CH 293

uff129815-19 minutes 06.08.2022

There’s less than a month left for the long vacation. I’ve been thinking about it since then, but I can’t come up with a good idea.

First of all, it is absolutely necessary to renovate the governance structure of the Caan Knights Nation. Normally, even if a new territory is acquired, the governing structure of the locality will remain. That would be more efficient and quicker to establish rule and control.

China’s successive dynasties, Japan’s Warring States period, Europe’s history of wars, anything is fine. It’s fairly common to take the head of an enemy leader. However, it is rare to kill all the people below them. Instead of relieving them of their status and territory, by making them cooperate with you, the territory will be governed immediately without confusion after the war.

Of course, there are cases in which the former government system is completely destroyed. In China, it was common to slaughter all enemies, and like Hideyoshi Toyotomi, there would have been times when he would crush his opponents and give his patrons more territory.

However, you can succeed only if you have many excellent people at hand, or if you have an established governance structure and related experience and know-how.

Toyotomi’s failure is easy to understand, as Toyotomi’s benefactors, who had never managed a large territory before, were suddenly given huge territories here and there. The important part is that it happened in succession and it became a serious thing, leading to financial failures.

Of course, I don’t know how true that is. There must have been some degree of confusion, but there is no way to know if it was a terrible rule as said, or if it wasn’t that big of a mess.

I just know that it can happen. Even if I suddenly gave Mikoto 500,000 koku 1, Katharina 100,000 koku, Louisa 300,000 koku, and so on, if I were to be asked if everyone would be able to govern well, it would be impossible.

That the Oda Clan was able to govern relatively well was that since they were small feudal lords, and people who had practical experience gradually came to manage large territories. At first, the subordinates were given a small village, but as the Oda Clan expanded, they were given a territory of tens of thousands of koku, hundreds of thousands of koku, and it was possible because they had accumulated experience accordingly.

On the other hand, if Toyotomi’s vassals, who were only the commanders of the Oda Clan’s corps, were to suddenly rise from the small territory they had been managing until then to become a large daimyo with hundreds of thousands of koku, the governance would not go well.

Still, it might be possible if he had absorbed the governing structure of the original territory and entrusted it with management, but it wouldn’t work if the amateurs were promoted more and more in order to pull up your subordinates into positions of power.

So if I want to easily and surely govern the Caan Knights Nation, I should just absorb and use the existing government structure as it is. That way, at least, they will be able to rule almost as before. But I can’t achieve my goal.

Certainly, if we keep the current governing structure by recognizing the privileges of the Polsky Nobles, relieving them of their estates, and letting them cooperate with me instead, it would be possible to govern as before. But then nothing will change just by changing the Lord or the kingdom they serve. The existing powers are nothing more than a hindrance to the governance system I’m thinking of laying down, they are targets for elimination, not cooperation. There is no point in borrowing the power of such people.

For example, the Meiji Restoration and the abolition of feudal domains, and then the establishment of prefectures. This required a lot of effort. If all hostile forces were completely crushed during the first Restoration, it would have been easier to abolish feudal domains and establish prefectures.

Of course, I know why. Thoroughly crushing the enemy will prolong the civil war. It won’t necessarily win out. As much as possible, avoid things that would cause opposition from the surroundings, and after drawing them into their allies and seizing power themselves, gradually reduce the power of the local Lords and proceed with centralization. It’s not that I don’t know how.

But as a result, centralization had to be done gradually over time. If the authority and power of the Feudal Lords were to be abolished all at once, there would be a big backlash and it could lead to another civil war. Therefore, while demonstrating their power, they gradually weakened the power of the clans over time and convinced them to obey rather than revolt.

If it were the situation in Meiji Japan, it would have been fine. I’m not denying the Meiji Restoration and the subsequent centralization of power. But if I were to ask if I would do that from now on, I would say “No.”

From the aspect of governance, it is better to accept and absorb the current governance system to some extent. But if that’s the case, the current incompetent rulers and a government system that doesn’t meet my needs will be maintained. Even if you try to eliminate them later, you will be repulsed. In that case, you will have to go through the troublesome procedures again.

