A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

15 – Humbled and Ridiculed

When I first apologized, even the attendants tried to stop me. They warned me that such energetic people might even cause a violent incident in response to my apology. However, I ignored the warning and met with the young officials who suffered because of me to apologize.

Of course, their reaction was explosive.

In a bad way.

“I’ll kill you, you traitor!!!! You disgusting pig!!!!”

“Do you know how much damage has been caused to the empire because of the unjust law you created!?”

Even though I bowed and apologized, the insults and angry shouts inside the conference room didn’t stop. Some people even tried to throw objects on the table, and Caelia had to somewhat draw her sword to barely hold them back.

“I will repay for the wrongdoing I have caused to all of you.”

“hahahaha!! How?”

“Do you really think we will forgive you just because you give us a few coins!!”

“You disgusting pig!!!!”

The energetic young people who couldn’t be persuaded with words continued to jeer at me, shouting insults. But I silenced them completely with just one word.

“Please select the urgent bills you think are necessary for the current empire and deliver them to me. I will personally present them to His Imperial Majesty and persuade him to pass them.”

“……. “

“Please also collect the bills that have a negative impact on the empire and deliver them to me. I will convince His Imperial Majesty to repeal them.”

The conference room quickly fell silent. The officials were staring at me with wide eyes, and Adran seemed to be shocked, looking at me in disbelief.

Burning the emperor with my treacherous tongue was an extremely unique solution that only a traitor like me could offer.

“His Imperial Majesty doesn’t listen to others, but he will listen to me. As I have incited the emperor with my treacherous tongue and ruined the empire, to rectify that, I must use my tongue, don’t you think? Please send me the urgent matters. I will personally persuade His Imperial Majesty.”

“Can you really do that?”

A desperate voice, completely different from before, came back.

I smiled brightly and nodded my head.

“Yes. Of course. I understand your passion better than anyone else. I have fought fiercely and exchanged blows with you. In the end, I was truly a foolish person, and you were just passionate young individuals. However, it was also for the sake of the empire that you fought so fiercely.”

With Carrie and Carlson by my side, I bowed again and sincerely apologized.

“I understand that everyone here has suffered for my sake and has been imprisoned for a long time. I want to compensate for your pain with money. No matter how much money I give, it won’t be enough, but please accept it. I will compensate ten times the amount for the living expenses and medical expenses you have faced.”

There was no outcry of people trying to buy us with money!! The government officials looked at each other with confusion. This was the time. I started hitting them repeatedly, just like I did with the Selene Clan last time.

“Furthermore!!! I will build an academy for the commoners in the capital city!!!”

The confused faces of the officials became even more surprised. I knew the characteristics of these factions. They were young people with enlightenment ideas, believing that if the people could receive more education, the tyranny and plunder of the nobles would stop.

I was scratching the part that they wanted.

Unable to bear it, one young official stood up.

“An academy in the capital city?”

“Law, public administration, music, astronomy, mathematics, and I will ask Princess Selene to bring in the skilled scientists, alchemists, and magicians of Matap to become professors. It’s about giving learning opportunities to commoners.”

“The commoners won’t have money. How will they afford the tuition fees…?”

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“I will provide it. The operating expenses of the academy, the tuition fees of the students. It’s all free. It may mean pouring money every year, but well, the amount of money the merchant guild earns in a day from trade routes is enough to cover a year of academy operating expenses. You have to spend the overflowing money in a good place, right?”

“I’m not talking about the commoners in the capital city. They have wealth and a high level of education. I also believe that the people in the rural areas should have the opportunity to receive education.”

“The local commoners overflow in the Porto Commercial City and my territory, the Eldond territory. Let’s put up public announcements. We’ll say that we will send talented young people with scholarships to the academy. There will probably be many parents who want to send their children. There will also be parents who argue that their children should work on farmland, but I am confident that I can persuade them.”

“There are many students who don’t know how to read. What about them?”

“We will establish primary schools on a large scale in the Porto Commercial City and Eldond territory. It will be a place where they can learn to read, basic arithmetic, and history. I will bear all the costs. From there, we will select students with good grades and send them to the academy. Then there won’t be any problems, right?”

My proposal seemed to be a very attractive one to them. The government officials kept murmuring for a while even after I finished speaking, but their expressions gradually brightened.

“It’s ideal. It’s really ideal.”

“Lendor is the richest person on the continent right now………”

“This is the right time. We need to create textbooks to be taught in elementary schools and train teachers to go there.”

“I know suitable candidates. We can handle it.”

The atmosphere changed positively in an instant. I smiled happily as I watched them.

“I will not deny the past where I accumulated wealth through illegitimate means and committed atrocities against anyone who interfered with it. Even if I wanted to receive punishment, I imagine that Emperor will not allow it. So there won’t be any way to punish me. I apologize again for my past actions.”

