"In every major city and town, an institution will be established for women who wish to learn and study. These institutions will be operated by women, and the teachers will be women. If Anga does not have enough educated women to serve as teachers, Kanipura will send them."
A gasp escaped from several corners of the hall.
The murmuring began almost immediately.
Some lords turned toward one another in disbelief, while others frowned openly. Even the ministers exchanged surprised glances, because although Karna had spoken before of changing the administration of Anga, none had expected such a sweeping social policy to be announced in the same assembly.
Karna raised one hand.
The murmuring slowly died.
"The royal army will be responsible for protecting these institutions. And under no circumstances will parents, village chiefs, vassal lords or any other authority be permitted to prohibit a woman from attending them if she wishes to study."
One of the vassal lords opened his mouth as though to object, then thought better of it.
Karna did not give him the opportunity.
"The fourth matter concerns professions."
His voice remained even.
"Except for those professions that strictly require the knowledge and duties of a Brahmin, every other profession will be open to people of the lower castes as well. If a Shudra is willing and capable of taking up arms, he may join the army. If a Vaishya does not wish to become a merchant and instead possesses the ability to serve as a soldier, he may become a soldier. If a Kummara possesses the skill required to become a charioteer, then he may become a charioteer. If a Kshatriya wishes to become a merchant and possesses the ability to conduct that profession properly, then he may become a merchant."
His eyes moved across the hall.
"There will be no discrimination based upon birth in my administration when it comes to a man's ability to perform his work. Birth may tell you where a man came from. It does not tell you what he is capable of becoming. Ability and talent will matter more."
The hall had become utterly silent again.
This new king's policies were shocking one after another, beyond their expectations...
Karna let the words settle before continuing.
"The fifth matter is simple. Wages must be paid on time."
Several lords looked almost relieved that, at least for a moment, the announcement concerned something less revolutionary.
"Workers are not servants who may be made to wait indefinitely for what they have already earned. If a man has performed his duty, his wages must reach him at the time fixed by law. Deliberately withholding wages will be treated as an offence."
He paused.
"And finally, the last matter."
This time the lords straightened.
Karna looked at all twenty of them.
"Among all the vassal lords who follow these rules strictly, clear themselves of the sins committed under the previous administration, govern their territories well, and demonstrate that they are capable of serving Anga rather than merely ruling over their own lands, one of you will be chosen as the Governor of Anga."
A few faces changed immediately.
Anyone can become a Governor? Even me?
That thought collectively went through the minds of many listeners. Several gulped their saliva.
Karna continued.
"You will have four weeks."
The hall remained silent, but the silence had changed. Fear had been replaced by calculation.
"For the next four weeks, I will observe the administration of your territories. I will see how you treat your people, how efficiently you collect and spend revenue, whether the roads are maintained, whether disputes are resolved fairly, whether the people under your authority receive what the palace sends them, whether your soldiers protect them, and whether you obey the laws I have just announced."
His gaze became firm.
"When I leave for Dakshina Kalinga, the vassal lord who has impressed me the most through his conduct will be appointed Governor of Anga."
He leaned back against the throne.
"Until then, I advise all of you to govern carefully."
No one moved.
Karna's final words were quiet, but they carried through the hall with unmistakable weight.
"Because these four weeks will tell me much more about each of you than anything you could say to me in this court."
For a few moments after Karna finished speaking, the court remained completely silent, and then the expressions of the 20 vassal lords began to change one after another as the meaning of his final announcement settled within their minds.
Until that moment, many of them had regarded the new king with a mixture of apprehension and resentment, for within a single assembly he had announced rules that challenged customs they had accepted for generations, had threatened exile for those who exploited farmers, had opened education to women, had removed birth as the deciding factor in professions, and had made it clear that the authority they had enjoyed within their territories would now be subject to the laws of the royal court.
To men accustomed to ruling their own lands with considerable freedom, it had seemed that Karna was nothing less than an oppressive king who had arrived with the intention of dismantling everything they knew.
Yet then he had offered them something none of them had expected.
The governorship of Anga.
Not merely greater wealth or greater privilege, but the highest administrative position in the entire kingdom, a position that would place one of them directly beneath the Maharaj himself and elevate that man's authority above every other vassal lord in Anga.
Suddenly, the same rules that had appeared threatening began to look different.
Karna had not simply threatened them with punishment.
He had given them a path to earn greater honour through their own conduct, and he had made the reward so significant that even those who disliked his policies could not dismiss the opportunity before them.
The ministers seated beside the throne noticed the transformation spreading through the hall, and they exchanged brief glances before allowing small smiles to appear upon their faces.
They had understood what Karna was doing from the moment he had announced the competition, but seeing the realization dawn upon the vassal lords was another matter entirely.
Their king had neither begged them to obey nor tried to frighten them into submission alone.
He had given them laws, consequences and, at the same time, ambition.
He had turned obedience into competition and competition into an opportunity for service, knowing that men who might resist a command would willingly race one another when a greater position stood at the end of the road.
Somadeva lowered his eyes with a quiet smile, while Harigupta and Lakshmidhara exchanged another knowing glance. They had spent years dealing with officials who obeyed only when threatened, and here was their new king giving those same men a reason to obey willingly.
The twenty lords gradually rose from their seats when the assembly was dismissed, but their minds were no longer occupied with the same thoughts with which they had entered the hall.
Some were already calculating what changes they would have to make in their territories, some were wondering how much of their previous misconduct Karna already knew, and others were beginning to consider how they might distinguish themselves from their fellow vassals during the coming four weeks.
The court had ended, but for many of them, the real contest had already begun.