Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt - Chapter 147



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Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt Chapter 147

27-War Maniac

His premonition was right, for the King came forward and declared the introduction of a non-discriminatory financial tax. According to the interpretation of the law, the exemption privilege of the nobles was attached to the land they owned according to feudal custom?

However, capital is not land, and the object of their capital’s interest income is the king’s people, so it is only right that the nobility should also be subject to financial taxes, this was the king’s declaration.

Naturally, the aristocracy opposed it. However, their opposition was suppressed by the king’s firm stance.

“Now we must become His Majesty the King’s servants.”

“rattle?”

Samuel tilted his head at Arthur’s words.

“Because absolute monarchy might be re-established.”

Arthur’s words were well-founded. The blanket imposition of the financial tax meant that the church had accepted a loss, and this was a political expression of its intention to strengthen its solidarity with the crown.

It is still unknown why the church joined hands with the king and not with the nobles, but it was certain that the church had decided to support the king.

If the nobles had banded together and opposed it as one, the king would not have been able to push for the full introduction of a financial tax, but among the nobles, only the noble faction strongly opposed it, while the neutral faction did not oppose it and remained quiet.

Although they did not publicly declare their support, they did not express opposition either, so it was natural that their silence was interpreted as acceptance of the king’s decision.

Considering the popular assembly and the bourgeois capitalists who were enthusiastically supporting the royal family for the first time in destroying the vested interest of the aristocracy’s tax exemption, it seemed only a matter of time before the king’s influence was restored to its pre-war level.

“If that happens, we have to do our job well so that we don’t lose our right to issue currency.”

“Doing a good job… … That must be really difficult.”

Arthur’s prediction made Zarn laugh bitterly. He vividly remembered his days as a young apprentice merchant. It was very difficult to satisfy one’s superiors.

About a week after the declaration of the full introduction of the financial tax as Arthur had predicted, Zarran was summoned to a private meeting with King Lyfonidia Pablack, and then attended a regular meeting with Arthur and the others with a gloomy expression.

“I have come back from a private meeting with His Majesty the King.”

“You said you would take back the right to issue currency?”

At Arthur’s question, Jaran shook his head.

“No, that’s not true.”

“Then?”

“He told me to help build a prosperous country.”

“oh my…….”

As Arthur sighed, Samuel pointed out the point.

“Why are you saying that? Isn’t it a good thing if the country becomes wealthy?”

“What do you think the current king will do with his now wealthy country?”

“… … .”

Samuel’s mouth closed. It was only a few years ago that there was a war with the neighboring kingdom of Jatra.

“ha…….”

Jarani sighed. It felt ominous for some reason.

* * *

27-War Maniac

If you want peace, prepare for war. Arthur thought there was some truth to this saying.

The reason for this was that when preparations for war are well-made, there are people who start to think of other things. Just as power needs to be used when it accumulates, the better preparations for war are made, the more belligerent people who want to use it are bound to be.

Human history has proven it. It’s a paradox that everyone wants peace but still wages war. There is no more cost-effective way to secure peace than to kill potential enemies in advance.

Above all, in an era like today, war is like the fate of history. In particular, if a monarch who wants a rich and powerful country does that well, it inevitably leads to war.

King Raifonidia Pableck of the Kingdom of Skara, who had already started a war once, took advantage of the controversy over the financial tax issue to rally supporters and suppress the noble faction, successfully establishing the dignity of the king.

What is power?

Power is, in a phenomenological sense, something that everyone thinks they have some authority over. Whether the means is the succession of legitimacy or usurpation by force, if everyone recognizes it and follows orders, it can be said that they have power.

The church supported the king’s authority for some reason, the popular assembly supported the king in his precedent of taxing the nobles, and the neutrals accepted the king’s instructions with inexplicable silence. And the nobles had to bow to the king’s prestige aimed only at them.

However, they would not be suppressed forever, and the king seemed to have judged that crushing their subtle resistance was a means to reestablish absolute monarchy.

What is the secret resistance of the aristocracy that failed to stop the financial tax?

Perhaps the most representative method would be tax resistance, and the king was already aware of this.

The behavior of the nobles who avoided their duty to protect the country and their duties as subjects and citizens of the kingdom by cleverly using logic such as “the fortress is difficult” and “they have already invested their spare money in a place” in response to the king’s request to pay the defense fund is something that Ly Ponidia Pableck had personally experienced since the time of the previous king.

That was why he brought a bunch of these documents and handed them to Arthur.

“What is it?”

“Recently, there has been an increase in the number of people hastily exchanging Scalon for gold or silver coins. This is data for tracking them.”

Most of them were businessmen who aimed to do business overseas. The reason was that since scalons were not accepted overseas, they had to use gold or silver coins.

But Jaran saw it as tax evasion and concealment of assets. Arthur sighed at Jaran’s words and reviewed the documents. So… … Who would Jaran trust?

“Isn’t there anyone in the palace who does this kind of thing?”

“Who will collect taxes from the nobles?”

The existing tax collectors had no experience in collecting taxes from the nobles. If we were to choose the only person in the palace who had experience collecting taxes from the nobles, it would be His Majesty the King.

“His Majesty the King ordered it.”

Jarani nodded.

“Is there no help?”

