Enlightened Empire

Chapter 323: Old Force Opposition

After a meeting with the newly crowned queen of the Green Island, the captains of the Green Fleet came together in a Rasacopa mansion. Ostensibly, they were here to drink and be merry, but everyone knew what they had really come for: to talk about Queen Sumaci's offer and coordinate their response. United, the captains would wield more strength, so their actions were obvious. However, not everyone of them considered these actions natural.

As he looked around the room of experienced men with full beards and long hair, the young Captain Aqta felt out of place even more than usual. As the youngest of Rasacopa's captains, and the one with the weakest backing, he felt like a fraud. Compared to these men who had experienced so many fights and had the full loyalty of their men, he was just a kid who had inherited the role from his father, purely because his father's men could not agree on a more suitable successor.

At least for now he was still in charge of one of Rasacopa's raidships, but he knew that this state wouldn't last too long. He remembered what one of his confidantes had told him in private, and how he still hadn't made his decision on his future. His lack of determination on this issue only added to his confusion.

As he looked around the group of people who were still having fun in their own world, he tried to breech the topic they had all come here for. Maybe if they were to finally talk about the issue at hand, he would be able to leave this atmosphere behind sooner.

“So, what does everyone th-”

“What a ridiculous offer!”

Just as the timid Captain Aqta was about to speak up, one of his supposed equals slammed his cup on the table. The young captain glanced over at him, unsure whether or not he had interrupted him on purpose. However, neither the great captains nor any of the others in the room seemed to even notice Aqta. Instead, they were busy agreeing with the loudmouth.

“Yes. 'Positions in the court'? What a joke. Who doesn't know that all the best positions have already been taken up by outsiders. And with war upon us and the palace in turmoil, the position of captain is much better than some empty role in the court.”

“So long as we have our men, we will have power in the court. Maybe that girl wants to take away our power with these empty promises,” another captain agreed.

“Is that little girl even in charge? Can she keep any of her promises? Her husband always hangs around her whenever we talk, and stares at us like a snake. Maybe she is just his puppet.”

“That's right. That foreign king is the one who's really in charge, so of course he'd put his own people in important positions. Look, he's already made one of his men a general, and he brought his own fleet over to replace us. What can we get if we give in to the girl's demands? The head librarian position?”

All the other captains sneered at the sarcastic suggestion. Not only did they know that the position of head librarian was a dead end for advancement, they also remembered how the previous head librarian had been treated by their new queen. However, Aqta felt very differently from the other captains. To him, the queen's offers today had seemed quite sincere. Not to mention, the others failed to consider the entirety of the deal.

“...they also offered us money. A lot,” he tried to add in a timid tone. However, the true captains of Rasacopa were not satisfied, neither with the offer nor with his reminder.

“Who needs their silver? We are raiders. What we need, we take ourselves,” one of the big captains scoffed in Aqta's direction. At least this time, they had acknowledged his existence, though the stares still made the young captain shrink back.

“That's tight. Which one among us does not have tons of silver stored in an island or hideout somewhere? Who needs her money?”

“If it were not for the arbitrary rules of the courts, why would we have to hide our wealth in the first place? Since we can't buy any land, or even our own house or ship, what would we even use all that silver for? No matter how much she offers, it wouldn't be more than a paperweight, even if her offer wasn't a laughably low amount.”

The young captain looked around in confusion, but saw all other captains nod in agreement. Were they all secretly rich? They were warriors of House Hulpatec. Should they not return the benefits from their raids to their rightful master, as the laws demanded? However, he wasn't so silly to ask these questions out loud. It seemed like all the great captains had their own ideas, and he wasn't eager to have a falling-out with his peers. Still, it focused his own mind on his own future plans.

“After all, what sort of power does the little girl offer us? Only some empty titles, and some coin. What do titles and money mean in the face of real power? The power that is in your hand, the men who are under us. That is what matters. And no cheap tricks can take this strength from us.”

Once again, Aqta recalled the offer he had received in private. In here, he would always only be a bystander, no matter how much he wanted to belong to this group. Although he had learned most of his father's navigation skills, his less competent subordinates were fighting for the captain's role among each other, and they had seniority on their sides.

Sooner or later, one of them would win, and push Aqta off his unstable captain's position again. At that point, he would fall into the abyss. Exiled on land, becoming a small-time warrior in Rasacopa would be his most generous end. Most likely, he would simply end up in the green waves on one of their journeys. He had to plan for the future now, when he still had some cards left to play.

“So what do we do now?” one of the captains asked in the end.

“We just wait the little girl out. What else do we need to do? She may be queen now, but she can't well fight a war against the other colored kings without us. Let her husband exhaust all his troops as he tries to fight the Verdant Folk at sea. Then we'll see how tough she is.”

As the captains of Rasacopa came to a consensus on their united strategies, one among them quietly drew his own conclusions, and made his own determination.

While the warrior captains were indignant about the crown's unreasonable policies, the people they had left behind in the Green Court's Grand Salon were indignant about their stubborn refusal. As one of the court's official reception rooms, the salon was luxurious, and large enough to comfortably house all the captains of Rasacopa. At the moment however, it seemed a bit empty.

After the captains had stormed out with stony faces, only six people were left in the room. Aside from Sumaci and her maids, there were also Corco, his general Paec, as well as the advisor Phuyu. Although Corco had every reason to distrust the old man, they couldn't exclude him, at least for now. He was still blackmailing them, so there was nothing they could do. But that didn't mean Corco would be happy about it.

As he stared down the unwelcome addition with a harsh look, the old man looked more and more nervous. In the end, he turned to Sumaci to return the silent room back to life.

