So the Medieval Age Has a Split Inheritance System…
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Derpy
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 48.5 – New Policy
This was around the time Palmer went to Poitiers duchy to fight alongside Duchess Jeremias to repel the Lenart imperial army. Ever since Deal county became the capital of Deal Kingdom, they were trying to greatly expand the fortress originally in Deal county and large-scale redevelopment was underway.
The development was entrusted to Palmer’s concubine, Carla, who also happened to be the current Count Deal. The title was shared with Palmer because of their marriage, but Carla was the actual Count Deal, so Carla was also responsible for the development.
“It’s crazy to build a huge castle wall just to circulate the new currency.”
“It’s not only for the new currency, it also serves to strengthen the dignity of the king. Besides, this would also improve the productivity of the workforce in this nation.”
The moment Carla questioned Palmer’s intentions while looking down at the peasants working below, Burglinde defended his decisions and made a disgusted expression at Carla. Both of their positions improved just by following Palmer so they seemed to be on good terms on the surface, but the difference in their legal wife and concubine status obviously sowed discord between them.
Since Palmer became a king, Burglinde became his queen, which naturally gave her public recognition and fame. Burglinde understood most of what Palmer was doing and knew that building the ramparts at this time had several benefits.
This time, Palmer enacted a new policy. By spreading word that working 60 days within a year for the nation, they could reduce the amount of tax they had to pay by half for that year—prompting people from all over the nation to join the workforce.
In addition, one copper coin from the new currency would be paid as the basic labor wage per day for their work. Apart from that, three meals a day and lodging would be provided during their stay in the royal capital, so nobody complained about the new policy.
Palmer also devised something for this labor. The common practice was to split the work into teams and reward the team that finished the fastest, but Palmer modified this and did the opposite.
Basically, if the work wasn’t completed according to regulation, the copper coin that was supposed to be paid for basic labor would be confiscated. In addition, it was decided that the slowest team wouldn’t get paid.
According to this rule, the fastest team would be paid 3 copper coins from the new currency, 2 copper coins for the faster-than-average team, 1 for the average team, and none for the slowest team. The competition for simple manual labor, such as building walls and clearing forests, gradually became fiercer.
Palmer also made transactions using the new currency. Majorly enough, the new currency was used as a food standard where the state guaranteed a fixed amount of money for food. This made the currency immune to violent inflation. At the same time, it was possible to restrict the amount of coins circulated, but that wasn’t a big problem.
Palmer also began operating state-owned brothels as a means of earning money. Because of the famine, many women and children were sold as slaves in other territories. Using these cheaper slaves, the men who came into the royal capital and started working competed to receive more copper coins to pay the ladies and the cycle of money looped.
…The cycle became even more active by introducing a similar competition for labor at these brothels. Although they were supposed to work for 60 days for the nation, they would get a day off for every two days of work, so their work period would be 90 days instead. During that period, peasant labor productivity wouldn’t decline.
With two of the three major human desires—hunger and sexual desire—under control, the castle walls surrounding the royal capital grew taller and thicker day by day. There were already four layers of walls, but when Carla told Palmer about the surplus of labor, he told her to make it ten or twenty layers instead.
It was no longer out of increasing their defensive power. It was a situation where employment was created to show off the majesty of the king. But this kind of dignity was very important in the Middle Ages and could be useful in future diplomacy.
“But well, we’re sure growing at a tremendous rate. As it is, even if we move the labor force elsewhere, we can work them to our heart’s content.”
“…What else can we use them for other than building castle walls? There isn’t much an uneducated peasant can do.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s something easy and simple. After building fortresses, connecting the dots with lines is next.”1
Burglinde explained to Carla that the labor force could eventually be diverted for other uses aside from building ramparts. Some laborers were already producing uniform-looking bread, crossbows, and arrows. The system for managing production across the nation was gradually being established, though it was still unrefined.
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