Date: Tue, 07 Nov 2006 08:34:43 +0100
From: A.K. <andrej@andrejkoymasky.com>
Subject: The Vanished Empire 6/8 (Historical)

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THE VANISHED EMPIRE
by Andrej Koymasky (C) 2006
written on February 11, 1995
translated by the author
English text kindly revised
by John

-----------------------------

USUAL DISCLAIMER

"THE VANISHED EMPIRE" is a gay story, with some parts containing graphic
scenes of sex between males. So, if in your land, religion, family,
opinion and so on this is not good for you, it will be better not to
read this story. But if you really want, or because YOU don't care, or
because you think you really want to read it, please be my welcomed
guest.

-----------------------------

SIXTH - USAE'S DEATH - ASCENT OF YUDE

6.1 - Contacts with the barbarians

The barbarians showed up again. This time there were somewhat more men
than the previous time and they again stopped at some distance away.
Meta chose a group, composed of the same number of men, and went to meet
the barbarians, stopping at some distance and shouting to them words of
welcome. He was astounded when one of the barbarians, in a rather
comprehensible language, asked them who they were and why they were in
their land. Meta told him he wanted talk about just such matters, and
asked the man with whom he could do so.

After a long talk, at times finding difficulties in understanding each
other, they decided that Meta and one of his men, both disarmed, could
meet with the barbarian who was able to communicate with him and one of
the chieftains, to discuss matters, while the armed men of the two sides
would remain at the same distance, on guard.

The barbarians knew about the army landing and about the fierce battles.
Meta explained to them that the empire needed new lands and pointed out
that in the nothern territories there was room enough for all of them -
but if they were to fight, the Empire had enough power to seize all the
territory, wiping out the native inhabitants. If on the contrary, they
could reach an agreement, they could live in peace. The barbarian
chieftain answered that avoiding a war would be very difficult, as
difficult as it was avoiding wars amongst the tribes. And he added that
the arrival of a powerful and numerous population would mean the end of
their tribe anyway. They discussed for a long time. In the end, Meta
proposed an agreement - they would mark a line halfway down the valley:
the barbarians could not cross it without Meta's authorization, and
Meta's men could not cross it without the barbarians' authorization.
Both parties would have men on guard along that line.

Then, Meta asked the barbarian who was acting as interpreter how it was
that he knew their language. The man answered that in past times they
caught some shipwrecked fishermen as prisoners at the nearby shore, and
from them he learned all the words he knew. Meta, then, proposed that
the interpreter should stay with them in order to improve his knowledge
of their language and to teach them the language of the barbarians. The
man asked his chieftain, who gave his assent, but asked to have in
exchange one of Meta's soldiers as a hostage. Meta, knowing that his
men, being couples, would not like to be separated, asked then to make
the exchange of two men, instead of just one.

Thus, a couple of volunteer soldiers went downvalley with the
barbarians, while the interpreter with another barbarian went up to
Meta's camp. Meta had asked the two volunteers to try to learn the
barbarians' language and also to carefully watch the barbarians' usages
and customs, their habits and so on. At the same time he would try to
get as much information as possible from the interpreter.

The building of the valley wall and the first lodgings, as well as
building the terraces for the tillable land, took up almost all the fine
weather months of the year. From Ganer they obtained the weapons they
required, as well as other items. Meanwhile the first families of
settlers were arriving in all the conquered land on the other side of
the mountain which was a flourish of activity.

Meta put some of his soldiers at work to systematically learn the
barbarians' language and to teach them their own. Each day, he devoted
some time to talk with Groth, the interpreter. The man was amazed by the
fact they didn't have women with them, and asked him how they managed
without women. Meta answered that the men of his group had sex between
themselves and asked him if this didn't happen in his tribe too. Groth
answered that, at times, it could also happen, mainly amongst the
youths, but that everybody, in his tribe, had to marry. Meta asked him
if then the two of them didn't miss their women, and Groth answered yes,
but he could last until the day he would be back in his village. Groth
was curious about their weapons, their building technique and asked a
thousand questions.

Meta tried to persuade Groth how good it could be if they became part of
the empire - he tried to show him all the advantages. But Groth always
replied that they were free men and that they owed obedience and loyalty
only to their tribe. Meta answered that the empire was like a broad
tribe, and that in the empire, they too were free men. Groth retorted
that in their tribe everybody knew everybody else and they never had to
obey orders coming from a man they didn't know.

Then Meta tried to make him understand the advantages of a wide
organisation, and as a demonstration he gave him the example of the
imperial army, which had seized all the land of the seaside tribes;
moreover, which barbarian tribe could build the big ships, have mines
and foundries, weave beautiful and rich cloths like theirs, make tools
as good as those that his men were using?

To some extent these words seemed to persuade Groth. But he made an
observation that caused Meta to realize how really clever he was, "It
isn't so easy to change in the span of just one generation the habits
acquired during many generations." Meta answered him, "But you and I can
be the ones who initiate this change..."

One day when winter was approaching, Meta proposed that Groth should
return to his village. The man answered that they had to inform their
chieftain to make a new exchange with the two hostages. Meta told him
that he trusted him, therefore there was no need of such step; he had
just to go back to his village and, once he was there, he had just to
ask to free the two hostages. Groth seemed really impressed by this
attitude, and gave his word to Meta that his two men will come back
freely.

