The Birth of a Marquis and the Royal Company
"Have you finished your discussion?"
Felipe appeared just as the heated exchange between the Count-Duke of Olivares and the Admiral concluded. The Admiral immediately presented his demands to the King.
"Your Majesty. As a loyal servant of the kingdom, I am always prepared to follow your commands. However, I humbly request that you allow other great nobles to hold the positions of Lord Chamberlain and Master of the Horse, which are currently monopolized by the Count-Duke of Olivares."
Olivares could not hide his fury at the Admiral’s words, but the Admiral ignored him, continuing his ultimatum.
"If you grant that, will you send your sister to him?"
"If the man in question is at least of a rank befitting a Grande, the Admiral of Castile will always follow the royal will with loyalty."
While a low-ranking noble without a title is called an Hidalgo, a titled noble is known as a Titulado. To be a man befitting a Grande meant he had to be at least a Count—no, he was demanding a title with a fiefdom of at least a Marquis.
Asking for a commoner to be elevated to a Marquis was beyond unconventional; it was nearly impossible. Felipe felt a surge of anger at the Admiral’s impossible demand, but he looked at me—Juan—who remained silent, and asked,
"Juan, what are your thoughts?"
I began to explain the plan I had been contemplating.
"Your Majesty, I have a method in mind that is better than that."
"A method?"
"As Your Majesty knows, I have been gathering the abandoned mudflats around Valladolid and incorporating them into the royal farms. Of course, I do not mean to covet the King's property."
"Tell me more."
"I intend to establish a company based on that land."
"A company?"
"For now, I plan to name it the 'Agricultural Development Company'."
I stood up. Standing before the King, the Admiral, and the Chief Minister, I began to lay out my vision.
"First, Your Majesty. I have clearly demonstrated a harvest of 10 fanegas or more from a single fanega of wheat. You acknowledge this, do you not?"
It was the Admiral, not the King, who answered.
"What? Is such a thing possible?"
"It is true, Admiral. I vouch for it in the King's name. Juan, continue."
"Then I shall proceed. I intend to continue expanding the farmland based in the Valladolid region. By my calculations, whether it is a year of famine or a normal year, I am yielding production values exceeding the worth of the farmland within three years."
Olivares nodded at my words and said,
"...I have no choice but to admit it. You recouped the cost of the farm in two years, not three. That is only possible because your farm yields more than a normal harvest even in times of famine."
"That is only because the price of wheat is high due to the ongoing famine; in a normal year, it would take three years to generate profit."
As I corrected Olivares, the Admiral stood up, his face flushed red, and pointed a finger at me and the Count-Duke.
"I cannot believe it! How can you get a normal harvest during a famine! Olivares! Are you trying to deceive me in front of His Majesty!"
The Admiral was a great lord. While he did not farm himself, he certainly knew the approximate statistics through the stewards he employed.
"Admiral. Would you like to see this report?"
The King, Felipe, pulled out a report analyzing the crop yields around Valladolid from 1623, when I first harvested wheat, to 1624, the year of the floods.
"Your Majesty, this is... an impossible feat."
"Admiral. I would like to call this a miracle."
"A miracle!"
At that word, the Admiral instinctively crossed himself, his eyes widening. The King approached the Admiral, took his hand, and whispered softly in his ear.
"He is a man who brings the mercy that God would bestow through human effort. I believe he is the 'key' that God sent because He has not abandoned this empire. And I hope your sister will be the keychain that keeps that key from going anywhere."
At that whisper, the Admiral gripped the King’s hand and replied in a low voice,
"I finally understand Your Majesty's will."
"I leave it to you."
"But Your Majesty. Even so, the status must be matched. I do not wish to introduce my brother-in-law as merely a farmer."
At the Admiral’s blunt remark, King Felipe looked at Olivares. However, Olivares was so engrossed in listening to Juan that he didn't even notice the King’s gaze.
"Now! If we aggressively increase royal direct-controlled lands, other nobles will not be pleased. Therefore, we will purchase and operate the land in the name of this company, not the royal farm. It is a deception, but it is a necessary separation."
