"Yay! Your Highness is the best!"
"Your Highness, I wonder what important matter you summoned me for?"
A formal audience like this was clearly about more than just a casual chat.
I looked at Yuna, who was in her serious mode, and nodded inwardly.
She seemed a bit childish at times, but she could be quite earnest when the situation called for it.
"Mmm, this isn't the place to talk. Let's head back to my bedchamber."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Hilda, Lola, and Yuna, along with Nara and Ella who had been tagging along, followed me back to the bedchamber.
Once we reached the entrance, I dismissed Ella to clean the Temple vault using hygiene as an excuse.
I also sent Nara away with the excuse of wanting to eat some local street snacks.
Only Hilda, Lola, Yuna, and I remained in the room.
The reception area of the bedchamber was quite spacious.
I walked to the balcony and looked at Ella, who was directing the nuns to clean the courtyard.
Without turning back, I suddenly asked a question.
"Yuna, does the Von family truly intend to side with me?"
Yuna's eyes sharpened and she pondered for a moment before replying.
"While I cannot say for certain, I believe that is the Lord's intention. Highness... are you preparing to make a move? What do you need our family to do?"
Her reaction was sharp. She provided an answer immediately after my question and even guessed the purpose of the summons.
"I do intend to make a move, but I need your family to cooperate."
"...Please speak, Highness. Although I cannot make the final decision, I can at least offer a probable estimation."
"I need you to inform your Lord to buy military power from me."
"Buy... military power?"
Yuna was stunned, failing to process the words for a moment.
"What do you mean by that, Highness? Do you intend to sell the Temple knights?"
"No. What you will be buying is the conscription register for your fief."
Her eyes were filled with confusion.
"...Highness, I don't quite understand your meaning."
"It is simple. You provide the money, and I provide the formal title. Your private army will become official government soldiers with a legal status. At the same time, I will completely recall the scattered Temple knights and soldiers from all regions, handing the military power of the fiefs over to the local nobles."
"Highness! This is inappropriate!"
"Highness, please reconsider!"
"Highness... this, this matter is far too significant!"
Lola, Hilda, and Yuna all spoke out at once to advise against it, their faces written with shock.
As expected, while they were intelligent, they still couldn't break through the limitations of their era.
They couldn't possibly imagine a devastating tool like the Decree of Distribution of Grace.
The most critical factor was that this era followed a system of one wife and multiple concubines, and the Sacred Canon of the Holy Church did not limit the number of concubines.
This was different from the Middle Ages of my original world.
More importantly, there were ways to verify bloodlines in this era.
I had learned both of these points from Lola. No matter what I asked, she could answer almost instantly as long as it was common knowledge for this era.
Whether born to a wife, a concubine, or even a mistress, any child sharing the same blood could have their paternity verified through holy magic.
Because wars broke out occasionally across various regions, more males were born than females, yet few males could live to an old age.
Therefore, there were many widows in this era.
Some would become mistresses to certain nobles, while others became concubines for others.
It was unavoidable, as the status of women in this era was not high.
"I have made my decision. Yuna, I only want to ask you, if your family handles this matter, how will the other families react?"
I ignored their pleas. They, being suppressed by the era, would never know how much of a blow the Decree of Distribution of Grace would deal to the nobility.
"They will definitely pay to buy it," Yuna answered without hesitation.
"And if I collect a fixed fee for the conscription register every year, would that be feasible?"
"I think... that shouldn't be a problem. Noble private soldiers cannot be presented publicly; they cannot officially become an army or undergo formal training. However, Highness, doing this is equivalent to completely fragmenting the Kingdom of the Moon. Highness... what exactly are you trying to do?"
Yuna's brow was furrowed. She clearly realized that if this happened, it would lead to a state of warlordism, and the entire Kingdom of the Moon might collapse in the blink of an eye.
"As for that, allow me to keep it a secret for now."
I lightly tapped my finger against the corner of my mouth and pointed it toward Yuna, wagging it back and forth.
"Since you say so, then we shall proceed. Yuna, go back immediately and explain this to your Lord. Tell him that I consulted you because I am afraid of a potential demon invasion and want to recall the knights and soldiers from all regions. Tell him I am worried about rebellions occurring in places without armies to suppress them. Say it like that, and I'm sure Lord Von will understand."
After speaking, I turned back to look at Lola.