In fact, a few days later the two men were back, safe and sound. They
had learned enough of the barbarians language, even more than the men
who learned it at the camp from Groth and his friend. They also brought
back much information and many impressions. All summed up, the two
soldiers had developed a certain admiration for the barbarians. The had
been treated fairly, even though, mainly at the beginning, with some
coldness.

They also explained that the three villages down the valley all belonged
to the same tribe, the Porls, who once were living near the sea shore
but had been chased away to the hinterland by a stronger tribe, about
twenty years before. The Porls were stockbreeders and farmers, but they
also had several handicraft activities.

The following year, Groth came back with another companion, and Meta
sent two different volunteers to live with the Porls. Meanwhile they
built the two walls going uphill and more lodgings for the soldiers.
They also started to cultivate the fields and brought the first pairs of
animals to breed - poultry, rabbits, guinea pigs and geese from Ganer.

In the fifth month a barbarians delegation came to confer with Meta;
something had just happened that made the chieftain really sorry and
upset - a hostile tribe attacked the Porls village. They repelled all
the attacks, but during the skirmish one of Meta's soldiers had been
killed and the other was severely wounded, and was now being cared for
in one of their villages. Therefore, Groth translated, Meta now had the
right to kill one of his hostages and the other as well if they were not
able to heal the surviving soldier. Meta answered him that it was not
them who killed his man, therefore he would not take the life of any of
the Porls. But he availed himself of the occasion to say to the
chieftain, "If you had told us of the attack, we could have come down
and fought at your side. To protect this valley is in our interests as
well as yours. Why can we not be friends, allies?"

Groth, on his side, told his chieftain that in his opnion they could
trust those strangers, and that an alliance would make their valley
safer. The chieftain didn't answer. Meta then asked if he could go down
to the village, to see his wounded man. The chieftain agreed and granted
him safe passage, as he would remain there as an hostage. Meta replied
that they had to learn to trust each other's word, therefore he would go
alone, without any further exchange of hostages.

He then went downhill with the chieftain and his delegation, after
entrusting the command to one of the section-leaders in his absence. He
was accompanied only by one of the soldiers who spoke the barbarian
language well, as interpreter. For this occasion, he wore the court
attire - he wanted to impress the inhabitants of the village.

The wounded soldier was conscious and confirmed that everything happened
as the chieftain told. He said they were taking care of him nicely and
that he preferred to stay in the village until he was healed. The
chieftain entertained Meta in his hut and introduced him all his family.
Later, while he was leaving the hut of the wounded soldier, the third
son of the chieftain, a twenty-one-year old youth called Khnis,
approached him.

"Are you his chief?" asked him the youth.

"Yes, I am." Meta answered, and couldn't avoid noticing the youth's nice
pectorals.

"Is it true that you cannot marry?"

"Well, that's not really so - if one of us wants to marry, he can."

"But he is not forced to marry, right?"

"Sure, nobody is forced."

"And... if he likes to stay with another man better, he can do so,
right?"

"Certainly yes."

"Your soldier told me that his mate who was killed was his lover..."

"Yes, that's right."

"And... everybody knew that."

"Certainly yes. All my men and their mates are lovers."

"Therefore, you too?"

"No, I'm not."

"Are you married then?"

"No, I'm alone."

"How come? You don't like men?"

"Yes... sure I like men..." Meta answered, thinking that he really liked
Khnis.

"So, then?" the youth insisted.

"A disappointement - my last lover cheated on me, and went off with
another man. I really loved him, I didn't expect such behaviour from
him, so... Moreover, now I'm too old to start again... Who can desire to
be with a man as old as I am?" Meta said, somewhat bitterly. But then
asked him, "Why are you asking me such questions?"

"I... in a short while have to marry. I don't want that, but if I stay
here, I have to. Then, I was thinking - if you accepted me as one of
your men..."

"But... do you have a boyfriend, here?"

"No, just many friends with whom... you know, since we were boys... at
times we fuck amongst us boys. But then we marry, we have to marry. My
friends seem to like that, but I... Cannot you take me with your men? In
exchange of the one who was killed?"

"Do you want to become his lover?" Meta asked, pointing to the hut.

"I still don't know, his lover or... you are many..."

"All the others are already in couples, but it is not set. At times the
couples can be changed. And you are a really handsome boy, you could
appeal to many of my men."

"So, then, will you take me as your soldier?"

Meta looked pensively at him, "Would you accept following all our
rules?"

"Yes, sure. Groth told us that life is good at your place."

"Did he tell you that we have an iron discipline?"

"Yes. But after all here it is so too. Will you accept me as one of
yours?"

"If your father agrees, there is no problem on my side to enroll you or
other boys like you." Meta said, thinking that after all it would be an
enrichement to have natives in the army.

The young man nodded, pleased. He said he would talk with his father and
said goodbye to Meta. Later, the chieftain went to talk with Meta. He
told him that his son Khnis offered himself to go at the imperial
soldiers camp, forever, in exchange for the dead soldier. He asked Meta
if he accepted. Meta at once said yes, he agreed at that.

