when you receive things like livestock, fur, horses, and wood from the empire in lieu of taxes.”
“Let me ask your Majesty. Instead, when you go to the army, you may not be able to fight as the archers you want, and you may have to shed a lot of blood in the army to be treated equally as the citizens of the empire.”
Well, in the first place, northern soldiers were pushed into more intense front lines rather than peasant soldiers who plowed and farmed the land in the original empire.
I was able to talk with the chief and hear vivid stories about the current situation in the north.
Then I went to the central table of the banquet hall and shouted.
“This is Lieutenant General Peter Yeager, who has been newly appointed as the commander of the Northern Army as of today. It is nothing other than calling you here today to congratulate me on my inauguration. “It is also to distinguish between the bastards who dared to betray the Empire and the good northerners who are loyal to the Empire.”
With those words, the eyes and attention of the chieftains and officers all focused on me.
At that time, I gave a signal, and a cart wheel the size of approximately up to my waist rolled into the inside of the banquet hall.
Unlike the officers who did not know English, the Northern chiefs began to applaud enthusiastically when they saw the wheel.
I think they do this because they think the ‘rule of the wheel’ does not apply to them.
That prediction is correct.