Kapitel 73: I forgot I ever did that.
"Well, that was a handful." Felipe looked at his wrist and saw how the clothing was not covering his wrist anymore, where it should have been covering them.
He noticed such changes when wearing his fancy clothing before the lunch party/meeting.
"And for the lord, I have grown," Felipe chuckled, seeing Aurelio stumbling because he had gotten tipsy at the end of the party.
Felipe was not drunk, nor had he drunk a drop of Alcohol; after all, all he did was talk and talk; after the topic of Greece passed, Felipe began with astrology, real astrology and the concepts of the universe and the very pointless goal of humanity in something so divine as an infinity universe.
He entrained the women for a while as he explained the beauty of sunsets worldwide and much more. He used the same colourful language to describe everything he was talking about.
The gentlemen were so amused by the war stories that Felipe began meticulously detailing and explaining his stories and their meaning as if he were a university professor teaching young adults.
However, Felipe felt more like a baffoon than anything else—his mission and only purpose as monarch of a weak country were to amuse and prevent luminosity from superpowers and to create friendships!
The King, initially deeply unamused with himself, would see him laughing at Felipe's jokes and make signs of approval.
Felipe could only smile at his success and swallow his pride, which has increased tremendously in the past decade. His ability to translate all his stories was part of his success and how he gained so much recognition.
His books were great! People might think of them in one country and be isolated, but when every scholar across major superpowers discusses your books, you know you have become a powerhouse of literature anyone would want to meet.
He would hire people to transform some of his stories into theatre plays without changing their meaning. However, he was not in the business of owning theatres, but recently, he has gotten reports that tell him he really should instead of licensing the script and the story.
"Your majesty… you have changed a lot; I am honoured to serve under you," Aurelio said as he bowed more than what was considered cordial. However, the motion came out as naturally as breathing—the ultimate sign of respect.
"You have done well… weathering this storm will be hard but not impossible… Fixing the very simple nature of agriculture for the Empire and the Kingdom of Peru was a headache… now I have to do it with Venezuela." Aurelio, being amid being drunk and tipsy, suddenly became a person who could handle Felipe's concerns.
"We just need to kiss enough ass, and we will be fine." Felipe laughed, and so did the Ambassador.
'Crap, I don't think I feel good enough to meet the East India Company tomorrow.' Even though he did not drink, he talked for hours now. His voice felt tired, and more than anything, his mind felt exhausted as he had to look for every fact and everything he could muster to amuse the royal court—he might as well be drunk as tomorrow he felt he could sleep through the whole fucking day.
Felipe found excitement in the military discussions, and so, in the Economic discussions with the Duke of Wellington and the Prime Minister, he got so excited that he felt he could take on the Ottoman Oppressors and reinstate his family's former glory.
'It was done once… I can do it twice.' Felipe looked at his Ambassador, who was once just a soldier who was rather skeptical of him. Now, he is the Ambassador to a major superpower, representing the country under his family and under the idea of a united land and people to reach new heights.
"Say… what do you think about myself going to Greece after passing through Russia?" Felipe asked.
"Is that not the plan?" Aurelio asked weirdly.
"Yes, yes, but what I am saying is not visiting but staying a few months."
"… That…"
"Wage a holy war while at it as well," Felipe added softly.
"There is a plot against you for power," Aurelius said, rejecting such an idea.
"There will always be a plot against me," Felipe added.
"And there will always be a Constantinople, even under the Ottomans or under the Greeks; it is not your Majesty's duty to put your life in danger while the empire still needs you."
'Not there would not.' Felipe lamented the name Instanbul inside his head and shook it. "It is a thought, nothing else… maybe I get swayed by the persuasion capacity I will achieve in my meeting with the Jews."
"… Then… Then I will have nothing to worry about." The Ambassador alludes to stereotypes based on pattern recognition and personal experiences.
"A person will do crazy things when you have a purpose… even go against your better judgement and nature. Like Conquering Colonial Lands and making an empire out of them."
--
"…Your majesty… what you mentioned yesterday. Were you serious?" Aurelio asked as the two of them were having breakfast.
"… Huh, you were not as drunk as you appeared to be last night," Felipe said, putting a piece of scrambled eggs inside his mouth while reading the latest information about the East India Company and the terms of its debt.
"Do plans include conquering the Ottomans?"
"Like I said last night, it depends on tomorrow's meeting. Now, though… I need to prepare myself to meet the people the country relies upon and how much fiscal budget we will have in the next year… My programs are already on thin glass." The Ambassador knew the country's situation perfectly well, including Venezuela's previously blackout territory.
"I should have declared war on Venezuela for their insubordination ages ago… Instead, we were liberating Santiago and expelling all Spaniards from the Continent." Felipe lamented as he remembered the very little he could get the government employees in Venezuela.
"Teachers alone are surviving with the donation of parents of the children they teach… even in the core territories of the empire," Felipe said as he broke down the eggs with his form multiple times before putting it on top of his fork and eating it.
The spending of the Ambassadors was quite well known across the Empire, yet they played an incredibly vital role, especially in France. That is why Felipe did not mind spending more, even if it meant investing a lot in the profits of the matches and the newspapers sold in France.
"This is why you should not go to war with the Ottomans! What good that would do to the Empire?"
"Old man, you should be my advisor back in the Empire. Not afraid to go against my words." Felipe laughed.
"I am serious!"
"So am I. I would not dare to take money from the Empire to fund a war against the Ottomans… that is what the Jews are for. If they give me enough money to buy guns, ships and cannons, I will go to war with the Ottomans… plus, we can buy Colombian Weapons… we need a boost in that department hard." Felipe added that he was eager to have a military-industrial complex.
He had to use the Muskets used in the Napoleonic Wars as there was no real industry to support 100+ thousand men liberating the Continent.
He created an industrial complex of Fabrics, resources, and, more than anything, Logistics. Felipe understood that logistics won wars. Breeding Mules was a thing, but they were quickly used without the ability to produce more.
For all its faults and shortcomings in manufacturing, the Empire was able to create gunpowder in mass to supply its soldiers. The bad part is that it did not have a large supply of Iron. There were some small veins here and there, but nothing to supply constant new weapons to its people.
However, he created new weapons technology, such as easy production of rifles and revolvers in America.
But the fact was, the Iron was in Venezuela.
And the development time was spent on the sewing machine!
The Sewing Machine requires massive amounts of Iron to manufacture, and the Matches' money was slowing down even before the yellow phosphorus matches came onto the market.
"This might be the thing that boosts our industry," Felipe added. Plus, we brought a sampling of the rifles we made. The British will not buy them, and no country will buy them; it will only be with force of our own… The Jews might as well be the only ones who could help us give us the money so we can buy our supply."
"... especially now that we have focused on making boats instead of roads… we can create a shipbuilding industry from the Empire... especially now that our target is African territories… If it works, we will profit a lot... if it doesn't, we will just focus on our stuff and obtain a piece of the African Continent… either way, there is no fault in looking into it."
"You should become my advisor. The only one able to stand up to me is that opposition party guy Bolivar." Felipe laughed with an innocent smile.
"Because you killed anyone who would speak against you," Aurelio said with a chuckle.
"Haha, true. I forgot I ever did that." Felipe raised his teacup and drank from it with a wide smile.
"…"
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein