He Became The Most Insane Emperor Of All Time [EN]: Chapter 246

Became the Crazy Overpowered Emperor – Episode 246

Became the Crazy Overpowered Emperor 246

“First, let’s start by understanding the situation. What’s the status of the Greenskin Kingdom?”

“It’s not good. The capital has already fallen. King Golrak has moved the capital to the southern region, but his control over the provinces is rapidly declining. It’s likely that soon…”

“He’ll have to seek asylum.”

The Greenskins were a typical feudal monarchy, having moved beyond tribalism.

In other words, they also inherited the disadvantages of feudalism.

At first glance, it appears to be a king’s autocracy, but control over the provinces was in the hands of the old chieftains, who could be considered vassals.

It’s a system that somehow functions in a medieval-level world with limited administrative capabilities, but in a situation like this, it’s backfiring.

Because when the king is defeated, the local lords and nobles are surrendering to the enemy.

Of course, feudalism doesn’t always mean surrendering to external enemies when things go wrong. They might desperately resist to avoid losing their territories.

But the problem is that the Greenskin Kingdom’s opponent was another Greenskin.

They currently serve King Golrak, but in reality, they wouldn’t have much of a problem serving Rasgar.

Why wouldn’t they, when the problem is solved by simply changing lords?

“That’s the worst. Does King Golrak have any countermeasures… no, he wouldn’t.”

If he had any, he would have taken action already.

Of course, it’s hard to call King Golrak incompetent just because he has no countermeasures. It’s just that this situation was probably inevitable.

If so, we need to come up with countermeasures now.

I headed to the Western Territory and met with Golrak after a long time.

“It’s been a while. I didn’t want to meet again like this.”

“Nor did I, Emperor. I’m ashamed to show you my kingdom in this state.”

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. We have a blood alliance against a common enemy. However… it seems there are more traitors than I thought.”

Meeting Golrak in person made the situation more real.

There were definitely those who were loyal to him in this situation. But their number was smaller than expected.

They must have been vassals, so it would be difficult for them to give up their territories, leaving the easy path behind.

This was only possible for those who were fanatically loyal to Golrak, regardless of their territories.

“…The good news is that a significant number of troops are still maintained.”

“Even so, they are fewer than the enemy, and their equipment and morale are low. We can provide equipment from our empire, but we can’t do anything about morale.”

The troops who retreated with Golrak were also experiencing confusion.

No, they were even more confused because they were troops.

The guards who were personally loyal to Golrak were relatively maintaining their morale.

Those who were conscripted from the territories would wonder whether they should be loyal to Golrak or Rasgar.

“…I have nothing to say. My kingdom is a mess.”

“I’m not blaming you, Golrak. It was something we had to face someday.”

The enemy isn’t stupid either. They probably would have inevitably exploited these weaknesses.

The floating islands that attacked the capital? That’s just a minor technical difference. If Golrak could have dealt with these weaknesses, he would have temporarily given up the capital and then united to recapture it.

“We can provide weapons as much as you want. Even if they send the floating islands again, we can deal with it. But if we don’t solve the fundamental problem, it’s useless.”

Even if we help Golrak re-establish himself with the power of the empire, those who have changed lords once can do it again. In fact, they wouldn’t even try to return to Golrak in the first place, because they would likely face severe consequences.

“But there’s no particularly good solution, is there? It’s hard to say this… but I don’t have a way to gain as much power as you do.”

All these problems are ultimately due to the difference in power. I am also an absolute monarch, but unlike before, even if I were to be defeated a few times, very few would betray me.

Not only do I control the provinces with overwhelming administrative power, but also because it has changed from a feudal system where each is a separate country to a single entity called the empire.

On the other hand, Golrak can’t do that. It’s not because Golrak’s power is insufficient. Rather, Golrak was strong enough to subjugate the old chieftains as vassals.

But he couldn’t do more than that. He had no way to make them return their territories or make them legal nobles subordinate to the royal authority.

“That’s been the case until now. But it’s already been 10 years since then. Golrak, you’re on the throne, so you don’t know, but… the world has changed quite a bit now. Not just the empire, but your kingdom too.”

“…Is there a way?”

“If there is, there is. But…”

For that method, are you willing to give up a lot?

“Of course. I’ll do anything for the kingdom!”

“Can you swear to that? That you can sacrifice anything for the ‘kingdom,’ for the ‘Greenskins,’ not for yourself. For example, can you even give up your dignity as a king?”

“……!”

Golrak couldn’t answer immediately. Depending on how he interpreted my words, it could sound like I was telling him to give up the throne.

But soon he said, as if he had made up his mind.

“Of course. I don’t go back on my word.”

“Good resolve. Then I’ll teach you the way.”

The method I’m trying to teach Golrak is nothing more than the answer key from Earth’s history.