Juan’s grasp of noble psychology instilled a sense of trust in the Count-Duke.
"Good! Keep talking, you coachman!"
"Hey, don't call me coachman, Count-Duke. How about 'Boss'? President of the Agricultural Development Company."
"Anyway, hurry up and say more!"
"I will operate this company based on overwhelming agricultural productivity and labor efficiency. And based on this, I will invest in the projects the state requires."
Salted meat. Pancetta. Jamón. Biscuits. Dried fruits. Nuts. Ropes made of linen or hemp. Textiles. Warhorses and mules. As I listed the items needed by the military, the Count-Duke seemed to get a headache and cut me off.
"Can't you just pay taxes with that wheat?"
That was a fair point, but from my perspective, it was wrong. If that happened, the farmers would only ever be people groaning under low grain prices for their entire lives. A typical structure would form where the transporters and the market reap the benefits. I gave Olivares an excuse he could accept.
"Count-Duke. You have forgotten one thing. The internal transport of this Kingdom of Castile was already poor, and now it is completely shattered because the bridges collapsed in this flood. Even if we farm and store the grain, there is no way to transport it."
"Then what are we to do!"
"That is why I intend to create added value through vertical integration. It is difficult to transport 100 fanegas of wheat, but wouldn't it be manageable to transport 100 more expensive jamóns?"
"Vertical... what did you call it?"
I quickly changed the subject. He was a sharper man than I thought, so there was no need to say anything unnecessary.
"Count-Duke, remember what we talked about last time? About how there need to be plenty of commoners to exploit reasonably. I will produce those people to be exploited. Or rather, I will handle their taxes entirely and deposit them myself."
"You will even pay the commoners' taxes!? That is wonderful!"
At the mention of paying taxes, he cheered as if he had forgotten the entire conversation before it.
"Count-Duke, you have been talking for 10 years about the lack of young men to send to the army, right? You only need to solve two things. The problem is not that there are no young men in this kingdom, but that they are abandoning their farmland and hiding in the mountains. I will produce the food they need and give them jobs to settle them down. Ten years. Just give me 10 years, and I will show you. Haven't I shown you over the past five years?"
"Five years! Give me results within five years!"
Olivares cried out at Juan’s words. He knew well. The kingdom’s vitality was already at rock bottom; it was a dying giant. There wasn't much time left that Olivares could drag it along by force.
"When did I show you the results I promised within five years, Count-Duke?"
The Count-Duke shouted back immediately at his question,
"Three! It was three years!"
"I always do my best, Count-Duke."
As I acted like a theater actor with exaggerated gestures, the Count-Duke stood up and began to dance.
"Damn it! You lovely coachman! No! Boss! You make me dance with hope!"
No one wants to see Old Thirty dancing.
"Anyway. Count-Duke. I need a few privileges to do this."
"What privileges do you want!"
Olivares was willing to do anything if he could earn silver coins by sharing a few rights, even if it wasn't cash. Leaving the Count-Duke, who was about to write down the authority on paper, I looked at the King.
"I will speak of that directly to the King."
"Speak, Juan."
Felipe was watching me and the Count-Duke, along with the Admiral who was still holding his hand tightly.
"First, I need tax exemption. I say this clearly: the alcabala, that insane transaction tax, is a tax that only harms the kingdom."
"Granted. Continue."
Tax exemption was a privilege every noble possessed. It was not a problem at all.
"I need independent judicial rights and independent administrative rights. I also need the right of first refusal for development and the right of first refusal for water rights."
Independent judicial and administrative rights were rights every noble had in their fiefdom, so they were nothing special. Development rights? The policy of giving land to those who develop wasteland had been in effect for a long time. But water rights were different.
"The right of first refusal for water rights! That will surely cause a major problem!"
Olivares was horrified at the mention of water rights. In the arid Kingdom of Castile, water was life, and the master of water was the master of that region.
"Do not worry, Count-Duke. I will not abuse that authority. I only want the right not to be hindered by water rights when utilizing minimal water resources."
Olivares tried to say something, but Felipe granted that right as well.
"Granted. Is there anything else you need?"
