Chapter 295
Chapter 295
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 295
Chapter Title: Divide and Rule (5)
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Right after convincing the ambassadors from each nation to sign a five-year peace treaty, I immediately requested an audience with His Majesty the Emperor.
His Majesty must have anticipated that I would want to speak with him in person, as the Grand Chamberlain informed me that he had conveniently cleared his schedule and I could meet him right away.
To think that, mere twenty minutes after sealing the treaty, I could face the emperor of a nation in person and report on the future of the empire...
It might not be fitting for me—the very man hurrying toward the audience right now—to say this, but everything had progressed so swiftly, like lightning frying soybeans, that I was a little astonished.
"General Jaeger, His Majesty awaits you inside this room."
"Thank you, Your Excellency the Grand Chamberlain."
"Go on in. Ah, leave your sword with me. For security reasons, there's no one inside except His Majesty himself and the women."
I had met with the emperor several times alone in the imperial palace before, but strictly speaking, the Guard Captain had always been present in the corner to prevent assassination, so in truth, no one except the empress sharing his bedchamber ever met the emperor truly alone.
Thus, when His Majesty wished to meet with vassals like me in the utmost secrecy, the Guard Captain—whose position was largely honorary—would attend. For even greater secrecy, armed female slaves provided escort.
These women never left the emperor's side from birth until death, living their entire lives solely as his slaves, so they were utterly hidden and could never leak any information they heard. In terms of security, it was as good as having no one else present.
"This is General Peter Jaeger. I shall enter."
As I stepped inside, just as I had expected, there was a beautiful woman armed with a single sword and the emperor.
"I greet Your Majesty."
"Ah, General Jaeger. You've worked hard. I never imagined you'd truly convince those ambassadors from the six nations to sign a five-year peace treaty. No, actually, since you've always saved me in times of crisis, I believed you could pull it off—but I didn't expect you to handle it this quickly."
"This was all possible because of the strength of the empire and Your Majesty's forebears. My role was not that great."
The emperor chuckled at my words.
"Just act a bit more confident. If we follow your logic, it makes every officer from the Minister of Military Affairs onward seem incompetent compared to you. As long as you're not too arrogant, I'll acknowledge it—so carry yourself with pride. Now, is there any reward you desire? Except for this woman by my side, I'll grant anything you want. I wouldn't even share her with the crown prince."
"No matter how this involved military policy, wasn't it originally the diplomats' job? Thus, no records or evidence of my official involvement can be left—not even the slightest trace. If public records remain, even centuries after my death, some villain could use this to try to destroy the empire."
His Majesty raised a hand to unconsciously cover his gaping mouth.
"......I was even prepared to grant you an additional marquisate from the territories seized in purging the Manstein faction. Are you sure?"
"I have already received more than enough."
"They say in imperial politics you're like someone who treats gold like stones, and it seems that's true. Very well. It's a shame I can't give you more, but I respect your will."
Some in the empire called me a man with almost no material desires, but strictly speaking, I simply knew well what I could safely take and what I must never covet.
Because, from the moment I began my officer career and shattered countless imperial promotion records to reach general in a mere twelve years, what I learned was: "Greed too far leads to bursting at the seams."
Even now, I consistently refused those begging to join our family faction if it meant paying annual protection fees in the thousands of gold.
And those who crossed the line by scheming to make me take their daughters as concubines? I threatened once that I'd kill them if they tried that nonsense again, and any repeat idiots I handed straight to the Inspectorate for a proper "inspection."
Besides, my current position was ripe for trouble if I got greedy.
His Majesty wouldn't doubt me, but in purging Count Manstein—who sought to create militarism—and his faction, I had swung the sword a bit too hard.
That alone could lead to impeachment, and if I accepted some of their territories on top of it?
My rank as general might survive, but even His Majesty would have to acknowledge some fault to appease my opposing faction to a degree. I'd spend months dragged before the imperial assembly in endless hearings.
Just thinking about it gave me chills, damn it.
"That aside, what do you think the imperial army should do going forward? You deliberately leaked a level-two military secret to the ambassadors, saying the empire won't disband its army. Was that sincere?"
Manstein had advocated expanding the army under an aggressive expansion policy, and I too pushed for expansion.
His opinion might sound like bullshit while mine is right, but that could seem contradictory.
For the Reich Empire to seize hegemony—no, simply to survive—we could never reduce our military.
Because the current Reich Empire was fated to head straight to ruin if we gave other nations even the slightest "opening to challenge us."
That's why, personally, I agreed with Manstein on one thing: we must pour more support into the army.
"Your Majesty, from a military perspective, the empire is now positioned to vie for hegemony on the Europan continent. Conversely, that means the other nations face an inexpressible crisis. For our empire and Your Majesty's prosperity is their misfortune."
"My happiness as their misfortune—regardless of who coined it, it captures the empire's diplomatic situation perfectly."
"As a general of the empire, I dare to assert: unless the empire halts wars and grows its army, those six nations that signed this peace treaty will fabricate some absurd pretext to break it and wage war."
The emperor asked with a quizzical expression.
"I doubt those fools can trust each other. According to the Intelligence Minister's report, they nearly came to blows in the reception hall just now."
"They can unite anytime they see Your Majesty and the empire prospering—it pains their stomachs. It's directly tied to their national interests and protecting the ambassadors' own vested rights."
It's like the idiom "o-wol-dong-ju": even the mortal enemies of Wu and Yue, who want to kill each other at first sight, will row together to survive when the boat they're on is tossed by waves.
Just like that, the more the empire thrives, the more they realize their own peril—and for survival, they can band together.
"However, if the empire maintains and expands its army, they won't unite easily, no matter how they try. Because to escape the threat of a united front from those six nations, the empire has no choice but to pick the optimal strategy. And with a larger, more powerful army, we can at least wage a delaying war. Then..."
His Majesty cut me off briefly.
"We'll select the strongest among the six—or any nation at random—and reduce it to ashes. Naturally, some allies will then stab their weakened neighbors in the back, preferring easy prey over a strong empire."
"No matter how much our prosperity pains them, they'd rather stay put than watch their own lands turn to desert."
"Your argument resembles that traitorous bastard Manstein's at first glance, but the essence is entirely different. One builds a strong state enemies dare not invade; the other is a fool crushed while preemptively eliminating future foes. The former is far superior. But still..."
The emperor wore a contemplative expression before asking seriously.
"Without real combat for five years, won't the imperial army weaken significantly? Have you prepared countermeasures?"
I smiled in affirmation.
"Your Majesty, I've prepared something even tougher than 'guerrilla training' or 'drill training' to boost the imperial army's capabilities—but with far greater efficiency."