Right now, the other side has just lost the war and will not be able to oppose us. Now it is possible to switch the governance structure of the Caan Knights Nation at once. Even the current ruling class and nobles have just lost the war and will have neither military power nor economic power to back up their status. Besides that, even though the main body of the Kingdom of Polsky was easily defeated, there should be few people who would oppose us.

Rather than accepting the existence of such a force now and rebuilding its economy and military strength in the future, it would be better to crush it all at once. However, if that happens, the problem is how to establish a governing system for the Caan Knights Nation as a replacement.

In the same way that someone who has only dealt with small projects can’t suddenly deal with large projects, there is no way that the present vassals of House Caan can suddenly manage the Caan Knights Nation. This is the same as Toyotomi’s failure mentioned above. In the first place, even if there were people who were able to do it, there weren’t enough human resources to suddenly manage that much real estate.

Some of the daimyo who were favored by Toyotomi ruled well. Some have failed. The only thing I can say is that if he had let them gain experience from small projects until they gained the mastery, and gradually entrusted them with bigger and bigger projects, they would have been able to reduce the number of failures. Even so, those who cannot do it will not be able to do it, and those who can do it from the beginning will be able to do it to some extent.

What House Caan lacks right now is human resources. Unless something is done about this overwhelming shortage of human resources, the government will not be able to do anything.

So I was thinking about doing some work or research.

The first is the adoption of a ready-to-work force… you might think that it’s nothing like that’s what anyone would come up with. But it’s not that easy.

Just like in modern society, job advertisements are put out, applicants come with resumes, and people who seem good are randomly selected from among them. But it’s not that simple. Recruiting people in this day and age is very difficult.

Most of them are determined by blood ties and connections, and only human resources such as those born to nobles become rulers, those born to merchants become merchants, and those born to farmers become farmers. Of course, there are those who choose a path different from the one they were born with. But no one can be anything they want to be.

Especially if you want to become a ruler or a bureaucrat, it’s not easy. It’s not about whether you’re good or not, but just because you’re from a certain family, you get hired and get promoted.

What I want is someone who is really good, trustworthy, and doesn’t betray me.

Regardless of whether someone is excellent or not, they are not credible if they are only chosen because of their blood ties and connections. For example, even if I recruit people and hire people because they are excellent, what if that person is related to Houses Nassam or Bayen? When someone like that comes to our recruitment, it’s normal to think that they’ve come to find out about our internal affairs.

Of course, it may not be the case. He may have been thinking that he just wanted to serve somewhere without being caught up in their House’s affairs. But aren’t you leaking information to your parents behind the scenes and their current masters? Doubts are always there. Even if the person himself thinks that their family’s House has nothing to do with it, it will be such a story.

I do not intend to give preferential treatment based on blood ties or connections. Rather, if it’s a bad partner’s house, I might treat them coldly. Their abilities are their deciding factors… but it can’t be helped if you can’t trust them because of everything else.

On the other hand, it cannot be expected that excellent human resources will come out of commoners and merchants. Why are nobles enough to be rulers? That’s because even if the person himself is somewhat incompetent, he’s been taught that since he was a child. Even if you can’t do special studies, if you’ve been educated like that since you were a child, you’ll be able to do it at least to some extent.

Compared to that, if you were a poor farmer who lived day to day, you wouldn’t have time to study. If I had been helping my parents with farm work since I was a child, I wouldn’t have been able to understand politics.

Therefore, the ruling class will remain the ruling class no matter how long it takes, and the lower class will never be able to climb up. And even if the ruling class collapses for some reason, those who sit in the vacuum will not be able to govern well and will soon collapse. There is also know-how in governance and domestic affairs, and those who do not know it cannot rule well all of a sudden.

First of all, what I need to do in the short term is to eliminate the ruling system of the former Kingdom of Polsky that remains in the Caan Knights Nation. And the appointment of a ready fighting force that is excellent and not influenced by the parents’ Houses. These will be essential to surpass the current emergency.

In addition, we must consider human resource development in the long term. There is no guarantee that we will be able to secure a stable supply of people with the abilities we desire if we just employ the immediate force that we currently have. So we have to grow them.

