Viking: Master of the Icy Sea

Chapter 230: The Code of Law and Silver Coins

February 859.

Wigg issued a Royal Edict announcing the convening of the Witenagemot. He invited the upper echelons of the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Welsh, and Picts to gather in Londinium to discuss the compilation of a kingdom-wide code of law.

This kingdom code was an expanded version of the previous Teyne Code, comprising civil law, commercial law, and noble law.

The venue chosen was the old Royal Palace. Although most of the wooden structures had been burned to the ground, the main hall built of stone and brick remained largely intact, making it suitable to accommodate the over two hundred attendees.

Because their languages, customs, and attire were vastly different, the attendees tended to sit with their own people. The front left was occupied by Viking Nobles, while the right side of the red-carpeted middle aisle belonged to the Anglo-Saxons. The back rows seated the Welsh, Picts, and Gaels, along with a small number of Irishmen. (Having received the invitation, the royal court of Dyfflin dispatched five low-ranking knights to attend simply as a perfunctory gesture.)

After a wait of about ten minutes, Wigg entered the great hall surrounded by his guards. He stepped onto the red carpet and ascended the stairs. He was still wearing the black, gold-embroidered robe that served as his everyday attire.

For a very long time, three chairs had been placed on those steps: the center for Ragnar, and the left and right for his two Queens. Unfortunately, those three jewel-encrusted Gilded Chairs had been hacked to pieces by the Populace and taken home as collectibles. Wigg could only find a remarkably ordinary chair to make do.

Taking his seat, Wigg looked at the absent-minded attendees. Knowing they had no patience for pleasantries, he cut straight to the point.

"For many years, Britain has been divided into numerous kingdoms, and customs have varied wildly from region to region. I have summoned you all here today to establish a fair and effective code of law to resolve disputes."

In the past, Ragnar had never promulgated a unified legal code. This led the local Gentry and merchants to frequently bring their grievances directly to him, severely draining his energy. For instance, if a certain gentleman's sheep grazed on someone else's wheat and was subsequently killed by the wronged farmer, it could ultimately trigger a bloody conflict between two families.Wigg feared being bogged down by the same endless entanglements. Therefore, he drafted this code to offload such chaotic, trivial matters to the Minister of Justice and the judges of each county. Only if a conflict became truly severe would he personally intervene.

Looking at the hesitant crowd, he introduced the basic principles of the kingdom's new code. He also promised to abolish a series of chaotic policies enacted during the late rule of the Royal Family. This included reducing the Agricultural tax in the directly administered territories, bringing it down from twenty-five percent back to the historical fifteen percent. Taxes on certain goods would similarly be lowered. However, one seemingly absurd system was to be retained.

A few years ago, to hoard wealth, Aslaug had established a new noble title: "Sir." It was held for life but could not be inherited.

Wigg continued this system, declaring that Commoners who made "certain contributions" to the Royal Family could be granted the title of Sir. While it could not be passed down, the holder would legally belong to the Nobles and earn the right to send one child to the Royal Court Academy.

His original intention in keeping the title was not merely to make money, but rather to protect the merchant class and alleviate the exploitation they faced from local Nobles.

In Wigg's memories, after the eleventh century, Western Europe had seen many measures implemented to protect commerce, such as issuing charters to cities that granted them numerous privileges. Some regions even developed a principle: if a serf escaped to a city and resided there for a specific period (usually a year and a day) without being recaptured by their original Lord, the serf would gain their personal freedom.

Through long-term observation, he had reached a conclusion: the merchant class excelled at creating wealth and could provide substantial taxes, but their own combat prowess was lacking. Commercial cities often had to rely on mercenaries for security.

Fief-holding Nobles practiced martial arts and horsemanship from a young age, enabling them to provide high-quality cavalry. Their drawback, however, was that they submitted far too little in taxes.

The two major groups—Nobles and merchants—each had their strengths and weaknesses, while the church and temples also played unique roles. From this perspective, a King should maintain a balance among these three factions.

Having publicly articulated his philosophy, Wigg left the venue. He would not participate in the specific work of compiling the legal code; that responsibility fell to the Cabinet and the Witenagemot.

With over an hour left before lunch, he headed to the Royal Mint in the western part of the city. A few days ago, silver ingots from the Cornwall silver mines had been stored in the treasury, and they were already beginning to mint silver coins.

The outer perimeter of the Royal Mint featured a Stone Wall and was heavily guarded. From time to time, guards could be seen patrolling back and forth with hounds. Led by the supervisor, Wigg entered the workshop to observe the entire production process of the silver coins. First, the silver ingots were hammered into thin sheets and sheared into small, circular silver discs. These were then weighed. Discs that were too heavy were trimmed, while those that were too light were sent back to the furnace.

(In the ninth century, the denier silver coins of the Carolingian Dynasty weighed approximately 1.7 grams, while the silver coins of the various kingdoms in Britain typically weighed 1.46 grams.)

Following this, workers would heat the silver discs to soften them and make them malleable. They were immediately placed into molds, and a hammer was used to strike the top of the upper die forcefully. The impact caused the silver disc to deform between the upper and lower dies, stamping the patterns of both dies onto the front and back of the coin. The obverse of the silver coin bore the dragon crest of the Tynemouth Family, while the reverse featured the outline of the Kingdom of Britain.

Once the stamping was complete, workers used files to scrape away the burrs on the edges of the coins, producing a qualified finished product that was then transported to the national treasury.

Witnessing the entire production process, Wigg offered no opinions. He had entertained thoughts of implementing a gold standard in his heart, but there was simply too little gold circulating in the market. He had to make do with Silver.

'Only when routes to the New World are opened and massive amounts of precious gold and silver are acquired from Central America will a gold standard become feasible.'

Setting aside this notion, Wigg sought out the supervisor to inquire about the silver coin production over the past few years. On average, they acquired about 600 kilograms of silver ingots annually, producing 1,700 pounds worth of Silver Pennies.

'Far too little,' he muttered in his heart.

Agricultural technology had improved dramatically, and numerous agricultural products were flowing into the market. The problem lay in the lack of sufficient currency circulating in the market, which hindered further economic development.

Wigg weighed the options repeatedly. The only effective method at present was to increase mining output and produce more silver coins to inject into the market. As for issuing paper money or using copper coins, both had severe drawbacks and were not suitable for implementation.

Leaving the Royal Mint, Wigg tracked down the Spymaster, Gwen, and ordered him to secretly investigate the silver mines.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister has already sent people to investigate. Should my agents conduct an independent investigation, or should they assist the Administrators in their work?"

"Investigate independently. One in the light, one in the dark. Focus your attention on the silver mines in Nottingham."

Hearing the instructions, Gwen bowed and took his leave. Ten minutes later, he arrived at a courtyard with an entirely unremarkable exterior. Nominally, he and his subordinates were attached to the security bureau of Londinium County, but in reality, they answered only to the King. They drew their wages from the royal privy purse rather than the national treasury controlled by the Prime Minister.

Currently, the intelligence system was divided into three departments: the Investigation Division, the Analysis Division, and the Logistics Division.

The Investigation Division boasted the highest number of agents. They were responsible for gathering intelligence from all over and handing their findings over to the Analysis Division.

The agents in the Analysis Division were tasked with filtering out useful information and reporting it to the King on a regular basis.

The Logistics Division had the most leisurely workload, responsible for training agents and handling various chaotic, miscellaneous chores.