Chapter 164

A late night when I would usually be spending time with my family.

I was listening to the report from Captain Short, who had just been promoted, in my office without returning home.

“According to the orders of His Excellency the Marquess, Colonel Samuel is currently expanding relations by offering beautiful women and money to the young heads or heirs of the noble families associated with the Eastern, Central, and Western armies. The operation hasn’t fully commenced yet, but the Colonel instructed me to provide a progress report, so I came here.”

Despite being overshadowed by Colonel Frost, who commands the matchlock rifle regiment, Colonel Samuel is a commander who can acknowledge his shortcomings and suppress feelings of jealousy with reason.

I had entrusted him with the intelligence department once again to give him an opportunity. He has been doing his best to meet my expectations, and now the fruits of that effort should be revealed.

Will he demonstrate talent in an entirely unfamiliar field, or will he be pushed aside into a suitable sidelined position… I have my expectations.

“First, report in detail on the budget used, the details, and the entire story of the persuasion operation directed at the nobles.”

“Yes, understood. Over the course of a year, the budget executed is 10,000 gold coins, and another 10,000 coins will be executed in the future. The rough expenditure details show that 6,000 coins were spent obtaining women whom the nobles would likely find appealing under the name of the Mons merchant group, and the remaining 4,000 coins were used for purchasing wine, sugar, and valuables.”

The reason why they had to change the name like that is twofold.

First, if the nobles were to be contacted through a merchant group under my name, it is highly likely that anyone who isn’t foolish would be wary.

This would incur more costs and time in persuading them because they wouldn’t easily accept the offer, thinking that I might be using some trick. The possibility of success would therefore diminish significantly.

However, from the merchant group perspective, giving bribes and women to the heirs in order to gain protection from the nobles is very common… so they would let their guard down and accept it.

Why is that? Unless they are a giant merchant family like the Medica, it is difficult for merchants to hold the nobles by the feet.

Second, after all, the goal of this operation is not a highly delicate political maneuver like betrayal or defection.

It is merely to stimulate the youthful excitement of the young nobles, increasing the chances that they will ignore orders or assert demands to charge in when they shouldn’t.

“What did you say to them while providing women and items?”

“I requested to be appointed as the war supplier for this war. If that happens, we can offer even more gifts, and many of them said they would make an effort.”

“They are foolish… I see? Then what about the reports about the beautiful women who approached those nobles?”

“I brought a report and some letters to allow for direct confirmation.”

Then Captain Short handed me a bundle of documents.

[Kyle von Pompadour, son of the Pompadour Marquess, is focusing on martial arts training, encouraged by a beautiful woman saying, ‘You will surely achieve merits as a great nobleman.’]

….

[Baron Delon, inspired by the encouragement of his newly acquired beauty, is declaring that he will achieve merits that will not embarrass Elia.]

Upon reading through it, it was roughly stated that about 60% of the nobles are fueled by encouragement from their newly acquired beauties, further igniting their spirit.

I had thought that it would be a great success if only 40% of the targeted nobles reacted positively to this operation, but it turns out that it has worked out so well.

“Good work. By any chance, do you have a hint as to why it has worked so well?”

“According to Colonel Samuel’s report… the women by their pillows said they believe that in this war, you will prove to be more valuable than His Excellency the Marquess.”

Since I reincarnated as the heir of the Croilet family, I have been racing toward survival with madness as my goal, and in the process, I have sufficiently proven my worth.

Thus, I didn’t need to compare myself with my father or other nobles, but the heirs of other nobles are different.

As heirs, they are often compared to their parents and the retainers around them, as well as to historical heads of the family and other nearby nobles, giving rise to feelings of inferiority.

Just like the second-best students who are looked down upon by their parents for not being the top student in the news.

However, they are poor souls who endure only hoping to enjoy the privileges and glory that come with being the head of a family.

