The Bold King, The Wise Minister And
The Evil Citizens.
The king was bored, truly bored. He had, ever since he had
clawed his bloody way over to the throne subduing all internal opposition and
dissent had true peace for once as he had also subdued almost all the neighboring
countries under his rule. Just sheer gossip that he was amassing an army to
invade often forced the neighboring countries to surrender immediately and
offer up tribute to stave off the invasion. For they knew all about him and his
barbarian ways and knew they could expect no pity from this man who had risen
up from the dregs of society by his sheer bloodthirsty ways to become a warlord
who ruled over all the lands with fear as his main weapon, lands which had once
despised his kind but forced to now kowtow to him. And like all uneducated
barbarians who rose to be kings by the power of their bloodthirsty swords this
king too depended on the advice of a learned minister to take care of the day
to day ruling of the empire the details of which bored him immensely. As long
as the palace coffers were full and as long as there were enemies who could be
beheaded, hung or burned alive the king did not bother to think about anything
else. The minister, the kings right hand man as it were, was like all educated
men forced to serve barbarian’s to survive, secretly hated and despised the
king for his bloodthirsty attitude and was merely waiting for the chance which
one day, the minister often assured himself, the barbarians idiocy would offer
him on a platter, a chance to destroy and replace the king on the throne where
the educated minister was sure he could perform better. And his chance came
that day.
The king as we said was bored, and being bored wanted to be
amused. He called his minister and asked “tell me minister is the country
happy? Are the people happy?” to which the crafty minister replied “of course
your kingship, the country is happy and the people, they are very happy”. The
king frowned for of course this was not the answer he had expected to hear so
he asked the minister “but why?”. The minister hesitated a moment to ponder
whether this was a trick question before answering “well, because the nation is
at peace, we have no enemies. The people are all prosperous and rich and that
makes them happy”. The king thought this over and asked in a puzzled tone “the
people are rich? The people of this country?” and the minister began to fear
the tone of the king in the conversation and hurriedly said “yes your kingship,
we have conquered all the surrounding lands and there is peace and prosperity
everywhere. At last all our people are free to work hard, make money and grow rich”.
The king went on to ask “but what about taxes? Don’t they pay taxes? How can
they be rich then?” the minister now understanding the way the kings mind was
working went on to say “of course your kingship the people are paying all the
taxes we have thought up. But what to do, these people, these peasants, are
hardworking, sincere and very industrious. The more we tax them and take away
their money the more these people work day and night to save money”. But the
king was still not satisfied “but how can they be rich? That means that we are
not taxing enough if they have money enough to be rich even after paying
taxes”.
The crafty minister smiled at this and said “but your
kingship, you forget one thing, these cunning peasants never tell us how much
they earn in truth for us to tax properly. It’s all about parallel economy and
black money with those beggars. They never tell the truth of their incomes and
earnings to our sincere soldiers who go for tax collections daily. If a potter
sells ten pots a day he pays tax on nine pots only and saves the money he makes
on the last pot for the day he falls ill and cannot make a single pot.
Similarly that old woman who sells idlis for a living says she had sold fifty
idlis a day when in fact she sells sixty, hoping to save that money for a rainy
day when she cannot stand in the rains and sell any idlis because the customers
avoid coming out in the rains. These people are all cheats your kingship, they
are selfish and avaricious and they lie boldly to the hard working tax
collectors about how much they have saved for calamities like rainy days or
sickness or any family emergencies. Almost all these peasants and farmers have
stacks of coins-one annas and two annas- tied up in old bed sheets under their
beds. That’s how rich they are.”
The king was incensed on hearing this “they are rich, are
they? How dare they be rich? How can they be rich in a country where I rule?
Don’t they know that I despise money? I never had any money yet I became king
through my talents. I want to punish them – punish them all severely minister.
Shall we hang them all in the market place for hoarding black money?” The
minister at last had the chance he had been waiting years for, the chance to
get rid of this barbarian king once and for all. In a slow whisper he went on
to say “I have a better idea my king. These people with their one anna and two
anna coins think they are rich. Even if you hang them they will die happy thinking
that they die rich. The only way to properly punish them is to make them poor.
Make them beggars again. Show them that even hard work and industry is not
enough to make someone rich in our country. Show them that if they are born
poor they can only die poor and never better themselves. Make them despair of
ever improving their lives” The king was pleased with this advice as it was
what he believed in wholeheartedly “How? How? Tell me minister, how to make the
whole country poor, so I can be the only rich man in this country?” The
minister with a significant look at the king said “my lord, people think they
are rich because they have money in their hands- so break their confidence on
money itself. Just declare that all money today onwards is worthless and you
can beggar the whole country in minutes. Then you and only you will be a rich
man my king, while everyone else will be left holding worthless pieces of
metals, those beggars.”
And the king who did not have the benefit of a proper
education and never learned the concept of thinking things through which is the
benefit of a proper education, by a single decree declared all money worthless
and beggared his nation and people at one stroke. And the aftermath of this act
was filled with tragedy and pathos and many deaths which is a tale to be told
on another day.
