THE VANISHED EMPIRE by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2006 written on February 11, 1995 translated by the author English text kindly revised by John
USUAL DISCLAIMER
"THE VANISHED EMPIRE" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family, opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed guest.
SIXTH - USAE'S DEATH - ASCENT OF YUDE
6.1 - Contacts with the barbarians
The barbarians showed up again. This time there were somewhat more men than the previous time and they again stopped at some distance away. Meta chose a group, composed of the same number of men, and went to meet the barbarians, stopping at some distance and shouting to them words of welcome. He was astounded when one of the barbarians, in a rather comprehensible language, asked them who they were and why they were in their land. Meta told him he wanted talk about just such matters, and asked the man with whom he could do so.
After a long talk, at times finding difficulties in understanding each other, they decided that Meta and one of his men, both disarmed, could meet with the barbarian who was able to communicate with him and one of the chieftains, to discuss matters, while the armed men of the two sides would remain at the same distance, on guard.
The barbarians knew about the army landing and about the fierce battles. Meta explained to them that the empire needed new lands and pointed out that in the nothern territories there was room enough for all of them - but if they were to fight, the Empire had enough power to seize all the territory, wiping out the native inhabitants. If on the contrary, they could reach an agreement, they could live in peace. The barbarian chieftain answered that avoiding a war would be very difficult, as difficult as it was avoiding wars amongst the tribes. And he added that the arrival of a powerful and numerous population would mean the end of their tribe anyway. They discussed for a long time. In the end, Meta proposed an agreement - they would mark a line halfway down the valley: the barbarians could not cross it without Meta's authorization, and Meta's men could not cross it without the barbarians' authorization. Both parties would have men on guard along that line.
Then, Meta asked the barbarian who was acting as interpreter how it was that he knew their language. The man answered that in past times they caught some shipwrecked fishermen as prisoners at the nearby shore, and from them he learned all the words he knew. Meta, then, proposed that the interpreter should stay with them in order to improve his knowledge of their language and to teach them the language of the barbarians. The man asked his chieftain, who gave his assent, but asked to have in exchange one of Meta's soldiers as a hostage. Meta, knowing that his men, being couples, would not like to be separated, asked then to make the exchange of two men, instead of just one.
Thus, a couple of volunteer soldiers went downvalley with the barbarians, while the interpreter with another barbarian went up to Meta's camp. Meta had asked the two volunteers to try to learn the barbarians' language and also to carefully watch the barbarians' usages and customs, their habits and so on. At the same time he would try to get as much information as possible from the interpreter.
The building of the valley wall and the first lodgings, as well as building the terraces for the tillable land, took up almost all the fine weather months of the year. From Ganer they obtained the weapons they required, as well as other items. Meanwhile the first families of settlers were arriving in all the conquered land on the other side of the mountain which was a flourish of activity.
Meta put some of his soldiers at work to systematically learn the barbarians' language and to teach them their own. Each day, he devoted some time to talk with Groth, the interpreter. The man was amazed by the fact they didn't have women with them, and asked him how they managed without women. Meta answered that the men of his group had sex between themselves and asked him if this didn't happen in his tribe too. Groth answered that, at times, it could also happen, mainly amongst the youths, but that everybody, in his tribe, had to marry. Meta asked him if then the two of them didn't miss their women, and Groth answered yes, but he could last until the day he would be back in his village. Groth was curious about their weapons, their building technique and asked a thousand questions.
Meta tried to persuade Groth how good it could be if they became part of the empire - he tried to show him all the advantages. But Groth always replied that they were free men and that they owed obedience and loyalty only to their tribe. Meta answered that the empire was like a broad tribe, and that in the empire, they too were free men. Groth retorted that in their tribe everybody knew everybody else and they never had to obey orders coming from a man they didn't know.
Then Meta tried to make him understand the advantages of a wide organisation, and as a demonstration he gave him the example of the imperial army, which had seized all the land of the seaside tribes; moreover, which barbarian tribe could build the big ships, have mines and foundries, weave beautiful and rich cloths like theirs, make tools as good as those that his men were using?
To some extent these words seemed to persuade Groth. But he made an observation that caused Meta to realize how really clever he was, "It isn't so easy to change in the span of just one generation the habits acquired during many generations." Meta answered him, "But you and I can be the ones who initiate this change..."
One day when winter was approaching, Meta proposed that Groth should return to his village. The man answered that they had to inform their chieftain to make a new exchange with the two hostages. Meta told him that he trusted him, therefore there was no need of such step; he had just to go back to his village and, once he was there, he had just to ask to free the two hostages. Groth seemed really impressed by this attitude, and gave his word to Meta that his two men will come back freely.
In fact, a few days later the two men were back, safe and sound. They had learned enough of the barbarians language, even more than the men who learned it at the camp from Groth and his friend. They also brought back much information and many impressions. All summed up, the two soldiers had developed a certain admiration for the barbarians. The had been treated fairly, even though, mainly at the beginning, with some coldness.