"Give me independent policing rights. And I will hire those among the discharged Tercio soldiers, whom the country abandoned without severance pay, who have the will to work."
A silence fell. Only the King could break a silence that no one else dared to.
"You are asking for an army. Are you trying to build your own kingdom within this kingdom?"
"Felipe. I am asking for that authority to have the power to protect my people, at the very least. The company I lead will surely face countless resistances."
At my words, Felipe tapped his knee, pondered for a moment, and said,
"Juan. We are friends. Is that right?"
"That's right. Friends."
As I answered immediately, he stood up as if he had been waiting only for that answer and declared to Olivares,
"Olivares. I grant all the privileges Juan has requested. Juan, you are a man who always trades, not one who only pursues his own interests. Then, what will you pay in exchange for these privileges?"
"I will grant legitimacy to your rule. And I will make all documents public. Every December, on the feast day, I will come to Madrid to settle the accounts, disclose all profits, and hand over half of those profits to you."
I explained the wealth distribution method I had in mind. In fact, since it was a business done on the King's land with the King's property, it was the rule of the era that one should have nothing to say even if everything was taken away.
"And the other half?"
To block the King's greed, I brought up something he liked. There is no bad person among those who love horses. And Felipe loves horses.
"You have to raise the foal to increase the ranch. I will use the remaining half to grow the company again."
"Then what will you take for yourself?"
Felipe’s question was clear. If I deposited half of the money earned and used half for the company, what would I live on? I shrugged my shoulders at the question and said,
"I'll just take the salary you give me."
"Kwahahaha."
Felipe showed a clown-like laugh at my words. The Admiral and the Count-Duke fussed to calm the King, who had been laughing for 5, 10, 15 minutes until he was almost fainting, but the King pushed them aside, stood up, and said,
"A Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Marquis of the Golden Horizon of Castile and the Meseta Development Zone. Juan Manuel de la Meseta."
"This is your identity and name from now on. The commoner Juan Manuel Esposito is no more. But my friend Juan Manuel will remain forever, right?"
"Yes. Friend."
Felipe bestowed a new name upon me and then left, using the excuse that he was busy. But that was not the end. The 'official title,' which was more important than the name, remained.
"Haa, 'Boss' is too low-class. Marquis. If you want to be my brother-in-law, shouldn't the title at least be one that isn't embarrassing when someone hears it?"
The Admiral’s arrogant and cold gaze had changed somewhat since my new surname and title were bestowed. However, his arrogance was deeper and heavier than I thought.
No, why is 'Boss' low-class? Then should I be Chairman or President? Before I could answer, Olivares replied to the Admiral,
"Certainly, such a horse-dung-smelling title is beneath a Marquis. Something like 'Director-General of the Royal Agricultural Development Bureau' would be fitting for the Admiral’s brother-in-law, wouldn't it?"
"That is not enough. A noble is one who carries a sword. At the very least, he should receive a title like 'Supreme Development Commander of the Kingdom of Castile' so that I am not embarrassed to tell others."
I looked at the great nobles playing a title game that only middle-schoolers with chuunibyou would play, and I made a disgusted face.
"...I guarantee you, if our descendants see this 400 years later, they will be so embarrassed. Can't we just be the Royal Agricultural Development Company?"
"Quiet. If you want to be my brother-in-law, show behavior befitting a great noble."
The two, who had completely ignored my opinion, continued a discussion that seemed like it would be possessed by a dark flame dragon for a long time. I resisted desperately, but in the end, the official name of the company became the Real Compañía de Comercio y Abastos de Castilla (Royal Company of Trade and Supplies of Castile). The name I call it is the Royal Agricultural Development Company, though.
Like that, Esposito, the abandoned child, became Juan Manuel de la Meseta, Marquis of the Golden Horizon of Castile and the Meseta Development Zone, His Majesty’s Director-General of the Royal Agricultural Development Bureau, Supreme Development Commander of the Kingdom of Castile, and President of the Royal Agricultural Development Company.
Author's Note
Juan Manuel de la Meseta
The protagonist’s stigma as Esposito, the abandoned child, has officially disappeared, and he has received the surname 'de la Meseta,' 'Master of the Plateau.'