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◈ The Medieval Heretic King is Too Good at Developing ◈

Chapter 74: The Peasant King (4)

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At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there was a legendary army that conquered Europe and reigned as the strongest land force of its age.

Napoleon's Grande Armée.

Why, then, was Napoleon's army so powerful?

Its revolutionary mobile warfare and flexible corps system?

Its ability to unleash overwhelming artillery fire?

The brilliant command of Napoleon, called the God of War?

Its massive conscription of hundreds of thousands of men?

All of those were correct.

Yet in my view, the most fundamental reason lay elsewhere.

The French Revolution of 1789.

Before the smell of blood from the guillotine had even faded, France's revolutionary government confiscated the lands of the nobles and the Church, nationalized them, then sold them cheaply or distributed them freely to the French people.

As a result, countless tenant farmers in France became independent farmers with land of their own overnight.

When Napoleon became Emperor, he enshrined the revolution's achievements in law.

The absolute guarantee of private property rights.

That was the heart of the famous Napoleonic Code.

The backbone of Napoleon's army consisted of the sons of those landowning farmers.

What if they lost the war, the Bourbon dynasty returned, or foreign kings invaded and overturned the revolution?

They would become miserable serfs again, and the land their parents had earned through sweat and blood would be taken from them.

That was why the French people fought with their lives on the line for their Emperor, to protect their own land and rights.

What about fifteenth-century peasants?

They had nothing to defend.

They had no land to lose and no rights to protect, so when an enemy invaded, they were the first to pack their belongings and flee.

But someone who owned land did not run away.

Someone determined to protect their home did not retreat.

Only by fostering independent farmers could I build a nation where all its people stood united against foreign enemies.

The difference in productivity was just as enormous.

No matter how hard tenant farmers worked, their lords took nearly everything. Naturally, they worked only enough to avoid starving to death.

Independent farmers were different.

The more sweat they shed, the fuller their own granaries became. They could feed their children better.

So even without anyone forcing them, they plowed their fields and spread manure day and night.

Once I added the four-field rotation I had prepared, productivity would explode exponentially.

As agricultural productivity rose, tax revenues would naturally increase as well.

Stronger national defense, greater productivity, and higher tax revenue.

Killing two birds with one stone... no, even three was not enough to describe this perfect blueprint.

Still, no policy could satisfy everyone.

While the people praised their King with one voice, some remained silent or ground their teeth.

Those who believed their land, power, and tenant farmers had been taken from them.

The nobles of Bohemia.

* * *

The grand audience hall of Prague Castle.

A heavy silence hung over the hall as nobles dressed in costly velvet and gold ornaments stood before me in orderly ranks.

It was quite a varied gathering.

At the front stood the moderate Hussite nobles led by Cenek of Vartemberk.

Behind them were Catholic nobles who had clung to Sigismund's coattails until recently, only to quickly swear loyalty to me now.

There were also great landowners whose families had owned the fertile plains of southern Bohemia for generations.

Their common trait was clear.

They owned more land than anyone else in this kingdom.

Resting my chin on one hand, I looked down at them from an angle.

'Every one of them looks miserable.'

It made sense.

Only three days had passed since my decree was announced.

Yet in that brief time, the entire kingdom had been thrown into turmoil.

For peasants who had spent their lives renting other people's land, this decree must have sounded like a trumpet of salvation.

For those who had fattened themselves by exploiting their labor, it was a bolt from the blue.

The nobles exchanged uneasy glances and hesitated.

"Ahem..."

"Cough!"

There was only one reason they were awkwardly waiting for someone else to speak.

Who would bell the cat?

Who would dare risk angering the Heretic King, who had mocked the Pope's excommunication and slaughtered the Emperor's crusaders?

Just as I expected, Cenek of Vartemberk, leader of the Utraquists, was the first to break the silence.

"Your Majesty."

Cenek knelt on one knee and spoke respectfully.

"Sir Cenek. It has been a while."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Today, Bohemia's loyal servants have gathered because we have an urgent matter to bring before Your Majesty."

I let out a faint snort.

"Loyal servants... Seeing that you came empty-handed, I assume you aren't here to offer more taxes."

My half-joke brought only a cold silence to the audience hall.

No one laughed. No one dared answer.

I gave a small nod.

"Very well. Speak. What has brought you here in such a large group?"

Cenek raised his head carefully, as if gathering his resolve.

