EP.102
In any case, it is not a good sign that a person with enormous power suddenly changes his or her attitude towards me.
Because usually when a person suddenly changes their attitude, it means that there is something unpleasant about them.
As evidence of this, divorce lawyers often say that if a wife who has been acting awkwardly suddenly starts treating you well, you should suspect her of infidelity.
If you investigate this as an opportunity, there is a fairly high probability that there will be a story that the wife started cheating when she started to change her attitude.
Of course, His Royal Highness has been thinking about how he can provide more to Brigadier General Jaeger ever since he first met me.
When you analyze my current situation and the change in Your Highness’s attitude, I don’t think you will have any feelings of suspicion or even the slightest discomfort with me.
However, since I succeeded in breaking the long-standing imperial custom and being promoted to the youngest general, I guess they are trying to treat me better for fear that the number of people like hyenas targeting me will increase.
“Your words are too much for me, Your Majesty the Crown Prince. As Your Highness said, even if I were a person of great value, if Your Highness had not selected me, I would not have been able to avoid being a low-level officer. “Please stop speaking.”
And as if I had been right in expressing my humility, the Crown Prince smiled brightly and with a sincere smile as he let me go and said,
“Kuhm. The flattery is too much. “Isn’t it burdensome to keep saying that?”
“I’m sorry.”
“By the way, I sincerely congratulate you on your promotion to brigadier general. When I first saw you, I thought you would be able to achieve the rank of brigadier general before you are 30. How could it be that at the age of 25, he was promoted to brigadier general and received the Golden Knight’s Sword? “It is Deus’ blessing that you, who have even acquired such a large land in the north, are my subjects.”
If it had been Joseon, they would have been humble and added all sorts of rhetoric about how it was possible because of His Majesty’s virtue.
This is a world where flaunting and bragging about one’s achievements without crossing the line is accepted as manly behavior.
So, without saying anything, I nodded and agreed.
The crown prince said while tapping my shoulder.
“Your fame has already spread not only to Czechia, but also to the Austrian Duchy of Warsaw and Latina Papal States. Of course, with Peter Yeager as a subject, my insight is also highly regarded across the continent, and thanks to this, I was able to travel comfortably even though it was my first diplomatic mission as a crown prince. And look at this.”
After saying that, the Crown Prince proudly held out in front of me a scroll with the seal of the Holy See.
“It is a letter of dismissal to dismiss the French Republic in the name of Deus. I insisted on what you said, and the Pope himself wrote it for me with only 20,000 gold donations. And by now, news has reached every country on this continent that the François Republic has been deposed.”
Although I did not intend to do so, His Majesty the Crown Prince has already made a great contribution to the upcoming expedition to the Francois Republic.
Because now that the Francois Republic has been deposed, they will have to mobilize all their political, diplomatic, and financial assets to ask for forgiveness from the Vatican in order to quickly withdraw the expulsion.
In the meantime, no matter how we treat the Francois Republic, if you interfere with our empire, which is the Pope’s tool for executing justice, you too can use the shield of excommunication.
While delivering justice to the Francois Republic, future attacks or other military actions by potential enemies can be completely prevented.
In addition, if weapons and armor are needed to reform excommunicated heretics, wouldn’t it be possible to import them from a neighboring country with exemption from customs duties of 30% of the price of the goods?
They can use that as an excuse to stockpile all kinds of military supplies at low prices.
“That’s amazing, Your Majesty. “With this, we are starting this war with complete victory.”
The crown prince asked with a very pleasant smile upon hearing that compliment.
“But now that you have earned the star, you know that simply assuming victory in battle is not enough. “Tell me honestly, how far do you plan to take this war as a stepping stone?”
There is only one thing that the current Crown Prince wants from me.
Giving back more than what you invested is making your reputation and imperial authority the most powerful in the empire.
Also, the war I am planning now can exactly satisfy His Highness the Crown Prince’s desires.
“I will speak specifically to Your Majesty.”
“Hmm, tell me.”
“I am thinking of this as a war that will lay the foundation for the Reich Empire to take over the entire Francois Republic within 10 years at the shortest or 20 years at the longest after Your Majesty ascends the throne as Emperor.”
At those words, the crown prince looked at me with an expression of emotion that almost made him cry.
“First of all, Your Majesty is not a commander or commander, so I will leave aside tactical matters. “Strategically, to completely defeat an enemy in war, you must occupy the territory that is the source of the enemy’s military power and neutralize its economic power.”
“That’s right, because the number of soldiers is proportional to the area of the country’s territory, and armament and supplies are determined by economic power.”
“Among these, I am thinking of destroying their economic power through this war. The eastern region of the Francois Republic, which we are attacking first, is earning a huge amount of income by selling food and top-quality wine from the vast plains.”
