Disclaimer: This is fanwork based on the manga the Quintessential Quintuplets (Go-Tobun no Hanayome), by Negi Haruba. Its setting, characters and plot belong to its rightful creator. I write this only for fun and as a little writing experiment.
Opposition
To understand the opposition to colonial adventures in the lands of the Uesugi, first we need to understand the political situation in the Old Continent.
While every Nakano country had a different type of government, from Yotsuba's merchant republic to Nino's absolute monarchy, all of them shared the same kind of bureaucratic caste that managed the affairs of the realm: the Maruos. Civil servants, court officials, scribes, accountants, tax collectors, ambassadors, key positions that were almost always in the hands of a highly specialized and cosmopolitan group that had its roots in the ancient Renan Empire.
Indeed, in the last centuries of the Renan Empire, the state had become so big and massive that it could not be managed by a small family of rulers alone. To avoid giving more power to local governors, the Nakano Dynasty relied on eunuchs to fill those posts. They were trained in the art of government and, more importantly, could not have children, reducing the risk of nepotism and aristocratic corruption. In turn, these eunuchs enjoyed a privileged position, with riches and titles that the common citizen could only dream of, so it was not unusual for important families to castrate one of their children and send them to the Imperial Academy, to join the ranks of the court officials.
During the decadence of the Renan Empire, the role of these eunuchs became increasingly important. And one of them earned such a great fame that, after his death, his name became synonymous with the whole caste.
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Maruo the Peacemaker
Like most high court officials of the late Renan Empire, Maruo was an eunuch from a minor noble family castrated at a very young age. Thanks to his hard-working attitude and his political insight, he soon earned the trust of his superiors and joined the Imperial Council, becoming the right hand man of Empress Rena the 57th.
The empress and the high eunuch wanted to reform the empire, which had suffered greatly after generations of mismanagement. But their dreams were cut short when Rena the 57th died of a sudden illness and a vicious civil war broke out.
With so many provincial governors and army generals vying for the throne or carving their own realms, Maruo realized that it would be impossible to maintain the unity of the Renan Empire, no matter how much it pained him. But even the most barbaric warlord needed experienced people to manage his or her realm, so Maruo used his leverage among his fellow eunuchs and officials to broker a peace treaty between the warring factions. That was the Treaty of Maruo, which, after several modifications in later years, gave birth to the five Nakano powers.
The core of the Renan Empire became the Ichika Empire, led by the eldest of Rena's daughters. Maruo ended his days peacefully in the new empire, aiding the empress to the best of his capacities and keeping a semblance of continuity and stability. There was an empress, there were vassals, there were Maruos. It was as if the glories of Rena had not been lost.
Things were a bit different in the Kingdom of Nino and the other Nakano countries.
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Rise of the bureaucrats
The true founder of the kingdom was General Tezuka, a former commander of the Renan legions that rebelled after the death of the empress and tried to become emperor himself. After Maruo convinced him that he was not strong enough to claim the entire empire, he was satisfied with the title of "king" and vast territories in the western provinces. He was also given the hand of Princess Nino, which he used to legitimize his position.
While a brilliant strategist in times of war, King Tezuka was a poor ruler. Prone to fits of violence and anger, he soon earned the animosity of the common populace and the court officials. But more importantly, he was hated by his wife, the young Queen Nino, who saw him as a barbarian and a traitor to the Nakanos. In the end, the queen and the eunuchs conspired to have King Tezuka assassinated. During a banquet in which almost all of the king's noble allies were invited, their agents poisoned the drinks. Those who survived the initial poisoning were quickly dispatched by members of the Royal Guard, who had been bribed by the eunuchs beforehand.
Legend says that, when King Tezuka started noticing the effects of the poison, he turned to Queen Nino, who had not touched her drinks in all the evening. Before he was able to react, she stabbed him in the neck while muttering: "All hail the Queen", which became the kingdom's motto ever since.
With the hated king and his warrior nobility dead, Queen Nino and his court supporters quickly took the reins of the country and crushed any other upstart who defied her rule. A new Nakano dynasty was born.
Queen Nino's ambition contrasted with Princess Miku's lack of thereof. While she and her followers had been granted a few provinces in the south, Miku soon abandoned her titles and left the government in the hands of the civil officials to start a life of meditation, contemplation and good deeds in the name of the Goddess.
Soon, pious followers flocked to her and saw her as an avatar of the Supreme Deity. A community of priestesses was formed and, after Miku's death, took power in the south after a soft coup d'etat (which was justified by using one of Miku's sacred principles: "Be as hard to know as the shadow"). The ruling caste of courtiers did not disappear; instead, they became part of the Church's structure, taking care of the tasks that the female-led Apostles could not or would not manage themselves.
Meanwhile, in the more liberal Republic of Yotsuba and Itsuki Commonwealth, castration stopped being a requisite to join the ranks of the Maruos and soon a mixed caste of high and low officials from different backgrounds became the norm, a trend that would become prevalent in the other Nakano countries too.
