I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy - Chapter 132
EP.132
As I was making up my mind, His Highness the Crown Prince looked at me and smiled and told me not to be nervous as it was no big deal.
“What can be done?”
When I heard those words, I felt numb, as if my head had been hit with a mace.
Because you’re asking me how difficult it is without even telling me what to do? Because I thought:
However, seeing as they don’t even tell me what’s going on and just ask me to agree, there’s no doubt that very important confidential information is involved.
If you fail, you will be a huge disappointment to His Highness the Crown Prince, so you must succeed at all costs.
The only consolation, though, is that they won’t put me in a 2-star operation on an operation that only special forces soldiers do in movies.
It must be said that it is truly a blessing among misfortunes that one’s life does not come and go.
“Please order. “Then I will do just that.”
“As expected, it’s Director Jaeger. “I believed that you would definitely take action to resolve my concerns.”
It feels like I am bowing down and being worshiped, but if His Majesty the Crown Prince tells me to do this, then doing this is the path that a loyal subject should choose.
Also, it would be less boring to do something than to do nothing for a month.
Because His Majesty the Emperor granted me the great commercial city of Strasbourg, giving me the foundation to build a great power.
If you are determined to work as hard as you can and repay as much as you can, you will be able to get promoted a little faster next time.
“Okay then, let’s get to the main topic right away.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“A few days ago, the Pope sent a special envoy to tell us his intention and said that he was vehemently opposed to lifting the excommunication against the Francois Republic.”
When I heard those words, I could barely suppress the curse that almost came out of my mouth.
Because for the first time in hundreds of years, the Pope was not only nominally respected by everyone, but their interests were aligned, so he was given the opportunity to control the Francois Republic, a secular state, in order to restore the papacy.
The story is that I saved the drowning man, saved him, and even gave him a check for 20 million won, but when he got a taste for the money, he sat down and told me to give him 50 million won more than he had already given me.
Honestly, if it wasn’t in front of the crown prince, I would have spit out a bowl of curses.
“This is such nonsense that it makes your head spin just by hearing it.”
The crown prince, who heard those words, took a sip of tea with an expression of agreement with what I said, then sighed heavily and said,
“I agree with that. However, as you know, the Pope’s status is that of God’s representative, higher than that of the emperor of the empire, and the number of territories and people he controls is similar to that of a marquis of the empire. So, for hundreds of years, he has never exercised power proportional to his authority. So, I guess this incident gave me a taste of power and led me to say such nonsense.”
When I heard that, I was struck by how blasphemous it was that on programs like The White Tower, corporals and sergeants who were now 21 years old were often talking about topics they thought were nothing special.
I was reminded of how he tried to dominate his subordinates by making all kinds of trouble to the private, who could do whatever he wanted just because he had the rank of sergeant.
Likewise, His Holiness the Pope led over 70,000 troops to fight against the Francois Republic for the national interest of our Reich Empire.
He seems to be under the illusion that he can run the empire as he pleases since he is given the papal authority and given a lot of money.
Don’t you even think that if the Pope fails to understand reality and steps forward, he could be replaced or assassinated by the cardinals below him?
No. That’s what I think, but the Pope, who was treated as a living cause maker and public order maintenance device for hundreds of years, has suddenly risen in status.
Even though his life may be in danger, he may want to somehow take advantage of this opportunity and become a pope who truly reigns over monarchs, like the popes of hundreds of years ago.
The problem is that it is the Reich Empire that suffers from this ridiculous idea.
“But no matter what happens, if you don’t honor this request, the relationship between the Holy See and the Empire will deteriorate, and a huge amount of donations will be needed to restore the relationship. Also, won’t we always be at a disadvantage in our future relationship with the Holy See?”
“If it were another country, it would be okay to reject such an unreasonable offer considering the situation, but the opponent is the Vatican. “You probably know better than me what consequences can arise if the Holy See is properly controlled.”
“yes. If we refuse, the Pope will not be able to force us into a corner by resorting to excommunication this time. “After winning with the power of Deus, they will demand repentance under the excuse that they lack faith.”
If we listen to that, we will be labeled as bad people who continue to follow the Pope’s nonsense even though he says it.
This will give cardinals from other countries who oppose the current Pope a justification to target the Reich Empire for conquest.
In the worst case, the Reich Empire on the Europa continent may be surrounded by numerous countries and forced to fight an all-out war, just like Germany did during World War I and II.
Because there were so many people around us targeting the Reich Empire just like Germany did.
“So, I’m not worried at all. So in the end, there is only one answer.”
“Please tell me.”
“A royal envoy personally sent by the Pope is secretly in Reichburg right now. He hopes to negotiate with us. “Convince him and make him understand that removing the excommunication now will be more helpful in increasing the authority of the Pope.”
To be honest, I have a strong feeling that this persuasion will not be easy…
In the end, if what the Pope wants is to strengthen the papacy, there is no way…
Why does the Crown Prince give me the role of persuading the other party? You entrusted it to me, right?
“All right. “But may I ask why you want to give me the role of persuading the royal envoy?”
To those words, His Royal Highness responded cautiously with a serious expression.
“That’s simple. Because this envoy came secretly, it is difficult for other diplomats to meet him in person and negotiate with him. In addition, don’t you have the diplomatic skills to completely confide in Vice Foreign Minister Henri at the Castle of Nancy with just a few words and give His Majesty the Emperor a land of greater scope than he could have imagined? Besides, you are ostensibly on probation, so even if the royal envoy does something crazy like secretly leaking the agreement document, you can get away with it under the pretext of asking how a person on probation can sign.”
“okay. Then, I believe they have already brought the initial proposal to Your Majesty. “Can you show me?”
The crown prince listened to my words and showed me the draft of the negotiation proposal sent by the royal envoy.
After removing all the formal rhetoric written there, the content was like this.
It’s good that the Francois Republic government is realizing its sins, reflecting on its sins, and saying it will repent, but I think it’s reasonable to pay more money to be forgiven for being excommunicated.
Or, it was to offer something that would further increase the authority of the Pope.
If only this was written in diplomatic documents in normal times, I would have been crazy and excited, but in a situation like this, if the request was this simple and clear.
In fact, it may become easier to persuade the royal envoy.
Because I have a simple way to increase the authority of the church and the reputation of the empire.
“We have already signed a peace treaty with the Francois Republic, so it is impossible to receive more money from them and give it to the Holy Father. Because when the treaty was signed, they also received an apology to be paid to the Holy See. However, it is difficult to add our own money to the apology. “Is there any way to solve this?”
I nodded and answered those words.
“It’s not like it doesn’t exist. Rather, it will be easier because the opponent is the church.”
“Then I will believe it, Major General. “I will prepare as much compensation as possible.”
So I left the Crown Prince’s house and was able to meet the Holy See’s emissary late that night.
“Hello, I am Bishop Luigi Valliera who has come in compliance with the wishes of the Holy Father.”
“This time, I am Director Peter Jaeger, who has been in charge of consultation to uphold His Holiness’ will and realize it in a secular way.”
Next, we exchanged a few more words to say hello and then spoke.
“Then let’s start a real conversation.”
See next episode