113 – Saemaul Undong in the Middle Ages (4)

The OECD is shocked, all kinds of underdeveloped countries are lining up to learn, and even though it has been almost 50 years since it started, the Saemaul Undong is still succeeding in its direction and seeing results in Congo.

Even in modern Korea, although there may be differences in degree of this Saemaul Undong, almost everyone admits that the movement was successful.

And now, when we analyzed the situation in our territory, the current Creutel needs a Saemaul Undong.

Because until now, while building numerous factories in the city, it was possible to absorb the second and third sons and women of the serfs and prevent the creation of poverty…

In the future, even if this trend continues for one or two years, the manpower that can be absorbed by the factory will reach its limit.

Then, of course, because of the overwhelming supply, I can bet both hands and feet that communism will come to say hello as the treatment of low-value workers deteriorates.

At the same time, the percentage of population in cities in our territory is 2-3%, including soldiers stationed in cities, but in an era without steam engines, if the percentage of population living in cities exceeds 5%…

Since this becomes a problem that cannot be solved unless it is God, it is necessary to launch the Saemaul Undong, settle the second and third sons in rural areas, and create a basis for marriage and living.

And I put my seal at the end of the plan, confirmed this plan and gave orders.

“Immediately summon nobles from all over the territory, baron or higher. There is no time!”

It’s not exactly that I don’t have time, but it’s always right to start good things quickly.

**

On the day two weeks passed after sending the emergency call-up order, I left the office with Ella seeing me off.

And I walked into the conference room feeling like a businessman on his way to presenting a masterpiece of my life.

With each step or two, the many benefits that could be gained by executing this plan perfectly went through my head.

After walking happily for a while, I arrived at the door of the conference room before I knew it.

The door opened, but the other nobles were talking, completely oblivious to whether they were busy debating the purpose of my urgent gathering.

“Excuse me, excuse me. The wedding must be held on the same day, and this time the Duchy of Architel… ”

“What are you talking about? Your Excellency Baron Biermann, then you will go bankrupt!”

“You talk the most nonsense in the world. There’s no way His Excellency could go bankrupt, is there? Even now, if His Excellency wishes, he should have the money to come and paint the mansion with gold.”

“No, haven’t the guild masters of Nantes been beaten with maces these days? It seems like you want to talk about guild crackdowns on that. Ciel, who is considerate of even mere serfs, must be thinking that way.”

“Well, we heard the news that the Nantes guys were beaten with a mace, so we cracked down according to the order of the Labor Standards Act… Ten people were beheaded in just one day.”

“As expected, Your Excellency the Viscount… It is the insight of the one who gave birth to the lion… ”

Leaving them behind, I sat down in my seat, then hit the floor with the halberds held by the honor guards around me and then said,

“His Excellency Ciel von Creutel, the White Reaper of Creutel, who is merciful and honorable, and who is more merciless towards his enemies than anyone else. Everyone please vote yes.”

At that, the father bowed slightly, and the rest of the nobles knelt down on one knee and bowed their heads.

“Stand up, take a seat.”

Everyone got up at the same time at the signal and sat down right away.

“Thank you for coming, and today I would like to give you special good news.”

When I, who normally don’t give titles like Sir to nobles, suddenly gave them the title of Sir, the nobles suddenly looked at me with eyes wondering why.

“My concubine Ella had a baby a few months ago. In order to celebrate this with the sirs, after this meeting, I will award all nobles of major or higher according to their title and rank.”

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Most of the time, I cheered when I was giving out the bounty, but everyone had worried faces, probably because it was a pretext that the concubine’s pregnancy was earlier than the original wife’s.

That’s why you can’t criticize them, because if a concubine gets pregnant before her main wife, it often causes internal divisions in the kingdom or territory…

However, my father came up to me and said, clapping first.

“You too will be the father of a child now! And I will be a grandfather! So, have you decided on a name for your child? Troy if it’s a boy, Troy if it’s a girl… Helen would be nice.”

And after that, Balt clapped his hands, stood up, and spoke.

“It’s a sergeant, Your Excellency. And I’m also going to get married soon, so please introduce me to a good person… ”

No matter how much the culture of the nobility of this era does not have the thorough hierarchy and authority of Joseon, it could be a problem for Balt, a vassal rather than a father, to say such a thing at a meeting held by their master.

However, Balt is not without concepts… He must have been doing this partly to deal with the situation of his concubine getting pregnant earlier than his original wife.

So I answered them with a smile.

“I will name the child, father. And Balt, you got an arranged marriage with a girl who just graduated from the academy about a month after my wedding. I’m a child of a low-class aristocratic family, but I think I’ll get along well with you.”

At those words, Balt and his father smiled and sat down.

