The Third Conquest of the South was completed.
　As a result of this war, most of the Cilician colonies in the south became our territory and our allies.......

　You've expanded your territory too much, haven't you?
　The thought passed through my mind.

　Fearful of our country's growing strength, Fardham and King Gilbed's country might try to sabotage us.
　Even if they don't do it, they must not be amused inside.

　They can't do anything in the face of the Roselle Kingdom, but the country of King Rosais, a member and advocate of the Alliance against Gallia, is busily expanding its territory in the south.

　We will only prevent them from creating a second siege.
　At the same time, we must tighten up the country.

　In other words, what we need to do now is to tighten up our diplomatic and domestic politics.

　And so.....
　Let's move on to the full-fledged post-war process.




　The first thing we need to do is to form a Rosais Cilicia Alliance.
　Although we formed a token alliance before the peace with Pofenia the threat of Pofenia has not passed.
　The details have to be decided.

　Nevertheless, none of the countries have any objection to the purpose of the alliance, which is that if Pofenia attacked, each country would pool its navy or army, whichever was better, and jointly defend its interests........
　It wasn't the military alliance part that was in dispute........

　It is a conflict of interest between the Cilician city-states.

　The fact that the two Cilician city-states are the same does not mean that they are on good terms with each other.
　I dislike Pofenians, but I also dislike the Cilician people in the next town.

　Fishing rights, use of the harbor, territorial disputes, etc...
　I was in a tussle with the hassle.

　I didn't have the courage to pour the oil of tariffs on it.

　But these are problems that our country can't do anything about.
　If you take one side or the other, you feel like you're losing money, and if you compromise, both sides will be dissatisfied.
　On the other hand, if you continue to leave it unattended, it will remain as a thorn in the side of the alliance.

　Tedious........
　If this were a monarchy, the king would be able to decide, but the majority of Cilician city-states are direct democracies.
　And that's why it's so difficult to get rid of them.

　Huh.....

　Well, we'll just have to wait and see. Let the parties sign the military alliance first, and then let the parties negotiate a solution to the conflict.
　Are you sure?

　I nodded at Ial's question.

　To put it bluntly, I don't rely on the Cilician city-state.
　Rezad, which is under our direct control, Nemeth, which is an allied city, and Gehenna, which is a friendly country.

　This alone is enough to counter them.

　What I want from the Los Angeles Cilicia Alliance is to help improve our country's international standing.
　That's enough for now.

　'At worst, we can negotiate a customs union or something else between the nations individually.
　'I see, and if that's the case, I have nothing to offer you.

　He seemed to be convinced, and Ial withdrew easily.
　'I guess we'll have to deal with diplomatic issues on a case-by-case basis.

　''Well the first problem is the former Rezad senator who escaped to Gehenna.

　Of course, I'm not going to make a nobleman who would run off barefoot into the crisis of his homeland, and I'm not going to let him chew on Rezad's national politics.
　The large amount of assets left in Rezad.......mansions, fields, slaves, large ships, and works of art of a size that cannot be carried around.
The confiscation of all kinds of.
　On top of that. I've captured them.

　If they are not harboring any kind of rebellion, then I would just let them go at random.
　They're hostile toward me, I'm afraid.

　As an ex-merchant, I'm well-connected.
　Even though I don't have any money, it's dangerous to leave them alone, but I don't have any power, so I can't be bothered to take them to court.

　Hmmm, that's frustrating.

　Do you have any suggestions?

　I asked Ial, Raimondo, Ains and Alexios.
　Lymond replies.

　'Such a coward, you should be put to death, don't you think? What is the matter with you?
　Well, hey, Ains?

　I give Ains a look.
　Ains nods deeply with a sigh.

　'There are many Cilician people among them who defend them. I have many of their friends in Nemeth and Gehenna. What is important to a merchant is trust and connections, even in name. We help each other as much as we can in times of need... especially in a life threatening situation like this.

　And so it is.
　Nemeth and Gehenna's ruling class has a not small number of their friends in the ruling class.
　If we ignore their feelings, it will hinder Nemeth's rule and hurt our relationship with Gehenna.

　'So why not commute their sentences and deport them?
　'The King is too sweet!　And the country is being evacuated in droves.

　I immediately reject Ial's suggestion.
　Adelnians do not like the act of turning our backs on our enemies.

　Adelnians won't tolerate people who abandon their homeland to flee.
　Commoners, nobles, poor and wealthy things alike.

