Cittaja || Indian Historical Romance

78.

Shatrujit sat on the throne-like chair that was put out for him in the little village. Shatrujit thought that it was the right time to start showing Mayurakshi as the possible queen to the people. Shatrujit, within his time with Mayurakshi, had begun to find that spark in her for administration. Her princess training had administration as a part of it, but she hadn't had practical experience in it. Actually, having handled state issues firsthand.

Her palace's administration was smooth. Rang Bhavan almost didn't find much change in how Mahadevi handled their administration under Mayurakshi's control. A few changes did take place here and there. She had cut down on some spending that wasn't required and moved them into a different area.

"This is the council of ministers who are responsible in Abhayakona, Maharaj." Mahamatya Mayavan was introduced. The ministers greeted Shatrujit respectfully.

"Mayura, Kanna, what do you think about the workings here?" Shatrujit asked for her opinion. Mayurakshi was sitting to his right and pointed to him on the map.

"While I think that a few changes in financial administration would be good, we specifically need to worry about the water supply problem. Look at this area." She showed the area of the village. "The water level is already low in wells. We should start digging out lakes before the rainy season begins. I can almost see the pattern of drought show up if we don't work towards water conservation here. I think the connectivity in these areas of the village is difficult. Especially in the forest, things are going to be tougher. We've had, like, eight tiger attacks in the last year. That is a bad sign. We have to look to improve that part. With tiger attacks, livestock is going to come into trouble. Cows will definitely not be safe around here unless we start with the right measures. I think we should set out forest rangers around here who can contain the tiger problems."

"Hmmm..." Shatrujit looked into her, explaining some more issues that she had focused on.

"I wholly agree with Rajkumari's thoughts, Maharaj. In addition, I'd like to add some more problems, like the scarcity of administrative appointees. We need more of them here in these areas."

"We lack administrative staff."

"Maharaj, it isn't enough to handle the load of work set up."

"Instantly set out the hiring information, Mahamantri Garu. It is imperative that we have enough staff to take care of the administration."

They spent a few more hours talking about various areas, and Shatrujit was giving his opinions on a few things to Mayurakshi. Shatrujit could see that Mayura was actually taking some time out to learn from Amrita about how the basic financial aspects were being handled. budget allocation and distribution. Hence, her input was already taking the slight budget changes that might have to be made into consideration. She was making sure to also keep in mind the pattern of Amrita's budget allocation and distribution.

Amrita, one of the most brilliant women Mayurakshi had seen in actual official positions of power, was immaculate with her policies. The tax was 1/16th for most taxpayers. The crops had a fixed system of revenue. They were divided into cash crops and food crops. Cash crops had a higher tax value than food crops. Food crops were mostly non-taxed except for having to provide a part of their crop as tax. The state didn't take any part of the tax on the crops sold. Mayurakshi was highly impressed by how Amrita actually handled administration from a financial standpoint. She definitely knew that the richness for which the Kalika Empire was infamous was due to her brilliance in handling the finances.

It wasn't for nothing that the sages believed that the deity of wealth was a woman.

Mayurakshi had almost finished her meeting with Shatrujit and took her leave for the night to rest. While she was walking out, Karma quickly ran up to her.