"Your Majesty, please withdraw the Land Distribution Decree."

As though that was a signal, dozens of nobles behind him dropped to their knees at once.

"Please withdraw the decree, Your Majesty!"

"At this rate, Bohemia's nobles will all starve to death!"

"Please show us mercy!"

Their cries rang through the audience hall.

I lightly tapped the armrest of my throne with my index finger.

Tap, tap.

The steady sound cut through their shouting.

"Withdraw the decree... Why?"

"Because that decree is shaking the very foundations of Bohemia's order."

"Bohemia's order is shaking?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Cenek pointed to the nobles standing behind him.

"From the Lord of Svitavy here to the Count of Plzeň, peasants are fleeing estates throughout the kingdom. It is as though we are witnessing a scene from Exodus."

Injustice and anger began to show on his face.

"My estate is no different. Of every ten farming households that have tilled our land for generations, five have fled overnight. The other half are crying out for us to end their tenancy contracts, saying they will somehow bring the penalty fee."

"Hmm..."

The reason for Cenek's resentment was obvious.

To nobles, tenant farmers were not people. They were assets attached to their estates, no different from livestock that plowed the fields.

From their perspective, the livestock were running out of their pens on their own.

"Spring planting will begin soon. At such a crucial time, when we must plow the fields and sow seeds, every worker has thrown down their plow and fled, saying they will receive land from Your Majesty. At this rate, the fields across our estates will be left empty."

"The fields will be empty?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Yet how could this be my problem alone? Every noble gathered here is suffering the same hardship."

Emboldened by Cenek's words, nobles began voicing their grievances from every direction.

"That's right! Half the people on my estate have fled!"

"Ungrateful wretches! They don't even remember who fed and housed them!"

"Your Majesty, withdraw the decree and make the peasants return to their proper places!"

Their complaints filled the audience hall.

I gave a quiet laugh from my throne.

'Their proper places?'

What exactly did they mean by proper places?

A slave's life, where one worked oneself to the bone, only for the lord to take most of the harvest, and starved to death whenever there was a bad year.

A life where one plowed fields until one's back broke, yet had nothing to leave one's children except the same poverty.

That was the order the nobles spoke of, and the proper place where they believed peasants belonged.

Even by medieval standards...

'That's disgusting.'

"Milord."

János Hunyadi, standing beside the throne like a shadow, whispered softly.

"What detestable bastards. They dare demand that the King withdraw His decree just to fill their own bellies. Shall I kill them all right now? Give the signal, and I can turn this audience hall into a slaughterhouse in five minutes."

It was a typically extreme solution from János.

Still, I shook my head.

A dog whose food bowl had been taken away was bound to bark. Cutting it down with a sword would be easy, but it would only earn me the reputation of a tyrant.

A master's job was not to bark alongside the dog, but to pick up a club and remind it of its place.

"Sir Cenek. Listening to you, I find this rather strange."

"Yes?"

I put on an expression of confusion.

"Did I hold a blade to the peasants' throats and force them to move? Or did I send soldiers to your estates and forcibly abduct your tenant farmers?"

"N-No, Your Majesty. We did not mean to suggest that You committed such cruel acts..."

"I merely announced that I would sell my own Crown lands to the people at a fair price. What exactly is wrong with me disposing of my private property as I see fit?"

I frowned deliberately, making no attempt to hide my displeasure.

"Are you saying that I, the King, must receive your permission to sell my own land?"

Cenek's face reddened at my icy rebuke.

There was no logical way to refute me. A servant had no grounds to object when the King disposed of his own property.

After a brief dry cough, he changed the subject.

"How could that be? Though we would never dare comment on Your Majesty's sacred private property... this matter cannot be judged by a merchant's calculations alone."

"Then what is it?"

"It is a matter of order, Your Majesty."

Cenek raised his voice.

"To keep this world in harmony, the Lord created three kinds of people: those who pray, Oratores; those who fight, Bellatores; and those who work, Laboratores."

Priests prayed, knights fought, and commoners worked.

It was the Three Estates, the strongest ideology supporting medieval society.

No one was to leave their assigned place, and defying that hierarchy was said to be defying God's will.

"A peasant's duty is to quietly till the land and provide for their master. That is the calling God gave them. But what will happen if peasants gain land of their own?"

Cenek continued with a solemn expression.

He acted as if he were a loyal subject deeply concerned for the future of the kingdom.

