108 – End of Day (4)
“Good work Sir Simon.”
“I just did what I had to do.”
The troops sent as mercenaries to the Holy Empire civil war have returned. The various generals who led the army will now teach students using various military knowledge in the newly created military academy.
“You have preserved the army very well. As expected, it is a talent recommended by Arras.”
“It’s too much praise. Marching time was more than 10 times longer than fighting time, and more than half of the fighting time was simple confrontation.”
“Hmm…”
I-san, take this kind of compliment as a thank you. Do you think I, who have been reported so far, don’t know that?
When the situation turned strange, the armies of the countries that participated in the crusade moved to preserve their strength in preparation for unrest, and the nobility within the empire were all connected by blood anyway, so they did not dare to fight until death. The only ones who tried to fight to the end were the church forces, some belligerent nobles, and hired mercenaries.
‘Come to think of it, how the preserved army moves is the key.’
As the Holy War came to an abrupt end, the nations participating in the Holy War went into a complete uproar.
The Emperor himself and the Seonghwangcheong at least managed to end the meaningless fight while maintaining the minimum amount of prestige, but the nations that participated in the crusade, including the vassals within the empire, returned empty-handed with nothing gained. Prestige? Not to mention that.
Of course, there will be wealth plundered from the Holy Empire, but that is of no use to the country that dispatched the army. It probably slipped into the pockets of soldiers and officers. It wasn’t that he was desperately avoiding the fight by suddenly moving as if to conserve power.
Anyway, a representative example of a country that went into chaos due to the failure of the holy war is the neighboring kingdom of Carolingian.
[Does Charles’ army only lose? Are you using Carolingian’s great army only to defeat it?!]
[I have overdone my vassal duty, I will refuse all further requests without justification!]
[Isn’t this… Worth doing? After losing battle after defeat, the central army has become a ragged mess, and the number of people is still there, but since supplies and money are all gone, won’t we be able to supply them all?]
The Carolingian kingdom, which traditionally had the strongest royal authority in this area, suffered a series of defeats in the war, causing its royal authority to plummet.
The vassals either looked down on the king or looked at him with hostility, and nobles with blood ties to the Carolingian family sought to use their lineage to achieve their ambitions, rather than protecting their relatives in crisis.
As far as the news goes one after another to the neighboring country, Rotaring, it would be safe to say that the people of that country already know about it. That civil war was right around the corner.
However, King Carolingian is unable to maintain his army due to the evaporation of his finances, and he cannot even count on the help of his vassals since he has summoned them excessively beyond feudal contracts. It must be similar to the feeling of not being able to do anything because your body is in such poor condition, even though you can clearly see the danger of dying and the way to cope with it. Really, I’m going to burn beyond the bitterness.
‘Well, it’s me.’
The more confused Caroling is, the better Rotaring, the neighboring country, will be. Of course, if there is chaos enough to be called the end of the century, all the refugees will come in and Caroling, who has been driven to the edge of the cliff, will not know what to do.
If you control the intensity of your strength while supporting them so that the civil war does not end, even the permanent division of Carolingian will not be a dream. In fact, there are cases where the Kingdom of Sicily was divided into the Kingdom of Sicily in Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily in the island of Sicily.
From now on, I’ll have to line up the claimants to the throne.
If a claimant revolts, it means that he has built up that much power, and in that case, the help he offers will be slightly less valuable.
If I continue to support them from now on, there will be times when I have reached out in times of difficulty and there will be times when I have been punished by accepting them, so the claimants will have no choice but to move according to my will.
Okay, I gave the order to make contact while slowly giving bribes–
“…?”
“Oh, sorry about this. I’ve been thinking about something else for a while.”
Oops, I made a mistake.
To think about something else for a few minutes with a soldier standing in front of him with a knife in front of him, it is clear that the soldier concerned must be afraid that he has made a big mistake.
So… Yeah, I complimented you, but you insisted on saying no, right?