Then Khnis showed up again to Meta, smiling, "What do I have to do, to
become one of yours?"

"Nothing special - you just have to swear allegiance to the emperor, in
my hands, then you will have our uniform and will start your regular
life as an imperial soldier."

Khnis solemnly swore in Meta's hands allegiance to the emperor and
obedience to his representatives. Then, when Meta decided to go back to
the camp, the youth accompanied him, carrying his weapons and a few
personal belongings. Back to the camp, Meta had Khnis wear the uniform
and entrusted him to a ten-hut to drill him in military life. But first
of all he had to learn the empire language.

A few days later, meeting Khnis who was working with his ten, asked him
how he was feeling. The youth seemed happy and pleased. He asked him
also if he already found a lover, but the youth said no - he already
made love with several men, but he didn't yet find a lover.

Then the youth asked Meta, "Don't you like me?"

"You? Yes... you really are a handsome boy, I like you."

"So, then, wouldn't you make love with me?" Khnis quietly asked.

Meta didn't expect such an offer, but he answered with a smile, "I
would, for sure, and willingly."

"So, tonight, may I come and sleep in your room?" the boy asked at once.

"Yes..."

At night, Khnis showed up, "Here I am." He simply said.

Meta welcomed him with a smile and brought him into his bedroom.

While they were undressing, the youth said, "Your men know how to make
love a lot better than the boys at the village - they taught me a lot of
things. It is fine living here with you."

"I'm happy you like being here." Meta said, admiring the beautiful
nudity of the youth and starting to caress him.

He pulled him on his bed and Khnis embraced him adhering to his body
with desire. Meta kissed him and the boy answered with passion. Aroused,
they intertwined, searched, fondled, kissed, caressed, licked each other
all over their bodies and Meta enjoyed the joyous and passionate
expression of the young man, his perfect body, muscled but lean, his
exuberant and yet sweet virility.

"What would you like to do?" Meta asked him in a whisper filled with
desire.

"Everything!" Khnis answered, with the enthusiasm of a neophyte.

"The same here... so, then... let's do everything!" Meta said pulling
him against his body and caressing him voluptuously.

The fresh and sweet virility with which the boy devoted himself to give
Meta pleasure, and the passionate way in which he offered himself to the
man who then took him, gave Meta the feeling he was back to the intense
days of his youth...

When they finally laid down, panting and satisfied, looking in each
others bright eyes, Khnis said in a murmur, "It's only right that you
are the chief. You are the best of all, even in love making. It has been
beautiful... wonderful."

"I like you so very much too, Khnis."

"So, then... can I come here also tomorrow night?"

"If you like, Khnis, I would be more than pleased."

"And, may I stay here, now, to sleep near you?"

"Sure."

The following morning, when Meta woke up, looked at the splendid naked
body of the youth lying near him, still immersed in a sound sleep, and
noticed he had the classical morning erection. He burned at once with
desire, woke him up gently kissing and caressing him, and when the youth
looked at him with a pleased smile, started to make love with him with
renewed passion.

While at last they were dressing, Meta thought it was a long while since
he felt so full of vigour when waking up in the morning. He really felt
good.

When the youth said goodbye saying, "See you tonight, then?"

"Yes, sure, tonight, Khnis." Meta answered with a gentle smile, thinking
that Khnis was a really beautiful name.

The young man went to see Meta, one evening after the other, and they
each gradually came to know the body of the other; they were spending
more and more passionate evenings together. Meta was fascinated by the
youth's freshness, by his genuine naturalness, by the intense passion
with which he was making love with him. Seeing him work with the other
soldiers was enough to make him brighten up.

His collaborators became aware of that and one of them told him, "After
you got a lover, Meta, you are a different man - you seem rejuvenated,
reinvigorated. Congratulations."

"But... Khnis is not my lover. You can imagine, he will soon get tired
of one like me; I could be his father. I'm thirty years older than him."

"Don't be silly, Meta - that boy is crazy about you. And age is not
important in such matters."

Meta didn't want to surrender - he was afraid to deceive himself, to
suffer again. He preferred to think that with Khnis it was just a
temporary adventure. But the boy, asked him every time with forthright
desire if he could see him again the following night.

Thus, once, when as usual Khnis asked him, "May I come again, tonight?"

Meta answered, "There are so many handsome men in the camp, younger than
me. Why don't you look for a lover, Khnis?"

The young man seemed to become gloomy, "I thought you liked me... Are
you tired of me?"

"No, no, not at all! But young as you are, I really don't see you near
an old man."

"Near an old man? Who's he?"

"That's me - I'm fifty-one-years old, and you're just twenty-one."

Khnis smiled, "Oh, but I love two young men, one is eighteen and the
other thirty-three. But neither of them yet told me if he wants me as a
lover..."

"Oh, really? That's very good. Who are they?"

"Both are.. you. Don't you want me as your lover?"

"Khnis... I told you... I'm afraid of a fresh disappointment. I like you
so very much, really... but..."

"You're afraid I can leave you?"

"Right."

"Then, I take an oath - if I became aware I feel like leaving you, I
will kill myself; I will never belong to any other man. I swear. I want
to be only yours."

