Chapter 4 - Book IV: The Ledger and the Sword

🏛️ Part I: The King's Budget Decree

The kingdom was once drowning in debt:

Corrupt nobles inflated military budgets to fund personal armies.

Tax collectors extorted peasants, causing unrest and emigration.

Foreign merchants passed freely, paying no tolls, no tariffs.

King Edric-Karan sat in his war room, surrounded not by generals this time—but ledgers, maps, and ink-stained scrolls.

And for the first time in decades, the kingdom's true balance sheet was revealed.

💰 The Royal Budget Reforged 🧾 Kingdom's Previous Financial State:

Military Expenditure: 55%

Noble Pensions & Feasts: 18%

Infrastructure: 6%

Public Welfare: 2%

Net Annual Loss: -12,000 gold crowns

🏗️ The King's New Budget Plan

🌾 1. Agriculture – 20% Allocation

"Feed the people, and they will feed the kingdom."

Introduced seed banks to lend high-quality seeds to farmers.

Distributed metal ploughs, increasing yield by 3x.

Ordered irrigation canals from mountain streams.

Established milk farms, sponsored by the Crown, ensuring daily dairy in every village.

Created Royal Grain Storage Silos—no more famines.

→ Food surplus allowed exports and trade leverage.

🛣️ 2. Infrastructure – 25% Allocation

"A kingdom that cannot move, cannot grow."

Built stone roads connecting cities, villages, and ports.

Constructed watchtowers and signal stations—military and trade security.

Erected new city walls and gates—reassurance for citizens, warning for enemies.

Toll gates for foreign traders at all land and sea entries.

→ Boosted local trade and taxed foreigners without hurting citizens.

🐄 3. Daily Life Investments – 10% Allocation

"Prosperity must be visible in the homes of commoners."

Subsidized cows, chickens, and bees for every farming family.

Supported soap makers, cloth dyers, and millers with raw material grants.

Introduced public granaries, wells, and bakeries in every major town.

Created Public Bathhouses and Clean Water Projects in cities.

→ Health improved. Crime dropped. Productivity soared.

🏦 4. National Banking System – 15% Allocation

"Let the merchants rise, and the crown will rise with them."

Introduced "The Royal Bank of Ardenthall"

Loans at 1.5% interest to registered merchants.

Merchant Guild IDs required to access funds.

Micro-loans available for small farmers & craftsmen.

Allowed foreign exchange accounts, but only in Royal Currency.

→ The Kingdom's coin became the standard for trade, especially as rival banks demanded 12–20% interest.

⚔️ 5. Military – 20% (Down from 55%)

"An efficient army is not a hungry one, but a trained one."

Disbanded bloated noble armies.

Trained smaller, elite professional soldiers.

Introduced salaried soldiering with performance-based rewards.

Equipped troops with innovations—light artillery, rifles, mobile carts.

→ Army was leaner, faster, more feared—and loyal only to the Crown.

📈 Results After 2 Years of Reform:

Food Production increased massively — from just 60% capacity to 210% capacity.

Tax Revenue rose from 43,000 gold to 88,500 gold.

Foreign Trade Profit jumped from 6,000 gold to 28,000 gold.

The kingdom went from a -12,000 gold annual deficit to a +38,000 gold surplus.

Public Support transformed from fading to unshakeable. 

👑 The King's Speech at the Treasury Council

"You thought gold was found in vaults.""I found it in the soil, in the sweat of honest hands, in cows' milk, and children's laughter.""This is not just a kingdom. This is a machine of prosperity—and I am its engine."