Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt - Chapter 180



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Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt Chapter 180

32-Post-war revival

The day after Arthur and Zarran reached a compromise to convert the posthumous collateral agreement into a bond, the king summoned them.

“You will have to explain it to me carefully.”

There was even a hint of murder in his low, calm voice. Arthur exchanged glances with Jaran and stepped forward.

The king frowned at that sight. It was a look that said, “You again?”

“Your Majesty, there are three reasons why I changed the collateral agreement into a bond.”

“… … Tell me.”

“In a situation where we need to quickly recover from defeat, we must receive cooperation from the nobles and not give in. This is the first reason.

“and?”

“Even in these situations, you can find true loyalists who keep their promises in the postmortem collateral agreement. Aren’t they the ones who can truly be trusted if they keep their promises in difficult situations?”

“……and?”

“Lastly, it is not always the case that you will not suffer a loss if you convert to bonds. In fact, you may suffer an even greater loss.”

“Why?”

“Because we plan to issue additional Scalons in large quantities.”

Got a lot of bonds? Yeah, print scalons, cause inflation, and pay off the bonds with them. Then the bonds, or debt, will magically disappear.

After hearing this explanation, the king felt relieved, but he still had some questions.

“Weren’t you of the position that the value of Scalon should be maintained?”

“The unilateral decline in the value of Scalon is only a suffering for the people who live off Scalon. But in a situation like now, shouldn’t everyone share the suffering?”

Even though the post-mortem collateral agreement was converted into a bond, the ownership of the actual property ultimately passed to the state.

When inflation occurred, it was a loss for the aristocrats who held the bonds. And it was better that way. If the aristocrats did not bear the loss, the burden would simply be passed on to the commoners.

The King nodded, saying that it made sense, and a calm smile appeared on his face. He was relieved that he would not be the only one to suffer, and that the possibility of the divine right overtaking the royal authority would be reduced.

King Rai even expressed it verbally.

“Excellent.”

Arthur bowed his head to the king’s praise and continued speaking.

“Since you, my nobles, have sacrificed yourselves for the country, even if it was not your intention, how can I just sit still?”

“If so?”

“Do you know something called Ignaqua?”

“… … I’ve heard of it. Something like water that burns away phlegm? You made that too, right?”

“I will lease the rights to Ignaqua to the country and donate the profits until the full compensation is paid.”

“… Oh! Are you serious?!”

The King’s face, which had been covered with a faint smile, brightened.

“The loyal subject was here!”

But soon the king became sullen at Arthur’s words that followed.

“I was able to use this as an excuse to obtain concessions from the nobles. Otherwise, they would have refused to even convert the debts in the agreement.”

“Are you also distributing privileges to the nobles?”

“No, it’s not. We just decided to supervise and manage the transparency of the production and sales process of the nationalized Ignaqua.”

“I see.”

The King licked his lips. He seemed to be disappointed that he could have filled his back pockets but that it was no longer possible.

Still, I didn’t lose hope and dreamed.

“If we issue a large amount of Scalons, we can use that money to train an army and this time for sure… … .”

“Your Majesty, I have another use for that money.”

Arthur poured cold water on him once again, and the king’s eyes, which had been burning with ambition, returned to reality. He looked at Arthur, who had been teasing him, and gave him a look that said, “Again?”

Arthur continued.

“Your Majesty. Why was our kingdom defeated?”

“It was because the military became a rabble due to the divided military power and was defeated individually.”

“Then how can we make the military more elite?”

“You just have to establish a strong monarchy.”

“Then what is a strong kingship?”

“The nobles and the people follow my decisions without question.”

“… … .”

When Arthur was at a loss for words for a moment, King Rai hesitated, wondering if he had gone too far, and then added:

“Of course, the wise advice of my subjects is also necessary.”

It was fortunate that he had some sense of reality that if what he had just said were to leak out, the neutral and noble factions would try to check the royal authority even more, or in extreme cases, they might rise up.

Arthur opened his mouth.

“Do you have any plans to build a strong royal authority under the current circumstances?”

“It is to expand the palace guard.”

There it is again, Arthur said, holding back a sigh.

“Will the nobles just sit by and watch that?”

“… … So, do you have any good ideas?”

Arthur answered.

“The Kingdom Cross-Country Railway Project is coming.”

“The Kingdom Cross-Country Railway Project?”

“That’s right. Currently, the northern and southern parts of our Skara Kingdom are separate. Although there is a railway and waterway connection from St. Skara, that’s all. Above all, the southern region depends on waterway transportation, so it can no longer increase its cargo volume, and logistics between the north and south are bound to be slow due to unloading work.”

The speed of the entire process is determined by the slowest step. The north-south logistics of the Kingdom of Skara are determined by the process of moving cargo transported by water to the railway.

The only ways to improve this were to either increase the scale of the unloading operation or to extend the railway south, but the former was not feasible due to the size of the River St. and the difficulty of securing more land for the expansion of the St. Scala unloading station.

King Rai was puzzled by Arthur’s words.

