The Youngest Prince Of The English Royalty House [EN]: Chapter 195

[Episode 195, King John (3)]

(People of that era did not simply think of Safe John, who was John I at the time, changing his posthumous name to John I, and neither do we in the future. King John, my great ancestor, thought of a reasonable ‘revenge’ when he changed his posthumous name to the British style. – Henry IV, from A Splendid History)

“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince requests an audience.”

“Let him in.”

After the coronation, James, now the confirmed Crown Prince, came to see me.

“Greetings, Father King.”

“Crown Prince, welcome.”

My son greeted me with courtesy.

Unlike before, my eldest son, now exuding a sense of maturity, addressed me as ‘Father King’ rather than just ‘Father,’ following proper etiquette.

It felt strange.

Because he no longer seemed like a naive child, but a proper Crown Prince.

“Now, Your Majesty has become the true monarch of England.”

“Indeed, that is so.”

Previously, I was a co-ruler.

Of course, the reason Richard proposed the co-rule was due to the special circumstances of the war with the Mongols and his trust in my exceptional handling of domestic affairs.

However, a co-ruler has a strong character of a ‘reserve king,’ so it was merely a title, and I essentially oversaw England’s domestic affairs as a chancellor.

But now I have formally become the king and have the authority to do more.

“Therefore, there is something I wish to ask of Your Majesty.”

“Speak.”

“Do you intend to comprehensively reform the kingdom after this coronation?”

This fellow seemed to have already read my mind, even though I hadn’t said a word.

Of course, I pretended not to know and asked again.

“Haven’t I already started reforms since my days as Chancellor?”

At my words, my son’s eyes widened as he said.

“Your Majesty, I know that the reforms you undertook as the Duke of Normandy or the Duke of Aquitaine were at a level that the ‘monarch of the time’ could accept.”

“Is that so?”

“Your Majesty, you adhered to that line very thoroughly. Otherwise, it could have been seen as treason.”

I don’t know when our son grew up so much.

I know that it is my son James who is keeping the ‘line.’ He was trying to please me, acting like a politician.

“So, what is it that Your Majesty ultimately desires?”

“It’s simple yet difficult. We are about to become Frank-Anjou.”

“…”

James, momentarily stunned by my words, paused for a moment to think. Then, with a heightened voice, he asked me.

“Your Majesty, are you talking about Frank Anjou?”

Yes, not France, but Frank.

The word Frank also means the Frankish kingdom, the predecessor of France.

To be precise, Frank-Anjou means, ‘England will just take root in West Francia [the western part of the Frankish kingdom, roughly modern-day France]. French friends, you can just take the Low Countries [Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg] or the Holy Roman Empire [a complex political entity in Central Europe].’

Then my son made a troubled face and spoke what he had realized.

“Ha… Your Majesty is truly thinking of something absurd. Are you planning to make me suffer by making such a big deal of this?”

That’s right.

I will value a competent successor more, just like King Sejong [a famous Korean king], who used Crown Prince Munjong.

“Yes, now you have to suffer too.”

In the original history, Henry III, the son of King John, suffered a lot because of the incompetent King John.

But at least I was not an incompetent monarch, and rather, my son James would suffer in a different sense.

“What about Aquitaine?”

“Now, we need to send administrators to Aquitaine to govern the region on our behalf.”

“Are there trustworthy people?”

“Yes, but they will die if they betray my expectations.”

I had administrators and clergy whom I had given ‘trust and faith’ to for decades, and I even knew their weaknesses. I will entrust them with the warehouse and test them.

Of course, they won’t be able to commit corruption unless they want to die.

“And I will also give you authority. Now that you have become the confirmed Crown Prince, you must work hard too.”

Then James said.

“But the more I do, the more there will be those who try to drive a wedge between me and Your Majesty.”

“I do not restrain my son.”

“Your Majesty, there is no king in this world who does not restrain the Crown Prince.”

“I’ll make you so busy that you can’t think of anything else.”

“Pardon?”

“What you have to do is not just this.”

The Crown Prince of England will no longer be a comfortable position or a position where he can think of other things.

Thanks to this, he will suffer a lot, but everything the Crown Prince achieves will make England, which the Crown Prince will rule as king in the future, prosperous. Considering this, it is worth suffering in his youth.

But not knowing his father’s heart, James, who was already trembling and feeling dizzy, said.

“Father, can’t I just go back to Aquitaine?”

“Son, you have to suffer from now on to bear the weight of the crown.”

I immediately called Peter and said.

“Peter, give the future king some work to do.”

“Your Majesty, I think it would be good to increase the work of my son as well.”

Peter’s son, Timothy, is James’ strategist. I realized Peter’s words and nodded.

“So be it.”

* * *

-Rouen Palace-

After giving James new duties, I decided to return to Rouen Palace and start working.

‘The important thing is that the war is still going on.’

The most urgent support is, of course, the ‘front line.’ We must drive out the heinous axis of evil that is the Holy Mongol Empire. Because I don’t need Mongols in ‘my Europe.’

I did another raid. This time, it was against unscrupulous, corrupt merchants in the Toulouse-Gascony region. After legally plundering the wealth of those who had made small fortunes.

“Send more soldiers and supplies to drive out the Mongols.”

I immediately added money and sent new soldiers and supplies to the front line to fight the Mongols.

Time is running out. The next target of the Mongols, who had digested Poland, was clearly the ‘Two Romes’ [Constantinople and Rome, centers of Christianity].

“Send letters to the Eastern Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire.”

The first person to receive the letter was Alexios II, with whom I had ‘old ties.’

