Steel, Guns, and the Industrial Party in Another World

TL: Etude Translations

Cecil’s efficiency was notably high in handling the matter that Paul personally wanted to inquire into.

“My God! Look, just look at this! Such things happening in my territory, right under my nose. Damned ruffians, thieves, scoundrels!” Paul slammed the report Cecil had given him onto the table with great force.

Apart from Cecil, the other officials attending the meeting exchanged glances, witnessing a mix of sadness, anger, and shock on their lord’s face. They were almost tearing the report while reading it.

The document was quickly passed around and read by the officials.

It turned out that a manor lord named Fubinen in Totor Village had used usurious loans to seize the condolence fields of several families of sacrificed soldiers.

Cecil had sent his competent subordinates to thoroughly investigate the matter. Fubinen, the tax collector of Totor Village, had manipulated the taxes and then tricked these families into taking usurious loans. Using compound interest, he inflated the debts to an unpayable amount, eventually forcing them to use their fields to pay off the debts.

“What? Is this all? Just this?”

This was the thought in the minds of most people who were accustomed to the daily scenarios of this world.

“This is outrageous, Count.”

“This Fubinen is inhuman, not to mention a gentleman.”

“The gods will punish him.”

Everyone present was filled with righteous indignation.

Seeing his officials standing with him, Paul felt a bit better.

“Why didn’t these victimized families appeal to our administrative officials there?”

Paul turned to Old Ford, the head of the Administration Council.

“Well… ahem!” Old Ford shuddered.

“Lord Grayman, we are still short-handed. In recent years, our administrative construction has been focused on cities. As for rural areas, one official often manages several villages. Probably, they didn’t hear about such… such incidents. And, importantly, those rural farmers are not used to appealing to the lord’s officials.”

Paul pounded the table fiercely, “We need to extend our power into every village, every settlement. This is the focus of our future administrative construction.”

“Yes, Count.”

Actually, Ford, the head, had always known the lord’s intentions. In recent years, the Count had invested heavily in education and annually recruited administrative officials, precisely to strengthen his administrative power. The Count’s requirements for some non-core positions were so low that being literate was enough.

Paul, with a face full of wrath, said, “As for that Fubinen, I want him arrested, tried, executed!”

Everyone’s mouths dropped open in shock.

“Lord Grayman, isn’t this… a bit too harsh? According to previous practices, confiscating half of his property would suffice.”

“Previous practices? You mean like with Baden?”

Paul grew even angrier, almost shouting:

“What I regret most now is being too lenient back then. Last time, they manipulated the taxes, leading to a riot, and yet they didn’t learn their lesson. I had loyal soldiers to quell the rebellion for me, but now they are reaching into the soldiers’ rice bowls. If I let this go lightly, there will be a third, a fourth time. Will the soldiers remain loyal to me then? I might wake up in the middle of the night to find a gun pointed at my head.”

“This… You’re… You’re exaggerating.”

Everyone was stunned by the dreadful scenario Paul described – a lord killed by his own soldiers was unheard of.

As the matter involved the army, Chief of Staff Schroeder also attended the meeting. He first stood up to thank Paul on behalf of the soldiers, then reminded everyone, “Gentlemen, our Alda soldiers are not ordinary soldiers. Lord Grayman has taught them to read and understand some culture. They communicate with their families and retired comrades, and they have connections among themselves. Importantly, they have weapons capable of easily killing fully-armed knights with just a flick of their fingers. Their long-term training in combat skills gives them courage and insight unlike their counterparts elsewhere. So Lord Grayman’s concerns are not alarmist; should our army become disorderly, it would be a great trouble.”

Russ Hayden, head of the Department of Public Safety, stood up abruptly, “Lord Grayman, the police force is ready to serve you! Please allow me to personally lead a team to Totor and apprehend Fubinen.”

Since the expansion of the police force, they hadn’t handled any major cases, and Hayden was determined to perform well this time.

“Good, then it’s up to you to bring that scoundrel to Lakeheart Town. I want to judge him in front of the soldiers.”

Paul initially thought of sending the military to Totor to let the soldiers vent their frustration, but Hayden’s initiative changed his mind. It indeed should be the police’s job to apprehend criminals, with the military reserved for defense against external enemies, and ideally not too involved in internal affairs.

With the matter settled, Paul brought up another issue of great concern.

“Cecil’s words reminded me that our soldiers are not ordinary, so we can’t treat them as such. We must firmly grasp the ideological trends of the soldiers. So, I have an idea.”

The officials eagerly awaited the Count’s wisdom.

“I want to establish a fourth department for the army, in addition to the Staff Department, Equipment Department, and Logistics Department – the Teaching Department.”

The Teaching Department? Everyone was puzzled. It sounded like it was in charge of education, but that was already handled by military commanders at all levels.

Paul explained his idea, “The Teaching Department will be responsible for the army’s cultural and educational activities. This department will station its own officers – temporarily called instructors – at every level of the army. Besides educating soldiers, these instructors have an important task: they must constantly understand the ideological state of the soldiers, prevent any mutiny in their units, and ensure absolute loyalty to their commander (that’s me).”

Oh, that makes sense, everyone realized.

Paul then added, “The Teaching Department will implement a vertical management system. Instructors at each level will be on par with the military commanders of their units, accountable only to their superior instructor, and the head of the Teaching Department will report directly to me.”

Ah, so it implies surveillance?

The room filled with a somewhat awkward atmosphere as everyone glanced at the equally embarrassed Chief of Staff Schroeder.

Was the Count doubting the loyalty of the military?