Luisa’s father, Don Pablo, was the royal chief deputy for taxes in Sevilla. He was precisely the one responsible for collecting royal duty in the port. Señor de Leca had personally appointed him to this post. Don Pablo, of course, knew the royal deputy for buildings in Sevilla, who represented the king on the municipal commission for public works and who was responsible for the royal buildings — the prison, Torre del Oro, where the customs duties were collected, the cavalry barracks, and the royal warehouses at the port. He was precisely the one who would also be responsible for the taxation station that would eventually be built near Puerta de Jerez. But this would come about not at his insistence, but at the insistence of Don Pablo, who was responsible for the royal taxes. The curious thing is that the king’s people had chosen exactly the same spot which Dr. Monardes also hoped to acquire — the road simply passed by it. Dr. Monardes spoke with Don Pablo about whether the royal officials wouldn’t agree to move their station elsewhere or simply to make it smaller, such that they could split the parcel, say, in two with Dr. Monardes. Of course, to this end, which seemed the most realistic in both señores’ opinions, the royal officials would first have to receive the land from the municipality, and then to decide that they didn’t need such a large station and to sell part of it to the doctor. That could come about quite cheaply, since they themselves would receive the land free of charge — for the needs of the kingdom. Don Pablo promised to speak seriously with the royal deputy for buildings. That, however, did not solve the problem at all, since, as was said, the land belonged to the municipality and the royal deputy for building had only one vote on the municipal commission for public works, and in the end the decision had to be made by the municipality. But it was still something. Depending on how matters developed, Dr. Monardes and Don Pablo would meet again to discuss what further steps to take. Dr. Monardes also treated the bishop of Sevilla and could speak to him as well, if necessary. Unfortunately, the doctor did not have significant connections in the municipality — the municipal councilors were primarily Dr. Bartholo’s clients. Dr. Monardes had strong ties to royal officials, church leaders, and noblemen, but not to the municipal councilors. Of course, he also treated the powerful merchants such as Espinosa, and Espinosa could have helped, but within the municipality he had exactly as many sworn enemies as he did faithful friends, thus this business couldn’t be resolved with his help alone. Besides, Espinosa wasn’t the kind of person who would help you out just like that, unless he had some personal interest in it, and this business was far too trifling for him to have a personal interest in it.
“Our social system is very complicated, señor,” I said conciliatorily, as the doctor and I walked down the street.
“It’s not the least bit complicated,” Dr. Monardes replied. “Our social system is completely simple. They are all simple. I know history well,” Dr. Monardes continued, “and I’m telling you that only two systems have ever existed in the world, in Aristotle’s sense. . Have you read Aristotle?”
“Yes,” I replied. “To a point.”
“I see,” the doctor said, somehow ambiguously. “Aristotle says that four systems of government exist. Democracy, where the people govern. .”
“What do you mean, the people govern?” I didn’t understand. “Who do they govern?”
“Listen to me now.” The doctor waved his hand, slightly irritated. “One system, he says, is democracy. Another is aristocracy. There, the most worthy govern. It would’ve been better if he’d called it meritocracy, but never mind. He had no way of making use of Latin terms. The third is monarchy, in which the king rules. And the fourth is plutocracy, when the richest rule. I argue,” continued the doctor, who, truth be told, had been developing a certain inclination towards dabbling in politics for years now, “that nothing has ever existed in the world besides monarchy and plutocracy.”
“Here we have a monarchy,” I took the opportunity to note. “Don Felipe is a monarch.”
“Yes. But besides a monarch, he is also a plutocrat,” said the doctor. “Because Don Felipe is a very rich man. That’s precisely the interesting thing. The monarchy exists in a mixed form.”
“But, señor, I wasn’t talking about that at all,” I took the liberty of noting. “I had something entirely different in mind.”
“I know what you had in mind. But that’s not interesting,” the doctor replied. “The monarchy, I would say, is simultaneously a monarchy and a plutocracy. And just look at the aristocrats. They are far from being the worthiest men, yet they really are some of the richest. That, consequently, is the first possibility: a monarchy, a mixed system. But if the monarchy or dictatorship falls, then a pure plutocracy begins. No other system exists in the real world. This, by the way, makes a lot of sense. In the first case, power is obtained through force, through the force of weapons at first. Take Caesar, the first emperor. Some scribblers might tell you that Octavian was the first, but don’t you believe them. Caesar was the first. How did he become emperor? Through force. He obtained it through the force of weapons. That’s how he obtained power, and that’s how he maintained it. After all, who owns the armies? Whom do they belong to? While in the other case,” the doctor continued, placing a fig in his mouth, “power is obtained by the force of money. Where the power of weapons ends, the force of money begins. Marcus Licinius Crassus. Toss this pit. Sometimes you can even buy a whole empire with money. Didius Julianus. And other times with the force of weapons you can steal the richest people’s money and put it in your own pocket. Emperor Maxentius. It is telling, by the way, that both Julianus and Maxentius met bad ends. But that’s it, those two systems. There’s no place for a third under the sun. And whoever combines these two shall stay in power forever and last throughout the ages.”
“Aristotle is a windbag,” I noted confidently. “He loves to think up various things. He’ll take two things and turn them into four, and make himself look very clever that way.”
“That’s more or less how it is,” the doctor agreed.