“They said they would dispatch soldiers once they grasped the situation.”

“… …Collecting evidence, right? Not arresting, right?”

“Collecting evidence.”

“Does it seem like you, the grown-up one, have to step forward yourself?”

“I don’t know. What will happen?”

Jaran sighed deeply and reviewed the documents again. He had to identify suspects who were attempting to evade taxes and hide assets.

After selecting the suspicious individuals, it was necessary to gather more information, conduct a detailed investigation, and submit it to His Majesty the King for permission. This was because field investigations to gather evidence inevitably led to conflicts with the nobility and escalated into political issues.

If the nobleman under investigation was innocent, it was ultimately up to the king or a high-ranking noble with the king’s authority to appease his discontent or suppress the opposition of a nobleman with a clear charge.

While organizing his documents, Arthur discovered a name.

“There is a count named Hanbaya.”

“A count… … Are you suspicious?”

When Arthur nodded at Jaran’s words, Jaran rubbed his temples.

“What a headache.”

It would have been nice if it had been as bad as Baron Naburangi… … .

Arthur said when he saw her true intentions.

“The choice is His Majesty the King. We just have to do as we are told and do our best.”

Samuel asked with a worried expression.

“Would that be okay? What if I get targeted by the nobles for no reason?”

“Do you really think His Majesty the King will trust us completely? Are you sure there are no other sources of information?”

“hmm…….”

“It is not for us to judge. We are in a much worse position now than being disliked by the nobles.”

There was no other way to preserve the honey pot called the right to issue currency.

At Arthur’s words, Zarn nodded and began reading the documents again, and Samuel also began working on the documents. If the two did what the king instructed, Samuel would have no choice but to take over the work they were doing.

* * *

Time passed quickly. Jarani submitted the list he had compiled to His Majesty the King to confirm the names to be investigated, and he obtained information from the banks they transacted with to track the flow of funds.

While other banks were cooperating obediently, the Haibon Bank, which was mainly invested by the aristocracy, did not cooperate obediently, and the king deployed public power. To be precise, should we say that he had prepared troops in advance, expecting that they would not cooperate obediently?

“Hahaha! This is nice!”

An officer patted Arthur on the shoulder and smiled brightly. It was Lieutenant General Plavan, an officer who had been awarded a peerage title along with Arthur.

“Let’s get rid of those guys who are getting in our way first! Let’s go, guys!”

He laughed heartily and sent his men charging toward the entrance of the Haibon Bank. Their orderly formation and merciless beatings with clubs crushed the bank employees who had been blocking the investigators.

Arthur sighed deeply as he watched the scene from a distance. There were complicated reasons why he, a craftsman, was in this position. The first of these was Jaran’s request.

“There is no one I can trust.”

It seems that the nobles are indeed nobles, and there are already employees who have been cajoling or bribing people here and there in the Mato Company, so the Mato Company’s personnel cannot be used as investigators. Information would leak out. Even if they were used, they would only be able to do odd jobs.

However, it was difficult to utilize the royal civil servants. The noble civil servants were cautious, saying that they did not know what would happen in the future, and the common civil servants were jealous of the ones who had grown up and kept them in check. It meant that there was no one they could trust and ask for help. Especially when it came to the important task of searching and seizing the Haibon Bank.

That’s not all. The queen also said something to Arthur. She said that she needed someone who would dedicate himself to the country.

She had already guessed Arthur’s brilliance and talent, and she openly revealed her intention of not leaving him as a mere craftsman.

Indeed, in order to make a country rich and strong, it is necessary to discover talented people and grind them on a grindstone.

Although the Kingdom of Skara operates an academy, the original purpose of the academy was to train scholars who would study, so it was a little different from the royal family who wanted talented people who would dedicate themselves to making the country rich and strong.

Well, it cannot be said that he was not at fault for secretly promoting republicanism when the absolute monarchy collapsed.

Anyway, due to Jaran’s desperate request for help and the Queen’s subtle pressure, Arthur had to lead the investigators to the Highborn Bank.

Perhaps it’s a bit fortunate that the job is not to read through a mountain of documents that are a pain in the neck, but to supervise investigators, prevent them from doing useless things, and secure evidence.

The soldiers opened the way and Arthur pushed the investigators in.

“Sergeant! Please catch the guy running away with that bag over there!”

“There! Why are you throwing those documents in the trash? Corporal! Catch that bastard and tie him up!”

“Don’t just stand there and watch. Get the documents quickly! Don’t you want to go home from work?!”

“I will definitely report to my superiors that I am a talented person who has obtained the documents. I promise on my job to give them a handsome reward!”

Investigators who secure evidence, weed out spies trying to hide evidence, and use carrots and sticks to get things moving.

Arthur had secured three or four boxes of documents, but that wasn’t the end. He faced the bank president, who was watching the investigators move with a humiliated expression.

“It is an honour to meet you, Baron. I am the temporary tax inspector, Viscount Arthur Hurt.”

“I am Pagan Lemanais.”

Glory is a fucking joke. Baron Pagan continued, trying hard not to distort his expression.

“Why didn’t you tell me before you made this big of a deal?”

“I wanted to do that too, but… … His Majesty the King was very displeased.”

Arthur boldly made excuses for the king.