“What does that have to do with strengthening royal authority?”

“The war is over. Do you plan to leave the soldiers you recruited here?”

“Hmm… … .”

He wanted to do that, but he also didn’t want to do that. King Rai wanted to maintain his forces, but he also wanted to disband the defeated royal central army, and in the process, transfer the best talents to the palace guards, and create a standing army that would only listen to the king’s orders. That was his intention.

However, it was uncertain whether the soldiers who had been hastily recruited and hastily trained this time would be of any help.

Arthur said.

“If we leave them alone, they will become a source of social unrest.”

I risked my life to protect my country and now I’m being treated as a potential criminal? Is this what kind of shit is this?

But it was natural that the country would not keep the promises made to those who returned after being defeated. It is different after going to the bathroom, and there are many cases where they break the promises made even after returning after being victorious, so how much more so would the politicians of this era, who have no concept of human rights, feel? From their perspective, they are asking people to keep their promises after being defeated? What kind of nonsense is that?

What would happen then? Originally they were poor people. But now they were poor people who had received military training.

Unless they completely disappear, they will be dissatisfied with the country that does not keep its promises. From their perspective, it will feel like the country is cheating them.

Tens of thousands of poor people who are not just poor people, but have received military training. Can you afford them?

“If they just return to society and cause trouble, who will be held responsible?”

“How rude!”

King Rai raised his voice. Arthur bowed again and apologized, then continued speaking.

“Even if it’s not my fault, I have no choice but to take responsibility. Isn’t that the weight of the crown?”

“… … Keep trying.”

“I am ashamed. That is why we must give them a means of living.”

“Is that the Kingdom Crossing Railway?”

“Yes, and there is another advantage to that.”

“What is it?”

“That means we can scatter them.”

“… … Oho!”

Even if there were tens of thousands of returning soldiers, if they were scattered in different directions, they wouldn’t be able to cause trouble at will. If they were workers building the railroad across the kingdom, they would have to be spread out far and wide, north and south.

“And when they earn that income, they will naturally want to spend it, which will in turn lead to increased commerce. And from there, we can expect an increase in tax revenue.”

“Hmm! Good! Good!”

King Lei was already feeling happy as if everything was going well with Arthur’s fantasy. However, he did not nod his head like an idiot just because he felt happy.

“But the nobles aren’t stupid. Wouldn’t they oppose if we tried to produce more Scalons here?”

“If we just try to take out Scalon, that’s bound to happen. So here we are planning to use Ignaqua as an excuse once more.”

“Specifically.”

“In order to recover the economy after the war, I have entrusted the rights of Ignaqua to the country and allowed the nobles to participate in management and supervision. The issuance of Scalon is also for the national economic revitalization project of the North-South Transverse Railway. If we oppose this, it means that the nobles are not interested in the economic recovery and revival of the country, and it would be impossible to entrust such people with the management and supervision of Ignaqua, right?”

Ignaqua and the North-South railway project are tied together under the grand theme of post-war reconstruction.

The moment you try to pick and choose Ignaqua, you’ll be branded a greedy author who has no interest in post-war recovery.

However, it was difficult to issue bonds for the North-South railway project. Considering the scale of the project, how many bonds would have to be sold?

And if it was obvious that the currency would be released, would the rich buy it? Considering that, it would have been better to print more currency to make things go more smoothly.

From the nobles’ point of view, that was better. The value of the bonds could fall due to inflation, but if they opposed it, they would simply hand Ignacu over to the king, which was more dangerous. What would the king do with that money? Wouldn’t he try to strengthen his power?

At that time, it might be necessary to make special contributions to the war reparations, not out of concern for the declining value of bonds, but out of fear of the king’s icy host.

King Rai’s expression became complicated at Arthur’s explanation.

Because Arthur’s schemes were clearly helpful to the country, but they were different from what the king himself wanted. In addition, the way he tried to appease and pacify by using the royal authority and the position of the divine right that tried to check it was irritating.

It felt as if the King himself was being treated like a piece on a chessboard. King Rai suddenly became displeased.

“Just leave Ignaqua’s rights to the country. With it, I will raise a strong army, defeat foreign enemies, firmly establish the royal authority, and bring peace to the country.”

What are you talking about, firmly? You fell down, saying something like firmly.

But Arthur was a mature adult who didn’t say what was on his mind, so he started to open his mouth like this.

“Galaxy! Divide and rule. Do you agree that these are excellent words?”

“… … That’s right.”

It was an excellent art of ruling a country that had been passed down from the time of the previous kings and whose effectiveness had been proven.

“But I know a better way to say it.”

“What is that?”

“The message is to unite and lead.”

“… … .”

“Of course it is easier to divide and rule. But the truth of life that I believe in is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Your Majesty! I believe that you can be a better ruler.”

Divide and rule was not difficult if one had a certain level of influence, or power.

But to unite and lead, an influence of a different nature and dimension was needed. Force alone was not enough; virtues such as virtue and wisdom were needed.