Ch.180Territory (6)

“…What’s going on with Dijon?”

The Duke of Aquitaine, one of the most prominent royalists among the Carolingian nobles, is greatly perplexed by the recent political developments.

The factory copies aren’t running smoothly, which is already irritating enough… but what are these insane reports?

“The nobles in the Lotharing Kingdom are having their rights massively revoked?”

“Not revoked, but rather, in place of the census—”

“That’s what they call a revocation of rights.”

There are numerous policies infringing on the lords’ rights, such as land surveying, population census, and issuing identification cards to domain residents.

Poking around the domain in search of mines, good forestland, or potential farmland signifies an infringement on territorial governance rights. Conducting a population census means handling the lord’s property—the domain residents—at will, which also implies an infringement on governance rights.

The issuance of identification cards is particularly problematic.

It essentially means refusing to recognize ownership rights over domain residents, treating them not as entities belonging to the domain but as entities belonging to the highest title—the royal domain.

Some lords, not fully understanding the situation, were delighted at the idea of “tagging” their domain residents so they wouldn’t lose them anymore… what fools. Accepting this is no different from acknowledging that my domain residents are merely borrowed from the king.

If they wanted to label their domain residents, they should have done it themselves rather than relying on the king’s power.

“So, is there any risk of this spreading to Caroling? No, looking at the surveying, it’s already happening.”

In fact, the first thing the king did after taking over the Carolingian Kingdom was to deploy numerous surveyors to create maps of the Carolingian territories and measure resources.

Looking at that, it’s fair to say the king has been infringing on the lords’ rights for quite some time.

‘…Now, what should I do?’

I’m still not entirely sure what the king ultimately wants. But it’s clear he intends to take away the lords’ rights—their power—and add it to the royal authority.

In that case, I have three options:

Ignore it, resist it, or cooperate.

The first option carries a high probability of loss, and the magnitude of that loss would be enormous. Ignoring is no different from neutrality, which means there’s nothing to gain regardless of whether the king or the lords win. Moreover, it’s not hard to imagine how the winning side would treat neutral parties who weren’t on their side.

Without looking too far, didn’t the nobles who claimed neutrality during the recent Carolingian succession struggle gain nothing and were simply dragged along in the post-war reorganization by the king?

‘That won’t do.’

Anyone can see I’m a genuine royalist. Wasn’t I the leader of the faction that supported the King of Lotharing as the King of Caroling?

With such a background, maintaining neutrality is absurd. If the king wins, he’ll go mad with a sense of betrayal, and if the lords win, they’ll point fingers at me as a cowardly opportunist and put a sword to my throat.

Resist or cooperate. It must be one of these two.

‘…Tsk.’

“Send someone to the king and ask if he can extend that administrative work to the Carolingian territories as well.”

“Pardon?”

“Did you not hear me?”

“Ah… yes! Understood, Your Highness!”

I’m not particularly pleased with the idea of my domain being arbitrarily evaluated by the king and my domain residents becoming the king’s subjects… but what can I do? I’m already politically one with the king.

It’s impossible for me, who supported the king as the King of Caroling, to resist him.

No matter what madness the king engages in, I must stand with him until the end.

…So from the beginning, I should aim to cooperate with the king and in return, either be exempted from such administrative measures or, if exemption is impossible, secure various administrative concessions, privileges, and more.

……….

‘Oh my God…’

What is all this?

I don’t think I told them to go this far…

‘How many people is this…’

Of course, I did say to implicate as many as possible for treason if possible.

But as I gave examples like implicating someone for treason for giving expensive gifts that could be used as military funds, I meant to do it within reasonable bounds.

But what is all this?

All the nobles in the domain are being investigated for treason, and not just nobles—even wealthy citizens are being investigated.

Wondering what was happening, I looked into it more closely and found that nobles who were friendly with a lord who committed treason were implicated for treason, then nobles who were friendly with those nobles were implicated, and wealthy citizens who had bribed those nobles were also implicated for treason, creating this multi-level process that resulted in far too many suspects.

…What the hell.

