The wind on the observation deck seemed to have eased, but the sunlight had grown fiercer, scorching the New Capital's smooth flagstone roads and the construction sites being expanded in the distance.
Sakura Haruno felt as though the copy of "Guidance for Citizens" in her hands and the remarks she had just heard about noble breeding and ambitions for longevity were two red-hot coals, burning her until she could neither sit nor stand still. Yet questions wound around her like vines. Looking at Toyotomi Yinglang's air of having everything under control, as though he were playing a grand game of chess spanning a hundred years, she could not help pointing out another detail.
"You divided the nobility into... that many ranks?" She turned to the page in "Guidance for Citizens" about the peerage system, running her finger down the string of titles. "King, grand duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron, lord, knight... isn't that far too detailed?"
Toyotomi Yinglang followed her finger with a glance at the booklet, his tone flat. "Too many? I think it's just right. Not having enough distinctions between ranks is what causes problems."
"Problems?" Sakura Haruno did not understand.
"The problem of having no titles left to grant," Toyotomi Yinglang said succinctly. "Think about it. Suppose I established only three to five ranks-say, king, duke, marquis, earl, and baron. A general renders a great service and ought to be made a marquis, but he's already an earl, and the next step up is duke. Duke is reserved for the very best, or close branches of the imperial family. What do you do? Promote him just one rank to earl, and the reward looks too meager, leaving people disheartened. Jump straight to duke? Then titles seem too freely bestowed, and the rules are broken. Otherwise, you have