LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 157: War Rights
Young Master Parker was the third son of Count Odysse, overshadowed by his accomplished elder brother and sister.
His brother, a young man revered in the high society of the Rhine Kingdom, had already been capable of handling the family business at Parker's age. His sister, celebrated as the foremost female official in the east, served as the city administrator of the largest city in Odysse territory.
Despite the Rhine Kingdom's tendency to undervalue women, the doors of power were never closed to elite women. Women of high society, if sufficiently capable, could secure bureaucratic positions and even contest for inheritance rights with family support.
Growing up with such distinguished siblings, Parker never faced significant pressure. His father, Count Odysse, had always vacillated between his talented eldest son and his politically gifted daughter, barely considering his youngest child for any critical role.
Even so, being the son of a count, Parker had developed a sharper political sense than most minor nobles. He found Yang Qiu's proposition absurd. Seeing Yang's determination to persuade them, Parker mustered his courage to respond tactfully, "Respected Yang, I do agree with your perspective Charlie Rex is an exemplary lord, and my cousin Dart speaks highly of Weisshem's transformation.
"However, Weisshem, being a small town, is quite different from a barony or county like Indahl. Perhaps Charlie needs more time to familiarize himself with governing a territory before considering further steps It would be more appropriate. That's my opinion, at least"
Parker's suggestion was as diplomatic as possible. Charlie Rex, an illegitimate child not recognized by the Rex family, had no standing to compete with the Bartalis family for Indahl.
Even if the Rex family acknowledged and accepted Charlie Rex, he would still lack the credentials to contest; a peripheral figure like him had no right to instigate a territorial war. Expecting the Odysse family to support such a figure was utterly unrealistic!
This proposal wouldn't even be considered feasible by his father, let alone his brother and sister. They would merely see it as a fanciful dream.
Yang Qiu wasn't surprised by Parker's rejection and simply smiled.
In any society where social classes were becoming or were already rigid, the essence of internal competition and power struggles remained constant; lower classes relied on luck in birth, the middle classes on personal connections, and the upper echelons on blood and kinship.
It was like this on Earth, and it was the same in this other world.
In the high-stake game of power revolving around territorial domains, nobility by blood was the sole ticket to that arena. Yet, merely possessing it wasn't enough. After all, even within the upper echelons, there were hierarchies within nobility.
But Yang Qiu wasn't concerned about thisall he needed was that ticket. He had no intention of dancing to someone else's tune within the confines of the rules to their game!
Yang nodded in understanding. "I appreciate your concern, Young Master Parker. Indeed, compared to the Bartalis family, Rex's status may seem inadequate. But what if a church were to support Rex?"
Young Master Parker thought he was hearing things. "Whose support?"
"The church. Church of Lady Gold Coin."
Young Master Parker : "( '-' )"
He turned to his good friend Grey, blankly.
Grey: "
Parker's mouth hung open in astonishment. "A church?!"
Yang Qiu's smile grew wider. "When Rex replaced Baron Markus as the Weisshem's lord, the Church of Lady Gold Coin already expressed its friendliness."
During Baron Markus's struggles in the city of Indahl, the Church of Lady Gold Coin remained silent, tacitly accepting the change of rulership in Weisshemwhich, in Yang's view, was as good as an endorsement.
Young Master Parker: ""
"As for myself, I previously said that many people of this world have misunderstandings about me, but they aren't true," Yang shamelessly claimed. "The Redwall Farm' incident, which troubled the Church of Lady Gold Coin, was resolved by my people (undead) working hand in hand with the church's night watchmen."
Young Master Parker: ""
Parker felt dizzy again Night watchmen of the church cooperating with the 'Nightmare Butcher'? What was the world coming to?!
Without giving Parker any time to recover from his shattered worldview, Yang Qiu pressed on, "The Bartalis has indeed done a lot for Indahl, like protecting it from border bandits for over a century, a legacy of their ancestors that cannot be erased."
"However, the glory of the Bartalis ended with Adra II," Yang Qiu said with undisguised disdain. "Adra II was an old-fashioned and conservative noble. Although inflexible in many ways, at least he didn't abandon the soldiers who fought for him."
Years ago, Yang Qiu had passed through Indahl once and didn't cause any trouble there.
In the era of Adra II, the then-lord of Indahl and Adra III's great-grandfather, if one were to measure him solely by the standards of feudal nobility, he could be considered relatively humane. At least, under his rule, petty nobles like Baron Markus, who relied on flesh trade as their main industry, had no chance to rise.
Young Master Parker fell silent.
As a scion of a noble house, he was well-versed not only in his family's history but also in that of other noble families. He knew the state of the Bartalis. During his great-grandfather's generation, the Odysse family was quite close to the Bartalis family. By his father's time, they had distanced themselves as the Bartalis were deemed "increasingly undignified."
