Palace Decree: Frederick's Military Reforms

[MonMarty]

A copy of this letter is delivered to /all/ Noble Estates, including Vassal Houses, and a public letter is also pinned to a public board. Note: This letter was expanded with a lot of fluff, flair, and content, as Prince Frederick is a man of few words, and the Palace did not deign to send a letter with three sentences to the esteemed Peerage. As a result, Prince Constantine has made considerable edits to make the content more palatable.

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This open letter is dictated by Prince Frederick, as edited by the Grand Ekhein and Prince Constantine. Dictations are published pursuant the Emperor's approval of Prince Frederick's military reforms.

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Upon reflecting on the past, one perceived the trajectory of humankind from humble mud-dwelling origins in the old blasted continent of Ceardia, to the great estates and manorial houses of the peers of Empire in the modern times. Regalia has always prided itself in not being a continuation, but a contradiction from those early barbarian days where law and order were subservient to the whims of the individual, the often army-enabled war-lord individual. As such, the Princes were forced to also re-examine how this reflects on the modern authority of the peers, and to make adjustments that accurately reflect the Imperial Ambition to renounce the old.

Ever since the reforms of Emperor Cedromar set the stage for the military reduction of the individual military force, the removal of individual military authority not sanctioned by a commission was an inevitability. Every military reform initiated by the Imperial House Kade, from the first foundation of the Tenpenny Tax and its legions, to the Urlan legions, to the military surveys and the Marshal commissions were designed to funnel military authority towards a centralized structure, away from the hold-overs of old-Ceardian warlord-ism.

Indeed, many centuries saw excessive peer action involving the military, with dishonorable and often selfishly destructive intentions. One merely has to refer to the Anahera and Lo rebellions, as well as the deadly altercations between Houses Harhold and Reinard. Prince Frederick has decided to use his Imperial prerogative, with the support of the College of the Princes and the approval of the Emperor, to pass legislation that removes the individual military command of the Noble houses over their own levies.

Prince Frederick has passed the following decrees:

Henceforth, all Nobles houses shall relinquish their individual levy control and rights to feudal armies. All feudal armies shall dis-arm, and armories placed under the authority of the War Minister, to be collected in Regalia and re-distributed to the Imperial Legions.

Henceforth, the Tenth-Penny tax shall be abolished, as a flat income rate has been established on the Provinces for some time now by the hands of de Azcoissia. Instead, the Tenth Penny Armies shall be paid for by the state, and their wages formalized to a live-able standard.

Henceforth, all conscripted levies still in service are released, or may transition into the new Imperial Legion standard and become soldiers-of-employ to the State. All these soldiers shall be consolidated into Imperial Legions composed of 5,000 Infantry and 500 Cavalry and 200 pieces of artillery. Racial and cultural mixes shall be enforced to prevent any one majority from overtaking Legion cohesion.

Henceforth all duties of levies, conscription and the like shall be cancelled. The Empire will contract its profession-soldiery by voluntary sign-up at recruitment offices, but spend Crown finances to perform a propaganda campaign to advertise the benefits of military service in job security and state benefits.

Henceforth, all Provinces shall be entitled to the recruitment and enforcement of Constables for local law enforcement. Armaments are permitted (in contrast to the Capital where they are not) to ensure there is no break in legal protections, but Nobles no longer have the means to summon personal armies.

Henceforth, all Noble warships will be purchased by the state at a base price to the state, with the Noble Houses permitted to retain one ship with a maximum of 30x 18 pound artillery pieces. All other ships retained must be converted to pleasure ships and merchant ships. All warships shall be consolidated into Imperial Armadas.

Henceforth, private individuals not of noble blood are legally barred from contracting more than 200 armed individuals, a piece of legislation aimed at the elimination of private military units among the merchant classes. Exceptions may be made for mercenary charters approved by the Crown.

Henceforth, Princes and Princesses are barred from having private armies outside of the Imperial Legions that pay homage to their authority. Princes Raymond, Reynaud, Dominic, and Justinian have lodged their protest which was overruled by the Crown and the College of Princes.

