Chapter 244 (2/2)

When I was chatting with several nobles, including Marquis Enesil, the protocol officer announced the arrival of the emperor. When everyone was seated again after showing due manners to him, Duke Lars rose from his seat on behalf of Duke Verita, who was absent because of his son’ death.

“Today’s agenda is about this year’s tax revenues and the foreign delegations who will visit this year’s National Founding Day festival.”

“Tax revenues? I heard that the recovery work in the areas affected by the heat wave, droughts, and floods last year is almost done. Did something unusual happen?”

I was also puzzled, but my doubts quickly disappeared when Duke Lars explained it.

The revenues were almost the same as last year, but the increase in the knights and the inflow of the displaced people due to the natural disaster led to deficits in the budget, he explained.

When the emperor tapped on the table with a pensive expression, Earl Hamel said, “Your Majesty, I’m sorry to say this, but how about freeing up the imperial wealth a little? I heard that the imperial revenues increased a lot this year because there was little damage in the areas controlled by the imperial family.”

“What are you talking about, Earl Hamel?”

“How dare you try to touch the wealth of the imperial family?”

Several nobles refuted his proposal, but Earl Hamel was adamant about his position.

The emperor, who was looking at the earl while knocking on the desk, giggled at him.

Rather than being unpleasant or angry, he showed an expression welcoming his suggestion.

Why is he reacting like that? He must know that the earl’s suggestion was intended to weaken the imperial power.

“Good idea, Earl Hamel. Let’s do that. I am willing to give away part of the imperial wealth.”

“Thanks for your wise decision, Your Majesty. The people will be deeply moved by your decision.”

A smile came to the earl’s lips. At that moment, the emperor interrupted, “But there is one condition. I was going to raise the salary of the royal knights because of their hard work. If I make up for the deficits in the budget, I can’t increase the salary. So, let me do this. Let me select those who made a contribution and award them titles in return for donating the imperial income. What do you think?”

Suddenly, everybody became silent. I looked at him when I belatedly realized the emperor’s intention.

‘Is this what he aimed for?’

I thought that he decided to expand the knights at this time despite the weakening of his military authority because he wanted to increase the absolute number of the troops available, though it might expose him to some risk. He didn’t give much thought to the fact that the royal knights didn’t increase despite the recruiting of almost 200 knights. Did he really think of this terrific idea in advance when he pretended not to care about the status quo of the royal knights?

Unlike the government or other knights divisions that paid the knights’ salaries with the state funds, the imperial family paid all costs for the royal knights. As they escorted the emperor at close range from the moment he woke up until he went to sleep, he had to ensure they were the faithful servants of the imperial family. That’s why he chose the nobles without any right to succeed the knighthood of their families as royal knights. So, they were extremely loyal to the emperor to gain any title by making contributions.

Therefore, most of the royal knights belonged to the pro-emperor faction. And he made the remarks, with them in mind.

What was the reason the pro-emperor faction had to compete with the noble faction? It was because the former was numerically inferior to the latter, so it was impossible to gain any military superiority. Even though the number of nobles fell sharply during the late emperor’s reign, the number of nobles didn’t increase a lot because the noble faction was desperately opposed as they were worried about the increase in the pro-emperor faction.

If the emperor could implement his plan, it could see the creation of at least dozens of new nobles favorable to the pro-emperor faction.

Once the dock is opened, it’s impossible to block the water. Even if the emperor’s action doesn’t have any big impact right now, it will clearly create a big disadvantage for the noble faction in the long run. I saw the facts of the noble faction members turning gloomy.

“Your Majesty, your proposal is…”