"No. It would be best to place the demobilized troops near the border of Rostok empire"

Conrad nodded and said that he would take care of those affairs after the meeting.

"Franz, what is the reactions of the countries around us."

"The Kildarian empire had wanted to do a ceasefire but we ignored them. The western empire has said that it will play close attention to our actions and warned us not to overstep our boundaries. The Rostok empire is neutral while the Lombardians have invaded the Florentians and are facing a backlash from the countries around them and due to that they don't have the energy to pay attention to us." said Franz.

This was what I had expected. The Kildarians can't do anything without a thug in the continent. They could form a coalition but the countries are more concerned about the Lombardians. The western empire has a dispute in the succesion and can't create a coherent foreign policy. If they were smart, they would stop us from conquering the kingdom of Galicia as this will mean one more competitor in the Gretan region. I was expecting the Rostok empire to stop us but they maybe planning to get an ally in the international stage. They used to have an alliance with the western empire but the western empire can't support them in the international stage right now due to their internal conflicts.

"What do you think our national strategy should be from now on." I asked all the cabinet members.

"Your majesty, we should stay put and develop our country as the revenue of the merchants is enough to make us a great power. We don't need to expand anymore." said the minister of finance.

"Your majesty, we need to fight against the heatens to our east and take more land." said the chief of staff.

"Your majesty, we can use diplomatic methods to unify the Gretan region and increase our power." said the minister of foreign affairs.

"No, expanding overseas is costly and is not worth it. We can stay home and develop peacefully." said Hermann.

"Expanding overseas is the best choice. If we try to unify the Gretan region, all the other great powers will intervene and dismantle us." said Conrad.

"We need to unify the Gretan region. It will increase our power by a substantial amount and all the people will accept our rule." said Franz.

They started arguing and I finally stopped them. It is good that they are fighting. I will be concerned if they stop fighting and cooperate with each other. If they do that, they might just coup me. You might think that I am being paranoid but this is a kings instinct to balance the forces fo his country. I might have to establish a ministry of navy to balance the army as they are too powerful. Anyway, the most preferable strategy is to unify the Gretan region as the people will accept the unity of the Gretan nation. The problem is the great powers. Once we unify the Gretan region, we will be considered as too powerful. The western empire is also Gretan and they might also want to unify the Gretan region. But for the time being, we might need to go east with the Rostok empire. We need to expand to grow stronger and if we stay put, we will undoubtedly reach our development potential and grow weak.