A Green And Pleasant Land
- Thread starter VVD0D95
- Start date
Chapter 132: Another Gascon
VVD0D95
Banned
Chapter 132: Another Gascon
April, 1315
April, 1315
“King Louis wants us to reopen discussions on the border with France for Gascony and he also wishes to discuss the duties that he feels we are to pay Paris.” Alphonso said holding up the letter that had recently arrived from Paris. “We find his desire to increase duties to 10% to be unfounded given that yields have been somewhat better than they were when the last Treaty was signed and the cap was set at 6%.”
“You are right, Sire.” John Hotham, Bishop of Ely and Chancellor of the Exchequer said. “The more appropriate rate would be 7% not 10%.”
“I do not wish to pay more than half a percentage increase in duties.” Alphonso said. “If I give way on this matter then who knows where things will stop?” He had a sneaking suspicion Louis wanted to use this as a testing ground, he’d heard the man was having trouble with Flanders, and no doubt wanted to see how far he could push here to make an example.
“Then, we would need to find something to offset his demands, Sire.” John said.
John Sandale, Lord Chancellor looked at Alphonso then and when he nodded his head the man spoke. “I think there might be a way to reach a middle ground, Sire.”
“And what way would that be?” Alphonso asked.
“Well, King Louis has been married to his wife for almost a decade now and they have had only one daughter. The man will surely want a new wife if he wants to continue his line, we could perhaps offer to provide the necessary funds to grease the Pope’s wheels toward granting him leave for an annulment.” Sandale said.
Alphonso thought on that, it might get the man onto their side, but he was loathe to antagonise Burgundy needlessly. “Is there any other suggestion you can think of to get us to a middle ground?”
“We could always remind King Louis of the agreements that were signed by His father and Your Highness’s father a decade ago regarding tariffs. The agreement is coming to an end soon, we could propose reducing the tariffs in exchanging for keeping duties low.” Sandale suggested.
Alphonso considered this. What he’d heard of Louis suggested that the man may want to take the easy way out, therefore this might not be a bad plan, but of course, he knew that such a thing could always come back to haunt him. He decided to take a chance on it. “Very well, write to King Louis and inform him that we wish to go ahead with this reduction in tariffs. The borders shall be kept the same.”
“Certainly, Sire.” Sandale said.
“And whilst you’re at it, make a discreet enquiry of the Papal Legate to see where the Pope would be if we were to make an enquiry of an annulment.” Alphonso said.
“Certainly, Sire.” Sandale said.
“Let the man know we would be willing to contribute to the defences of Egypt if needs be.” Alphonso said.
Chapter 133: Kamata
VVD0D95
Banned
Chapter 133: Kamata
July, 1315
July, 1315
Pratap wiped sweat off his brow. It was swelteringly hot in the middle of the jungle. He had expected this, and he was thankful that none of his army had caught the fever and died. He just wished the temperature would lower just a little, or that a breeze could come. But as of right now, they were facing dry heat, and it was torture.
“Gentlemen,” Pratap began. “The Ahoms stand within striking distance of us. We would know their strengths and weaknesses.”
His chief general, Ashoka spoke then. “Sire, the Ahoms have 10,000 men, most of whom are spread out into smaller formations. It will be difficult for them to properly manoeuvre given the terrain we are on.”
“And their archers?” Pratap asked, fully aware that the Ahom archers had struck a blow at the last battle they had fought.
“Their archers are being kept in reserve, Sire. It seems the Ahom King wants to engage in hand to hand combat first.” Ashoka said.
“Then we must move our archers into a prime position.” Pratap decided. “We cannot let this opportunity go.” He looked at his second son Indra and said. “You will move the archers into the foreground, close enough for them to get a good shot at the Ahoms, but far away enough that the Ahoms won’t be able to see them until it is too late.”
“Yes, Sire.” His son replied.
“What of the elephants, Sire?” His eldest son Dharma Narayan asked.
“The elephants shall be deployed after the archers have done their business.” Pratap said. In the jungle, the elephants would be more of a hindrance than a benefit, but they needed them to cause the Ahoms to frighten.
“Very well, Sire.” Narayan said.
“Now, as to the formation of battle.” Pratap began. “Narayan you shall command the front battle with Indra’s archers forming the front line. Ashoka, you shall command the left, and I shall command the right. We must push the Ahoms right to the edge of the jungle toward the dip that leads toward the stream, there we can make use of their weaknesses.” He’d noticed that they never seemed to like fighting near water, perhaps for fear of drowning.
“Very good, Sire.” His eldest son said.
“And when this is over, we shall venture to their Kingdom and complete its subjugation.” Pratap said, then he would officially be King over all of Kamrupa.
“Hear! Hear!” came the reply. Pratap smiled, victory would be upon them soon.
Technical question: the terms tariffs and duties are often used to refer to the same thing ie a form of tax. How do they differ in this fourteenth century setting such that they seem to refer to separate impositions?
Fair enough. We all mesh things up now and thenIt's essentially a bit of economic mesh up on my part
Duty: tax on goods, especially imports.It's essentially a bit of economic mesh up on my part
Tariff: the tax or duty to be paid on a particular class of goods imported or exported.
So 'we could propose reducing the tariffs in exchanging for keeping duties low' could mean 'we could propose reducing our taxes on goods going to you (exports), in exchange for you reducing your taxes on goods coming to us (imports).'
(Of course 'duty' is a 13th century word coming from French dueté whilst 'tariff' is 16C from Italian tariffa, so at this point in history there's essentially no difference - it's just taxes.)
