“Second, establish the ‘Rural Magistrate System.’ We will select literate commoner youths with arithmetic skills, train them centrally, and dispatch them to various regions. They will be responsible for promoting agricultural technology and tracking yields. They will be your eyes and limbs deep within the grassroots.”
“Third, moderately implement land reform. We will encourage displaced people to reclaim wasteland, and the United Bank will provide low-interest loans to bankrupt farmers to curb land consolidation. This will tie the farmers firmly to the Royal Family’s chariot.”
“A fine plan for ‘Royal Power reaching the countryside’!” The King did not offer praise; instead, he pointed out the most critical flaw with piercing accuracy.
“What will your magistrates use to fight the local nobles? Those fools with their swords won’t just stand by and watch royal spies meddle in their territories! How do you ensure they aren’t bribed or sidelined by the local nobility?”
This was the first test.
Bernard was prepared and answered without hesitation: “Your Majesty, the magistrates’ salaries will be paid directly by the central treasury, completely decoupled from local tax revenue. Their path to promotion will also be held solely in your hands. Their loyalty will be offered to you, not to the local lords.”
The King’s fingers tapped gently on the armrest, creating a steady thud, thud sound.
“The power of those stubborn Sword-Bearing Nobles stems from their control over their fiefs. Your ‘Rural Magistrate’ is equivalent to placing a royal nail in each of their manors. They will go mad.”
“Which is why we need the second item: industrial modernization.”
Bernard presented his countermeasure with poise: “Establish the ‘Royal Bureau of Mines and Manufacturing’ to keep strategic lifelines like mining and metallurgy firmly in the hands of the Royal Family. Simultaneously, we will promulgate the ‘Factory Incentive Regulations,’ using honor, money, and even noble titles to buy off the Robe Nobility and wealthy merchants, driving them to invest frantically in industry.”
“We must create a brand-new, pro-royal vested interest group. When those Sword-Bearing Nobles realize that the armor on their backs and the swords in their hands must be purchased by begging us, their anger will be nothing more than the rage of the incompetent.”
“Luring them with profit, dividing them, and then seizing them by the throat. A good method.” The King nodded and smiled. “Continue.”
“Third, financial modernization.” This was Bernard’s area of expertise, and his voice was resonant. “The core is to establish a unified and efficient brand-new financial system.”
“First is tax reform. Abolish the tax farming system. A new ‘Taxation Bureau’ under the Ministry of Finance will collect taxes uniformly. The original tax farmers will be converted into civil servants after an evaluation. We will simplify tax types and establish a concise system based mainly on land tax, customs duties, and stamp duty.”
“Second, implement a ‘Universal Property Tax.’ Regardless of who they are, anyone owning land and property must pay taxes proportionally, gradually breaking the nobles’ privilege of tax exemption.”
“Finally, establish a Central Bank. All future national debts will be issued publicly through the bank. We will use the credit of the entire Kingdom to fund Your Majesty’s reforms.”
“Central Bank…” The King chewed on the words, his gaze drifting toward an advertisement for the ‘United Bank’ in the Lucerne Daily on his desk.
He knew perfectly well that the Laval House was behind the United Bank. He knew even better why a Central Bank was necessary.
He cut to the heart of the matter: “A Central Bank and national debt are indeed good ideas. But how do I ensure that this dog I raise doesn’t turn around and bite me, its master?”
“Because the chain around its neck will always be in your hand,” Bernard answered without the slightest delay. “You will be the bank’s largest shareholder!”
The King fell silent.
After a moment, he continued his questioning: “Universal Property Tax… this one is the most lethal. The Crested Nobles have been tax-exempt for generations; it is written into the laws of our ancestors. My dear Minister, you are digging up their ancestral graves.”
Bernard looked back at him frankly. “Your Majesty, the Kingdom’s finances are half-dead, and this is the root of the disease. If we do not cut out this tumor, we will all die. We can start with a small percentage — boiling the frog in lukewarm water. Meanwhile, national debt can open new sources of revenue, allowing the people to taste the benefits first to win their support.”
The King gave a cold laugh. “They won’t submit quietly. However… I am not afraid of their backlash.”
This surge of powerful confidence made Bernard’s heart tremble.
The King was silent for a long time, as if simulating a bloody war in his mind, before he finally let out a breath. “And the last one?”