It wasn't that the upper nobility were particularly moral; rather, even the more discerning nobles had to value family honor. Any dishonorable deeds had to be discreet to avoid gossip.
Young Master Parker held no love for Adra III, who had mocked his cousin Dart's correspondence and hadn't clarified the situation in Weisshem, leading to his recent shock and being intimidated by the terrifying black mage in front of him!
If there was the support of the church, and the issue of Charlie Rex's inadequate status to wage a territorial war could be resolved, Parker could even entertain the thought of watching the Bartalis family fall from grace.
Picturing a disgraced, tearful Adra III actually made Young Master Parker secretly want to rub his hands in anticipation.
But of course, true to his political upbringing, Parker gave a non-committal response, "In that case please allow me to relay this information back. Perhaps my father will take an interest."
To Yang Qiu, Parker's diplomatic response was as good as agreeing. Raising his teacup, he said, "Then let me toast with tea instead of wine, to the friendship between Rex and the Odysse family."
Parker, wisely not pointing out that his family hadn't yet decided to ally with Rex, smiled and raised his own cup.
On matters concerning family interests, Parker absolutely wouldn't be so foolish; casual verbal agreements were one thing, but the Odysse family certainly wouldn't commit any real resources to support an illegitimate child whose prospects seemed dubious.
Yang, older than even Parker's great-great-grandfather and well-acquainted with nobility, clearly understood the young master's considerations
After letting the young master, who believed himself to be quite tight-lipped, retire to his room, Yang Qiu went to find Rex, who was busy in the next room tallying the autumn harvest and grain storage accounts.
In the presence of Rex, Ji Tang, and a few clerks working overtime, Yang Qiu declared boldly, "With verbal support of the Church of Lady Gold Coin and a count, you can legitimately wage a territorial war against the Bartalis family."
Rex shuddered, his trembling hand nearly knocking over the stacked account books on his desk.
"D-d-did you say war? I wage a territorial war?!" Rex stammered in horror.
"Exactly," Yang Qiu replied cheerfully. "Ms. Zhao is currently securing the Church of Lady Gold Coin's support for you. It will also take some time for the young master of the Odysse family to relay the message, so let's declare war after the autumn taxes are settled. That way, we can also profit from the autumn taxes the Bartalis have just collected."
"D-declare war?!" Rex was utterly dumbfounded.
"Of course, a formal declaration of war. Initiating a war under the guise of a noble territorial conflict means that once the Bartalis family is driven out, Indahl will be ours," Yang Qiu explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "An undeclared war would be dishonorable. Even if we succeeded in ousting the Bartlalis family, we would face endless security conflicts and potential third-party interventions. That would be extremely troublesome."
When it came to wars on Earth, regardless of the purpose, the instigator always tried to justify their actions as righteous.
The United States, with its global influence, had waged wars in Vietnam, Panama, Somalia, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan, always claiming to uphold justice regardless of the reasons. Each of the presidents that made the decision needed to have thick enough skin to withstand the criticism thrown their way.
The Chinese, whose own had also gone through thousands of years of war themselves, viewed such a tactic with disdain. Aware of the true nature, the nation adhered to the policy of not firing the first shot and only engaging in defensive counterattacks.
The concept of Earth's "just war" didn't quite work in this plane. With a history that's both extensive and verifiable, this other world had never seen a "single superpower" dominance. The common folk might be unenlightened, but the upper echelons were as cunning as millennia-old foxes. The shameless act of fabricating excuses for a so-called "just war" simply wouldn't fly here.
Consequently, people in this world didn't bother with the pretense of righteousness in war. Instead, they limit the "eligibility" for waronly kings might declare war on other kings, and only nobles might wage war against their peers. Commoners lacked the standing to challenge nobility, and higher-ranking nobles could not declare war on those of lower rank.
Wars of equal status were considered honorable and acceptable to society. If these conditions were not met, third parties were entitled to intervene and seize the spoils of victory from the winner.
Rex, being merely a bastard, lacked the necessary status to wage an "honorable" territorial war against the Bartalis. Therefore, the recognition of the church and a Rhine Kingdom count was needed to elevate Rex's status and validate him as a noble capable of waging war. Once the Bartalis family was driven out, Taranthan would have time to gradually assimilate the lands of Indahl.
Seeing Rex's jaw practically hitting the floor, Yang Qiu said in dissatisfaction, "What's with that reaction? You don't really think you can remain the lord of Weisshem forever, do you? The Bartalis family aren't fools. Their reluctance to oust you this year is merely due to the impending autumn taxes; waging war now would disrupt the tax collection.
"Once the taxes are settled in the 10th, maybe the 11th month, before the end of the year, the Bartlalis family would surely back a noble of equal status to declare war on Weisshem. Are you just going to wait for the threat to knock on your door instead of proactively neutralizing it?"