Herald of Steel-Chapter 1573: Alexander’s Proposal Part-7

If audio player doesn't work, press Reset or reload the page.

Alexander did not pry deep into how Pasha Farzah planned to assassinate the king's favorite concubine without him finding out. Because the death of the girl was frankly a bonus.

As long as her father was taken out of the picture, there would be a hundred ways to strike this uprooted upstart vixen down. Alexander did not believe there was any way the QM lacked even such a basic set of skills.

Thus Alexander closed the chapter on this franky macabre detail and with a small tap on the table, made a seemingly innocuous query,

"Pasha Farzah, in the past few days, I was thinking about how outnumbered we are! Even if we assume Rusti is on our side… that still leaves us four against eight. The odds still remain grossly stacked against us. Remember, the treaty we signed is also going to end next year. Has Amenheraft shown any interest in extending it?"

"No!" Pasha Farzah was quick to shake his head bitterly, pursing ruefully, "I even poked a few nobles about this. But no one in that brat's circles is even talking about this possibility. I imagine they are getting ready to attack Adhan the day the treaty expires."

Alexander matched the old man's expression at the news. He had already suspected it but still…finally he let out a small sigh, "....Well I am frankly surprised we even managed to keep it for so long.."

"...." Pasha Farzah wanted to say how Djoser's attack and Manuk's meddling were technically in violation of the agreement but given the man himself was not complaining, he was certainly not going to pour oil into the fire.

"How do you think we should to deal with that, boy?" Rather, in a rare switch of role reversal, it was the elder lord who turned to ask for Alexander's opinion.

The Zanzan lord did not shirk away from the question, but gave a small grin, "Haha, I guess my lord's response was to get an alliance with Rusti, right?"

Pasha Farzah agreed with a light nod, "Mmmm, with Rusti on our side, Adhan's northern boundary will be secure. We will have to face only one front- the east. Ozman has also lowered taxes for our merchants and promised weapons, men and grain in the outset of a war."

There were all conditions that Alexander naturally had no issues with.

The only bump in the road was that he thought it was too little, too late. One province was hardly going to make it or break it for them. To make a significant difference, they only needed a bunch of pashas to flip.

However that card did not seem anywhere near the horizon.

Thus suddenly veering off course, Alexander made an insane proposal, "Can we kill Amenheraft using the ice poison?"

Pasha Farzah frowned at the suggestion, clenching his fist tightly. But he did not actually rebuke the man! Because if it could be done…

"No! There will be no point. That waste of a son in law is not like Assazd!" As much as the old man would like to see the former crown prince suffer, reality told him this was unlikely to be possible.

"He already has two sons. So if he dies like you are suggesting… the rest of the nobles will just rally around the eldest kid and then declare on us. It won't matter even if they have no proof. They will attack Adhan because whoever can gift the capital to the child emperor, will surely become the next prime minsister! So… let us deal with Assazd first. Amenheraft can wait. "

Pasha Farzah's argument on the surface of it, sounded perfectly solid. He was being prudent to start with the smaller fish before moving up.

However Alexander's sense felt this might not be the whole story. He suspected Pasha Farzah was being reluctant based on his son in law's lineage- fearful of harming a second man of the divine line.

Because Alexander figured the 'rally around the flag effect' was a bit exaggerated.

He asked himself, 'Realistically what would the nobles think when Amenheraft died and they had only two infant sons? Will they simply elect the elder child as emperor and then start marching towards Adhan. No! I believe they will start squabbling. Squabbling over who gets to raise this child.'

'Pasha Vivizan of Ankoot will likely elect himself first to be the regent.. as the boy's maternal grandfather. However will the other Pashas simply accept this? I don't think so. For instance, Djoser can certainly make the claim that as the uncle he should be the one to raise the child.'

'To make matters 'better', the crown prince also has a younger brother. So Amenheraft's faction will certainly fracture into two, each wishing to mold the future emperor to their puppet.' 'Hehehe… and if we are lucky, they might shatter into even more- with the daughters and other children from his concubines also dipping their toes. Once that happens… I would love to see the chaos!'