"Khnis, you are so young... don't take a rash oath that a day later you
could regret to have done."

The youth seemed grieved, "You don't believe me?"

"I believe you - now you feel this way, but one day, possibly... I'm
growing older very fast - soon you will be a man in the flower of his
vigour, but I will be withering."

"Why won't you  trust my word? Khnis never speaks in vain, he has but
one word. Khnis decided that if you don't want him as a lover, he will
never belong to another man. Now Khnis awaits for your answer."

That sudden speaking about himself in the third person gave a special
solemnity to the youth's words. Meta felt moved - inside himself he
thought that perhaps one day Khnis could leave him, but also that, after
all, until that day there was no sense in renouncing such a lover.

So he answered, "All right, Khnis - do you want me as your lover?"

"I want you, Meta. And do you want me?"

"Yes, I want you..."

**************************

6.2 - Yude suceeds Usae

Meta's men finished building the fort and also harvested their first
crops. Other barbarian tribes attacked the Porls so the soldiers went
down to help the villagers. Thus the Porls and the soldiers started to
mix without problems and also to exchanged the produce of their
agriculture or handicraft products, as well as their techniques. Some of
the younger Porls even asked to be enrolled as soldiers. Meta and Khnis
were more and more in love so Meta decided to make a journey to the
Sword Castle to tell Usae about his experiment, then also to Suna to
introduce Khnis to Yude. They therefore started a long voyage.

In 1495, while Meta and Khnis were on their trip to the empire, a second
expedition was leaving to colonize another stretch of the barbarians
coast. To the north there was a wide natural bay, opening in a basin
covered by a thick forest. They decided to build another port there and
a broad shipyard. The new expedition left with ships having on board ten
thousand horsemen and sixty thousand footmen - which left Meta and Khnis
with just two feluccas. After the other ships landed, they would make
another journey to bring tools, weapons, and settlers' families.

Usae strongly believed in the importance of the conquest of all the
barbarians' land. He welcomed Meta favorably and listened with interest
to his attempt at integration with the barbarians. He asked Meta to keep
him informed about the progress of his experiment and gave him rich
gifts. Khnis was impressed by the magnificence of the Sword Castle. Meta
went to pay homage to the Emperor and Khnis was awe-struck by the
grandeur of the imperial Palace. Then they went down to the Pike Castle
to meet Yude and his lover Buga. Khnis admired the strange beauty and
ingenuity of the castle standing at the center of the marsh. Another
thing that impressed the young man was the road system - paved roads and
bridges, kept in perfect order.

They remained in the Pike Castle for almost one month, all four going
hunting together, then visiting the industrial centers that Yude was
helping to flourish in the rich territory. Buga and Khnis liked each
other at once and were soon on familiar terms.

While Yude and Meta were recalling the times of their youth, they were
also looking at Buga and Khnis who were jousting on the drill ground.

"The future is in their hands..." Yude said, merrily.

"Yes. And the empire is at last living in peace." added Meta.

"Oh, don't deceive yourself. We still have a lot of unresolved problems
- to conquer the princedoms, to settle the problem of Rone island with
the pirates, to colonize the north, to abolish the old aristocratic
system. Then we have to organize a new taxation method, to improve the
roads system and the fleet... to reorganize the army. For sure it will
not be us who can see the accomplishment of all this. And last but not
least, is the problem of the emperor..."

"What problem?" Meta asked, with curiosity.

"The emperor now has a quite ceremonial role, even though all the edicts
must have his signature. I'm asking myself why Usae don't seize the
throne, which he already controls in fact. The old aristocracy has an
almost sacred concept of the emperor's person, and Usae belongs to the
old aristocracy. We would need a strong, efficient emperor... and the
hereditary succession doesn't grant that at all..."

"What do you have in mind, a revolution?"

"No, not in the meaning of an armed revolution, but... a revolution in
mentality - as long as there are hereditary privileges, there will
always be the temptation to preserve them, to the detriment of the
nation's wellbeing. But Usae doesn't want to understand that and at
times we almost quarrel about it. Gano started the unification of the
empire territories, Usae is strengthening it. But if we don't eradicate
the seeds of division, sooner or later it will all start once again..."

When Meta decided to go back to his land amidst the barbarians, Yude
loaded him with gifts. Then Meta and Khnis embarked at a port on a fast
felucca and sailed to the north, to Ganer. Here they remained a few days
as guests of the general regent of the colony and then went up to the
camp.

Khnis told Meta that, in his opinion, it would be useful to show people,
to make the empire's reality known to his tribe, "If they could see with
their own eyes what I've seen, many would just be happy to become part
of the empire - mainly young people", he concluded.

This gave Meta a new idea. It was not easy to persuade the chieftains of
the three villages to let a delgation of youths go on tour for a year in
the empire territory, but Khnis found the solution. Because he knew the
mentality of his people, he proposed an exchange: as many of Meta's men
would be 'guests' of the villages, that many youths would leave for the
trip.

Thus the first delegation of young barbarians left to visit the empire -
there were fourteen of them, all between eighteen and twenty years of
age. Fourteen soldiers took their places in the villages, living and
working in their place. The delegation was accompanied by twenty
soldiers who acted as their escort and guide.

