His Favored Empress

Reforms

This Devish was quite astute. Shaugn inwardly approved of his straightforwardness. He straightened in his seat and put on an air as if he was holding court. A few others followed his lead and gave him their undivided attention.

"I called you all here for a reason. Changes are coming to the empire and they start with the capital."

A few gaped at him while a few others began whispering amongst themselves. Shaugn let them digest that before continuing.

"All businesses, including the...seedier ones will be under the control of the Business Bureau which will become an offshoot of the Ministry of Commerce. As such, there will be rules and standards by which businesses must comply to in order to remain open. This measure is taking place to mitigate many of the issues that have plagued the emperor and court for some time."

Devish frowned as the others began to talk around him. "And what are those rules and standards, empress?"

Shaugn looked around the table, making eye contact with several as he spoke. "You will no longer allow the poor and unemployed to gamble, drink, or play. Those types will steal from their families and neighbors. They will sell their homes and land leaving their wives and children and parents homeless and penniless. Those then become my problem because who do you think they seek out to take care of them? My problems become your problems simply because you were greedy and allowed them in. Do you understand?"

Many looked at him in shock. A few others looked at him with anger on their faces. When had they ever turned away customers? When had the palace ever made them responsible for those worthless saps who liked to hide their misery in pleasure?

Shaugn ignored their expressions. "You will be audited by my accountant once a month and taxes paid on that income. Anyone attempting to conceal earnings will be fined. The second time, they will be beaten. The third, I will shut them down permanently.

Anyone operating illegally will have thirty days to fix your legal status. Otherwise, we will raze your establishment to the ground, raid your properties, and toss you in jail after fifty lashes."

The whispering grew louder with a few sounding angry but Shaugn continued.

"I'm not sure how much any of you know about disease, but –"

A woman stood and bowed at her waist. "Your majesty, my girls are clean. We do not let anyone with diseases work."

Shaugn paused. "Let me see your face."

She stood fully and stared at the wall behind him. Aside from some nervousness between her brows, her face was natural and bright. She dressed simply in muted pastel robes and had a youthful air about her.

"What is your name?"

"I am Janene, your majesty. I run The Valley of Flowers."

Some of the men snickered or leered at the young woman. Shaugn flicked his wrist and his fan opened with a loud flap. He glared at all of them and they turned away or looked down at their shoes. Shaugn stood and approached the woman, leaning close to her ear. She held her breath as he brought the fan up covering their faces.

Shaugn had learned through palace gossip that this establishment had issues. "There are three men that visit your establishment that are into immoral activities. At least one of them has been infected and has brought it into your house."

She paled and stumbled on her feet. Shaugn caught her by her elbow. Despair filled her voice. "How? We were so careful. We pride ourselves on our cleanliness."

"Men are scum. Some like to harm others for fun." He helped her back to her seat.

Janene tried to regain her composure. "Thank you, your majesty."

Shaugn continued talking as he walked around the room. "As I was saying, you will no longer allow people who smell like they sleep with animals. The stench is unpleasant and no one wants to be nauseated when they are trying to have fun."

The men laughed out loud while the women covered their smiles.

"If they have excessive dirt and mud, you will send them out. A clean business gets more business. More business means more money."

The men slapped the table and fist pumped the air. "Yeahhhh!"

"Anyone visibly ill you will deny entry. It only takes one person to infect hundreds. In enclosed spaces like gambling halls and brothels, it can spread to more – faster. We have a refugee crisis and we don't know what the rainy season will bring us. I don't have time for epidemics that could have been easily stopped." He turned around and faced them. "Do you understand?"

"Are you saying plagues are preventable?"

"Most. Yes."

An older man stood and gave a helpless shrug. "Empress, we're simple business folk not doctors. How do we keep out people who's sick?"

"By learning how to identify sick people."

"Why should we do all this?" One of the men that had been chastised earlier for his lack of manners when grabbing food, stood with a huff. "It's so much work. I just want to make money."

Shaugn closed his fan and faced the man squarely. "Let me put it this way, sick people make more sick people. Plague and disease is bad for business. If people die off, who will come to your business? If you can't make money, you can't pay taxes. That makes the treasury unhappy." He looked around the room as they began whispering to each other. He suddenly had a bright idea.

"To make it easy on you, we will hold classes on disease prevention throughout the city in a few weeks."

"Can we attend?"

"Anyone can."

"What does it cost?"

"It is free." He walked back to his seat as they began to talk amongst themselves. The men were talking loud and openly about how this would affect their business while the women whispered to each other with their sleeves covering their mouths. Their faces were more serious than the men who seemed to only be talking about profit with greed in their eyes.

Good. He could use that to his advantage.

*Shaugn is working his butt off trying to reform the empire. Is he wasting his time?

**Hope everyone is keeping healthy. There are some nasty diseases out there this cold/flu season.