They also explained that the three villages down the valley all belonged to the same tribe, the Porls, who once were living near the sea shore but had been chased away to the hinterland by a stronger tribe, about twenty years before. The Porls were stockbreeders and farmers, but they also had several handicraft activities.
The following year, Groth came back with another companion, and Meta sent two different volunteers to live with the Porls. Meanwhile they built the two walls going uphill and more lodgings for the soldiers. They also started to cultivate the fields and brought the first pairs of animals to breed - poultry, rabbits, guinea pigs and geese from Ganer.
In the fifth month a barbarians delegation came to confer with Meta; something had just happened that made the chieftain really sorry and upset - a hostile tribe attacked the Porls village. They repelled all the attacks, but during the skirmish one of Meta's soldiers had been killed and the other was severely wounded, and was now being cared for in one of their villages. Therefore, Groth translated, Meta now had the right to kill one of his hostages and the other as well if they were not able to heal the surviving soldier. Meta answered him that it was not them who killed his man, therefore he would not take the life of any of the Porls. But he availed himself of the occasion to say to the chieftain, "If you had told us of the attack, we could have come down and fought at your side. To protect this valley is in our interests as well as yours. Why can we not be friends, allies?"
Groth, on his side, told his chieftain that in his opnion they could trust those strangers, and that an alliance would make their valley safer. The chieftain didn't answer. Meta then asked if he could go down to the village, to see his wounded man. The chieftain agreed and granted him safe passage, as he would remain there as an hostage. Meta replied that they had to learn to trust each other's word, therefore he would go alone, without any further exchange of hostages.
He then went downhill with the chieftain and his delegation, after entrusting the command to one of the section-leaders in his absence. He was accompanied only by one of the soldiers who spoke the barbarian language well, as interpreter. For this occasion, he wore the court attire - he wanted to impress the inhabitants of the village.
The wounded soldier was conscious and confirmed that everything happened as the chieftain told. He said they were taking care of him nicely and that he preferred to stay in the village until he was healed. The chieftain entertained Meta in his hut and introduced him all his family. Later, while he was leaving the hut of the wounded soldier, the third son of the chieftain, a twenty-one-year old youth called Khnis, approached him.
"Are you his chief?" asked him the youth.
"Yes, I am." Meta answered, and couldn't avoid noticing the youth's nice pectorals.
"Is it true that you cannot marry?"
"Well, that's not really so - if one of us wants to marry, he can."
"But he is not forced to marry, right?"
"Sure, nobody is forced."
"And... if he likes to stay with another man better, he can do so, right?"
"Certainly yes."
"Your soldier told me that his mate who was killed was his lover..."
"Yes, that's right."
"And... everybody knew that."
"Certainly yes. All my men and their mates are lovers."
"Therefore, you too?"
"No, I'm not."
"Are you married then?"
"No, I'm alone."
"How come? You don't like men?"
"Yes... sure I like men..." Meta answered, thinking that he really liked Khnis.
"So, then?" the youth insisted.
"A disappointement - my last lover cheated on me, and went off with another man. I really loved him, I didn't expect such behaviour from him, so... Moreover, now I'm too old to start again... Who can desire to be with a man as old as I am?" Meta said, somewhat bitterly. But then asked him, "Why are you asking me such questions?"
"I... in a short while have to marry. I don't want that, but if I stay here, I have to. Then, I was thinking - if you accepted me as one of your men..."
"But... do you have a boyfriend, here?"
"No, just many friends with whom... you know, since we were boys... at times we fuck amongst us boys. But then we marry, we have to marry. My friends seem to like that, but I... Cannot you take me with your men? In exchange of the one who was killed?"
"Do you want to become his lover?" Meta asked, pointing to the hut.
"I still don't know, his lover or... you are many..."
"All the others are already in couples, but it is not set. At times the couples can be changed. And you are a really handsome boy, you could appeal to many of my men."
"So, then, will you take me as your soldier?"
Meta looked pensively at him, "Would you accept following all our rules?"
"Yes, sure. Groth told us that life is good at your place."
"Did he tell you that we have an iron discipline?"
"Yes. But after all here it is so too. Will you accept me as one of yours?"
"If your father agrees, there is no problem on my side to enroll you or other boys like you." Meta said, thinking that after all it would be an enrichement to have natives in the army.
The young man nodded, pleased. He said he would talk with his father and said goodbye to Meta. Later, the chieftain went to talk with Meta. He told him that his son Khnis offered himself to go at the imperial soldiers camp, forever, in exchange for the dead soldier. He asked Meta if he accepted. Meta at once said yes, he agreed at that.
Then Khnis showed up again to Meta, smiling, "What do I have to do, to become one of yours?"
"Nothing special - you just have to swear allegiance to the emperor, in my hands, then you will have our uniform and will start your regular life as an imperial soldier."
