Chapter 14: 14

What should I do? As I was given my name by God, it’s dangerous for me to get too much attention. But if I pretend not to know, I am worried about the people in the empire.

What should I do? What should I do?

I hesitated for a while and opened my eyes. I opened my mouth with a bitter smile, “I don’t think you should adopt the donation policy.”

“Why?”

“If you give promotions in return for donation, it can lead to the knights’ overall power increasing and the lowering of their morale. It can also cause internal division by creating conflicts between those who receive the benefits and those who do not.”

“Hmm.”

“Of course, you can enjoy the small benefits of the donation policy in the short term, but over the long run, your original purpose will be warped and you can expect more issues than you face now. If you look at history, the small benefits led previous emperors to buy and sell knightships and status and caused great harm to the country later. That’s why I don’t think that you should not give promotions as a reward for donations.”

The emperor nodded as if he agreed with me, which confused me. Wasn’t he persuaded by now? He must have understood my opposition, but I could not stop there.

From the start, I decided to open my mouth because of his additional tax proposal, not the donation policy.

“I also think you should not adopt the additional tax proposal.”

“Why is that?” The emperor asked, looking at me in interest.

Duke Veritas raised his head and looked at me, too.

“Your intention is great because you’re taxing the nobles to ease the burden on the ordinary people of the empire. But do you think only the nobles will be burdened with your new policy? ”

“What does that mean?”

“The taxes paid by the nobles come from the residents in their estates, right? As a result, the tax burden will go to them.”

“Do you know what you are talking about now? It means that the nobles would dare to disobey the emperor’s order and exploit their people. Do you know that?”

His cold blue eyes turned to me. I felt overwhelmed by his cold attitude. I was trembling as if he sentenced me to death, but I kept trying to look casual.

“I’m sorry, but that’s the fact.”

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“Huh.”

“Do you really think there will be no resistance from the nobles? Do you think there are no nobles who won’t exploit their own people at the risk of their reduced wealth?”

“The imperial law strictly regulates the rate at which nobles can collect from their people living in their estates. Who can dare to ignore it and increase their tax burden? ”

Of course, they wouldn’t if there had not been a massive famine. No noble could have exploited their people without being caught by His Majesty, who had strictly enforced the imperial law for more than two decades. However, the problem was that the lower nobles, whose crop yield was greatly reduced due to the famine, had exploited their people to pay higher taxes. Had it not been a famine, there would have been no reason for them to abuse the higher tax system to exploit their people.

“The empire will have a massive famine in about thirty or forty years.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I hear that when the annual crop yield fell less than the average yields over the years, that’s a sign of upcoming famine.”

“Wait a minute. If that’s the case…” Duke Verita suddenly interrupted as if he forgot it was disloyal to cut off the emperor.

“Does it indicate…”

“Yes, exactly. I think there will be a massive famine in the next few years. ”

“Right! That’s why you think the additional tax rate at this point is dangerous,” Duke Verita said, smacking his knees.

“Yes, Your Majesty. Though I didn’t notice it, given the past track records, we will experience a massive famine in a few years like she said. You can’t impose the additional tax in this situation.”

“However, reinforcing military power is also a must. But our budget is so tight now. What should I do?”

I sighed while looking at the emperor in distress. I felt I should speak out about everything as I already began to talk about the problem. I apologized in my heart to Duke Verita, who had gained fame for inventing the new tax policy. I was very sorry, but I couldn’t help it to solve the current situation. I opened my mouth finally, “There is one solution.”

“What is it?”

“You can charge a luxury tax.”

“A luxury tax?”

“There are many luxury goods used by nobles that are not essential to their lives. You can levy a tax on their purchase of luxuries.”

“I think there will be a strong resistance.

“You can pay taxes on the luxury goods. Namely, you can have the sellers sell the luxury goods at a price that includes luxury tax then collect the tax from the merchants. ”

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“Right.”

Duke Verita, who nodded greatly, also said, “That’s a good solution, Your Majesty. When nobles buy luxury goods, they don’t usually care much about the price. Besides, the more expensive the luxury items, the more they are proud of them. If you charge taxes on luxury goods like she said, you can increase the revenue without any backlash. ”

“Good. Enforce it then.” After ordering them with a subdued voice, the emperor turned to me. “I’ve heard a lot that you are smart, but now that I’ve confirmed it, you’re much smarter than I think. You are the blessing of the empire!”

“I’m flattered, Your Majesty. ”

“I would have been very happy, but…”

I heard a long sigh. His Majesty, who was silent for a moment, said, “Oh, don’t think I didn’t notice it, but why didn’t you say full name? ”

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I’d like to introduce myself even now. Aristia Pionia La Monique is honored to greet the Sun of Empire, Your Majesty. ”

“You know that’s not what I mean, right?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

I felt creepy when he stared at me with his cold eyes. Obviously, it was not the type of warm look he was giving to his future daughter-in-law. His blue eyes that looked so much like his son in my memory…

“As you know the ‘meaning’ of that name in your full name, you didn’t say your full name, conscious of that, right?”

“I still don’t understand what you’re talking about, Your Majesty.”

“What you are saying, the girl is not sure.”

“You are smart enough to foresee a massive famine that no one expected and propose an excellent tax proposal. Then, are you going to insist you still don’t know that your middle name that you received from God actually means the succession right of the throne?”

He stared at me with the eyes of the ’emperor’ looking at his enemy or his political rivals.

“Your Majesty!”

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“Do not interrupt me. I asked her,” the emperor, with his eyes fixed on me, spoke coldly.

I looked back at the two dukes and my father who were silent, and opened my mouth as calmly as possible.

“Do you think I’m a threat to the crown prince?”

“As the proverb says, you can sound water ten fathoms deep, but you cannot sound the human heart a single fathom. How can I know your intention?”

“Do you really think so?” I smiled at him who was staring at me intently.

“I have one thing to check with you before you go further.”

“Please go ahead.”

“You must have sensed that I was testing you now, but why did you pretend you didn’t know?”

“That’s because… ”

“Of course, you have somebody that you can rely on, but I think you couldn’t pretend not to know for your own safety even if you can prevent the people from being impoverished. That’s why you took my test, right?”

“… Yes, that’s right.”

Only

With a calm expression, the emperor said with a hearty laugh, “I didn’t even think from the beginning that you would be a threat to the crown prince.”

“… ”

“You are not guaranteed the throne simply because you have the succession right. As your middle name was given by God, it’s very special, but I’ve not raised my child foolishly enough to feel threatened by that.”

“Your Majesty!” Duke Lars shouted very bitterly.

“I have not allowed you to talk yet, duke.”

He rebuked Duke Lars then turned to me again.

“But the reason I tested you was because I wanted to find out if you are dangerous enough and how to remove it in that case, but I don’t think you are cut out to be the emperor.”

“… ”

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