Chapter 134: A Bavarian Agreement
VVD0D95
Banned
Chapter 134: A Bavarian Agreement
October, 1315
October, 1315
It had taken three years for them to get to this point, but it had finally happened. Frederick and his cousin Louis, Duke of Bavaria were in Regensburg to sign an agreement over the distribution of the regency for the Dukes of Lower Bavaria. The Emperor had managed to resolve issues in Italy which had allowed him to bring his attention to this quarrel on his western and southern border, and now here they were.
The Emperor looked tired, but had an aura about him that inspired Frederick, and no doubt intimidated Louis, which was always a good thing. “The terms of the agreement are as follows, in return for a dowry of 60,000 crowns, Frederick, Duke of Austria shall marry Beatrix of Lower Bavaria and receive the guardianship of the young Otto.” A pause then. “Is this agreeable to you, Lord Frederick?”
“It is Your Highness.” Frederick answered.
“And is it agreeable to you, Lord Louis?” The Emperor asked looking at Louis.
“It is, Your Highness.” Louis answered.
“Then let us proceed to the second part of the agreement.” The Emperor said.
The Emperor cleared his throat and then continued. “In return for agreeing to above details, Duke Louis of Bavaria shall receive guardianship of Duke Henry the Elder of Lower Bavaria, and a promise of non-violence from Duke Frederick.” The Emperor looked at Louis and asked. “Are these terms acceptable to you, Lord Louis?”
“They are, Your Highness.” Louis said.
The Emperor then looked at Frederick. “Are these terms acceptable to you, Lord Frederick?”
“They are, Your Highness.” Frederick replied.
“Finally, as regards the guardianship of Duke Henry the Younger of Lower Bavaria, that shall rest with us. The young man shall spend his time in Regensburg and be raised with our own grandchildren until he is of age.” The Emperor said.
“Are there any complaints regarding this?” The Emperor asked.
“None, Your Highness.” Frederick said.
“None.” Louis agreed.
“Then it is done.” The Emperor replied. “Please take the quills before you and sign the document.”
Frederick picked up the quill and scribbled out his signature. It was not the neatest of things and he knew that had his father been here to see it, the man would’ve no doubt tried to have him caned for it, but it was legible. Once that was done, he stepped back and watched Louis assign his signature to the thing.
When Louis was finished, they both faced one another. Frederick stuck out his hand and Louis shook it. Both men nodded to one another then pulled back and turned to face the Emperor who smiled.
“Now that that is done, let us go and enjoy some of the food that has been prepared.” The Emperor walked out of the room, Frederick hurrying after him, Louis on his tail.
Hmmm, interesting.
They shouldn't be talking about tariffs at all... Of course they may have come across the word from the Arabic ta'rif which could mean they are using it in the 'original' sense of a table ie in this case a list of goods to be taxed.
So the number of goods attracting a duty will be smaller, and those goods that do attract a duty will have that duty lowered?
Which means the revenue base for both monarchs will shrink which seems slightly suspect as they were always screaming out for money...
Apologies @VVD0D95 for returning to this subject. A month ago and I probably would've have let it slide but tax and trade have been giving me a headache in
Chapter 135: Finale
VVD0D95
Banned
Chapter 135: Finale
March, 1316
March, 1316
“You see that’s the thing that interests me the most.” Alexander said. “Philip of France had four sons, but only one of them has had a son, and that’s our son in law.”
“What are you suggesting?” Sancha asked.
“Simply that we may get more from the marriage of our daughter to Prince Robert than we had originally thought.” Alexander said.
“Do you think so? After all, King Louis is still young.” Sancha replied.
“Young yes, but he is gravely ill.” Alexander said. “And his wife is apparently coveting the attentions of another man.” He had no idea how true that last part was, but his man in Paris had reported seeing the Queen giving eyes to a young man from Normandy, and so he was willing to be there might be some truth to the whole thing.
“Even so, if King Louis dies, there are still his two older brothers, and they are both young enough to still have sons.” Sancha said.
“Very true.” Alexander said thoughtfully.
His wife narrowed her eyes and asked. “What are you thinking?”
Alexander smiled. “Simply that it would be beneficial to keep an eye on what happens in France over the next few years.”
His wife snorted, and turned the conversation to another matter. “I heard that Robert, Earl of Carrick has had a grandson.”
Alexander sighed. “Yes, and as such his hand has been strengthened on the south west.” Carrick was powerful, and though Alexander’s son had sons of his own, they were young still and as such may not be secure if Carrick was as ambitious as his father and grandfather.
“Is he going to be a threat do you think?” Sancha asked.
Alexander sighed again. “I am not sure. A part of me wishes to say no, but another part of me is fully aware of how he has been acting as of late, and how he is the one that has responded negatively to being kept from the halls of power, whilst Comyn has accepted the change in circumstances.”
“So, what are you going to do?” Sancha asked.
Alexander sighed. “I am going to send men to Galloway to help our son, and I am going to send men to reside in Carrick’s household to see what he is doing and what he is thinking.”
“And if they find something suspicious?” His wife asked.
“Then I shall act, and the House of Bruce will fall.” Alexander said.
Brief Note
VVD0D95
Banned
So, that's that. A Green and Pleasant Land comes to an end. I hope you've all enjoyed this, I know it's been an interesting and challenging experience for me, delving into this what if.
I felt that this was the right place to end things as it leaves some questions in your minds and allows you to speculate, whilst also allowing me to show the growth that has come throughout the story.
I may come back to this world in the future.
Cheers.
VV.
I felt that this was the right place to end things as it leaves some questions in your minds and allows you to speculate, whilst also allowing me to show the growth that has come throughout the story.
I may come back to this world in the future.
Cheers.
VV.