The expedition to the north, meanwhile, was established with few
problems, but had to fight against the barbarians living there. Several
groups of barbarians left the basin and moved to the nearby valleys.
Just a few remained there, on the mountains, in a kind of armed truce.
But the basin and the bay were now firmly in the empire's hands.
Meanwhile from Sote they were executing great works to allow the coastal
imperial road to reach the new colony's territory, up to Ganer port and
going also further to the north.

In 1496, while Usae was reaching by ship Ganer, the convoy was attacked
by the princes fleet on the open sea near Gami. The larger part of the
convoy could reach Ganer, but the ship in which Usae sailed was sunk,
and the very same Usae died in the shipwreck.

The news at once reached the entire empire. Kimi and Yude then gathered
the council urgently - they needed to find a successor to Usae
immediately and react to the grave provoction of the princes. The
council meeting was stormy - there were several pretenders to Usae's
succession. The party of the imperial aristocracy backed the duke Fole
who, being a refugee from Fago, knew the island that was now ruled by
the prince Keta perfectly. Moreover the duke belonged to an ancient
aristocratic family, descending from a side branch of the imperial
family.

The army and Yude backed Kimi who, as he had been the Usae's closest
collaborator, could maintain continuity in the governement of the
empire. But several generals of noble descent, preferred count Ario to
him, a serious and determined man, but without personal ambitions. And
lastly, a small section of the court nobles, including the emperor
himself, promoted prince Waka as a candidate. Prince Waka was an
illustrious jurist who was reorganizing the various codes of the
provinces to achieve a unified code.

The council was in a stalemate. The emperor unilaterally decided to name
Waka, but the jurist refused, saying that the new great general and
regent would have no effective power if he was not backed by the whole
council. And Waka proposed to choose Yude. But the old aristocracy had
no confidence in a person from a farming background like Yude.

Then Kimi proposed splitting the two charges - he proposed Yude as great
general and Waka as regent - the first would surely have the agreement
of the army, and the second of the aristocracy. The emperor accepted
this suggestion and, gradually, all the council ended with approval.
Thus, on the seventh month of 1496 the emperor, in a sumptuous ceremony,
named Waka as regent and Yude as Great general, giving him also the
permanent title of prince. Yude confirmed Kimi as first councillor and
named Ario as second coucillor.

Then, at everybody's amazement, instead of ordering the attack on the
princes' islands, Yude went to Rone island, which for years was in the
hands of the pirates. Here he asked to meet the pirates' chief - whom he
asked to become part of the empire, keeping the island and with the
title of prince, but uniting with him in the next war against the
princes Keta and Soka. The chief of the pirates asked Yude what
advantage he could get in uniting with the empire, in becoming a de
facto vassal and a tributary.

"Survival," Yude answered him. "Survival, the Imperial fleet is becoming
stronger and stronger - we have plenty of men, wood, materials, and gold
that you don't have. If you remain our enemy, once the princes are
eliminated, your turn will come. You could win a few battles, possibly,
but not the war. For each ship we lose, we can build two new ships; for
each man we lose, we can put two men at his place. Are you able to do
the same?"

The  pirates chief nodded in assent, but then said he had first to
consult his men - taking a decision against their will could mean a
rebellion arising. Then Yude made him a new proposal - the empire was
installing a great shipyard in the north, in the barbarians land. Any
pirate who was an expert in ship building and accepted going to work in
the great yard, would receive a high wage and the same sum would be
given to the pirates treasurer on the island.

The chief of the pirates told Yude that he would give him an answer and
Yude said he would wait for it at Ikoi port. Three days later a pirate
felucca came with the black flag of parley. The chief of pirates
accepted the proposal, but only if the empire gave an indemnity, for
each pirate dead in the war against the princes, and for each ship lost.
They negotiated for some time over the amount of the indemnity, but in
the end Yude accepted and the pact was settled. The pirates chief went
with Yude to the court, where he was received with all honors; he swore
allegiance to the emperor and received the title of prince.

Then all the fleets gathered and according to plan, they went to attack
the islands. Chicha was the first to fall and Soka's family was
exterminated. Fago island resisted longer but, after the prince's fleet
had been destroyed, the invasion started from the east and the south
sides. On the tenth month of 1496, prince Keta surrendered, but when
Yude's men entered the castle, Keta killed himself. So, Fago was at last
also conquered and all the empire was totally unified once again.

In 1497 the census of all the land and of all the population, including
the recently conquered islands and of the colonies was carried out. Yude
asked Waka to prepare a new law according which all the tributes were
not to be sent to the court by the local lords, but personally by each
single family. This, if on one hand, it seemed to lessen the fiscal drag
on the aristocrats, in reality granted a greater revenue and took away
from the lords the control of great sums of money. Moreover it
introduced the principle that everybody had to pay taxes, according to
what they possessed.

Waka prepared a draft that Yude modified only in part. The population
was divided into five categories - the lords, including both the old
court aristocracy and the new military aristocracy; the land-owners,
that is the farmers possessing their own land, whether large or small;
the merchants; the artisans and last, the labourers, that is the people
having the work of their hands as their sole income.

