novelraw Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter 159 : Chapter 159
Chapter : 159
The trip there had taken a long time, but the trip back did not take that long.
Only fifteen days after leaving the Holy See.
In that short span of time, I had arrived at my domain. I could have returned even faster, but the gift(?) I received in exchange for helping Cardinal Adriano had slowed our pace quite a bit.
“Lord, you have returned!”
“Oh, yes, Chamberlain Hamil. Were there any problems while I was away?”
“Fortunately, the King did not show any particular movement, so everything was uneventful. Ah, but what are those people?”
Chamberlain Hamil asked while pointing behind me.
There, the scholars and technicians supported by Cardinal Adriano were following along under the escort of soldiers.
He must have been surprised because, unlike when we left, my entourage suddenly looked doubled.
“It is nothing. Haven’t I had things going on all this time? From agricultural support to various workshops, and even a surgical university. I brought technicians and scholars to support all that.”
“Ah, is that so?”
At my words, Chamberlain Hamil nodded without saying much.
Of course, he tilted his head slightly because he could see some scholars in the back who seemed a little different, but still.
‘Hmm…. There are people who look like legal scholars or judges…. But the Lord must have handled it properly on his own.’
Thinking about it, why would he suddenly bring legal scholars or judges for no reason?
We were not the King with the authority to make the kingdom’s laws, and we were not building a court like the kingdom’s high court, either.
Of course, a lord could do whatever he wanted with the laws applied within his own domain…. But usually, matters were handled through local customary law, and it was customary to deal with things at one’s discretion without needing professional judges.
People did not move openly like that. It would look like challenging the authority of the King who ruled the kingdom.
‘Yeah, well, there won’t be any particular problem. There’s no way he would do that.’
Chamberlain Hamil still did not know that “no way” could get you killed.
For me, it was truly fortunate.
‘Heh heh heh.’
If he had discovered my black intentions, I would have gotten an earful. But it slipped by nicely.
By the time Chamberlain Hamil noticed and realized later, things would already be well underway, so he would not even be able to oppose it and would have no choice but to follow my will in a muddled, half-hearted way.
“Meeeeh. Lord-nimu. You’re making a pervert-like smile again. Mehr. Are you thinking something weird?”
“C, cough. Weird thoughts? It’s not like that, so hurry and go rest already. Bishop Marco.”
Damn it. This goat beastman with quick instincts was about to ruin things again.
I hurriedly shooed Goat Beastman Bishop Marco away and began to quickly manage the people.
There was a lot to do, and there were never enough people. I intended to squeeze every last drop out of these scholars and technicians I had brought from the Holy See.
---
It was chaos.
If I had to express the situation of my domain in four characters, that would be exactly it.
Had I started too many things in the meantime? I was paying the full price for my long trip abroad.
Even though I had introduced a modern-style bureaucracy beyond the era of [Pangea Universalise], there was still far more slapdash administration.
And the front line was feeling confused about the scope of their authority. That was understandable, because deciding domain affairs was the job of the superior, the lord, and it was extremely rare for subordinates, the officials, to do it.
Usually, once a decision was made at the top, they simply executed it to match that decision.
Because of that, when I gave them broad discretionary authority, it was minutes away from becoming a complete, tangled mess.
Some tried to report even trivial matters to me and receive approval, while others with huge guts interpreted the discretion I had granted as fully expanded and wielded it however they pleased.
The sweet taste of power was truly good, but to think they would push their gallbladders out of their bodies like this and commit overreach.
-L, Lord! Mercy. I thought I was allowed to do it!
Of course, I was sending special inspections to deal with such people one by one, but from my perspective it was infuriating. Because the work kept piling up.
‘Mm, I’ll need proper guidelines.’
Manuals did not exist in modern companies and administration for no reason. And in the case of an administrative organization, was it not standardized in law in the first place?
Its authority and duties, that was.
After finishing my thoughts, I immediately summoned the legal scholars and judges.
“From now on, participate in administrative practice and put into writing the authority, rules, and organization of each administrative official. I will attach administrative officials to you for the parts you lack, so complete it with their help.”
“Pardon? Th, then…. However, we are currently discussing the legal code Your Excellency ordered us to create….”
The legal scholars and judges who had been called in spoke while sweating profusely.
The order I had given was not simply to put local customary law into writing, but a massive undertaking to reconstruct a legal code based on the laws handed down since the era of the ancient empire.
In other words, an extremely difficult and complex task! And on top of that, they had to follow administrative officials around and take on even more work? It was enough to make everything go dark before their eyes.
“Why, do you not want to do it?”
Of course, it was not as if I cared about that.
“I, I am not saying that I do not want to….”
“Good. It will be hard, yes. But you know better than anyone that the legal code I want is not something like scribbling a few lines of text, do you not? And that legal code will include an administrative organizational chart anyway, won’t it?”
“Th, that is correct.”
