316 – Playing with Fire in Switzerland (4)
Count Ticino heard me and stomped his feet.
“You are speaking too harshly! No matter how much he came to mourn the Count of Bern and how sorry he was for his death! Can you insult my lord, His Majesty the Duke, in front of me, the Count of Switzerland? “Please go back. I will pretend I didn’t hear anything today.”
We’ve already taken a big hit, but backing out is something a fool would do.
Me and Count Ticino are each other’s potential enemies, and there’s no way he could keep his word that he wouldn’t hear anything when I went too far in gossiping about him behind his back.
Rather than believe that, I would rather believe that the bullsh*t Francois are spreading about His Majesty being gay is true.
So here, it is right to attack unconditionally with a life-or-death mentality.
“Count, once is difficult, twice is easy. “Doing an unjust act that goes against good faith may be difficult at first because of your conscience, but once you get a taste of it, you will not find it difficult to repeat the same act when a dangerous situation arises.”
“….”
“Think of the benefits His Royal Highness the Duke of Switzerland has gained from this purge of the Count of Bern family. Due to His Majesty’s mistake, exporting mercenaries itself became difficult, and as a result, the people living in this barren land were forced into a situation where they had no choice but to starve. “But what happens now?”
Through this purge, the duke not only succeeded in overcoming the political crisis that faced him, but also took control of the Bern canton and the property of the family of the Counts of Bern.
Although the method he used is truly mean and petty, it is so effective in the short term that I will never be able to escape from that temptation for the rest of my life.
This type of trick is like a drug.
When Count Ticino tried to refute my words, I cut him off and said,
“When I came here and saw Switzerland, the feeling I got was like a volcano that might explode at any time. The people were suffering from hunger to the extent that it would not be surprising if a civil unrest broke out at any time. In the meantime, the Count of Bern was put to death as he was blamed for everything, but isn’t the hunger of the people still not resolved and in fact worsening? His Majesty the Duke will need a second scapegoat. If so, the second victim could be the Count. But are you sure you’re okay?”
“His Majesty the Duke…”
I whispered in Count Ticino’s ear.
“Count Bern must have had such naive thoughts right before he was purged.”
At those words, the Count’s eyes opened wide and his pupils were seen shaking.
I didn’t say it out loud, but this thought must be lingering in the mind of the person in front of me right now.
If another large-scale civil unrest breaks out this time, the Duke of Switzerland may cowardly shoot himself and send himself into the crosshairs in order to survive.
The family of Count Ticino, who had become a disgrace to everyone due to the Duke, was put on trial by the people who were suffering from hunger and madness, and was finally sentenced to death.
In the end, he and his wife and children meet a miserable end by being dragged to the market square and having their heads cut off.
If this were Joseon or China, even if the king purged his subjects with such intentions, there might be loyal subjects who would bow to the king according to Confucian teachings and accept it as the duty of a subject.
However, on the Europa continent, revolt is not viewed as a bad thing when a monarch attempts to purge his subjects without any reason. Rather, I take it for granted.
Anyone who suffers from a lord who is trying to kill him and his entire family through no fault of his own is a fool.
He stretched out two fingers of his right hand and asked.
“So make your choice. Are you going to sit like this and die like Count Bern? Or will you seek the light? The Reich Empire will provide maximum support no matter what choice you make.”
The Count sighed and looked at me.
What I’m saying is, let’s hurry up and find out what that damned light is.
“Rise up with the determination to cut down the Duke of Switzerland before you die. “That is the only way to survive.”
“Are you telling me to go to war with His Majesty the Duke, Marquis?”
“Shouldn’t you do what you need to do to survive? The Duke of Switzerland killed his vassal, the Count of Bern, even though he was innocent. “Is there no reason for him to hold on to a monarch who has abandoned his duty to protect his subjects?”
“Of course, it is my duty to follow His Highness the Duke and go into battle under his orders. “It is only valid when he fulfills his oath to protect me forever…”
Like in the Joseon Dynasty, no matter how bad a king did, it was considered worthy of ridicule for him to die saying like Socrates, ‘Evil laws are also laws.’
Of course, there would be psychological resistance to starting a rebellion to punish a duke who had served for generations, even hundreds of years.
