Chavaria’s Internal Problems

"The bigger one's realm is, the more problems that appear."

"From power-hungry nobles to those loyal to a previous regime, all sorts of issues occur, and each must be dealt with wisely less the problem resurfaces."

"This is why in politics, finding balance and giving up small concessions can allow you to focus on getting the more important things done."

"This is why no matter how much land a nation owns or how many resources it can create."

"If those resources are wasted, then even the smallest nations can become powerhouses while swallowing up their neighbours."

Kodjis Kendari, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Nathia.

….

"With Lucius gone and the imperial army in disarray, now is the perfect time for the disenfranchised and disaffected nobles in these regions to rise in rebellion."

The emperor agreed with his minister's assessment and continued his conversation with his loyal minister and friend.

For one to fully understand the large ripple effects of Lucius Aurellion's death on the fledgling empire, one needs to understand how it is structured both militarily and politically.

The first issue that needs to be tackled is the military. Most advanced nations like Chavaria, which operate using an aristocratic medieval-like system, possess three differing types of troops that can be called upon during times of war which are the regular standing army paid for and loyal to the crown or state, troops belonging to the various nobles of the kingdom and conscripted levies and commoners.

The regular standing army of a kingdom is paid for and loyal to the crown and can be mustered at a moment's notice. These troops usually occupy critical defensive positions on the border and strategic positions within the kingdom to help maintain royal authority in the realm.

Most of these troops will be commanded by a general appointed by the king or ruler of a nation usually, those who possess military talent amongst the commoners or trusted nobles gain these positions. The troops are well-trained and equipped and can be used to resist both foreign aggression and internal rebels and form the basis of royal or imperial power in a kingdom.

The second type of troops are the various knights and men-at-arms who are loyal to the various nobles throughout the kingdom and have a large amount of autonomy over their respective fiefs, from right to pit and gallows to being able to raise and maintain private armies. These nobles had immense power over their domains, meaning a good lord could be the difference between good and hard times, though in Chavaria, any noble being too tyrannical could be punished by the imperial court, so those with political enemies had to be careful. Of course, the imperial court had to be informed first, and if they weren't, then the people had little recourse as corrupt court officials could conceal someone's tyranny from the emperor, which is why the emperor uses his own information network which would make it harder for people to deceive him.

Obviously, overly relying on your vassal lords to provide you with troops can be problematic as they will usually move to secure their own interests over the interests of the kingdom unless they happen to intercede.

For example, a lord who is at risk of losing their fief to a foreign power will be more than happy to put all of his strength into helping the king repel his enemies, but when called to arms to send troops to the other side of the kingdom may drag his feet and offer little support to his liege.

This is especially true for greedy lords at the border of a kingdom who will routinely use excuses such as a sudden, convenient, unexpected illness that is totally not fabricated in the slightest or skirmish to legitimise his stay in his lands. Other excuses include needing to fortify a kingdom's border from a possible excursion, as you never know if two kingdoms may be conspiring together. 'Your majesty, I cannot come to your aid due to the need to watch over the kingdom's border, but here is a small amount of gold to show my loyalty to you and help you in your noble endeavour.'

While some of these excuses are legitimate, lords frequently abuse many to shirk their obligations to the crown in times of need. Also, if the nobility is too powerful, they may band together and form powerful factions to pressure a king or try to force a king they don't like to abdicate.

The last type of troops are peasant levies. These are usually farmers or citizens conscripted from land under the control of a lord or monarch and given weapons to help make up and defend a kingdom and lord's territory.

The problem with this is that losing too many farmers in war can have severe consequences for the economy of a domain, as it is these commoners and farmers who pay the taxes and create the food that helps fund a lord's lifestyle and army which is why any sane lord or king will only use them in an emergency.

The second problem is that they can only really be used as cannon fodder as they will usually have low morale and break easily, alongside not having the skill to be able to stand against elite soldiers equipped with sword and mail. While the levies may have padded or leather armour and a decent weapon if their lord feels generous or has some to spare, they are usually untrained, poorly equipped and have low morale, limiting their use in war.

A lord with a prosperous territory and peasants to spare may enlist a few as they can be used to push siege equipment or dig trenches and defensive positions, but in the last 1000 or so years, lords have found that using professional armies is better as it not only increases their military power but allows their territories economy to be unimpacted helping them produce food and money to fund their expensive military expeditions and makes defeats less damaging.

