At The Grand Throne Room,
"Good Morning, Father," Luke greeted the emperor formally.
"Good, now that you are 11 years of age, I will provide you with the territory of Aqlasia for you to govern over. Of course, you will not assume all responsibilities. Arnold Planck Windchester will help you with your tasks and manage your territory. You are becoming the governor of Aqlasia because you are quite smart and responsible, and the only thing you lack is experience, so I hope managing Aqlasia will help you grow into a good leader," Daniele said in a fatherly tone.
"Also, you will be betrothed to a princess from the empire of Toneria. Her name is Ariel Sia Finkenstein. You both will marry when you turn 18," Daniele continued.
Luke's eyes widened fractionally.
"We have to keep our ties with Tonaria strong, as you know, they are our closest allies who regularly trade with us," Daniele said.
"Allies? I wouldn't call them allies of Archasia, they have never supported us militarily or economically," Luke said with narrowed eyes.
"You are correct, but they are the only ones who trade with us proactively; without them, we won't have any proper source of income," Daniele replied with a frown.
"Very well then, when shall I leave for Larna?" Luke asked respectfully.
"You will be leaving in 3 days. I will send a few knights with you for your protection," Daniele replied.
'Tch, this only puts a hurdle in my plans, the damned Tonarians are probably sending her here to spy and gather information on both Archasia and Vla Coria,' Luke thought with a bit of disdain.
At Luke's chambers,
"Good Morning, Lord Luke," Arnold greeted.
"Good morning, Commander Arnold. I have a few requests to be done before our departure," Luke said, sipping milk.
"What are your requests?" Arnold asked.
"I need to know how many knights will be coming with us, also, I need you to get as many slaves as our budget could allow us to. Send some of my servants to gather copies of all the books on basic arithmetic and sciences, as well as a few printing machines," Luke said.
"Printing machines are too expensive, I am afraid. They cost about 30 cold coins each," Arnold said with a frown.
"Hmm, do you know any good blacksmiths? If yes, we will hire them and just buy one printing machine. They can deconstruct it and learn how to make it. This way, we will not only get rid of the cost issue, but also various other problems which require blacksmiths to solve," Luke replied.
"That can be done, but it will still be a bit too pricey," Arnold replied.
"Tch, worry now, I will try getting some from father," Luke said with annoyance.
"Oh, I would also like to get a map of Aqlasia, their taxation policies, their population census, their total revenue, and the name of the lords of each city and town," Luke said.
"That can be done, Lord Luke," Arnold replied, bowing.
"Is there anything else?" Arnold asked.
"No," Luke replied.
"Bye, Lord Luke," Arnold bowed down and left.
"Well, looks like I have to guilt-trip my father into giving me some more money," Luke thought, shaking his head.
September 13th 1522,
Larnace Palace,
"Tch, the lords in Aqlasia are for most rotten to the core," Luke said with disdain.
"We can't do much against them, Lord Luke, if we arrest even one of them, the rest would rebel, the rebellion in Aqlasia will spark another rebellion throughout Archasia," Arnold said with a bit of panic, thinking Luke would arrest the nobles.
"Don't worry, I won't arrest them outright, all I have to do is wait for a while. Oh, Arnold, we need to do something under the covers. We negotiate with the lords and collect a portion of the money they steal. This way we can gather enough funds for what is to come," Luke replied.
"WHAT! BUT THAT'S TREASON!" Arnold shouted in shock and anger.
"Ohh, I have failed to show you the full picture. Look here, Commander Arnold, my father has approved of this under the table. He will be cutting our official budget since he knows most of the tax collected would be stolen by the nobles and the Prime Minister. But by getting the money directly, he can cut the revenue we receive without affecting the empire's budget," Luke said with genuineness.
"Also, I was not supposed to leak this out, so you better not tell anyone," Luke said with a small glare.
"Oh," Arnold said with his eyebrows up.
"Also, I don't trust the nobles much. We will train the strongest of our slaves to the bone to be the best knights, the rest will be educated to do office jobs. We will have a huge enough army to quell any rebellions that might start here. Tell the blacksmiths to work harder, we will send more people there to create more printers faster, " Luke said with vigour.
"That can be done, my lord. I will start negotiations with the nobles and also start training the slaves to fight," Arnold said, resigning himself to his fate.
"Good," Luke replied.
At the Provincial council room,
"Good evening, Lord Luke," Everyone greeted when Luke entered. They were the heads of all the lower and middle-class nobles.
"Good evening," Luke greeted back.
"Alright, guards, leave," Luke ordered. All the guards left the room on his orders.
"Well, I know what is going on here, all of you steal about 50 to 60% of the taxes which are meant to go to the central government," Luke said, throwing down a few files he managed to gather.
"That's preposterous!" One of them jumped and shouted.
"Now, now, don't worry. I won't snitch on you, I am just here to talk business." Luke said with a smirk.
The nobles there had their brows raised at Luke's words.
"I take about 25%, and my buddy here takes another 25% of the taxes. This way, we keep shut about your secret," Luke said with a smirk.
The nobles looked at each other. They knew that if they refused, Luke would probably snitch on them and arrest them all.
"Uh, we can give 20% each, that's the most we can do…" One of the nobles said with nervousness.
"25% each, no negotiations," Luke said with a small glare.
"Alright, we will give you both 25% each of the taxes we collect, my lord," The Provincial lord of Crota said, agreeing with Luke.
"Good, I hope we will cooperate well in the future," Luke said with a smirk.