dognovel Chapter 239 Chaos
Chapter 239 Chaos
Spring 1452
"Little duck!"
In the Earl's Castle, two-year-old Carl and Catherine were running in the corridors of the castle under the protection of servants, and in front of them, two little ducks wearing fanny packs were twisting and turning as they ran forward, trying to shake off the two little masters behind them.
Listening to the noise coming from below, John in the bedroom put a letter into an envelope, and then handed the letter to the waiting courier. Then John asked Wesker who had just reported to him:
"Can you tell me again what you said before?"
"Yes." Wesker looked at the intelligence and said again:
"Last winter, the Emperor of the Yoda Empire passed away. After discussion between the Yoda Empire's Noble Council and the Church, Ludwig, the direct descendant of the former Emperor Yoda in the southern part of the Empire, became the new Emperor."
"It's great that the warlike Emperor Yoda is dead." John couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he heard this. He was afraid that one day this man would suddenly realize that his threat was far greater than the army in the south, and then focus his attack on the north to play a war of attrition with him. By then, even if he didn't die, every aspect of his territory would probably collapse.
Thinking of this, John continued to ask:
"What did the new emperor do after he came to power?"
"Yes, it seems that he did quite a lot." Wesker said after flipping through the intelligence:
"First, he dissolved the Imperial Noble Council and forced Archbishop Yoda to acknowledge that he was the Lord's only representative on earth."
"what?"
John was not only surprised but also felt incredible about this matter. This kind of thing would have been considered incredible in his previous life. Compared with him, some benevolent kings in Africa were considered to be courteous to the wise and humble.
"There is another thing that has a greater impact." Wesker continued:
"After Ludwig took control of the imperial capital, he dispatched troops to take over those directly affiliated territories and some family territories without direct descendants, and planned some distant places into governorates."
"But unlike the governors appointed by other countries, these governors took their own troops with them when they took office in their respective territories, and most of the officials they appointed were not locals. Along with this came a strict martial law, stipulating that locals were not allowed to leave their respective governor's jurisdictions, and violators would be sentenced to death."
"Why is this happening? Shouldn't the country, which has just recovered from the plague, resume commercial trade first? Why are they starting to impose traffic restrictions?" John was very puzzled.
"According to Ludwig himself, most of those living on the border are mixed-race people from neighboring countries, especially the hostile country Midland. These people with impure blood hide in the territory of the Yoda Empire and inform the Midland people. This is the reason why the war with Midland has dragged on for so long." Wesker responded.
"Oh, that's not surprising." John could only say that Ludwig's words were half right. There were indeed a lot of spies hiding in Yoda, but John found it incomprehensible if they insisted that this was a national conflict and persecuted the common people who were still working for Yoda's ruling class.
But he thought about it again and again, and everything seemed to make sense. A country that could set up concentration camps in the Grand Duchy of Grant to massacre the local population might, in the eyes of their ruling class, also blame the failure of the Midland War on national issues.
"It is worth mentioning that although most of those appointed as governors are loyal to Ludwig, according to some intelligence, they are different from other nobles in that they have bad morals. Some Yuda ministers even secretly say that they have no humanity at all. It is estimated that in the next few years, the people under their rule will most likely live a miserable life."
After listening to what Ludwig did, even John felt that it was a bit out of line with common sense in governing a country, so he asked casually:
"Is this emperor crazy? Won't the country collapse if he governs like this?"
Wesker first glanced at it with surprise, then continued to look at the intelligence and said:
"You are right. He is really a madman. His nickname is the Mad King. It is said that he was impulsive and irritable in his early years and liked bloody battle scenes. There are even rumors that he often personally disemboweled death row prisoners in an extremely cruel way, which made others think he was crazy. Even the former Emperor Yoda disliked him and sent him to a territory in the south when he came of age."
"How could such a man become emperor? Wouldn't the nobles and the church resist?"
"I'm afraid it's still difficult for the Yoda nobles now. Thanks to the various measures taken by the former Emperor Yoda, the power of the Yoda nobles has begun to weaken. Coupled with the impact of the plague on the nobles and their territories, those who can take a breath and keep their territories are already the best among them." Wesker first analyzed the current situation of the Yoda nobles, and then began to talk about Ludwig's power:
"Although the outside world mostly belittles this mad king, he also has some good points. For example, he selects talents. No matter what your status is, as long as you have talent, you can join his army. He also stuffed many prisoners and local bandits into his army. There are even rumors that there are cultists in his army. These people are far more brutal and powerful than the peasant soldiers in other noble territories and the standing army of the king's direct territories. In addition, due to his royal status, most nobles can only suffer a setback after a conflict with him."
"But he also has a requirement for selecting people, that is, they must be pure-blooded Yoda people. To join his army, they must prove that their family has not married anyone other than the Yoda people in the past three generations. But in the south, which is close to the sea and has no neighboring countries, most people meet the requirements unless they are port cities. Ludwig also accepts everyone and puts them all into his army. According to incomplete statistics, the army he was able to command before becoming emperor reached more than 100,000."
"Okay, it's not easy to collect this information. Now let's talk about the intelligence from Midland." John waved his hand and continued to ask.
"According to the latest intelligence, except for some remote areas, the king has already taken control of most of the territories he can control. Currently, the king has occupied 40% of the territories in the kingdom, making him the person with the most territories in the kingdom."
"What about military deployment?"
"As various taxes resumed collection, the king formulated the next round of military expansion and planned to establish another 20,000 standing troops to deal with the increasingly dangerous diplomatic situation. At the same time, according to the latest news, the standing troops of the king's various territories began to gather near Wendam, and the number may eventually reach 30,000."
"They're finally willing to send troops to the front line. It looks like we can prepare for a counterattack soon." John couldn't help but sigh. If the southern battlefield launched a large-scale counterattack now, the potential pressure on his side would be much less.
"Um, Sir John, I'm afraid things are not what you think." Wesker denied John's idea and continued:
"A lot of intelligence shows that the final destination of this army is not the eastern front against Yoda... but the southwestern border blocked by the mountains."