Ch.181Territory (7)

“…What the hell is this guy doing?”

Vulgar speech, the kind that would be used by lowly servants or even lower serfs, spills from the lips of the noble Emperor.

But none of the courtiers standing nearby dare to point out his manner of speech.

Because they all felt exactly the same way.

“What on earth is his reason for doing this? Does he plan to kill all the nobles and establish a republic?”

Of course, the republic comment was meant as a joke, but what’s frightening is that the possibility isn’t zero.

His way of thinking is utterly incomprehensible.

Until recently, he was acting as if he would invade at any moment, frantically expanding his military. Now, he’s pointing the swords of that expanded army inward—at the nobles of Lotharing and Caroling.

Why on earth?

‘Could he be planning to seize their territories and convert them all into his direct domains?’

If that’s the case, it can only be seen as an incredibly shortsighted judgment.

There have been countless attempts throughout history to eradicate the lords and convert all lands into royal domains, and none of those attempts ended well.

The lords would resist fiercely, not just enough to drain the nation’s resources, but enough to completely shatter it. Simultaneously, they would break their feudal contracts with their sovereign or change their allegiance, leading to numerous cases of secession.

Of course, despite these many difficulties, completely stripping away territories isn’t entirely impossible, but the real problem begins after the territories have been fully confiscated.

The question remains of how to manage these confiscated territories, now direct domains.

‘How greedy.’

Controlling all direct domains from the royal capital? If that were possible, the very concept of lords entrusted with land management wouldn’t have emerged in the first place.

Eventually, people would have to be sent to manage the conquered territories, and over time, those people would end up replacing the existing lords.

In other words, what the King of Lotharing is doing is completely pointless.

If I were in his position, rather than wasting time like this, I would have improved relations with my vassals to gain smoother cooperation in various administrative and military aspects.

“He must be deceiving Your Majesty’s eyes.”

“Indeed. Gathering an army by taking an aggressive stance externally in order to eliminate all domestic political forces—truly a way of thinking that no ordinary person could conceive.”

What if a real war had broken out with the Empire or Albion in the meantime? Wouldn’t that have turned his plans to dust, making it an extremely dangerous operation?

Moreover, if his feigned aggression had been exposed midway, the nobles would have risen up without giving him time to respond. Wasn’t the risk of exposure too great?

No, there probably wasn’t a risk of exposure.

After completely destroying all the artifacts of the Duke of Neustria and mobilizing troops from across the country, who in the world would think the King of Lotharing was merely acting?

…Come to think of it, he truly is insane.

“…For now, let’s observe.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I’d like to correct the wicked mindset of this young king who so arbitrarily uses a neighboring monarch with whom we should maintain friendly relations, but unfortunately, I cannot.

The treaties I’ve made with the King of Albion and various nobles are clearly defensive pacts—if a treaty nation is attacked by another country, we must all help that nation, not agreements to jointly attack another country when a treaty nation initiates aggression.

Even if I declared war on the King of Lotharing, there’s no guarantee that the treaty members would cooperate with me. Fighting Lotharing alone would be suicidal.

I could declare war during the inevitable Lotharing civil war that will soon break out… but that wouldn’t be the act of a human being.

‘The virtue of humanity is gratitude.’

No matter how ill-mannered the King of Lotharing may be, during the Crusade’s invasion, he not only refrained from siding with the enemy for personal gain but also provided help in various ways—mercenaries, food, funds—and even mediated the peace agreement with the Crusade.

Of course, all these actions were done in exchange for compensation, but the very fact that the King of Lotharing didn’t participate in the Crusade, where he could have gained benefits several times greater than that compensation, must be because he knew the Crusade was unjust.

…Come to think of it, this suggests the King of Lotharing does understand benevolence and righteousness to some extent, which makes his behavior all the more incomprehensible.

Perhaps it’s due to a poor upbringing?

Yes, that must be the answer.

I must ensure my grandchildren have excellent tutors and grow up in a harmonious environment.

……….

“We must mobilize the army now and resist the king!”

“I agree with everything except the army, but first, let’s demand an explanation from His Majesty. It’s possible that things have become complicated due to excessive punishment stemming from the king’s cruel nature.”

