Chapter 12: Rogue Lords (12)

 

Viscount Boldt’s mansion was besieged by the territorial army, thanks to which his private army was quickly overrun. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not.

“Sir, what the hell is this! How could you do this!”

“Do you still play dumb? The two women you sent have already confessed to everything.”

“Oh, no!”

Viscount, Boldt instantly turned pale.

“Misunderstanding! You can’t believe I tried to poison your Excellency! It’s a conspiracy!”

“Poison me? I’m sure I only said they confessed, but how did you know that?”

“……”

Viscount Boldt fell silent.

It was not my intention to blow this up, but I’m glad that it has resulted in getting rid of a cancerous presence in my territory.

“Oh yeah, that’s……Ugh, I’ve heard the rumors!”

“Well, I was feeling something fishy. I’m going to investigate and you’ll be quiet.”

“This is tyranny! Hey, let go!”

Naturally, he began to lash out instead of being docile.

“Check the books and papers in the mansion. Haddin take the soldiers search the Viscount’s property and make a tally!”

“Yes, my lord!”

I ordered a search of the mansion, as the soldiers and vassals hurriedly began to search Viscount Boldt’s house, he became paler and paler.

“Stop messing around! Get out of my house now!”

Proportionately to the scrambling, many gold bars and treasures, as well as land titles were soon found. Besides, a warehouse full of grain and unspeakable luxuries.

And when the ledgers of the lord’s castle were cross-checked with those seized from Viscount Boldt’s house there were many discrepancies. In other words, the Viscount had been embezzling a considerable amount of taxes.

There was a reason for Viscount Boldt’s refusal to raise taxes when I suggested doing so. He increased the taxes to 80% and collected almost 100% of the tax money from his fellow countrymen by robbing them behind the scenes. The additional money he took from them went directly into his own pocket.

However, despite the heavy taxation, there was no rebellion among the fiefdoms.

The reason for this is precisely the fear that a powerful status-based society brings.

Whether they revolt and kill their lords, eventually, the kingdom will intervene. At any rate, the end result is death.

Still, if so much taxation had been imposed for so long, something would have already happened. However, since Erhin had only been a lord for a short time, the fiefdoms’ discontent was still beginning to pile up now, or so it seemed.

Erhin’s father just died, so it’s only recently that Viscount Boldt began to expropriate the fiefdoms.

“Sir!”

Haddin came rushing to me, he looked at me differently after the war, I could feel his respect.

“What happened?”

“Look at this letter. Viscount Boldt had been in contact with the Kingdom of Narja!”

I see. It’s certainly something to make a fuss about. Of course, it was somewhat predictable. To kill me and become a lord, he’ll need the help of outside forces.

So, you were using the money you stole on to lay the groundwork for the Narja Kingdom and not the Lunan Kingdom, right? If you kill me, you’re going to offer up this territory to the Kingdom of Narja and became the lord?

“In other words, Viscount Boldt raised taxes up to 80% and was not satisfied with that; he was also robbing the people behind the scenes, and was even communicating in secret with the enemy?”

Haddin nodded vigorously as I said this while looking at the letter.

“Kukku. I see. The assassination of the lord, conspiracy, and tax robbery, put Viscount Boldt in jail!”

What makes me angry is that even a guy like that is still a nobleman. It’s not my country yet, but the territory of the Lunan Kingdom, so any punishment worthy of the death penalty, such as conspiracy, according to kingdom law requires the permission of the king.

“All the property he has acquired under the laws of the Kingdom will be restored to the territory!”

“Yes, sir!”

“The entire territory should be informed that all the vassals who torment the people will be punished in this way in the future. And tell the whole country that Viscount Boldt, who has been plotting against us, will be receiving the death penalty!”

Thus, I got rid of Viscount Boldt and seized all of his property.

[The territory’s assets have increased.]

[+15.000.000 Renan]

The assets of the fiefdom have risen dramatically.

The cost of running the fiefdom for a year is 10 million Renan, which means that he had embezzled more money than I could spend on running the territory for a year.

Today, Aintorian’s assets are about 30 million Renan, combined with Viscount Boldt’s fortune, that’s.

