Imperial Diet

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

Now look here, Dietrich.

Your boundless ambition and goals are simply impossible to fulfill. You would have the Reich bankrupt in order just to have enough men to take one measly castle.

First of all, you specifically asked for two units of mounted sergeants and four units of peasantry before an attempt on Stettin was made. This takes time. It also takes money, of which this Diet seems to have little grasp of the importance of.

You must remember, dear Dietrich, who cannot even father one measly child, that Franconia is not the only house. I must obey the wishes of the governors in what to build. Building up the interior of the Reich is most critical. Once that has been managed, recruiting units, such as your ridiculous demands for taking Stettin, as well as the stupidly large amount of priests this Diet has required me to take along with Cardinal Scherer, and the spy (never mind that none of the governors nearby will build the buildings that allow for the recruitment of these) becomes secondary.

So Dietrich, something must give. The timeframe you set combined with the troops you requested was impossible to do. So you will either be content with the progress we are making, or you will not and further action will be taken against you. I urge you to take the first option if you know what's good for you.

[AussieGiant]

Kaiser, My Lords,

Firstly many thanks to the warm welcome and honourable comments by Kaiser Heinrich and Sir Sigismund,

It seems that while having a brief luncheon things have developed quite rapidly here in the main hall.

I must first concede the need for a castle in the holdings of House Austria for the time being and defer to 2nd Elector Conrad.

I am please to hear the Kaiser will send a spy to Poland. Equally a diplomat might be wise in order to force the outstanding issue of Poland’s intentions towards us. With a request for alliance on the table we could dispense with the “theories” about Poland’s intentions here in the Diet. Either they ally or they don’t. Which ever they choose will allow us to react accordingly.

I will note this idea down as a possible edict request.

My only other thought is that we should begin to formulate our opinions on the Reich’s “Standing Armies”. I firmly believe a number of house controlled standing armies in conjunction with smaller city and castle garrisons would be most efficient in the future. What say you all to this idea?

I must also say that things seemed to have diverted to other topics rather rapidly.

I understand Duke Dietrich’s intentions and desire for expansion but I believe the Kaiser is correct. We have limited resources at this time and we must wait our respective turns at achieving goals.

A small bite to eat and some refreshments might be prudent at this time. It seems tempers are starting to fray.

Gentlemen, as is custom in Austria might I invite you all to sample some of the excellent wine I brought with me from Vienna?

[Lucjan]

There is a wry look of sarcasm of Dietrich's face as raises an eyebrow to the Kaiser's retort, particularly the comment on children. There's a look in the Duke's eye that implies the Kaiser knows far from the truth on that matter.

Actually, if you look at the facts, my supposedly ridiculous demands for raising two meager regiments of peasantry, and three regiments of cavalry sargeants could have been accomplished in 4 years time, the regiments of peasants in the first two, and the sargeants in the next two. The fall of Stettin could have occurred in the next 6, hence the ten year timeline outlined in the edict. In total, increase in our previous upkeep would have been a meager 705 florins. The fall of Stettin, according to my reviews of the area's demographics, prior to the castle's conversion to a city, would still have netted us over 700 florins every two years. The upkeep increase, with the recruitment order I mentioned, would, for the entire time prior to Stettin's fall, have cost us 2,295 florins in total. Stettin would have repaid this in its entirety in a mere six years.

This was the purpose of the ten year timeline. Nothing I do, and nothing I propose, is not without its purpose Kaiser. All I have requested, is that you explain why so many of these recent events are seemingly so closely related. And why, if my requests were so outlandishly absurd, am I sitting around Hamburg very well past the time I should be, waiting for the arrival of what my scouts tell me are two militia regiments that are nothing but an unnecessary expense and an unnecessary waste of time.

And as far as things costing money. I need no lectures on costs, as you can clearly see. Just as well, let me deliberate and explain my position! You will see that it is clearly, far from the strain on our coffers that you imagine it to be. The Reich pulled in just shy of 5,000 florins of profit every two years. In the ten year timeline for capturing Stettin we would have made, roughly, 50,000 denarii, in profits alone. A measly 2,295 florins over the entire course of that ten years comes out to an average of 459 florins every two years. The bottom line, is that the capture of Stettin has been grossly delayed, diet edicts have been ignored, and even if every one of our settlements were to spend 1,600 florins on projects every two years in the same four years we could have recruited the peasants and sargeants, we would still have had twice the entire increase in the upkeep cost due to the recruitment to spend as we pleased and even more money beyond that. And these estimates even include all our other upkeeps thrown in as well!

So you see! My supposedly boundless ambition and goals are far from "impossible", and instead are extremely plausible. Besides this, I must wonder what ambitions and goals I have Kaiser? What have I ever done that has not been to the benefit of the Reich? What have I ever done that has not strengthened our overall position? And do not wrongly accuse me of being ignorant of our other noble houses needs. I have been, and will continue, to be in communication with our other houses at various times to work out what is, overall, in the best interests of the Reich.

Now that I have spoken my mind, do kindly answer my questions, and don't snap at me like some child.