Alexander's heart cheered at the thought of these evil ideas and soon, a very, very, dangerous idea began to sprout inside. And the more he thought about it, the more this idea stayed and simmered, planting its roots and growing leaves.

Until…

'The problem is how do I get Lady Ezaya on board.'

Alexander basically decided to do this, eschewing all of Pasha Farzah's warnings.

Now he was thinking of how to try and implement this.

And while thinking this, he firmly decided not to seek Pasha Farzah's permission on this- the old man had already shown his thoughts on the matter.

As for the consequences, well, Alexander guessed Pasha Farzah would at best chew him out really well for doing such a heinous thing.

But he was betting that the old lord would not dare tear the alliance with his new grandson in law, finding it too lucrative.

As for the worst case scenarios, well for one, Alexander could go plead for help to Lady Inayah and the Queen Mother, asking them to interject on his behalf. And as a last ditch effort, he could also promise Pasha Farzah explicit support in his effort to replace Mirzah with Keyvan.

Whicheve the case may be, Alexander set quite a high budget for himself to remove Amenheraft once and for all.

"I see! Then only Lord Assazd is it." Outwardly Alexander pretended to drop the matter with a reassuring nod, before quickly swinging back to the topic they were discussing.

"Then about the matter of Amenheraft and the other provinces getting ready to attack us… here is the plan I thought of. It is admittedly very radial… so I would ask my lord not to jump to conclusion," Alexander voice was firm yet smooth as he gave this bright disclaimer, sending Pasha Farzah a very pointed look.

He was very clearly asking for a nod in return.

The Zanzan Pasha only proceeded once he got a heavy shake from his counterpart,

"What I propose is His Majesty declares every province to become independent! Meaning, any Pasha who promises not to side with Amenheraft and stays neutral in the fight, will in return need not pay any of the tithes or taxes to the royal treasury. In addition to this they will continue to have free access and lodging to the capital during the Jtaama. This… "

"Brat! Have you gone insane!" Despite Pasha Farzah's promise, he was unable to hold himself back any longer.

Just hearing Alexander's disclaimer, he had braced his mind for the worst. And when he started to hear him sprouting such nonsense he really tried to restrain himself.

However… the dam failed to live up to his expectation, as Pasha Farzah leaped his body forward with a terrifying snarl, glaring at the boy like he wanted to eat him alive.

"My lord, please, please, let me finish. Have I ever said anything without reason?" Fortunately, Alexander had half expected this, so quickly flashed his palms in a defensive posture, sending the man a very professional smile.

"....." It was only courtesy of Alexander's previous track record that Pasha Farzah halted his advances, slowly slumping back to his chair… although that glare remained.

If the boy could not give him an adequate explanation, Pasha Farzah very much planned to wring his ear out for daring to spout such nonsense.

Alexander too detected his animosity, so taking a deep breath, he cooly commented,

"My lord, I understand you find this topic extremely distasteful. Splitting the great country into chucks.. this likely sounds blasphemous to you. However what if I asked you to take a second and think… what has these provinces done for us in the last half decade?"

"Have they paid their tithe? No, not a single copper. Have they paid their taxes? Of course not, not even a single copper! Have they ever bowed to His Majesty Ptolomy even once? I do not believe so."

"Yet.. they are here, during Jtaama, eating, drinking and partying… all out of our expenses. Remember Lord Farzah, we still give our tithes. We still give sales taxes on the goods our lands produce. So his Majesty runs on our money!"

"Now… just take a look every thing around you and know that every morsel of grain, every bite of meat, every chip of marble and every copper coin earned by all the maids, servants and entertainers, come from your own pocket."

"How does that make you feel? Angry? Aggrieved? Indignant? Of course it is all the above."

"Yet for all this hospitality

, what do we get? Nothing."

"So why hold onto it?"

This chapt𝒆r is updated by free(w)ebnovel(.)com