"Those who gain land today will demand something greater next. Tomorrow, they will demand the abolition of taxes, and the day after, they will crawl upward, demanding rights equal to the nobles."

He clenched his fist and spoke with passion.

"Those ignorant creatures know no contentment. They must not be allowed to own land if they are to know their place! They must be bound to the land, not the land to them. This is the sacred order ordained by God!"

The nobles behind him raised their voices in agreement, as if on cue.

"True! Sir Cenek is absolutely right!"

"If order collapses, the kingdom will collapse as well!"

The nobles shouting before me genuinely believed it.

They believed their privileges came from heaven, and that exploiting the people upheld God's order.

Even if this was normal for the Middle Ages...

'It's revolting.'

I rose from my throne.

Then I slowly descended the stairs.

Click, click.

The sound of leather boots striking the marble floor echoed at a steady pace.

Stepping off the final stair, I stopped directly in front of Cenek's stiff face.

"Sir Cenek."

"...Yes, Your Majesty."

Cenek lowered his gaze, cold sweat running down his face.

"Your faith is truly deep. You understand God's will so well."

"You flatter me."

"Still, there is one thing I am curious about."

I bent forward slightly to meet his eyes.

"Where exactly is that written in the Bible?"

"Your Majesty...?"

"That sacred order you spoke of. Which chapter and verse says nobles may take half of a peasant's harvest? When did Jesus teach that the poor should be squeezed dry and left hungry forever?"

Cenek's pupils shook as though an earthquake had struck.

"Workers must not own land? Who decided that? God? The Pope? Or your endless greed?"

"Th-That is..."

Cenek's lips moved, but he could not find an answer.

Of course he could not. The Three Estates were not biblical teaching. They were nothing but an illusion created by medieval rulers to govern society as they pleased.

I did not let that opening pass.

"Nowhere in the Bible is there a passage that justifies noble exploitation. It says the opposite. The Apostle Paul said it: anyone unwilling to work should not eat."

My voice echoed softly beneath the audience hall's high ceiling.

"Are you not the ones who deserve to be struck by God's thunderbolt? You suck the lifeblood from peasants who work hard and sweat, then sit safely in your castles enjoying feasts."

"......!"

"If you dislike tenant farmers fleeing, do not whine at me to withdraw the decree. Reduce their taxes. Lower their rents and treat them like people. Offer better conditions, and they will not flee. Even if you tell them not to come, they will seek you out on their own."

Cenek's lips trembled.

Then someone in the back cried out as though deeply wronged.

"This is too cruel! We are Your Majesty's servants!"

It was the Count of Plzeň.

His face was red with rage as he forgot all dignity, clenched his fist, and shouted.

"You cannot cast aside loyal subjects who fought at the risk of their lives for Your Majesty during the crusade! Have You forgotten the blood we shed?"

The nobles around him murmured uneasily.

Loyalty.

In a feudal society, it was the strongest and oldest weapon one could use to pressure a king.

We raised our swords for the King, so the King must protect our livelihood. It was an open demand for payment.

I slowly turned to look at the Count of Plzeň.

"You fought with your lives on the line..."

The moment our eyes met, the Count flinched and swallowed dryly.

Stroking my chin, I nodded.

"Fine. I acknowledge that. I have not forgotten the service you rendered in fighting the crusaders last winter. But..."

My gaze turned cold in an instant.

"Do not misunderstand. You did not raise your swords to protect this kingdom and its people. You raised them to protect your estates, your castles, and your granaries."

"Y-Your Majesty! How can you say such a thing...!"

"And the reason you were able to protect those estates was because I was there."

I took one more step closer.

My shadow fell over the Count of Plzeň's head.

"Who united the Utraquists and radicals when they snarled at each other as if they would tear out each other's throats? Who made the steel carts that repelled the crusaders' cavalry charges? Who forged cannons capable of turning strong castle walls to dust?"

I did not wait for an answer.

"I did. I am the one who saved this kingdom and protected it. Therefore, I alone decide who receives this kingdom's land. It is only natural that the victor distributes the spoils of war."

No one could refute me. Every word was an obvious fact.

Without me, their heads would have long since been impaled on the Emperor's spears and displayed on Prague's city walls.

The blood drained from the nobles' faces.

The King had no intention of compromising. Pleas, threats, and bargains made in the name of loyalty could not move him.

Looking around at them, I declared coldly,

"My decree will not be changed. Not one word of it."

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