“What?!” Treasurer Johan stood up, in shock, “you want to hand out your own land to the peasants?”

  Steward Marna gestured at him to calm down, but she clearly was just as surprised by this idea. “Your majesty, I’d like to remind you that just several months ago, we all urged you to consider giving out your sizeable inheritance and splitting it between the various nobles. Back then, you were very much against that idea. And now this,” she sighed.

  “I know that we are stuck here in Westbridge,” she continued, “while you’ve been exploring Lindridge for a while and have a better idea of what exactly is going on there. We haven’t seen whatever terrible scenes may be occurring in the countryside. But please, do not make any rash decisions. Think it through carefully.”

  Varre raised his arms in defense. “I think you’re the ones who are misunderstanding me. I will still remain as the sole owner of all of the crownlands. Think of it more like renting the fields out to the peasantry.”

  “So you no longer wish to have large farms managed directly by the magistrates?” Head Merchant Lester suggested.

  “Exactly,” the king nodded, “the serfs already receive small plots that they can farm for themselves. Why are we even bothering with keeping the rest for ourselves? Why not just skip the middlemen and distribute it to the peasants directly? We can just tax them to get our revenue.”

  Johan put a hand over his chest, trying to catch his breath again after his outburst. “Your majesty,” he finally said after a moment, “I have seen hundreds of reports from people all across the nation. The peasants barely produce anything worthwhile. When it comes to food that actually gets delivered to the towns, the majority is sent there by the nobility! From large estates!”

  “Of course it is,” Varre agreed, “the serfs are given just enough land to survive. They have no real possibility to grow any surplus for trade. They probably focus on plants that feed just them, with as varied a diet as possible, rather than crops that are most profitable. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re forced to farm on the worst soil in each area either.”

  “It will be hard to prove without evidence,” Lester said, “but I think your argument is sound.”

  “And what then? Even if you distribute your land to all of these peasants, and they somehow manage to grow more grain than the magistrates did, how will they even deliver that to the cities?,” the treasurer threw his hands in the air, “they have no carts. They have no horses. No connections to merchants. It will be pure chaos! It will take decades for the market to react to such drastic changes!

  “Not to mention the coin!” he roared, “can they be trusted with real, actual thalars? Once they see the first profit, half of them will immediately spend it all on beer in filthy taverns! How can we even be sure they get it back home? How can we be sure we’re not being cheated on the values. It will be a disaster!”

  “Be a little more open minded Johan,” the head merchant argued, “there are some small kinks that still need to be worked out, but we can find solutions. That’s what we’re here for.”

  “I’ve already thought of some of these issues,” Varre added, “that’s why we will still need the magistrates. They can work on all the little details down on the ground. They’ll decide how to split the land and make sure that all the profits are sent back to the capital. I have no idea how they’ve been handling it so far, that’s your job, but that part of the system has been working fine.”

  “We can manage,” Lester replied, “for starters, maybe instead of forcing them to sell the produce themselves, we can just take a portion from them directly as payment. Say half of everything they grow. Then, the existing officials can just take that and sell it as they normally would.”

  The king pointed towards the merchant. “There you go, that could work.”

  “But then how is that changing anything exactly?” Johan asked, clearly still irritated, “we still have magistrates doing everything.”

  “It changes everything,” Varre smirked, “the peasants will no longer be working for free on the land of some lord that they might have never even seen. They’ll be working for themselves.”

  Lester slowly nodded. “We take half, but the more they grow, the more they get to keep too.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Elvira interjected, “the magistrates will need to carefully explain it to everyone, and there might be some peasants who won’t understand the benefits immediately, but it makes intuitive sense.”

  “Workers are always more motivated if they benefit from their labor directly,” the head merchant added, “I’ve seen it many times. Mutually beneficial contracts tend to last longer.”

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  The treasurer leaned back in his chair, but still crossed his arms. “And the chaos? If you’re right, then the serfs will need to do something with that surplus. How will they deliver crops to the cities? How will they find merchants to sell things too? I suppose they could start selling it on the town markets, like some of the free farmers already do, but will the townsfolk accept that?”

  “That can be resolved on a case by case basis,” Varre offered, “some peasants might have the ability to get to a nearby town for trade. Some might simply eat the surplus and increase their rations. I’m sure they’ll work even harder once they’re better fed and healthier. And maybe, in some villages, the magistrates can offer to buy this extra grain from the locals directly for a small cut. Might as well add it to whatever’s taxed and sell it in one batch.”

  “We merchants are crafty people,” Lester joked, “once people sense that an opportunity like that has appeared, they will travel to these villages by themselves. They’ll be buying the crops directly from the serfs and handle all of the transport personally.”