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The Maruos and the Discovery
By Year 1 of the Discovery, the Maruo caste controlled the politics and economy of the Nakano powers. They were a cosmopolitan group, the first one to have a sense of class regardless their country of origin. Following the example of Maruo the Peacemaker, there was a common understanding that the prosperity of their nations (and, by association, their own prosperity) was best served by fostering cooperation, alliances and trade rather than open conflict.
Oh, yes, there were wars and skirmishes between the Nakano countries. A dispute about vague borders, a town council that changed allegiances, the occasional succession crisis… Despite this, more often than not the bureaucrats would push for settling things with negotiation and treaties instead of declaring total war.
At the beginning, the Maruos were enthusiastic supporters of exploration and colonization efforts. New markets and resources could be discovered that would benefit the Nakanos, and the joint efforts could help maintain the peace among the crowns. When initial attitudes towards the settlement of the New Continent faltered, it was the Maruos who, in every court, insisted that the Nakanos had to work together to see it through.
Because of this, many were puzzled when the Maruos suddenly became the greatest opponents of colonization.
They had their reasons. First of all, the considerable expenses of the expeditions made them unpopular among those in charge of the national treasuries. What happened to the Lost Fleet seemed like a cautionary tale for many civil officials. Then, there was the issue of factional politics: colonization efforts rewarded a new class of sailors, captains, soldiers and adventurers outside the traditional bureaucracy, which could become a challenge to the power of the Maruos if left unchecked.
And finally, some among the Maruos feared that increasing rivalries for the colonies could spark a war among the Nakanos. A fear that future events would confirm.
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The Queen's response
In the Year 15, an international conference with ambassadors from every Nakano power announced that, barring new discoveries that could make a profit, colonization efforts were to be halted in the foreseeable future given the lack of returns.
In some courts, people were dismayed. While the conference had had the approval of the Nakano rulers, the conclusions had crossed a red line. And yet, it was difficult for many to oppose the decision of the Maruos. It was logical. It was beneficial. It enjoyed popular support. Only a monarch who did not care about appearances would reject it.
So it was a surprise when the Queen of Nino denounced it in public:
"The Queen's ambassador was never given the power to accept the conclusions of the conference, for that power belongs to Her Majesty alone. The Kingdom of Nino is agreeable to the prospect of limiting expenses in fruitless endeavours, and the lands of Uesugia have yet to bear a fruit. Nevertheless, decisions cannot be made in ignorance. Let us persevere and wait for a time, in the sisterhood of the Nakanos, until the wisdom of the scholars reveals whether the New Continent is worthy of our efforts or we should forget and never return to it."
It was an open secret that the Kingdom of Nino had always been less that enthusiastic about the exploration and colonization of the New Continent, so the ambassadors believed that they would welcome the conference's decision. However, the Kingdom was also an absolute monarchy; since the times of King Tezuka, the Queens of Nino had never tolerated rivals who could challenge their power. By bypassing the throne and making decisions without explicit royal support, the Maruos had angered Her Majesty. In an ironic twist, she was now going to support the exploration efforts if only to showcase her authority.
The Maruos had miscalculated.
The "wisdom of the scholars" was not a gratuitous reference either, since the first scientific expedition to the New Continent was taking place at that very moment.
It was one of the most ambitious projects in the history of Nakano scholarship. Each country was going to study a different part of the New Continent: the Empire would perform a census of the discovered lands; the Kingdom and the Republic sent their best translators to analyse the Uesugi languages; the Church was to record the history and traditions of the native civilizations; and the Commonwealth brought back drawings and examples of the local flora and fauna.
In the end, while the economic profit was negligible, it was a treasure trove for scholars everywhere. And it was enough for the Nakano countries to continue sponsoring the exploration and colonization of the New Continent in the face of increasing opposition from the Maruos. Their first serious attempt to halt colonization had failed, but it would not be the last one.
Author's notes:
This chapter is based on the Midterm Examinations arc of ch. 15-20 from the manga. It is also a way to introduce Maruo in this story. After all, part of the drama in the series is that the quintuplets have a rather strict father they depend on. But if they're independent countries here, how can that be?
The answer is something that has happened in real life too, from the late classic Roman Empire to dynasties upon dynasties from Imperial China: a bureaucratic caste of eunuchs, mandarins, courtiers, etc. that control government affairs. They also played a part in exploration too; Zheng He, the famous Ming navigator, was an eunuch, and the end of the Treasure Voyages was caused by conflicts between civil officials and eunuch factions in the Chinese government. Here, it almost happened to the Nakanos, but they dogged the bullet.
-General Tezuka's name comes from the studio that made the anime, but his role is based on guys like the Diadochi of Hellenistic times, Odoacer and other barbarian warlords during the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the protagonists of the Three Kingdoms period or An Lushan in China.
-The "scientific expedition" is based on the midterm results of the Nakanos. Ichika was good at Maths, Nino at English, Miku at Social Studies, Yotsuba at Japanese and Itsuki at Science.