King-Chapter 1408 - 276, A Clever Plan Backfires_3

Without evidence to substantiate the claims, relying solely on the Clergy’s assertions will naturally fail to gain universal approval.

Even though some people know the Clergy are unlikely to lie about such matters, after weighing the pros and cons repeatedly, they choose to feign disbelief.

Frank Empire, Imperial Palace.

Charles III cast a glance at the document in his hand before casually tossing it aside with a disdainful sneer:

"Shelter VII still thinks of himself as that exalted Pope?

He wants to issue commands to the outside world—has he even bothered to check if he’s still qualified?"

Old habits die hard; they can’t be changed overnight. The diplomatic communiqués issued by the Clergy still use the same old tone.

What was a standard diplomatic protest note, seen through the tinted lens of the disdainful Charles III, transformed into an attempt to issue commands.

Given the relationship between the Frank Empire and the Clergy, even normal diplomatic exchanges are unwelcome, let alone attempts at issuing orders.

As for garnering "international sympathy," that strategy works only on the common populace. The higher echelons of every nation have long forgotten what "sympathy" even means—sympathy for their enemies, in particular, is out of the question.

"Your Majesty, we can simply pretend we didn’t see the diplomatic communique sent by the Clergy and completely ignore it.

The actions of the Five Nations Alliance in the Papal State are indeed somewhat excessive, but there are merits to what they’ve done.

Considering our deathless vendetta with the Clergy, any action that weakens the Clergy should be supported by the Empire.

On this matter, the Empire’s interests align perfectly with those of the Alpha Kingdom and the Iberia Kingdom, so we can absolutely provide political backing for each other!"

Prime Minister Duke Bergson’s response made everyone’s eyes light up. Since the Alpha Kingdom could abduct people within the Papal State, naturally, they too could follow suit.

Currently, the severe lack of labor isn’t limited to the Alpha Kingdom and Moxi Duchy—both the Frank Empire and Iberia Kingdom also badly need a large population to populate their newly acquired territories.

According to normal rates of development, it would take at least several decades to bring these newly acquired lands to fruition.

Seizing people from the Papal State now would undoubtedly accelerate the development process significantly.

Weakening the enemy while bolstering your own strength—nobody could find a reason to refuse such an endeavor!

"Fine, have the Department of Foreign Affairs lead the coordination with the Iberia Kingdom and Alpha Kingdom. Consider this as helping Caesar IV clean up his mess.

Issue an order to the front-line forces: rescue as many innocent citizens oppressed by the Clergy as possible!

Any liberated serfs or slaves willing to settle within the Empire shall immediately be granted the status of free citizens."

Charles III gave his orders with an impassive expression.

Three major powers moving together to abduct people, providing mutual political backing—all the blame naturally falls on the Clergy.

"Population plundering"?

No, this is rescuing the oppressed citizens from the Clergy!

As for granting free citizen status, one aspect serves the purpose of political propaganda; the other lies in the fact that the inefficient feudal serfdom production model can no longer meet the needs of the Frank Empire.

The strongest nation on the continent isn’t just powerful in military terms; in terms of economic development, the Frank Empire leads the continent as well.

Perhaps recognizing that free citizens can generate more wealth, the proportion of free citizens in the Frank Empire has been steadily rising over the past few decades.

Some nobles engaged in handicraft industries have even voluntarily freed their serfs and transformed them into workers to enhance production efficiency and reduce costs.

Meanwhile, societal discourse has increasingly championed the abolition of serfdom. However, owing to the resistance from traditional agrarian nobles, this sentiment has yet to become mainstream.

As a young monarch impacted by progressive ideology, Charles III stands as a supporter of the abolition of serfdom.

While he hasn’t clamored for an outright abolition of serfdom, upon ascending to the throne, he enacted the law prohibiting the conversion of free citizens into serfs.

To promote the drive towards abolishing serfdom, the Royal Family releases a batch of serfs as free citizens every year.

Now faced with an opportunity to further increase the proportion of free citizens and lay the foundations for comprehensive abolition of serfdom, Charles III naturally wouldn’t let it slip by.

...

Pandora’s Magic Box has been opened, and the ensuing sins can no longer be contained.

First, the Five Nations Alliance engaged in mass abduction within the Papal State. Then, the Frank people joined in. Before the Clergy had time to respond, the Iberia Kingdom jumped into the contest as well.

Countries that had initially been bystanders to the drama immediately sensed something amiss.

The three great powers had each acquired vast swathes of territory in their war against Different Races, and now their collective focus on requisitioning manpower was clearly aimed at developing those lands.

Originally, the three giants were already leagues ahead of other nations in strength. If they succeeded in fully developing their new territories, this disparity would only widen further.

Though countries realized the internal balance of the Human Race was breaking, they still didn’t know what actions to take.

Whether employing political means or economic measures, when facing the combined force of the three giants, it amounted to nothing but painful futility.

Driven by the principle of making whatever quick gains they could, various other national armies stationed in the Papal State also joined the "zero-dollar shopping spree" family.

If they didn’t need vast amounts of labor themselves, they could sell the captured individuals to those who did. These actions, while teetering on the edge of aiding the enemy, were still better than walking away with nothing.

With more and more nations joining the fray, the Clergy, having inadvertently set the stage for their own downfall, became the undeniable laughingstock of the year.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