Henceforth, Marshal positions shall not be limited, and based on Commission. All Marshals are limited to 3 Generals and 1 Admiral. All Armies will be consolidated into Legions, and assigned by the War Minister and Marshals in consultation. All Navies shall be consolidated into Imperial Navies and equally assigned.

Any person in the future wishing to establish a Marshal Commission can do so by requesting an Imperial Audience with one of the Princes if waiting for an Imperial Audience which happens once every two weeks is too much waiting.

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TLDR:​

1. Nobles are banned from owning private armies, as well as aristocrats. Local law enforcement is converted to Constabularies. ​
2. The Tenth Penny Tax is repealed, all army and navy expenses are paid for by the Finance Ministry instead.​
3. The Imperial Army shall be comprised of Legions and Armadas, which are divided by the War Minister.​
4. All Marshal positions are reset with all Generals and Admirals on them dismissed. Current Marshals should make a Ticket to discuss their Banner Commission. (Since Yngvarr is undergoing Court Martial right now, that one can be delayed until after the trial, if he still has the position by then).​
5. The bar on 4 Marshals is raised to infinite, though each Marshal may only have 3 generals and 1 Admiral. ​

 

[Wumpatron]

The Count-Elector raised his head off of his mass of pillows that he lay across, his golden eyes glinting towards his desk in the corner as he raised a hand, ushering a paper and quill over to him, the instruments beginning to list out his thoughts in a letter as he uttered to himself within the chamber.

"It would seem our wargames have concluded. It was a pleasure while it lasted."

As the letter was sealed and floated away a single piece from the war table came to him. A singular frigate token that he floated around the air.

"The last of my military. There are no more lands for me to conquer."

@Aurelian30k @RaggedyGrace

 

[Lionfiles]

Aleksandra stares at the document before her, blinking a few times slowly. She looks to her wife, in complete shock. "I hate my life." She utters, before sliding it over to her.

@3Euphoria3

 

[3Euphoria3]

Aleksandra stares at the document before her, blinking a few times slowly. She looks to her wife, in complete shock. "I hate my life." She utters, before sliding it over to her.

@3Euphoria3

Click to shrink...

Antoinette carefully took the document from her wife, reading it over once, then twice before letting out a gentle sigh. "Such is the way of things, my dear." She'd then fold the letter, carefully tucking it away in her desk.

 

[NebulaePrimo]

The Marquise-Elector sat at her desk, reading the newest decree from the Palace. "A change that will be welcomed by the peasants who once feared being summoned away from their farms and sent to the ends of the earth as the levy of some aristocrat. And yet another headache for those who wish for decentralized power. I hope this change is quick... we are still in the middle of a war, after all. Too long to transition our forces over and we'll be sitting ducks for the Soren occupiers."

 

[Rose]

In the shadows of old crookback's ruins a hiss sounded out as the large serpent beast read the decree given to him by a disciple

"This may cause a setback in the plan, though I can still turn a profit out of this if I'm careful. The common man can't always rely on the navy for protection and besides as long as the fleet doesn't draw their ire we may yet go unnoticed"

The creature dropped the paper and slithered towards the cliffside keep with a new smile growing on their twisted visage

 

[bwmwags3]

"Ah at long last! We may stop worrying about feudal armies and navies…having to watch houses throw away the lives of their people so carelessly. Shameful, but now all forces shall comprise a unified Imperial Legion free from Noble House whims, which sought to hurl innocent men, women, and the persons upon the fire of idiotic, senseless conflicts. Like Hvitskag.

Now we might turn our eyes to places like Soren, with mixed race and cultural units we shall better diversify our forms of war, and better unite the Empire's citizens. At long last, we might finally rid ourselves of having to keep a standing army and Navy when House Morathes hasn't had a reason to enter a conflict in many years.

Now these troops shall be redistributed to the Imperial Legions or retire with honor. These brave Asha shall go forth and make the enemies of regalia shatter before their claws and living weapons," proclaims the celate, elated with Joy at seeing a apparent hope for peace from sensless nobles starting wars. Saying many prayers of thanks for a hopeful centralization and expansion of Imperial Rule to further a larger plan. Far larger then the destruction he saw being wrecked by his fellow peers.