Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 275 Relief

   After a few days, the city councilors of Gervoudan gathered again.

Most of the    members are old faces, and there are also some new faces.

   Mayor Priskin sat in the front row and closed his eyes. His second son, who was elected as a city councillor a few days ago, was also sitting next to his father.

   As for the purpose of the tribunal calling the city council, the city councilors knew very well - nothing more than to solve the problem of flour.

  The barbarian Hurd has not seen it, and the price increase of flour is not ambiguous. The poor can't even afford batter, but the price of flour continues to soar.

   The poor class is full of complaints, and the wealthy citizens are also a little bit overwhelmed, and the matter has become so serious that it has to be resolved.

   The tribune was not present, and the mayor did not speak. The committee members whispered and whispered:

   "Your mill has been making a lot of money lately, hasn't it?"

   "Hi! Flour is so expensive that it can't be sold. What do you earn?"

   "Alright, alright, stop pretending. You can't sell it at a high price, are you willing to sell it at a low price?"

   "There are so many mills and grain shops in the city, why don't you get along with me?"

   "Look, the blood wolf will come in a while, and he must cut us."

   "It's nothing more than a price limit. If he asks the price limit, then I'll sell it at the limit price."

   The door slammed open, and the city councilors fell silent.

  Under the gazes of everyone, Winters in uniform and saber walked into the chamber with two round, hairy things.

  Father Kaman followed Winters reluctantly.

   "The heads of Teltown people." Winters threw the two heads on the ground casually: "Shovel Harbor had a battle last night and won a small victory."

  The two heads rolled on the ground several times, and finally stopped at Shaosha's feet.

   Shaosha bowed his head and met the empty eyes of the dead man. Obviously there is no smell, but Shaosha smells a sticky stench. He fought back the urge to vomit and tried his best to look away.

  Ciel and Heinrich walked into the venue with a box of **** Heard helmets, armor, and machetes—all requested from Shovel Harbor.

After briefly explaining last night's battle in Shovel Harbor, Winters politely told the city councilors: "There are eighteen more heads, which have been sent to the towns for publicity. If there are any of you who don't believe the barbarians are going to kill you, you can stand Look up close."

   "I have seen it, Your Excellency." Shaosha did not look at his feet as much as possible, and asked eagerly: "This corpse...let's take it."

   "That's good." Winters ordered Shire and Heinrich: "Show the helmets and iron armor to the commissioners, and forget the heads."

   passed the armor and weapons to the city councilors, it didn't take too long.

"These things will be displayed to the public in the Gervodin Square. If you are interested, you can also go to the square to see." Winters motioned his subordinates to put away the spoils: "To call you today, not to show you your heads, but In order to solve the problem of rising flour prices."

   After saying that, Winters patted Father Carman on the shoulder.

  Kaman sighed and walked to the front of the stage to salute the city councilors: "Thanks to the generous donations of the gentlemen on weekdays, the Gervoudan Abbey has been able to distribute porridge to the poor believers. Please accept my worship."

   No one dared to sit again, and the city councilors hurriedly returned their salutes.

  The church is in charge of everyone’s affairs after death, and everyone naturally has a three-point reverence and respect for the clergy.

Father Kaman looked solemn as he preached: "But recently the price of flour and wheat has skyrocketed, and the monastery is no longer able to provide relief to the believers. In the slums, picking leaves and digging grass roots to feed their hunger is a common practice, and even believers are selling their children. On the volcano, with just a little spark, the refugee riots repeat themselves.

  [Treat others as you would like others to treat you]. I also hope that you gentlemen will lend a helping hand during this difficult time. "

  Winters took Kaman's words: "I have drawn up a decree, everyone will take a look and discuss. If there is anything wrong, please bring it up."

   A draft ordinance written on white paper was circulated among the city councilors. The content of the draft is very simple, which is to limit the selling price of flour, wheat, barley and rye.

   There are many millers, grain merchants or those who have equity stakes in grain businesses among the municipal committee members, and all of them are psychologically prepared for the price limit policy. The boots actually fell to the floor, and they were relieved instead.

   "My lord, my eyes are dim and I can't read the text." Old Priskin stood up tremblingly and asked respectfully, "Please allow me to ask, do you want to limit the price?"

