He became the most insane emperor of all time - Chapter 8

“Your Majesty, while it is good that you are focusing on your training, please do not neglect state affairs.”

The next day, while I was absorbed in my training as usual, I was startled by the words of the captain of the Imperial Guard.

For a moment, I thought it was the Prime Minister speaking instead.

“The captain of the Imperial Guard is saying such things… It seems I have no allies.”

“I am Your Majesty’s ally, but even so, is it not contrary to Your Majesty’s intentions to continue neglecting state affairs?”

My intentions?

I had no intention of doing anything, I just didn’t want to work.

Of course, the captain’s words were based on a certain logic.

“Since we’ve already brought in merchants, it’s about time to take care of state affairs and manage them, isn’t it?”

“Oh, of course. I’ve already been doing that.”

“You’ve been doing that?”

Seeing the captain’s doubtful expression, I grinned and responded.

“Those fools who kept presenting trashy proposals.”

The officials who only brought up low-quality proposals with every excuse.

“I told them to come up with solutions to their issues. I even warned them that if they brought up trash again, it wouldn’t be fun, and they started working hard.”

“……”

Indeed, people need motivation to do their work well.

Of course, I didn’t just give them homework and leave them be.

There were still many concepts that were completely unfamiliar to them.

Public health, budgets, economics, administration, military, diplomacy, etc.

Although it was only a superficial level of understanding, I picked out the most essential topics and started teaching them.

The Prime Minister, impressed, started talking about new academic fields or something, and soon began managing the officials, like a graduate student—not literally, but the officials were starting to fall into line.

Naturally, the officials glared at me with resentment, but hey, if they don’t like it, they can become emperor. Ha ha!

“……The officials must be having a tough time.”

“Well, everyone has their own tasks to do. But as you said, I can’t just be absorbed in my training all the time.”

As the emperor, I was making use of the Prime Minister and officials, but simply ordering them around wouldn’t keep the organization running smoothly.

The emperor doesn’t need to roll up their sleeves and do everything, but they must act appropriately for their position.

“Today, I should inspect the soldiers.”

“Do you mean a military review, Your Majesty? I’ll immediately prepare the Imperial Guard……”

“No, the Imperial Guard is fine. They are under your direct command, and they must be doing well without needing my inspection.”

What’s the point of visiting a unit that’s already performing well?

Of course, when a war breaks out, the elite units will likely be at the forefront or need to defend the kingdom, so it’s not entirely meaningless.

But if the inspection is to be meaningful, it must catch those who are slacking off, so the subordinates will take their duties seriously, don’t you think?

If I’m not satisfied with the Tang Dynasty’s military, and if I’m truly preparing for war, then I must do so.

“I want to inspect the Imperial Army. The official name is the standing army under the Imperial Legion, correct?”

“That’s correct, but are you planning to inspect the soldiers, not the knights?”

“That’s the plan. Is there a problem with that?”

“……There may indeed be a problem, but it seems faster for you to see for yourself rather than having me explain.”

As expected, upon hearing my decision, the expression of the captain of the Imperial Guard was less than cheerful.

Before I fell into this world, there was a saying that was quite popular.

Upon seeing the reality of the Imperial Army, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh and mutter that saying.

“Is this… the Imperial Army?”

The term “Empire” simply refers to the form, system, or scale of a nation.

It doesn’t inherently refer to military power.

However, oddly enough, whenever the Imperial Army is mentioned in any genre of fiction, it carries the image of a strong military.

“Captain of the Imperial Guard, am I too disappointed by comparing them to the Imperial Guard?”

“No, Your Majesty. You are rightfully disappointed for entirely normal reasons.”

But no matter how much I looked, the Imperial Army in front of me didn’t seem like a strong military at all.

Although they stood in formation upon my arrival, there was no spirit or discipline to be seen.

There was no sign of order or military discipline either.

Most of all, their appearance was shabby.

Their poorly maintained, worn-out armor was dirty, and many of them appeared malnourished.

“Even though they’re not the Imperial Guard, this is still my standing army. This is unacceptable.”

Although I had expected them to be somewhat lacking, I had hoped for better.

When I showed my discomfort, the general standing next to me, beside the captain of the Imperial Guard, began to sweat profusely.

“Tell me, Captain, why has it come to this?”

“If I were to list all the reasons, it would be endless, but the biggest issue is military funding.”

“You don’t mean you can’t even pay their salaries, do you?”

I recalled the proposals I had occasionally skimmed through each morning, even though I had neglected them somewhat.

Among those, there had been no serious proposals concerning military funding.

“Fortunately, their salaries haven’t been delayed, but the pay itself has been cut for a long time, so it’s not very meaningful.”

It seemed they had made the typical mistake of cutting soldiers’ wages due to the country’s financial struggles.

It’s a common error made by rulers of failing nations, who see soldiers’ wages as the easiest target.

“Originally, the Imperial Army’s size was around 5,000, right?”

Five thousand isn’t a small number, but it’s far too small for an army to be called the Imperial Army. Yes, it’s definitely insufficient for the size of the nation.

“At least, compared to the size of the country, the standing army is much too small.”

“Captain, do you think improvements can be made now?”

