Herald of Steel



Shordar (Baron) Prantik had always hated the experience of it being always the upper nobles sucking off the lower ones, without ever giving anything back to their less ones.

Sure the upper nobles would not tax them per se.

But every year they would also be expected to give expensive gifts to their superiors in the form of gold, fine fabric, jewelry, and women, on occasions like weddings, birthdays, and a million other religious celebrations.

The lesser nobles would also be tasked with organizing various extravagant entertainment such as lavish feasts, balls and hunting games during various times of the year, all done so that the nobles would not be bored in their homes.

After all, what else are the nobles gonna do all day?

Work?

Of course, it went without saying that all the expenses came out of the lesser nobles' own pockets.

And that was not the worst of it.

Because if that was all there was to it, then perhaps most of the shordars (Barons) and talukders (viscounts) would not have grumbled so much.

But what really stuck to it was their superior's ability to ask people like Lord Prantik to come to battles with them, along with contributing food and livestock in such campaigns. embroidering them in conflicts they had no part in.

Prantik had wished many, many times to be able to just pay off a bit of money to take that headache off the battle and the constant threat of life that it bought along, as did many other nobles.

But that could bever manifest due to the stigma related to paying taxes and the subsequent inherent unjustness of one party paying for everyone else's benefits.

This was created because the upper levels of nobility would agree to pay taxes, one, because, they were made the rules and thus never pressurized to, and two, because if they did, their tax bill would be truly enormous.

Enormous enough to affect their lifestyle.

So why would they?

After all, even in modern times, with very advanced monetary surveillance, rich billionaires still used every legal loophole in the book, and even crooked means like bribes and 'election donations' to skirt the 40% cut from their paychecks.

So it was little wonder that nobles of this time would refuse to voluntarily tear a chunk of their income.

And besides, what was the point?

They were the rulers and held ninety percent of the wealth.

So taxing them would just be moving money from their left pocket to their right pocket.

It would be going through all that hassle without any real benefit.

And since a select group of upper-class nobles did not want to pay taxes, neither did they see any reason to, the entire class evaded paying them.

But since Prantik finally found a lord willing to pay his fair share, then he was willing to side with him, at least for the time being.

A sentiment not at all shared by many of his friends.

"Prantik! You cannot be such a fool?" They exclaimed, pointing to Alexander and saying, "Never mind he might be lying, even if he is not, this is him just him moving the money from one pocket to the next. All the taxes will go to him, remember!"

They had a point there as Alexander could use the funds too fatten his own pocket.

But Alexander was there to quickly rebuke them.

"As nobles, we are rulers of these lands. So of course any tax we pay ends up in our hands." Alexander did not surprisingly decline the accusation, instead doubled down on it, saying, "But that is the point. These collected taxes will be used to help the nobles themselves."

"The large amount of money will be used to help fund projects that individual nobles would not be able to easily finish by themselves. Projects which would require them decades, if not their entire lifetime to finance if they wanted to self-finance it." Alexander then stated.

And then quickly listed some examples, along with the benefits,

"For instance, the money collected can be used to build civilian infrastructure like roads and bridges in one noble's territory that is particularly remote."

"Or to construct huge, expensive, productive structures like mines, and quarries for someone who might not have the funds to develop his lands.

"Or simply boost the agriculture output of the land by digging canals for irrigation, and even producing more farmland by clearing woods and forest."

Alexander then raised his index finger to further continue,

"Also, the funds can be used to finance military projects in addition to civilian ones."

"For example, they can help to pay for the construction of military structures such as forts and walls, allowing the nobles with particularly hostile neighbors better protection."

"The large pool of money can be used to recruit better trained and greater number of mercenaries to aid in the fight."

"And lastly, it can even allow the building of a large, permanent army that can protect everyone."

"After all, having one, single unified army is much better than the patchwork of many small garrisoned forces that individual nobles have nowadays. These little forces can be easily picked off one by one by the attacker." Alexander pointed out.

Then finally finished by saying,

"And lastly, the taxes can help raise funds for nobles who have fallen in hard times. Natural disasters such as famines, floods, and droughts, rebellions, and uprisings, and external invasions from enemies all count."

Alexander had said this very long piece not only to convince Prantik, but all those around him.

And his target audience were his retainers as well, whom he feared might waiver in their commitment after seeing the other nobles' way of doing things.

For a while after Alexander's speech, the crowd went silent, evaluating his proposal.

The nobles of course understood that Alexander would only give them their men if they became his vassals and that this was Alexander's way of convincing them to take the deal.

"You said one large army. Do you mean that we will not be allowed to have any men of our own?" This pointed question was made by Jamider (Earl) Bahram, who had decided to once again insert himself into the conversation, and shrewdly pointed out a subtle point Alexander had quickly brushed over.

The man had recognized the threat Alexander's proposal posed to him, and his king Amenheraft, and tried to quash these rebellious thoughts at the roots.

And it worked to some extent, as it hit a weak point that Alexander was unable to defend against.

For he would never allow his retainers to wield significant numbers of troops.

This was just asking them to rebel against him.

'Cunning bastard!' Hence he gnashed his teeth in frustration.

But Alexander was nothing if not resourceful.

So he quickly diverted the topic, as he put on a mocking tone, and sneered, "Heh! Bahram would make you think that he has the best concern for you. That his heart bleeds for you that you do not have an army."

"But remember, it is them that demands lavish parties and ornate gifts from you all."

"Why?"

"Why can't the richer nobles pay for their own entertainment?"

"Are they too poor?"

"No."

"It's Because this is their way of taking money from you. Money that they fear you will use to fund your armies with."

"But of course, all of you knew that, hehe."

Alexander frankly revealed an open secret with a snark that made every go silent.

Even Jamider Bahram had no counter to this.

Alexander, seeing no rebuttal, seized this opening and decided to go the KO, as he said the last piece of the deal.

"If you choose to become my vassal, all of you will be allowed an appropriate number of garrison, adequate enough to deal with most threats. "

"As for the other threats you cannot deal with, the army will then be dispaced to deal with them." He promised.

"But like Jamider (Earl) Bahram pointed out, you will not be allowed to form armies of your own."

"Instead a single, grand army will protect everyone."

Alexander then lightly added,

"As for the details of how that army will accomplish this and the command structure of the whole force, all that is confidential and cannot be revealed to the enemy."

"You will know once you join."

Alexander declared.

And then threw out an ultimatum.

"Now, it is your choice."

"You can choose to stay loyal to Amenheraft and live under the illusion of having to pay no taxes, but still have no army, while your lands remain undeveloped."

"Or you can choose to side with me. And in exchange for your money, I will contribute to your land's development, making you richer and letting you live more safely."

"....."

A long silence followed as Alexander gazed intently at the nobles who went poignant for the moment.

This might seem strange to some as given the clear benefits, one would think Alexander's deal would have been a no-brainer.

The economic benefits of investing into developing one's lands as opposed to whirling away one's money in frivolous extravagance should not be a hard choice.

But things in real life were rarely so simple.

And many reasons played into the event that resulted in the current curtain of silence, as the nobles weighed their options.

Options that were economical, political, strategic and also personal.

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