Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: Invasion of Warsaw (2)
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“Handing this ledger over to the Archduke of Warsaw? Isn’t that like baking bread and offering it up for the Warsaw bastards to eat?”
In the long term, it’s practically doing the Warsaw folks a favor.
Because once the administration roots out the corrupt officials, Warsaw’s finances will stabilize first and foremost. In turn, the lives of the common folk will gradually improve.
It’ll lead to an overall boost in Warsaw’s national strength.
This scheme isn’t poison to the Archduke of Warsaw—it could be an incredibly potent medicine.
So His Majesty’s reaction is perfectly understandable. But I have my own calculations.
“The Reich Empire has already prepared over 100,000 troops for the Warsaw expedition at Your Majesty’s command. In two months’ time, we’ll cross the border into the Grand Duchy of Warsaw.”
“As you say, the war will begin in two months.”
“Which means the administrative officials of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw are likely buried under a mountain of wartime bureaucracy right now, preparing for the Reich Empire’s assault. If they don’t, there’ll be massive disruptions in supplies and logistics for the war effort.”
The technological level on the Europan continent is roughly on par with Earth’s Renaissance era, gunpowder aside.
As a result, total wars mobilizing a nation’s full might are rare. Even when conflict breaks out, it doesn’t hit the average citizen too hard.
At worst, prices rise a bit, and the administration cracks down harder on collecting taxes.
But for the bureaucrats? It’s administrative chaos. Hell, even.
Because feeding 100,000 pure combat troops means figuring out how to transport the grain taxes from the serfs—not to mention scrambling like mad to scrape together even minimal combat pay for the soldiers.
“Now imagine dozens of these secret ledgers flooding in amid all that. Or, to put it more dramatically: What if the Grand Duchy of Warsaw sent Your Majesty dozens of them? Spotless ones, with no trace of forgery.”
His Majesty couldn’t hide his grim expression at those words.
“Just thinking about it makes me want to puke. What would I do? Isn’t it obvious? I’d unleash the Inspectorate on everyone listed, stripping them down to the bone. Dust them off their posts based on the severity of their crimes, and punish accordingly. Hell, I might even spend thirty seconds being grateful to the Archduke of Warsaw for the tip-off.”
“If I received solid evidence that my own troops were that rotten—even from the enemy—I’d want to offer some kind of reward too.”
“You get it. Especially with something like this: If it surfaces and you don’t punish them immediately, it looks like I, the Emperor, am turning a blind eye and letting rot fester in the Empire. Every ruler thinks the same.”
As His Majesty said, arresting criminals isn’t just about giving the guilty their due punishment.
The greater goal is to broadcast far and wide that crimes like murder, rape, theft, fraud, embezzlement—every sin—comes with a price.
To instill the lesson that crime always brings punishment in its wake. To deter it through fear of that punishment. That’s the real aim.
So when hard evidence of corruption explodes in massive quantities before a monarch or any high-ranking leader, crackdowns must begin immediately.
“That means the Grand Duchy of Warsaw will have audits on top of war prep—for both the officials listed and those who aren’t. The suspects will face investigations and trials.”
“Unleash it now, and their admin workload doubles—at least. Audits eat up resources, so it’s closer to tripling. Plus, anyone tainted goes to prison, creating even more vacancies. Yeah, that alone justifies handing over the lists.”
Investigating a few corrupt officials? Sure, that might wrap up neatly. But hundreds—no, based on what I’ve seen, nearly 1,000 officials entangled? It won’t end quietly.
Because wherever you go in the world, scandals involving masses of public officials spark factional warfare. It’s common sense.
From the grand duchy’s central administration under the Archduke down to the local outposts, they’ll be tearing into each other.
“Your Majesty, the power of these lists goes beyond that. Over a thousand officials and officers are named here, and corruption like this always ropes in higher-ups. What happens then?”
“The prime ministers, ministers, generals of the Grand Duchy get dragged in. And don’t they have political factions too? Each side will launch vicious political attacks to survive, ready to kill off their rivals.”
“Exactly. If they don’t crush the opposing faction, everyone in their own clan—tainted or not—could fall. Their house might crumble.”
Those who barely survive by toppling their foes might luck into absurdly rapid promotions.
But once promoted, they’ll fight over the seats vacated by those we named—another merry round of factional brawls.
Come to think of it, since these kindly folks who love Warsaw’s dirty money handed us these secret lists, we might as well add one more touch. Just one, I swear.
“Among those who wrote these ledgers, there are local officials near the Reich Empire border. How about forging letters or contracts in their handwriting?”
“Letters or contracts? Be specific.”
“Something claiming the officials from the villages where these lists surfaced were promised huge bribes for colluding with us. Throw in perks like prime marriages for their daughters and special academy admissions for their sons. Stamp it with my seal for credibility, then leak it discreetly.”
This piles treason on top of their corruption charges.
The Archduke of Warsaw, seeing this, will chuckle maniacally before flying into a rage over traitors selling out the nation—and dive headlong into purges.
Corruption plus treason? No ruler tolerates that.
His Majesty found my pitch intriguing, eyes widening as he nodded and asked,
“But what if the forgeries get exposed? Won’t it backfire?”
“It doesn’t matter if they’re caught, Your Majesty. The lists are all genuine anyway. Even if the Archduke spots the fake letters, things will unfold exactly as we planned.”
“......From the moment I first noticed it—back when you went to petition against the Franco Republic—you’ve shown uncanny wisdom in scheming against enemy states. How do you come up with this?”
I gave the most textbook answer.
“I am a commander of the Reich Empire’s army. I’ll use any stratagem to win. And whether 100 Warsaw officials live or die is irrelevant—my duty is ensuring every one of Your Majesty’s soldiers returns alive.”
“Off with you, then. Thank goodness you’re on our side, as an Imperial soldier.”
“It’s an honor, Your Majesty. I’ll repay you with the best results from this campaign.”
As I turned to leave, His Majesty called out with a smile.
“I’ll issue the orders personally today, but when you see the Inspectorate Director, give him a heads-up. We’re auditing every official and officer in the Empire.”
After my audience with His Majesty, as I walked the palace halls, I ran into the Inspectorate Director.
As always, he looked wrecked from overtime and weekend shifts—dark circles sagging under his eyes, face sallow and exhausted.
And since I outranked him slightly in the Imperial hierarchy, the mid-fifties director greeted me first.
“Commander Jaeger, isn’t it? How’ve you been?”
“Thanks to you keeping discipline tight, I command without worrying about traitors. It’s a relief.”
“Your Northern Army’s spotless no matter how hard we dig. Perfect timing—here’s the latest inspection report summary.”
“Appreciate it. One heads-up: brace yourself. Your workload’s about to spike.”
The director flashed a resigned smile and said,
“We’re always swamped. Ha, hope I get reassigned soon. Dying to see my grandkids play.”
Sorry, but for the Inspectorate’s future, I resolved to drop the bombshell.
Because massive audits like this need preemptive staffing to roll out smoothly when orders hit.
“Once the Warsaw campaign ends, expect a full audit of every Imperial official and officer. Gotta run—urgent business.”
I slipped away from the director, whose face screamed impending doom.
From behind came his wail.
"Fuck! A massive audit, of all things?! No fucking way!"
Word is, instead of discipline for the palace ruckus, His Majesty patted his shoulder, fully getting the stress, and bestowed tonics with a call for more hard work ahead.
What a saintly ruler.
Damn it, I’m resigning before 65 and bolting to Jaeger County.