“Have you ever thought about a nation-state?”

What I am asking Golrak is to no longer have the state owned personally by the king or nobles, but to hand it over to the people.

* * *

What is a nation-state?

As the name suggests, it means a nation of the people. If modern people hear this, they might say that it is too obvious.

But this obvious thing was not originally obvious.

The concept of ‘the people,’ which modern people take for granted, is a concept that emerged after the modern era in Earth’s history.

In other words, there were no ‘people’ in the Middle Ages. There were just subjects, or at best, citizens of some free cities.

Since there are no ‘people,’ the ownership of the state does not belong to the people. The state is the personal property of the king, and the territory is the personal property of the nobles.

Originally, a huge internal and external shock is needed to change to the concept of a nation-state. The so-called revolution.

What I’m about to do is that kind of revolution. However, there is a way to achieve a revolution with less bloodshed.

“I, I greet Your Highness.”

“Be comfortable. I’m just a commoner who is ashamed to be called Your Highness now.”

“No. Who dares…”

A neatly dressed Orc gentleman knelt before Golrak.

Golrak helped him up.

“Don’t do that, sit down. Everyone else, sit down too. I have something to say to everyone.”

Golrak seated the Orc gentlemen he had summoned at the round table.

Although they were intellectuals who claimed to be Enlightenment thinkers [philosophers who emphasized reason and individualism], the experience of sitting at a round table with the king was unfamiliar.

More than that, why are there Enlightenment thinkers among the Orcs? That’s because they were heavily influenced by the Empire.

‘In fact, Enlightenment thinkers are emerging from the Empire. There’s no reason why they can’t think of freedom or equality in this other world.’

However, they are not raising their voices in the Empire. Of course. Who would dare to say ‘freedom’ or ‘equality’ to the imperial family that has put the collapsing empire on a solid foundation?

Above all, even those imperial Enlightenment thinkers only regard it as an intellectual game of ‘it might be good if it were like this.’

They don’t make claims that the monarch should give up their rights. As soon as they do, they will be lynched by the angry imperial people.

It’s a bitter situation, but anyway, influenced by them, the intellectuals of the Greenskin Kingdom also became Enlightenment thinkers.

However, this side is closer to wanting to demand a bill of rights [a list of fundamental rights and freedoms], but not being able to.

It’s not only difficult to challenge Golrak’s authority, but the local lords have treated them harshly.

“I am not proud of you either. If I had listened to you usually, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.”

“Your Highness…”

“But I’m going to change it now. Look at the behavior of the nobles when the kingdom is in danger.”

Golrak sighed sincerely.

“I could never be a true king from the time they were called chieftains, not even nobles. I was just a clown elected by those who became nobles.”

“No, Your Highness…”

“There’s no need to deny it. Because that’s the truth. Otherwise, would I have defected to the land of the alliance like this?”

“…”

Golrak wouldn’t have liked the word nation-state either.

But he must have thought that it was the only way to overcome the limitations of the race, which he had been worrying about since he was the Great Chieftain.

“I can be a clown dozens or hundreds of times for the sake of the cause. But the world can no longer be sustained by clowning. So I’m going to give up my authority as king.”

“Your Highness…!”

It’s not just about the king abdicating. Even the Enlightenment thinkers didn’t take it that way.

“Build the country as you have envisioned. Constitution, elections, parliament… I don’t know much about those things.”

“We are Your Highness’s subjects. We can’t dare to do that…”

“No.”

Golrak rose from his seat and bowed to them.

“You are the people. You too, and all those you must lead. And me too-”

Make me a king of the people, not a clown of the nobles.

“Your Highness.”

“We will definitely do so.”

“We will take back the country from those traitors and return it to the people and Your Highness.”

They also rose from their seats and paid their respects to Golrak. This time, instead of kneeling, they took off their hats and bowed their heads.

“It seems things are going well.”

“Can they do well? In my opinion, they are just… disloyal people.”

The captain of the guard, who was watching the scene with me, gave his honest impression. I just chuckled because it was typical of him.

“It’s not just us who have changed, Captain of the Guard. They have changed a lot too. It’s different from before. Rather, they are ahead of us in this respect.”

Like them, there are quite a few Enlightenment thinkers among the Greenskins.

Of course, it is concentrated in cities, and there are still many rural villages that are loyal to the nobles. Originally, the latter would be a considerable obstacle to this ‘revolution.’

But there is Golrak, the king, on this side. If Golrak voluntarily gives up his authority and gives rights to his subjects, even the rural royalists can be absorbed.

“I understand what Your Majesty is aiming for. But I can’t agree with the statement that their methods are ahead of us…”

“You can’t agree? But Captain of the Guard, I also think that the Empire is not my sole property. The Empire belongs to the imperial people.”

“…”

“Think about it a little more.”

Because we may face the same problem in the future.