4. MACHINATIONS OF POWER

{Do you wish to acquire the [Legion Skill: Tech Route:- I.T.I.J.G.A.O, General!]}

William nodded and looked at his 'Resource' depleting and a [Turn 1 left] coming into his vision. He looked at his people and felt a mounting pressure on his shoulder. 

[Ending your Turn...]

William felt as though time slowed down and continued its pace just a second later. 

William looked at his hologram options greying out and felt nervous inside. 

"Are there any suggestions for this war," William looked across the table, and all the important nobles and military generals around him. 

"My majesty, it is imperative that we consolidate the economy around our planet. Implementing war taxation and a war economy is the only way now to really wage war against the secessionists. As you know, Your Majesty, our economy doesn't allow us to wage a war of attrition." 

It was the same old man who came to William's rule, and now William knew that the old man's name was Martin Sovnar. Anyway, War taxation and war economy made the nobles uncomfortable, but that was inevitable. But the most important part was...

"How about the civilians?" 

"We will try to make it as smooth as possible, Your Majesty," Another middle-aged man who was the head of the internal security force whose name was Guert Patrick. William nodded, but in his mind, at least 10% of war money would be embezzled into other pockets. 

It was just inevitable. 

This was not a web novel where every single thing you would wish would go your way. A kingdom had intricate politics and corruption that was inevitable. 

If William tried to abolish or even touch the corruption at a critical time like this, then it would be a miracle if he would see the next day. His imperial authority was the lowest at this moment and the only way to increase his imperial authority was to win this war. 

For that, he had a plan, but he had to stabilize the economy. Otherwise, the Empire that his great-grandfather had built would truly be in ruins. 

So, to minimize the loss and corruption that was going to take place in these trying times, William had to take sides. 

"Guert, you have my full support. I will call you later to fill in the details," William nodded at him as he continued to work through the issues. But he believed that his meaning had been reached. Each word that was uttered by anyone inside the throne room would play a very different dynamic in the state. 

But even so, this was all in William's head. This was just what he believed. It might as well have been wrong because he didn't know jack shit about politics. 

But William had a really great sense of intuition. 

Time was passing at an incredible pace, or was it just William's perception? 

In the first month, William gave Geurt maximum benefit to maximally restrain the nobles. Well, 'gave' was an ambiguous statement. It was as William predicted.

Geurt understood the full meaning of what William wanted. But the problem was that Guert was a real damning avarice demon. He had nearly taken 3% of the war taxation into his pocket. 

But the damage was contained. If William had remained passive, the nobles would have started their connections had would have taken 1% of the war economy each to themselves. The Dukes were the most problematic as their greed knew no limits. 

Dawn Empire had 4 dukes and Guert and William could fully restrain them. So they brought them into their plans, and after a warfare of its own, full of bullets fired and loud noises, they reached an agreement. 

A total of 17% of the war economy would go into the pocket of the 4 Dukes and Guert, and they in turn would help William to restrain all the other nobles. 

In truth, a loss of 17% already put William at a disadvantage in a war of attrition. But the losses were much more manageable, if William remained in a passive position, then William would have lost almost 30% of the war economy. 

Considering that, it was not that much of a loss, but William could have migrated the losses at least 15 or more optimally, to 12%. But the problem was that Guert had backstabbed William when he realized that there were more profits to be gained. 

So the negotiations were in favor of the dukes rather than William. But what passed had passed. It was already a wonder to William that he had made a correct decision this time because...

Well, it had been some time since he had made a correct decision. 

Internal security brought the muscle power to restrain the nobles, and the dukes brought the political power to suppress the nobles politically by using military factions and families.

About the military factions and families, William personally went to each and every household to 'request' them to protect the nation. Even though it was, on paper, a request, it was basically begging. 

Even though William's prestige had taken a hit. Like some nasty rumors spreading among the masses, and maids talking ill of William, but William had to bear with it. Even though they said that he had sold his body for support of the military faction, he gritted his teeth and bared with it. 

Even his 'sister' had come and made a mess of his place at night, shouting at him for staining the royal blood, he bore with it. 

The previous body's sister had too many traumatic experiences that were caused by her mother, who was a heartless wench. So William didn't have to heart to say anything to her.

But what was odd was that she returned and apologized to him, and even brought coffee, even though it tasted like piss water. 

The odd part about it was that his sister was known for not knowing the word 'sorry'. But he was happy nonetheless. It was good to see that someone was behind him. 

By the end of the first month, which by the human calendar was September, William had retained almost 82% of the war economy, which he instantly dumped for preparations and reserves of food and techs. 

The other 28% of the war economy was brutally ripped off by the military factions, The Dukes, and the Head of Internal security. 

Even though it was verbally agreed, every single faction took more than what was previously agreed upon, which made the frustration mounting on William's shoulders even more burdening. 

But he didn't have time to notice that. 

Because his talent had begun its work.

All this time he had kept an eye on his research and technology department. The young talented mind had come to light. 

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////