Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

"But there is one more thing you need to do," Orville added, "I will inspect the land and count the cultivated land and population in England. This is something that must be done. From your perspective, is it difficult to do? Will the locals have any objections?"

"Anyway, it's not easy. You need a lot of people. Alfred is an upright and good man, but even he can't make all the Anglo-Saxons obey his orders."

Jeanna has been around England a lot and knows the local situation.

There are historical examples of what Orville did, which is interesting.

After conquering England, the most important thing William the Conqueror did was to investigate the land and population situation across the country. He divided the land of the country into various administrative districts, counted the population, land, pastures, livestock, forests, and mineral deposits in each area, and compiled a series of information that the rulers must know into a book. At that time, the official name was called "Land Tax Survey Book" or "Winchester Book", and later generations and civilians at that time preferred to call it "The Doomsday Book".

This name sounds very religious at first glance, but in fact it is a direct reflection of the complaints of civilians and gentry from all over the country about land surveys. They believe that the records ordered by the king are undeniable, like the Doomsday Judgment, and the investigation records made by the investigators are also like the Doomsday Judgment for them.

Now these German barbarians are definitely not as advanced as the English in the 11th century. Land surveys had such resistance at that time, let alone now.

William was confident enough to do land surveys 20 years after he ascended the throne. Orville has been the actual ruler of England for only a few months. His unstable foundation is not suitable for doing these things in a big way, but he can't wait.

William's lifelong goal is basically in the British Isles and the Duchy of Normandy. Orville has a broader vision. His goal is not limited to this small piece of land. It is impossible to spend decades to get along with a poor province, so he can only cut the Gordian knot.

"I know this matter very well, so I may need your help. I need a group of investigators who can count and statistic. These people should be found in Gaul."

Orville does have such people under his command, but the number is not enough, and they all work in his hotel system, so they can't get away for a while.

Jeanne did not refuse: "I'm afraid you have to ask Gilles. He is a noble and should know about these things.

But his temper is indeed... I will help you solve this matter."

"That's good." Orville nodded slightly to Jeanne, feeling a little helpless.

He directly commanded nearly 20,000 soldiers, and the one he disliked the most among them was Gilles. Not only because he was a murderer obsessed with alchemy in history, but also because his current personality was indeed unpleasant.

The previous article mentioned his family defects. At least in him, family factors have obviously shaped his personality - he is withdrawn, strict, weird and lives in seclusion, and most importantly, he doesn't seem to take Orville seriously.

Orville has always had a lot of things to deal with, and he has no time to get mad at this Gaul general. He seems to be similar to history. He listens to Jeanne's advice, and has basic political thinking. Personal likes and dislikes do not affect decision-making and work.

He was dedicated in the war, so Orville never corrected his idea. Now he needed to cooperate with him more deeply, so it was better to ask Jeanna to go through the process again, otherwise he would not have time to waste time with him.

…………

After a while, Orville received a letter from Egypt, which was sent by Cleopatra.

The name "Cleopatra" was more or less a bit imaginative, but as far as Orville and Cleopatra were concerned, she was still a very serious partner. The content of the letter was mainly to report the operation of the arsenal, and the rules and regulations were clearly listed. It was obvious that Cleopatra had carefully sorted it out, which was clearer than many of Orville's own financial statements.

It may not have much to do with her own management ability. The Ptolemy royal family has always been the sponsor and nominal ruler of the Library of Alexandria. It is one of the academic centers in the Mediterranean world, with a large number of intellectuals and professionals. It is easy to find a few people who are good at accounting and a little loyal.

There were no accidents in the arsenal. Architas II had been paying attention to it and had solved problems such as craftsmen, labor and raw materials. They did not sell it to the outside world. The finished equipment was stored in the warehouses of various companies. Now they have produced a full set of equipment for two to three thousand people. It is not a particularly large arsenal in the empire, but it is not small.

Orville's part was not shipped to Rome or Britain, but was directly stored locally. Cleopatra wrote to him to consult, wanting to buy these weapons and equipment at market prices.

Orville had no objection. Anyway, he was also planning to build a new arsenal in Britain. The logistics of Palfi's things were too slow to transport them here, so it was better to do a favor and give them to Cleopatra. However, in addition to money, he also made other requests-he wanted to borrow some intellectuals from Cleopatra, those who could speak German, calculate accounts, draw pictures, treat diseases or fight wars, in short, as long as they were of practical value, they would not be rejected.

The other party would definitely not refuse, but it was still unknown how many people could be sent over. Orville had hopes, but he knew that he could not rely too much on the Egyptians.

So far, the cooperation model between the three parties has basically taken shape: the Roman Orville provided political asylum, and the Romans did not like to trouble the prince; the Parvi king Herod Architas II provided the venue and manpower; the nominal ruler of Egypt Cleopatra VII provided money and some technical talents. The three actually formed a kind of alliance based on common interests and personal relationships.

The governor of Egypt, the Roman emperor and some related personnel knew these things more or less. Fortunately, Orville's identity was subtle, so he was not troubled. If it were another ordinary general, he would have been suspected of rebellion by checking the water meter.

Although Orville was also more or less suspected by the emperor, he was a family member after all, and the problem was solved at the family level. It was not a very serious matter, because Vespa knew Orville inside and out.

This kind of cooperation is beneficial to all three parties, but now it is unknown how long it can last. Cleopatra may be confused about her future, but Orville knows her future experience - at most in five or eight years, when her brother also has a desire for power, he will team up with the eunuch Berdinos who controls the government to force Cleopatra away. At that time, this kind of cooperation will be difficult to maintain, and Orville will have to make a final statement and choose whether to support Cleopatra to regain the throne.