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Humans are creatures of adaptation, and once they have adapted, they have an instinct to avoid taking on new challenges in any situation.
However, since he is already showing signs of being shaken by my words, if I give him the right amount of rice cake, he will move as I want.
With the idea of giving a crying child a piece of rice cake, I need to give it a proper cause. Give some stimulation to the public.
“I believe that Count Ticino will not abandon his vassals just because the Duke of Switzerland has neglected his duty as a nobleman to protect his vassals.”
The count’s face turned red at those words and he glared at me with such force that he felt as if he were going to grab me by the collar.
“No matter what, aren’t those words harsh? “Unlike you, our family, the Count of Ticino, is a family with a history of protecting its vassals for hundreds of years!!!”
For nobles to protect their subjects, called vassals, is a duty on the same level as filial piety toward the parents who gave birth to them and raising their children with love, which all human beings should do.
So, to say something with the meaning of abandoning a vassal to someone who calls himself a noble and is still in his right mind is a great double insult.
It is an insult that goes beyond ‘A Horae child who grew up without a mother or father like this.’ It is likely that it will come out like that.
However, keeping one’s cool when the other party is angry is the skill of a top-notch, or even top-notch, negotiator.
“If your family is threatened, shouldn’t you, as the head of the family, draw your sword and protect it? Moreover, as a count of the Count Ticino family, you are in a position of responsibility for hundreds of thousands of citizens of the county, so you will need to make an even quicker decision.”
The count let go of his harsh expression, sighed, and lowered his head.
“I’m sorry, I just got angry. “Please forgive my rudeness.”
“It’s okay. “I also spoke a bit harshly, Count.”
Count Ticino looked at me and asked with a serious expression.
“If I follow the empire’s will, what kind of support will you give me?”
Usually, when instigating a rebellion like this, it is common to promise some kind of material support, but what I will promise him is not a tangible item.
“Didn’t we sign a five-year peace treaty last time? Based on that treaty, we will prevent the Francoist Republic from interfering in any way when a civil war breaks out in Switzerland. Wouldn’t this be enough? “Everything else is a matter to be handled within the Principality of Switzerland.”
According to the analysis of the Imperial Foreign Office, the reason the Duke of Switzerland can maintain his current position is not because of his outstanding political skills.
I heard that this was because they were worried that if a civil war broke out between the counts in each canton, the Francois Republic or the Reich Empire would invade.
So even if you don’t provide weapons or food, it will be enough to make the count move.
“Is there no other support?”
“I think this is enough. To begin with, isn’t there one or two counts who are gnashing their teeth at the duke? In addition, we believe that we have done enough to stop the François Republic, which is greedy for its territory. However, if you need it, we can provide weapons and armor not used by the fortress imperial army at a low price.”
The Count sighed and said, expressing his intention to acknowledge that this was the limit.
“Very well, Marquis. “You must provide support for weapons and armor that are not in use.”
“The Reich Empire never breaks its promises.”
With those words, I left.
**
Count Ticino, who remained in the room, sighed.
“Damn you, Peter Jaeger bastard. Even if you knew that I wanted to rebel and cut off the f*cking Duke’s head, how could you stab him so well?”
Before the Count of Bern’s death, he pushed the Duke away about three times a day, and he only fantasized about becoming the Duke of Switzerland himself.
However, after the death of his friend, the Count of Bern, as he said, he trembled at the thought that he too would one day be purged and prepared for a civil war…
“If a civil war breaks out, foreign intervention will occur, and if that happens, it will be like killing someone else and giving it to someone else. You barely tolerated it? You crazy guy, he gave old weapons and armor to the subjects he incited to start a rebellion, and only intervened in other countries’ civil wars. “You cowardly bastard who wants to stop you and put an end to it.”
However, Count Ticino had no choice but to follow Jaeger’s trick, which satisfied only the minimum conditions needed to start a rebellion.
Because he didn’t want to die sitting down.
“Huh, now that things have come to this, I think I need to at least get the title of Duke of Switzerland to relieve my anxiety.”
Muttering that, he decided to meet with those who were trying to lead the civil uprising in the name of ‘negotiations’.
Actually, it was a negotiation, but he was trying to sway them.