King-Chapter 1424 - 1: The Capital of a Vanquished Nation_2

The king and his ministers echoed one another, swiftly reaching a decision, leaving Earl Rinnares feeling bitter in silence.

Agricultural reform entrusted to the front-line Marshal—what, then, was his role as Minister of Agriculture?

There was no choice; the arm cannot wrestle the thigh. Even as one of the king’s confidants, he had to make concessions for the greater good.

The Alpha Kingdom’s guiding principle was that everything must serve the military. Ostensibly, it was agricultural reform; in truth, it was to ease the logistical pressures on the Kingdom’s Army.

As for promoting new technologies, that wasn’t even considered a task.

As long as improvements in grain yield could be proven, the local noble lords would send their people over to learn on their own.

Resistance was nonexistent; no one would complain about having too much grain in their own territory.

Knowing full well he was being sidelined, Earl Rinnares could only force a smile and join the others in acclaiming the decision.

Neither King Caesar IV nor Marshal Hudson, the Kingdom’s Marshal, were people he could afford to offend.

"Your Majesty, let me take responsibility for the government institution reform!"

Prime Minister Duke Delgado spoke assertively without hesitation.

Among the six major reform measures, government institution reform ranked low in priority, but its significance was by no means diminished.

Frankly, this reform overlapped somewhat with the powers of the Government Affairs Department. However, as the head of government, it was logical for the Chancellor to personally take charge.

Seeing no objections, Caesar IV nodded slightly and said, "Very well!

Let the Chancellor take charge of government institution reform."

With two out of six reforms assigned, there were still five ministers present, meaning two of them would jointly take responsibility for one area.

"Your Majesty, strengthening central government authority will need the military’s cooperation. Let me handle this matter!"

Minister of Military Affairs, Count Ekman, spoke up first.

To be honest, enhancing central government authority was a somewhat vague concept. For now, it mostly involved increasing directly governed territories. freeweɓnøvel~com

The rest of the tasks could not be accomplished in a day and would require coordination with other reforms.

Relatively speaking, the chances of upsetting people were low, making this an enviable task for Count Ekman.

"Alright!"

As Caesar IV was voicing his approval, Marquis Omar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, quickly added, "Your Majesty, let me take care of the issue of administrative discipline!"

To be fair, this measure was more symbolic than substantive.

Many Alpha Kingdom officials essentially worked for free, driven by personal dedication.

During the Kingdom’s financial constraints, the higher the ranking, the lower the salary received.

All those present on the court were prime examples of working without pay.

Of course, their livelihood didn’t depend on that meager salary.

Standing in the court itself brought rewards far outweighing any nominal pay.

While the Kingdom’s upper echelons didn’t care about salaries, those below them did.

To make the horse run while refusing to feed it—how could such a thing exist?

Eliminating corruption entirely was unrealistic, but picking off a few fat sheep to "warn the monkeys" was still feasible.

...

"Your Majesty, developing industry and commerce aligns closely with the responsibilities of the Government Affairs Department. Let this matter be entrusted to us!"

Once Marquis Felice finished speaking, the distribution of work was effectively concluded.

The rationale was clear: developing industry and commerce couldn’t proceed without the Government Affairs Department, and assigning it to someone else would be impractical.

The most burdensome tax reform naturally fell to the last two unlucky ones.

Count Francis didn’t mind. Tax revenue ultimately went into the coffers of the treasury, and it was unavoidable for him to deal with such matters.

This left Earl Rinnares in a tough spot. Initially, he could have leisurely taken up agricultural reform and skated by, but now he was pushed to the forefront as a reform trailblazer.

Such was the price of slow reactions—even the king’s confidants were not immune to setbacks.

"Alright!

Let’s finalize the division. Marquis Felice will oversee industrial and commercial development.

Count Francis will handle tax reform, with Earl Rinnares assisting him."

Caesar IV conclusively assigned the roles.

As for Earl Rinnares’ grievances, they were directly ignored by him.

Even confidants have tasks to do; in critical moments, if they don’t immediately step up, is the leader himself supposed to take action?

Once the Royal Palace meeting concluded, the grand reforms began in earnest, starting from the central government.

The entire Kingdom turned its attention to the reforms, and most citizens were filled with confidence about this change.

For no particular reason, the public simply held an inexplicable "blind confidence"!

Taking up his new role, Hudson did not rush to the borderlands to break ground but instead urgently released a "Agricultural Technology Manual."

The manual gathered the most advanced contemporary farming techniques, covering staple crops such as rye, potatoes, soybeans, and rice, as well as economic crops like sugar beets and hemp.

Its detailed content revealed careful preparation at a glance.

However, it wasn’t the comprehensiveness of the manual that caught everyone’s attention!

Both Mountain Domain and Snow Moon Territory relied on agricultural economies, so it was entirely reasonable for their lords to prioritize farming techniques.

The most striking part lay in the manual’s introduction of—"Chemical Fertilizer Use."

Manure, after composting, could be applied to fields to increase food production?

Many people’s first reaction was that this must be a joke!

Such filthy material—could food grown from it still be edible?

Volcanic ash could also be used as fertilizer? Marshal Hudson must have been deceived—damn the scoundrels who misled him!

...

Public skepticism did not hinder Hudson’s determination to promote the measures.

However, in terms of implementation, his approach left everyone stunned. Rather than forcibly imposing the changes, he simply required every noble lord to trial at least one acre during winter sowing.

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