Chapter 8: The Foolish Rulers│Read translated stories and daily updates at: Awebstories.com
Chapter 8: The Foolish Rulers
I’m reading a history book that was written after this country’s name was changed to the Kingdom of Laminbo.
I expected the king and the prime minister’s daughter to marry soon after my execution and that Aura would be a treacherous wizard who betrayed his country. The issue arose five years later.
The country’s people rose up in revolt under the banner “Overthrow the royal family.”
Sasha, after becoming queen, began to actively participate in politics, possibly at the request of her father, the prime minister. As a result, new laws were enacted one after the other in the name of [flood reconstruction].
• A significant tax increase.
• A law prohibiting the general public from consuming alcohol.
• A law prohibiting ordinary people from purchasing silk products.
• A law prohibiting commoners from purchasing or possessing gold, silver, or jewelry.
• A system for registering the use of medicinal herbs.
All of these laws were heinous. Worst of all was the rule that you couldn’t buy or own gold, silver, or jewelry.
It was not only illegal to purchase them. The state confiscated commoners’ gold, silver, and jewelry without question.
How can they pass such a law to further harm flood-ravaged people? How foolish.
Even commoners want to adorn themselves. And in this country, when a daughter marries, her family is expected to give her as much gold and silver as possible as a dowry.
So she can buy whatever she wants without relying on the groom’s money, and she can rely on them in the event of war.
According to the book, there was little information about the whereabouts of the confiscated gold, silver, and jewels.
A significant amount of the gold, silver, and jewels that should have been kept in the treasury vanished. The missing gold and silver jewels are still missing, according to a later investigation by the new administration.
The prohibition on the consumption of alcoholic beverages and the use of silk products made urban areas extremely dangerous. Reputable traders all went bankrupt, and informal traders most likely made a lot of money from the illegal trade in alcohol and silk.
Furthermore, due to the large number of applications, the registration system for the use of medicinal herbs took a long time to be approved, and many sick people suffered from disease complications as a result of their inability to obtain medicine. With a little forethought, this could have been predicted.
Even with such a law, the wealthy could do whatever they wanted with bribes.
It’s no surprise that people despise their country.
The uprising, which started because people had been angry for a long time, grew quickly into a huge wave that swept the country.
The people executed the royal family without waiting for a formal trial. All of the leading figures and their relatives were either beheaded or beaten to death, including the king’s family. The country’s army was ineffective.
All those who had been at the center of politics, including my family, had been wiped out seven years after my execution.
The ravaged country was put down by troops from the neighboring kingdom of Barwala to the east. For some reason, our army obeyed them. Was there a previous agreement? The rebellion itself may well have been led by Balwala.
The country’s new monarch is the second prince of the Balwala kingdom, whose son still rules the country today. The new king immediately repealed the stupid laws.
(I see…)
I sighed as I looked up from the history book I was reading.
“Alesia, are you finished reading?”
“Yeah, for the time being.”
“I’m also finished with the illustrated book. Let’s head home.”
“I guess so. Let’s go home now.”
We gave the man in charge of the inspection the books we had read.
With a practiced hand, the man flipped through all of the returned books, checking them to ensure they were clean and undamaged before saying, “Yes, they’re fine.”
As soon as we left the library, Ethan held my hand and asked me for a favor.
“Will you teach me to write, Alesia?”
“All right. Every day, I’ll gradually teach you to read and write. But you’ll have to work hard on the farm too.”
“I know.”
We ate bread from a nearby stall alongside a slice of richly seasoned grilled meat. We also filled our water bottles from a boy selling water by the roadside. We kept walking slowly and ate the bread together. It’s entertaining to try walking while eating.
(The King, the extravagant woman, and the Prime Minister were all executed…)
I was mumbling along. Ethan walks beside me and tells me about the chick that was born yesterday.
(It’s only been seven years, but the royal family’s power is not as solid as I thought.)
I’d like to read something more recent, but I have to go home now. My parents would worry if I came home late, and I have plenty of time, because I am only nine years old.
The sun was setting from its highest point in the sky.
“If we go home now, we’ll still be able to work before dark.”
“I’m going to feed the chickens today.”
“Let’s go pick some poncas.”
As we ate, Ethan and I walked side by side.
—○█○—
Hakeem is a thirteen-year-old water vendor. His father and grandfather were both water vendors, and he himself has worked as one. However, this job only pays enough to keep you alive. It was a job with no future prospects.
—○
I was killing time in the park in the morning by lying down on a thick branch at the top of a tree because I couldn’t sell water when I noticed two children dressed in simple clothes sneaking around in the shade of the tree, changing into nice clothes, and entering the library.
“What are those children up to?”
Poor people have no place in libraries. Poor people cannot read, and the entrance fee is prohibitively expensive. Nonetheless, that girl went into the library with dignity and didn’t come out for a long time. I’m curious if she was reading a book. She didn’t appear to be wealthy.
“I wish I could learn to read and write. But I don’t have the money to pay someone to teach me.”
That’s why I envied them.
—○
Hakeem descended from the tree and discovered a hair ribbon. He took the ribbon and placed it in his pocket. The red ribbon felt like it was going to connect her with him.
—○
I wanted to call out to her and give her the ribbon when she came out of the library and bought water from me, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.
… because the girl’s beauty captivated me.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
—○
Hakeem cleaned the water bottle in the canal that evening. He took the ribbon from his pocket and hoped the girl would return to the library.
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