Khnis solemnly swore in Meta's hands allegiance to the emperor and obedience to his representatives. Then, when Meta decided to go back to the camp, the youth accompanied him, carrying his weapons and a few personal belongings. Back to the camp, Meta had Khnis wear the uniform and entrusted him to a ten-hut to drill him in military life. But first of all he had to learn the empire language.
A few days later, meeting Khnis who was working with his ten, asked him how he was feeling. The youth seemed happy and pleased. He asked him also if he already found a lover, but the youth said no - he already made love with several men, but he didn't yet find a lover.
Then the youth asked Meta, "Don't you like me?"
"You? Yes... you really are a handsome boy, I like you."
"So, then, wouldn't you make love with me?" Khnis quietly asked.
Meta didn't expect such an offer, but he answered with a smile, "I would, for sure, and willingly."
"So, tonight, may I come and sleep in your room?" the boy asked at once.
"Yes..."
At night, Khnis showed up, "Here I am." He simply said.
Meta welcomed him with a smile and brought him into his bedroom.
While they were undressing, the youth said, "Your men know how to make love a lot better than the boys at the village - they taught me a lot of things. It is fine living here with you."
"I'm happy you like being here." Meta said, admiring the beautiful nudity of the youth and starting to caress him.
He pulled him on his bed and Khnis embraced him adhering to his body with desire. Meta kissed him and the boy answered with passion. Aroused, they intertwined, searched, fondled, kissed, caressed, licked each other all over their bodies and Meta enjoyed the joyous and passionate expression of the young man, his perfect body, muscled but lean, his exuberant and yet sweet virility.
"What would you like to do?" Meta asked him in a whisper filled with desire.
"Everything!" Khnis answered, with the enthusiasm of a neophyte.
"The same here... so, then... let's do everything!" Meta said pulling him against his body and caressing him voluptuously.
The fresh and sweet virility with which the boy devoted himself to give Meta pleasure, and the passionate way in which he offered himself to the man who then took him, gave Meta the feeling he was back to the intense days of his youth...
When they finally laid down, panting and satisfied, looking in each others bright eyes, Khnis said in a murmur, "It's only right that you are the chief. You are the best of all, even in love making. It has been beautiful... wonderful."
"I like you so very much too, Khnis."
"So, then... can I come here also tomorrow night?"
"If you like, Khnis, I would be more than pleased."
"And, may I stay here, now, to sleep near you?"
"Sure."
The following morning, when Meta woke up, looked at the splendid naked body of the youth lying near him, still immersed in a sound sleep, and noticed he had the classical morning erection. He burned at once with desire, woke him up gently kissing and caressing him, and when the youth looked at him with a pleased smile, started to make love with him with renewed passion.
While at last they were dressing, Meta thought it was a long while since he felt so full of vigour when waking up in the morning. He really felt good.
When the youth said goodbye saying, "See you tonight, then?"
"Yes, sure, tonight, Khnis." Meta answered with a gentle smile, thinking that Khnis was a really beautiful name.
The young man went to see Meta, one evening after the other, and they each gradually came to know the body of the other; they were spending more and more passionate evenings together. Meta was fascinated by the youth's freshness, by his genuine naturalness, by the intense passion with which he was making love with him. Seeing him work with the other soldiers was enough to make him brighten up.
His collaborators became aware of that and one of them told him, "After you got a lover, Meta, you are a different man - you seem rejuvenated, reinvigorated. Congratulations."
"But... Khnis is not my lover. You can imagine, he will soon get tired of one like me; I could be his father. I'm thirty years older than him."
"Don't be silly, Meta - that boy is crazy about you. And age is not important in such matters."
Meta didn't want to surrender - he was afraid to deceive himself, to suffer again. He preferred to think that with Khnis it was just a temporary adventure. But the boy, asked him every time with forthright desire if he could see him again the following night.
Thus, once, when as usual Khnis asked him, "May I come again, tonight?"
Meta answered, "There are so many handsome men in the camp, younger than me. Why don't you look for a lover, Khnis?"
The young man seemed to become gloomy, "I thought you liked me... Are you tired of me?"
"No, no, not at all! But young as you are, I really don't see you near an old man."
"Near an old man? Who's he?"
"That's me - I'm fifty-one-years old, and you're just twenty-one."
Khnis smiled, "Oh, but I love two young men, one is eighteen and the other thirty-three. But neither of them yet told me if he wants me as a lover..."
"Oh, really? That's very good. Who are they?"
"Both are.. you. Don't you want me as your lover?"
"Khnis... I told you... I'm afraid of a fresh disappointment. I like you so very much, really... but..."
"You're afraid I can leave you?"
"Right."
"Then, I take an oath - if I became aware I feel like leaving you, I will kill myself; I will never belong to any other man. I swear. I want to be only yours."
"Khnis, you are so young... don't take a rash oath that a day later you could regret to have done."
The youth seemed grieved, "You don't believe me?"
