Chapter 24 Centralization Of Power

Ryntum has gained a lot from the war with Gyalcakes. Despite the news of their promotion in rank which has spread everywhere, the Ryntum family paid no attention to it.

Josephine handled all the congratulatory gifts and letters sent by nobles. There is no celebration banquet at the moment. Her husband told her to not do it now as he is busy digesting all of that land he just acquired.

Currently, the Ryntum family controls eight cities with a total area of three-tenths of the entire kingdom.

There are a lot of things that need to be done. Riz is spending his time helping his father. Richard wouldn't be able to handle such massive paperwork alone even if he was given 48 hours a day.

Riz now understands the importance of an effective governance system. He can't go on with this headache every day.

Right now, Riz was in Richard's office explaining to him the concept of centralization.

It is not a difficult concept to understand. Basically, it is to gather all political and decision-making power in one location or into the hand of a single authority.

It will make the decision-making process become very direct and clear.

The existing feudal system is really fragile. The king parcelled out a large portion of land and gave power to noble families to manage the land. In return, the nobles give political and military support.

The nobles with large land also do the same. They parcelled out their land and gave it to a lower rank noble in return for the same thing.

If Richard follows the common practice like the ways Baroks Duchy rule their vast land, he needs to disperse his power and assign it to a lower rank noble to help him manage a particular land.

These lower rank nobles will have the right to collect taxes and raise their own military.

If something big like war happens, it will take a lot of time to gather a troop. Some of them might refuse to send a troop, conspiring with one another or even betraying Ryntum.

Riz didn't want to depend on such an inefficient and unreliable governance method. He believes all the power needs to be in the hand of Ryntum.

The betrayal of Csorvar, Coreton and Newbigle proves that Ryntum couldn't rely on these nobles.

After listening to Riz's explanation, Richard was truly impressed by this system. Richard then asked, "so how do you suggest we should construct our system of governance?"

"First, we establish several departments here in Bideford and turn it into the center of power", Riz starts his suggestion.

"Department?", Richard asked.

"Yes, these departments will help you govern the territory such as the Department of Finance, Department of Law, Department of War and Defence, Department of Education, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Agriculture and Department of Transportation. Each of them will have their own duties and jobs. The lords will be the one who monitors and oversees everything."

Richard nodded as he agreed with Riz's suggestion. Right now, the lord is doing everything on his own which can be exhausting.

Some nobles choose to hand over several matters to their subordinate which leads to corruption or lack of funds.

The only thing the nobles want to know is if they have enough money to splurge around or not. If they don't, they will just increase the taxes.

It is no wonder that commoners don't have a sense of loyalty to their lord and switch sides so easily.

"What about the cities other than Bideford? How can we use these departments to govern them?", Richard continues to ask.

"We will be appointed mayors to govern each city. Their job is only to manage, oversee and report. The town hall will play a pivotal role in every city. Each department will open a branch office in every city. The people in the cities and their surrounding villages can go to these branch offices if they have business with them. In a certain period of time, the branch office will send a report back to the main office in Bideford", Riz is laying out his idea.

"Wouldn't that make them the same as a noble lord?", Richard asked.

"They don't have any decision on their own except for emergencies and only follow the central government. They can't make their own law without the permission of the central government and punish people at will. They also need to follow the rules like commoners and their position has a time limit and is not hereditary", Riz added.

"I see, but if we want to establish all of that, we need a lot of educated workforces to employ.", Richard gives his opinion. If this were implemented, his workload will be greatly reduced while at the same time he can keep on track with everything.

A large number of educated people is the drawback in implementing this system. Riz himself knows that.

That's why he invented paper and agriculture machines. Although the machine is not fully mechanised, it has indeed liberated many workforces.

"Father, we don't need to establish all at the same time, just an important one first. In the future, these departments will gradually replace merchants and craft guilds, so we can just recruit people from there". Riz suggested to his father.

"Do you still remember that I had plans to introduce public education?"

"Yes. Aaahh...I see, so all of that is for this centralization?"

"Yes"

Richard was impressed by Riz's forward planning. He then agreed to implement the centralization phase by phase.

After some discussion, Richard agreed to establish the Department of Finance, Department of Law, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture and Department of Transportation first.

"Father, I think we should construct a new government area to place all of this department. Preferably near the foothills of the mansion", he had long wanted to suggest this.

There are a lot of visitors in the mansion coming to meet Richard on a daily basis due to his office being located there.

As an observant person in the past, he clearly saw the female members of the family are somewhat uncomfortable roaming around the mansion.

Richard agreed at once after hearing Riz's reasoning. No want like someone ogling at their wife and daughter.

....

The following weeks were hectic for the Ryntum family. The implementation of the new government system needs both Richard's and his son's attention.

Josephine is also busy preparing for their celebration banquet. She needs to prepare the dress for all family members, decide on the menu, write an invitation and work on table arrangements.

Never once in her life did she think she could become a marchioness.

Now that Ryntum is no longer a county with just one city, she plans to make it as grandiose as possible. To do that she needs an additional fund from Richard.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

"Come in"

Richard lifts his head and sees Josephine entering his office.

"What is it, honey?", Richard asked. He is curious as to why his wife came to meet him. Josephine is not the type who disturbs Richard during his work time.

'It's not the time for dinner yet. Why did she come?'

"Dear ~", Josephine called Richard in a coquettish manner.

Hearing that tone, he kind of knows what she wants. He asks straight away, "alright, how much do you want?"

"Just another 100,000 Ros will do", Josephine said while throwing a smile at Richard. A smile that can captivate those who see it but Richard is somewhat resistant to it.

Richard gives her 150,000 Ros. Josephine who received money planted a kiss on her husband's cheek before quickly leaving the office.

Richard just stared at the closed door and shook his head. He knows very well just how much his wife loves money and jewellery.

In the meantime, he will continue to do his work. He has plenty of time to return the favour.