After reading through a massive amount of documents and gaining a general understanding of the state of the nation…
I moved on to drafting my policy proposals.
The main focus had to be economic policy.
The key points could be summed up in the following three areas.
1: Shift from noble-centered to merchant-centered governance
The Warrior Kingdom of Bernada is a nation where the strongest person becomes king.
But that doesn’t mean the monarchy holds all power, like an absolute monarchy.
In fact, the king’s influence isn’t especially strong. Lords govern their own territories as they see fit.
In other words, it’s a decentralized system rather than a centralized one.
The reason things ended up this way was simple, no king in history was ever smart enough to manage the whole nation alone.
Most of the past kings were muscleheads.
Their motto seemed to be….
『A king should only worry about his own domain. Who has time to think about the whole country?』
During Glaston and Lord Hydra’s rule, there were some signs of an attempt at absolute monarchy…
But the mindset of the regional lords remained deeply rooted in decentralization.
（I’ll break down this decentralized system, weaken the power of nobles and lords, and transition the nation into a system ruled by the king and merchants）
That’s the core of my plan.
The goal is to make it easier for merchants to operate.
Right now, whenever a merchant travels from one territory to another, they’re hit with tolls and tariffs from each lord.
This places a heavy burden on merchants.
If a merchant tries to do long-distance trade, they end up paying massive taxes.
As a result, their range of activity is limited, and the economy never takes off.
So, I’m going to start by dismantling the feudal system centered on the lords.
I’ll abolish all checkpoints at territory borders and eliminate tolls on merchants.
I’ll also ban tariffs between territories.
（From now on, the lords will essentially serve as regional governors）
I’ll let them keep their titles as lords, but their roles will be limited to those of governors.
Naturally, the nobility will fiercely oppose this.
But I’ll crush them with the absolute power of the monarchy.
Even if the nobles lose their minds over it, commerce will thrive, and the economy will recover.
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2: Strengthen Foreign Trade
To boost the nation, encouraging foreign trade is essential.
Without earning foreign currency, a country cannot prosper.
Just recirculating money within our own borders won’t increase wealth.
Worse yet, if other countries are raking in foreign profits, our domestic wealth will only keep declining.
That’s why we must strengthen trade and ensure our merchants bring in solid foreign revenue.
I have several trade-related ideas.
Here are some examples.
(1) Utilize our vast and fertile land for agriculture and livestock farming. The resulting crops and dairy products can be traded abroad.
(2) Take advantage of the great river for water transportation and fishing.
(3) Export battle-related goods such as weapons, armor, and recovery items.
The third item is particularly promising.
This country is a nation of warriors, and we’ve accumulated solid knowledge when it comes to combat gear and supplies.
There may be plenty of meathead musclebrains around, but our blacksmiths and artisans are top-notch.
By mass-producing those items, we can turn them into a major export commodity.
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3: Get the Citizens to Work Hard
To revitalize the economy, the people need to pull their weight.
However, using complex slogans like “for the sake of trade” or “for the economy” is a big no-no.
Especially in a meathead country like Bernada, people hate overly logical talk.
It’s best to avoid that altogether.
But being a nation full of brawny types has its upside too.
This is a country with a sports-minded culture, everyone’s overflowing with energy.
So we just need a simple and straightforward message.
――― Eat well.
――― Sleep well.
――― Work hard.
――― Fight hard.
――― Make money.
If they live each day with everything they’ve got, life will be awesome.
That’s the message I want the people of Bernada to understand.
The key part is: “Fight hard.”
I won’t deny the “warrior pride” that the people of this country value most.
This is a nation full of personal duels and private skirmishes, but I won’t regulate or condemn them as violent or barbaric.
Instead of denying traditional values, I’ll introduce new ones alongside them.
(A country with strong combat capabilities isn’t a bad thing.)
This world is full of wars and unrest.
So having a large number of skilled fighters is actually a strategic advantage, not a drawback.
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