"I believe you - now you feel this way, but one day, possibly... I'm growing older very fast - soon you will be a man in the flower of his vigour, but I will be withering."
"Why won't you trust my word? Khnis never speaks in vain, he has but one word. Khnis decided that if you don't want him as a lover, he will never belong to another man. Now Khnis awaits for your answer."
That sudden speaking about himself in the third person gave a special solemnity to the youth's words. Meta felt moved - inside himself he thought that perhaps one day Khnis could leave him, but also that, after all, until that day there was no sense in renouncing such a lover.
So he answered, "All right, Khnis - do you want me as your lover?"
"I want you, Meta. And do you want me?"
"Yes, I want you..."
6.2 - Yude suceeds Usae
Meta's men finished building the fort and also harvested their first crops. Other barbarian tribes attacked the Porls so the soldiers went down to help the villagers. Thus the Porls and the soldiers started to mix without problems and also to exchanged the produce of their agriculture or handicraft products, as well as their techniques. Some of the younger Porls even asked to be enrolled as soldiers. Meta and Khnis were more and more in love so Meta decided to make a journey to the Sword Castle to tell Usae about his experiment, then also to Suna to introduce Khnis to Yude. They therefore started a long voyage.
In 1495, while Meta and Khnis were on their trip to the empire, a second expedition was leaving to colonize another stretch of the barbarians coast. To the north there was a wide natural bay, opening in a basin covered by a thick forest. They decided to build another port there and a broad shipyard. The new expedition left with ships having on board ten thousand horsemen and sixty thousand footmen - which left Meta and Khnis with just two feluccas. After the other ships landed, they would make another journey to bring tools, weapons, and settlers' families.
Usae strongly believed in the importance of the conquest of all the barbarians' land. He welcomed Meta favorably and listened with interest to his attempt at integration with the barbarians. He asked Meta to keep him informed about the progress of his experiment and gave him rich gifts. Khnis was impressed by the magnificence of the Sword Castle. Meta went to pay homage to the Emperor and Khnis was awe-struck by the grandeur of the imperial Palace. Then they went down to the Pike Castle to meet Yude and his lover Buga. Khnis admired the strange beauty and ingenuity of the castle standing at the center of the marsh. Another thing that impressed the young man was the road system - paved roads and bridges, kept in perfect order.
They remained in the Pike Castle for almost one month, all four going hunting together, then visiting the industrial centers that Yude was helping to flourish in the rich territory. Buga and Khnis liked each other at once and were soon on familiar terms.
While Yude and Meta were recalling the times of their youth, they were also looking at Buga and Khnis who were jousting on the drill ground.
"The future is in their hands..." Yude said, merrily.
"Yes. And the empire is at last living in peace." added Meta.
"Oh, don't deceive yourself. We still have a lot of unresolved problems - to conquer the princedoms, to settle the problem of Rone island with the pirates, to colonize the north, to abolish the old aristocratic system. Then we have to organize a new taxation method, to improve the roads system and the fleet... to reorganize the army. For sure it will not be us who can see the accomplishment of all this. And last but not least, is the problem of the emperor..."
"What problem?" Meta asked, with curiosity.
"The emperor now has a quite ceremonial role, even though all the edicts must have his signature. I'm asking myself why Usae don't seize the throne, which he already controls in fact. The old aristocracy has an almost sacred concept of the emperor's person, and Usae belongs to the old aristocracy. We would need a strong, efficient emperor... and the hereditary succession doesn't grant that at all..."
"What do you have in mind, a revolution?"
"No, not in the meaning of an armed revolution, but... a revolution in mentality - as long as there are hereditary privileges, there will always be the temptation to preserve them, to the detriment of the nation's wellbeing. But Usae doesn't want to understand that and at times we almost quarrel about it. Gano started the unification of the empire territories, Usae is strengthening it. But if we don't eradicate the seeds of division, sooner or later it will all start once again..."
When Meta decided to go back to his land amidst the barbarians, Yude loaded him with gifts. Then Meta and Khnis embarked at a port on a fast felucca and sailed to the north, to Ganer. Here they remained a few days as guests of the general regent of the colony and then went up to the camp.
Khnis told Meta that, in his opinion, it would be useful to show people, to make the empire's reality known to his tribe, "If they could see with their own eyes what I've seen, many would just be happy to become part of the empire - mainly young people", he concluded.
This gave Meta a new idea. It was not easy to persuade the chieftains of the three villages to let a delgation of youths go on tour for a year in the empire territory, but Khnis found the solution. Because he knew the mentality of his people, he proposed an exchange: as many of Meta's men would be 'guests' of the villages, that many youths would leave for the trip.
Thus the first delegation of young barbarians left to visit the empire - there were fourteen of them, all between eighteen and twenty years of age. Fourteen soldiers took their places in the villages, living and working in their place. The delegation was accompanied by twenty soldiers who acted as their escort and guide.