If a beauty were to approach them and say, “You will become a greater person than Siel von Croilet, who stands out the most these days. I believe that,” then…

“They would gradually fall under the sweet words of the beautiful woman and lose sight of their own situation. Although they could certainly cause accidents that might ruin their family… it would be the fault of His Imperial Majesty who gave me fangs. Good job, Captain Short. Now, let your intelligence platoon investigate the terrain of Architel, Iris, Simon, and Espresso as thoroughly as possible.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Also, if you successfully complete this mission, I will issue a formal promotion order. At the same time, all the thugs… I mean, the underworld fellows under your command will also be attached to the intelligence unit. They will soon receive military ranks, salaries, and benefits, so do your best.”

At these words, Captain Short, who would soon become Captain Short, spoke with tears streaming down his face.

“Thank you for treating someone as lowly as me so well… The ones assisting me have sung songs of wanting to become your Excellency’s retainers, so they will surely be pleased…”

“It’s a difficult mission, but if you work as you have until now, I believe you will accomplish the reconnaissance tasks well. Now you may go.”

**

Three months after ordering Short to investigate the territories where we are likely to fight, a map was submitted to me.

It accurately detailed the geography, roads, and locations of cities and castles of the territories of Architel, Iris, Simon, and Espresso on a map of this era.

Upon receiving the map, I summoned the barons governing each region to hold a military council in order to establish a major plan for this war.

As always, the barons were already gathered and conversing in the conference room before I arrived.

“The Eastern Army’s departure is now less than a year away…”

“What do we even have that His Imperial Majesty would bestow upon us… that we should embark on such an expedition?”

“Still, if we achieve great merit in this expedition, wouldn’t His Excellency the Marquess grant us a territory? Then we could use that for war expenses…”

“I don’t like the idea of throwing His Excellency and my soldiers into such an expedition! Balt!!”

“Baron Frost, please calm down… How well do you think His Excellency the Marquess will manage? Even just using the combat engineers and soldiers effectively will reduce the damage.”

As they said, nothing has been offered by the Emperor and yet we are being dragged into such an absurd expedition—it really makes me feel uneasy.

Especially when I think about how the schemes of Duke Brussels and Duke Orleans almost left us at a loss, it makes my stomach turn.

So, I too decided to take this opportunity to speak ill of the Emperor.

After all, all the barons here are on my side, so I needn’t worry about any leaks.

“It is a scheme borne out of insecurity regarding his legitimacy and capabilities, trying to undermine the economic and military power of the nobles through this expedition. Although he has skillfully come up with such cunning plans, do you really think our Croilet family would be easily broken by such a trivial matter? So let’s put aside our dissatisfaction with His Imperial Majesty… and focus on figuring out how we can win.”

At this, everyone responded in unison.

“Absolutely!”

“Alright, then let’s discuss strategies while looking at the map.”

With that, I spread a large map depicting the Franche Empire and the Eraline Empire on the conference table.

“First, we will join His Excellency Duke Orleans’ Eastern Expedition Force of 80,000 men at Champagne Castle on March 20 next year. After that, we will complete the troop formations and immediately invade the territory of Architel.”

I then marked an X over the territory of Architel.

“Based on my investigations, the Architel Count has already agreed to join the Franconian Eastern Defense Forces with 3,000 knights under his command when the war breaks out. Therefore… we will be able to enter the territory of Architel without facing any substantial resistance.”

At these words, Balt nodded and said.

“As Your Excellency said… there was excessive taxation to raise funds for keeping the knights, resulting in the lives of the serfs in the territory being devastated. It has become so common to hear things like ‘if it’s going to be like this, I want to switch over to the Croilet territory.’”

A commander who possesses common sense wouldn’t station a large army there.

This is because placing troops in an area where the people’s hearts have fled invites resistance from the local residents.

However, unlike the farmers of Joseon, they don’t form militias to cut off supplies or execute guerrilla operations…

The serfs who are favorable towards us in Croilet will secretly inform us of the army’s position, provide favorable terrain for fighting against them, or share information they have confirmed.

And as these things accumulate, it naturally increases the likelihood of being pushed into unfavorable situations.

“Of course, the enemy will be aware of this fact as well and will try to capitalize on it to orchestrate an operation. However, we will not fall for such tricks. First, our forces…”