“—Therefore, we immediately executed the criminals caught in the act on the spot, Your Majesty!”

“…”

What’s even more horrifying is that they put those “caught in the act” on the guillotine and executed them immediately… “caught in the act”? What nonsense is that?

In this case, only one person was caught in the act—the lord who started this mess.

What do you mean “caught in the act”?

“We executed those who resisted, Your Majesty. We did not kill innocent people, so please rest assured.”

“Resistance… isn’t that what everyone does when designated as a criminal, even if innocent…”

Noticing my confusion, the supervisor who had been working in the field and came to Dijon to report begins to explain in more detail.

…No, what are you saying, you madman?

It’s natural for someone accused of a crime to resist, but to say, “If they’re resisting despite not having committed a crime, they must surely be guilty!” and then kill them—how could you?

Those caught in the act of treason can be executed without trial, but to judge someone as caught in the act because they resist being accused of treason, that’s a bit…

“Ah, of course, we didn’t do that for simple resistance. We dealt with those who pushed and swung weapons at the soldiers executing Your Majesty’s sacred orders, injuring them, and those who defied their status by asking ‘Do you know who I am?’ to those carrying out Your Majesty’s orders.”

“…”

Hearing the supervisor’s explanation, it sounds better than before, but still seems insane.

Injuring soldiers and trying to use one’s status to intimidate soldiers executing official duties under my orders—certainly, that’s behavior deserving punishment.

Moreover, since it happened during an investigation for treason, there’s no basis to completely dismiss it as treason.

Still, killing them is going too far.

“Come to think of it, aren’t you the first among Dijon University graduates to receive the position of supervisor?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. My days in the Administrative Studies department were truly fulfilling. This is not mere flattery—I can proudly say that I became a completely different person after graduating compared to who I was before entering the university.”

I brought this up to understand what kind of person the supervisor is and what led to his judgment, but suddenly he starts speaking as if in fervent prayer.

Those eyes are not the eyes of a liar.

They’re eyes I’ve seen many times across my past and present lives—the eyes of someone who would do anything for their beliefs.

“…You seem to have great pride in the university.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. It was only after receiving numerous teachings at the university that I finally understood why Your Majesty is pursuing such extremely anti-feudal policies. I have endless pride in the university that gave me this enlightenment and in Your Majesty who created it.”

‘Anti-feudal…?’

Well… I suppose it could be seen that way.

Initially, I just wanted to acknowledge the vassals’ positions and let them live comfortably until they died, but somehow as things progressed, it turned into cutting down the vassals’ power and concentrating that power in myself. The claim that I’ve been consistently pursuing anti-feudal policies is quite understandable.

But I have no idea what he means by the rest.

Enlightenment? Was enlightenment something that could be completed just by attending classes?

Above all, wasn’t the Administrative Studies curriculum that Luca and I designed extremely normal and typical? I can’t imagine how one could gain enlightenment from that curriculum.

Um… well…

Right, it’s not a problem with the educational curriculum; this guy just has a peculiar personality.

“Well… I understand roughly. However, try to aim for minimal deaths even for those caught in the act. Shouldn’t we show at least minimal courtesy even to those who have committed crimes? Above all, resistance from a suspect who is already bound should no longer be considered as being caught in the act.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I will do so.”

Given his manner of speaking so far, I expected him to insist that all criminals caught in the act should be killed, but surprisingly, he obediently follows my words.

If he was going to comply so readily, why did he enforce things so harshly in the first place…? There was no need for that.

Sigh, I don’t know.

Since my orders could be interpreted in such a dark way, I’ll let it slide this time, but if he oversteps his authority like this again, I’ll need to discipline the officials strictly.

“…Well, thank you. Keep up the good work.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!!”

To be so genuinely delighted and ecstatic at my routine praise… even in a medieval feudal society where a monarch’s praise is an honor in itself, this is too much.

Well, people’s personalities are all different, so it’s possible for someone like him to exist.

If this guy continues as a supervisor, he’s likely to cause a major incident someday, so I should speak to Leclerc separately later to prevent him from holding important positions like supervisor again. I hope the other graduates are more sensible.