157 – Ready for all-out war (1)

As soon as the military conference hosted by the emperor was over, I moved to Agincourt Castle as quickly as possible.

On the way, I sent a letter to the barons of each region and to my father, ordering them to prepare for a meeting as soon as I arrive at Agincourt Castle.

Obviously, from the standpoint of the recipients of this letter, they must have had a hard time traveling to the ecliptic, but they must have already felt doubts about having a meeting…

Since His Majesty the Emperor had gifted equal taffy to all nobles, there was no choice but to prepare it even a second earlier to reduce losses.

And the day after I arrived at Agincourt Castle, I immediately started a meeting with nobles higher than baron.

“First of all, before talking about the measures for war, I would like to tell you about the sergeant who came to our territory. Ron von Kreuttel, forward.”

Even though he had the same father as me, he was bastard and had no title, and when I called, Ron walked from the corner of the conference room to where I was.

As if he was trying hard to put on a nonchalant expression, only his eyes were moving back and forth in an expressionless state.

“As the bastard of my father, I graduated from Romania University Law Department last year, and I was active as an inspector of Hellsman Province… In accordance with his dedication to the family and by order of His Majesty, I will officially marry the daughter of Illyana, the second wife of His Highness, the Regent of Brussels, around this time next year. Accordingly, if we win this war, we will give you a proper position.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency… ”

“Let me get away.”

After I finished speaking, another chair was placed at the far end of the conference table.

Seeing that, Ron also went and sat there, probably recognizing that it was his seat.

Then, along with the sound of applause, cheers were heard.

“Long live the Marquis of Creutel!! Long live His Excellency!!”

“Until a few years ago… My family was nothing more than a baron’s family in the countryside… Is it this big before you know it… ”

“If my deceased father had seen this scene, he would have been very happy… ”

“Now, I don’t have to worry about my son, the troublemaker left in the house. Since his wife is the daughter of His Highness the Regent, Ciel will take good care of her.”

In quite a few marquis families, they are not even the first in the family, but the second… No, no matter how high he was, it would not happen to a collateral of the duke’s family to marry Ron, who could not rise above the third position.

Because most of the collateral daughters of the duke’s family usually go to the lord’s house of the count’s family…

If I give Ron, who can only rise to the top 3, the same status as the ‘Earl’, it means that my status as the head of this family goes beyond the duke’s.

So, the vassals can’t help but feel that the status of their family has risen like that…

So I laughed and said with a sigh.

“What if I shout “Long live the marquis family” before I even say that I became a marquis? Well, by the way, let’s get a report on the situation of each territory before starting the military meeting. Baron Loren, begin.”

“Yes, I understand. First of all, it was found that the population of Nantes is approximately 2.3 million, that of Hellsmann is 2 million, and that of Aquitel is 1.6 million. Also, the amount of food that comes in as tax to the territory is enough to feed about 6 million people for a year… 1/3 of this is sold to other estates.”

This phenomenon occurred because originally only half of the land was used for fallow farming, but thanks to the four-rotation method, the utilization area of land rapidly increased and food production increased.

And among the food, turnips, which people prefer less, are all given as fodder for pigs, cows, and horses, and livestock can be raised even in winter…

You can use the cows that have grown up to reclaim the wasteland of the village and the grassy area by mobilizing surplus manpower.

Also, in this era, if you sell food at retail, you lose money, but you can make a big profit in wholesale business that sells in bulk.

This is because, even though a good harvest has come to our region, there is a bad harvest elsewhere and the demand for food soars.

However, it is also difficult to reach the areas where the crops have gone bad by retail.

“Originally, I know they sold 2/3… ”

“That’s right. However, they forbade selling to Romania… Because of supplying a huge amount of food for the relief of serfs in the province of Akitel… ”

“I have no intention of blaming you. Anyway, it seems that the population of Architel and Nantes has increased rapidly… What happened?”

At that, Baron Lauren hesitated a little before replying.

“Refugees are flooding in from the Duchy of Architel and the Duchy of Maxburg. I guess that one… It’s such a hellish place… If you listen to the story, there are rumors that not only serfs, but also low-ranking knights sell their daughters to merchants to get a meal.”