“Kuhmm, Sir Simon. Humility is certainly a virtue, but the quality a general should have is bravery rather than humility. It would be nice if he showed off his abilities a little more.”
“…I will keep this in mind, Your Majesty.”
“Then enjoy the banquet to the fullest. It will be held until late in the evening, so I hope you enjoy the luxuries you haven’t been able to enjoy because you’ve been on the battlefield for a year.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for your hospitality.”
Simon made a slightly shocked expression at my words, then quickly lowered his head and expressed his gratitude for the return banquet.
Hmmm, it seems that this is enough to understand the suggestion to stop talking nonsense. After all, it’s better for soldiers to be direct rather than insinuating.
…………
“Your Majesty, this is a list of products from Rotaring exempted from customs duty within the Empire.”
“Let’s see… As agreed beforehand.”
The end of the holy war brought many by-products to Rotaling. Among them, excluding indirect ones such as chaos in neighboring countries, direct gains include the tariff exemption privileges received from the empire in exchange for the end of the war.
When Rotaring Merchants sell goods within the empire, food and other daily necessities can be exempted from tariffs and get privileges.
Rotaring can sell goods for a fair price, and the empire can supply goods cheaply to the people who have been impoverished due to the war, which is helpful to the people’s livelihood, and the sales tax on goods is still good for both Rotaring and the empire. I was greatly shaken when I insisted, but then the price of mediation said that I would end it with this, and the empire immediately accepted my claim.
In regions where Rotaring’s influence is strong, artisans who make mediocre quality products will wither away due to cheap industrial products, and imperial farmers whose farmland has been plundered will not be able to escape poverty with the import of cheap agricultural products… What do you think? It was the fool’s fault. Yeah, I’ve told a little less truth, but I’m not lying, so there’s no point in cheating.
Of course, as the empire has a large weight class, it would be difficult to cover the entire empire with the influence of Rotaring, but this is still enough. Many territories close to Rotaring will depend more on me than on the Emperor of the Empire.
“What happened to Seonghwangcheong?”
“Yes, it is said that the State Council of the Holy See, with the consent of the majority, has decided not to make any judgments about any of Your Majesty’s previous actions.”
“Hmm… I don’t really like it when others look at my actions and judge them as justified or unjustified, but… Well, that’s fine.”
Looking at the fact that the seal of the State Council, not the seal of Seonghwang, was stamped, you can roughly guess how the situation went. Seonghwang, who is difficult to see the work, would have been extremely negative about pardoning the sins I committed, but the high-ranking officials of the Seonghwangcheong must have passed it for the purpose of political gain.
Still, the State Council, the administrative body of the Seonghwangcheong, has already recognized it, so even the Seonghwang will not be able to do anything about it. Seonghwangcheong, which had minimized the aftermath of the temple failure through various treaties, was in a frenzy, such as the fall of Seonghwang’s authority, but the others… Ugh, let’s not talk.
‘Honestly, it’s a bit disappointing… But this is enough.’
Comparing what Seonghwangcheong gave to the Empire, it is too cheap to see it as the cost of mediation. However, if you include all the previous acts such as deprivation of church territories and establishment of minor theological schools, it can be considered sufficient. Wouldn’t it make me sick if I asked for more?
Now that we can run our business more smoothly, and now that Chloe and Jeanne can go around with their faces proud, we should be thankful enough.
“…Your Majesty, but you should refrain from speaking about Chloe and Jeanne as much as possible.”
“I know.”
At that time, Leclerc, who was carefully watching my expression, cautiously said so.
I don’t think there’s anything to be embarrassed about anymore, so did you think you could just go out and talk about Chloe and Jeanne?
“…Yes, I’m glad you already know. Please don’t forget.”
“…?”
What’s wrong?
Leclerc had the face of his grandfather who had resigned himself to seeing his grandson respond casually to a reasonable request.
No, is it real? There’s no reason why I have to go around saying that, right?