Tax System Reform 1
Translator: Cinder Translations
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Hansel Abbot hummed a little tune as he briskly left his office. He had just been informed by the lord's manor that Earl Grayman was calling a meeting of the heads of various departments in the Council of State.
Hansel was in quite a good mood lately.
Last month, as the heir to the throne, Earl Gerd Rodney came to Alden Town to conduct business on behalf of the royal family with his current boss, Paul Grayman. At first, he had the honor of introducing the two, and fortunately, both Earls ended up having a fruitful discussion, with Gerd Rodney even sending him a letter of thanks. This surprised Hansel, as Gerd Rodney was quite high up in the line of succession for the royal family.
As for why Earl Gerd sought out Hansel for the introduction, it was because Sir Hansel Abbot held two titles: the Agricultural Supervisor of the Alden Council of State and the royal representative stationed at the Northwest Bay.
Hansel had once taken great pride in this title, but now he had slowly begun to see it differently. The so-called royal representative was most likely created when Princess Katherine had no place to house the noble youths who had fled from the Crystal Glare City during the military rebellion and voluntarily "served" in her army. Thus, the title of royal representative was invented to send these noble youths to various parts of the country, effectively keeping them out of sight.
Otherwise, why had he not received even a single copper coin as salary until now? Why did the head of the intelligence department, who was nominally his superior among the royal representatives, treat him with indifference every time they met?
Sigh, if Princess Katherine had truly valued his talents, he would have been kept in the army like his old classmate, Matthew.
After the pacification war, Matthew leveraged this qualification to catch the eye of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who helped him secure an enviable position.
While Hansel was left to "breathe the air" at the Northwest Bay.
Thinking of this made Hansel feel a bit choked up, and his steps became less light. He hurriedly shook his head, trying to shake these unpleasant memories from his mind.
His thoughts returned to Earl Gerd Rodney, who, as the king's nephew, was theoretically the second in line for the throne—second only to his father.
Currently, the king of Aldor had only two daughters, and historically, there had never been a precedent for a female inheriting the throne. Therefore, the crown would likely fall to the king's brother, and Gerd, as the king's brother's eldest son, would likely be the one to eventually wear the crown unless something unexpected occurred.
He was considered the second in line, meaning if Gerd's father were to meet with an accident, the crown would fall directly on his head.
It should have been like this, but the presence of Princess Katherine introduced uncertainty into this procedure. When Hansel was still in the capital, Crystal Glare City, there were rumors that the king very much hoped to have his outstanding eldest daughter inherit the throne.
Would the king change centuries-old traditions for his daughter? If the king had such an intention, would the nobles accept his arrangements?
Hansel shook his head again, trying to dispel these thoughts. Regardless of whether the king had such intentions or whether the nobles thought this way, it was not for him, a low-ranking noble with half "common" blood, who had been assigned to a border area, to say anything.
His desire to return to Crystal Glare City was no longer as fervent as it had once been. In Alden Town, he was a respected head of the Council of State, one of the top officials appointed by the lord, but returning to Crystal Glare City would immediately revert him to his former, unpleasant identity as a disgrace among the Aldor nobility.
If it had been over four years ago when he first arrived, the sights of Alden would have given him a huge sense of loss. But now, Alden—no, even the entire Northwest Bay—had undergone tremendous changes.
Yes, it was still the kingdom's frontier, but it had become the "prosperous" frontier of the kingdom.
Just look at the broad, straight road that runs through Alden Town from north to south, paved with uniform, smooth, and flat stones.
Hansel had never seen such a street in any other city in the kingdom except in the capital. Most of the streets in other cities were dirt roads, and those with better conditions were only covered with gravel, turning muddy and difficult to navigate when it rained.
The sanitary conditions were even worse; almost any kind of garbage could be seen on the streets of other cities, including human and animal feces. Walking on the streets meant enduring or getting used to indescribable smells.
In contrast, the streets of Alden Town had a dedicated agency established by the Council of State to manage sanitation, employing people to clean daily and enforcing laws with severe penalties for those who harmed public health. Thanks to these strong measures, the sanitation of the streets in Alden Town could be said to be unrivaled in Aldor. Even the capital, Crystal Glare City, could hardly compare.
On these roads, a steady stream of cargo carts formed a bustling river of traffic, so busy that the Council of State had to formulate complex traffic rules that outsiders found bewildering. The Public Safety Department even dispatched personnel to various intersections to maintain order, using a standardized set of hand signals to guide passing vehicles.
Now, Alden Town was a thriving city, and it was not a stagnant prosperity but one that showed an increasingly prosperous trend. The city boasted a strong manufacturing industry, with new factories and buildings rising every day, attracting people from nearby and distant places seeking livelihoods.
Of course, the busyness of the main north-south road was mainly concentrated in the new district on the south bank of Lake Wes, while the true Alden Town, located on the small island surrounded by water, remained relatively empty.
This was because the designated administrative district had replaced the original low-lying houses with government buildings of the Council of State, and the original residents had been relocated to the new district, compensated with beautiful buildings.
As the scale of the Council of State grew increasingly vast, important departments such as the Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Commerce established their own independent offices or buildings.
The Ministry of Agriculture, which Hansel was responsible for, occupied a three-story building exclusively for their use.
Since all departments were concentrated on a small island, the distance between them was short, allowing officials to take leisurely walks on the streets during office hours and engage in cross-departmental discussions with passersby about work matters, making it extremely convenient.
(End of the Chapter)
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Translated 4 Series, 1.65K+ Chapters and 2.01M+ Words.