The expedition to the north, meanwhile, was established with few problems, but had to fight against the barbarians living there. Several groups of barbarians left the basin and moved to the nearby valleys. Just a few remained there, on the mountains, in a kind of armed truce. But the basin and the bay were now firmly in the empire's hands. Meanwhile from Sote they were executing great works to allow the coastal imperial road to reach the new colony's territory, up to Ganer port and going also further to the north.
In 1496, while Usae was reaching by ship Ganer, the convoy was attacked by the princes fleet on the open sea near Gami. The larger part of the convoy could reach Ganer, but the ship in which Usae sailed was sunk, and the very same Usae died in the shipwreck.
The news at once reached the entire empire. Kimi and Yude then gathered the council urgently - they needed to find a successor to Usae immediately and react to the grave provoction of the princes. The council meeting was stormy - there were several pretenders to Usae's succession. The party of the imperial aristocracy backed the duke Fole who, being a refugee from Fago, knew the island that was now ruled by the prince Keta perfectly. Moreover the duke belonged to an ancient aristocratic family, descending from a side branch of the imperial family.
The army and Yude backed Kimi who, as he had been the Usae's closest collaborator, could maintain continuity in the governement of the empire. But several generals of noble descent, preferred count Ario to him, a serious and determined man, but without personal ambitions. And lastly, a small section of the court nobles, including the emperor himself, promoted prince Waka as a candidate. Prince Waka was an illustrious jurist who was reorganizing the various codes of the provinces to achieve a unified code.
The council was in a stalemate. The emperor unilaterally decided to name Waka, but the jurist refused, saying that the new great general and regent would have no effective power if he was not backed by the whole council. And Waka proposed to choose Yude. But the old aristocracy had no confidence in a person from a farming background like Yude.
Then Kimi proposed splitting the two charges - he proposed Yude as great general and Waka as regent - the first would surely have the agreement of the army, and the second of the aristocracy. The emperor accepted this suggestion and, gradually, all the council ended with approval. Thus, on the seventh month of 1496 the emperor, in a sumptuous ceremony, named Waka as regent and Yude as Great general, giving him also the permanent title of prince. Yude confirmed Kimi as first councillor and named Ario as second coucillor.
Then, at everybody's amazement, instead of ordering the attack on the princes' islands, Yude went to Rone island, which for years was in the hands of the pirates. Here he asked to meet the pirates' chief - whom he asked to become part of the empire, keeping the island and with the title of prince, but uniting with him in the next war against the princes Keta and Soka. The chief of the pirates asked Yude what advantage he could get in uniting with the empire, in becoming a de facto vassal and a tributary.
"Survival," Yude answered him. "Survival, the Imperial fleet is becoming stronger and stronger - we have plenty of men, wood, materials, and gold that you don't have. If you remain our enemy, once the princes are eliminated, your turn will come. You could win a few battles, possibly, but not the war. For each ship we lose, we can build two new ships; for each man we lose, we can put two men at his place. Are you able to do the same?"
The pirates chief nodded in assent, but then said he had first to consult his men - taking a decision against their will could mean a rebellion arising. Then Yude made him a new proposal - the empire was installing a great shipyard in the north, in the barbarians land. Any pirate who was an expert in ship building and accepted going to work in the great yard, would receive a high wage and the same sum would be given to the pirates treasurer on the island.
The chief of the pirates told Yude that he would give him an answer and Yude said he would wait for it at Ikoi port. Three days later a pirate felucca came with the black flag of parley. The chief of pirates accepted the proposal, but only if the empire gave an indemnity, for each pirate dead in the war against the princes, and for each ship lost. They negotiated for some time over the amount of the indemnity, but in the end Yude accepted and the pact was settled. The pirates chief went with Yude to the court, where he was received with all honors; he swore allegiance to the emperor and received the title of prince.
Then all the fleets gathered and according to plan, they went to attack the islands. Chicha was the first to fall and Soka's family was exterminated. Fago island resisted longer but, after the prince's fleet had been destroyed, the invasion started from the east and the south sides. On the tenth month of 1496, prince Keta surrendered, but when Yude's men entered the castle, Keta killed himself. So, Fago was at last also conquered and all the empire was totally unified once again.
In 1497 the census of all the land and of all the population, including the recently conquered islands and of the colonies was carried out. Yude asked Waka to prepare a new law according which all the tributes were not to be sent to the court by the local lords, but personally by each single family. This, if on one hand, it seemed to lessen the fiscal drag on the aristocrats, in reality granted a greater revenue and took away from the lords the control of great sums of money. Moreover it introduced the principle that everybody had to pay taxes, according to what they possessed.
Waka prepared a draft that Yude modified only in part. The population was divided into five categories - the lords, including both the old court aristocracy and the new military aristocracy; the land-owners, that is the farmers possessing their own land, whether large or small; the merchants; the artisans and last, the labourers, that is the people having the work of their hands as their sole income.
