A week passed since the coronation. During the week, Victor sent a letter to his family asking them to come to Paris. He also inquired about the situation of the nobles and land directly under him from Paul.
It turned out as expected, most nobles were very autonomous and the army only numbered 20000. Even then, that army was very unprofessional. Victor thought about whether he should modernize the current army or build one up from scratch in his image. In the end, he chose the latter.
In order to not tip off nobles, he decided to buy land in the Manche region in Normandy and build up both is economic and military strength before encompassing all of Normandy, then France.
He asked Paul how much he had in the treasury and which nobles controlled Manche. He found out that it has one count and a few barons in the land. He asked Paul to buy the land from the count and barons as he wanted it to enter the salt trade. Paul, albeit surprised, agreed and left towards Normandy.
Why Manche? Well the reason was due to it being away from most of the nobles deeper in France and its proximity to the sea which would allow him to make a lot of salt from the sea. Another reason is that he could increase the yield of crops in the area without everyone finding out how. He realized that Europe had basically no concept of using fertilizers. The most fertile area was in Naples by Mount Vesuvius. The volcanic ash made the land rich in nutrients.
~~~
Meanwhile in Alençon, Victor's Parents are celebrating their sons ascension to the throne. Both Charles and Margaret doted on their children from a young age. Growing up, they were very close unlike most nobles.
After the celebrations, a servant came in.
"My lord, there's a royal letter for you."
"Royal letter? Give me it."
Charles read the contents of the letter which asked him to come to Paris with Margaret.
"It turns out our son is asking for us at the capital."
Charles looked at Margaret smiling.
"Let's get ready and leave immediately."
she also looked at him very happily.
~~~
A few days later, they arrived at the Fontainebleau Palace.
"This palace is very extravagant."
"I can't wait to meet my children."
Margaret said looking at her husband. They both entered and were greeted by the servants in the palace. They showed them the way to where the children were waiting.
When Victor and Anne saw them, they ran and hugged them.
"I missed you mom!"
Anne looked up at her mother who hugged her.
Victor also hugged his father who looked very proud of him.
"Haha, it's only been two weeks and you two look taller."
"That's because of all the food we get."
Anne replies cheerily.
Victor asks his father to come to the other room to discuss things.
"Father, I want you to be my regent so that I can focus on something more important?"
"Me? But, would I be able to do it?"
Victor explained all he had to do was take care of minor problems and leave the major ones to him and decided to tell his father his plan.
His father was taken aback from the words he heard from his 10 year old son. Charles is only 34 years of age. In the original world's timeline, Duke Charles IV would pass away in 1525 as a scapegoat for Francis I's failure in Italy. With Francis' passing, Charles would go down in history as one of the history's toughest general as he would accompany his son in his conquests.
"Are you sure something like that could work? France is extremely divided and I doubt the nobles would give up their powers to you."
"I actually have a plan for this. A few days ago I sent someone to move nobles in the Manche region of Normandy to a different area and use that region as the starting point to move forward to ensure all of Normandy is under my control, then move to the rest of France."
"I see, Then I'll help you out on this."
"Thank you father."
Victor hugged his father happily."
"Ah! Father, do you know the situation of Europe at this moment?"
"Hm... well, the Iberians are fighting over India and Africa..."
'Hm? Africa and India? I thought the Spanish would be content with the Americas. I mean all the gold and all."
"Wait father, Aren't the Spanish in the New World?"
"New World? What's that?"
'What! Did they not explore west towards the Americas?'
In this timeline, the reason for all the butterfly effects was due to the exploration of the New World. This time, Columbus ended up not receiving funding from Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand II, so he gave up and went back to Genoa to live out the rest of his life. Victor would learn this later on.
His father continued to explain. Since Spain did not go west, they went west which resulted in a larger rivalry between Spain and Portugal over the new riches. The treaty of Tordesillas was also written differently. Instead of splitting east and west, it split the new lands north and south. In the Holy Roman Empire, The Protestant Reformation began a few years ago and began to spread rapidly among the princes. The Emperor was Charles V, who ruled over both Spain and Austria. This union put France in a dangerous situation as its rivals were on both sides. England was ruled by Henry VIII who was radically changing England. The Turks were on the doorsteps of Europe. They encompassed a lot of the Balkans and all of Egypt. In the North, The Kalmar union was having internal issues and within a few months, Sweden would declare independence. Russia was expanding quickly in Eastern Europe with the only buffer to the west being the Jagellions.
'Hm... It's mostly similar to my previous world, though I wouldn't know if it were meant to change in the future or not. But, with this clear view, I can do why I need.'
His father finished explaining and looked at his son who seemed to be pondering.
"So, what did you get out of that?"
Victor smiled
"Well, You'll see"