Lord of Krungh

The Lord of Krungh (Shinasthana: 洚侯, krungh-go; Jan. 15, 1817 – Aug. 2, 1909) was a Themiclesian politician, military officer, and civil servant. Born to the aristocratic lineage of the lords of Krungh, he entered the civil service 1838 and governed four counties and two prefectures then sat in the House of Commons as Lord Gwrjang-goi for 13 years. He first became a minister in 1883 under the Lord of M′i and rose to become prime minister after the Lord of Snul-lang died in 1894. Winning the 1897 and 1904 general elections, he governed Themiclesia for 15 years and 110 days until his death in 1909, becoming the longest-serving and oldest prime minister in modern history. As prime minister, he was a devoted practitioner of the New Policy of the Conservative Party, balancing rural aristocratic privilege and social policies in industrial areas. His permiership is remembered for them and extension of the franchise to all adults over 25, irrespective of sex but also widespread electoral bribery, political patronage, and corruption.

Career

Prime minister

The New Policy was meant to benefit and empower the agrarian aristocracy and smaller landholders in the countryside. The party under Krungh enacted a range of socially- and economically-progressive policies that effectively formed a coalition between the rural aristocracy and the urban poor, in order to fight the Liberals in the House of Commons. As the party courted votes in cities by progressive policies, it maintained power in the countryside through a massive patronage (for aristocrats and gentry) and bribery (for commoners) scheme. While the policy was meant to perpetuate the superiority of the privileged class, Krungh re-iterated that he did not condone excessive rents, instead encouraging collusion to prevent competitiven rent reductions. The government also strongly opposed land and income tax on aristocrats, since this would increase operating costs. To fund social programs, Krungh enacted land taxes on urban and industrial land and a progressive income tax on income by non-aristocrats and molested Liberal patronage schemes that ran through the industrial elite. Due to his highly prejudicial policies, his premiership was known as the Great Darkness amongst the middle class.

Relation to other politicians

Trjuk Krjên-magh

Main article: Trjuk Krjên-magh

The Lord of Krungh was known to have a poor relationship with Trjuk Krjên-magh, who was five years his elder. The two knew each other since childhood. While Krungh delved into a political career in his early 20s, Trjuk preferred an academic career and stayed the universities, studying mathematics. When Trjuk eventually entered politics in his 40s, he used the influence of his brother, the Lord of Sngrjal-krên, to skip several rungs in the Conservative Party's hierarchy and briefly outranked Krungh. In his social life, Trjuk gradually lost his reputation as a strict academic and became a womanizer, even though he was still academically active. In the several offices he pursued, he preferred to stay in the capital city and appear at meals rather than supervising his subordinats in the country. Krungh, anxious to advance the New Policy as the accepted dogma of his generation, admonished Trjuk over his scandalous conduct, and the two grew hostile to each other.

In 1861, Trjuk briefly returned to academia and demanded a new office in 1863. Exasperated with Trjuk, he combined with the Administration Secretary to make Trjuk a colonel in the Marine Corps, which sent him to the Isle of Liang and kept him away from the capital city. At the time, Liang had a lethal reputation, as the Camians were making threats to take the island and slaughter every living person on it. Trjuk loitered in Kien-k'ang for months, refusing to leave to his commission. When he did arrive, he accidentally discharged a pistol he found in a desk, killing a marine. The Liberal Party caricatured this incident, levying Trjuk's incompetence to represent "the New Conservative—unable to take anything or anyone seriously." This affair hit the New Conservatives hard, as Trjuk had been seeking to align with them for years and engaged in many philanthropic initiatives meant to boost the faction's image. Krungh criticized Trjuk as an ivory-tower academic with no experience in government.

Trjuk's surrender to the Camians in 1867 did the New Conservatives no favours, who were desperate to distance themselves from the image of the "administrative clique" of which Liberals accused the mainstream Conservative Party. When it was time to promote Trjuk, Krungh snubbed Trjuk giving him a meaningless promotion as Captain-General of Marines, which effectively terminated his career. This would cause Trjuk endless misery in his later years and vitriolic polemics within the Conservative Party against Krungh.

Reception

The Lord of Krungh remains a divisive figure in Themiclesia today. On the one hand, he pioneered the progressive income tax and enacted a range of anti-discrimination, labour-protection, child-protection, union-protection, and welfare laws that are cherished in Themiclesia today, albeit mainly to court the urban working class and preserve the rural interests of the upper class. On the other hand, he exempted the aristocracy from most forms of taxation, and his severely prejudiced policies are still criticized in Liberal circles as unstatesmanlike and anti-egaltarian. His most influential legacy, however, was the extension of the franchise to all citizens above the age of 25, irrespective of sex, which forced policy revisions by Liberal and Conservative alike and changed the political landscape irrevocably.

He is rated as the second best prime minister in the 19th and 20th centuries, behind the Lord of Gar-lang (fl. 1845 – 1859).