  Johan grumbled something in response and looked away. It was clear that he had no more arguments to try. He simply disliked the idea on principle.

  Chancellor Anastasia meanwhile kept a warm, polite expression. She had a good poker face. She was a noble, like most of the advisors, but didn’t seem knowledgeable enough on the subject to share her opinion. It was safer to stay out of this, at least for now.

  Nilo was scratching his chin and looking at the map of the kingdom, deep in thought. His expression was a little hard to read, but just like Lester, he didn’t seem against the idea. He probably tried to come up with other issues with the plan, but so far, the king seemed convincing.

  The steward on the other hand, seemed deeply stressed. She leaned forward over the table and clasped her hands, consumed in thought.

  “Marna?” the king caught her attention, “you’ve been quiet for a while. I can see you’re still unconvinced.”

  “Your majesty,” she slowly began, “perhaps your idea does make sense from a profit perspective. It may be wise, smart, and whatever else you want to call it. But I am worried. There is no way the nobility will accept this. I don’t want to see us dragged into another civil war,” she looked up at him, “especially since I fear we might lose this one.”

  Varre raised his hand to calm her down. “We won’t be forcing any nobles to do anything. I think we can roll out this new system just on the crownlands. I doubt that many people will switch immediately, but once they see the benefits, after a few years…”

  “You may be right, your majesty,” Marna carefully replied, “but the aristocrats will still be afraid. They will think the changes are happening too fast. That you’re getting too dangerous. That your ideas will go even farther eventually. They won’t take this lying down.”

  “I wouldn’t be so certain,” Anastasia finally joined in the discussion, “I’m sure they’ll grumble, and I’m sure they’ll gossip, but will anyone actually do anything about it?” she looked pointedly at each councilor, “I doubt it. Those who were against his majesty already tried to stop us. Twice. If someone didn’t like Count Clement, they had Duke Charles to side with instead. A popular, famous general. Those who stayed out of it did so because they either supported the new monarch, or were too afraid to do anything about it. No matter what the rumors said. They have no stomach for any more rebellions. Not on a hunch like this one.”

  “And now that everyone knows the rebels were supported by Langogne, we even managed to prove that his majesty had nothing to do with Mikkel’s assassination,” Elvira added, “no one believes in theories of a traitor like Clement.”

  “And if they won’t just accept this?” the steward looked at them with desperate eyes, “can we be absolutely certain?”

  “There’s no such thing as absolute certainty, you should know that,” the chancellor smiled back, “it’s a risk, but the odds are good.”

  “I’ve only just started,” Nilo said, “but from what I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t seem like there’s many people openly against us right now. They might just be better at hiding, but if so, whatever movement exists must be small.”

  Marna hid her face in her palms. “Maybe you’re right, but is it even worth it? I beg you to reconsider, your majesty. You already have more wealth than any of your predecessors ever did. Your crownlands are larger than entire kingdoms! Do you really want to risk sparking another civil war, just to have a little more wealth?”

  “It’s not just about the money,” Varre slowly replied, “that’s a nice bonus, but I cannot accept how the serfs are being treated here. Or anywhere else in my kingdom. Look, I remember you once told me that you were a commoner too once, right?” she looked up at him, “don’t you want to help people like you? You got lucky. You got an education and received an amazing honor to serve as the royal steward. But if things had happened just a little differently, you’d be out there with them. Do you think that’s acceptable?”

  She did not respond.

  “I realize that there is a risk,” the king continued after a moment, “I don’t want to spark another civil war either, which is why I’m being so careful here. I’m not forcing anyone else to follow in my footsteps. I will introduce this new program only in places where I safely can. Sure, others might grumble and complain, they might call me foolish or na?ve, but with time, they’ll see the truth. They’ll understand that we don’t have to abuse our subjects just to turn a profit. In fact, we can achieve even more if we stop!”

  Marna sighed. “Fine, I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “We won’t be introducing it immediately,” Varre assured her, “it’s almost winter anyway. We have a few months to think about it, and then the magistrates can start distributing the land before the spring.”

  “And the winter crops?” Johan pointed out, though it was clear his heart wasn’t in it anymore.

  “Perfect, you’re already thinking of problems that need to be resolved,” the king chuckled, “now, it’s up to you and Lester to come up with solutions.”

  “Come on, old man,” the head merchant teased him, “just think about the profits. We’re gonna need a bigger vault soon.”

  “And if the worst comes to pass,” Varre added and looked at Captain Hakon sitting in the room, next to Elvira, “we’re already building a new, professional army. With any luck, they’ll be ready before anyone gets too uppity.”

  His friends too seemed interested in the idea, once they got they understood the full picture.

  Even Anastasia was willing to go along with it.

  He pressed his case and wants to go ahead with the reforms.

  How will the rest of the country react?