These last, not possessing any goods or riches, were taxed on the only
thing they had - each year the owed thirty days of work to the nation;
they had to perform corvees for the maintenance of roads and bridges,
public works, cleaning of the streets in the cities and so on. They were
organized in work-teams, so that two members of the same family had not
to give their work in the same period. The corveees were suspended
during the periods of  more intense agricultural work, to allow them to
earn their living.

All the other categories were taxed according to two parameters - the
number of the employees, including in that themselves and their family,
and exempting only children younger that ten-years and men older than
sixty. Then the quantity of the land they owned, including the part with
buildings. The land they had was classed in three categories: that is
land for farming, including stables, depots and stores; land for craft
activities, including depots, laboratories, stores and yards; and land
for commercial activity and for housing, including yards and gardens.

These lands were taxed in a different way according the use, the
category and the province. The land was measured in conventional "years
of labour".

The professional soldiers, being considered state employees, didn't pay
taxes, but the temporary soldiers had to pay taxes for all the days they
were not in the army barracks.

This revision of the revenue system brought two consequences - the
creation of land and registry offices that also acted as collecting
centers for revenue; and also a revolution in the possession of land or
employed labourers. The less productive or uncultivated lands, were sold
and the lords often drastically decreased the number of their servants,
to pay less taxes.

At first there was a strong resistance, mainly from the lords and the
craftsmen. But Yude was inflexible: the law was to be applied and he
himself gave a good exemple by paying his taxes. Castles were exempt
from paying taxes only if given to the state. The immediate imperial
family, to the third degree, and limited to the imperial palace, also
didn't pay taxes.

It was the pirates of Rone who opposed taxation with a strong
resistance, and who threatened to split from the empire. Yude, applying
the same treatement reserved to the colonies, decided to exempt the
island from the taxation system for a period of ten years, then for ten
more years they would pay 50%, then pay the same as all the others. In
fact Yude thought that in ten years the imperial fleet would be strong
enough to be able to easily win an eventual clash with the pirates. The
pirates thought they had won, as they were persuaded that, after ten
years, they could repeat their challenge.

Another consequence of the new revenue system was that, besides allowing
the state to receive greater and more continuous flows of money,
therefore allowing the maintenance of a strong army and a professional
fleet, as well as the execution of several public works, the territory
now was no longer divided according the old dominons and provinces, but
in regions determined by the communication system and organized in
homogeneous districts.

Then Yude decided to revoluzionize the monetary system, which was very
complex because of the previous independent coinage of the fiefs. He
declared all the coins that were not converted in one year no longer
current, and ordered four kinds of new coins to be minted, establishing
the exchange rate with the old coins. A copper coin with the symbol of a
sickle, that was called sickle; a brass coin with the symbol of an axe
with the value of 100 sickles; a silver one with the symbol a sword,
with the value of 100 axes; and last a golden one with the symbol of a
crown and the value of 100 swords. An average working day was paid a
half sword, that is fifty axes. One year of work of a labourer was paid
about one crown.

All the ancient coins changed within one year were melted, using the
metals for various purposes. After the year, all the old coins value
would be equal to their weight as common metal, that was less than the
face value.

So Yude started his peaceful revolution. But he didn't intend to stop at
that. Besides strengthening the colonies, where all the people who had
lost their jobs because of the new revenue system were sent, he wanted
to reform the administrative and the judicial systems too.

Even though in those times they didn't yet have a clear idea about the
division of powers, so leaving the lawmaking and the government bodies
united, Yude created two new indpendent bodies - the judges and the
controllers. The judges were co-opted by the judiciary body with a
method of public exams, but then promotions to higher levels were
decided by elections. The controllers, whose sole power was unfettered
access to any act and public archive, were to control the judges, the
tax collectors and to eventually publicly denounce any malfunctioning,
was a body elected by all the citizens. If a judge was accused, he had
to be tried by the magistrates of a region far away from his own.

Also these reforms met no little opposition, but gradually they were
applied. In peace time, the soldiers were subject to the civil
authorities and acted as police. In war time they were subject to the
military hierarchy.

For the army, Yude could put into operation, without any problems, the
old reform he had at heart - besides dividing the army into
professionals and temporary soldiers, he divided it in specializations.
The horsemen were of two kinds, the light and the heavy, according to
the weapons they used. The infantrymen were light troops, mountain
corps, builders, assailers, guerrillas, scouts and strongholders. The
new navy was divided into three bodies, the navigtors, the boarders and
the catapulters. Each group had their flag, their colors and their
uniform, abolishing the uniforms of the old dominions.

And finally, Yude also undertook the reorganization of the asylums,
making them a powerful means of mass education, and also a means of
assistance for old or ill people. He also had new asylums built in the
smaller villages and in each borough of the big cities. He organized
them according a territorial system, but leaving them a certain amount
of autonomy.

**************************

6.3 - The friends smooth the way for Yude

In the second month of 1500, the emperor died. As he didn't have sons,
the succession problem arose. There were several collateral relatives
who aspired to the throne but, according to Yude, none of them was
worthy. The various relatives sought allies, protectors, supporters and
this was creating divisions in the empire again.