“Systemic modernization!” A hint of fervor ignited by his ideals entered Bernard’s voice.
“The goal is to use a professional Bureaucratic System that is loyal only to the Royal Family to completely replace the corrupt, inefficient feudal hereditary system!”
“I propose the ‘Civil Service Appointment Regulations.’ All government officials must be recruited through a unified examination based on merit. Your St. Nora Sigil Academy can be expanded into a university open to all commoners. We must cultivate a new generation of bureaucrats loyal only to Your Majesty, not to their families.”
“Give them a decent salary and establish an ‘Inspectorate.’ Anyone who dares to be corrupt will lose their head! This new class will become the sharpest sword in your hand, completely severing those tangled old forces!”
“Hooo…”
The King let out a long sigh and stood up, pacing slowly through the study.
“One thousand years of nobility, deeply entrenched. Using Selection by Examination to find talent is effectively a declaration of war against the entire noble class. My dear Minister, this is a change that will turn heaven and earth upside down.”
Bernard also stood up and said forcefully, “Is that not exactly what Your Majesty desires? To turn heaven and earth upside down?”
The air froze instantly.
The King stopped walking, turned around, and stared at Bernard for a long time. Suddenly, a joyous smile broke out on his face.
“My dear Minister, let us discuss your ‘Four Modernizations’ in more detail. I grant you the privilege of visiting me at any time.”
Visiting at any time!
One had to know that the King had not appeared before the nobility for many years, and most political affairs were handled by Princess Charlotte.
This privilege was a direct announcement that Bernard de Laval was now an absolute confidant of the King, standing on equal footing with the Borderlands Count.
This sudden, overwhelming favor caused even Bernard to feel a pang of trepidation.
“Come,” the King sat back down, exuding an excitement as if he were about to begin a slaughter.
“This reform must happen! Let us work together and figure out which fat frog we should use for the first strike!”
“I am quite eager to see how those croaking frogs are going to die.”
That day, the doors to the King’s study did not open again from dawn until dusk.
Bernard did not return home that night.
The next day, a fresh issue of the Lorraine Gazette, printed overnight, hit the stands.
The front page carried the official announcement of Viscount Bernard de Laval’s appointment as the Minister of Finance, which was expected by many.
However, the following editorial titled “Breaking Traditions, Seeking Truth, and Working Together to Create the Future” plunged everyone who could read into deep thought.
Written in the King’s voice, the article lamented the Kingdom’s long-standing problems and proposed a reform direction across four aspects: agriculture, industry, finance, and the bureaucratic system.
Most citizens only understood the surface.
They realized, in a vague way, that the new Minister of Finance intended to make a big move that might make their lives better.
For a time, from middle-class gatherings to street-corner taverns, everyone was discussing it: How would this reform change their lives? What kind of upheaval would the Kingdom face?
On the other hand, when the nobles who lived leisurely on their estates or talked grandly in salons saw the reform clauses aimed directly at their core privileges, the upper society of the Kingdom fell into a strange, deathly silence.
They were not incapable of understanding the content.
What they didn’t understand was: why now? What exactly did the King, who had ignored government affairs for more than ten years, intend to do?
As the nobles analyzed the articles one by one, a terrifying conclusion gradually surfaced: it seemed the ‘Mad King’ who loathed the nobility intended to pull the rug out from under the entire noble class!
For a time, people were in a state of panic.
A pre-existing fear of the ‘Mad King’ — who had stayed hidden for long years only to suddenly show his fangs — began to spread.
And fear often pushes people into the abyss of irrationality.
That same day, in the evening.
Friedrich von Stern, the Borderlands Count and Commander of the Capital Guard Corps, was urgently summoned by the King.
Over the next few days, officers in the Capital’s defense system were replaced one after another.
Many officers from Sword-Bearing Noble backgrounds were transferred to the distant border to defend against the Empire, under the pretext of strengthening border defenses.
These seemingly normal military movements gave those with keen senses a whiff of thick, bloody intent.
The political whirlpool of the Kingdom, at a moment no one had predicted, began to slide rapidly toward an unknowable abyss.
This appeared to be just a small ripple in the long river of history; however, a monstrous wave capable of overturning the old order was silently gathering strength beneath everyone’s feet.
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