Thanks to the patriotic voluntary(?) donations of the merchants, the financial situation has improved, and now the military funding issue can be partially resolved.

However, the captain of the Imperial Guard shook his head, seemingly skeptical.

“To be honest, I’m doubtful. Restoring discipline once it’s been broken is not an easy task.”

Perhaps because he had experience in the military, his perspective was very realistic.

The problem, however, was that this reality was quite painful.

Still, acknowledging the reality and trying to resolve the issues is the right attitude expected of a true emperor.

“Alright, from today on, I’ll train with them.”

I made a statement that would surely astonish everyone who heard it.

It was a natural reaction.

If a president suddenly visits a military base and complains about the state of the military, then decides to join the training, it would definitely cause an uproar.

Of course, if a president did that, it would be seen as a political stunt, but surprisingly, it was a common occurrence historically when it came to emperors.

Even Napoleon frequently shared hardships with his Imperial Guard.

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll start with a light outing, maybe a walk in the forest or something.”

“A forest, Your Majesty…?”

“A hunting ground. I think it’s a perfect place for an outing.”

Of course, that outing would eventually be known as the hellish training.

***

The concept of going to a forest for military training is not unfamiliar to South Korean men, as it’s something most experience when they go into the military, with jungle or guerrilla warfare training typically conducted in such environments.

Of course, I didn’t intend to recreate any of the extreme training scenes you’d find in fantasy worlds.

“Is this the right place? A location near the demonic beasts that cross over from the magic realm?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then this place will do. Have them form a defensive formation.”

“Are we going to hunt demonic beasts right away?”

“No, that would be too dangerous for now. The reason I chose this location is to create a sense of tension.”

You couldn’t ask someone weak to immediately run into battle.

Until they’ve regained their strength, it wasn’t practical to engage in real combat, but training that simulates real combat was necessary.

“We won’t be fighting demonic beasts, but we’ll use opposing forces.”

“Opposing forces, Your Majesty?”

“To put it simply, I or other soldiers or knights will act as the beasts or demonic creatures.”

I was planning to adapt the training method used by modern Earth armies, where opposing forces are used, and tailor it for this world.

“There are concerns about injuries, Your Majesty.”

“Of course, we’ll be careful. It’s too dangerous to go all out at first, so it might be best to use training weapons.”

Using swords could be too intense, so maybe we’d use wooden swords or staffs instead. It might feel a little anticlimactic, but I didn’t plan on making them overly ambitious right away.

Since it was their first time doing this, I expected some awkwardness and clumsiness, but I was hopeful they’d improve gradually.

“I don’t expect them to become elites right away.”

I looked at the disheartened soldiers, striking the ground with my scabbard as if to loosen up.

What they needed most right now was self-esteem and confidence.

“They need to realize that they are soldiers.”

This wasn’t about telling them to know their place.

It was about telling them to change and act like soldiers again.

Of course, I had no intention of preaching about sheer willpower.

I would, even if I had to pressure the Prime Minister, increase military funding again.

But even if the funding increased, it would be meaningless if the soldiers themselves weren’t soldiers but were just living off their paychecks.

“I agree with Your Majesty, but if it’s the Prime Minister, he’s likely to bring up the budget issue.”

While the soldiers, at least, pretended to form a defensive line at the harsh orders of the Imperial Knights, the captain of the Imperial Guard pointed out a practical issue once again.

As he said, the Prime Minister was likely to view an increase in military funding negatively.

That wasn’t necessarily wrong.

In fact, the Prime Minister was simply doing his job properly.

“That’s a problem we can solve once the army starts looking proper.”

“A solution, you say…?”

The captain of the Imperial Guard seemed skeptical, wondering how a solution could arise from the costly military training.

I stretched nonchalantly and gave him a simple answer.

“Why ask something so obvious? Of course, we’ll hunt demonic beasts to make money.”

“So, in the end, we will be hunting demonic beasts?”

“Of course. We can’t just train forever. We need real-world training too.”

By using the army that was idly sitting around, hunting beasts would also generate some extra income.

It was a simple and rational solution to tackle multiple issues at once, as long as we could bear the relatively minor risk of casualties during the hunt.

“Moreover, I seriously intend to expand this plan.”

To be exact, it was something so rational that it was surprising it hadn’t been done until now.

There were monsters outside the front yard that would pay for being killed, yet they had just been sitting idly.

Of course, there were likely reasons for this, but based on what I knew, I still wasn’t accustomed to the way things worked in this fantasy world.

“Even at the peak of the Empire, the magic realm’s beasts were never completely driven out. How much less now…”

The captain of the Imperial Guard, observing the soldiers with their makeshift defense lines, spoke in a worried tone.

He was a true soldier who could empathize with the soldiers’ hearts, but unfortunately, I wasn’t about to stop pressing forward.

“That’s exactly why we have to do it now.”

If they couldn’t even defeat the beasts from the magic realm, the empire was doomed anyway.

Of course, whether people realized that or not was a separate matter.

“Our job is to make them realize that.”

So, let’s grind them down until they do realize it.

Let’s make them work until they’re so exhausted they’ll let out a pathetic sigh.