“Queen Sumaci, what do you-”

“What a ridiculous excuse!”

Although Corco knew that Sumaci was just trying to intimidate Phuyu with her sudden outburst, it still made him jump.

“Well, yeah,” the king said as he played with his tea cup to cover up his blunder. “But we knew what was coming, right? None of us expected those captains to just give up their powers like this.”

“Sorry, I'm just venting.” Sumaci sighed. “What else do these people want? We have given them status and money, but they're not satisfied. If that's not enough, do they want to start a civil war, or risk the fall of the island? What are they holding out for? What else could we possibly offer them?”

“For now, there is nothing else,” Phuyu said. He seemed unaffected by Sumaci's earlier intimidation as he slowly organized his thoughts. “After all, every raidship is a powerful force in its own right, and their captains are the absolute masters of that power. They will tentatively work with Queen Sumaci, and listen to your deployment, but they will not cooperate any further. In fact, they may even ignore your orders, or go directly against them, should they find it convenient. Limiting the power of the captains is an old problem that has plagued the colored kings for generations, one that even your father failed to solve.”

Instinctively, Sumaci looked over to Corco. Maybe she thought her teacher would have all the answers. Though at least this time, she wouldn't be wrong. Although he hadn't said anything all throughout their meeting with the captains, the king had drawn his own conclusions and developed his own plans.

“Since we tried and failed with conventional methods, we're only left with unconventional ones,” he began. “It's a shame that we can't convince the captains, since getting control from the top is usually easier and faster. So long as we can win over the people with influence, everything else opens up as well. But if we can get control from the bottom up instead, it'll be stabler anyways. And once we have support from everyone else on the island, there's little these great captains can do to stop us.”

“You want to arm the commoners like in Saniya,” Sumaci guessed, though she looked unhappy about it. “I really didn't want to do that. At most, I wanted to use it as a threat to make the captains give in. Unlike Saniya, Rasacopa still has an active warrior caste. They are an important asset, and long-standing and valuable members of this island. I wouldn't want to sacrifice them, even if they were easy to remove.”

“I understand that. But we don't need to thoroughly offend them either. There's a way to win over the normal people without offending most warriors. At first, we only need to start training the commoners in the gunpowder weapons that most of the local warriors despise. The highborn don't want to touch those, but we've brought them over already, and someone has to use them. So the local warriors can't complain if someone else takes their job in this regard. This way, we show goodwill to the commoners, and we show the captains that we aren't entirely reliant on them. At the same time, most warriors won't feel infringed upon, since they would still field the core of the army, especially when it comes to naval combat.”

Sumaci thought for a moment before she replied in a careful tone.

“If it's handled well, it's a good idea I think.”

“However, while this plan may force the captains into action, it will still draw the ire of the warriors, no matter how well it is handled. With all due respect, King Corcopaca, it is a risky strategy.” Phuyu said what most others in the room were no doubt thinking. To Corco however, it was just an invitation to explain more of his plots.

“No worries, this is just the stick portion of my plan.” He grinned. “Now here comes the carrot part: The warriors don't need money and status, so let's give them something else to pacify them, something more fundamental. I wanted to introduce this in the southern kingdom as well, pretty soon-ish, but we may as well do a first trial run here.”

To heighten the tension, Corco paused as he looked around. Once he realized that everyone was about to lose their patience with him, he revealed his strategy.

“I think, we should give the local warriors the right to own property and run their own businesses.”

“Ridiculous!” Phuyu jumped up. “This eats at the very fabric of the Yaku's caste system!”

“Well, considering the reactions of the captains, the old system isn't working too well. So long as we can achieve our goals, I don't mind replacing it with something better.” Sumaci replied in a dry tone. “On top of that, this is a concrete benefit that would move most warriors. Many of them are eager for their own sources of income, so they would welcome the move. Even if the captains won't agree with our plans, they will still lose their power once the members of their crews begin to earn money independently.”

“That's right.” Corco agreed with his own plan. Laid out by Sumaci, it sounded even better than it had in his head. “Long-term, the two moves- commoners as soldiers and warriors as businessmen - will blur the lines between the castes as well. That's good for us, since it weakens cohesion within the groups and disperses local power. At least by then, no single caste can blackmail us anymore like the captains have done today.”

Although Phuyu looked like he wanted to say something again, Sumaci interrupted him.

“Right. I agree. Since our course has been decided, we should start implementation straight away. First, let's organize some volunteers from among the commoners who want to become soldiers. Hold their drills in the city square, make it a big, public exercise, so the captains can't ignore our moves. Once they come to complain, we can talk about an exchange of benefits and present them with our new offer.”

“Very well,” one of Sumaci's maids said. Llamka, Corco thought her name was. “However, Queen Sumaci, the fortification on Yua Island still remains a problem that needs to be solved, and we cannot wait for the captains to change their minds or for the commoners to be trained.”

Again, the queen turned to her husband.

“Can your men handle it?”

“I'll do my best.” Corco shrugged. “I've already informed Paec and Atau and given my own orders. First, we're reorganizing the troops. The new soldiers we brought this time will be integrated with the ones we had already stationed near Rasacopa. Once the integration is done, we'll leave behind some people to guard the coastline, and then organize a storm on the island. We'll surprise them with our fast response, and take their little fortress before they can even build it.”

“Good. Since Yua Island is in difficult terrain, I'm sure Atau will need a local guide for the operation. I promised you the support of a captain before, and there's been some progress. You're getting one before you set off. It shouldn't take more than a few days.”

“How did you get any of these people to play along?” Corco looked at his wife in shock.

“Don't worry. They might have looked united earlier, but they're not half as equal as they seem at a glance.”