Translator: Cinder Translations
...
Eileen actually had some resistance to suppressing the rebellion. If she had been informed about the meeting that night, she would have definitely urged Paul to first try persuasion and negotiation. In this regard, Hansel and Cecil's concerns were valid.
But what really upset her was the attitude of the men toward her. As a high-ranking member of the Administrative Council, she had once again been excluded from the decision-making process during the quelling of the rebellion. She didn't know anything about it from beginning to end. It wasn't until after the rebellion was suppressed that Chief of Staff Schroeder read the army's report at a meeting. Eileen was bewildered as she learned about what had happened, and during the entire meeting, she kept silent, filled with resentment until the end.
Eileen felt that she was now just a decorative vase in the Administrative Council. The men would admire her when they had free time, but when urgent matters arose, they would immediately toss her aside, out of sight and mind.
Paul helplessly explained, "Oh... my dear Director of Education, you know that traditional power is strong. Even as a lord, I can't change things instantly."
He put on a very innocent expression. In fact, he hadn't even thought of calling Betty to the meeting that night.
In this regard, Eileen understood Paul. Being able to withstand the pressure from other men and allow a woman to oversee the education sector made this lord a rare enlightened figure—of course, that was also because no one but the lord cared about education.
When his father, the king, had let his sister share governance responsibilities, the resistance from the courtiers had been enormous as well.
"Hmph! Sooner or later, I'll make Abbott and the others shut up."
Paul cheered her on, "I wish you all the best!"
"So, Lord, how do you plan to deal with the rebellious civilians?"
"Oh, this isn't a small matter. It involves too many people, so it's obviously not appropriate for me to decide everything with just one word, as I have in the past. So, I've decided to select five excellent sheriffs from Alden and Byerldine to serve as judges. They will form a lord's court to jointly try this matter. Cecil and Ross Hayden will be responsible for investigating everyone's actions during the rebellion, and then submit the findings to the judges for review. The judges will then determine reasonable punishments based on the severity of the crimes."
This was acceptable to Eileen. She was most worried that Paul would sentence all the participants to death with just one word. Among the local lords who held both military and political power, this scenario was all too common.
"I also plan to make the Lord's Court a permanent institution to handle various cases within the territory."
"Aren't the local sheriffs enough for that?"
"Concentrating both law enforcement and judicial power in the hands of one person is too unreasonable. In the future, sheriffs—or rather, the police—will only have the authority to arrest but not to convict. All cases must be submitted to the court, and only after a formal conviction by the judges can further punishment be meted out. I think this will help prevent abuses of power to some extent."
After hearing Paul's explanation, Eileen nodded. "That's a good improvement."
Although the plan sounded good, Paul was troubled by how to centralize this power in the Lord's Court. In remote rural areas, private courts and punishments by landlords and local gentry were common. When locals had disputes, they often sought out well-known local figures to resolve them, rather than the lord.
However, Paul didn't have a strong enough organization at hand to immediately control the countryside, so change would have to come slowly.
...
The rebellion, which Paul named the "4/15 Incident," had a significant impact on him. Not only did he plan to build a telegraph system, but he also strengthened the construction of the Internal Guard and Public Security departments.
As early as last year, the Administrative Council had established a Public Security Department, led by Ross Hayden, who came from the Internal Guard. But due to financial constraints, Ross had been operating alone. Now, the Administrative Council planned to make this department fully functional.
Alden Town intended to establish a police force of 2,000 people over the next five years, replacing the old sheriff system to maintain order in various towns and eventually extend their power to the countryside.
As for the Internal Guard, which was originally formed to protect offices and senior officials, it was small in scale. Now, Paul intended to develop it into a force similar to the armed police from his past life, becoming an important part of public security. Expanding its size was inevitable.
Another urgent issue was the livelihood of the coastal salt workers.
Unlike emerging industries like ceramics, canning, or papermaking, the emergence of salt fields had severely impacted the traditional salt-making industry. If no measures were taken, it could become the root of a new wave of unrest.
Therefore, the Administrative Council proposed two solutions:
Divert young and strong laborers among the salt workers into emerging industries. Establish state-run salt fields and hire salt workers to work there.
However, due to the recent wars and a series of new measures, the Administrative Council didn't have much spare money to establish salt fields. So, at Paul's suggestion, the Administrative Council would only provide technical guidance, while the salt workers themselves would build the salt fields. These would be called "collective salt fields," with every household having shares. To ensure fairness, the collective salt fields would be managed by someone appointed by the Administrative Council, and the profits would be distributed to the salt workers according to their shares.
...
The interrogation of those involved in the rebellion proceeded in an intense but orderly manner. Considering that many of them were the main breadwinners of their families and had acted irrationally only because Biden had forced them into a corner, most were reprimanded and then released, though burdened with fines they might never be able to fully pay.
The Lord's Court eventually identified 50 people who could not be lightly sentenced. These individuals had either committed robbery or murder, or had incited and led the rebellion.
"My Lord, this is the preliminary list of punishments. Of the 50 people, only one named Biso is missing; the rest are in custody."
Thomas, the newly appointed chief judge of the Lord's Court, presented the verdict to Paul.
"Someone escaped?"
"Yes, this Biso is very suspicious. According to the salt workers, he was usually idle and irresponsible, but during the rebellion, he incited them to fight against the lord's army to the end. After the battle, he disappeared. We suspect there may be something unusual about him."
"Hmm, let Cecil handle the investigation. I see some of the people on this list are quite young, not even 16 years old. Isn't it a bit too harsh to sentence them to death or decades of hard labor?"
Thomas said, "You are the lord; you can decide their fate as you see fit."
Paul pondered, "Let me think about these people a little longer."
(End of the Chapter)
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