As soon as James assumed the position as the King, he immediately convened a meeting and called all of the top officials and aristocrats.
"Now that I'm finally the King, it's time for the reform. Although we, the Lannister, have been live a peaceful and easy life, there is one thing that always bothers me. First of all, who among you all ever been go abroad ?" James asked as he overlooked all the people from his high chair.
Roughly 7/8 raised their hands, which make James quite satisfied.
"Although I already discuss this before with some of you, the majority of people here haven't. Tell me, what if we compare our kingdom to the mainstream world ?" James asked once again.
"Backward, we are very backward, Your Majesty." A middle-aged woman dressed in luxury clothes answered. She was the only marquess in the kingdom, and she was also one of the most loyal nobles to James.
"Yes, what Marquis Sun said is true. I assume all of you already know there will soon a massive infrastructure built in our kingdom. Although it will indeed improve the situation of our kingdom, there is much more things to improve." James paused a moment before he resumed.
"This kingdom established by my great-grandfather 120 years ago, and there is almost no change ever since, it's outdated! Just say, our governance system, various social system, and... the aristocrat system." James said as he looked over a specific group of people.
"As time now, our kingdom has 33 noble houses in existence. My great-grandfather seals almost all of the noble houses, and my grandfather only seals one of them, which is Duke of Westwood. Why I discuss about this today? It's because almost all the best island already occupied by you guys, the nobles!" James said sharply.
"I think this won't work, as I need to develop the island. So, I decided to retract all of the island ownersh..." Before James could finish his sentence, an old man suddenly stood up.
"You can't do this to us, Your Majesty. The 1st King gives all of the island ownership to us, and it already stated within the kingdom laws!" The old man said hurriedly. He was one of the three earls in the kingdom and also the most senior people within the nobles.
Almost all of the nobles quickly agreed with the old man's opinion. The meeting room immediately became noisy from the noble's objection. James's face was frosted as these people didn't respect him at all.
"QUIET!!!" James shouted as he smacked the table hard, which made it show a crack.
All the nobles suddenly quiet as they gulped their saliva. They looked horribly toward James as a hardwood made the table! Even if a strongman armed with a sledgehammer hit it, it was just the same as James punch just now!
"Are you the King, or I'm the King ?!!" James asked loudly. Nobody dared to answer as they quickly tucked their heads.
"I'm already tired with all of your attitude in the past two months. Do you think I'm a nice King like my grandfather and will not bully you? You are wrong! I'm here to give my word, whoever dares to defy my order....." James said as he looked toward Yang Feng.
"Whoever dares to defy Your Majesty order, I can only treat that person as a traitor! We all know what happens to traitor, don't we ?" Yang Feng quickly caught James's signal and said loudly. Everyone gulped as they knew what fate would befall for a traitor, death sentence!
Everyone could only give an ugly smile and forced to obey James's arrangement. After all, he was the legit King, and his standing was very solid with Zhou Huang, Yang Feng, Joseph supported him.
"It's not that I'm a tyrant King, but it's for the greater good of our kingdom! I will not give everyone a white meal. Based on your title, I will provide you with compensation. $80 Million for the Duke, $40 Million for the Marquess, $20 Million each for the Earl, $10 Million each for the Viscount, and $5 Million each for the Baron!" James explained.
Although James would give $305 Million in total, but it was worth it if it could ensure the stability. After all, if he really took away the island ownership forcefully, it could trigger a severe backlash. A problem that could solve by money wasn't a problem!
Almost every noble shocked as they felt James was too generous! Although they were nobles, most of them were very poor! Their assets mainly lied in the output of their respective field, which was meager. And then, all of the nobles already venture to the outside world, even live there for a while. So they knew better than the compensation was extremely generous.
"Not just the island ownership, I also want to retract your title. If any of you agree, you can immediately receive a double compensation!" James secretly grinned as this was a trap that he dug.
"Your Majesty, when I can receive the compensation ?" The Earl old man was the first one to reply. Everyone cursed at the shameless old man as he was the fastest to object and agree.
"As soon as possible!" James replied.
Most people agreed to 'sell' their title as the compensation was too tempting! Only a small amount of nobles didn't 'sell' their title as they were already satisfied with the island ownership compensation. In the end, only 1 Duke, 1 Marquess, and 2 Viscount left that didn't 'sell' their title.
"Hahaha, then I will see my self first, Your Majesty." The Earl old man said cheerfully. After he got his $40 Million compensation, he would immediately move to Europe with his family. He didn't want to stay at this broken kingdom any longer, especially with a 'crazy' King like James.
Most nobles also had the same mind as the Earl old man, they would also move out to another country. Only a small amount chose to stay as they felt their root was here.
Zhou Huang, Joseph, and Yang Feng sneered toward the leaving nobles as they felt the nobles that sold their title was a traitor! James didn't care less as finally the most volatile element successfully 'removed' even if it cost a sum of money. The nobles that were staying were very loyal, and he could trust them. Anyway, the leaving nobles would definitely regret their today's decision.
"Hahaha, the meeting for today ends here, and we will continue this by tomorrow. For now, let's celebrate my ascension! Zhou Huang, inform all the people that they are invited to the palace to attend the banquet! The banquet will be held in the main field, and I want it to be ready at 7 pm. Oh yeah, also invite our international friend." James said cheerfully. He was very, very happy right now, and had nowhere to vent.
"Your humble minister accepts Your Majesty order." Zhou Huang said as he bowed respectfully. Then he quickly left the meeting room to did his job.
"All the nobles that are still staying, you will not regret today's decision." James said.