EP.246
Grand Duke of Warsaw Royal Palace Conference Room
In normal times, it was the Grand Duke of Warsaw’s principle to protect his dignity and dignity not to show his anger unless something serious happened.
So, 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 robes worth 300 gold pieces, he did not raise a loud voice but scolded him quietly.
Stefan von Báthory, today’s Grand Duke of Warsaw and the 12th generation to inherit the title, has rarely broken that principle and is causing a loud outcry at a gathering of nobles.
“How can lower level officials be so arrogant and corrupt, let alone that 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!”
Archduke Bathory shouted so loudly that he threw the empty glass on the floor, and the pieces flew everywhere along with the sound of glass breaking.
It was an outrageous act that should not have been shown to key figures in the military and administration, such as a great nobleman instead of a general, from the king of a country.
No one present could tell the Archduke to calm down.
The Grand Duke, who made the atmosphere even more violent 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 his human eyes.
“Count Hunyadi! The corruption in the damn West Coast cities and towns under Count Hunyadi’s jurisdiction is beyond imagination! No, a village chief took 200 gold! The bailiff (village head) received 1,000 gold gold, and among the inspectors (district mayor), a crazy person took bribes worth 10,000 gold 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 besides 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 head of his faction, the Marquis of Radom… but the Marquis pretended not to see and shook his head.
It was a signal to take care of it and die on your own since you couldn’t cover it yourself.
“What excuse can I make, Your Highness? “I am fully aware of all responsibility, so I will resign from public office 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.
“The officers are under arrest by order of His Majesty the Archduke. “Please understand.”
The nobles, whose arms were caught by 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 evidence they have to arrest me! “What is your official rank?”
“Your Majesty the Grand Duke! You’re mistaken! We are innocent! Please save me! Please release me! “I can explain everything!”
Meanwhile, other remaining nobles who had escaped arrest because they were not caught in this corruption incident tried to protest to the Archduke that this was too harsh a measure… but the
Archduke ignored all of 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.
“Chief of Blood, 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?”
Since 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 officials began to be revealed.
This went on and on, until even the sins of those at the top of aristocratic society were exposed.
After saying that, the Archduke couldn’t 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 up and drag him away and interrogate him leisurely. Come on!!”
In response to that order, the inspector general’s administrators and knights 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 for any chance of survival.
“Your Majesty, please forgive us just once for the loyalty our family has shown so far! 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 Archduke 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 lower-ranking nobles belonging to the inspection department or the administration, they were all genuine.
Just in case, an investigation was conducted and all the crimes were consistent with the contents of the ledger, so as the monarch of a country, he could not ignore it.
As the nobles were dragged out, there was a cold atmosphere among the remaining people, as if a blizzard had struck…
“According to the later investigation by the Deputy Director of the Inspection Department, the people who wrote the ledgers were in ‘secret communication’ with that damned Captain Jaeger. 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 Archduke 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 Majesty the Archduke. 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.
This is 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 and their family factions, but also their political standing.
“If there is a good person you know, please recommend it. “Let’s review it quickly and assign the position.”
The surviving nobles felt like they wanted to raise a toast and sharpened their swords to use this opportunity to completely kill the opposing faction.
‘No matter what happens, our faction must occupy more and better positions than the Marquis of Radom. If we don’t do that, the purged bastards’ idiotic actions can be brought to light.’
‘We must get ahead of Marquis Usuf’s faction at all costs. If you don’t get ahead, you may be purged. Losing the war would 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.
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Thank you, reader.
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