“Right. Treat it as reference and get the work done in advance. You were not planning to copy and paste the ancient empire’s old material 그대로, completely divorced from my domain’s realities, were you?”
“As if we would! No, Your Excellency.”
That startled, flailing reaction made it look like they were going to do exactly that…. But it did not seem necessary to drag it out right now.
“Hmmm. Is that so?”
“Yes! Your Excellency. We will do it very meticulously as you command. Please do not worry.”
I just stared at them with a suitably inscrutable look, and they panicked on their own and shouted for me not to worry.
If so, even if they grumbled that the workload had increased, they clearly would not dare think of refusing.
Thanks to that, my work would become much easier.
“Tsk tsk…. You’re squeezing and working those poor fellows to the bone again.”
“Oh come now. Squeezing, you say. Magician Agpiel. I am only making them do what they can.”
Cough. It really was true. If someone saw this, they would think I was a truly exploitative boss.
Not that it was wrong, either.
The people of this era…. Their work pace was far too leisurely. Time passed, months passed. Even when urgent matters happened, they would eat calmly, and when the sun started to set, they would casually head to a tavern, stop working, drink, and chat.
Of course, I knew well that the pre-modern pace of work was slow because it was an agriculture-centered society, but was this not a bit too much?
Then when, exactly, were they planning to finish the work?
As someone who had lived in the modern era, I could not tolerate it.
“Oh, is that so? Then why does it feel like I, Treasurer Palmer, and Chamberlain Hamil are working day and night without rest?”
“C, cough. Isn’t it because you are capable, so you are entrusted with so much work?”
At Magician Agpiel’s flat remark, I cleared my throat.
Now that I thought about it, it did seem like I had been working him too hard lately. Before he could even recover from the long journey, I kept sending him here and there outside.
“…I really like that shamelessness of yours. If you are a ruler, you surely need that kind of shamelessness, yes. Right….”
Of course, Magician Agpiel was simply dumbfounded at my behavior.
“Well, it’s my fault for following along. My fault.”
“Cough, I’m sorry, Magician Agpiel. From now on, I will be careful so you can get some rest.”
“As if. Don’t bother expecting that. Just help me with the problem right now.”
Magician Agpiel snorted in reply to my words.
“A problem?”
“Yes. I’m meeting the relevant lords to apply it to the four-course rotation method as you asked, but they won’t listen.”
“Ah…. That problem!”
“The lords’ noses are so high. Everyone only cares about the money for building canals, but when we actually try to do it, they get offended.”
“Mm….”
I could picture what had happened in my head.
It seemed they took the reworking of the four-course rotation method and the interference regarding irrigation canals and farmland development as meddling.
In other words, give us the method and the money, and that’s it. They would handle the rest themselves, that kind of thing.
“It seems things aren’t progressing properly. Magician Agpiel.”
“What is there to say? Instead of helping, those bastards are interfering. They keep sending managers and saying this isn’t right, that isn’t right. Dealing with those bastards is going to make my hair fall out.”
Damn. His hair was already thinning more and more, and if this kept up, he might go bald. I clicked my tongue after hearing it.
‘Well, from the lords’ perspective, it’s understandable they’d feel offended.’
In a way, it was an act of overreach.
Everything in a domain was supposed to proceed through the lord. But even if we were bound by a customs union, it would be unpleasant for my administrative officials, who were outsiders, to come over and demand this and that.
Of course, the idea was that we would provide subsidies and build the canals, but it seemed it still did not get through to them at all.
“I think we’ll have to use a different method. Magician Agpiel.”
“What good method could there be?”
“A good method?”
At Magician Agpiel’s question, I gave a small, amused smile.
“Magician Agpiel. If they think their rights are being infringed, then we just have to make them not think that way, don’t we?”
“???”
For a moment, Magician Agpiel’s face showed an expression like, what nonsense is this?
Well, what I said was, in a way, far too obvious.
If they think it is an infringement, make them think it is not—simple.
‘But this is the 핵심 of solving the problem.’
If it was not something pushed through unilaterally by one side, but something done together in a kind of consultative body that everyone belonged to?
And if, in that consultative body, they voiced their opinions and helped shape the body itself?
Everything depended on wording and framing. With an appropriate amount of political rhetoric and proper participation, they might still have complaints about what was decided, but they would not think it was infringing on their rights.
“Please call Chamberlain Hamil. And Treasurer Palmer as well. This time, I think we should create a consultative body under the customs union.”
“A consult…. body?”
“Yes. A consultative body. A consultative body where all members participate and discuss policy within a certain scope.”
Of course, this would in practice be a consultative body controlled by me. The participants would simply feel the illusion that they were participating equally.
‘Mm. The name of this consultative body can be the Agriculture Office.’
The Agriculture Office would decide agricultural policies for the entire sphere bound by the customs union.
And through this, I intended to prepare to exert strong influence over the customs union once again.