Ministerial Matters
Third Day of the Twelfth Month 294 AC
The strangest part about having tea with a devil, Menel Goldentooth realized, was not the slit gaze that shone the color of old gold like a lost coin from the bottom of a well, and it was not the shiver that went down his spine whenever pale clawed hands moved a little too quick. Rather, it was the odd realization that the devil,
this devil, swathed in the dark crimson robes of ministerial power, had a sweet tooth. Devils were supposed to have a taste for blood and tears, not fine white cane sugar. Of course, there were probably quite a few citizens who would rather pay Izku in mere blood, preferably someone else's blood, than the coin his ministry asked for...
"How goes the saga of the protocol taxes, Your Excelency?" the Minister of Trade asked lightly. "Have the reputable lords of the west found more arguments, or better legal counsel?"
"More arguments, yes," Izku laughed darkly. "The way a blind monkey unable to climb trees will stumble over many pieces of rotten fruit to present one. It is quite astonishing when one thinks about it, how much the dignity of their ancient lines is worth when one brings out the scales."
He was not, Menel knew, making a jest about the nobility of Westeros being worthless. 'Protocol taxes' were an idea House Dayne had stumbled over in an effort to make up for the fact that local tax actually had to show some good to the citizens paying them and not just to the coffers of their lord. The reasoning went that if one's lord could not represent their subjects with honor, why then all would suffer from the loss of trade, the loss of opportunity, the loss of consideration... and part of that honor was the show of wealth.
House Dayne had made its case and it had proven it spawning a whole skew of imitators who thought they would only have to show that they lacked this or that feather in their hat to be able to lay arbitrary local taxes. Of course, things were not so easy. Andrew Dayne had actually shown the way in which his particular tax had been put towards the public good. He had shown deals with trade magnates for good rates and contracts with the Orphne Fey. Most of the other houses who simply wanted rather than needed an extra revenue stream had been doing far more poorly. Trotting out one's poor relations before a magistrate to try to make the point about the destitution of one's House had turned a few Westerlander families, chief among them the Westerlings of the Crag, into the butt of japes from Pyke to King's Landing.
A cup clicked on its place. "I did not come here only to hear tales of entertaining failure, Your Excellence," the Minister of Trade interjected after the most recent anecdote wound down. "What do you think of a forest tax, that is to say a local tax on the use of dead wood and lumber that is to be levied in place of the old duties and whose proceeds are to go into mentaining the health of the woods? Duke Redwyne has approached me with the notion in principle on behalf of some of his vassals."
"Of course," Izku's tone was dry as one imagined the parched heart of Hell to be. Most proposals from that quarter came in that form so that something rejected out of hand would not reflect upon the high lords themselves. "Well, in principle I see no issue with it so long as a reasonable portion of those funds actually goes towards the stated purpose."
It was something of a sore point with him that trusted auditors who were accustomed to the ways of the Sunset Lands were yet scarce on the ground and he could not justify looking into minor-to-middling graft. It was not that Izku thought he could do away with all graft and corruption, but he preferred to prune it closer to the ground that it currently grew.
"I suspect there are going to be quite a few development loans taken with forestry in mind," Menel explained. "It makes for an easier sell than crop diversification, and you can just leave the trees to grow with far less tending, at least so long as the local fey are happy...
"Abiding by the law of the land does not require happiness," the devil noted absently. "All fey sworn to the throne are to be mindful of the interests of their mortal neighbors."
"As you say," Menel nodded, though he knew enough of the cunning of the spirit kin to be quite sure that most lords would be better served not counting solely on the royal oath to get the aid they might need. "Have you had any thoughts on the inclusion of banks in the new business three year tax break. They do not produce any novel goods, but it is a novel service..."
"What they produce is the opportunity for fraud on a yet uneducated populace," Izku countered. "All well and good to entourage growth, but not at the cost of much of that growth being poisonous weeds."
Financial Assistance 30 (Success)
Do you encourage or discourage the formation of new local banks on Westeros?
[] Encourage, more local creditors means more growth for those who would otherwise struggle to get a loan
[] Discourage, scams or even simply failed banks could harm public confidence far more than they help
OOC: Sorry this took so long, the subject matter is rather dry, hopefully the discussion format helped make it interesting and pulled double duty for some characterization for the Ministers. Not yet edited.