Timeline

Personal

• 1817: born.
• 1839: Deputy Secretary to the Magistrate of Mrjan-lan County.
• 1841: Treasurer of Sjing-brjêng County.
• 1845: Magistrate of Troh-mjei County.
• 1848: Magistrate of Bjeng County.
• 1849: Director of Poor Relief in Tsjing-Brjêng Prefecture.
• 1850: Colonel of Cavalry Militia in Ngrêk Prefecture.
• 1851: Magistrate of Krong-nêng County, Lord Gwrjang-goi.
• 1854: Exchequer of Dzar-mlêng Prefecture.
• 1859: Magistrate of Dzar-mlêng Prefecture.
• 1861: MP for Hwal-lang County.
• 1871: Lord of Krungh (death of father, 3rd Lord of Krungh)
• 1883: Minister of Munitions.
• 1885: Minister of Revenues.
• 1886: Secretary of State for War.
• 1889: Magistrate of Pjang-nubh Prefecture.
• 1891: Secretary of State for Administration.
• 1894: Prime Minister.
• 1909: death, aged 92.

Policy

• 1892: Progressive income tax on commoners.
• 1896: Stamp duty on daily publications.
• 1898: Industrial and urban residential land tax.
• 1899: Civic education, providing free books and food for children up to the age of 12.
• 1900: Maximum working hours established at 14 hours per day and 80 per week, for adults, and 10 hours and 54 hours respectively, for children under 14.
• 1900: Factory and business owners may not prevent worker assemblies outside of their property or dismiss workers for the same.
• 1901: Factories must provide at least one work-free day per month.
• 1901: Factory owners responsible for mechanical failures that result in injuries and death.
• 1904: Public Drilling Act (forbids large public assemblies under leadership, used to suppress public union meetings) abolished.
• 1904: Representation of the People Act, extending franchise to all citizens aged 25 and above, irrespective of sex.
• 1906: Union of Unions established uner government patronage.
• 1906: Public Employment Register established, all advertisements for labour to be public to reduce "unemployment by ignorance".

Snul-lang-Krungh ministry

Cabinet ministers in bold.

Position		Holder
Tyrannian	Shinasthana
Prime Minister	尚書令	The Lord of Snur-lang (to 1894) The Lord of Krungh (from 1894)
Foreign Secretary	主客尚書	The Lord of K′ei-′rjem
Deputy Prime Minister Education Secretary	右僕射祠部尚書	The Lord of Mrjing
Appropriations Secretary	度支尚書	Lord Lang-djeng
War Secretary	十七兵尚書	Lord Gwigh-njing
Navy Secretary	航尚書	The Lord of Pek-′al
Home Secretary	民部尚書	Lord Kjalh-djeng
Administration Secretary	吏部尚書	Lord Ran-prep
Public Works Secretary	起部尚書	Lord N′er-n′ubh
Minister of Public Railways	鐵路郎	Lord Kakw
Minister of Revenues	內郎	Lord Ga-lang
Master-General of the Ordnance	將作大匠	Lord Mjap
Minister of Munitions	寺工室郎	Lord Ta
Minister of Patronage	廕部郎	Lord Mrai-gigh
Minister of War	十七兵郎	Lord Tow
Minister of Unions	工會郎	Lord Begh
Minister of Shipbuilding	章部郎	Lord Lra-lang
Minister of Poor Relief	平準郎	Lord Krek-lang
Chancellor of Academia Shinasthana	大學監	The Lord of Dar
Minister of Police	良人郎	Lord Ljuk-lang
Minister of Education	祠部郎	Lord Tjup
Lords in Waiting	侍中	The Lord of Hljunh-lang The Lord of ′ebh-lang The Lord of Gah The Lord of Mrus
Gentlemen in Waiting	給事中	Lord Kjit-mjen Lord Ngjon-djeng Lord Mja-′an Lord Hwjei-ngjarh Lord Gwrjang-′ar
Chancellor	相邦	The Lord of K′jar
Vice Chancellor	丞相	Lord of Njet-hwer The Lord of Rjat-lang
Marshal of the Gallery	郎中令	The Lord of Kaw-ngjar
President of Tribunes	御史大夫	Lord Gran-skwjadh
Privy Treasurer	少府	The Lord of ′rup-nem
Leader of the House of Commons	中書僕射	Lord ′jek-nror
Lord Steward of the Palace	殿中監	The Lord of Nja-lang
Marshal of Peers	主爵中尉	The Lord of Nem-neng
Inner Administrator	內史	Lord Sikw-lang
President of the Privy Council	中大夫令	The Lord of Gwrebh-lang
Master of Associated States	屬邦
Marshal of Hên-lang Guards	顯陽衛尉
Marshal of Middle Guards	中衛尉
Marshal of Gwreng-hljunh Guards	宏訓衛尉
Marshal of Gweng-ngjarh Guards	弘義衛尉
Marshal of Pek Guards	北宮衛尉
Capital Marshal	中尉
Comptroller of Embassies	典客
Master of the Horse	太僕
Comptroller of the Ancestry	宗正
Comptroller of Ceremonies	奉常

See also

• Themiclesia