Chapter 63: The Kingdom's Policies
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Although he had some ideas and plans, Fei didn't immediately change the structure of the military and the kingdom's policies. He'd only been here for three days, so there were too many things that he didn't know about. If he tried to rush everything, it could potentially create more problems and take longer to implement the changes.
Fei was planning to use these couple days to get to know more about the kingdom.
The meeting continued. It wasn't as serious and majestic as the meetings with kings and emperors in TV series and movies on Earth. It was quite the opposite; the atmosphere in the Executive Hall was very lively. In the area under the throne was an artificial thin flowing river going through the hall. There were even a few pretty goldfish swimming in it. On both sides, there were two rows of neatly placed stone chairs. Soft leather covered the chairs so the participants of the meeting could voice their opinions comfortably. Everyone had equal power and opportunity; they could stand up and state their opinions without the king's consent, and they would even get into heated arguments if they had conflicting opinions.
A subtle and infant feeling of democracy and liberty quietly diffused into the hall.
This was the first meeting that Fei hosted as a king after his "recovery" into a normal person, so everyone with status had the chance to participate. On the side of the military, except for the general Brook, the twenty-two strongmen including Pierce and Drogba had formal seats. These "leaders" of Chambord said whatever came to their minds regarding the structure of the kingdom. Some gave very constructive ideas, while others came prepared and gave Fei their opinions written on paper made from white cloths and animal skins, especially the couple of white haired, highly respected and reputable elders at Chambord. Like magic, they took out huge stacks of paper with huge essays explaining their opinions and recommendations written on it. Fei felt his head getting dizzy just by looking at the size of the stacks.
There were floods of opinions and recommendations, some explaining the abuse of power of the former Head Minister Bazzer and others showing their disappointment in the previous Alexander's IQ. Chambord had numerous tedious affairs for the king to deal with. Fei felt buried in all the paperwork. Seeing the mountain of documents in front of him and the pages of recommendations his secretary was recording down on the side, Fei felt his head starting to hurt. He rubbed his eyes and shook his head painfully.
Seeing Fei act in this manner, the strongmen laughed gloatingly. Even the old and handsome Bast had a meaningful smile on his face.
Fei was pissed, but an idea suddenly flashed in his mind. He said to his future father-in-law righteously, "Uncle Bast, I'm not even an adult yet and I don't have any experience. As an elder, you have to help me. Hehehe, how about this, can you separate and organize these paperwork and documents for me and make recommendations on each one? That way, it'll be easier for me to make decisions."
Bast was stunned after hearing Fei's words.
Maybe Fei hadn't even realized it, but all the duties he described were part of the job of the former Head Minister Bazzer. This request from Fei meant that he had given all the executive powers of the kingdom to Bast... That meant from today onwards, Bast would become the new Head Minister; this sudden appointment overwhelmed the old fox Bast.
He didn't even have enough time to react, and the other people in the hall didn't expect anything like this either.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the Executive Hall became silent. After three or four seconds of silence–
"Your Majesty, I must respectfully disagree!" Someone stood up.
"King Alexander, I disagree as well..." Another instantly chimed in.
"Yes... King Alexander, Bast is a dirty and shameless traitor. He's stolen more than half of royal property only half a month ago. Because of Angela, we let it slide, but his actions are still unforgivable. How could we let a man that lacks integrity and honor take on such an important role of Head Minister?"
"I agree! Young King Alexander, you can't be partial!"
"That's right… I feel the same way..."
Suddenly, a wave of disagreement exploded and the whole Executive Hall became chaotic. Fei didn't expect such a situation to arise. He glanced around quietly and was surprised to find that Brook and the strongmen who were sitting on the west side of the hall didn't say anything; rather, the ones who were the noisiest were a dozen of new faces. These dozen people appeared in front of him; most of them were dressed luxuriously with silk robes and diamond and crystal embedded silver crowns. They all seemed energetic and spoke passionately. They patted their chests and appeared great and dutiful.
"Who are they?" Fei turned his head and whispered to his personal guard Torres.
After the blonde boy heard that, he lowered his head and whispered back, "My King, the six men in the front of you wearing the silver crowns are the high nobles in the castle, and the five luxuriously dressed men are the wealthiest merchants in the kingdom. According to the customs of the kingdom, these people have important roles in the King's meetings; they can even influence the king's decisions."
"So it's like that." Fie nodded and vaguely understood what was going on.
Regardless of whether it was on Earth or in this world, there were always some well-spoken and seemingly loyal politicians who had tons of wealth taken from society and enjoyed the power to act above the law. They could take credit from the military, play around with their powers, form conspiracies and promote their "justice and honour". All of it was to satisfy their own selfish desires.
At this moment, the nobles and merchants in the Executive Hall were acting the same way.
This discovery made Fei sigh again, "So Alexander the King was living such a chaotic and wronged life. How could these fat and stupid profit driven merchants appear in the King's Executive Hall? The whole place is as noisy and chaotic as an open market...It looks like Chambord Kingdom is just like a small town on Earth and I'm just the town's mayor..." Fei realized that to build the ideal kingdom in his mind, there was still a long way to go.