And soon, the other nobles, as well as Balt, the noblest closest to me, and my father, who serves as the chancellor of this family, were convinced, and they clapped and congratulated as if they thought that everything was already planned.

“Congratulations!”

“Long live Kreutel! Long live Ella!!”

Thanks to my father and Balt, I was able to quickly cover up this issue, so I’ll have to send the two of them a proper gift later.

“Of course, I didn’t call you to inform you about Ella’s pregnancy. There is another reason, so everyone should look at the plan written on Saemaul Undong.”

And I said, quickly flipping through the announcement post on the huge bulletin board.

“First of all, the Saemaul Undong is a plan aimed at maximizing the capabilities of the serfs to see the maximum effect. And all the serfs who participate in this movement to make it come true will also benefit in their own way.”

“By profit, what kind of profit are you talking about?”

“First of all, from the beginning of this movement, I will buy all the food left over from their food at 1.2 times the price the grain merchants buy. And things like meat and cheese will be sold at a little less than they buy. We will also supply, at a low price, good farm equipment and bricks and the like to build better houses, wells, mills and ovens.”

After saying that, the faces of the nobles sitting there began to rot.

I would have thought that I would bear all the losses from buying and selling food, just like I bought the grain they received from their taxes…

Things like tools, wells, houses, and mills would normally have to be expanded by the lord who owns the land himself, so it would be a huge burden for them.

So I spoke to alleviate their concerns.

“As a result of reviewing with the cooperation of the bureaucrats under Baron Lauren and the upper ranks, the money required to introduce the facilities and tools just mentioned… I heard it’s around 300,000 gold coins. However, in this plan, I am also violating your right to autonomy. Therefore, I will pay for the initial installation costs, etc., using the indemnity from the Duke of Maxburg and my private property. So you don’t have to worry.”

“Then we have no complaints, for the serfs live in good conditions, have many children, and work hard on the farm, so our income increases. Thank you, Your Excellency, for your consideration.”

Even if your rights are violated even a little, I will inform you in advance and ask for your understanding, and they say that I will provide you with the necessary tools to increase the yield… agree right away

Well, since they receive food as a tax, the more food they acquire, the more income they get…

Even if I don’t do anything, if you say you’ll copy money, I’ll even open the door to your house if you ask for your understanding.

“I will continue the story. From now on, I will order them to clear land for farming and build roads in return for providing them with numerous resources to improve their living conditions and increase their income.”

At those words, this time my father stood up and asked.

“You’re not thinking of entrusting such work to lower nobles, are you?”

It’s not that I didn’t think about it, but using low-ranking nobles who didn’t even understand serfs would only have a bad effect.

Even if they don’t have any ill intentions, they’re obviously acting like a new platoon commander who doesn’t know anything about the job.

Even, if you send guys like that to the countryside, you can’t even attach a guy like a police officer or deputy platoon leader to supervise… There is a high possibility that it will be a better level of reform if you don’t really do it.

“of course. I’m going to push this plan through the inspector, the bailiff, and the village chief. For example, if I give an order to build a road from Windheim to Kreutel Castle, the inspector will estimate the cost and number of people involved and conduct an interim inspection. Doesn’t the bailiff gather people from each village according to the inspector’s instructions, and the village chiefs lead them? We will work with that structure.”

“If you do that, they will work hard too.”

Then I turned to the next page and continued the story.

“Work proceeds that way, but we will analyze each individual’s performance as much as possible and give appropriate rewards, promotions and sometimes punishments. Punishment will not be executed unless embezzlement or gross negligence is caused, and the presiding judge will decide accordingly after clearly analyzing the causal relationship. And, if it works… It will open the way for even the village chief to become a bailiff, and it will open a way for bailiffs to become an inspector. The inspectors… .”

I didn’t say more, but there’s only a baronet above the inspector… It was like saying that he would make him a quasi-barone.

“In addition, the performance of each village will be analyzed, and when compared to other villages, it will be classified as 1st grade if it is excellent, 2nd grade if it is average, and 3rd grade if it is below the standard. According to each grade, the amount of resources and money supported And the tax rate will be different. In the case of the first grade, the tax is reduced by up to 10%, in the case of the second grade, it remains the same, and in the case of the third grade, all villagers are mobilized for a week without pay in winter to build roads or clear fields.”

Besides that, I explained various trivial matters to them.

When building a road, dig the land to a depth of two thumbs and then fill it with pebbles or small stones. mobilize, etc…

The nobles who were listening to this were putting on a blank look on their faces as to why we should be listening to this.

However, since it was a matter of his own interests, he began to write down if he did not know, as he did not know, and as he knew, as he knew.

After talking about the Saemaul Undong, which was close to notification, I read another plan in my hand.

The title of the plan is…

[Establishing Creutel-style absolute kingship that even beginners can do]

What a beautiful title.