These last, not possessing any goods or riches, were taxed on the only thing they had - each year the owed thirty days of work to the nation; they had to perform corvees for the maintenance of roads and bridges, public works, cleaning of the streets in the cities and so on. They were organized in work-teams, so that two members of the same family had not to give their work in the same period. The corveees were suspended during the periods of more intense agricultural work, to allow them to earn their living.
All the other categories were taxed according to two parameters - the number of the employees, including in that themselves and their family, and exempting only children younger that ten-years and men older than sixty. Then the quantity of the land they owned, including the part with buildings. The land they had was classed in three categories: that is land for farming, including stables, depots and stores; land for craft activities, including depots, laboratories, stores and yards; and land for commercial activity and for housing, including yards and gardens.
These lands were taxed in a different way according the use, the category and the province. The land was measured in conventional "years of labour".
The professional soldiers, being considered state employees, didn't pay taxes, but the temporary soldiers had to pay taxes for all the days they were not in the army barracks.
This revision of the revenue system brought two consequences - the creation of land and registry offices that also acted as collecting centers for revenue; and also a revolution in the possession of land or employed labourers. The less productive or uncultivated lands, were sold and the lords often drastically decreased the number of their servants, to pay less taxes.
At first there was a strong resistance, mainly from the lords and the craftsmen. But Yude was inflexible: the law was to be applied and he himself gave a good exemple by paying his taxes. Castles were exempt from paying taxes only if given to the state. The immediate imperial family, to the third degree, and limited to the imperial palace, also didn't pay taxes.
It was the pirates of Rone who opposed taxation with a strong resistance, and who threatened to split from the empire. Yude, applying the same treatement reserved to the colonies, decided to exempt the island from the taxation system for a period of ten years, then for ten more years they would pay 50%, then pay the same as all the others. In fact Yude thought that in ten years the imperial fleet would be strong enough to be able to easily win an eventual clash with the pirates. The pirates thought they had won, as they were persuaded that, after ten years, they could repeat their challenge.
Another consequence of the new revenue system was that, besides allowing the state to receive greater and more continuous flows of money, therefore allowing the maintenance of a strong army and a professional fleet, as well as the execution of several public works, the territory now was no longer divided according the old dominons and provinces, but in regions determined by the communication system and organized in homogeneous districts.
Then Yude decided to revoluzionize the monetary system, which was very complex because of the previous independent coinage of the fiefs. He declared all the coins that were not converted in one year no longer current, and ordered four kinds of new coins to be minted, establishing the exchange rate with the old coins. A copper coin with the symbol of a sickle, that was called sickle; a brass coin with the symbol of an axe with the value of 100 sickles; a silver one with the symbol a sword, with the value of 100 axes; and last a golden one with the symbol of a crown and the value of 100 swords. An average working day was paid a half sword, that is fifty axes. One year of work of a labourer was paid about one crown.
All the ancient coins changed within one year were melted, using the metals for various purposes. After the year, all the old coins value would be equal to their weight as common metal, that was less than the face value.
So Yude started his peaceful revolution. But he didn't intend to stop at that. Besides strengthening the colonies, where all the people who had lost their jobs because of the new revenue system were sent, he wanted to reform the administrative and the judicial systems too.
Even though in those times they didn't yet have a clear idea about the division of powers, so leaving the lawmaking and the government bodies united, Yude created two new indpendent bodies - the judges and the controllers. The judges were co-opted by the judiciary body with a method of public exams, but then promotions to higher levels were decided by elections. The controllers, whose sole power was unfettered access to any act and public archive, were to control the judges, the tax collectors and to eventually publicly denounce any malfunctioning, was a body elected by all the citizens. If a judge was accused, he had to be tried by the magistrates of a region far away from his own.
Also these reforms met no little opposition, but gradually they were applied. In peace time, the soldiers were subject to the civil authorities and acted as police. In war time they were subject to the military hierarchy.
For the army, Yude could put into operation, without any problems, the old reform he had at heart - besides dividing the army into professionals and temporary soldiers, he divided it in specializations. The horsemen were of two kinds, the light and the heavy, according to the weapons they used. The infantrymen were light troops, mountain corps, builders, assailers, guerrillas, scouts and strongholders. The new navy was divided into three bodies, the navigtors, the boarders and the catapulters. Each group had their flag, their colors and their uniform, abolishing the uniforms of the old dominions.
And finally, Yude also undertook the reorganization of the asylums, making them a powerful means of mass education, and also a means of assistance for old or ill people. He also had new asylums built in the smaller villages and in each borough of the big cities. He organized them according a territorial system, but leaving them a certain amount of autonomy.
6.3 - The friends smooth the way for Yude
In the second month of 1500, the emperor died. As he didn't have sons, the succession problem arose. There were several collateral relatives who aspired to the throne but, according to Yude, none of them was worthy. The various relatives sought allies, protectors, supporters and this was creating divisions in the empire again.
