Chapter 265: Act 32 – Expansion (13) (Third Update)
But the administration of Grudin’s wealth had once been quite chaotic. On one hand, Brendel gave Antinna, who had basically become his deputy, absolute authority over the disposition of this wealth. Later, he promised Romaine that she could use this wealth to re-plan the commerce and local construction of the Toniger region.
Eventually, even Charles, the three Great Captains, and Master Berun had a certain extent of usage rights to a limited portion of this wealth. When they needed a part of the resources, they didn’t have to go through anyone else.
Initially, Brendel had arranged it this way purely for convenience. In the past, while playing the game, he did serve as a Great Captain for a while, but that was all accomplished with the assistance of the game system. The game would systematically record the deposits and withdrawals from the union warehouse—even assisting in formulating some simple budgets.
But here he lacked that assistance. In fact, only when it came to the pinch did he realize he had little experience managing a territory.
So soon enough, he found his finances in utter disarray, with overlaps in multiple areas that led to quite some conflict. It wasn’t until Little Romain personally approached Antinna and proposed a system where one person was responsible for management and another for record-keeping that the nearly collapsing management system was stabilized.
It was the first semblance of a fiscal system for Brendel.
He glanced at the accounts—though to a large extent, he didn’t quite understand them. Romaine had her own set of record-keeping methods. According to her, this method was taught by her aunt; but according to Charles, those symbols were probably the secret code of the witches. However, Brendel didn’t care. If there was anyone he could rely on besides his summoned beings, it was likely Romaine and Freya.
After a brief glance, Brendel looked up again to see the outside. The arguing voices continued to be constant, having already gone on for quite some time. Among them, Juliette’s voice was the loudest, supported by Crenshia from beside her. Master Berun occasionally interjected a comment, and Antinna spoke the least. It was Medisa who was trying to mediate, her voice hoarse from trying to calm everyone down, though clearly, no one was convinced by the others.
“What are they arguing about?” he asked.
Little Romain immediately shook her head with glee and mimicked Antinna’s voice, dragging it out: “One cannot appreciate the cost of living until one runs a household, Lord—”
Brendel froze, having already guessed the crux of the issue behind the arguments outside.
…
The argument in the yard had already gone on for quite some time—
Antinna frowned as she looked at the few people in front of her. Although this noble maiden was still maintaining basic courtesies on the surface, in her heart, she was already getting quite irritated.
Lord wanted to establish an army of his own, and she, of course, supported that. She also knew that Brendel had given Juliette, Vurn, Husher, and Crenshia a mission—to select some people from among the commoners of Firburh and start building the framework of what would be his future private army.
But the issue wasn’t here.
Firburh had a population of close to fifteen thousand, the autumn harvest was over, and in fact, the city’s grain reserves were barely sufficient to last until the next month of thunder. This meant that it was almost impossible to ensure provisions for these additional mercenaries, who would have to rely on trade.
On the other hand, Toniger was likely to face a large number of wars in the near future, and soldier’s rations in wartime are different from times of peace; they practically require double the amount. Not to mention, they also needed to reserve grain for the spring planting of the next year. Both men and women laborers would require a great deal of food.
Adding up all these grain shortages was quite significant.
Moreover, the穴dwellers living in the forest needed grain as well, and the previous provider, Grudin, didn’t care how many people starved in his lands, but they couldn’t be that indifferent.
Besides, if they intended to further control the entire male fiefdom of Firburh, this grain gap would become even more unimaginable. Antinna already knew that in the year of Flowers and Summer Leaves, crops in the southern part of Erluin had generally suffered from poor harvests.
One reason was the climate, and the other was the invasion of Madara.
Hence buying grain would inevitably face another issue: the war in the south had just finished, and a great war in the north was imminent. The skies of Erluin were currently overcast with dark clouds.
The consequence brought on by the war is that grain was becoming more stable as an equivalent to precious metals, in other words, the price of grain would rise, and it might not be just by a little.
As the largest free trade port in Erluin, the merchants of Ampere Seale would not be unaware of the current situation. These crooked merchants would never slow down their actions because of pity; instead, they would take the opportunity to raise prices.
Therefore, the prospects for purchasing grain were not optimistic.
Antinna had rubbed her forehead numerous times over this matter and still did not come up with a good solution. She did consider the silver mines far away in Schafflund, but in matters of military affairs, as his deputy, she could only make suggestions. If Brendel vetoed this suggestion, then she had to think about the problem based on the resources she possessed.
Besides, she knew that the large army of Min Tai and Parsons were near, and her lord probably wouldn’t have time to go there.
