Ch.161Military Nation (1)

“…Why is it so expensive.”

Having impulsively pushed forward with this project on my own whim, I can’t really blame anyone else, but I still can’t help being shocked.

I thought horses would be readily available from the military barracks, and since the arena was just tracks drawn on the ground except for the spectator stands, I didn’t expect it to cost much. But it’s turning out more expensive than I anticipated.

First, there are the spectator stands. Even though they’re made of wood, they’re quite large and need to support the weight of crowds, so they required a lot of materials. Above all, with the new city construction still ongoing, the cost of labor has risen significantly.

Second are the horses. I thought we could just take them from the barracks where horses are plentiful, but that wasn’t the case. Obviously, we couldn’t use ugly, weak horses with no outstanding qualities for racing, so we had to search throughout the country to carefully select suitable racehorses.

The problem was that most of these horses already had owners.

It’s impossible for beautiful and exceptional horses to just be lying around in barracks.

As a result, we had to either rent or purchase these fine horses from their owners, which led to higher expenses than expected. What’s even more frustrating is that we weren’t just paying for the horses—we were forced to hire their dedicated caretakers from the owners as well.

“But hasn’t it been an incredible success?”

“That’s true. If we sell betting tickets, we could recoup the costs quickly.”

Thanks to all this preparation, the racetrack stands were filled to capacity from the first day, and when seats ran out, citizens stood to watch the races.

The second day was even more impressive, likely due to word spreading from those who attended the first day. Dijon became so empty as citizens flocked to the racetrack that it was clearly visible even from up here in the palace.

“What happened to those political movements?”

“As Your Majesty anticipated, the propaganda movements that many citizens participated in have significantly diminished. While there are still many people trying to incite others, most citizens seem more interested in the magnificent horse races than in abstract politics that don’t immediately affect them. Of course, this isn’t because their loyalty to Your Majesty has weakened, but because horse racing is simply more stimulating.”

The effect is better than I expected.

I thought it would take more time to completely bury the political movements, but progress is surprisingly fast. At this rate, political activism will completely dry up in Dijon within a month.

The problem is the other cities beyond Dijon.

Not just Dijon, but other cities are also burning with anger toward foreign countries after seeing the posters I created. Their fervor is even more intense than Dijon’s, as Dijon hasn’t been attacked by foreign powers much, while other cities have frequently suffered such attacks.

Moreover, Dijon is highly developed and, as the royal capital, has extensive foreign exchanges, making people less wary of foreigners. Other cities rarely receive foreign visitors specifically coming to see them, making them extremely unfamiliar with and hostile toward outsiders.

It’s like the exclusivity of rural villages has been magnified and transferred to cities. They’re literally filled with hostility toward the unfamiliar—perfect examples of closed medieval societies.

“…What if we spread this horse racing throughout the country?”

“That would cost a lot of money.”

“I suppose so…”

LeClerc responds with a suddenly serious expression, cutting the matter short.

Cities other than Dijon have smaller populations, so selling betting tickets would only result in deficits. If we downgrade the quality of horses or facilities to account for this, people won’t be interested in horse racing.

I can’t try something else besides horse racing… Gambling-heavy horse racing might barely break even, but theaters or gladiatorial games would be even worse financially.

Sigh, I’ll have to ignore the cities outside Dijon for now. No matter how much they act up, they’re just provincial areas that will eventually calm down—wait a minute.

“What do you think about providing military training to the people?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you think people take war too lightly because they only talk about it? That’s what I think. Of course, if we simply demand military training from the people, there would be strong resistance, so we’d need to offer compensation like bread or wages.”

Isn’t there a term for those who act aggressively despite never having experienced war or served in the military? Chicken hawks?

In medieval times, social norms and common sense tend to focus more on war being glorious rather than terrible, but still, those who haven’t experienced war tend to call for it more eagerly, similar to modern times. Since the innate instincts of humans can’t change, the concept of chicken hawks would apply here too.

