I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 322: The Crown Prince’s Teacher (7)

The Crown Prince returned to the imperial palace late at night and greeted the Emperor in a slightly tired voice.

"I’ve returned, Your Majesty."

"You look tired. Well, it’s only natural after such a long journey."

If this were the 21st century, it would have taken only a few hours to travel from the Holy Empire to the Toscana Empire by plane.

And someone of the Crown Prince’s stature would have traveled in first class, essentially a hotel room on the plane, so he wouldn’t have been tired even after a long journey.

But traveling by carriage, built with medieval and early modern technology, was enough to drain a person’s energy just by sitting in it.

"Did you learn a lot from Lord Rothschild?"

"I learned many things that other teachers never taught me."

"You must have learned some good things."

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The Crown Prince recalled the good things Fabio had taught him.

Selling goods to make money, then cutting off sales to starve the opponent—such tactics.

Hiring mercenaries to raid the Saxon Electorate, then denying any involvement while framing the Emperor of the Holy Empire for the raids.

And then, the masterful trick of accusing the Emperor of the Holy Empire, clearing himself from suspicion, and escaping unscathed.

None of these were strategies that an ordinary person could even think of, let alone come up with.

"Lord Rothschild sold goods with the assumption that he would eventually betray the buyer."

"Betraying the buyer before selling him goods, huh?"

"Currently, the factions are divided between the Protestants, who follow Stephanus the Priest and the Saxon Elector, and the Catholics, who believe in the old Deus faith and follow the Emperor of the Holy Empire."

"Catholics and Protestants... easily understood names."

"Lord Rothschild predicted that these two factions would destroy each other in their struggle, and that when they were exhausted, he would stop selling food and weapons that were leftover in Toscana."

The Emperor exhaled in admiration after hearing this.

"He planned to escalate the civil war, maximizing the depletion of both sides. When they were worn out, he would lead the Toscana Empire’s army and invade. A wonderful method—minimizing our casualties while maximizing the land we can gain from the war."

Toscana Empire didn’t yet have a military academy.

However, the Emperor of Toscana had learned some military science, as he might have to lead troops personally in times of emergency.

Although his knowledge was lacking compared to the current officers, even he could clearly see how militarily useful Fabio's strategy was.

‘Make the enemies fight each other, and let your own side sit back and wait.’

This was the ideal scenario commanders dream of. However, forcing a situation where only your side benefits and the enemy suffers is not easy in practice.

"It seems that even with all these plans in place, the war was stalling, so Rothschild set the fire to spark it."

"Fire, you say?"

"He disguised himself as a vassal of the Emperor of the Holy Empire, met with third-rate mercenaries in the Saxon Electorate, and made them raid the lands of the Electorate and the Protestant faction. Then, he pinned the blame on the Emperor himself."

"Just like Rothschild. At this point, even Satan in hell would call him 'Master.'"

What the Emperor didn’t know was that recently, Fabio’s reputation in hell had soared.

In the past, the study of Fabio was merely an elective among the demons.

Now, an entire semester was dedicated to reviewing Fabio’s evil deeds.

What Fabio had accomplished was something even tyrants in history would struggle to achieve.

Of course, if Fabio heard this, he’d probably ask, "Why would such a good person like me become a role model in hell?"

"Crown Prince, what do you think of Lord Rothschild?"

"If I can’t kill him, I have to accept him."

"If you could kill him, would you?"

The Crown Prince paused, considering the question.

There are many evil people in this world, but none as evil as Fabio.

So, if he could be eliminated, it would be best to remove him now, before future trouble arose.

‘But could I eliminate him?’

The Crown Prince answered his own inner question, and the answer was clear.

‘I can’t eliminate him.’

Then, he would have to accept him.

"I suppose I must accept him. I now understand why Your Majesty wanted to make him a member of the royal family."

"You think like me."

"It’s a bit regrettable. He’s so focused on making money and doesn’t have any desire for women. If he were more interested in women... I could have tied him down through marriage."

The Emperor poured strong wine into a cup and handed it to the Crown Prince.

"I will make sure to bring Lord Rothschild to our side by any means necessary."

While the Crown Prince and the Emperor were plotting to bring Fabio to their side by any means, Duke Sforza was deep in thought.

"Lord Rothschild, this guy keeps getting bold now that he's been pampered."

Fabio hadn’t exactly targeted Duke Sforza with his various schemes.

Under the guise of preventing the spread of disease and improving sanitation, he had sent a hygiene inspector to overhaul the city, taking a hefty commission.

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Then, he sent accountants under the pretext of auditing finances, bombarding the nobles aligned with the Sforza faction with massive tax burdens.

The Duke himself had once received a massive tax bill that nearly sent his blood pressure through the roof.

"But now, he’s taking it a step further. He’s aiming to gain both the title and power of the Crown Prince’s teacher. We need to crush him quickly, don’t we?"

"Yes, Your Grace. When there’s a fire, you must pour water on it immediately."

"That’s true. But I don’t think we can eliminate him all at once. Do you have a good plan?"

"They say the accountant dies because of the schemes he arranges, don’t they? Use the accountant system to deal with him."

The mention of using the accountant system immediately caught Duke Sforza’s attention.

Using the policies created by that evil Rothschild to turn the tables on him?

Just the thought of it felt like a weight lifting off his chest.

"Be specific."

"Is there anyone who doesn’t have even a speck of dust on them?"

"True."

No matter how clean a room looks, if you wear white gloves and touch the shelves, dust will show up.

And it goes without saying that a noble who travels around doing dirty work won’t be spotless either.

If no dust shows up when you touch it, that’s even more suspicious.

"And most of the new accountants hired by the imperial court are already people Rothschild has influence over, but there are some who are not."

"Even though Rothschild is trying to increase his power, he can’t completely control the Treasury."

"Give a little bribe to those who aren’t under Rothschild’s influence, and have them conduct a surprise audit."

"Even Rothschild won’t be able to handle a surprise audit, no matter how powerful he is."

Fabio had prepared for such situations, but an audit was like a natural disaster.

No matter how well we prepare for earthquakes, floods, or «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» droughts, catastrophic damage still often occurs.

"And will the audit alone be enough?"

"Is there another method?"

"After the audit, base a tax investigation on it. Inflate any minor flaws and impose punitive taxes."

Duke Sforza slapped his knee upon hearing this.

Conduct an audit, find faults, and then, based on that, conduct a ‘stricter tax investigation.’ With that, they could extract a huge amount of money from Rothschild’s family.

If Rothschild took a direct hit from that, he wouldn’t escape unscathed.

"And come to think of it..."

"Yes, Your Grace?"

"Not reporting income means they’re concealing the amount they should pay in tithes. That’s a serious crime."

One of the nobles advising the Duke gasped.

An audit, a tax investigation, fines for concealed taxes, and tithes—all of this was an unprecedented level of evil.

"If they’ve committed a great sin before Deus, they should make proper atonement. We’ll impose an enormous atonement fee."

"Exactly. Even if Rothschild has a lot of money, this will deal a huge blow."

"And we should spread rumors that Rothschild embezzles the tithes."

"Truly evil, no, brilliant thinking."

Not only will they take money, but they will destroy his reputation as well.

Just thinking about it made Duke Sforza chuckle to himself.

"Lord Rothschild, this time he’ll really pay for his actions."

Soon after, accountants who were not aligned with Rothschild arrived at Fabio’s house.