"Lola, calculate the annual cost of an elite soldier and gather the figures. Set a limit of twenty thousand elite troops for each noble fief. We will collect a full year's worth of funding per soldier based on that head count."
Lola closed her eyes and thought for about three breaths of time, then pushed up her glasses.
"Each elite soldier requires approximately two gold coins."
"Very well. We will sell the soldier slots at the price of two gold coins each. To register a soldier, they must pay two gold coins, and every year after that, they must pay one gold coin per person."
One gold coin had the purchasing power of about ten thousand units.
The full equipment for one soldier cost about twenty thousand units. Now, I just had to see how wealthy these nobles truly were.
"Highness, do you really intend to do this? Can I... know why?"
Yuna's eyes were fixed on me. Clearly, she couldn't stay calm in the face of such a massive decision.
"Knight Yuna, whether you believe it or not, this move will become my greatest weapon to suppress the nobility in the future. If you trust me, please do as I say."
She looked into my eyes and remained silent for a long time before suddenly bowing her head.
"Highness, please allow me to represent the Von family and purchase twenty thousand soldier slots."
What a massive move!
Twenty thousand slots meant forty thousand gold coins.
And that was just the Von family. If I included the other families, there would be an income of at least several hundred thousand or even a million gold coins.
"Lola, what is the current annual tax revenue of the Kingdom of the Moon? After all expenses, how much net surplus is left?"
Lola lowered her head in thought for a moment before quickly providing the answer.
"The annual tax revenue for the entire Kingdom of the Moon is five million five hundred thousand gold coins. After deducting the costs for maintaining the army, border defense, facility maintenance, childcare subsidies, pensions, official salaries, Temple maintenance, and annual tributes, the net surplus is about one hundred thousand gold coins. However, due to weather changes, we often need to hire professional magic teams for weather control. After those funds are spent, less than twenty thousand gold coins remain."
In other words, the current annual tax revenue was fifty five billion, and after expenses, only two hundred million was left?
"How can the expenses be so high?"
Was the Kingdom of the Moon really this poor?
"Highness, for the fifty seven thousand knights, each knight has a monthly income of five gold coins. For every rank they increase, their income increases by one gold coin. The salaries for the fifty thousand knights alone require about three million eight hundred thousand gold coins annually. We also need to pay about three hundred thousand gold coins for ordinary soldiers, one hundred thousand for border defense, and three hundred thousand for military maintenance."
That was already four and a half million!
Was supporting knights really that expensive?
A hundred and thirty thousand soldiers only needed three hundred thousand gold coins a year.
Yet fifty thousand knights required three million eight hundred thousand in salaries alone, and that didn't even include equipment.
"Knight equipment is provided by the Temple. Normal maintenance is handled by the knights themselves, while wartime maintenance is funded by the Temple."
Seeing Luo Li's shocked gaze, Lola explained further.
"The premium care for one horse requires nearly one gold coin per year. All knight horses are provided and registered by the Temple, with daily maintenance handled by the knights. Annual armor maintenance costs about fifty silver coins."
In other words, a Diligent Knight at the lowest rank earned sixty gold coins a year. Eighteen of those were used for maintaining equipment and horses, leaving forty two gold coins as net income.
That was equivalent to four hundred and twenty thousand units!
Were knights really that rich?
And Guardian Knights like Hilda and Yuna earned nine gold coins a month?
Sensing my gaze, Hilda and Yuna looked at each other and lowered their heads slightly.
"Brave Knights and above receive an extra gold coin per month, while Heavenly Punishment Knights receive twenty per month."
This meant that Diligent, Hope, and Fidelity corresponded to five, six, and seven gold coins respectively.
Once they reached Brave and Guardian ranks, it became nine and ten gold coins.
Brave was level forty and Guardian was level fifty. This kind of strength was worth that price.
If they didn't even earn a hundred thousand gold coins a month, they would truly be unworthy of their title as knights.
Following that logic... these two in front of me were both wealthy ladies!
An annual income of over a million!
Pure wealthy ladies!
Brothers, hurry up and cling to these wealthy ladies' legs!
If I were my old self and saw beautiful, radiant, and high earning single women, I would have thrown myself into their arms without hesitation!
Unfortunately, I was now one of those wealthy ladies myself.
Good heavens!
No wonder the current Brilliant City was so poor. This was absolute obsessive militarism!
The tax revenue for an entire year was only five and a half million gold coins, yet maintaining the army alone took four and a half million.
