I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

133 – Escalation (5)

“Damn it…”

Lotharing’s sudden surprise attack on Lutesia gave a great shock to Carolingian civil war forces.

A cannon? It’s a surprising enough thing, but it’s strictly speaking a means and a process.

The most noteworthy thing at this point is that Rotaling quickly occupied Lutesia and stole all the king’s tokens there and took them to Rotaring.

He even killed all the members of the Carolingian family in Lutecia.

What these tell us is clear. The illegitimate son of Lotharing has a sincere claim to the Carolingian throne.

“Crazy…”

Conquest is not something that can be said only through strength.

All of the great conquerors who have existed in history are all close to the realm of monsters, so some people seem to think that they can do anything with their strength, but in reality it is not at all.

Conquering does not simply mean expanding the land, but subduing it by conquering it. Conquest cannot be established unless the indigenous forces of the occupied territory are subdued through meticulous work such as conciliation or intimidation.

And, of course, the various nobles who value the just cause will not obey Rotaling’s heinous tyranny.

What? Great-grandmother’s lineage? The illegitimate child himself probably doesn’t really think that such a thing is a justification.

Ah, those idiots who sided with the Rotarings, or the small and medium-sized nobles who just want this civil war to end as soon as possible will speak a little differently.

“How many supplies are left?”

“That…”

“I understand even if you don’t tell me.”

All of the supplies that depended on the merchants of Rotaring were all gone.

I should have noticed in advance that the supply was gradually reduced from a month or two ago, saying there was no supply…

“For now, just watch over time—”

“Your Majesty!!”

At that time, a messenger opened the door of the office with an urgent face and entered.

The Duke of Provence, no, the King of Carolingian, Philippe, is about to say something about the messenger’s rudeness, but soon realizes that the messenger’s face is not serious and shuts his mouth.

“Lothaling’s illegitimate son demanded obedience to His Majesty. He also said that he would properly hold the coronation ceremony for Lance—”

“Lance? It must be occupied by the Neustrian rebels right now.”

“Yes, so it is said that Lotharing and Neustria are now in an all-out war with each other.”

Lance is a city in the northeast of Carolingian, and is occupied by the northern Duke of Neustria, one of the three dukes who rose to claim the Carolingian throne.

Since the kings of Carolingian had their coronations in the archdiocese of Lens, it is essential to obtain the archdiocese in order to be rightfully crowned king of Carolingian. .

You bastard…!

Chii Iik!!

“Demand of obedience? Cut that off. And immediately decapitate the envoy who sent this piece of paper.”

“The envoy, knowing that his life was in danger, handed over the letter and immediately fled.”

“Gather your cavalry and chase the envoys!! And turn all your troops to the north.”

“The north means…”

“Rotharing. Did you say you went into an all-out war with Neustria? That’s great. The back of your head should be completely empty.”

If I stay still like this, I can only see the future being swallowed up by Rotaring.

Shouldn’t we do something before that?

…………

“The Duke of Anjou… Hmm.”

You wouldn’t have received a letter requesting obedience yet, but you would swear an oath of allegiance to me. Great

Instead, it is a deductible factor for being talked about a lot, such as the right to print private coins, lower taxes and conscription, the right to control merchants and interfere with what they sell, etc.

“Tell the Duke of Anjou. We will guarantee all the privileges you have, so give your allegiance.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Won is so talkative.

I’ll just give my allegiance! If I put it plainly, I would have given you the privilege in moderation.

I know that Anjou is the weakest among the three dukes and is in a desperate crisis because of the drastic decrease in support from Rotaring.

“Anjou would swear allegiance to the other nobles of Carolingian.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Most of the minor nobles who did not take any stance in the civil war will swear allegiance to You. If the coronation ceremony is held normally in Lens, no one, not just the minor nobles, will be able to raise an objection. .”

“…I’d like to take a moment to check, but how many vassals were under the direct control of the Carolingian family?”

