After a while a servant came to Jonathan and motioned him to follow him. After a short walk, they reached the study of the king, and, after Jonathan entered the room, the servant left.
After the door had been closed by Jonathan, the king began to speak, forgoing the need of greetings: „How certain are you, that there will be an „Age of Revolutions“?“
Jonathan thought for a moment and answered then: „Relatively certain. There are already the signs that the necessary circumstances begin to develop, but it will take long. The Age of Revolutions in my world happened after a long time of setting up the basic ideas for it, and then only through some very specific circumstances, it began. Those circumstances are, broken down to the basics relatively common, if not exactly in the same way as for that country. The basic gist of it was a famine, coupled with a bankrupt government which decided to tax the farmers more instead of those that still were able to feed themselves at this point. This, coupled with some rumors that were likely untrue or taken completely out of context and a government that decided that this is a great time to built some monuments for pleasure was a recipe for desaster. But honestly, most of what happened could have happened without that last part.“
The King thought for a moment about that statement and answered then: „You are very adamant about these plans. What would they bring, in your opinion?“
Jonathan answered almost instantly: „The first major advantage of this s very simple. A System, in which merit means something important. This does not mean that the old elites loose all of their power, but it does mean, that they loose a significant chunk of their power and it is far more important for them to be at least competent in what they are doing if they do not want to loose even more power and influence. Another fascinating advantage is, that it will speed up scientific research. The wonders in my world I mentioned? All are results of scientific research. Admittedly multiple centuries of it, but still. It also allows the recruitment of better and larger armies. The morale of your soldiers would be higher as well. Do you know what the basic tactic any modern army uses on my world?“
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„No, I do not know that. But I am sure you will tell me that soon. But please, first explain why the armies will be better and larger“
„Better. The armies of your realm will be better because they will fight for something that means something for them and not only you. This will first drive recruitment, allowing you to be pickier with your soldiers, and, especially important in this age, you can arm your civilians without fearing an uprising too much. This means your raw recruits might already have some training. In my world, that is not important anymore, but for a series of reasons that would be complicated to get into right now. Now onto larger. Basically an expansion of the earlier point, but coupled with the fact that your civilians will be more ready to endure hardships, and actively help the war effort. Building weapons, financing the realm with their own money, such things. So you will not only be able to field a larger army, but also to keep it in the field for longer. The higher morale of your men I should not need to explain. So back to my question. the answer for this question is simple. Modern armies function with independent action. At least on a small scale. Small units get orders that consists out of their goals and their rules. The way the fullfill it is their job to find out. Not all missions work that way, but many do.“
The king sat down. Jonathan just might be right about those advantages. But what would the disadvantages be?