Swiss Arms-Chapter 152

Swiss Arms-Chapter 152

Swiss Arms
Chapter 152
-VB-
Hans von Fluelaberg
As much as I wanted to spend half of my day down under to practice magic and spend quality time with my family while I was up on the surface, I was a count with a territory that needed a lot of maintenance and thus needed to work.
And this was one thing that I could not delegate unlike most other things.
Sitting in my personal office within my castle was the representative of the city of Chiavenna, a town that rivaled Chur in wealth and prosperity. However, it was not military strong, and they came to me seeking for help after their appeal to the Prince-Bishop of Chur failed.
The appeal failed because Chur told te town, which was under its jurisdiction, that all military members had to go to me, the Count of Fluelaberg who was in charge of the Compact's defense in the south and east.
So they came to me bearing gifts of gold, silk, cattle, and jewelry.
Chiavenna was on the other side of the Alps, though they were connected to Rheinwald and Thusis - and thus to the rest of the Comapct - through the Splugen Pass. They were also connected to Engandin Valley, where Zernez sat in and which was also part of the Compact because it was the territory of Prince-Bishop of Chur.
If I secure Chiavenna as a member or even a vassal of the Compact, then I will secure our southern flank against any military incursion from the Duchy of Milan or Republic of Venice.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Count von Fluelaberg," the representative, a clean shaven and thin man wearing a slightly ill-fitting red and yellow striped houpelande and a brimless cap. "I am Luinnie of Chiavenna."
I nodded before gesturing for him to take a seat.
"Now, what brings you here today, good sir?" I asked him while appearing to be as disinterested as possible.
"W-We the people of Chiavenna wish to join the Compact."
I raised an eyebrow and gestured for him to continue. I was playing hard ball here by not welcoming him like I would have before the reforms. But those reforms have passed, and it was in my best interest that the Compact didn't gain any more voting members. Voting members with power like Chiavenna made future reforms harder to pass, and thus would shackle me and the other members of the Compact. Of course, if they became my direct vassal, then I wouldn't have to deal with bureaucracy on top of taking care of them, which I know I'll end up having to do like I was doing with a number of former voting villages.
The representative didn't quite seem to get what I want so he began to talk about how Chiavenna could be a good member of the Compact and the like.
"Chiavenna sits at the crossroads of three valleys, two of which
And the more he talked, the more I realized that he was speaking to me with old information about the Compact before the reform.
"Signore Luinnie, I believe that you are working with old information."
The semi-energetic man paused. "I… Pardon?"
"It seems that between when you last heard about us and your arrival here, you have been missed quite a bit of happenings. Will you allow me to explain?"
"Y-Yes, please, go ahead, milord."
I nodded. "The first error is that we accept any and all applicants.This one, I believe, is more a misunderstanding than misinformation. The Compact is a defensive pact, yes, but it was based mostly around the territories once claimed by the Prince-Bishop of Chur between the Unruly Year."
"A-And we were once part of His Grace's territory, were we not?"
"Did you also not get a town charter?"
A town charter meant a lot of things. For bigger and more powerful lords and ladies of the empire, a town charter simply meant a strategic center through which military action and profitable trade occurred.
For the smaller realms of the empire, a town charter could make or break them. And oftentimes, it was forced upon their ruler by their richer and/or more numerous lessers. This was also the case for Chiavenna. Yes, they were part of the Prince-Bishop of Chur's lands.
No, they were only
de jure
part of the bishop's territory, not
de facto
.
"Our fathers did so because we had been neglected by the bishop," he reasoned, though I could see him sweating. "We had no ill will against the bishop or selfish desire other than survival."
"So you are claiming that Chiavenna was a fair weather vassal to the bishop?" I asked with faux disinterest.
He grimaced. "Our records are … unclear about the circumstances beyond the charter and a few journals."
"I see. And what do they say?"
"... Only that the charter was granted in exchange for 1,000
lira
."
"That is a kingly sum for a small town." That was sarcasm, by the way. Land was much more valuable than gold, and 1,000
lira
for a defensible and fertile land bigger than 21st century Liechtenstein? Fortification at that crossroad valley could hold up an army for months if not years.
The conclusion was simple.
It had been forced upon Chur by Chiavenna.
He looked away.
"And perhaps it is why the current bishop, after looking at
his
records of the event, turned you away and sent you to me. He can't trust you. And personally speaking, I find myself wondering if you would be a productive member of the Compact, never mind a
good
member."
"We are not lazy," he grunted out.
"No, but I would rather have a lazy member than a potentially disloyal one. And a town whose history suggests disloyalty… It would be a hard sell for me to welcome you into the Compact."
He gulped.
I knew why he was desperate.
The Lordship of Milan.
Under the Visconti Dynasty, it devoured everything it came in contact with. Lugano, one of the other towns that had been banging on my door for help, had been swallowed up along with Como, its overlord. The rulers of Lugano were stripped of their titles and lands and exiled. Lugano's fate made the other applicants like Sondrio, Tirano, and Lucarno even more desperate.
"Second, the biggest change to the Compact that you missed is the fact that we reduced our voting members to five, which I am one of as the Count of Fluelaberg. The bishop is also one of the voting members." He paled. "If the bishop votes no for your application, then I will vote no as well simply because he and I are allies and friends. Which leaves the Abbot of St. Gallen, lords of House Montfort, and my former ward, Count of Toggenburg." Which was indirectly saying that Toggenburg would vote with me.
Even if the other two voted to bring Chiavenna in, they would lose the overall vote.
I.e. if you went through with pushing the application, then you were gonna get rejected, boi.
"T-Then what can we do for you to save us from Milan?"
I hummed.
"If you - or rather the rulers of Chiavenna - want to remain in power without getting swallowed up by Milan and its grubby hands, then you can come under me as my vassal."
My words made the representative freeze.
"P-Pardon?"
I pulled out a single sheet of paper. The paper drew his eyes with how white it was underneath the ink.
"This is the standard vassalage contract I have with the former voting members of the Compact that have come underneath me. Please, take your time to peruse the details."
And, hesitantly, he did. At first. Then his eyes narrowed and widened as he read through all of the clauses.
He looked … relieved by the end of it.
"... Would this apply to us as well?"
"Assuming you don't fight me on every little change I make, yes."
His tongue almost peeked out, halted from wetting his lips.
"I… I would need to take this to the council and show them."
"Do so, if you must," I replied. "In fact, I will even send a contingent of the Fluelaberg Rangers so that if you were to sign the vassalage contract in the presence of its leading commander, I will accept it as well, and thus put you and your town under my protection without needing for further travel."
And that was how I sent Signore Luinnie back home with two companies of my rangers.
Of course, since I was taking a town nominally under the Prince-Bishop of Chur's territory into my own, I would have to compensate him for it. Of course, I needed to eventually make my way to the town and accept the formal ceremonial transfer of title, both existing and assumed, since I hadn't conquered them but accepted their vassalage through diplomacy and thus diplomacy must be there at the end for confirmation. Otherwise, there will always be a question on whether or not Chiavenna belonged to me, which was something future Chur bishops and surrounding realms could use as justification to poke and prod at me.
Ugh.
Fucking politics.

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Chapter 152