　At the same time, the people of Rezad will be disgruntled.
　If they were not good enough, they were in danger of being killed by the Pofenian army and taken away as slaves.

　''Then how about this, Your Majesty?

　Alexios opened his mouth.
　Four people, including me, looked at Alexios.

　'We will leave their treatment to the people of Rezad. You will elect a legal officer, provide them with a lawyer, and judge them in a proper trial. The people of Rezad will not be displeased because they will decide for themselves. The Adelnians will also be satisfied with the decision of Rezad, who is a party to it. And the Senators of Nemes will also agree that it is out of line for them to harbor any animosity towards His Majesty, so relations will not deteriorate.

　Hmmm....
　Yes, it's possible.

　But there's a problem with adopting it.

　"I've heard there are two classes of people in Rezad, first class citizens and second class citizens. Well, I'll take them both as my subjects.

　Rezad is a country with a rather unique tax and status system.
　The differences with Japan are significant.

　We have to scrutinize those areas.

　In other words, do we give second class citizens the power to elect and run for judicial office as well....
　This is the problem.
　We can expect an outcry from first class citizens.

　'I'll show you how it's done. After all, I'm the hero of Rezad.

　Right now, Alexios is becoming more and more popular in Rezad.
　Well, the reason Rezad is surviving now is because of Alexios.

　If Alexios can convince me, it's not a problem.

　'At the same time, I will introduce the same tax system in Rezad as in our country a land tax and a sales tax and eliminate the capitation tax. This too is likely to be met with a backlash from first class citizens, but can you convince them?
　I'll take care of it.

　Alexios grinned and showed him a grin.
　Okay, if we leave the problem of Rezad to Alexios, there's no problem.

　We can just let the senators who stayed behind and the bureaucrats we sent to do the actual work.
　Alexios can serve as a "face" for us.

　I'll make sure that Alexios is the "face" of the operation.
　There's also the question of what to do with Rezad after the political reforms are complete - whether to keep it in government by deputies or to give it autonomy, but that's not something to think about now.


　The Rezad issue is a good one for now.
　But there's another big question above our eyes.

　"What shall we do with Nemeth?

　As Raimondo said, the treatment of Nemeth was not over.
　If it were a normal city-state, after being incorporated into an allied city, the post-war process would be finished with the scraping of minor laws.

　But Nemeth is not an ordinary (...) city-state.
　It is a city that has been the leader nucleus of other city-states, and its population exceeds 70,000.

　Its economy is strong and its national income is on par with our own.　
　It has a strong navy and army.
　There are small-scale iron ore mines in the country that produce high quality iron, and Nemeth's ironmaking technology is the best in the Adelian Peninsula.

　It would be too dangerous to take them in as is.

　On top of that, Japan and Nemeth have never fought with each other.
　From Nemeth's point of view, he had no desire to be defeated by Japan.

　What about building an Adelian colony of our own inside Nemeth?
　"By taking the land of the Nemes?　You're just inciting hostility.

　I dismiss Raimondo's opinion.
　As a matter of fact, Nemeth's Navy and Army are both wary and hopeful at the same time.

　We don't want to weaken Nemeth to the point of extreme weakness.

　'In the meantime, we will confiscate the iron ore mines. We'll have to force the blacksmiths to pull them out on the condition that they are treated well.

　That would raise our country's overall steelmaking skills and at the same time reduce Nemeth's ability to manufacture weapons.

　''The rest of the time, we'll have an army stationed in Rezad, so we'll always have a glare...?　But it's weak.

　What do you think we should do better?

　'Then, Your Majesty. How would you like to take the policies that His Majesty is doing to the city-states and do them in Nemeth?
　...What do you mean by that?
　Divide and conquer.

　Raimondo's idea is this.
　He would divide the people of Nemeth into three classes.

　First, the senators of Nemeth would be given the rank of quasi-aristocrats and vassalage.
　The wealthy and intellectuals of Nemeth and the military shall be granted vassalage.
　All others shall be treated the same as ordinary citizens of Alliance cities.

　This way, the three factions will be able to squabble internally on their own and the discontent won't come to me.......
　All right, that sounds like a good idea.

　Okay, let's go with Raimondo's plan.

　Raimondo's plan wouldn't diminish Nemes to the extreme, and it wouldn't cost much.
　This alone would leave some concerns, but in combination with the other policies, it would be a solid solution.

　Let's get right to it.

　The overall policy has been decided and the final stage of the post-war process is finally underway.

　It should be noted that all former Rezad lawmakers were put to death by the citizens of Rezad after a trial.