It was no wonder those children could only gnaw on black bread every day.
What could the remaining million gold coins even do?
Thankfully, the cities outside Brilliant City didn't require me to pay for their maintenance, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to afford this country even if I sold myself.
"Lola, how many nobles are there currently in the various regions?"
"To answer Your Highness, there are approximately thirteen large noble fiefs and thirty three small noble fiefs. The Von family... is one of the small noble fiefs."
By that logic, the large nobles should be even wealthier.
"Then expand the soldier slots for large noble fiefs to a maximum of forty thousand, and twenty thousand for small nobles."
Yuna interjected at this point: "Highness, I believe no noble will refuse this condition. Everyone will likely register for the full capacity."
Thirteen large nobles, each contributing eighty thousand gold coins, and thirty three small nobles, each contributing forty thousand.
That would suddenly give me an extra two million three hundred and sixty thousand gold coins to use!
I was suddenly rich. Even though I hadn't seen it with my own eyes yet, it made me feel satisfied.
"Very well, Yuna. Go and inform your Lord. Tell him to come see me tomorrow. He will understand what to do."
As long as someone was smart, a simple hint would be enough. There was no need to overthink it.
"By the way, Yuna, I also want to ask, how many children does the head of the Von family have?"
"To answer Your Highness, my father has ten siblings. He is the son of a concubine."
Truly as prolific as one could imagine.
The Lord of the Von family had eleven siblings under him.
But... a son of a concubine?
Heh heh heh...
The three people in the room looked at the Saintess Highness and her wicked smile, glancing at each other in confusion.
No one knew what this Saintess Highness had thought of to suddenly show such a mischievous grin.
But it must be said, that smile... actually made all three women present feel their hearts skip a beat.
The pure and beautiful Saintess Highness usually had her own nobility, but the Saintess Highness showing this wicked smile possessed a temptation that made one's heart inexplicably race.
"Then... Highness, I shall take my leave?"
Yuna hesitated for a moment before deciding to go back and discuss this with the Lord, her grandfather.
"Mmm, go ahead."
I waved my hand to dismiss Yuna and sat back down in my chair.
The future looked promising!
Very promising indeed!
These nobles felt like they were just playing around when they handed over tens of thousands of gold coins.
Yuna didn't seem to care about those tens of thousands of gold coins at all just now.
This meant the actual GDP produced by the entire Kingdom of the Moon every year likely far exceeded my treasury's income.
And the reason I was so poor was probably because all that money had been swallowed by the local nobles.
They probably didn't even leave me a drop of soup.
Once Yuna left, Hilda turned to me with a look of doubt.
"Highness, do you really intend to do this? I still feel it is inappropriate. This could easily lead to each family becoming too powerful."
"Hilda, you can rest assured. I am completely confident in this matter."
I turned back and looked at Lola.
"Lola, have that person investigate for me how much resource the Kingdom of the Moon truly produces each year. How much is swallowed by the nobles? Investigate all of it clearly."
"Yes, Highness."
"Also, spread the word that I am afraid of the demons and have had several nightmares these past few days."
"Yes."
I hadn't slept well these past few days anyway. By mixing the truth with lies, no one except those close to me would know the real reason I hadn't slept well.
The Luo Li of the past had only shown innocence, an innocence that was almost foolish.
They would never imagine that their Saintess's thinking could change so rapidly.
In the evening, I went to the orphanage with Lola. Inside, I saw those thin and sallow children.
I knew Lola was telling me about the importance of responsibility.
But soon... I would have the power to change this era.
Early the next morning, the Lord of the Von family indeed arrived, bringing with him a great deal of sincerity.
Forty thousand gold coins were divided into four chests, carried in by forty men and placed before me.
Luo Li immediately signed the agreement contract.
A look of confusion and bewilderment was written all over Lord Von's aged face, but in the end, he asked nothing.
He took the agreement contract and left with satisfaction.
I imagined that by the time he returned home, this news would have reached the ears of all the nobles.
Luo Li collapsed onto her bed with satisfaction. Gazing at the ceiling that was becoming familiar, a smile curled on her lips.
The seeds had been sown.
Tomorrow would be a new day, and the beginning of all her plans.
Nobles of the Kingdom of the Moon... just you wait. Your Queen will eventually control everything you own.
(End of Volume 1)
Rate on N.U.
