Tanya's Third Life as a Barbarian Queen, Chapter XLIII

I will have the chapter as links to download at the bottom of the post. As well as a link to the Google Document page.

Kontia, Forum.

Tanya, Queen of the Tanaoi.

The Kontia public forum was built like an amphitheater except smaller and without any walls or buildings attached. Constructed from local grey stone, a granite of some kind with the walls painted white with lyme. On the pillars holding up the tiled wooden roof were brass plates proudly displaying the names of the merchants who had funded the construction of the forum hundreds of years ago.

I wondered what they would think about the people currently attending a meeting. Two Humans, a greying Felis man whose catlike eyes were intense and sharp, two Sirens tall and strong with harsh expressions that told of difficult lives at odds with their brightly coloured wings, a tall and serious looking Pooka with pink skin and a horn that made her look like an Oni from my first life. Lastly there were three Goblins, including Yannit who had become something of a spokesman for the slaves of Kontia. Likely due to my respect for the man. 

Outside of the forum, in the streets were thousands of slaves, both ones I had brought here on my migration and ones taken from the city. My nationalisation of the slaves had been much less trouble than expected, but I did have an army occupying the city. If any of the people of Kontia required labour they would rent the time of the slaves for a specific fee with fifty percent of that payment going to the slave.

That was for work assigned to them, if the slave found their own work they were entitled to keep eighty percent of the money they made. So long as that money was deposited into the Royal National Bank.

Establishing a bank was difficult and time consuming, it also required a great deal of starting capital and a user base. It was perhaps immoral of me but I had something of a captive user base for banking services in the form of the slaves. Any money that the slaves earned would be added as credit to the new Royal National Bank. 

Slaves had a limit in how much money they could withdraw every month and thus the RNB had a fair amount of credit to fund my activities. The existing Saderan banking services had been nationalised as assets of the RNB, with how smoothly everything had gone the people of Kontia had started using the banking services offered providing even more capital to stabilise the economic situation. 

It was not enough to stem the bleeding, Kontia alone was not a stable economy after all. But it would do until I could establish trade relations and perform some sort of census of the region. In terms of food, raw materials and silver we had a fair amount of leeway, but we were running a deficit on practically everything. This time next year there would begin to be shortages unless we could grow or import more food. Let alone everything else.

I was loath to enforce rationing but I had taken measures to begin to stockpile some strategic resources, taking care not to cause any unproductive panic from taking hold of the market. Not that a panic would do much worse than an occupation economy was currently doing but things could always be worse.

“Her Royal Highness Tanya of the Tanaoi, Wyvernslayer and Great Sorceress will hear your petition.” Cato called out from my side. He had mentioned that he had been a public speaker for a time in his youth while also complaining that it was a terrible lifestyle and often made one a spectacle to the plebeians. A target of scorn and ire when bringing bad news or unpopular edicts. 

“We are grateful that Her Majesty would hear our humble plea.” Yannit began, stepping forwards as his fellow slaves looked to him, then to me with somewhat conflicted expressions.

Cato had seemed surprised that when news had come that the slaves had become restless after my new decree outlining their workdays, compensation, accommodation and contract terms had been disseminated. He had described the standards I set out for national slaves to be overly generous.

It was difficult to listen to Cato’s repugnant and backwards views on slavery, doubly so since the man was himself a slave. The entire institution was an economic and moral weight around the neck of any civilization that tolerated it. Healthy and motivated workers were vital for productivity and slaves were not motivated, they were slaves!

They were also the bulk of the workforce and just freeing them now was simply not possible. I needed work to be done and they needed food, water and shelter. So for now I had to tolerate slavery, but I was not interested in keeping slaves compliant with beatings and starvation. If I could keep the slaves content during the decades I would require to phase out the practice then I would be saving resources that would have been otherwise wasted keeping the slaves ‘in line’. 