Let’s set up educational institutions in the Caan Knighthood, Barony, and Knight’s Nation. Students with excellent grades will be given tuition exemptions and livelihood assistance. Therefore, we provide education, find and develop human resources who are credible and can withstand practical work, and send them to the sites themselves.

Education doesn’t happen overnight. We have to look at this from a long-term perspective and work out a medium-to-long-term plan…

The three territories are in vastly different locations. It seems like it can be used for various things such as making them compete with each other, dividing their fields of expertise, living in various ways, sharing roles, and working hard.

“Alright!” I said. “If that’s the case, let’s prepare for the interviews when we return to the Caan Knights Nation, and start building schools and educational institutions in various places!”

“Miss Flora… are you okay?” Katharina asked, peering at me in worry. “Are you in a bad mood?”

“No, I’m fine…” I said while I clean up my documents.

Isn’t it weird? In order to make things easier for myself, I proposed a draft plan for immediate employment and the establishment of an educational institution to secure human resources in the future. And after receiving my proposal, the related departments immediately started to implement it.

But… as a result, my work increased… Why is it so……?

I should have thought of it for my own comfort… Even so, meetings, panels, reports, and consultations… more and more cases came to me. It’s strange……. when will I be comfortable?

“Pardon me.”

“Oh, welcome, come in, Mrs. Anneliese,” I said.

And while I was working, here comes the Head of the Botanical Research Institute. When a gentle beauty comes, the room will look more gorgeous. Well, she’s an eccentric old man’s wife, but… it doesn’t matter if she’s a married woman or whatever because I’m just going to enjoy watching her. I’m not going to argue with you.

“I heard you summoned me, however…” Anneliese said.

“I did,” I said, getting up and away from my desk. “Well, please, come here first,” I said, taking a different seat and offering her the one across me.

After being served tea and taking a breather, we begin the discussion.

“Actually, it’s about this tea…” I said. “I was wondering if we could make something like Flavor Tea…”

“Flaver Tea?” Anneliese asked, confused.

I’m glad the black tea was made, but it’s still far from the finished product. There is also the issue of quality. It wouldn’t make sense to mass-produce black tea that you can drink but it’s not that delicious.

Of course, we need to improve the quality of black tea and make it uniform, but even so, we can’t help but find ways to enjoy low-quality tea that doesn’t pass the standard. Or, I’m thinking about making something that is easy to drink for people who don’t like normal black tea, depending on their tastes.

“I’m thinking about creating a new scented tea by transferring the aromas of flowers, fruits, and essential oils to black tea leaves,” I said.

“My, my! That sounds so wonderful!” Anneliese said.

“So I was wondering if you could lend me a hand in researching flavor teas at the Botanical Research Institute…” I said. “Oh, I’m also thinking of starting beekeeping. Adding honey to black tea would be a good idea too, wouldn’t it?”

“Please allow me to cooperate with this new invention called ‘Flaver Tea,’” Anneliese said. “But isn’t beekeeping already being done?”

Beekeeping has a long history. Beekeeping is also practiced here. But the old beekeeping is over once you break the honeycombs and harvest it once. I want to start a modern and more advanced beekeeping industry that allows beekeeping in the same hives over and over again.

“Bees are indispensable for plants, and I definitely want to borrow the help of the Botanical Research Institute for new beekeeping research,” I said.

“Understood. Then let’s discuss the specifics…” Anneliese said.

I discuss flavored tea research and modern beekeeping methods with Anneliese, alongside advancements to what we have now. I don’t have a lot of detailed knowledge either, but I’ll explain as much as I know. All that’s left is for the researchers to do something about it through trial and error.

All I can offer is an idea based on the knowledge of modern Earth and a rough process. It’s difficult for someone like me, who isn’t an expert in anything, to teach you specific things.

After finishing the conversation, Anneliese left in a much better mood than when she arrived. Normally she would be overwhelmed if she got more work, but Anneliese really likes plants and research related to them. It seems that she is already excited about the new knowledge and research subjects that I have given her. She wants to drink good tea and I wish her and the Botanical Research Institute good luck.

And after a few days…, for some reason, there was more and more work on my desk. Why…?