Yude demanded that a regent should occupy the throne until a new emperor was chosen. He therefore asked Waka to appoint himself regent, and the old aristocrat, who highly esteeemed Yude after he ascended the throne, willingly made him regent.
Ario and Kimi suggested to Yude that he himself should ascend the imperial throne, but Yude hummed and hawed - he knew he would have the army's support, but the old aristocracy still had strong influence and could sway the population against him and Yude didn't want a civil war.
Yude was wise and honest, therefore he went to see Waka and told him about Ario and Kimi's proposal and about his answer. Waka told him he acted correctly, that he was ready to abdicate in his favour, but before that they had to prepare the field - there were still too many pretenders to the throne.
In 1501 Yude received a visit from Meta, who told him that the integration of his men with the men of the three villages was practically done and that, thanks mainly to Khnis, all the valley down to the sea, as the result of negotiations or armed clashes, was now united and the several barbarian villages accepted imperial sovereignty and were gradually adapting to the imperial system. He therefore asked to be authorized to found a new city that would beco me the capital of that new region, and to grant the inhabitants empire citizenship.
Yude accepted willingly and offered to name Meta governor of the new region, but Meta said he preferred the new governor to be a native and proposed his Khnis. Yude accepted that at once and issued the nomination decree.
Meta went back to his valley and, with a stately ceremony to which all his men and representatives from all the villages participated, he invested Khnis with his new charge. Then Khnis traced the perimeter of the new town and mixed teams of soldiers and natives started to build the walls. The city was built at a few kilometers from the sea, in a bight of the river, and they also started to build a great bridge over it.
When Meta asked Khnis what name he intended to give to the new town, Khnis smiled and told him that he already thought about that matter - he would call it Nethe, the word meaning "beloved" in the Porls language.
"I would have loved to call it Meta, but you explained to me that amongst your people you give the name of a person to a city only after that person is dead... therefore..." Khnis said with a sweet smile, caressing him.
Meta shuddered, "Khnis, my love, you are awakening my desire, touching me so..."
"That's exactly what I want. My desire has been awakened for a while. Come..." the young man said, gently pushing him towards their room.
"You are taking advantage of me because I'm old and cannot oppose, aren't you?" Meta jokingly said.
"You old? You are like a lad, when we make love, and show more endurance than me. When you take me you are full of vigor and when it's me to take you, you're full of passion... what is there old, in you?"
"My body is old."
"I adore your body."
"I'm starting to have white hair."
"That makes you even more sexy."
"It's your love that blinds you."
"Wrong. It's your love that dazzles me." Khnis whispered finishing undressing him and pulling Meta on top of him, on the bed.
While they were starting to make love, Meta thought he was lucky to have such a lover.
Another passionate lover was making love in that moment, in the Sword Castle - Buga.
"Do you love me, Yude?"
"You know I do, my little one."
"You ought not to call me little any more - I'm almost thirty-six-years old, now."
"To me, you'll always be my little one. I adore you, do you know?"
"Yes, you make me feel it. But I adore you too."
"Even though I'm just a plebeian? A country man?"
"How silly you are - if I was offered a choice between the imperial throne and you, I would choose you, don't you know that?"
"They want me to be emperor, can you imagine!"
"I find it normal - to me you already are the emperor, since the first day you made love with me."
"But they didn't make love with me." Yude said, laughing.
"Well, not all of them, but Kimi has been your lover, hasn't he?"
"Yes, he was one. And also Meta."
"So why did you leave Kimi?"
"I don't know. It just ended. We remained good friends. Possibly I had too much desire for change, to try out, to look for others. Perhaps I was searching just for you. And luckily I found you. Now I need no other, nothing more." Yude said kissing him, and they started again to make love with gentle passion.
Ario and Kimi, meanwhile, were just talking about Yude and the empire.
"You know him very well - how can we persuade him?" Ario asked.
"I know him very well? Just because I was his lover for a while? Do you think you know your wife well?" Kimi asked him.
"No, not my wife, but I do know my mistress very well." Ario answered, laughing.
"Yude has an inborn ability to understand what's best to do in every situation. If he thinks this is not the moment to seize the throne..."
"Because of the opposition of the old aristocracy."
"Mainly because they have too many legitimate pretenders to oppose him."
"So, then... let's eliminate all the pretenders and smooth the way for him."
"If you did such a thing, I believe he would sentence you to death. He didn't approve of those methods in Gano's time."
"But he followed him."
"He also loved him. He had the sense of authority; Gano was his chief. He didn't approve of several things about him, but he remained faithful, and he admired him. But Yude is profoundly different."
"Well, we shall just have to behave so that Yude will not understand who is making the pretenders to the throne disappear from under his nose." Ario said.
"He will suspect something when he sees them vanish one after the other and he'll inquire about the matter for sure, he is not a inexperienced man. Also, if he didn't make inquiries, he would be suspected himself. No, we can do nothing like that."