   "Sit down, Mr. Priskin." Winters nodded: "Yes, I want to limit the price."

   "No!" Old Priskin suddenly opened his eyes and shouted resolutely: "The price limit is absolutely not allowed!"

   The city councilors in the council hall were terrified.

   "Tell me about it." Winters folded his arms: "Why not?"

  Old Priskin was leaning on crutches and his back was straight: "There are more and more people in the city, and the food in the city is getting less and less, so the price increase is justified!"

   Winters didn't say anything, but Father Kaman couldn't help but say, "Then don't care?"

   "You can limit the price, but the merchant can not sell it! The more you limit the price, the less the merchant will sell. If you can't buy it on the market, the flour will flow into the black market. At that time, the actual grain price will be pushed even higher."

  Father Kaman was speechless.

   "If you want to solve the food price problem, you can only use my method."

"Say."

  Old Priskin spit out a word: "Home raiding!"

   There was an uproar in the council room, and the city councilors were either shocked, suspicious, or angry.

  Old Priskin's words were loud: "The horse's hoof is on the top of the head, and the machete is on the neck. Whoever dares to hoard and speculate is a criminal! They should be fined and confiscated, and their homes will be raided and destroyed!"

   Some city councilors were angry, some were panicking, and some city councilors had left their seats and almost ran away on the spot.

  Winters looked around the lobby, had a panoramic view of everyone's expressions, and suddenly burst into laughter.

  Kaman, Shire, and the city councillors didn't understand why, not even old Priskin.

"Old Mr. Pusriskin, don't mention this method again. If I wanted to kill someone, I would have already done it, and I need to call you to discuss it?" Winters leaned forward and laughed, he pointed to Everyone in the hall: "Look, they all thought that you and I colluded in advance and were acting."

  Old Priskin turned around and looked back, and the other city councilors didn’t dare to look at each other and bowed their heads one after another.

"The old man swears to St. Peter that the matter of today has never been mentioned to the tribune." Old Priskin stared at the other city councillors: "You group of short-sighted idiots. Gervoudan is short of food, but it will never be enough. One malt of rye is bought for one kilogram of silver!"

   Old Priskin became more and more angry the more he spoke, his face flushed as red as blood, and the tip of his beard was trembling: "This year the wheat has been beaten less, the price of grain is high, and the poor have long been unable to afford bread!

   You are good! The barbarians haven't come yet, you dare to raise the price unscrupulously! It really drove the people of Xiacheng to a dead end. Are you, me, and we still alive? No need for a barbarian, Gervodin will soon be in civil unrest..."

  The council hall was silent, only the thunderous roar of the old man could be heard.

   "Okay." Winters motioned old Priskin to stop: "I have other things to do today, and I don't want to waste time. Just mention it if you can."

  Old Priskin bowed deeply to the tribunal: "Please confiscate all the property of the speculators, and the food price problem will be solved naturally!"

   "Not good." Winters waved his hand: "Another way."

   "Then there is only one way left."

"Say."

  Old Priskin gritted his teeth and said, "Please allocate rations to help the poor."

  Charle glared at old Priskin, and the city councilors who had just breathed a sigh of relief tightened their spirits, even Father Kaman was a little surprised.

   Winters was not angry. He asked calmly, "How many days will I have enough rations for me? When the rations run out, what will my soldiers eat?"

   "Please set up a poor house!" Old Priskin pressed his right hand on his chest: "Your army and the city government of Gervoudan will jointly provide food and share the responsibility of helping the poor."

   "Can you represent Gervodin?"

   "I am the mayor of Gervodin, of course I can represent." Old Priskin glanced at the city councilors with eagle-like eyes: "If anyone thinks the old man is not qualified, please stand up now."

   Winters sneered: "I'm willing to pay, will you guys in Revodan pay?"

"Of course I don't want to!" The old Priskin replied openly: "So you can't take it for nothing, but buy it in the form of a loan, and the price is based on previous years. The army will pay one mart, and the city government of Revordan will pay two. The food received from the poor warehouse is regarded as a debt of the Gervoudan municipal government, which will be slowly repaid in the future.”

"If you buy it, you will sell it." Winters rubbed his jaw. "In the current situation, how do you plan to sell? How much grain is released can be bought. The price of flour will still not come down by then. It will be sent out for nothing? How much grain is there? send?"

