246 – Warsaw Invasion (3)
Grand Duchy of Warsaw, Royal Palace Conference Room
Unless something serious happened, the Archduke of Warsaw’s principle was not to show his anger in order to protect his dignity and dignity.
That’s why he was a monarch with a gentle personality, so much so that even when he felt upset because a servant spilled wine on his new attire worth 300 gold, he did not raise his voice loudly and scolded him gently.
Today’s Grand Duke of Warsaw and the 12th generation to inherit the title, Stefan von Báthory, rarely breaks that principle and is making a loud noise in a gathering of nobles.
“How can lower-level officials be so arrogant and corrupt, let alone the damn Peter Jaeger bastard! The police say that if there is a hole in the mouth for air to come out, you can make an excuse! “I mean, give it a try!”
Grand Duke Bathory shouted so loudly and threw the empty glass on the floor, the pieces flying everywhere along with the sound of glass breaking.
It was an outrageous act that should not have been shown by the king of a country to key figures in the military and administration, such as generals, ministers, and great nobles.
No one here could tell the Archduke to calm down.
The Grand Duke, who made the atmosphere even more bloody by breaking the glass, lowered and then raised his eyes and questioned Count Hunyadi as if he would have grabbed him by the collar if it were not for human eyes.
“Count Hunyadi! The corruption in the damn West Coast cities and towns under Count Hunyadi’s jurisdiction is beyond imagination! No, just a village chief took 200 gold! The bailiff (community head) received 1,000 gold worth of bribes, and the crazy one among the inspectors (district mayor) received 10,000 gold worth of bribes and accumulated them! If you have something to say with that open mouth, say it! “The person who is the current head of the inspection department!”
Count Hunyadi, who was the first to be reprimanded, felt incredibly wronged.
This is because there are many other nobles involved in this corruption, including himself, and he, one of them, was just so unlucky that he was the first to be mentioned by the Grand Duke and ended up being eliminated as a representative.
So, with resentment, he sent a signal to the Marquis of Radom, the head of his faction, but… The Marquis pretended not to see and shook his head.
It was a signal for him to take care of it and die alone, since he couldn’t cover it for himself.
“What excuse can I give you, Your Highness? “I am fully aware of all responsibility, so I will resign from all public positions right now and accept any punishment.”
“That’s right. I’m glad our inspector general has the sense of shame. “Then, let’s proceed right away.”
With those words, the conference room door opened, and dozens of administrators belonging to the Inspection Department and knights in silver armor came rushing in.
He then grabbed both arms of several nobles, including Count Hunyadi, the head of the inspection department, and arrested them.
“By order of His Highness the Archduke, the officers are under arrest. “Please understand.”
The nobles, whose arms were caught in something completely unexpected, protested loudly with expressions full of fear and resentment.
“Do you know who you dare to arrest now? “I am Lieutenant General Jan von Konin, commander of the 1st Corps of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw!”
“I don’t know what kind of evidence they are using to arrest me! “Hey, what is your official rank?”
“Your Majesty the Grand Duke! You’re mistaken! We are innocent! Please save me! Release it! “I can explain everything!”
Meanwhile, the remaining nobles who had escaped arrest because they were not caught in this corruption incident also tried to protest to the Archduke that this was too harsh a measure…
The Grand Duke ignored all those nobles.
The inspection department administrators who came inside placed a pile of reports about 50cm high on the conference room desk.
At the top of the pile was written [Report on the progress of the inspection of the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw], Which was distributed as a summary to each of the attending nobles who escaped arrest.
The Grand Duke shouted in anger at the nobles who were reading the distributed report.
“Warden Piwa, you received 500 gold in return for your help in promoting the second son of the mayor of Swupsk to captain! Minister of Justice Kalish! You committed a crazy act by properly covering up Count Radom’s only son’s drinking and raping the daughter of a low-ranking nobleman! “Is this what the so-called nobles who have served the Grand Duchy of Warsaw for generations would do?”
Because they have hidden this fact well, it is unlikely that they will be found out.