As a result of going back and forth between the Intelligence Department of the General Staff and the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to plan this operation, I learned that the income from the plains east of the Francois Republic amounted to 40% of the entire income of the Republic.
Conversely, if the Republic loses the eastern zone, it not only means that its finances will be reduced to about 60% of their current level.
“It is only 15% of the total territory of the Republic, but 40% of food production takes place there, so if we take over that land, we will have an overwhelming advantage over them both economically and in the amount of food we can secure.”
Therefore, the empire will have the money and food to mobilize far more troops than it does now.
“Besides, they will really have to beg the Pope of Latina with both hands and feet to get the excommunication, so they will probably have to pay several years’ worth of the national budget as atonement. With incomes and food production down 40%, it will take at least several decades to recover the deficit. “Over that period, the difference in national power between the Reich Empire and the Francois Republic will gradually increase.”
In fact, when the Hundred Years’ War broke out and the famous Battle of Poitiers, the Black Prince devastated the wealthy southern part of France.
There are records showing that France’s finances fell by 20% and that it took decades to rebuild the town and finances.
It was a guess based on that.
“When His Majesty the Crown Prince ascends the throne as Emperor, we will slowly put military pressure on the François Republic as if strangling it with soft cotton. “Wouldn’t someday all of François’ territories be in the hands of His Majesty the Emperor?”
At those words, the crown prince threw away his dignity and clapped like a seal.
“Very good! Even if we don’t win this battle, the Francois will not be able to show off the same power they used to because they spent a huge amount of money just to excommunicate them!”
“Since I am your swordsman, I will promise you a great victory in this battle that will be remembered in history.”
“Cancer, that’s how it should be. By the way, I wasn’t able to go to your wedding because I was busy traveling overseas, right?”
When I nodded at those words, the crown prince handed me a scroll and said,
“After being promoted to brigadier general and getting married, I can’t let you live in a small mansion with only eight rooms. “I have purchased a mansion belonging to a fallen count family in Reichburg, and I will give it to you.”
My title is Viscount, but you gave me a mansion that was already used by the Count family.
Was this an unspoken expression of pressure and expectation for me to achieve the highest level of merit and rise to the rank of count?
I am so grateful, but the count’s mansion in the capital is worth at least 2,000 gold…
That means that one house is equivalent to one year’s living expenses for 2,000 households of serfs. You just give something like this to me for absolutely nothing in return.
“The furniture in the mansion happened to be old, so I rearranged it with new furniture that matched the atmosphere of the mansion. Please don’t feel pressured and write. I also heard that he was so busy with work these days that he left his wife alone even though he was newlywed. so. Out of pity, I got some tickets to a performance by a theater company supported by the imperial family. With this, I can at least go see a play with Colonel Laura this weekend. “When I should be living a hot newlywed life, I get tired of working.”
“I will repay your kindness to the best of my ability.”
At those words, the crown prince looked at me and smiled brightly.
“You have already shown more performance than I expected. So don’t feel too pressured.”
This seems to be pressure to go on Francois’ expedition and work as well as he has done so far because I have done this.
To be honest, there’s nothing I can’t do… but it’s very burdensome.
“And as I’ve been traveling abroad these days, I’ve noticed that your fame has spread all the way to the Latin Papal States. So, wouldn’t you be concerned that they might try to recruit you, or that Peter Yeager might be falsely accused of being in secret contact with a foreign country?”
In many wars, there are countless cases where generals were killed because they were falsely accused of having conspired with the enemy when they did not.
In Joseon, General Yi Sun-sin was also dragged into King Seonjo’s ridiculous logic of ignoring Won Gyun’s bullshit and then preparing for betrayal.
“Also, even if you are a rank officer, it is not a good thing to be promoted to general and not have a single female servant to serve you. I will find a suitable woman and place her under you. If you have any personal needs from morning to night, I will personally help you. “Then let’s go.”
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I thought as I bowed to the crown prince’s order to go and leave.
His Majesty the Crown Prince does not doubt me at all, but he is worried that other generals or political opponents will find fault with me because of the situation I am in.
So, like other generals, I am trying to completely prove my alibi by placing a beautiful woman to serve me.
“Ha~ Laura will probably hate it. Still, it’s something that can’t be helped, so you’ll understand. Instead, let’s apologize profusely today.”
A word from the author (author review)
The heroine on the changed cover is Anastasia Kergit.
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PS The women who serve generals are not slaves.
Most serf girls of the appropriate age who are confident in their looks apply and usually retire after about five years.
Since their job is to watch over and serve the general, their salary often exceeds 1 gold per month, and if they successfully complete their mission, they are given a huge amount of money as compensation for their efforts, so the competition is quite fierce.
And there are many cases where she becomes the concubine of a noble general and the life of the entire family blooms.
See next episode
