You decide to agree to the demand and send more money.
"Thank you for your continued support." Says the envoy. "King Tinwulf authorized me to give you these maps and notes on the distant northlands in case you comply with his request. I'm sure your scribes and cartographers will put them to good use." The scribes in question eagerly take the papers from the envoy and scamper to their studies to update the royal map.
The envoy leaves with the gold and supplies and guards the same evening.
890 AD, Midwinter
3to4
A report from the mining complex indicates that more ores than expected were mined this year, earning the Treasury additional profits.
890 AD, Late Winter
Tales of travelers and merchants from north seem to indicate that King Tinwulf and his soldiers vanquished a thousand elves in The Battle of the Empty Plain.
Three days later you hear the news that after victory celebrations, the horse that was carrying King Tinwulf got scared in front of an old tree by the road and tossed her rider; King Tinwulf broke his neck on the tree's roots. His son, twenty years old womanizer and supporter of Singularists, Anktuk, became the next King of Dahnia.
4
Meanwhile in the West, your Army is resting after a big skirmish with almost two thousand of Chunug horsemen. It was a bloody battle and your soldiers suffered some casualties.
890 AD, End of the Year
The advisor brings you the Scrolls of the Kingdom Status, and some scholars in tow.
Happiness: 7
Population: 4
Economy: 7
Army: 6
You look at the numbers, which are good, and then you look at the scholars. The advisor lets them pass.
"These are the cartographers who just finished work on the Royal Map of Luathbas this year, and we've decided to bring it for your perusal." They unroll the map, which looks twice as big as it was the last time you saw it.
891 AD, Spring
An emissary from Kingdom of Dahnia has arrived; along with several wagons filled with Dahnian coinage. It is a gift from the King Anktuk, for the continuous help provided to the Dahnians in the past against the elven attacks.
Few days later, your Advisor arrives in your study.
Along with the Treasurer.
"Your Majesty... we have some unfortunate news to report." You look at the Advisor, then at the fidgeting Treasurer, then at the Advisor again.
"I regret to inform you that, after several months of gathering evidence, our Treasurer and his staff has discovered a terrible truth behind the accounting discrepances." The Treasurer takes off his beret.
"My Queen! The governors of various cities and tax collectors have been slowly but steadily chipping away the profits that would otherwise be part of the Treasury's wealth. Seventeen city governors, eighteen trade-doing noblemen and about fifty lesser peoples have been embezzling the funds."
"Before you fly into a rage, let me explain that it is because we lack sufficient number of loyal servants and clerks that could double-check everything. Our nation grows, but our administration does not. Besides punishment of the corrupt ones, we need to take steps to prevent loss of funds on this scale in the future."
"Do you have any ideas?"
"I do." The Treasurer steps forward. "Instead of letting everything be decided by one man, we would have a tax collector, under a main accountant, under the governor, with settlement's Treasurer at his side, and those would report to a group of my servants, who would then help me compile things. And I'm speaking for every city and autonomous provinces here. But implementing such a large network of people will take time... and money. In fact, such a bureaucratic machine will begin draining money annually, from wages and processing costs alone." You sit and ponder all this for a long while.
As for the punishment of corrupt officials...
A) Fine them heavily - money stolen, money recovered.
B) Heavily punish the officials and execute the most corrupt ones, and have competent replacements found.
C) -
D) Replace them only, losing a well-paid job is enough of a punishment.
As for the administrative reform...
A) It was inevitable - time to install proper bureaucratic software updates on this old accounting machine of ours!
B) This happened, what, once in a span of 90 years? Surely the Kingdom can be fine with that on such rare intervals.
//Remember, no split votes.
//EDIT: Map error (Khosra) fixed.
//EDIT: Another map error (Tven) fixed.