As such, with this system, Lucius, who had the control, loyalty and admiration of 100,000 men in the imperial army, was an immensely powerful man. Combine this with his strategic prowess allowed him to be more than enough to stabilise the emperor's reign over his fledgling empire.

It also allowed the minster of war to hide his true abilities and influence, giving the emperor a hidden genius general that he could pull out in a pinch and because it had been nearly 20-30 years since he had last commanded an army except for those old nobles who remember his deeds many thought he was only a shrewd politician unaware that he was the true power behind the Chavarian military.

It meant that his unjust death could lead to a drastic fall in imperial power across the empire as many of his loyal subordinates may resign or rebel in rage, wanting to avenge their general.

It also meant that as far as the empire's enemies and rebellious elements were concerned, the emperor had not only lost his only grandmaster strategist but also angered an army meant to be loyal to him.

It should also be remembered that Lucius was in control of the most elite of the empire's soldiers, with only the imperial guard being able to best their skill at arms, controlling nearly half of the 250,000 men that the emperor could bear upon his enemies without the need of support from his nobles as the sagacious ruler used his newfound position and wealth to create a terrifyingly powerful military loyal to him.

With all this in mind, now the political situation of the empire had to be considered. First were the remnant rebels of the two fallen kingdoms' movements, such as the one in Pluerus that Bardornus oversaw. While mostly staying quiet and under the radar, these rare movements harassed various nobles loyal to the empire, killing their men as they went out alone in the last 10 years or so as since the creation of the empire, already 20 nobles had died at the grandmaster fighters skilled glaive. His elite Plurian soldiers, the remnants of the kingdom's army, and loyal knights easily killed the noble's escort before putting their target to the sword, giving endless headaches to the emperor, who had to find suitable replacements from an increasingly smaller pool of candidates.

He also made sure to target the ones loyal to the emperor only or those who were more virtuous, making sure to stay away from corrupted ones, hoping these nobles driven by greed and ambition would create problems for the Emperor of Chavaria, which they just had by killing a prince and killing the emperors most skilled and loyal subordinate in the military.

This is why the death of Lucius Aurellion would have far-reaching consequences as nobles who had been waiting for the empire to weaken so they could strike now had an opportunity to either rebel or gain power for while the emperor's military power was strong if enough nobles banded together then they could face the imperial army on a somewhat equal field as they had many powerful subordinates at their disposal with a few master strategists amongst them.

The rebellious nobles in the conquered kingdoms may want to use the chaos within the empire to try to rebel, at least those who had forgotten about the minister of war. For while he was known together with Drusus as the two people who came up with the plans during the war for unification because Drusus was the one who fought and had all the prestige, they assumed that it was mainly him and not a minister who spent a large amount of time playing politics that was primarily responsible for the Chavarians great success when in fact it was the minister who came up with the best ideas.

The older nobles, however, those who had managed to weather the many storms of recent years, knew just how skilled Amulius was as just over 30 years ago as it was he who dealt many defeats to the kingdoms, setting up their slow decline until the Chavarians eventually managed to conquer them as one can usually see the symptoms of a failed state years before it falls if one looks carefully enough at the undercurrents that flow unnoticed until it is too late.

So these older nobles aware of the minister of war's skill will not make any moves, for they did not survive the fall of their kingdoms to die at the minster of war's unrelenting blade that cut through all enemies of the empire, whether man, woman or child.

"How big do you think the rebellion will be?"

The old Chavarian emperor asked as he relaxed into his golden throne.

"Not too big. It will mainly be the opportunistic or loyal younger ones who do not respect their elders' opinions, as the old monsters will remember me from back then and know you still have a hidden trump card available to you."

Minister Lunaris replied relaxedly, knowing that while it was a crisis for the empire, as long as he went to fight himself, there would be no problems. But the minister of war, ever vigilant of the tense political situation, wanted to stay in the capital to help settle things down in the imperial court while giving Archtorius the experience and prestige to somewhat replace Lucius' presence in the military and help stabilise the empire.

