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
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
| Position | Holder |
|---|---|
| Prime Minister | The Lord of Snur-lang (to 1894) The Lord of Krungh (from 1894) |
| Foreign Secretary | The Lord of K′ei-′rjem |
| Deputy Prime Minister Education Secretary |
The Lord of Mrjing |
| Appropriations Secretary | Lord Lang-djeng |
| War Secretary | Lord Gwigh-njing |
| Navy Secretary | The Lord of Pek-′al |
| Home Secretary | Lord Kjalh-djeng |
| Administration Secretary | Lord Ran-prep |
| Public Works Secretary | Lord N′er-n′ubh |
| Minister of Public Railways | Lord Kakw |
| Minister of Revenues | Lord Ga-lang |
| Master-General of the Ordnance | Lord Mjap |
| Minister of Munitions | Lord Ta |
| Minister of Patronage | Lord Mrai-gigh |
| Minister of War | Lord Tow |
| Minister of Unions | Lord Begh |
| Minister of Shipbuilding | Lord Lra-lang |
| Minister of Poor Relief | Lord Krek-lang |
| Chancellor of Academia Shinasthana | The Lord of Dar |
| Minister of Police | Lord Ljuk-lang |
| Minister of Education | Lord Tjup |
| President of the Privy Council | The Lord of Gwrebh-lang |
| Lords in Waiting | The Lord of Hljunh-lang The Lord of ′ebh-lang The Lord of Gah The Lord of Mrus |
| Gentlemen in Waiting | Lord Kjit-mjen Lord Ngjon-djeng Lord Mja-′an Lord Hwjei-ngjarh Lord Gwrjang-′ar |
| Chancellor | The Lord of K′jar |
| Vice Chancellor | Lord of Njet-hwer The Lord of Rjat-lang |
| Marshal of the Gallery | The Lord of Kaw-ngjar |
| President of Tribunes | Lord Gran-skwjadh |
| Privy Treasurer | The Lord of ′rup-nem |
| Leader of the House of Commons | Lord ′jek-nror |
| Lord Steward of the Palace | The Lord of Nja-lang |
| Marshal of Peers | The Lord of Nem-neng |
| Inner Administrator | Lord Sikw-lang |