Chapter 74

The political ideal sought in the village chief’s governance, the bailiff’s rule over 1,000 to 2,000 people, the knight’s governance of a large domain, and the baron’s pursuit of an independent power structure is entirely different.

The village chief achieves the title of ‘best’ just by being a big brother who mingles with the villagers and leads by example.

The bailiff is required to take on an authoritative teacher-like role, mediating disputes between villages.

When village chiefs argue over trivial benefits, the bailiff must sometimes pacify them with gentle words and at other times scold them to bring about reconciliation.

At the same time, he must deliberate whether to discipline those who violate minor rules or send them to their superior, the knight with the large domain, for appropriate punishment.

He must also inspire the ‘serfs,’ who are like students, to carry out the directives of the grand lord with a demeanor akin to that of a headmaster.

The measure of their competence lies in their ability to reconcile disputants and isolate problem-makers.

For knights with large domains, their role involves managing the bailiffs who represent the interests of the hundreds or thousands of people in their jurisdiction.

Sometimes they must grant more favors than anticipated to gain the trust of the domain’s people, and at times they have to execute their subordinates without mercy to establish order.

As administrators, their role is merely to judge the fools who live off other people’s money while not interfering with those making money.

Their role encompasses being a fair ‘judge and administrator who also acts as a prosecutor and defense attorney.’

Barons perform the role of knights on a scale 5 to 10 times larger, but they are obliged to propose the most important direction for ‘citizens to move forward’ as politicians.

When one becomes a baron, one must consider how to defend, gather soldiers, and ensure that the numerous nobles and citizens in their domain live more prosperous lives.

Moreover, when the domain is in crisis, they may sometimes have to take full responsibility and go to war to protect it.

They also have the duty to wield final authority over all officials above village chiefs, placing them according to their status, rank, ability, and age.

They are required to act as “mayors” with strong self-governing powers in our nation.

Lastly, counts perform the same functions as barons but are given two dramatically distinct roles.

One is the ‘ability to tolerate doubts’ and entrust the full powers of an enlarged territory to a capable subordinate.

Up to the baron level, one can grasp the most crucial personnel authority, military power, and financial power of all domains under the premise of being exceptionally competent.

This is because with just a little more effort, one can control the truly important budgets and personnel authority.

However, managing a territory of 2 million people, spanning approximately 200 kilometers in width and 190 kilometers in height, alone is impossible.

If the attempt is made, one would be buried in paperwork like Philip II, being unable to respond properly to documents stating that a rebellion has occurred.

At that time, surely, that gentleman had missed the period to deal with the rebellion while handling the monastery’s budget in a village with about 1,000 inhabitants.

Although he was an excellent king overall, it was excessive to miss the timing for suppressing the rebellion due to minor paperwork…

Therefore, to avoid failing as an ideal ruler, one must possess the ability to tolerate suspicions and delegate responsibilities, even if trust in subordinates is lacking.

Being unable to tolerate doubt and overworking like Philip II, or trusting too easily and delegating tasks like Seonjo during the Imjin War, would lead to failure.

It’s no wonder that there is a story of General Yi Sun-sin taking off his armor and committing suicide due to Seonjo.

The second role is possessing the discernment to conduct diplomatic negotiations as a completely independent nation.

In our country, one might think it is merely a governor’s role and wonder what sort of diplomatic confrontation is to be expected, but to nobles above the count level during this era, a nation felt like a club that could be abandoned at any moment.

In a similar context, in times of intense warfare, prisoners from Franche sometimes ended up fighting as soldiers for the Eraline Empire the day after their surrender.

Thus, nobles above the count level must have the judgment capability to take an independent diplomatic stance.

Today, I called my father to my office to lay the groundwork for showcasing my first capability as a count.

Just as I finished preparing the ‘promotion orders from major to lieutenant and above,’ my father barged in and asked.

“Well, how did the negotiations with His Highness the Duke go?”

Normally, he would knock and seek permission to enter during ‘official hours,’ but given the weighty matter concerning the fate of the domain, such trivialities were overlooked.

Seeing my father like that, I smiled brightly and replied.

“It was successful. I was able to forge an equal alliance without giving up even a piece of land among all the domains, including Nante, Helzman, and Croilet.”

Hearing that, my father beamed with joy, forgetting his composure, and shook my hand, saying.

“Is that true, Siel? How could you establish such an alliance without conceding even a fragment of land to His Highness the Duke? I can hardly understand it…”

As my father mentioned, in ordinary cases, even if our justification is clear, when usurping the lord’s domain, concessions are made in exchange for tacit approval.

Much like how Japan invaded our country, gradually gnawing at it while dividing various interests among the great powers like the United States, Britain, and Russia.

The Duke had sought the Crescent Baronage in similar contexts as his second demand.

So I flexed my swagger and replied.

“Isn’t our family wealthy? Using that gold, I persuaded Count Calle of Franche, Count Romelia of Eraline, and Count Amiens to declare a siege campaign. And then they retreated quietly.”

“You are my child, but you are indeed a bold one. How dare you threaten His Highness the Duke like that?”

“Well, he offered me his daughter for a marriage alliance and suggested that I visit him every year to discuss Eraline’s future.”

Hearing that, my father wore an expression of disbelief similar to when I first told him about the proposal from the Duke.

“On the surface, it seems like a top-notch treatment to send a princess to a mere count, but looking deeper, it’s essentially a scheme to gradually make our family a vassal of their house, isn’t it? Such a proposal may entice a cowardly count, but to someone like us, who has risen to compete over regional hegemony, how could we accept that…”

“Isn’t this crossing the line?”

“But they did offer the Duke’s daughter, regardless. It’s fortunate that we declined the offer. Let’s just consider it an unreasonable request. Besides, we have declared ourselves strong enough to be proposed an alliance by His Highness the Duke himself, even after rejecting the princess.”

