Chapter 58: The Emperor Dispenses Rewards (2)
Here, ministers supporting the Crown Prince and those who didn’t subtly contend against each other, their desires were clashing, each wishing to elevate their preferred Prince to the throne.
Thus, when discussing rewards, they requested more for the generals within their own faction.
For those outside their faction, they aimed to diminish their merits and balance them with appropriate wealth, territories, titles, and promotions.
This time too, the opposing faction would have insisted,
‘This is against the principles! He should be rewarded to the maximum limit that a Military Minister can propose.’
This merit was of a level that the Emperor himself should reward directly, like the last time at the Raintlant Front.
There was a solid consensus that any objector would be a fool, so there was no opposition.
“I think a special promotion, a reward of 3000 gold, and generous territory should be granted to the Lieutenant. What do you think?”
“I agree with Your Majesty. However, we need to discuss how many ranks to promote and how much specific territory to grant.”
Different proposals arose in response.
“I, Otto von Meyer, think that granting two ranks of promotion and the territories of Reiner and Schwaltz near the Bruno territory to the Lieutenant would be appropriate. It may seem a bit excessive, but considering his achievements, it’s fair.”
“While his merits are indeed great, as the Finance Minister said, he is a youth whose rapid rise is rare in imperial history. So, why not promote him by only one rank and grant him only the Reiner territory?”
Fernando, who was closer to the Crown Prince faction as he was the Emperor, started contemplating inwardly after hearing this.
This was because it would be no problem to promote Lieutenant Yaeger immediately to Colonel if he were just over 30, but due to his young age, he hadn’t gone through several positions needed to earn a star.
Especially since he still hadn’t attended the staff college
It was clear that when the Crown Prince would inherit the throne, Lieutenant Yaeger would be by his side when he would expand the Empire, wielding his sword and stars on his uniform.
However, employing someone who hadn’t even graduated from the staff college and promoting him to Colonel could cause some objections within the military.
Meanwhile, in this fierce political arena, the two factions began a subtle verbal fight beside the contemplative Emperor.
“Look here, Finance Minister, even in imperial history, no royal has ever ascended so quickly at 21!”
“Well, has there ever been someone who achieved this much at 21? Isn’t that right, Military Minister Otto?!”
“...You’re not wrong. If I had received such commands at that age... I might have just retired.”nôvel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.
“Though he hasn’t attended the staff college, his ability to analyze strategies and tactics and his ideas have been proven to be excellent since his time as a student leader. Considering he is too precious a talent to be just a student at the staff college, after his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, he will be appointed as a professor at the staff college for two years, and afterward, he will be treated the same as other graduates.”
The Emperor’s words of creating an unprecedented case at the staff college made the Field Marshal, Military Minister, and each chief of the military open their eyes in surprise.
The elites who made it to that position, including those who were his peers, seniors, and juniors, after at least a 1:1000 competition, could not refute it.
It was because they also agreed that not giving Lieutenant Yaeger an opportunity to teach his tactical and strategic knowledge to the reserve military elites would be a huge loss to the empire while analyzing the war at the Chekovia front to reference for future wars.
“Also, Lieutenant Yaeger will be given the title of Baron, acknowledging his contributions in turning the Empire’s defeat into victory at the Raintlant front and his outstanding performance in this war. If anyone has any objections, speak now.”
As granting titles was the Emperor’s privilege, it could be perceived as challenging royal power unless it was a very special case.
In Lieutenant Yaeger’s case, his merits were so outstanding that there was no proper reason to object.
Thus, the nobles attending the meeting had no choice but to agree with the Emperor’s proposal.
The rewards for Lieutenant Yaeger were decided as follows:
Granting of the territories of Reiner, Schwaltz, and Salzheim
Promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and appointment as a professor at the staff college (After fulfilling 2 years of teaching duties, he will graduate.)
Granting of the title of Baron.
Reward of 3000 gold.
Although he didn’t skip several ranks as before, it’s equivalently the best reward, containing everything needed as a noble of the Empire and a future general.
After confirming the reward, the Emperor secretly felt envious that the Crown Prince had acquired such a good commander.
If he had had such a commander under him when he was the Crown Prince, he felt like he would have easily dominated the Republic of Francois.
Meanwhile, high-ranking individuals in the imperial military felt the need for their children, who were now lieutenants or captains, to attend his lectures to survive.
So they secretly went to the dean of the staff college and asked him to expedite their children’s admissions, claiming,
‘Lieutenant Yaeger was going to be a professor by the Emperor’s order. My child is confirmed to enroll after two years. Can you expedite it?’
Under normal circumstances, waiting for admission turns would have been proper, but such tricks easily passed as they weren’t against the law and were the requests of people with 3-4 stars.
Thanks to this, the admission quota of the staff college unexpectedly increased this year.
