Now, their time was extremely tight. Kayal needed to establish academies. Although he wanted to place the Military Academy in the Imperial Capital and the Cultural Academy in Red Leaf Ridge, so that with one civil and one martial, they would form a posture of competition and encouragement.
However, even with Kayal's physical endurance, running between these two places was extremely tiring, and progress had slowed somewhat.
Artoria had even more responsibilities. She had to meticulously count and inventory all the gains from Scotland this time; some were even sold directly to merchants.
Many merchants remained in the Royal City for this very reason. Otherwise, regarding the commercial atmosphere, even though the taxes and policies in both places were the same, ultimately, a Royal City without merchant associations and farming cooperatives was still far less vibrant than Red Leaf Ridge.
It was precisely because of this that Artoria not only had to follow a sequence for handling things, but to save effort, she also had to follow a sequence for buying and selling. Although Kayal entrusted all his disciples to Artoria to lighten her load, as the ruler of a nation, she was still incredibly busy.
This meant that the two of them would fall asleep as soon as they hit the bed, without even time for intimacy.
In addition, there was the assimilation of slaves, distributing wives to over a million men across the country, integrating Scotland's farmland, etc., to provide the domestic populace with more land and wealth, and finally, eradicating the magical beasts in the mountains, or rather, logging and mining for the resources in the mountains.
Although these tasks were completed by slaves, eradicating magical beasts definitely required the army to be deployed.
And Kayal was still thinking about the more than 500,000 Gauls, wanting to make another fortune... Kayal deeply understood what it meant to be spread too thin.
However, the domestic situation was excellent. Even the coastal army on border defense had rotated with the knights and came to Camelot Royal City to receive their wives; truly, the entire nation was filled with joy.
Kayal's policy was very democratic. The girls had the right to refuse, but only three times, and the people of Camelot were not allowed to force them.
In fact, this law was quite insidious and rather cunning. Kayal actually arranged for all outstanding adult men of Camelot, but this greatly tested a woman's discerning eye. If you had good judgment, you would naturally find a match at first sight, but if you still clung to that so-called Scottish or noblewoman's pride, each subsequent person would be less desirable, showing you how many excellent people you had missed.
When everyone had been filtered out by the fourth time, many could only spend their lives with ordinary farmers.
In fact, Kayal wanted to use the elite class of Camelot to control these noblewomen to prevent them from influencing their husbands, but it was clear that many noblewomen were still too proud and had not yet grasped the reality of their nation's demise. After enduring so much hardship, when it came to their own fate, they inevitably approached the issue with a critical mindset, and it was this mindset that harmed them.
It was also because Kayal was too cunning; how could a mere daughter of a minor noble outwit him?
Some noblewomen couldn't hold out by the third time and tearfully agreed, given that each subsequent match was worse. Who knew what kind of disabled person they might end up with if they couldn't refuse the fourth time? This kind of thing created immense psychological pressure... How could a group of young ladies know this was all part of Kayal's little plan?
Marrying a man of Camelot did not mean they could disregard their status and gain Camelot citizenship. Instead, they needed to perform nine months of compulsory labor in a factory each year for three years to gain Camelot citizenship, and their children would also become members of the Camelot commoner class.
Setting aside the varied and complex thoughts of the Scottish women, at least Camelot suddenly gained 500,000 men with wives, truly a joyous occasion for everyone.
Of course, Kayal immediately issued a second order: commoners with wives must bear at least one child for Camelot, and those with financial means must bear two.
This was supported by everyone. Farmers, of course, loved having many children and grandchildren, with the whole family working together. Merchants, being wealthy, would have their property inherited by the eldest son according to the law, while other sons going into business would only gradually strengthen their family.
And for the knights and noble class, it went without saying: what did having many sons represent? It represented a flourishing lineage! If one son died, another son could inherit the title, so there was no fear of lacking an heir. Most importantly, with the eldest son inheriting the title, wouldn't the subsequent sons receive more attention in the military?
No one could underestimate the wisdom of the people; it can only be said that they support whatever benefits them, and Kayal, serving the people wholeheartedly, naturally gained their loyalty and allegiance.
The truth is that simple: whoever can do good deeds for the people, do practical things, and bring benefits, is liked by the people. Even if someone talks a good game, if the people don't see the benefits, no one will like him.
The interests of the people are tangible and practical; how could they not be seen?
Just as people can use contribution points to be exempt from taxes, merchants can use contribution points to secure contracts, and soldiers can use merit points to achieve glory. Even if these merit points are just a virtual regulation of Red Leaf Ridge, if they can be implemented and become real benefits, then they are a good thing.
This is like the Renminbi, which is merely paper currency backed by gold reserves. It is because of its utility that it is used as a common currency.
Although there was a previous thought to make contribution points into something like the Renminbi, Kayal ultimately abandoned the idea to ensure the non-tradability of contribution points. Kayal has now already begun issuing paper currency, leveraging the credit brought by contribution points, in an attempt to gradually control the European currency market.
But now there were too many things to do. Kayal was working like a dog and truly had no other mental capacity to think about other matters.
Thus, after almost two months of frantic activity, by the end of February, everything was in relatively good order.
And today was the opening day for the Military Academy and the Cultural Academy, marking the first step of Camelot's new policy... Clearly, the Military Academy not only had expensive tuition, but most of those who enrolled for further study were children of nobles. The Cultural Academy was not as prestigious as the Military Academy, and its tuition was very cheap; most of the children sent there were from commoner or citizen families, a school for children from lower citizen classes.