I Became the illegitimate son of a duke

24 – Foundation for reform (2)

“Meet the Lord of Burgon.”

“…”

What are these bastards?

I heard that those who rebelled with my great uncle finally came to Dijon, so I met them in the audience room… Ha.

You can’t see that they were the ones who caused a rebellion in their expression, breathing, tone of voice, or posture.

Of course I don’t feel threatened, and I’m full of confidence.

Since I’m related by blood to the Burgons, and without them, I wouldn’t be able to control the coast, so what do you think I can’t do?

‘If I thought that way, it would be a really big mistake…’

Most of these guys are medium-sized nobles in the coastal region, but most of the territory is made up of minor nobles who are vassals, so the territory under direct control is small.

His grandfather, in order to reliably control the conquered coastal provinces, only replaced his upper head with his own, and the nobles below him recognized their vested interests as long as they were loyal.

And the loyalty of the nobles under him has long since changed to me. My great uncle is proof of that.

I can tolerate the fact that I have a blood relationship with a person in Burgon. Even if they are related by blood, they are not called family.

People who are angry when they hear that their blood relative has died will quickly change their attitude and wag their tails at me if I tell them that the position will return to them. Nobles are such people.

“…?”

No matter how long I wait, I don’t hear any answer, so the other side looks at me with a slightly puzzled face.

You’re not in a position to look at me in a curious way in the first place.

I expected something like this to some extent in that he surrendered meekly, but seeing it in person made me feel a bit dazed.

“Count Leclerc, tell me the law on the treatment of traitors.”

“Yes.”

Leclerc, bowing politely to me, gently turns around and looks at the traitors.

At first, my face was flushed with excessive manners, but I’ve already gotten used to this, saying humans are animals of adaptation.

Um… Shall we give at least one of their seats to the aristocrat Leclerc? He’s an aristocrat, but he’s out of shape if he doesn’t have a territory.

No, it would be too difficult without Leclerc, so it would be better for Leclerc to give it to his children.

“A simple participant is subject to the maximum deprivation of title after an investigation, and a close participant is subject to the maximum number of recaptures and the death penalty, and the standard for judging that is—”

“…”

As Leclerc spoke about the law on treason, the faces of the men in front of him gradually hardened, and at the end they were almost pale.

Some of them are trying to maintain their dignity, but in my eyes they just look like brats fighting each other.

“…Your Highness, are you trying to scare us?”

“Coercion…That’s misleading.”

With those words, I stood up and looked down at the traitors.

Are you just intimidating to say that you came to this point?

“I have no reason to intimidate you. Intimidation is a word that means the act of intimidating someone to get what they want, but I don’t need that kind of action itself.”

“What is that…”

“This sounds like I can get what I want without being intimidated.”

“…!”

It’s only now that his expression has changed to something worth seeing.

Yes, if I had come in like this from the beginning, it would have killed me a little less painfully.

“From now on, this throne room will take over the role of the court, and I, Claude de Bourgon, will judge you.”

In the Duchy of Burgon, dukes can also act as judges. To be precise, a judge can use the duke’s judicial authority instead.

Prosecution? Appeal? Such a concept does not yet exist in this world. There may be defense, but it’s a little different concept from the modern one.

“Your Highness, you will regret it. If we die—”

“If I regret it later, it has nothing to do with you.”

The eyes of the rebels wide open after hearing my answer. Why? That’s right.

Tsk, the fact that these guys became the lords of the coastal region means that their ancestors were very loyal to their grandfather…

I can’t help it. Grandpa will understand.

“The sentence is the death penalty after deprivation of titles. From this moment on, the traitors’ titles will be inherited by the Duke of Burgon.”

Simple capital punishment is not allowed. If that happens, the next heir will inherit their title.

I’m going to hand it over anyway, but I’ll have to inherit it to myself.

If it weren’t for those closely related, you wouldn’t have come this far, so it’s easy to make a judgment because you don’t have to go into details about innocence or innocence.

“You lowly illegitimate bastard—- ka ha ha!”

f*ck!

Some of the nobles who tried to swear at me are beaten and silenced by the knights.

Oh… Our knights are very reliable. He does things very quietly without even yelling at me to be quiet.

“Take it out.”

“Yes!!”

Aristocrats also hone their martial arts, but that’s not enough to defeat knights who have only practiced killing people their entire lives.

The nobles who had been rioting are immediately dragged away by the knights with their mouths gagged, and the places they defiled are quickly restored to their original form as attendants and servants cling to them.

…………

“…What else is this?”

What welcomed me back to the office was a huge mountain of paperwork.

Now that Hana is over, I wanted to live a little longer… What is this–

“This is the contents of the embezzlement investigation that the owner ordered before.”

I guess I was the cause.

I can’t blame anyone.

“Haaa…”

It’s clear that Chloe has organized the papers as best she can, but the place to put your hands on the desk is too cramped.