“That would only buy time for the king. We must rise up immediately!”

Naturally, the nobles of Lotharing were in an uproar.

Claude had not mentioned anything about reclaiming the nobles’ territories, but this strange silence only heightened the nobles’ anxiety.

After all, if he truly had no intention of doing anything, he would have publicly stated so.

“If we remain idle, we’ll be stripped of our rights as lords and forced to live as mere administrators despite our noble blood. Is that the future everyone desires?!”

“…Well, no.”

“Then why hesitate?! Perhaps you’ve received some promise from the king—”

“Watch your tongue! Above all, isn’t that too much of a leap?! From the beginning, His Majesty has treated traitors as swine, so isn’t this just another instance of that?”

The nobles of Lotharing were divided into two factions: those who wanted to fight against the king and those who advocated for cautious observation.

Both sides had valid points.

The nobles had already been stripped of various administrative rights and ownership over their territorial residents, and based on Claude’s anti-feudal attitude, actions, and policies shown thus far, it was almost certain that many more rights would be gradually taken away in the future.

The argument that they should rise up and resist the king now, rather than allowing time to pass and their position to weaken, was persuasive.

The opposing side had merit as well.

For a king who treated traitors like swine regardless of their noble blood, this incident might have been exaggerated due to his temperament.

While it was true that he had previously infringed upon the lords’ rights, those infringements were limited to what had been announced in advance, specifically clarifying ownership rights over territorial residents.

Land surveying had been done since ancient times, and population counts were perfectly understandable under the pretext of preventing tax evasion. In fact, thanks to these measures, numerous nobles who had been excessively evading taxes were exposed.

“Ugh, please don’t do this. What we need now is cooperation, not division!”

“Division? It’s a reasonable opinion! Rather, you should realize that your radical attitude could lead to a terrible disaster!”

The claims of the two groups ran parallel, unable to find a point of intersection.

Nobles fearful of losing more were angered by the excessively moderate attitude of the other nobles, while the moderate nobles were angry at the hasty nobles who acted without proper investigation, worried that disadvantages might spill over to them.

“Stop interfering!”

“…Hmph.”

Finally, the meeting ended with the hawkish nobles storming out of the conference hall.

Having decided to oppose the king even through independent action, the hawkish nobles left as a group, while the moderate nobles watched their departure with sighs.

Most of them are young.

Too young to die.

…Could it be that the king anticipated this outcome and acted accordingly?

……….

“…What the hell are these guys doing?”

They suddenly barged in as a group, demanding explanations and making me swear to respect the lords, using language and word choices completely inappropriate for addressing a king, so I sent them away. Now they’re causing an uproar, claiming I’m threatening their lives and rights.

Come on, shouldn’t they observe proper formalities when seeking an audience? They committed rudeness without warning, yet I was generous enough not to punish them and simply sent them back, telling them to refine their language a bit, and this is how they react?

“Hmm…”

I just want to tell them to stay quietly at home and pay their taxes properly, and I won’t bother them.

But if I say that without them even asking, it might seem a bit undignified.

Above all, the fact that they’re already gathering factions and shouting outside means they’ve crossed a line. If it were just a political faction, I might have let it slide, but according to intelligence reports, this faction is willing to resort to armed action. I can’t ignore that.

“What about simply sweeping them all away with force?”

“Ines?”

I was pondering how to deal with these guys when Ines, who was beside me, said that.

Sweep them away… well… that sounds like something Ines would say, but it’s too direct.

“They’re the abnormal ones. There are many nobles who are staying quiet, but only they are causing a commotion by forcibly interpreting Your Majesty’s intentions.”

“That’s true.”

As Ines says, there are many nobles who are behaving properly, so I can’t understand why only these guys are causing such a fuss.

Above all, apart from the recent ID cards and census, I’ve never once interfered with my vassals!

Going berserk over just one instance of intervention clearly shows that they’re the abnormal ones.

“Hmm… Ines, what did they do in the Duchy of Lorel when vassals caused trouble?”

“Us? We… made examples of them.”

“…I see.”

Following the governance methods of the Lorel family, who have ruled as dukes for a long time, wouldn’t be a bad choice.