704 A poor country (4)
After a long silence, I gave a nod in response and said, "It seems like we don't have a choice. It seems that we really have to go with your plan."
The fourth prince didn't seem happy when he heard this.
With the way that his brows remained knitted, it was almost as if he was disappointed that this was the result.
After all, the fourth prince's idea was to incite rebellion in the Beirut Kingdom and then take over their territory.
But that was supposed to be a long term plan.
If we were to do it now, it would mean having to take in the Beirut Kingdom when it was in this weak state.
The plan was supposed to be long term to give the Beirut Kingdom time to recover before taking it over.
It was just that we might not have that time.
The Beirut Kingdom simply put was too corrupt.
It was a poor country that was filled with corruption at the top, which just fermented more and more hatred in its common citizens.
While the nobles at the top would have the power to suppress the citizens, that was only to a certain extent. Once their corruption reached a certain point, they wouldn't be able to stop an uprising.
Especially since their corruption actually weakened their power.
During the audience with the king, the fourth prince and I had also secretly observed the ministers that were in that throne room to see if any of them had what it took to be a pillar of the country.
If there were any like that, we knew that this country might be able to last a bit longer.
But everything that we had done had gone the way that we had expected.
There wasn't a genius like the fourth prince hidden among the nobles of the Beirut Kingdom.
It was only a matter of time before they collapsed on their own at this rate.
Which was the last thing that we wanted.
After all, if they collapsed on their own, that would mean that we wouldn't be able to benefit from their uprising.
It was only when we controlled the collapse of the Beirut Kingdom that we would be able to benefit from it.
So we had no choice but to get involved much sooner than we wanted to.
I looked at the fourth prince and asked, "How long do you think it'll take before they start collapsing."
This was an indirect way of asking..."How long can you stall it?"
The fourth prince didn't say anything right away as he just had a look of thought on his face.
After a while, the fourth prince said with a sigh, "I don't know, but I can at least guarantee that I can stall it until after your coronation."
I gave a nod in response, but I still asked, "How long after that can you stall it?"
The fourth prince just revealed a bitter smile when he heard this before saying, "That I can't be certain."
This situation really was the worst case scenario for us since the timing really was bad for us.
Until we stabilize the situation in our kingdom, it would be bad for us to take over the Beirut Kingdom. This would especially be true for when I succeeded the throne and took the position of the new king.
It was just that it was impossible to stop what was going to come, so we had no choice but to accept this.
After another silence, the fourth prince said, "While it's impossible to stop it, I can at least think of ways to make it easier for us. So don't worry, I'll think of something to deal with this."
I gave a nod in response, but there was still a worried look on my face.
After a pause, I still asked, "Even if we take them over, do you have a way to solve the poverty in this country? If we try to solve it with our own money, it will take a lot of funds for us to do so. I'm sure that this won't be a small amount that we can pay on our own."
The fourth prince gave a nod, but he didn't say anything.
There was this look of thought that was on his face for a while before he finally said, "I have some ideas, but I need to check a few more things before I can put those ideas into play. I'll ask that you just leave this matter to me, I'll take care of it for you."
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Another nod followed in response to this.If someone asked me who I trusted the most, the fourth prince would certainly be at the very top of that list.
If he was telling me to leave this matter to him, then I would certainly do so.
Especially since I found this matter a pain to deal with in the first place.
Instead of continuing this topic, I asked him about something else.
"What are you planning to do about the collateral for the missed payments? It isn't as if we can just ignore this, right?"
The fourth prince nodded in response before saying, "I've already considered that, but there really isn't much that we can take. However, I've heard a few interesting rumours about the castle, so I want to take a look at some things before making a decision."
"Interesting rumours?" I couldn't help asking.
The fourth prince gave another nod in response before saying with a smile, "There are quite a few interesting rumours about the castle, but I have no idea if it's true or not. I'll have to take a close look to figure this out."
Then after a pause, the smile on his face became wider as he said, "If it is true, we might even find a treasure that everyone else missed."
He rubbed his hands together as he said, "I really hope that it is something that they missed."
Once again, I couldn't help feeling pity for the people of this Beirut Kingdom.
Having to deal with the fourth prince was like facing a natural disaster.