"Quiet, stop arguing. You, tell me your name." Fei waved his hand and raised his voice to interrupt the heated argument. He pointed at the silver crowned man at the very front yelling the loudest and asked.
"Louis, Your Majesty. I'm Viscount Louis." The silver crowned man stepped up and lightly bowed with a standard noble's salute, and then answered proudly.
"Oh, Viscount... Louis?"
Fei felt that the entire name was hard to pronounce. To be honest, he had no idea how the Western Titling system worked, but that didn't affect his next question, "Mr. Viscount, if Uncle Bast isn't a good fit, who else do you think could perform this duty well?"
"King Alexander, to be clear, I'm not trying to be haughty, but I firmly believe that I am the best candidate..."
Louis tapped his chest again and said proudly, "I'm the most pure-blooded noble in Chambord. My father had the honour of being summoned by the Emperor of Zenit and meeting him in person. My family has a proud history and innumerable honours. I... Therefore, I'm the most proper candidate for the position of Head Minister."
Before he could finish, the other nobles and merchants stood up one by one and applauded as they voiced their agreement.
Brook and the strongmen on the other hand all showed disdain on their faces.
Fei shook his head as he didn't know whether to laugh or be angry. He knew exactly what this is – it was a battle for power and profit between the politicians. However, the few unqualified politicians in front of him were too stupid; their act was too lame and created the laughable scene. Fei looked at Louis who was still proudly announcing his noble honours disgustingly, then he suddenly said, " Alright Viscount…. eh… Louis. I only have one question for you. If your answer can satisfy me, then the position of Head Minister is yours."
Louis was stoked. He said confidently, "Your Majesty, please ask! I bet you that there isn't anyone out there that's better at executive duties than me."
"Sounds good. Now let me ask you this: when all the soldiers and citizens of Chambord were battling and bleeding for the kingdom, WHERE. WERE. YOU?"
Fei sat high up on his throne. He sneered as he said each word; he didn't even try to to hide his ridiculing expression.
"I..." Viscount Louis was stunned.
"Hahaha, when we were fighting and bleeding alongside the King, Mr. Viscount must have been hiding under a woman's crotch and shivering and whining. Hahaha..." Drogba was a straightforward man. After he listened to that much bullsh*t, he couldn't help but stand up and mock Louis and his followers. Brook and rest of the strongmen instantly burst in laughter.
"You... you bunch of dirty ruffians... Since when were you guys eligible to appear in the Executive Hall?" Viscount Louis's face suddenly turned red, and yelled as he explained himself, "Nobles have the right to be exempt from war recruitments... As the most pured-blooded noble in Chambord, of course I won't be like you bunch of lowly farmers, doing all the boring jobs of fighting and killing."
"Fighting and killing are boring?" Fei's face turned cold as he heard that. He said angrily, "Alright, that's it. Viscount Louis, I'm very dissatisfied with your response. Unfortunately, you won't be getting the position of Head Minister... Also, dear Viscount, be careful who you insult. These people you call ruffians are the heroes that defended Chambord. If I hear you disrespecting the heroes of Chambord again, you'll have the honour of being the first unlucky soul that has his noble title stripped away by me."
As he said that, his murderous intention was no longer able to be contained within his eyes.
Louis was stunned and didn't dare say a word.
Then, Fei turned around and said to his future father-in-law, "Uncle Bast, it looks like I have to trouble you with organizing the documents and paperwork for me. Hehe, this Viscount Louis just reminded me; I now formally declare that starting from today, you shall be appointed as the new Head Minister of Chambord."
By this point, Bast had completely calmed down from his initial shock. After hearing this formal appointment, the old handsome man didn't decline; he bowed gracefully to show his acceptance.
"Humph, Your Majesty, I disagree. You can't do this! This is clearly favouritism... Appointing a traitor as the Head Minister would destroy the entire Chambord Kingdom." Within the group of fat merchants who were sitting on the east side of the hall, one bearded fat merchant stood out bravely and challenged Fei's decision unconvincingly as he saw Viscount Louis' meaningful glance.
Fei was enraged.
If someone was a coward, then they should've just tucked in their balls and pretended to be dead. However, the men in front of Fei were pushing him to his limit. They acted as if they were righteous and dutiful. Fei hated these kinds of fake politicians; crappy memories about this from his life on Earth suddenly appeared in his mind. His didn't hold back at all as he slammed his palms onto the handles of the throne, stood up, pointed at the fatty's nose and swore in a rough manner, " Go f*ck yourself! I like favouritism; who do you think you are? What can you do about it? From now on, these kinds of embarrassing dumbasses shall never appear in my palace again... Where are the guards? Throw these unqualified fat pigs out of here!"
As soon as Fei finished, a dozen of armoured soldiers rushed in, took away the couple of fat merchants and threw them onto the streets.