“…….”.

“But can you focus on the present and the future instead of the past? Most of the commoners are still suffering and being exploited while you try to punish me. I have money, and you have knowledge and education. I propose that we work together to change the situation.”

The sharp glares and hateful looks no longer came at me. Some government officials had expressions that seemed to say, “Is this guy really crazy?” Some looked at me with a changed and unfamiliar expression. And very rarely, a few people looked at me as if they were slightly moved.

“When the Empire becomes peaceful and the day comes when all the commoners are finally freed from exploitation. When all industries stabilize and generate profits even without me. Then come and punish me for the sins I have committed. I will gladly put on the handcuffs with a smiling face and pay for my crimes. So…”

I bowed my head once again.

“Please help me. Many commoners who are struggling with their pockets filled with money from my business and the jobs it creates need all of you.”

There was silence for a moment. But after a while, a gentle voice was heard.

“For now…let’s keep an eye on it.”

“It’s quite ironic that there will be a dedicated academy for the commoners in the capital city. The idea of elementary schools is also very good.”

“I’ll support you. If you’re planning such a thing, I believe it would be foolish for us to attack you right now.”

A friendly voice reached my ears. I lifted my head slightly. Despite their complicated expressions, the people from the Adran faction were looking at me with an expression that seemed to accept, for the time being.

“We will carefully select bills to be enacted and bills to be repealed. Please persuade His Majesty the Emperor.”

“Of course. I will do so.”

I smirked at Adran. Although, to anyone else, it might seem like the sinister laughter of a villain with glasses, Adran couldn’t look at me with the eyes of disgust anymore.

He still gazed at me with a perplexed expression.

And the next day, I kept my promise.

Persuading the old emperor wasn’t difficult.

“Your Majesty!! It’s been a while!! hahahaha!!”

“Ooo!! Isn’t it Randor!!”

“I’ve been busy, so I couldn’t visit often!! hahahaha!!”

I found the emperor with expensive snacks imported from the western continent, silk, perfume, and various elixirs and tonics that are good for the body. Then, I applied perfume to the emperor’s body and fed him the snacks I brought, while telling him various interesting stories.

“I’ve created an amusement park, Your Majesty. It’s a sleigh field and a skating rink made for the eyes. It has become a popular attraction for many commoners to enjoy and visit!! hahahaha!!”

“That’s impressive, Randor. Very impressive.”

The reason Randor could win the favor of the emperor was simple. As the emperor grew old, his judgment became clouded, and he had become estranged from his family, living a life devoted only to work. Randor became the only friend with whom he could comfortably share his human emotions.

Of course, in the original novel, this was used to ruin the country, but not now. Spending the whole day entertaining the emperor, he became extremely satisfied with a face full of laughter.

“After taking the Amazing Vitality Tonic, I feel energized, and thanks to the fragrance and oil applied by Amazing Beauty, my body has a pleasant smell. I sleep soundly. It’s been a long time since I felt this good. Thank you. Whenever I meet you, there’s always something pleasant.”

Emotionally moved, the emperor leaned on me. I comforted the old emperor.

“I’m glad I could bring you joy, Your Majesty.”

“Do you have any wishes? I’ll grant anything.”

With a smile, I took out the papers containing the laws to be repealed and the bills to be enacted, which Adran’s officials had written for me, and showed them to the emperor.

“Your Majesty, please take a look at these. Laws to be repealed and bills to be enacted.”

“Hmm… I can’t see well because my eyes are dim. What kind of bills are these?”

“These are newly proposed bills brought by the best talents in the current empire. We plan to repeal the laws that have had a negative impact on the empire.”

“I see.”

The emperor struggled to read the writing, and in the end, he sighed and waved his hand.

“Kyeong, you’re a loyal subject, so you must have brought good bills. I’ll allow it. Bring the stamp!!!”

The emperor, playing with my secretary, stamped the repeal and enactment bills with a resounding thud. If it were the original novel, he would have stamped the stamp on the worst of the worst laws, causing the empire to fall, but not this time.

“The Holy Empire is in ruins! Your Majesty!”

“Let’s go to the bathhouse together. There is no better place to have an open conversation. hahahahaha!”

I instructed the maid to deliver the documents with my seal to Lord Adran. As I watched the maid take the documents, I chuckled.

The Empty Yard Party.

These f*cking bastards.

How dare they spread rumors and try to make a fool out of me?

After all, I had just confirmed the existence of a bill that could properly make those who had received my seal suffer.

[Peasant Emigration Rights Act.]

In short, it was a bill that allowed the peasants under the rule of the Western Granary District, who had found it difficult to make a living due to looting and oppression by the aristocracy, to settle in other territories where they would be better treated without punishment, and it granted them the right to reside in those territories.