[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/ckas8bN.png[/img][/center]

[center][h2]Economic Woes[/h2][/center]

The hot morning Italian sun was an unwelcome visitor to the blazing inferno of the King's mind. He'd drunk far too much Castel del Monte the night before, and had done more talking than was perhaps wise. He had been in the Great Hall of his palace, celebrating his final victory over Sicily, and the unification of his new kingdom. He spoke of victory, promised a thousand year Empire and laughed off all the doubts. He now regretted most of this.

He couldn't enjoy the evening, no, not quite. Every five minutes he was approached by a captain, or by an advisor, urging him to respond to the new nation's many needs. He'd batted them away, dismissed them until the morrow. 

Now the morrow was here.

"Come back to bed my love," murmered a naked beauty from the bundle of silk blankets. 

He ignored his latest conquest. Women could wait, for a King could have any of them he chose. It was his right. 

"Get dressed, and leave me," he grumbled, moving away from the window. "I have a Kingdom to run." 

With a bemused grin, the woman jumped out of the blankets and hastened to refix her dress. Meanwhile the King stared into space, turning his mind over and over. 

Naples and Sicily had very little to offer this new world. A couple reserves of Blue Coal, some marble and some wine. If his nation was to survive any attempts by others to annex it, he would need to offer more than that, and his land would need to become rich and strong. The time of the horse and the sword may have well been over, but he wouldn't let it go without a fight. Not whilst valiant hearts were prepared to die for the cause. 

He sat down at a table, drew a quill from an ink pot, and put his regal hand to parchment. 

[i]"By order of Royal Decree, I, King Pagani of the Kingdom of Naples, hereby propose the nation's Blue Coal reserves are released to the free market. Any foreign entity, be it country or company, will have full rights to them and five hundred acres of land in their immediate radius. In exchange, I will demand a yearly tribute. This wealth, we shall ply to our fields, so that the Kingdom can become self-sufficient in her needs. The peasants need food, and I need stability. 

I humbly request Parliament's response on this matter, and urgently. The longer we dally, the weaker we become."[/i]

The King sighed, rolled the parchment and called in an errand boy to take it away. Parliament would fight him on this, he knew that much. The District Marshals had carried him to victory as wealthy landowners, and now he had appointed them some power. He could overrule them, but a King's strength came from the unity of his vassals. He needed their support, lest he split the Kingdom.