Under the gasps and unbelievable expressions on everyone's faces, the six remaining nobles stared at each other in embarrassment and finally sat back down quietly in their seats.
Fei sat high up on the throne. He glanced around, and not a single noble dared to look him in the eyes.
The immense power of the nobles, the messed up power distribution and political system had strengthened Fei's determination in restructuring the kingdom's administrative system and the military. "Since I'm already the King of Chambord and my fate is closely tied with the people in front of me, I can't afford to not work hard. I have to change the current situation and guard and protect all the things that I treasure."
After he thought about it, Fei knew treating a deadly disease needed heavy medicine. He had to give the kingdom a heavy dose of medication to solve this problem.
He switched to Paladin Mode and a holy, bright and honorable sensation emanated from his body. He stood up in front of the throne and with a firm expression on his face, he said decisively, "As the King of Chambord, I declare that during these next ten days, I will be revolutionizing the power distribution, administrative systems and military. From today on, all the orders and procedures in the administrative system and military shall be abolished, and the whole kingdom shall enter a 10 day long post-war adjustment. During this time, all the administrative and executive tasks shall be taken care of by Bast, and military duties shall be taken care of by Brook. If any of you have good ideas for this reconstruction and revolution, talk to Bast and Brook about it and they will report it to me."
The magnificence of the king and the holiness of the paladin combined together at this moment. Fei's voice echoed around the palace. No one dared to refute him; everyone bowed and submitted to Fei's command. Even the nobles who felt reluctant sweated buckets and didn't dare to talk. Under this atmosphere, they even felt the illusion of everything being the way it should be.
This was the benefit of Paladin Mode; it could increase one's persuasion, influence and majesty and make opponents submit to one's commands. It was the most recent cheating method that Fei figured out.
After that resolution had been passed, the meeting afterwards went pretty smoothly.
As the meeting was finishing, Brook, one of the two new authorities of Chambord stood up and mentioned something else, "My King, there's something very important that I have to remind you about. In about half a year, the Military Exercise between all the affiliated kingdoms under Zenit Empire hosted every three years will begin. If we want to get a good rank, we have to start preparing now."
After Brook said that, everyone in the hall nodded and made sounds to agree with him. The atmosphere was getting heated again. Drogba stood up and yelled as he hammered his chest, "This time, we have to wreck our old rival Blackstone Kingdom and advance to a level 5 affiliated kingdom."
Fei was curious and asked, "Affiliated Kingdom's Military Exercise? Eh, what's that for?"
Regarding the fact that after King Alexander returned to normal, he had always forgotten a lot of basic and common sense information, everyone had gotten used to it. Brook explained patiently, "Your Majesty, the Military Exercise is a competition hosted by our parent Empire-Zenit to measure the strength of each kingdom, so all of Zenit's affiliated kingdoms must participate. If we perform well in this competition, we will have a chance to advance Chambord's position to a level 5 affiliated kingdom. This is a great opportunity for us."
"Advance to a level 5 affiliated kingdom? Are there any benefits?"
"Of course, your Majesty. Chambord is currently a level 6 affiliated kingdom of Zenit Empire, and ranked the lowest among all other kingdoms. Therefore, we are only able to receive a very limited amount of support from Zenit Empire. If we take this opportunity and advance to a level 5 affiliated kingdom, we wouldn't just receive more and better materials and financial support; we would also be allowed to increase the number of citizens and soldiers that Chambord has to get more land and territory. We could even possibly be rewarded with higher star ranked energy training scrolls. With all of that, the strength of Chambord would be improved significantly!"
This was the first time that Fei heard anything like this. He asked without thinking, "Are there currently limitations on the population size and military size of Chambord? Also, you mentioned land and energy training scrolls…How does that work?"
"Your Majesty, according to the Law of Zenit, a level 6 affiliated kingdom can only have less than 10,000 citizens, 500 soldiers, only one castle and less than 500 acres of land. Once a kingdom surpasses these restrictions, the excess property would be stripped away if given a light punishment, or the kingdom would be severely punished by the parent empire for breaking the law if given a harsh punishment. Also, level 6 affiliated kingdoms can only have two star ranked energy training scrolls and two star ranked energy technique scrolls. Trading and acquiring higher ranked energy and technique scrolls are strictly prohibited; the consequences of violating of this law would be even more severe." Brook continued, "Once we advance to a level 5 affiliated kingdom, Chambord will be able to acquire and retain double the resources it currently has now, and Chambord's strength will increase exponentially... In accordance with that, if we could advance to a level 4, level 3, level 2 or even level 1 affiliated kingdom, the restrictions would loosen up even more."
"What are these sh*tty laws? Doesn't Zenit Empire want its affiliated kingdoms to get better and stronger?" Fei couldn't instantly understand.
"There's an old saying on the Azeroth Continent– a dog that's too vicious can rip out its owner's throat. To the parent empires, they must make sure that their dictatorship won't be threatened by anyone else. So on the basis of not decreasing the overall strength and power of the empire, all the strength and power of their affiliated kingdoms must be strictly limited.