"My friend, trust me - I am a faithful person, but also a shrewd one; don't forget I'm the offspring of a very ancient family. You will see that people will suspect neither me, nor you, nor Yude."
"And how?"
"Let me do it. You have only to help me when I will need your help. We have enough gold and friends to organize everything. Listen..."
Five men were pretenders to the throne - Kaber, forty-six years old, Funan, fifteen, Itory, thirty-two, Nemol fifty-four and Qozie, thirty-five. Ario organized a network of spies to study all their movements and their habits. When he came to know that Itory was secretly moving to Ekin in order to find more supporters, passing through the Assa mountain pass, he organized an ambush at the pass, sending some men disguised as brigands. Itory's small caravan was attacked and slaughtered, taking away all the gold and valuables he was carrying, including the famous armband that belonged to the fifteenth emperor.
Everybody thought that the assassination was the work of bandits. But Ario had the armband with many other jewels hidden in Kaber's treasury, then one of Kaber servants, who was in reality one of Ario's men, sent a secret report to the magistrates accusing Kaber to be the instigator of the assasination of his relative. The magistrates questioned the servant asking him what proofs he had to support such an heavy accusation. The servant told them he saw his master in possession of the famous imperial armband and to have heard his master say, "One less pretender; let's now deal with the others." Thus, the magistrates ordered a search in Kaber's treasury and went to Daket castle, where he was a guest.
They found the armband so the magistrates accused Kaber to be the instigator of Itory's assasination. He was arrested, several more proofs were gathered against him, a regular trial was held. He was sentenced to death. Yude, even though he was persuaded he was guilty, asked Waka to use leniency and to commute the death sentence into life imprisonment. Waka granted the mercy, but Kaber could no longer pretend to the imperial throne.
Ario, through his friends, informed Qozie and Funan that in reality Kaber had had an accomplice - Nemol, and that they had planned to split the empire between them, and that it had been Nemol who reported his cousin in order to get rid of him. As he hoped, Qozie, being an impulsive man, decided to take revenge. Funan, on the contrary was really scared, he no longer felt safe anywhere, he wanted to take flight, to hide himself. In fact the boy didn't have any particular desire to sit on the imperial throne, he was just manipulated by the duke Ikie. Uselessly, the duke tried to persuade the boy that he was running no risks.
Then Ario, through a court lady who was a friend of his, sent a secret message to Funan's mother. The lady told her that if she wanted to rescue her son, she had to have him escape to the colonies, where he would be safe from the aims of his uncle. The boy's mother trusted that lady who had been one of her best childhood friends, so with her she organized her son's flight. Disguised as an ordinary sailor, the boy was entrusted to one of the lady's sons and embarked on a felucca. The lady's son brought the boy up to the north colony, at Usaer, the port-shipyard founded a few years before. There he easily persuaded Funan to change his name, and entrusted him to one of his friends. This latter took the boy to one of the new villages of the hinterland just built by the imperial soldiers, and entrusted him to a soldier who really believed that the boy was a simple sailor.
There, the boy finally felt safe - nobody knew his real identity. He grew fond of the soldier, who treated him very well, so that when, one night, the soldier slipped into his bed and told him he desired him, the boy gave himself to the man without any problem, and became his lover.
Meanwhile Qozie was not wasting his time. He paid some men to have Nemol assassinated. But Ario had Nemol warned and made aware of Qozie's plans. Therefore Nemol, besides staying on the alert, in his turn paid some men to assassinate Qozie. The first to fall in an ambush was Qozie who, in a hunting party, was hit by three arrows, one of them deadly. An inquiry was opened - it was clear that it wasn't a simple hunting accident, but the offender wasn't found, even though the magistrates suspected Nemol or some of the men faithful to the other pretenders.
Only Nemol was still on the run, and he was now confident that his claims to succeed to the throne had a clear way ahead. Ario didn't know if Qozie really did pay somebody to assassinate Nemol and, even if he did so, now that Qozie was dead, if the men he paid would eventually carry out what they had been paid to do. So Ario organized the elimination of Nemol too.
Nemol was guest in Stan's Castle. He never went outside, and fearing he would be poisoned, always had a part of his food, which he chose, eaten by a taster. It was exactly this obsession that gave Ario the right idea - he had Nemol's food poisoned, but in very small, not deadly, doses, so that the taster, who was eating just a little of it, would have no effects, but that, gradually accumulating in Nemol's body, little by little it would undermine his health. In fact Nemol fell ill, while his taster was still in good health. In spite of all the precautions, Nemol's health was worsening, until he too died.
It was the twelfth month of 1502 and all the throne pretenders had disappeared. Ario and Kimi met again and drank a toast to the success of their operation - nobody at all had suspected that everything had been planned by a single hand and not by fate. When Funan heard about the end of all the other pretenders, felt happy he had become an unknown, simple sailor, and he could live a sound and safe life near the man he loved.
CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 7
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