Dietrich leans forward, the look of an inquisitor about him.

I respect every man in this room Kaiser, but there is one man that is mandated to follow the edicts this diet passes, and that man is the chancellor. So answer me now, not as the Kaiser, but as the chancellor, explain to this diet on what grounds the wishes of multiple houses are being ignored?

Why has Stettin not fallen? Why has Milan not been infiltrated by a spy? Why has the distribution of lands not been more in line with the earnest requests of some of the houses and their interests, their expertises? Why is your focus not on fulfilling the diet edicts? Why have recent events contradicted, delayed and ignored them? What is your rational explanation for this string of occurrances?

[AussieGiant]

while remaining seated the 4th Elector for Austria raises an eyebrow

....I presume then...

...that drinks are entirely out of the question at this time my lords!!??

If so, then I think I need to order some Scotch to get myself through this session...

turning with great exaggeration, the Austrian 4th Elector flags down a passing page man, and whispers

a bottle of that irish stuff I saw earlier today...and make it snappy old chap...I'm in great need of a drink!!

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

Dietrich, the bottom line is that we have not had 705 florins. I have sometimes seen our florin count fall in the double, even single digits after fulfilling the wishes of the governors. I understand the profit that would have occured, but I cannot spend the money that does not exist. Before you get all whiny and angered at me, I suggest that you review the basic lessons of economics.

As for your other "complaints," let me address them simply:

The time has not passed yet.

Unless the Diet rules have suddenly changed without my knowledge, I believe that I have until the end of my term to fulfill the required edicts. So stop crowing needlessly to this Diet and shut up.

I will not tolerate this insubordination. Every man here aside from you knows that my greatest desire is to see the Reich prosper. Yet you continue to needlessly pressure me and then dare to insult me in front of this entire Diet for failing to fulfill edicts that have not yet expired.

Maximillian Mandorf will now lead the attack on Stettin. And before you yell at me for saying that Edict 2.6 called for you to lead the attack, please realize that it only recommended that you lead the attack. Well, I took the recommendation into light and disagreed with it.

Your new duty is to fulfill the requirements of Edict 2.9, since you are so concerned with me executing them. Hopefully during that time you will come to realize the importance of loyalty.

[Lucjan]

The duke, were he staring an enemy in the face on the field, would be cleaning his sword of blood right about now. This was precisely the blatant display of incompetance he was hoping to get out of the kaiser. Admittance of misunderstanding an edict that blatantly stated Stettin "shall be taken in 10 years", not two, or four, or six after, but within the clearly worded time frame of ten. When an edict mandated a time period, there was no waiting beyond that. Then to remove him from the position at the head of the army for the purpose of slowing the Reich's progress even further by forcing the conquest of Stettin to wait for Mandorf to arrive only added to the Kaiser's own injuries. And what was more, was the Kaiser's total misunderstanding of what the Chancellor's duties truly entailed. Governor's build queues were suggestions, they were not mandates, they could be ignored for the good of the Reich when there were more important things at hand, and Dietrich would have traded a few years of Hamburg's build queue in order to take Stettin and make up for it exponentially in the next few years thanks to Stettin's fall in a heartbeat. It was all Dietrich could do to avoid from laughing in the Kaiser's face.

"If that's what must be done, then at least one important edict will get done." Dietrich, content with the Kaiser's self ridiculing display, turned and departed the diet proceedings. He would have to lay low for a while, keep out of the fool's hair. When the elections came soon enough he would have to run for chancellor, if not to right all of the kaiser's foolish errors than to at least place somebody in the position who understood the law and what their duties entailed. As the diet doors closed behind him, he looked towards the sky.

"God save the Reich if that fool doesn't die soon. Henry must bring an air of competance back to the throne. How can we follow a man who claims to be the lord of the Reich when he doesn't even understand the law?" Dietrich shook his head, then departed to make his plans for the necessary watch tower placements.

[GeneralHankerchief]

Kaiser Heinrich:

If I may direct everyone's attention to the Imperial Charter. Then we will see that I am not, in fact, an incompetant leader.

2.1 The Chancellor... moves all the units and agents on the map; he decides all the buildings and which units/agents to be trained.

Here it would seem as if the Chancellor (me) had full power over what to recruit as well as build, and perhaps you are right. But the next provision corrects that:

2.2 However, he... follows the build queues and tax policies of players with governors.

Notice the numbering of that provision. It is 2.2, and comes before the following provision:

2.3 He also must obey Imperial edicts and the constitution (these rules) or face political consequences.

Now, it seems we have a dilemma here. There are two contradictions in the Charter, because my fulfilling one provision would make it impossible to fulfill the other one. Keeping that in mind, as well as the fact that the "must obey governors" provision comes before the "must obey edicts" provision, I made the executive decision to follow the wishes of the governors. It was clearly *not* an illegal move considering the financial situation the Reich was in, so I had every right to delay the move on Stettin in order to keep us in the black.

It seems now as if I made a terrible mistake in marrying off Agnes to this fool. At least he has spared us all of the misfortune of having idiot offspring trouble the Diet in the future.