Herald of Steel

Chapter 896

In ancient times, the royal guards of a king were usually chosen from the military, men who had proven themselves to be among the best of the best in battle.

But although they were considered the most elite units of the empire, tasked with protecting the most valuable asset of the empire- the king, most of the time they ended up doing nothing.

Which was perfectly normal.

After all, they usually resided inside the capital of the empire, which was at all times protected by a huge army.

So it would have been instead very alarming if the emperor residing in his own palace had to face constant danger.

Thus these valuable units contributed little to the actual defense of the country.

Instead, as they were sat still and indulged in their vices, it led to their atrophy, such as the rise of decay and corruption through greed.

After all, if they were protecting the king, it could also mean they could stop protecting the king, meaning many times these guards held great leverage over the ruler of the lands.

And perhaps there was no better example of this than the Roman Praetorian guard from Alexander's previous life, who perfectly epitomized all the flaws there were with having one's own troops protect the king into a blend of perfect storm.

The number of emperors this esteemed unit of soldiers killed reached close to a staggering double digits and there was one time they even sold the throne to the highest bidder, like it was some common item at an auction house, giving power to the man who promised them the highest salary.

And they did get their wish in that particular instance, as the new emperor promised them a salary that was double their current one.

It could be even said that much of the troubles that followed the Roman empire in its later years were in no small part due to these units, as they contributed to the instability of the empire by frequently removing emperors.

And such a thing was apparent in Alexander's current timeline too.

During the previous Adhanian coup where the former king was disposed, it could only happen because Pasha Farzah and the Queen mother were able to convince the captain of the royal guards to betray his liege after the late king had killed the man's daughter during one of his bouts of insanity.

That man was a noble too and after knowing this Alexander thought that having a noble protect his king was quite paradoxical.

For the current power dynamic was such that the royal family and the nobility would always be at each other's throats, fighting to suppress one another.

The royal family would try to keep a tight lease control over its lords, while the nobility wanted to be their own kings in their fief.

It was an eternal struggle.

And given Alexander's conquest of Tibias, he intended to make his captain of the bodyguards Hemicus a noble too.

Now in all honey, Alexander was not concerned about Hemicus betraying him.

The man was not that type- he was strictly a military man who did what he was told and nothing more or nothing less.

But he saw the employment of the mercenaries as a matter of tradition, a way of starting something for his progeny to follow down the line.

Thus Alexander planned to slowly replace his royal bodyguards with these mercenaries over the span of the next decade or two, leaving only a core of perhaps 50 of his closest men to himself, and replacing the other 450 men with these hired men.

At least that was only the current plan, and it might very well change in the future due to circumstances.

After all like any plan, it was not this did not have its flaws.

The biggest flaw was of course the most obvious- mercenaries were known to betray their employers, especially if they were not paid on time.

And even if Alexander was swimming in gold, who could say decades down the line?

So in that case, it would be far better to have a group of men dedicated and loyal to help one wade through thick and thin.

Then there was the simple act of the enemy paying these men more to betray his employer.

And lastly, if these men were the only ones protecting you, well then they could become the exact problem you tried to avoid in the first place.

Machiavelli wrote 'The Prince' for a reason after all.

All these were indeed within Alexander's consideration.

Also, at the end of the day, it had to be known that there was no perfect answer to this predicament, as even the Ottoman Janissaries, who were composed of Christian orphans taken from other territories and converted to Islam and then restricted from trading or marriage to curb their power before retirement got corrupted due to various reasons and posed a serious challenge for the Sultan's rule during the empire's later years.

The idea of taking young orphans and making them swear fealty to the king from an early age, as well as restricting them from riches and families sounded like a great way to make loyal soldiers on paper.

But as history showed even that had failed.

So Alexander came to the conclusion that keeping a group of mercenaries was much simpler to understand and control than nobles and soldiers who lived on his lands, reasoning that the latter of these men would be affected by Alexander's policies, and even if it was something that was helpful for his country on a whole, it might be detrimental to that selected group's privilege, resulting in dissatisfaction.

As for the related problems with employing mercenaries, well Alexander intended to slowly solve them as he proceeded with his policies, dealing with them when they came up and trying to figure out the best numerical balance between mercenaries, and a core of very loyal men.

It was with much intention that Alexander had approached the Kaiser mercenaries offering them 100 ropals a month, with food and lodging included for them and their family.

"Forget the Kaiser family and swear your oath to me. I started my life as a mercenary too and I know exactly what you all want." Alexander had enticed, promising, "No longer will you have to travel from village to village, from city to city like a vagabond, and fight for scraps. You can have a fixed home and guaranteed food."

"All you will have to do is renounce your previous employer and swear fealty to me!

"Do so and I will even make you a citizen of Zanzan once you have served me loyally for 25 years!"

The ultimate allure of citizenship was too much for any of the mercenaries to resist.

Being able to obtain it was perhaps the ultimate goal of all mercenaries since citizens could enjoy various privileges that others drooled at.

These included legal protections, the ability to hold public administrative offices, own and pass on property, have tax exemptions on certain things, have access to state welfare systems like special rations given to the poor, and many more.

Thus when Alexander had made the offer, the one to get on his knees the fastest was the very leader of the mercenary group, taking an oath right then and there, and loudly claiming in almost a zealous voice,

"We were yours the moment you captured us, my lord. The contract with our previous employer is already null and void."

"Please give us any command and we will complete it even if we have to walk through fire."

Many of Petricuno's remaining men also decided to follow Alexander, especially since many of the officers were quite familiar with Alexander and other military leaders.

It was also from them that Alexander got to know the true reason they were here.

And coming knowing about Petricuno's true thoughts, Alexander was honestly a bit hurt.

Sure the man and him had small disagreements from time to time, but Alexander had thought these were only trivial pebbles along the road.

Nothing to think even twice about.

But it would seem that he was the only one thinking like so.

Truly envy was a green eyed beast.

'To think I even mourned that man,' Thus Alexander half lampooned, half cursed, while also reminding himself that his success would likely mean Petricuno was no exception, but perhaps an example.

Alexander's success with the two mercenary groups also prompted him to try the same with the Thesian contingent sent by the various city states.

But predictably, almost all unequivocally rejected him, since the allure of citizenship had no effect on these free people.

Most of the men already enjoyed a well enough life in their respective cities with friends and families residing there too.

Alexander had also expected this, so he did not insist too hard.

Also as a note, the reason the Kaiser and Petricuno mercenaries did not raise any concern about their own families was because they were already here with them.

The men had brought them to the campaign!

This was because they had expected to stay in Tibias and protect the king for a few years and rather than be away from their family for so long, they decided to bring them along.

All of which ended up working quite well for Alexander.

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