   "Raising food is only the first step! The key lies in the second step!" Old Priskin bowed deeply again and petitioned aloud: "I, Priskin, please ask the adults to provide relief for work!"

  …

  …

  Charle, carrying the letter sent by Colonel Broad from White Mountain County, crossed the Chapel Bridge in the early winter wind and arrived at the south bank.

   The South Bank, which was originally just woods, wasteland and farmland, has now become a hot construction site.

   There were more than 3,000 men and women working, in addition to more than 1,300 prisoners of Vigne County, more were unemployed and farmers hired from Gervoudan and nearby villages.

  Every 200 people on the construction site are divided into a team, and two captains are designated to be responsible for different sections.

  Men dug trenches and built walls, women passed the soil, and the elderly who couldn’t work were concentrated in charge of cooking.

   There are also several teams responsible for leveling the land and cutting down trees.

  The five teams with the bottom of the progress can only receive half of the food, the other teams can receive full food, and the top three teams even have meat supplies.

   "Team Performance" is a lazy approach, but works well in the short term. Like being slapped by an invisible whip, every team is working hard.

   In addition to "food", there is another reason for people to work hard - "the barbarians are going to be killed".

   Winters' splendid brushwork is not as useful as the twenty **** heads of Teltonians.

   Facing the rotting, stinking, distorted face of the barbarian head, even the most numb, daring, and least disapproving of the new government's order from Tiefeng County truly realized: "The barbarian is really coming."

The influence of    Winters' "First Fifteen Towns" was good and bad.

  The good side: No need for his urging and admonition anymore, the farmers in Tiefeng County, like squirrels in the winter, spontaneously began to dig the ground to store food and property.

  Bad aspects: People with some money in the villages and towns all took their families and mouths to take refuge in Gervoudan. As a result, food and living space in Revodan has become even more scarce.

   So the construction of Nancheng should not only be bigger, but also faster.

When   Ciel found Winters, Winters was talking to Captain Mason, Mayor Priskin old, and Shaosha the blacksmith.

   "The lover forest needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible." Winters instructed Senior Mason: "If you don't cut it, burn it all."

   "I'll arrange someone."

   "Is Lover Lin going to be cut too?" Shao Sha was a little puzzled.

  Lover’s Forest is a sparse grove in the southern suburbs of Gervoudan. It is called the Lover’s Forest because there are always couples meeting in it.

   "The wood is used to build the city, and the branches are used to make the fire." Winters tapped the map lightly: "In short, it can't be left to the Teltown people. Mr. Shaosha, Forge Township must be evacuated immediately."

   "Okay, okay." Shao Sha nodded first, and You quickly asked, "Where to evacuate?"

   Winters showed a smile and nodded his feet: "Just withdraw here and transfer everything that can be removed to the 'South City'."

   "Sir." Old Priskin asked respectfully: "I think the completed city wall seems to be only two meters high?"

   "That's right, two meters high," Winters replied.

   "Isn't it too short?" The old Puss gifted money with a look of embarrassment: "If it is only two meters high, it seems that it can be turned over."

"Shortness has the advantage of being short. The city wall is short, and it will be faster to build it. The city we are going to build is too big. If we build a high wall, the Teltown people will already be killed before we finish it." Winters comforted the old gentleman: " Don't worry, I have a sense."

   Hearing what the tribune of Montagne said, old Priskin said no more.

Winters picked up the graphite strip and drew three small stars on the map, pointed at the small stars, and smiled: "According to my original idea, not only the city wall, but also three star-shaped fortresses should be built outside the city, respectively. Covering the walls on three sides. That's what makes it impregnable."

  Senior Mason nodded in agreement. Old Priskin and Shaosha were confused.

  Winters threw away the graphite bar and sighed: "But we don't have time, so all these are saved. I hope the level of the enemy chief is similar to the last time. In that case... I have a little more confidence."

   "You played against the barbarian chief who came this time?" Shaosha came to the spirit.

   "Fighted."

   "Then..." Shaosha asked hesitantly.

   "I was only a centurion at the time, so I didn't command that battle." Winters laughed and patted Saosha's shoulder: "But that battle - our army won!"