Slaves as they existed were a terrible vector of the most depraved of all mental illnesses, socialism. It was in the practice of keeping slaves that any of the insipid and economically illiterate socialist arguments could find any legitimacy. That is why I had quickly established a contract system, any slave would be given a contract for a period of ten years that they could buy their way out of at any time. Existing slaves would simply have a contract assigned to them. With the prospect of freedom being an inevitability and a bank account with funds growing over time slaves would be very invested in maintaining a system that they could eventually cash out from thus solving the problem of unrest among the slaves. 

It was not a perfect system, nothing that involved slavery would ever be perfect, I was not a delusional utopian. No, I was simply employing a well tested means of exploiting human psychology. The slaves could revolt now for freedom and throw away the wealth they were accruing, or they could wait and become free later, all the while providing funds that the RNB could invest into my administration. 

There would perhaps be some economic instability in a decade when a large number of freed slaves could suddenly spend their wealth. But I was confident that the economy would survive that, the increased consumption could even spur even more economic growth!

Probably.

Regardless, that was a problem for a decade from now. I’m sure it will be fine. 

“We are grateful for your benevolent and fair treatment of us, Your Majesty, but your kindness has spurred a terrible fear in your most loyal and humble subjects.” His delivery was poor and stilted, he was practically staring at the paper with his speech prepared on it. “This fear is that your treatment of slaves shall herald a conscription Your Majesty.” He said and looked up at me.

I blinked and looked at the slave representatives behind him who were looking at me like I was going to suddenly draw a sword and act like a madwoman. I settled back into the comfy wooden chair that had been placed in the Forum for me and drummed my fingers on the finely carved armrests as I considered this problem.

It was not an unwarranted fear. The war with Sadera was a constant threat and if things became dire a conscription was an obvious solution to provide bodies for the conflict. But perhaps I was assuming things.

“I am to understand that the problem you and your fellow representatives have with the slave reforms is the potential for slaves to be conscripted to fight against Saderan Legions?” I had to clarify things.

“It is as you say Your Majesty.” The Oni... Pooka said quickly. “We are willing to sacrifice the privileges you are offering us if you would allow us to avoid directly fighting in your war.” She concluded.

‘Your war’ I suppose that was right, the slaves did not have an investment in this conflict. They were slaves under Sadera, they are slaves under me, if the Lepus was defeated they would still be slaves. Why would they care all that much as to who was the master?

But having a spear forced into their hands and being told to march at men who would kill them? That was different, as slaves they would just change master, as slave soldiers they would likely suffer an ignoble death, it was also a very real fear. I had seen how untrained, starving conscripts had fought against impossible odds in my second life. How lives could be treated as meat and how the arithmetic of war made that human sacrifice worthwhile. Sometimes you just needed bodies and they only rarely needed to be willing bodies.

Still, I could not exactly walk back the ‘privileges’ I was offering the slaves. My economic plan relied upon them making money that for the next decade I would have sole control over in the bank!

But... There was also a good chance that conscription would be valuable in the future and slaves were fertile grounds for the practice. A situation with no good options.

“You believe that we would call upon your kind for war?” I turned to see Enya stand, her eyes full of contempt for the slave representatives. “It is our kind, not yours, that is well suited for battle. You waste our time with your simpering and groundless fears.” she snapped.

“I would not look down upon the other races.” I reminded Enya. “Was it not human discipline that brought our people low? Did they not fight beside Goblins and Orcs when they defeated the rest of the tribes?” It was a seemingly never ending battle to clamp down on attitudes and activity that could morph into wasteful racial unrest. I was going to have to remind Enya that she was still on my shitlist for the bridge incident. 

It was true that the Lepus remained the most effective weapons platform of all the races. But it was stupid to say that out loud for goodness sake!

“It is as you say Your Majesty." Enya grumbled as the slaves muttered. 

“I shall propose an amendment to the decree.” I said, standing up as the forum became hushed once more. “That no slave shall be compelled to take up arms against their will. However the State shall reserve the right to offer slaves the right to end their contract as slaves and enter into a contract as soldiers.” It did not feel great to restrict my options in the future but compromise to maintain peace and stability was valuable now.

“We would support that change, Your Majesty!" One of the Sirans shouted out as the others frowned at her. I took a mental note that she was perhaps a weak link among the representatives with how easily she had accepted my first offer.