The content of the letter I sent was to stop individual battles and unite against the great empire of the Holy Mongol Empire.

The second person to receive the letter was Otto IV, who was also my nephew.

The letter to Otto contained the list of Albigensians [a religious group deemed heretical by the Catholic Church] that our Central Intelligence Agency had found, the list of North German nobles who could be killed, and issues related to the operation of the Allied Forces.

After dealing with matters related to the war, I approached the issue of the nobility.

Not all nobles could be branded as ‘evils.’ Paradoxically, in the Middle Ages, it was not easy to build a country without socializing with the nobility.

Didn’t King John of the original history underestimate the nobles and get hit in one go?

Anyway, I said to the ministers with a serious face.

“I am thinking of appointing the Earl of Oxford to the vacant position of Prime Minister of England due to my retirement.”

Surprisingly, the position of Prime Minister was officially vacant. Because I immediately ascended to the co-king. Now that position was filled by the Earl of Oxford.

“Am I?”

The Earl of Oxford looked at me blankly, as if he didn’t understand.

“Even the bravest eagle cannot soar through the sky with only one wing.”

I deliberately compared it to an eagle, not a lion.

“…”

I could use a noble who didn’t directly try to rebel against me, but who had slightly different thoughts from me.

“No matter how much I cherish Peter, I will not appoint him as Chancellor even if it causes disputes with you.”

“…!”

I said to the surprised nobles.

“Unlike your thoughts, I hate disputes for the sake of disruption. In such an urgent situation, you must be able to make concessions. So I will make the Earl of Oxford, who has slightly different thoughts from me but loves England, the Chancellor.”

Later, I will officially appoint Peter as Chancellor, but there was a problem with appointing him right now.

First, it is the limitation of being born out of wedlock, and second, the nobles of the aristocratic faction are already checking the royalist nobles, so we cannot fill all the key positions with our people.

“Your Majesty… Thank you for bestowing your grace.”

The Earl of Oxford expressed his gratitude.

“Earl of Oxford, the first thing you must do is eliminate the distinctions.”

“If you mean distinctions.”

I said at once to the Earl of Oxford’s question.

“We cannot continue to treat British Isles and West Francia differently forever.”

To be exact, was it from my father Henry II, who went back and forth between London and Anjou?

Nobles, royals, and even merchants began to roam the two regions of Britain and West Francia on wooden boats.

In that sense, I continued.

“From now on, the main cities of England will be London, Rouen, and Poitiers. Each will play a different role and support this vast kingdom.”

“…”

The Earl of Oxford seemed to have many thoughts, perhaps because he could not have predicted my words.

“And England will be completely united.”

“Your Majesty, that is a very good point. But we are at war now.”

“Isn’t there something that can be tried because it is war?”

War special.

War consumes a huge budget, but it can also bring together the nation’s potential and accelerate development.

While the vassals were worried, I gave them good news.

“Perhaps… a proper counterattack is starting in the Middle East right now.”

* * *

-Throughout the Middle East-

The Middle East, the cradle of mankind. There have been many fierce battles here.

At first, the Crusaders suffered enormous damage because they were attacked by all the Mongol forces due to lack of information.

However, as time passed, commanders, including Godfrey, began to ‘adapt’ to the Mongol army.

Godfrey thoroughly grasped the weaknesses of the nomadic Christians (Mongols) and is now pushing the Mongol army back.

The entire Middle East is fierce right now. Of course, it had to be. The Middle East, which Europeans barely obtained through the Third Crusade, was a lifeline that could not be abandoned.

However, the Mongols, who had war experience, immediately counterattacked, and the fight between the Crusaders and the Mongols gradually intensified, and many soldiers from both camps fell on the desert sand.

In the meantime, the deaths of Richard I and the Count of Champagne were also reported in the Middle East.

The Middle Eastern Crusaders were furious at the story of the heroes who died fighting for their country until the end, and the traitor Albigensian who created the tragedy.

Not only the soldiers but also the commanders showed reckless movements as if they had entrusted everything to their emotions.

But the cold-hearted Godfrey said.

“The only thing we can offer them is victory in the war.”

He said that they must win in the end.

-Doo doo doo doo.

A messenger riding a camel, raising sand dust, came.

“Your Excellency, this is a letter sent by His Majesty.”

“Was there any great danger on the road today?”

“Admiral Charles has already taken control of the sea, so I came without any problems.”

Then the messenger came and gave the letter.

‘Now, His Majesty, who reigns alone, will do anything to avenge Richard.’

Godfrey, with a serious expression, read all the contents of the letter and handed it to the adjutant.

“Read His Majesty’s order.”

“I understand.”

Godfrey’s adjutant, who read all the received letters, felt his head go blank. Because he had never expected such an order.

There were several contents.

King John I, who changed his posthumous name from Jang I to John I.

Encouraging the commanders on the front lines, and also lamenting his position as unable to become a ‘knight’ king, there was a greeting encouraging the commanders on the front lines.

But.

The real thing is the phrase written below.

Godfrey and his adjutant, the young Duke of Leicester.

“…”

I was shocked in many ways by this brutal phrase.

[Chivalry is not necessary for the Antichrist who killed my brother and countless Englishmen. So we will have to deal with them with a different strategy than before.]

The ‘method’ that King John wrote down below this phrase was no different from a hyena hunting a lion.

The problem was that Godfrey, who had personally experienced this war, and his adjutant, Duke Leicester, were convinced by this method.

That’s how war made people more cruel.

And not long after, a large supply ship arrived on the Middle Eastern front.