   Shaosha also laughed. Seeing that war is really about to take place, Shaosha really has no bottom in his heart, so he is eager for any good news, even the most trivial.

   "Mr. Priskin." Winters asked casually, "How are the city councillors and grain merchants feeling, satisfied?"

   "Not satisfied." Old Priskin replied respectfully: "But they can still accept the current conditions."

  Old Priskin's strategy of [relief for work] is most brilliant in clarifying property rights.

   The South City under construction is obviously also a part of Gervoudin, so it is reasonable for the city of Gervoudan to invest in this project.

The process of    relief became [Revodan borrowed money to buy grain from the army and grain merchants, and then distributed it as a reward to the unemployed who came to work].

  The army and grain merchants paid for grain in exchange for creditor's rights. As long as the municipal government of Revodan does not go bankrupt, the debt can be repaid slowly.

  The municipality of Gervodin owes a huge debt, but gets a new town. Doesn't seem to be a loss?

  The unemployed poor get food through their work, avoiding the run-on phenomenon that may be caused by free distribution or low-price sales.

   All three parties suffered a little loss, but they also gained something. In a sense, it seems to be a happy ending.

   Winters couldn't help but ask Priskin Sr., "How did you come up with the idea of ​​cash-for-work?"

   "I didn't come up with it." Old Priskin lowered his head slightly and asked with a smile: "My lord, do you know how Gervoudin prospered?"

   "This is the county capital, of course it's prosperous."

   "No." Old Priskin shook his head gently: "It was Gervoudan that prospered first, and then became the county capital. The reason for Gervoudan's prosperity is the Gervoudan Cathedral."

   "Huh?" Winters' curiosity was hooked.

"When there were only a few dozen settlers here, the Catholic Church decided to build a cathedral here as the cathedral of the Bishop of Iron Peak," recalled Priskin Sr.

  The cathedral has been renovated for twelve years, during which craftsmen and merchants gathered here from all directions. By the time the cathedral was completed, Gervoudan had transformed from a humble village to the most prosperous town in Iron Peaks. "

   Winters listened carefully and pondered: "You mean... a long-term, large-scale project that can make a barren place prosper."

   "That's how I feel." Old Priskin stroked his beard: "To tell you the truth, I'm going all the way. In many towns I've seen, their centers are castles or churches.

   The construction of building churches and castles will last for years or even decades, and craftsmen will settle down nearby and merchants will follow. A village can thus become a small town, and a small town can thus become a large and prosperous town. In my opinion, probably so. "

   "It's very interesting." Winters' eyes brightened, he said with a smile: "Your idea is really interesting, let's have a good chat when the Teltown people are driven away."

   Old Priskin readily agreed.

   Seeing that the conversation between several people came to an end, Ciel hurriedly handed the letter to Winters.

   "Letter from Colonel Bode," Charles whispered.

   Winters quietly opened the letter and read it ten lines at a time.

   "How is it?" Senior Mason asked.

   Old Priskin and Saosha didn't know who Colonel Bode was, so they wisely retired.

   Winters stopped old Priskin and Saosha: "You two need not evade, this letter has something to do with both of you."

   Shaosha looked puzzled, while old Priskin listened quietly.

   "The bald colonel of Baishan County agreed." Winters laughed: "Count the goods that haven't been shipped out in time, and Baishan County will exchange grain and salt with us."

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

   [It's been a bit late lately... Redefine noon? After all, at this moment, there is always a place on earth that is noon]

   [After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, "counter-urbanization" began to appear in Europe. That is, the city cannot continue to be maintained, and the urban residents are gradually dispersed. "The urban population begins to flow back to the rural population"]

   [In the Middle Ages, the construction of a church or a castle was sometimes enough for a group of craftsmen to eat for a lifetime, because it took more than ten years or even dozens or hundreds of years]

   [During the construction period, the craftsmen also have to live normally, so there will be some merchants to provide services for the craftsmen. In this way, it gradually gained 'popularity']

   [In addition, the location of castles and churches are also good places, and new towns are often formed because of this. This is a kind of "urbanization" process in the Middle Ages. ]

   [There is a documentary called "How to Build a Castle", which is quite interesting. The "mason" is the general person in charge of the project. He needs to manage the blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, brick-burners, workers of various sizes and so on. ]

   (end of this chapter)