64 – Harvest Festival (2)
It is treated as a public enemy by officials and is called a dragon in the kingdom, but even the prime minister is a person who cries when sad and bleeds when stabbed.
Even if you are a prime minister, you will want to relax and enjoy the festival.
I just don’t have enough time.
“I will take note of this, Your Majesty.”
The Prime Minister twitched his eyebrows and gave a warning to take it in moderation.
“This is data from my own independent research.”
However, Dior ignored the Prime Minister’s intentions and took out a fairly large bundle of paper.
I looked through the materials he distributed one by one.
… It’s quite serious, isn’t it?
Like a meticulous guy, it seemed like he was planning to bury the moat of the prime minister’s name based on the data.
“First of all, let’s look at the status of each district.”
A city is basically created by starting from a small village and gradually expanding its scope.
That’s why buildings are built with heavy heating, and in the end, an unsightly and unsightly street is created.
However, the Sixth Sun Emperor Maximus himself ordered full-scale redevelopment of the system.
The reason was that cities built with heavy heating were not only beautiful but also vulnerable to disease.
Thanks to this, the system took on a systematically divided form like Barcelona, Spain.
In fact, dividing the area into sections like this significantly reduced the spread of infectious diseases.
Is that all there is?
“If you look at the pattern of the previous year’s harvest festival, from this district to this district—”
The reason Dior divides the area like an expert is because the area has been thoroughly divided through redevelopment.
“If the harvest festival is held briefly, there is a high possibility that residents living in the outskirts, which are relatively far from the inner city, will not be able to participate. So shouldn’t it take three days instead of two?”
The redevelopment of the system left behind many other benefits.
But in everything, there are two sides of the same coin.
‘Did you say it was an astronomical amount…? .’
From what I learned from Martin, he was said to have consumed so much wealth that he had to receive donations from nobles.
If the person who promoted this was not the Sixth Sun, it is evaluated as an incident where the nobles might have staged a coup, asking if they were planning to destroy the empire.
As the Prime Minister, he thinks that such a situation may happen again, so he is trying to tighten his belt as much as possible.
In fact, history speaks for itself.
In the era when the emperor who embraces the sun ascends to the throne, a major event takes place that determines the survival of the country.
As a prime minister, he had no choice but to try to save even a single copper coin in preparation for such a situation.
“I was impressed by His Majesty Dior’s insight. Certainly, if it lasts longer than three days, soldiers can also enjoy the harvest festival.”
“Count Abarca…. If you have an opinion, please raise your hand and say it.”
“Oh, sorry.”
The problem is that Dior’s words are quite plausible.
Harvest Festival is basically a festival for commoners.
But if the period is too short, how much can the common people enjoy it?
Here, the opinion of Count Abarca, who gave strength to Dior’s opinion, was also appropriate.
Soldiers are ultimately subjects of the imperial castle, and if the festival is short, they will just stand guard and end the day.
‘I guess I should stop for a moment.’
Count Abarca’s support was fatal.
If things continued like this, all the nobles would stick to Dior’s side and the balance would collapse.
I also have a conscience.
In this situation, I should take the Prime Minister’s side.
“… Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I think what Dior said makes sense. “Isn’t that the opinion of a guy called Ki Ki?”
Dior looked at me with a slightly surprised expression, then smiled softly and nodded.
I turned my gaze away from him and looked at Count Abarca.
“Count Abarka is right. “This is something I never thought about until now.”
Count Abarca just nodded, still with a strangely expressionless expression.
“The imperial harvest festival began with a prayer of gratitude to the sun god for warmly caring for the crops after completing the year’s harvest. Therefore, it is an even more meaningful event for farmers, who are responsible for harvesting. But paradoxically, those who truly enjoy the harvest festival are those like us who can afford it.”
“I stand by your words. However, holding a state-led harvest festival in this wide system requires a huge budget. “As the scale grows, more budget is needed.”
It is as the Prime Minister said.
“So, shouldn’t we find an agreement that will satisfy everyone?”
The reason nobles want to extend the festival period is not just because the festival is fun.
Even commoners open their pockets during the harvest festival.
It may be a penny compared to the nobles, but when all the commoners of this great system open their pockets, it will no longer be a penny.
In other words, festivals make money.
That alone is the reason why nobles want to hold a big festival.
‘If you use this well….’
“The harvest festival is an event for the common people. So I guess I should listen to their opinions first.”
I got up from my seat and stood in front of the map dividing each section of the island.
“We collect the opinions of the common people. As Dior said, let’s pursue practical aspects.”
“Brother….”
There are so many officials gathered here.
If you designate each area and entrust it to them, two to three days will be enough, no matter how large the system is.
“May I also add my opinion, Your Highness?”
“What is it?”