[45.000.000 Renan]

This is the kind of figure I came up with.

Of course, it’s a considerable amount of money for a personal fortune, but not a lot of money to fund the operation of a fiefdom. It’s enough money to run the territory, but it’s incredibly scarce if I also want to raise an army for future wars.

It costs money just to conscript and there are limits to conscription. If the territory’s population is small, to begin with, you can’t increase the number of conscripts. If you build a livable territory, word will spread and there will be an influx of population, so it is necessary to spend a lot of money to settle the farmland. In other words, the preparation for war is all about money.

Of course, the money added now would help a lot because what the territory needs the most now is troops. The battle with the Narja Kingdom has reduced the army strength. The current size of the territory’s army is about 3,000 men. It’s insufficient to defend the territory.

[Do you want to do a conscription round?]

[Current conscription limit: 15.000]

First, I activated the system to see what the cost of the conscription would be, then I set the number of people to be conscripted to 1.000.

[ 2.000.000 Renan]

2 million Renan for 1,000 people is 20 million Renan for 10.000 people, it’s ridiculously expensive.

But this was money that should be invested. To create an elite army, at least 10.000 people would be needed. Given the limits of the money and population that we have now, a realistic figure is also precisely 10.000 people.

However, the moment I do the conscription, the people’s spirit will go down, I have to be prepared for that.

“Haddin.”

“Yes, sir!”

“The invasion of the Narja Kingdom forces us to increase our troops.”

“I think so, too.”

Haddin nodded.

“I’m thinking of drafting about 10.000 men, and I need you to train them.”

“Oh no, 10.000 all of a sudden?”

“We can get enough food from the property we have seized here. Our priority is to protect this territory somehow. We can’t let the people become slaves of the Narja Kingdom, can we?””

“Of course. If you leave it to me, I will build a strong army, even if it costs me…………, which is what I was saying before I was relieved of the commanding officer’s position……

As I was about to say something, Haddin suddenly fell silent and began to observe me. He seemed to think that he had spoken for nothing.

Well, Haddin’s command ability. I’ll just have to trust that figure.

“Good. I’ll trust you. Now conscript 10.000 men and make sure they are thoroughly trained. The same goes for the training of the 3.000 men in the original territory army!”

“Yes, sir!”

If so, I won’t hesitate to conscript them.

[Use 2.,000.000 Renan?]

[Aintorian territory army increased +10.000.]

[Territorial Army Training Level has been reduced to 10.]

[Morale in the Territorial Army has been reduced to 20.]

[Territory’s morale has been reduced to 20.]

This way, the entire force became 13.000 men.

The people’s spirit, which has been rising somewhat, dropped at once.

A war with the Narja Kingdom was unavoidable because of the sudden and large scale recruitment.

I’m sure that the sudden rise in people’s spirit is due to the hope that I prevented the war, and even more so because it means that they have changed their view of the rogue lord.

In an instant, the territory’s funds were reduced by half. Money is still necessary in this world, it’s extremely important, but I can’t remain as a rogue lord.

If the taxes are adjusted to 50%, the funding source will also be reduced. It’s good to get rid of Viscount Boldt, but there’s still no end to the problems. The issue of raising the people’s spirit is next.

* * *

In fact, 10.000 is a small number of people to unify the country. But for now, I have to be content with this.

There are various restrictions. Even if I wanted to increase the population, it would not be possible because I do not have enough people, to begin with. The current population of Aintorian, with its dangerous borders, is not that large. To achieve world domination, there is more than one thing I need to do.

I don’t even know where to start. I don’t have enough manpower, money, or levels. In order to grow the territory, I have to raise my level first. There is a lot of work to be done.

Since there is no set route, it is rather unnecessary to find the answer.

When I returned to the lord’s castle in a daze, I immediately went to my bedroom. I felt like I was going to fall asleep as soon as I lay down, thanks to the fact that I had been so busy throughout the night without a break.

Then, the chamberlain, who was walking behind me, suddenly stepped in front of me and got down on his knees.

“Master……”

The chamberlain acted unexpectedly. Why did you suddenly get down on your knees?