As my father’s perspective shared, depending on how one interprets it, we have presented ourselves as a powerful noble who was proposed an alliance even after rejecting His Highness’ marriage alliance.

Regardless of the intent, merely receiving the proposal has yielded ample benefits.

So I smiled and answered.

“Indeed, you are my father. I didn’t expect such depth in your thoughts.”

“No, if it were me, Siel, I couldn’t have established an alliance with His Highness the Duke without conceding even a piece of land in this situation. By the way, what do you intend to do about the rewards for meritorious service?”

Hearing that, I handed my father the scroll I had prepared regarding the distribution of rewards.

A moment later, my father took it, read it, and then spoke with a serious expression.

“I can understand granting the Baronage of Haiber and ten surrounding villages to Frost and the Circleland Baronage to Balt. And while the distribution of the remaining domains is also late, it remains reasonable. But…”

“Yes, father?”

“Why are there six baronies in Nante alone, owned by a single baron—a lord of the barony?”

“Because I plan to revive the quasi-baron titles established by the Elaline Emperor and appoint a competent inspector from Croilet or Nante to govern those baronies. For the direct territories, instead of granting them the right to collect taxes as income, I will provide them with ‘generous salaries’ and prohibit the inheritance of positions. In other words, their descendants might hold ‘quasi-baron’ titles, but they will not be able to govern as ‘quasi-baron’ on our behalf.”

With this, while inflation of titles may occur, one of my ultimate goals is to maintain titles while blocking hereditary powers.

Moreover, considering the overall social context of this era, even if my father was a genius and succeeded as a baron, preventing his foolish son from taking over the barony would indeed signify monumental progress.

If one looks at just high school Korean history, one of the admirable points about Joseon compared to Goryeo was the abolition of noble title inheritance through ‘eumsŏ’.

Upon hearing that, my father pondered for a while before saying,

“I can understand that when the quasi-baron title was established, it was regulated that only the title could be inherited and not the positions such as ‘general’ or ‘mayor’ held by that person. However, those individuals are still nobles and have the right to pass on the rewards of their dedication to their descendants; how can we ensure that won’t happen?”

“In that case, I will grant a pension equivalent to the salary of a quasi-baron to the eldest son of anyone who has served as a quasi-baron for over 10 years and retires, or one who has successfully fulfilled their duties as a quasi-baron and passes away.”

“Given that titles are inheritable only by the eldest son, and since it’s a temporary title slightly above that of a knight, that should be sufficient. Now, where will you take residence? Where you stay will likely become the capital.”

Upon hearing that, I smiled and declared to my father.

“According to the agreement made with His Highness the Duke, I plan to complete only the minimal organization and head straight to Blueport to govern the Croilet County. You must go to Helzman County, and in Nante, I plan to position Frost at the top among the barons and have Balt assist him. For the lack of administrative personnel, I intend to recruit ‘administrative officers who graduated from commoner-rooted administrative academies.'”

“Will many come to such an unstable count’s county after graduation from the administrative academy? Anyone graduating from there would likely prefer to work in the Medici or Cosimo trading houses…”

“In our domain, there are Lieutenant Mark and Lieutenant Short, who are treated as quasi-nobles from serf backgrounds. The illegitimate son of Baron Frost has already secured both the domain and the noble title through his own merits.”

Hearing that, my father nodded.

“Moreover, I recognized Kris Belladora’s abilities in gathering these commoners and have acknowledged her as a quasi-noble. With her capabilities, I am confident she can certainly rise to be more than just a quasi-noble and perhaps even achieve knighthood. Anyone who has seen that will not pass up the opportunity of climbing the ‘noble’ ladder.”

So I find it necessary to place a woman who could slightly undermine ‘my position’ next to me, as well.

Why is it that when one observes someone less capable than oneself succeeding, it sparks thoughts of ‘If they can do it, why can’t I?’—essentially a motivation for competition?

Especially in this era, where the ‘woman’ cannot aspire to be a bureaucrat, witnessing an acknowledgment of her talents will surely cause those proud administrative academy types to rush in thinking, ‘If I come here, I can achieve at least that much.’

This situation is referred to as ‘seonjongweisi’, isn’t it?

Just like the tale of a brilliant Ming general who appointed seemingly useless ministers to truly aid the king.

Upon hearing that, my father smiled and said.

“The girl named Kris seems to be all set up to be married, but no, I’ve heard that you, Siel, are now with her; she might become your concubine when she earns her knightly title after overcoming all the restrictions of being a woman. I have one wife already, and my child has only a wife and two concubines… it feels disappointing as a father.”

“That’s nonsense, father.”

Coldly, I pointed out just how cruel I had been to Kris…

The person who executes a beheading with a ‘blunt axe’ that executioners hesitate to use, used on someone killing for the first time, merely offering protection enough to avoid death while casually throwing her among men.

In between, I had repeatedly said, ‘I believe in your capabilities, so don’t worry about being a woman and endure with courage…’

That girl would not wish to become my concubine.

“And why are you going to Blueport? That town, while a trade hub, is not suitable for governance or development by a ‘landlord’ like me, unlike Nante or Helzman or Croilet.”

Smiling, I replied to that.

“I plan to develop my Croilet Count territory as such. The prosperous and technologically advanced capital Nante, the trading city Croilet, the flourishing southern fortress Helzman, and… ‘The victor of northern trade, Blueport.'”

Then, I handed over all the paperwork I needed to transfer to my father, containing all the titles of authority and rights, and set off toward Blueport with Ella, Kris, and the battalion of Frost.

To transform the Count of Nante within one year into a superpower capable of maintaining a standing army of over 100,000 when necessary.