When are you going to do all of this… But it’s what I did, so I have to do it.

“Let’s see…”

It’s a bit disappointing that there are so many documents because I’ve been researching too much, but… The contents are gorgeous. Also very.

With the indemnity and precious metals I received from Caroling, I first selected more bureaucrats, but it was a good choice. I never thought there would be a lot of leaks in the middle like this.

The most interesting thing is that there were many embezzlers among bureaucrats. Some auditors seemed to find it difficult to prosecute their colleagues, but they were caught in the back of the back by newly hired officials while looking after them.

Haaa…

“First of all, as previously announced, arrest all embezzlers, regardless of the amount. The seriousness of the crime comes second.”

Because the administrative power of the pre-modern era has limits, this is the best.

It doesn’t even have photos or IDs, so once the criminals disappear, that’s it.

Even in modern times, where CCTV, ID cards, and smartphones are all over the place, if a criminal is at high risk of fleeing, they must first arrest them.

“Of course, the auditors who covered the former colleagues were also put in prison.”

“Yes.”

To be honest, these bastards are worse than the embezzlers. Because they are blinded by riches and they cheated on me.

Somehow, before hiring more bureaucrats, it was strangely said that work was too slow.

Um… It’s going to be okay soon, right?

Corrupt bureaucrats have also been removed, many new recruits have arrived, and a treasurer invited from abroad for administrative reform has finally arrived.

“Count Leclerc, where are the bureaucrats now?”

“Most of them are out on the field and the rest will be in the office.”

In an era where everything is written by hand, if you don’t go to the field, you won’t be able to work.

Well, it’s okay. It’s impossible to tell everyone at the same time.

“That… Chloe.”

“Yes, sir.”

It’s bitter… It’s still a bit awkward to deal with, but I can’t help it. Have to endure it somehow

“Do you still use the method I taught you to write household account books and books? Using tables and graphs, etc.”

“Yes, it’s very comfortable.”

In the past, when he had just arrived here, he taught Chloe how to use graphs and tables to conveniently use household accounts and ledgers.

I’m glad you’re still using it.

“There is a treasurer who came to Dijon not too long ago. Go with him to the bureaucrats and tell him how to fill out the new documents.”

“That…But I don’t know anything…”

“It’s okay, just show him the papers you wrote and he’ll take care of it… I’m going to ask you a few questions, but Chloe will be able to answer them well.”

Lucca, the treasurer I invited, comes from a commercial republic in the south and can use advanced administrative tasks such as double-entry bookkeeping quite naturally.

Above all, what stands out the most is that Luca has experience as a financial advisor to that commercial republic. As someone like that, if you look at Chloe’s documents, you’ll know what that means right away.

How difficult it was to find someone who could use advanced administrative work such as double-entry bookkeeping, but no matter how much I searched in Korea, I couldn’t find one. The hiring cost was a bit high, but the money is meant to be spent at times like this.

You did very well to turn your gaze abroad and focus on the Commercial Republic. As expected, commercial republics have developed well in this way.

…………

“Eup, ugh!!!”

“Let’s go… It’s okay, it’s okay.”

In a cellar with no sunlight, a man with his face wrapped in a bag is screaming.

However, only the muscles trembled and struggled, and the joints could not be folded or straightened. All limbs are firmly held together by ropes and handcuffs.

“Eup…”

The man whose sack was removed frowned, then looked at the face of the girl right in front of him and took a deep breath.

Because it is so different from the surrounding landscape.

“hehehe, don’t be too scared.”

The room is very ugly.

The walls are old with cracks and cracked tiles, the floors are thickly dusty, and the furniture is all rotten, with broken nails or protruding nails.

But… Unlike the room, the girl in front of me is very beautiful.

If you saw it from the outside, you would have just dismissed it as pretty, but when such a beautiful girl is alone in a very ugly room, the man feels a sense of disparate feelings and rejection.

Even a single small candle in this dark room has a huge impact on a man’s emotions.

“You were sentenced to death because you embezzled too much?”

“Eup…Up…!”

Only then does the man remember where he has been.

I was caught embezzlement and imprisoned in Dijon, but when I came to my senses, I ended up in a place like this.

“I didn’t bring the wrong person. Thank goodness.”

“…”

Seeing the man’s reaction, the beautiful girl realizes that she has brought the man right, and smiles softly in relief.

However, when the man sees that smile, he gets goosebumps all over. He is obviously beautiful, but he cannot feel beautiful.

“Don’t worry, I’ll loosen the gag soon.”

Otherwise it won’t sound good.

After saying that, the girl slowly approached the man whose whole body was restrained while wearing a twisted smile different from just before.

“…Eup! Eup!”

The man then finds the tool in the girl’s hand and the basket behind it.

A man who instinctively senses that something is wrong tries to escape by shaking his body, but it is not enough.

After a while, the man with the gag undone begins to sing as the girl wishes.