In the end the slaves had spoken amongst themselves for a time before accepting the amendment and after a period of celebration the slaves got back to work. I remained in the forum until the slaves left as Cato sighed. 

“It was perhaps unwise to embolden them, your majesty.” He offered and as I glanced around at the Lepus it seemed a fair number agreed. “Once the slaves feel that they can demand things of their rightful Queen they will grow bold and it will require strength of arms to correct that delusion. Do not allow them to abuse your kindness."

“I have made my decision, it is your duty to uphold it. Dismissed.” I said at last and my officers glanced at each other and filtered out of the forum. I made a mental note to chastise Enya later. Everyone except Cato left the Forum.

“I only seek to give you advice to see you prosper my Queen.” Cato offered when we were alone. “It warms my heart that you would offer such kindness to slaves but one must always submit to reality as it is, not as we wish it to be. You have already shown great wisdom in... ‘phasing out’ your use of Goblins in your gun program. They are ill suited to such technical work.” 

“What are they suited for?” I could not help myself but asking as I felt frustration settle in my gut.

“The soil shall always need slaves to toil. Lest we all starve.” Cato argued and I grit my teeth at the sheer waste he was proposing.

“I have no intention of phasing out qualified personnel, my intention was to expand the number of people who could build the guns.” I said flatly. “The Goblins are more than just technical teams, it is not about replacing them. Even after this they will be vital in establishing relations with the Goblin tribes in the west.” I told Cato as he hummed. “I intend to establish countries for my allies. All of them, that includes the Goblins.” 

“A Goblin country? How would that even function?” He asked, genuinely baffled.

“The same way it functions for Humans, or Lepus. It will need support of course, but the Goblins shall be more valuable as allies than slaves. I don’t intend to have one race ruling over all the others.” There was also the fact that at least dozens of Goblin Kingdoms already existed in the old dwarven ruins to the west, with the right incentives and pressures valuable relationships could be established for both trade and perhaps even military coordination. 

“Why not simply expand the Imperium of the Lepus?” Cato asked.

“I could.” I admitted. “I could do as the Saderans have done, expand over the continent and only have vassal states in places so remote to my power that direct control is utterly impossible. But fundamentally, what is made with force can be unmade with force.” I paused to drink from my wineskin. “Any political system that depends upon the capacity to enact violence is predicated upon the maintenance of that capacity. It will consume that system, Sadera has an utterly absurd military and no enemy that could ever match them and that military must be maintained for their system to hold any legitimacy.” 

“And that military is the one you have shown can be defeated, an entire Legion destroyed.” Cato prompted.

“Exactly, I won’t build a system that will just be rendered apart the moment a vassal has some sort of military innovation or there is some small instability. No, the only way to build a lasting continental system is to give all of the people the capacity to buy into that system, to become personally invested in continuing it. That requires some concessions from my people to the people we will be, in the short term, ruling over. Part of the concession is that eventually they will have a country that looks to their interests first and foremost.” Even if that country was effectively a vassal state. Standards for laws and trade could be established between said countries in any case, supra national organisations were a hallmark of a global civilization. Be they corporations or formal alliances. It was economic entanglement that made multiculturalism possible, not brute force.

“I can understand not waiting to rule over Goblins.” Cato offered. “But My Queen, your idea of a Goblin state as any sort of equal polity is quite... strange.” He offered, I opened my mouth only for a shout to cut me off.

“Your Majesty!" A Cadet runner burst into the forum gasping for air. “Another Prince, another Prince of Sadera your Majesty, on the other side of the bridge. He wishes to speak to you.” She gasped as I leapt to my feet.

“Here much sooner than I thought.” I mused. “Well then, let's see what this Prince has to say.” I called out as I stepped away from the forum and towards the bridge.

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Tanya's rulership is putting a strain on everyone with almost every faction of her coalition finding some reason to dislike her rulership. Will she be able to keep things together? Will she notice that she has created a negative incentive for the Bank to encourage as many slaves as possible?
Find out next time! :D

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11u090imFM2uKEPSRQNtP02afL_qgSg0soaBXlYzGt8s/edit?tab=t.0