Steel Empire
Military Reform

Several days had passed since Berengar began plotting against Count Lothair and his supporters, long enough for his father's followers to gather inside Kufstein Castle. Realizing that he had to completely reform the military structure now that he was combining a professional army with a city militia into one cohesive force, he had summoned all of his father's followers to Kufstein so that he could directly tell him that he would be abolishing their feudal right to raise their own armies. This was a decision he knew he had to make in the end to modernize the military completely, but for now, it was, he knew this would be a bitter pill to swallow for the people serving his father; after all, he basically revoked their right to defend their own land with their own army.

With the people gathered in the Great Hall, Berengar sat in the seat of power as a Viscount in everything but name. The young regent made a startling statement to those who swore allegiance to his family.

"Start today, then, I hereby abolish the rights of my family followers to increase their own troops and will instead merge them into one cohesive military under the control of the Viscount of Kufstein upon which one's rank is based fully on merit and not birth. ."

With this said, the room resonated with the protests of dozens of nobles and minor knights. The knights were furious with this decision because by eliminating the feudal tradition of the military, Berengar was essentially depriving them of the purpose of their lives. Despite the anger of the nobles, they remained well-behaved due to the fact that Berengar was flanked by his elite bodyguards, which had been formed from the ranks of his greatest grenadiers. They were prepared for any act of rebellion against their Master and Commander, and therefore, ruthlessly stared at the horde of disobedient men.

Finally, Berengar slammed his fist into his armrest, which instantly made the room quiet before he began to speak further.

"I've invited all of you here personally to inform you of this decision and to address any issues you may have. Therefore, you are free to voice them one by one in a polite way!"

An old knight was the first to approach Berengar and voice his concerns

"I am a knight, like my father before me, and his father before him. What should I do now that I can no longer fight for my God?"

Berengar smiled gently at the man, because he knew very well his worries and had already prepared the answer to such a question.

"I'm sure your skill in combat is required among the ranks of my army, and as such, I'll offer you a place among its ranks. As long as you complete the necessary training, you will receive a position as an assigned officer. From there, you can progress in rankings based on your abilities."

Although the man wanted to protest further, yet he knew Berengar would not budge, and therefore, he responded to Berengar's words.

After which, the man returned to the crowd, where a small Lord rose up and voiced his opinion on the matter.

"If the Army is fully under your command, then who will protect my border?"

Berengar once again smiled gently at the man as he revealed how the military would function forward.

“Tiles will be built in each region to ensure proper defense. The fort will be manned by a garrison of soldiers under Army command. This garrison would also be in charge of Law Enforcement until the time in which a self-contained fort and a dedicated police force were established in the region."

Many of these Lords were familiar with how Berengar chose to rule, for about the past month since he ascended to Regency, Berengar had forced his reforms on his followers one by one; it got to the point where many of them were thinking of rebelling. Yet just when they were considering such an option, Berengar not only planned to weaken their ability to do so effectively, but also build a garrison in their territory, manned by soldiers loyal only to him. This was considered completely unacceptable by many nobles shackled by the von Kufstein family vassals.

Nevertheless, the Lords had no choice but to accept this requirement; after all, they were all aware of how quickly Berengar had brought down Baron Kitzbuhel's army, which was much bigger than anything they could muster. Many of these knights and nobles were present to witness such a shocking show of strength; it was something they would never forget in their entire lives.

One after another, Master and Knight Kufstein voiced their concerns, and Berengar spoke to each of them with a carefully planned answer. By the time the convention was over, Berengar had received all their signatures upon signing the Military Reform into Law, thus dealing a crushing blow to the old Feudal System in which he was getting closer to fully supplanting. For now, what calmed the minds of the nobles was that they still had access to their land and thus could live a luxurious lifestyle without having to worry about dying in war. They could hand it over to ordinary people and those foolish enough to glorify such a thing.

If they knew that Berengar was currently designing a Land Reform that would completely strip them of their ownership of such vast swaths of land and redistribute them to the Public and Private sectors, they would try to skin him alive right then and there, even with his elites. Fortunately for Berengar, these old and bitter men had no idea that their feudal authority would soon collapse completely over them. Their role as nobles would soon become little more than a ceremonial title passed down to their entire family.

Of course, to ensure there was no outright rebellion, Berengar thought of a way to appease the nobles and maintain their level of wealth. But it was a discussion for another time. For now, Berengar has successfully enacted his military reforms and will incorporate all Knights, Men-at-arms, and other professional soldiers into the ranks of what will one day be known as the Imperial Army.