Yude demanded that a regent should occupy the throne until a new emperor
was chosen. He therefore asked Waka to appoint himself regent, and the
old aristocrat, who highly esteeemed Yude after he ascended the throne,
willingly made him regent.

Ario and Kimi suggested to Yude that he himself should ascend the
imperial throne, but Yude hummed and hawed - he knew he would have the
army's support, but the old aristocracy still had strong influence and
could sway the population against him and Yude didn't want a civil war.

Yude was wise and honest, therefore he went to see Waka and told him
about Ario and Kimi's proposal and about his answer. Waka told him he
acted correctly,  that he was ready to abdicate in his favour, but
before that they had to prepare the field - there were still too many
pretenders to the throne.

In 1501 Yude received a visit from Meta, who told him that the
integration of his men with the men of the three villages was
practically done and that, thanks mainly to Khnis, all the valley down
to the sea, as the result of negotiations or armed clashes, was now
united and the several barbarian villages accepted imperial sovereignty
and were gradually adapting to the imperial system. He therefore asked
to be authorized to found a new city that would beco me the capital of
that new region, and to grant the inhabitants empire citizenship.

Yude accepted willingly and offered to name Meta governor of the new
region, but Meta said he preferred the new governor to be a native and
proposed his Khnis. Yude accepted that at once and issued the nomination
decree.

Meta went back to his valley and, with a stately ceremony to which all
his men and representatives from all the villages participated, he
invested Khnis with his new charge. Then Khnis traced the perimeter of
the new town and mixed teams of soldiers and natives started to build
the walls. The city was built at a few kilometers from the sea, in a
bight of the river, and they also started to build a great bridge over
it.

When Meta asked Khnis what name he intended to give to the new town,
Khnis smiled and told him that he already thought about that matter - he
would call it Nethe, the word meaning "beloved" in the Porls language.

"I would have loved to call it Meta, but you explained to me that
amongst your people you give the name of a person to a city only after
that person is dead... therefore..." Khnis said with a sweet smile,
caressing him.

Meta shuddered, "Khnis, my love, you are awakening my desire, touching
me so..."

"That's exactly what I want. My desire has been awakened for a while.
Come..." the young man said, gently pushing him towards their room.

"You are taking advantage of me because I'm old and cannot oppose,
aren't you?" Meta jokingly said.

"You old? You are like a lad, when we make love, and show more endurance
than me. When you take me you are full of vigor and when it's me to take
you, you're full of passion... what is there old, in you?"

"My body is old."

"I adore your body."

"I'm starting to have white hair."

"That makes you even more sexy."

"It's your love that blinds you."

"Wrong. It's your love that dazzles me." Khnis whispered finishing
undressing him and pulling Meta on top of him, on the bed.

While they were starting to make love, Meta thought he was lucky to have
such a lover.

Another passionate lover was making love in that moment, in the Sword
Castle - Buga.

"Do you love me, Yude?"

"You know I do, my little one."

"You ought not to call me little any more - I'm almost thirty-six-years
old, now."

"To me, you'll always be my little one. I adore you, do you know?"

"Yes, you make me feel it. But I adore you too."

"Even though I'm just a plebeian? A country man?"

"How silly you are - if I was offered a choice between the imperial
throne and you, I would choose you, don't you know that?"

"They want me to be emperor, can you imagine!"

"I find it normal - to me you already are the emperor, since the first
day you made love with me."

"But they didn't make love with me." Yude said, laughing.

"Well, not all of them, but Kimi has been your lover, hasn't he?"

"Yes, he was one. And also Meta."

"So why did you leave Kimi?"

"I don't know. It just ended. We remained good friends. Possibly I had
too much desire for change, to try out, to look for others. Perhaps I
was searching just for you. And luckily I found you. Now I need no
other, nothing more." Yude said kissing him, and they started again to
make love with gentle passion.

Ario and Kimi, meanwhile, were just talking about Yude and the empire.

"You know him very well - how can we persuade him?" Ario asked.

"I know him very well? Just because I was his lover for a while? Do you
think you know your wife well?" Kimi asked him.

"No, not my wife, but I do know my mistress very well." Ario answered,
laughing.

"Yude has an inborn ability to understand what's best to do in every
situation. If he thinks this is not the moment to seize the throne..."

"Because of the opposition of the old aristocracy."

"Mainly because they have too many legitimate pretenders to oppose him."

"So, then... let's eliminate all the pretenders and smooth the way for
him."

"If you did such a thing, I believe he would sentence you to death. He
didn't approve of those methods in Gano's time."

"But he followed him."

"He also loved him. He had the sense of authority; Gano was his chief.
He didn't approve of several things about him, but he remained faithful,
and he admired him. But Yude is profoundly different."

"Well, we shall just have to behave so that Yude will not understand who
is making the pretenders to the throne disappear from under his nose."
Ario said.

"He will suspect something when he sees them vanish one after the other
and he'll inquire about the matter for sure, he is not a inexperienced
man. Also, if he didn't make inquiries, he would be suspected himself.
No, we can do nothing like that."

"My friend, trust me - I am a faithful person, but also a shrewd one;
don't forget I'm the offspring of a very ancient family. You will see
that people will suspect neither me, nor you, nor Yude."

"And how?"