To address this, even the normally self-willed Miss Romain had very obediently delayed her plans.
At this time, however, Juliette came to her seeking arrangements for recruiting the private army, but recruiting soldiers primarily required money; at this time of year, they might have to spend double the usual amount. Additionally, the recruited soldiers also needed food, and if training was required, the grain shortage would be even more significant.
Antinna could barely imagine the consequence.
She had managed to persuade the female mercenary captain to put the recruitment of the private army on hold and wait until the situation within the territory stabilized. It was exactly at this moment that Master Berun arrived, not mentioning anything else but demanding money.
It turned out that Brendel wanted him to quickly establish a workshop, and regardless of whether enchanted armor was being made or not, it would first require a large amount of manpower and resources. Not to mention that Toni Gir does not produce iron, and training blacksmith apprentices would require a substantial sum of money.
As a master craftsman who came from the royal court, Berun never had to consider these external matters, so his first thought was—get it.
Just as this wave had not yet subsided, Crenshia suddenly came from halfway, and of course, he also demanded money. But he was not here for recruitment but for the funds for the mercenaries.
It is a well-known fact that wars cause loss. And at the moment, the mercenary groups under the various mercenary captains within Firbugh were all, so to speak, dependent on Brendel. In name, they were mercenaries, but in reality, they were a kind of special private army.
Without the normal financial resources of mercenaries, the task of compensating for equipment damage naturally fell on Lord Brendan; and considering his own reasons, Brendan tacitly maintained a special employment relationship with these mercenaries. Everyone was on the same boat now, and Crenshia understood that the group was currently short of money, so he did not mention the issue of employment fees again.
But the mercenaries would soon engage in consecutive battles, and replenishing equipment was imminent, so he had to come. To replenish the losses of armor, arrows, and weapons, the first thing mentioned again was money.
The noble miss was almost at her wit’s end. The money in her hands was far from enough. However, before she could come up with a proper solution, the few people started arguing among themselves because a few words did not match.
Various phrases such as “your affairs need to be put on hold” and “my affairs are more important” were flying around. Antinna initially tried to mediate, but as time went on, she couldn’t help but join the fray in anger. In the end, it was Medisa, who was passing by, who rushed over to try to mediate.
Only the red-haired maid who came with the silver elf princess was detached, simply observing from afar, finding their verbal sparring boring.
The argument reached a crucial moment.
Juliette had just listened to Master Berun’s sarcastic remarks — being a long-time member of the royal faction, Master Berun naturally had a sharp tongue and was adept at pungent sarcasm — causing the commander of the female mercenaries to become so furious that she wanted to retort.
But just as she was about to speak, her face changed, and she held her tongue.
“Lord.”
The others were startled and turned around in unison. “Lord!”
Brendan looked at them with a displeased expression and sniffed. “Quite lively, isn’t it?”
Everyone lowered their heads, except for Berun who wasn’t part of the system and maintained an unconcerned demeanor.
However, the old man thought for a moment and still lowered his head respectfully and said, “My Lord, according to your words, we should have the same goals and enemies, I am not here to cause trouble. However, it is common knowledge that war is essentially about financial expenditure. Judging by what I see now, your situation is far from optimistic ——”
After hearing this, Brendel remained silent, of course, he understood this point; although the wealth left by Grudin seemed enormous to an ordinary person, when spread across the entire territory construction, it wasn’t as robust.
For example, building city walls was an expensive drain—
In fact, to ensure that the craftsmen and workers were confident in working for him, Antinna had no choice but to offer double the usual price. This may sound incredible because, realistically, a true noble could use his serfs’ labor force for free in this era.
But Brendel was well aware of the hidden currents within the territory. Before the battle with Count Rendener, probably every resident here doubted how long this lord, who was neither legitimate nor recognized, would last.
Therefore, to calm the people, he had to use this emergency method to tide over the difficult early stages; although Crenshia and Vurn did suggest to him to use forced conscription to obtain labor, this proposal was met with unanimous opposition from Juliette and Antinna.
Moreover, as the acting ‘Minister of Finance,’ Romaine also opposed the plan not out of moral considerations but purely for economic reasons. In the long run, actions that ruined one’s reputation were not beneficial to the development of the territory, especially the commercial development of the territory.
After all, Brendel certainly didn’t want to degrade himself to the likes of Grudin.
However, problems cannot just remain problems; there must be a way to solve them.
…
(PS. I’m not satisfied with it.) (To be continued. To learn what happens next, please login, more chapters are available, support the author, support正版reading!)