“Excluding nobles without lands, there are a total of 301 people.”

Write…

I’m doing my best to devour Caroling, but I’m getting a bit fed up with the results of my best effort right in front of my eyes.

There are a total of 301 vassal nobles directly under the direct control of the royal family, not vassals of vassals, and 6 times more than vassals under my direct jurisdiction as King Rotaling.

I’m still scratching my head trying to manage my vassals, but if six times more nobles were added to that… Hey, hey…

‘I don’t want to…’

Unexpectedly, what is not very important when dealing with numerous vassals is the rank of each vassal.

Because the amount of spirit that must be devoted to each vassal, regardless of the rank of the vassal, goes from one vassal to another.

Even low-ranking nobles don’t swear an oath of allegiance, right? In addition, if you follow the lineage of that low-ranking noble, there are high-ranking nobles, so you shouldn’t treat them rashly.

Be it a knight, a baron, or a duke, they say hello to me the same way and send me letters the same way.

Above all, making a friendly relationship with a vassal is not hard because there is an answer like some math problem, but it is a very stressful job. The vassals owe their allegiance to me, so I can’t entrust them to someone else like Leclerc, so I’ll have to deal with them myself… Ugh, just imagining them is terrifying.

[Wow!! The number of vassals represents His Majesty’s majesty, so that’s great!!]

[Congratulations, brother.]

A while ago, whether they knew my troubles or not, Ines and Chloe were vaguely excited about the increase in the number of vassals I supervised. It will still remain the same.

Oops… f*ck…

“…?”

“Ah, ah… Hmm. Yes, it will take a very long time to be sworn in by all of them at once, so we’ll make a five-year grace period after Jim ascends the throne of Carolingian.”

“Yes, I will.”

Let’s see… Anjou in the west is getting his hair done on his own, and Neustria in the north is doing just fine, so now all that’s left is Provence in the southeast.

I remember that Provence did not participate in numerous previous wars because it had to check the kingdom of Andalusia in the south and the Holy Empire in the east. Its preserved army was certainly menacing, but the Duchy of Provence was remote from Carolingian and could not use its full strength in civil warfare.

Ugh…

‘A preserved army.’

If you lock yourself in the territory with those preserved troops and attempt a sit-in, things will get a little messy.

It’s a bit unsettling… But the army of Provence should be able to deal with the current national power of Rotaring.

There are many pro-Rotharing faction nobles in the Carolingian kingdom, so even if things go wrong, with their help, it can be solved. Of course, you will have to pay for it.

…………

“Thank you, Leclerc.”

“This is an undeserved compliment, Your Highness.”

“Excessive humility is rather arrogance. Things would not have gone so smoothly without your help.”

Ines is in a good mood these days.

It is because the children are growing well and healthy, and above all, they gave the best gift of a crown to their beloved Seobangnim.

Of course, it is necessary to occupy Lens and hold a formal coronation ceremony in the archdiocese there, but it can be said that it is already over as soon as the Carolingian crown, scepter and seal are in hand.

The rulers of two kingdoms, aren’t they great kings from fairy tales?

“Now I just need to do a little more.”

“A little?”

“The three dukes.”

“Oh.”

Ines nodded at Chloe’s answer.

It is not possible that the only nobles with claims to the Carolingian throne were the Dukes of Anjou, Neustria, and Provence. The Carolingian royal family constantly intermarried with their vassals to strengthen friendship with them, which resulted in the spread of the Carolingian royal family’s lineage in Caroling and Lotharing.

Anyway, among the countless descendants of the Carolingian family, only those three dukes rose up claiming the throne. This was despite the fact that Carolingian lands were so crowded that anyone could claim the throne.

That means that those three are the prizes of half-goals.

If His Majesty, rightfully crowned King of Carolingian, were forced to accept their allegiance, they would most likely revolt again.

“”…Whoops.””

Chloe and Ines look into each other’s eyes and smile, smiling as if they can understand each other.