Tyranny of Steel

By the time Hans and his guests returned to the Palace, Berengar was sitting on his imperial throne. Gone were the days where he had a throne made of granite, with intimidating skulls carved into its surface. No, since Berengar had risen to the position of a king, and later an emperor, he had improved his royal seat with many luxuries to display the status that he held as the Emperor of Germany.

The fluffy seat cushions and armrests were made of quilted black velvet and were surrounded by gold fittings. Below the arm rests were two golden angels who uplifted the Kaiser's limbs. Their figures were curvy, and their bodies naked. This theme of nude angels and pagan deities was intricately carved throughout the golden frame of the chair until finally it reached the neck rest.

Above the black velvet neck rest was a golden headboard which had a carved symbol of Berengar, though he had the wings of an archangel and a radiate crown upon his head. He was dressed in nothing but a loincloth, and his arms were outstretched as if he were a deity himself, while the rays of the sun erupted from his body.

Atop this elaborate headboard was the statuette of a golden double-headed eagle whose wings were outstretched. Its arms perched upon a golden iron cross, which proudly displayed the German roots of the Emperor.

Berengar himself was dressed in his imperial regalia. It was a black military uniform with golden trimming and white adornments. This uniform was based upon that which Berengar had issued to the German Army in years prior. Military honors were pinned to his chest, while a golden sash stretched from shoulder to waist, symbolizing the man's outstanding achievements on the battlefield.

Around the Kaiser's neck was a golden chain, which bore the symbols of the Order of Saint George, one of the several chivalric orders that existed in the Reich. At the same time, a grand cross of the iron cross dangled gracefully from his collar while his black leather eyepatch was embellished with an iron cross first class embedded in its center. There was also a pair of golden epaulettes on his shoulders.

On Berengar's lap was the beloved princess of the Reich, Henrietta, whose head rested on her precious big brother's shoulder. The dress she wore was a shimmering pink and was cut thigh high, allowing her ease of movement, but also showing off her incredible thighs when she sat in such a shameful manner on her brother's lap. She wore platinum jewelry which was encrusted in rare pink diamonds. Both of which were recent imports from the South African Colony.

Clinging to Berengar's left side was his favorite wife Linde, the redheaded beauty was dressed in a stunning and elegant sky blue dress, with her white gold, and blue topaz jewelry dangling gracefully from her neck and ears. She wore a pretty smile on her face as she saw her beloved firstborn son return from his brief journey throughout the city.

On Berengar's other side was the young empress Adela, who was garbed in a white silk dress, with platinum jewelry that was encrusted with diamonds. She had a pretty smile on her face as she stood by her husband's side with the grace of a woman befitting her position.

Honoria was dressed in a mint green gown which matched her eyes perfectly. Her jewelry was made of gold and emerald, and she knelt at her husband's feet with a submissive look on her face. Naturally, she rested on the side Linde was on, with the ever watchful gaze of the redheaded beauty keeping an eye on her.

On the other side of Berengar's feet was Yasmin, who was garbed in a Tyrian purple dress. Her jewelry was made of gold, and had amethysts encrusted within it. She obediently knelt before her husband, the Kaiser, and had a pretty, yet stoic expression on her face as she witnessed the newcomers enter the scene.

Finally, on Berengar's left armrest, sat the leopard cub Genseric, who rested beneath the palm of the kaiser as he scratched behind the little kitten's ears. The beast had unnatural intelligence in its keen eyes as it stared at the newcomers with a fierce glare.

Upon witnessing the sight of the Kaiser and his lovely pets, Hans instantly knelt on the floor and lowered his head within his esteemed father's presence. Causing his guests to do the same. After several moments of silence, Berengar smiled before speaking to his son, who had been absent throughout the entire day.

"It is good to see you are doing well Hans, I missed you while I was away. Have you been a good boy to your mother while I was gone?"

Hans silently nodded his head when he heard his father speak to him. He truly believed he had been well behaved during the man's absence. The approving look on his mother's face showed that he was correct in this assessment. However, his father simply nodded his head in response to his gesture before addressing the elephant in the room.

"Prince Zhu Zhi of the Ming Dynasty, I heard quite a bit about you from my wife. She seems to believe you have the ability to foster relations between the Reich and your homeland. I look forward to working with you. No doubt I can attest that everything Linde has agreed to will be fulfilled so long as you do your part. However, I am also willing to offer you additional support.F

As of next week, we shall replace the current ships in my First Fleet with the next generation of Naval vessels that are nearing completion as we speak. I have ten shipyards across my Empire diligently working on modernizing my navy, which seems to be lagging behind my Army. When my old ships are decommissioned, I shall retrofit them and sell them to your Empire if you are willing to buy.

You are free to reverse engineer the technology behind them if you can so manage. Assuming your father is unwilling to purchase the munitions required to operate the ship's guns, you can replace them with the more primitive muzzle loading cannons that your empire already has access to. Though for the sake of competing with the Empire of Japan, I highly suggest you buy from us.

With these ten Ironclad Frigates, and more to come in the next few years, I can assure that for a while, you can successfully deter the Japanese Navy from messing with your territorial waters. However, if this Empress Itami has the capabilities I think she has, they will become obsolete within the next decade. So, I suggest you think of long-term strategies to protect your trade on the high seas."

Zhu Zhi was astonished to hear that Berengar was willing to sell him his old ships. He had no idea how big of an improvement the new vessels would be, but he had seen one under construction. Linde was most shocked at all. She did not expect Berengar to so easily give away such valuable ships to a state that was not directly under his control.

The reality was that Berengar needed to buy some time of his own. He had to fight a proxy war with the Bengal Empire, as well as prepare for the eventual conflict with Japan. By selling the Ming these ironclad frigates, which were far more advanced than the wooden steamships Itami was currently using, he could threaten her expansion. It also sent a message that he knew of her existence, as well as her plans, and would counter them in his own ways. Zhu Zhi could only bow his head and accept this gift with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

"I am sure that my father will not have an issue with the Reich supplying the munitions needed to operate the weapons aboard these ships. On behalf of the Ming Dynasty, I thank you for your generosity."

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Berengar smiled when he heard this, before responding to the man's statement.

"I am sure your father is a wise enough man to see the opportunity I am giving him. Anyway, the journey back to my home has been a long one, and I am dreadfully tired. We shall speak more about our plans for countering the Japanese Empire tomorrow morning at breakfast. In the meantime, enjoy your stay in my palace."

After saying this, Berengar carried Henrietta off of him, before motioning for his girls to follow him back to the royal bedchamber. He planned to taste every one of them on this night. After the five beauties obediently chased after their man, Zhu Zhi gasped in astonishment before looking Hans in the eyes and asking the question of his mind.

"Are all of those beautiful women your father's wives?"

Hans looked up at Zhu Zhi with a stupefied expression on his face. To him, it was only natural that the most beautiful women in the world flocked to his father, thus he simply nodded his head in silence. However, after a few seconds, he quickly corrected one thing.

"All of them except for Henrietta, the one in pink. She's his sister"

Zhu Zhi sighed in relief when he heard this. It would be simply unfair for the gods to bless one man with so many top tier beauties at his side. However, Hans's next words shattered all the faith the man had in his gods.

"But she is his concubine, so I suppose, in a way, she is akin to his wife..."

At this moment, Zhu Zhi did not know how to react. Though his father had plenty of wives and concubines, the man was more of a fan of quantity over quality. In the Ming Prince's entire life, he had seen a handful of women who were as beautiful as those that belonged to Berengar. However, for all of Berengar's lovers to be at the highest tier of beauty was simply too enviable.