"Let me do it. You have only to help me when I will need your help. We
have enough gold and friends to organize everything. Listen..."

Five men were pretenders to the throne - Kaber, forty-six years old,
Funan, fifteen, Itory, thirty-two, Nemol fifty-four and Qozie,
thirty-five. Ario organized a network of spies to study all their
movements and their habits. When he came to know that Itory was secretly
moving to Ekin in order to find more supporters, passing through the
Assa mountain pass, he organized an ambush at the pass, sending some men
disguised as brigands. Itory's small caravan was attacked and
slaughtered, taking away all the gold and valuables he was carrying,
including the famous armband that belonged to the fifteenth emperor.

Everybody thought that the assassination was the work of bandits. But
Ario had the armband with many other jewels hidden in Kaber's treasury,
then one of Kaber servants, who was in reality one of Ario's men, sent a
secret report to the magistrates accusing Kaber to be the instigator of
the assasination of his relative. The magistrates questioned the servant
asking him what proofs he had to support such an heavy accusation. The
servant told them he saw his master in possession of the famous imperial
armband and to have heard his master say, "One less pretender; let's now
deal with the others." Thus, the magistrates ordered a search in Kaber's
treasury and went to Daket castle, where he was a guest.

They found the armband so the magistrates accused Kaber to be the
instigator of Itory's assasination. He was arrested, several more proofs
were gathered against him, a regular trial was held. He was sentenced to
death. Yude, even though he was persuaded he was guilty, asked Waka to
use leniency and to commute the death sentence into life imprisonment.
Waka granted the mercy, but Kaber could no longer pretend to the
imperial throne.

Ario, through his friends, informed Qozie and Funan that in reality
Kaber had had an accomplice - Nemol, and that they had planned to split
the empire between them, and that it had been Nemol who reported his
cousin in order to get rid of him. As he hoped, Qozie, being an
impulsive man, decided to take revenge. Funan, on the contrary was
really scared, he no longer felt safe anywhere, he wanted to take
flight,  to hide himself. In fact the boy didn't have any particular
desire to sit on the imperial throne, he was just manipulated by the
duke Ikie. Uselessly, the duke tried to persuade the boy that he was
running no risks.

Then Ario, through a court lady who was a friend of his, sent a secret
message to Funan's mother. The lady told her that if she wanted to
rescue her son, she had to have him escape to the colonies, where he
would be safe from the aims of his uncle. The boy's mother trusted that
lady who had been one of her best childhood friends, so with her she
organized her son's flight. Disguised as an ordinary sailor, the boy was
entrusted to one of the lady's sons and embarked on a felucca. The
lady's son brought the boy up to the north colony, at Usaer, the
port-shipyard founded  a few years before. There he easily persuaded
Funan to change his name, and entrusted him to one of his friends. This
latter took the boy to one of the new villages of the hinterland just
built by the imperial soldiers, and entrusted him to a soldier who
really believed that the boy was a simple sailor.

There, the boy finally felt safe - nobody knew his real identity. He
grew fond of the soldier, who treated him very well, so that when, one
night, the soldier slipped into his bed and told him he desired him, the
boy gave himself to the man without any problem, and became his lover.

Meanwhile Qozie was not wasting his time. He paid some men to have Nemol
assassinated. But Ario had Nemol warned and made aware of Qozie's plans.
Therefore Nemol, besides staying on the alert, in his turn paid some men
to assassinate Qozie. The first to fall in an ambush was Qozie who, in a
hunting party, was hit by three arrows, one of them deadly. An inquiry
was opened - it was clear that it wasn't a simple hunting accident, but
the offender wasn't found, even though the magistrates suspected Nemol
or some of the men faithful to the other pretenders.

Only Nemol was still on the run, and he was now confident that his
claims to succeed to the throne had a clear way ahead. Ario didn't know
if Qozie really did pay somebody to assassinate Nemol and, even if he
did so, now that Qozie was dead, if the men he paid would eventually
carry out what they had been paid to do. So Ario organized the
elimination of Nemol too.

Nemol was guest in Stan's Castle. He never went outside, and fearing he
would be poisoned, always had a part of his food, which he chose, eaten
by a taster. It was exactly this obsession that gave Ario the right idea
- he had Nemol's food poisoned, but in very small, not deadly, doses, so
that the taster, who was eating just a little of it, would have no
effects, but that, gradually accumulating in Nemol's body, little by
little it would undermine his health. In fact Nemol fell ill, while his
taster was still in good health. In spite of all the precautions,
Nemol's health was worsening, until he too died.

It was the twelfth month of 1502 and all the throne pretenders had
disappeared. Ario and Kimi met again and drank a toast to the success of
their operation - nobody at all had suspected that everything had been
planned by a single hand and not by fate. When Funan heard about the end
of all the other pretenders, felt happy he had become an unknown, simple
sailor, and he could live a sound and safe life near the man he loved.

-----------------------------

CONTINUES IN CHAPTER 7

-----------------------------

In my home page I've put some more of my stories. If someone wants to
read them, the URL is

http://andrejkoymasky.com

If you want to send me feed-back, or desire to help revising my English
translations, so that I can put on-line more of my  stories in English
please e-mail at

andrej@andrejkoymasky.com

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