However, after Director Jaeger submitted a ledger of corruption crimes secretly committed by local officials through a spy operating secretly within Warsaw.
As those in the inspection department cast a spell (torture) on local officials who had done bad things to make them want to tell the truth, the true nature of the crimes they had requested by offering bribes to high-ranking people began to be revealed.
The crimes of those at the top of aristocratic society were exposed.
After speaking up to that point, the Grand Duke could not hold back his anger and ground his teeth.
“You and your family will pay dearly for insulting Deus and me! You f*cking bastards! “Hurry, drag him away, and let him interrogate him leisurely, quickly!!”
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According to that order, the administrative officers and knights of the Inspection Department dragged away the nobles who had until recently reigned near the top of Warsaw’s class pyramid and enjoyed wealth and glory.
They were dragged out, pleading as desperately as possible to find any chance of survival.
“Your Highness, the Grand Duke, for the loyalty our family has shown so far, please forgive us just once! Please forgive me!”
“Your Highness, all of this is a conspiracy! It’s Peter Yeager’s plan! “Don’t be fooled!”
“I am wronged, please give me a chance to prove my innocence!”
As the Grand Duke listened to the voices of those being dragged out, he thought that this could definitely be someone’s ruse.
However, upon checking these ledgers, which were said to have been obtained by chance by low-ranking nobles belonging to the inspection department or the administration, they were all genuine.
I conducted an investigation just in case, and all the crimes were consistent with the contents of the ledger, so as the monarch of a country, I could not ignore it.
As the nobles were taken out, there was a cold atmosphere among the remaining people, as if a blizzard had struck…
“Later, according to the investigation conducted by the Deputy Director of the Inspection Department, the people who wrote the ledgers were in ‘secret communication’ with that damned Captain Yeager. They promised the parties an exorbitant pension and offered perks such as a good wife and admission to an academy… How can they hope to win by going to war when there are so many traitors in the country?”
The Grand Duke shouted that, and for nearly 15 minutes, the traitors and their instigator, Peter Yeager, all cursed, calling him a satanic bastard born from a relationship between a man and a man, even his ancestors three generations above him.
The remaining nobles fought back desperately to please the Archduke, who was filled with righteous anger.
Bathory, whose anger gradually subsided through those who flattered him like this, remembered that the people who remained here were relatively honest people, so he let go of his remaining anger and said,
“The situation is not this good, but what can we do? I cannot entrust my army to the untrustworthy and corrupt. Those who were taken out after being found guilty have been relieved of their duties as of now and are being investigated strictly. “Is there anyone who opposes it?”
“I agree with His Highness the Archduke’s opinion. However, if that happens, there will be too many empty seats. How do you plan to fill them?”
The eyes of the remaining nobles sparkled at those words.
Because those who were arrested were as good as dead, so we should pray for their souls to rest in peace, but who filled the empty space they left had a great deal to do with not only the lives of those who barely survived, their families, and factions, but also their political standing.
“If you know someone who is good, recommend them. “Let’s review it quickly and assign the position.”
At the simple words spoken by the Grand Duke like someone who had given up everything, the surviving nobles felt like they wanted to raise a toast and at the same time sharpened their swords to use this opportunity to completely kill the opposing faction.
‘No matter what happens, our faction must occupy more positions and a better position than the Marquis of Radom. Otherwise, the purged bastards’ foolish actions could be blamed on them.’
‘We must get ahead of the Marquis Usuf’s faction at all costs. If you don’t get ahead, you may be purged. If we lose the war, it will be a huge blow… But if we lose this faction war, the entire family is in danger.’
“I’m not in a good mood today, so I’m thinking of taking a break from government work. If you recommend an appropriate person, I will conduct a first review. I will give you 3 days to recommend someone at the director level or higher. “I’ll give you about a month to reach the lowest village head, so you can take care of it.”
After saying that, the Archduke slammed the door and went out.
Afterwards, he drank heavily and had such a passionate affair with his new concubines that he barely woke up the next afternoon to console himself for the shock he had received.
Everything went as Captain Jaeger intended.