EP.295
As soon as I persuaded the ambassadors of each country to sign a five-year peace treaty, I immediately requested an audience with the emperor.
His Majesty must have thought that I would want to talk to him in person, so I received word from the Grand Chief that I could meet him right away, as he had reserved some time.
After signing a treaty, you can meet face to face with His Majesty the Emperor of a country in just 20 minutes and report on the future of the empire.
I don’t think it’s something I should say as I’m now moving toward an audience, but it’s a bit surprising that everything happens so smoothly, like stir-frying beans in a flash of lightning.
“When Captain Jaeger enters the room, His Majesty will be waiting for you.”
“Thank you, Your Excellency, Grand Chief.”
“Hurry up and go inside. Oh, leave the sword to me and go in. “For information security reasons, there is no one inside except Her Majesty herself.”
When I meet the emperor at the imperial palace, I have treated him privately several times, but strictly speaking, the captain of the guard is present in the corner to prevent assassination, so there is virtually no one who treats the emperor privately except the empress, who is sleeping with him.
Therefore, when I want to meet with subjects like me as secretly as possible, the captain of the guard, who holds the semi-honorary rank of captain, is usually present, and when I want to meet more privately, armed female slaves stand as guards.
Since these female slaves do not leave the emperor’s side from birth to death and live as his slaves for the rest of their lives, they are secretly hidden people and cannot divulge any information they hear, so from a security perspective, it is virtually like there is no one there.
“This is Captain Peter Yeager. “Let’s go in.”
When I went inside, there was a beauty and an emperor armed with a sword, just as I expected.
“See you, Your Majesty.”
“Ah, Captain Jaeger. It was a lot of hard work. I really didn’t think it would be possible to persuade the ambassadors of those six countries to sign a five-year peace treaty. No, actually, I believed you could do it because you always saved me from danger, but I never thought you could handle it so quickly.”
“All of this was possible because the previous emperors and your empire were strong. “My role is not that big.”
The emperor chuckled after hearing what I said.
“Why don’t you just act confident. According to that, all officers in the empire, starting with the Minister of Military Affairs, are not as good as you, so in a way, it seems like they lack ability. If you’re not too arrogant, I’ll admit it, so act confident. So, is there anything you want as a reward? If you want, I’ll give you anything except her near me. “This woman cannot be shared even with the crown prince.”
“No matter how much this matter is related to military policy, isn’t it essentially the job of a diplomat? Therefore, there should not be a single trace of record or evidence that I officially participated in this. “If a public record is left, even hundreds of years after my death, a villain may appear who wants to use this to ruin the empire.”
His Majesty raised his hand and unconsciously covered his open mouth.
“… If you wish, I would give you one more marquis territory among the territories obtained by purging the Manstein faction so far. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve already had enough.”
“They say you look after gold in imperial politics, and that was true. I understand. “It’s a bit unfortunate that I can’t give you anything more, but I respect your wishes.”
Some people in the empire call me a person who has little material greed, but strictly speaking, I just live by distinguishing between what I can eat and what I cannot covet.
That’s because after starting my career as an officer, I broke many of the empire’s promotion records and rose to the rank of captain in just 12 years. What I felt was, ‘If you are greedy, your stomach will explode while eating.’
Even now, I have always refused people who want to join my family’s faction and ask me to pay thousands of gold every year for protection.
Here, the idiots who crossed the line and tried to get him to take his daughter as a concubine threatened them with death if they tried such a trick the first time, and handed the idiot who did it the second time to the inspection department to be ‘inspected’.
And my current situation was the perfect time to get in trouble for being greedy for no reason.
Your Majesty will not doubt me, but I swung my sword a little too hard in purging Count Manstein and his associates who were trying to create militarism.
I could be impeached for just that, but I also get a portion of the territory held by Manstein and his group?
Even if you don’t lose your position as captain, Your Majesty will have to admit some mistakes in favor of the faction opposing me to some extent. You’ll have to be brought to the Imperial Diet and subjected to crazy ‘hearings’ for months.
Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps, damn it.
“By the way, what do you think the imperial army should do in the future? They told the ambassadors that they had deliberately released a level 2 military secret that the empire would not let go of the army. “Is that sincere?”
Manstein also advocated expanding the size of the military in his active expansion policy, and I also advocate expanding the military.
However, it may seem contradictory to say that his opinion is bullshit and what I say is right.
We can never reduce the army for the sake of the empire’s hegemony, or simply for the survival of the Reich Empire.
Because the current Reich Empire is destined to go straight down the path of defeat if it shows even the slightest ‘room for challenge’ to other countries.
So, I personally agree with what Manstein said about the need to provide more support to the military.
“Your Majesty, from a military perspective, the Empire is now in a position to aim for hegemony on the Europa continent. To put this in reverse, it is the same as saying that other countries are in an indescribable crisis. Because the happiness of the empire and your Majesty is misfortune for other countries.”
“I don’t know who coined this phrase because my happiness is misfortune for others, but it really describes the diplomatic situation of the empire.”
“As the captain of the empire, I dare say that unless the empire stops war and increases its army. “The six countries that signed the peace negotiations this time will try to break the treaty and start a war under ridiculous justifications.”
The emperor asked with a questioning look on his face.
“I don’t think they can trust each other. “According to the report from the head of the intelligence department, there was just a fight in the small banquet room that almost led to a fight.”
“They can unite around the common sentiment that whenever they see His Majesty and the Empire happy, they feel sick to their stomachs. “This is because it is a matter directly related to the country’s national interests and is also the same as the matter of protecting the ambassador’s vested rights.”
It is an idiom that means that even the people of Wu and Yue, who are ready to kill each other when they see each other’s faces, join forces and row together to survive when their boat is swept away by waves.
As the saying goes, the happier and more prosperous the empire becomes, the more they realize that they are in danger, so they are able to band together for the purpose of ‘survival’.
“However, if the empire continues to maintain and grow its army, they will most likely not be able to unite even if they try to do so. Because the empire has no choice but to choose the best strategy to escape the danger of the six-nation alliance. And by increasing the power and size of the military, it is possible to wage a war with minimal delay. “And then…”
His Majesty interrupted me for a moment.
“Of the six countries, they would pick the most powerful country, or just any country, and destroy it. Then, naturally, some of the Allied Powers will attack the devastated neighboring country, which is easier prey than a strong empire.”
“No matter how much they feel sick to their stomachs after seeing the happy state of the empire, they will decide that it is better to just stay still rather than have their country desolate like a desert.”
“Your argument and that of the traitor Manstein seem to be subtly similar, but the results are completely different. One is a strong country that increases its military power so that enemies cannot attack without permission. The other is a foolish country that tries to eliminate a country that would become an enemy in advance but is suppressed. Among these, the former is much better. by the way.”
The emperor looked like he was thinking for a moment and then asked with a serious expression.
“I think the imperial army will be greatly weakened if it doesn’t fight for five years. “Have you put in place sufficient measures?”
I confirmed that with a smile.
“Your Majesty, I have prepared some things that are as difficult as ‘guerrilla training’ and ‘regular training’ that are suitable for increasing the capabilities of the imperial army, but are more effective than that.”
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