When food is extremely scarce, it often happens in Asia or Europe, where they sell their daughters to merchants.

Seeing that such a phenomenon appears, if one person dies a dramatic death or if someone knows how to use this phenomenon, a great war will break out.

Because such bastards never miss an opportunity like this, and the public is vulnerable to the fire play of demagogues.

However, in order to prevent the Magsburg guy who touched us from happening again… Even if you don’t light a fire, if it catches fire, you have to lay straw so that it burns well.

“Receive all the refugees from the direction of Architel, and let them settle down as quickly as possible. Anyway, there is still plenty of land in the Akitel area that can be cultivated with cattle and horses.”

“Yes, I understand. Then, what about the Duchy of Maxburg?”

I looked back and forth between Baron Loren and the other barons.

“Baron Crescent, Baron Biermann. I know that your estate was near the Blue Fort… Is it right?”

“Yes that’s right… ”

“In the future, make sure that refugees do not cross over from the Maxburg area. Instead, when you go back, treat yourself to a meal of hot porridge. And at the place where they ate porridge, they put the windmen in and said, ‘This is all because of the Duke of Maxburg.’ Let’s spread rumors.”

“Yes, I understand.”

If you do it like that, the serfs who first went as refugees and then returned will curse both Maxburg and me…

In the future, public opinion will lean toward me, who has no choice but to send it away with regret while feeding him a meal of porridge.

‘It’s because of Maxburg.’ The words will surely get stuck in your head by that time.

“And what about the academy? Are things going as I instructed?”

At those words, a man wearing a black monk’s robe symbolizing a scholar stood up and said,

“The Academy President, Hernando von Draunes, will report to you.”

“Tell me.”

“First, let me tell you about the recruitment of administrative personnel. 30% of students graduating from theology department, 40% of students graduating from law and commerce departments. A total of 650 people are expected to become administrators, and it is expected to increase gradually in the future. In addition, 500 students who have completed two years of education at the military academy will be commissioned as second lieutenants next year.”

650 administrators and 500 lieutenants… On top of that, if you scrape off the chiefs of the Duchy of Akitel and the bastards of nobles, you can fill the administrative and military void.

And now, in our territory, it is necessary to create a trend that only after leaving the academy can you succeed in life.

Because that’s how you can replace the low-ranking officers with friends with clear expertise, not obscure officers who have received untested education in the family.

“Do not send second lieutenants and administrators who have completed their education at the academy to the provinces, but let them take on roles such as staffs in large places such as local government offices or units and identify their capabilities.”

“I will obey your orders. And, as the Marquis had arranged, more and more people began to enter the academy. Correspondingly, brothels, etc… ”

The president didn’t cross the line, but you don’t know what he’ll do when he enjoys the power to raise the next generation…

I’m going to have to step on this opportunity.

“Policy is the military’s job, administration is the academy’s job. You don’t care. Excessive rights will have to be repaid with death.”

At that, the president lowered his head and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“And how is the research on cannons made in the Academy’s Department of Technology going?”

“Please wait a moment.”

After a while, the president took out the documents he had brought and began to read them slowly.

“Currently, more than 100 iron cannons have been made, but all of them explode in the middle or the firepower is not transmitted correctly, so accidents are happening. In order to solve this problem, the professors of the Faculty of Technology will grant a diploma to students who are completing their master’s and doctoral courses if they make even a small progress… I’m doing it but… ”

At first glance, the cannon seems to be finished if you make a good iron rod like a gun…

The problem is that making a gun that is light enough for a person to carry and a cannon that weighs hundreds of times is different in itself.

So, of course, there’s no way you can make it in just a few months…

“Of course it won’t be easy. I’ll keep making it. If possible, I hope to receive a report that it has been successful within a year. And the budget will come from my private property, so double it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

That’s how I discussed the problems of each territory, academy, and administrative problems for an hour, and then…

“You may already know, but Your Majesty has declared war on Franchi. The number of troops mobilized is 220,000, and we belong to the Eastern District Army. Let’s discuss this.”