That means if we provide regular military training to the people, even if it’s not full conscription… hmm, there’s potential.

Farmers could train during their off-seasons, and citizens could be scheduled according to administrative convenience.

Of course, gathering people just for military training would be wasteful, so it would be better to include various educational components like ideological education, important farming tips, tax calculation methods, literacy, law, how to handle unfair treatment, and so on.

Wait, looking at it now, isn’t this universal conscription…? It seems like I keep finding more ways to spend money.

It’s fortunate that I absorbed Caroling; otherwise, the treasury would have been completely drained.

………

“…So they say we must increase military expenditure.”

The Emperor is in a very unpleasant mood.

What the Empire needs at this point is not military expansion, but the political situation in Lotharing is forcing the Empire to increase its military budget.

“A university specializing in military science, an institution for training professional cavalry, the conversion of mercenaries into a standing army through permanent employment, expansion of workshops manufacturing military supplies, and now basic military training for all citizens—Lotharing clearly desires to invade other countries.”

“And the target would be the Empire, which is right next door.”

“Yes.”

The Emperor cannot refute Lorenzo’s words.

That’s only natural. All evidence suggests that the Empire will be the target of attack, and under these circumstances, reducing military spending is out of the question.

‘He’s insane.’

A common characteristic of young monarchs, both past and present, is their excessive vigor. They often act recklessly, unaware of their nation’s limitations.

The problem is that the limits of Lotharing under the Bastard King are far, far higher.

Although it had been significantly weakened due to heavy containment, the Duchy of Burgundy—which had enough potential in its prime to simultaneously fight and win against the Carolingian Kingdom and the Holy Empire—transformed into the Kingdom of Lotharing after consuming numerous territories, and then completely absorbed Caroling.

If a ruler of a small country acts aggressively, one could simply scoff and ignore it, but when a ruler of a powerful nation acts aggressively, it cannot be overlooked.

“We made a defense treaty to reduce military spending… but this undermines its effectiveness.”

“Think positively, Your Majesty. Without the defense treaty, military expenses would have been several times higher.”

“Well, you’re right about that.”

We are thinking in an entirely rational and reasonable manner.

We might overlook the university specializing in military science, the conversion of mercenaries into a standing army, and the institution for cavalry training as potentially justifiable, but providing regular basic military training to all citizens so they can be immediately conscripted is truly the idea of a madman.

Thanks to the long border and years of exchange, the Empire could easily send spies to Lotharing, and these spies all reported that Lotharing was providing periodic military training to all able-bodied men in the country.

Unless a nation’s fate is hanging in the balance, war should be the exclusive domain of professionally trained warriors, but the King of Lotharing has completely violated this taboo.

Of course, no matter how much military training civilians receive, they will still be just trained civilians, so we don’t expect much from them. Nevertheless, the very fact that civilians who should be farming and paying taxes are receiving such military training is terrifying.

Is that mad king planning to push all his people into the abyss of death?

“So, is simply increasing military spending enough?”

“Of course, using military funds appropriately is more important than simply increasing them. However, I am not knowledgeable in that area…”

“Well, how can anyone be perfect? Don’t be so hard on yourself. I will select suitable candidates, and you can choose from among them.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

The allocation of military funds inevitably requires monitoring the movements of high-ranking nobles connected to the military, making it an extremely difficult task for Lorenzo, who is of foreign origin.

Seeing through this, the Emperor implied that he would shield Lorenzo from them, which Lorenzo immediately understood and bowed deeply in gratitude.

“But when do you think Lotharing intends to start this war?”

“With Lotharing making such preparations, war won’t break out in the immediate future. They will make their move when all these preparations are complete—when the cavalry training is perfected and the militarization of civilians is finished.”

“We must be fully prepared by then.”

While it’s impossible to know exactly when Lotharing’s war preparations will be complete, it’s clear that war will break out as soon as they are.

With this understanding, the Emperor and his minister begin preparing for the great war to come.