"I suggest you send Archtorius to deal with the rebels, for he has been learning under Lucius and Drusus since he joined the military. He was also a close confidant of Lucius and can help to settle some of the discontent that has arisen in the imperial army due to the unjust death of their general."

"And if he succeeds, he will be able to replace Lucius and create a reputation strong enough to deter rebellion."

The minister of war said as in his opinion, the first objective of the empire was to secure the empire and not go after House Aurellion, who now only has limited power.

"We must also summon Prince Flavius again to question him on something."

"Oh."

The emperor exclaimed as he was not expecting this, trying to think what the hell his problematic son had done now.

"If my sources are correct, your majesty, and after many 'voluntary' confessions from people close to the soon-to-be crown prince, I believe that he may have had the help of Bardornus and the Plurians to pull this off."

The minister of war declared with a smile and a tiny evil laugh as the man who had held power with the king over the court for 30 years knew exactly how to extract information from his enemies, with many of his techniques being terribly painful to go through for a potential victim.

"What makes you think so? Why the hell would they work with each other!? Surely they would be at each other's throats trying to kill each other, not working together!"

The emperor said, hoping that it was not true as it would mean that the Plurian Resistance that Bardornus is part of has far more connections and power than he initially thought, as even Plurian nobles like Sindar Singefeild who had been stripped of their lands and titles due to their refusal to bend the knee to the emperor were amongst them.

The fallen noble was amongst Bardornus' most loyal and competent commanders, his aristocratic heritage and house bringing much-needed military knowledge, skill and unique units to the rebel's cause.

"It would make sense as even if Archtorius helped in the ambush to be able to beat a grandmaster strategist, your imperial guards and House Aurellions Pelican Guards would require an exceptional fighter, and Bardornus is the only one that we cannot track easily that we know of as all of the powerhouses belonging to the various noble houses stayed put."

"It would also be why we could not easily track the movements of those who took part in the ambush against Lucius because if I could find out their movements, Bardornus and his resistance would have been destroyed by now."

The minister of war told the emperor, who also found it suspicious that everyone from Lucius to the imperial guards sent to protect Prince Victarion was killed in Flavius' ambush. It was also common for nobles and kings to keep tabs on the movements of grandmasters belonging to the nobles, as the movement of one of these powerhouses could mean that they were about to make a big move, allowing one to plan for such things in advance.

After dispelling the silencing spell that allowed the two to talk privately, the emperor shouted to Daemonus and the imperial guards outside the throne room.

"Guards!"

The emperor shouted, after which his imperial guards and Daemonus immediately entered the opulent throne room.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

They shouted in unison while kneeling down, ready to receive the emperor's orders.

"Summon Flavius to meet with us, and Daemonus, start arresting the noble families on this list who do not have grandmasters in their ranks! Also, send a message to my brother. I'll need his help for the next stage of arrests!"

The emperor decreed in an authoritative voice while sending a scroll over to Daemonus, which had the names of the noble families destined to be purged by the emperor.

"Your subject receives the imperial order!"

Daemonus roared before being stopped by another's voice.

"Wait!"

The minister for war shouted before bowing and cupping his fists in front of the emperor, showing his respect for the old man's lofty position.

"Your majesty, are you sure you want to do this now and not wait until all potential rebellions have been crushed?"

The minister for war asked Cassius, ever the political mastermind he wanted to use these noble families to deal with potential rebels before purging them as not only would this decrease the strength of the problematic nobles, allowing them to be dealt with more easily later, it will also deal with any potential rebels hitting two birds with one stone and lowering the effort imperial forces would need to take prevent rebellion from the emperor's crackdown.

"No, now they are all here, so I won't have to worry about extra rebellions. Also, send orders for the imperial armies to go to these noble's territories and arrest their families and also send some to House Aurellion's territory, though I doubt there will be any issues as their loyalists know that they stand no chance against the empire's armies, and so will be focused on escaping rather than joining any traitorous movements."

The emperor said with a ruthless glint in his eyes and a half smile appearing on his withered wrinkled face, his hatred for these nobles being put on full display as he wanted to give them no chance for recourse, for if some of them do well against any rebels, these parasites may be able to use their achievements to escape the emperor's justice.

"I may be an old lion now, but I'm still as deadly as I was 30 years ago. It appears my long merciful reign has made the sheep forget that predators still stalk the halls of the imperial court!"

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