144 – Duchy of Architel Absorption Operation (2)

**

A week after the war had completely ended, I safely led my soldiers into Agincourt, a city that is the center of the territories covering 3/4 of the former Duchy of Aquitel.

After that, I immediately announced the Non-Gong Haeng Award and spread it all over the Earl of Creutel.

First, by increasing the territory and authority of the Baltic guy, he entrusted the defense of the area around Agincourt.

After that, I sent Baron Frost and Baron Biermann to the direction of Nantes, and at the same time separated 12 villages each from my own territory.

At the same time, I handed over management of the Earldom of Helsman to my father to support the south and north of our territory.

In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Frost was promoted to colonel in recognition of his great contribution to the war and at the same time awarded 1/4 of the Baron de Bourbon to praise the ball.

Thanks to the timely awarding of awards to numerous other officers and soldiers for their exploits, the soldiers did not express dissatisfaction about not being able to rotate after the war.

Apart from that, the families of knights and soldiers who were killed or injured were exempted from the knight academy entrance exam, various scholarships, and military pensions were granted.

That’s why I gave so generous a bounty…

Colonel Samuel spoke in a worried tone to me who was lost in thought.

“Your Excellency Count, are you okay?”

I waved my hand at those words and said it was nothing.

“No problem. It’s just that I thought of the soldiers who couldn’t return even though the war was over… ”

“You don’t have to worry about that. Didn’t you already explain to the soldiers, through commanders below the battalion commander, that if they went back now, they would have to go out again to quell the rebellion in the surrounding area? Also, His Excellency felt sorry for them not being able to return, so he gave them separate bonuses for each rank. Soldiers like it so that their wives won’t find out, even if they spend it all here, they won’t know.”

“I’m glad then. However, it is the lord’s duty to ensure that he can return to his family after the war is over. So I can’t help but worry about it. By the way… Do you have any regrets about me?”

After hearing that, Colonel Samuel looked at me and said with a bitter smile.

“It was really sad when I suddenly had Colonel Frost, who was under my command, as the commander instead of me. However, if you look at it calmly, I didn’t know much about the new weapon called the matchlock at that time. If I were to play the same role as him in the battle on the plains of Waine… He must have made a mistake and left behind the infamous stain of ruining his master’s war.”

It is never easy to just admit the way they are rather than feel inferior even when you see subordinates who are better than you.

Nevertheless, being able to accept reality straight is proof that you have incredibly great patience and ability to grasp reality.

I don’t want to leave it unattended just because there are superior substitutes for people with these capabilities.

Colonel Samuel continued talking, whether he knew my intentions or not.

“Also, didn’t His Excellency come to comfort you whenever you had free time? Then he even gave me the task of pretending to turn in order to catch the enemy off guard. Although, the unity of the enemy was so solid that there were no results.”

After hearing this story, my heart felt heavier as I felt guilty for making it difficult for a person who was living a successful life as a soldier in Nantes for the operation.

At the same time, I was also convinced that anyone who did not lose their loyalty to me in this situation would be able to entrust the operation I was about to do from now on.

Because, not even in Joseon, but in Europe, which is dominated by bilateral feudal contracts, there are very few people with such loyalty.

I pointed Samuel at the chair near my desk in my office and opened the map around here.

“I think the story will be long, so please sit here.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

I confirmed that Samuel was seated and opened my mouth.

“First of all, we succeeded in occupying 3/4 of the Duchy of Architel… As you know, this place, strictly speaking, cannot yet be called a territory completely within my hands. Do you know why?”

When Samuel heard that, he thought about it with a deep voice, and then said:

“First of all, the barons and nobles who ruled this land left, but the bailiffs and village chiefs who were in charge of the real estate remained. Also, the serfs have a grudge against the Count, who brutally murdered them in the last war. For now, out of fear for you and us, I will not attempt a rebellion… If our power weakens, the baileefs and chiefs will take advantage of the opportunity to revolt by inciting the serfs to return to the rule of Duke Akitel. To put it bluntly, we only got the land of this territory, not the people living in it.”

As the saying goes, we showed an overwhelming figure in the war, giving fear to the bones of the serfs, who were the main force of the enemy.

As a result, the serfs in this estate cannot dream of openly hostile to us or revolt against us…

That obedience, of course, does not come from the heart.

No, right now, they must be starving and all of our fault for being hungry.

Because, it was the nobles of Architel who collected the taxes from them… Because it is I, Ciel von Kreuttel, who rules them in these hungry and difficult times.

And the bailiffs and the village chiefs, who are aware of all this, will revolt at the right time and hope that Duke Akitel will repay them when he recaptures the territory.

Although he was pushed back by Colonel Frost because of the command of the Matchlock Regiment, he was also a manly man who commanded the garrison of Nantes, the capital of the county of Creutel.

“It is as you said. We have only just obtained this land, and we have not won the hearts of the serfs who live on this estate. There is a limit to the reign of terror in this situation. In the midst of this, it would be foolish to remove both the village chief and the baileif, just because they might revolt against us… ”

As I said, there is a high possibility that the headman or bailef of each village will revolt, so if you remove all of them…

The serfs, who make up 93-94% of the territory’s population, will fall into fear of being killed just like the village chiefs who were removed.

Then, if you are going to search, you will rebel because you have the heart to do anything.

But if I leave them unattended, I can’t just sit back and watch the dissatisfaction with me and those who try to use him to rise in power like a cancer…

With the feeling of a doctor operating on a cancer patient, we must eliminate the instigators who want to rebel.

However, rather than me secretly digging up and removing information, they accuse each other of the key instigators of the rebellion.

That’s because the trust between those who thought of rebellion is broken.

However, when suspicion is strong, also because those who want to rebel may accuse the moderates as innocently as a lizard cuts off its tail…

I need to have a complete picture of the hardliners who are likely to revolt against me, or who have the intention of rebelling, and the moderates who will be loyal.

Colonel Samuel, perhaps noticing that I was entrusted with an important task, began to look at me with serious eyes.

“If it’s Your Excellency’s order, I’ll obey even if you tell me to die.”

At that, I smiled and then said.

“I have no intention of doing that. I just want to take advantage of your apparent situation. give orders Colonel Samuel, I will assign Lieutenant Short to your command, and mobilize him and his men to identify those who are trying to rebel against me.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“And depending on the performance shown in this mission, I will consider entrusting you with the information throughout our territory. In other territories, there is a tendency to look down on spies who gather information, even if they are nobles, but we are different.”

And I paused for a moment and then spoke as if I was pronouncing each letter clearly.

“Obtaining an enemy’s important information can sometimes deal a greater blow to the enemy than killing dozens of knights. So, who knows what the chances of winning as much or maybe even more prizes? Then let’s go.”

Not long after Colonel Samuel left, Baron Loren’s son came in and said to me:

“I came running after receiving your order. Alps Lorraine, son of Baron Lorraine. Maybe it’s late… ”

“No, thank you for coming on time. yes… Is the plan I prepared worth trying?”