“… “It may be presumptuous, but wouldn’t it be a bit unsightly to call it a festival?”
That is correct.
“That’s right. So this part—”
I was planning to completely ignore the harvest festival, but it looks like I have no choice but to attend this meeting as well.
***
The meeting unexpectedly became longer.
Anyway, the budget calculation had been completed to some extent, and part of the budget had already been executed.
So, the meeting was in its final stages, but Dior’s proposal led to a new trend.
To summarize, the meeting was successful.
“That’s great, Your Highness.”
“This is the result of reconciling our differences. “It was an issue that would not have been considered if Dior or Count Abarca had not stepped forward in the first place.”
Now that we were starting to prepare in earnest, it was painful to hear new opinions presented.
Because time was tight, there were repeated intense meetings that inevitably included overtime and overtime.
As a result, even the prime minister nodded with satisfaction.
“The term donation will be useful in the future.”
“That will happen.”
In pursuit of practical aspects, it may end up being a festival that lacks extravagance.
Because such a story came out, the splendor was passed on to the nobles.
“Although advertising is an unfamiliar method, I believe it will definitely have an effect worthy of receiving donations.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“That’s right.”
The style of the ornaments was unified, but the detailed elements to be included in the ornaments were left to the discretion of the nobles.
For example, if there is a national flag used as a decoration for a sports event, the name of the maker owned by the nobles is naturally engraved on it.
The intention is to continuously expose makers to ordinary people who are excited about the festival, thereby naturally encouraging consumption.
Money is also extorted from merchants who benefit from such increased consumption.
Of course, there were some nobles who showed their will to resist taxes during this process, so it was decided to collect money from the profits earned during the extended festival period in the name of management expenses.
In this regard, the Prime Minister and the finance ministry presented a reasonable line, so everyone accepted without question the calculation that paying the management fee would be more beneficial.
With this, the budget borne by the empire has been greatly reduced, but the scale and duration of the harvest festival have increased significantly compared to before.
“It is a worthwhile result of the hard work.”
Thanks to Dior’s proposal, the poor will enjoy practical benefits by filling their bellies with food they would normally not be able to eat or drink.
Commoners will enjoy festivals that reflect their opinions, and their loyalty to the empire will grow even more than before.
Merchants will become richer as their profits increase, and the nobles, who are their actual owners, will also benefit.
It was truly a perfect result with no one suffering any loss.
“Now, this is a fee for your trouble.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty… !”
It was troublesome to go see Priscilla while the meeting was still going on.
However, she was reluctant to bring Priscilla to her meetings like before, so she ordered so-and-so to use the magic tool’s mana shuttle.
At first, he looked at me as if he was doing too much for the leading court wizard, but when I paid him a reasonable price, he actually seemed grateful for doing it.
Everything went well.
I really wanted to believe it, but—
“….”
No matter how you look at it, Priscilla looked unhappy.
‘I did something a bit sorry.’
─ That… majesty? Still, I think it would be better to visit in person.
─ Isn’t it inefficient?
─ Miss Priscilla… Well, hahahaha….
─ Sighing in front of the royal family, this is truly the vessel of an archmage.
─ I’m sorry!!!
Magic tools are only effective for up to 3 hours.
So, no matter how busy I was, I would have been waiting with my favorite Arbest tea leaves ready, thinking that I would be able to see them at that time.
Then, when so-and-so visited, it was clear at a glance what kind of reaction he would have had.
“I think this year’s rough agenda has been sorted out.”
“Yes, everyone worked hard.”
Looking at Priscilla’s notice, I quickly sent Martin and so-and-so out of the study.
“I think this harvest festival will be spectacular.”
“… “Yes, I think so.”
It was a cold voice that gave a strange sense of distance.
“As Martin said, the general agenda has been completed. Now there is no reason to attend meetings unless His Majesty orders it.”
“… Is that so.”
“Okay, so I guess we can take it easy now.”
Priscilla glanced at me and started fiddling with something on her.
‘Something strange.’
Priscilla was fiddling with Perth, a magic tool that changes the appearance of her wearer.
It seemed like he was blatantly begging me to take him to the harvest festival, so I almost burst out laughing without realizing it.
“This is a meeting I attended, even reducing my sleep time. “It would be a waste not to enjoy the results.”
I took one of the pers from Priscilla’s hand and put it on her wrist.
Then, as Priscilla was slowly turning her head, she caressed the side of her head and whispered softly into her boyfriend’s ear.
“Will you enjoy the harvest festival with me, Sir?”
Then, Priscilla turned her head away from me and carefully placed the remaining piece on her wrist.
Then he looked back at me, smiling brightly, as if a sunflower had bloomed.
“Yes, Max!”
He is truly a strange guy.