The Thousand Year Dynasty
20. Lucia's Residence
Upon arriving at the door of the mansion, their carriage was greeted by Lucia, Jean, and Orland. And some of the house servants.
"Well, princess now you look like a princess of nobility" Aksa said after they got out of the carriage.
"You still have a mouth that no boy can manage" said Jean who was next to Lucia.
"How's your trip going?" Lucia interrupts before there is a fight between Aksa and Jean.
"I'm so tired" Nata replied later.
"You can rest and take a shower before we start dinner"
"Do you have a big water place to soak the princess?" Ask Nata later.
"Also warm water?" This time it was Aksa who chimed in.
"There" Lucia replied with a smile.
"Hey boy don't bother you" Jean sounded.
"Princess doesn't mind, why did you hire Jean? You miss us, huh?" Reply Aksa
"Here, don't expect you"
-
"So how's the procession of your abdication, princess?" Nata asked as they were already sitting at the dinner table for dinner.
"Obviously, it went well two weeks ago. So now my uncle is officially the king of this kingdom" explained Lucia who continued with the question, "then how did it go after you examined the land of Pharos?"
"I made the plan. We'll talk after we eat. Because it is so long" answered Nata while starting to feed pieces of broccoli in his mouth.
"All right"
"Will the cook who cooks this meal come with us? The food is so good!" Chirps Aksa later.
While they were eating together, the servants and workers in the house seemed to start talking about two young Morra who acted too casually to their employers.
-
"So that's the whole story" Nata closed after he finished telling Lucia everything after dinner last night in the study.
"I didn't think Mr. Couran would help us either. Until he brought his friends"
"Then this is an estimate of the funds and the things we need before we start" Nata took out a roll of paper and put it on the table.
Orland without taking it first before Lucia could take it.
"Oh yes, we use Dracz metal to build the equipment and all the means we need"
"A hard metal to process?" Cornelius asked.
"Right, but since the mines were numerous in the northern area near the village of Turgis, I suggested that the princess contact princess Lugwin. Uh, I mean queen Lugwin for trade cooperation with her. Because for now the trio of hunters are only able to provide in a small amount of individual mines. And we need that metal in so many ways"
"Hm, I'll call Lugwin after this. It would also be beneficial for his kingdom that was just trying to recover from yesterday's war"
"Because that's the goal. Isn't it Nat?"
"If we have more than that, yes much better" said Aksa quickly.
"Right, that's the reasonable limit we need to start building the means on that land. And it should be after everything goes we can already continue development with our own funds"
"Do you intend to withdraw taxes?" Ask Orland
"Is that true, Nat?" Which was directly paved by Lucia with a face of disbelief.
"What happened to the princess tax? Are you allergic to it?" Aksa's chirps were immediately pierced by Jean with a cynical look and hissing sound.
"really. Taxes are a good system when used appropriately" Nata replied.
"But since it looks like our daughter is allergic to taxes, you're gonna have to change her name to Nat"
"alright. How about Retrebusi? A contribution? Or Dana's love interest?"
"Stop kidding, I'm serious"
"I'm also a serious princess. Now this is your shadow, taxes will burden the people and make the nobles rich, right?"
"When he was himself a noble, he didn't even want to be rich"
"You can keep your mouth that's not?!"
"So like this. The tax will be used for maintenance funds so that residents can continue to use it. And then taxes are not levied with the same magnitude on every citizen. Taxes will be taken a share of their income. That too with reasonable limits on their income. So residents with income below the limit will not be taxed" explained Nata later.
"And also when someone makes a sale in our region, then every trader will be taxed a fraction of the sale proceeds. Well maybe here also has done this, just that all taxes enter the royal treasury or the royal treasury"
"So we just need to properly arrange the tax returns?"
"Like that"
"Then for the workers. How do you plan to finance the workers with just this much money?" Oraland asked again.
"There are slaves" Aksa interrupted once again. That made the look of Lucia's face change quickly again.
"I know your thoughts princess, but what Aksa said is true, we will use slaves that do not need to be paid"
"God's mouth is never wrong"
"But" said Lucia restrained. He tries to hold back and waits for Nata to explain. Because he knew the young man must have had other plans and intentions.
"So like this. This is my offer to get a lot of workers but for a small fee. That is by giving everyone who works a land for them to live in and they work on. Also that way we'll have additional residents to populate that land"
Lucia's face began to smile again.
"That does not rule out the possibility for outsiders who are not slaves. But it will be difficult for those who are not slaves to believe. Then we will use slaves who cannot refuse that as an example. And after many people who saw the slaves had become free people and had land to work on, there would be many people who would come along"
"Hm, what an interesting idea. So that's why you're only planning with this much money" said Orland, who seems satisfied.
"But beyond that calculation, we need to gather capable and expert human resources to be able to handle the constraints I wrote at the bottom of the scroll. If we can get him to come along better. If not, we can hire services and energy only"
"Yes, I did this while I was in town. I already have a few candidates"
"As expected of a crown princess, eh isn't it?" Aksa said suddenly with a joke that made Jean immediately react violently.