King

The little tricks are not popular and have no real effect, but they can disgust people. Had it not been for his self-cultivation, Hudson would have wanted to expel people directly.

Especially hearing the word "loan" almost choked Hudson to death. There are still a lot of bad debts out there that cannot be recovered. If we continue to add new debts, the Mountain Territory will be dragged down.

If it weren't for the misappropriation of swamp project development funds, the mountainous territory's finances would have gone bankrupt long ago. The misappropriated funds must eventually be returned.

At the very least, it cannot affect the development of the swamp project. Otherwise, if Bear Stearns discovered the problem, his credibility would be ruined.

You must never do anything like fishing while draining the lake.

There is no borrowing money, and there is no borrowing materials. Including the wages of hired labor, they are all paid for with iron products that have not yet been smelted.

Not only did these have to be paid for with iron products, but even the supplies collected from a group of nobles, Hudson was prepared to withhold part of them for his own use, and then use the iron products to fill the holes.

Despite how much these nobles cry about poverty, they actually still have some wealth. It may not be able to bear the pressure of providing money and food for a long time, but it will definitely not go bankrupt in a short time.

Everyone knows the simple truth of hoarding food in troubled times. If you don't force it, you will never know how much these nobles really have.

This is not the first time this has happened to raise money and food for the front line. Over the past few hundred years, similar incidents have occurred dozens of times.

Experienced nobles will save a sum of money and grain every year as emergency funds. These are family heritage. As long as there are no prodigal sons in the family, the accumulation of ancestors will be enough to tide over the difficulties.

Except for those families that suffered heavy losses in the Skull and Bones rebellion, other local nobles can seek help from their families.

Increasing training time is even more nonsense. Military training is very physically demanding, and it is impossible to meet the demand without eating meat.

If they changed it to one exercise every three days according to Sith's suggestion, the food expenses would almost consume their wages. Then wouldn't the noble men's work be in vain?

It was unanimously rejected by everyone without the need for Hudson to speak. One exercise every ten days is enough to ensure basic training. On weekdays, only a small number of soldiers need to be trained.

It has really reached the point where all the people are being recruited, and the Alpha Kingdom is at the end of its rope. Sending a large number of serf soldiers to the battlefield is just to delay time.

The discordant episode had no impact on the final outcome of the meeting.

For many Wright County nobles, renting out labor force during the off-season can not only reduce the territory’s food consumption, but also earn a sum of money to make up for the territory’s financial deficit.

Why refuse a good thing that kills two birds with one stone? As for whether Hudson makes more, that's not for little people like them to worry about.

No one would foolishly choose to offend their boss at this time. If we don't deal with the relationship now, it will be too late to cry on the battlefield.

…

It is difficult to keep secrets among nobles, and the incident that happened in Wright County spread quickly. It became a topic of conversation for everyone after dinner.

The nobles in other areas didn't care. This was the first time they had collected money and food. Everyone's pockets could fully bear it, so there wasn't much pressure for the time being.

The nobles of Wyton County are different. As the unlucky two-county team, we were all harmed by the Skull and Bones Society, suffered from internal strife, and suffered from the locust plague, and now we are licking our wounds together to raise money and food for the front line.

The nobles of Wright County could not bear the pressure, and the situation in Wyton County was not much different. Seeing Hudson helping the younger brothers solve problems, everyone was jealous.

Soon the pressure was transferred to Viscount Caillaux. Nobles kept coming to complain about their poverty and asked him, the boss, to find a way to solve the problem.

"Uncle Fu, how did the county guards from various places solve this situation in the past?"

Viscount Caillaux asked with concern.

Don’t panic when encountering problems. It’s not too late to learn from previous experience and then make a decision slowly.

In the past few hundred years, basically all accidents that can happen have happened. The successful response plans of previous generations are the best reference.

"Master, special situations like this in Wyton County have rarely happened in the past. It is really rare for natural and man-made disasters to happen all at once.

Most of the time, even if there is a rebellion, the losses in the county will not be too great. It was the first time since the establishment of the Southeast Province that the rebels occupied the two counties.

In the early stage of raising supplies, the noble lords below can support it. Only in the later stages will there be a lack of financial resources, and the county magistrate's office will need to lend them some money for emergencies.

The most serious year was when floods broke out during the war. Counties in the southeastern provinces suffered heavy losses and were unable to shoulder the important task of raising supplies for the kingdom.

Finally, as a last resort, the family led the nobles from all over the country to purchase a batch of supplies from overseas to complete the kingdom's mission.

Like now, before a full-scale war breaks out, there will be financial problems for the nobles. Usually it only appears in nobles who have fallen into disgrace in their family status, and everyone usually just lets it go. "

The old housekeeper said proudly.

That decisive emergency response made the Dalton family shine. To this day, everyone talks about it.

After suffering a loss, everyone developed a good habit of storing food. The Dalton family, in particular, has established its own emergency supplies storage warehouse, which is basically full during normal times.

Everyone is preparing in advance, and those who do not prepare in advance, or are not well prepared, will naturally become the target of being excluded and criticized.

Whose family has a prodigal son? He only cares about enjoying himself on weekdays and does not know how to accumulate wealth in advance. It is only natural to let it fend for itself.

But not now, this time the situation is special. We are not in trouble because we are prodigal.

Natural and man-made disasters came together, and the little nobles' families were not strong enough to withstand such troubles. The lack of money and food makes sense.

In the world of aristocrats, in addition to the naked cruel reality, there is also a need for humaneness.

What's more, there are neighbors next door who are actively handling and comparing. If they were left completely alone, the younger guys who couldn't bear the pressure might just jump ship and join Hudson.

Viscount Sith was a foreigner, so it was okay for him to be ignored. If he, a local snake, was ignored, the faces of the Dalton family would be dragged to the ground and rubbed.

It was precisely because he was concerned about the reaction of the Dalton family that Hudson's tentacles stayed in Wright County and did not extend his claws to Wyton County.

If he can't stabilize his base and his younger brothers take the initiative to join him, that's another way of saying it.

"Uncle Fu, send a message to the family and borrow a few people who can train soldiers. Notify the nobles in the county and ask them to organize young men to come over for training.

If the nobles participating in the training cannot complete the tasks set by the kingdom, the county governor can lend them money and food, and the interest will be charged at a nominal 10% per year. "

Viscount Caillaux said calmly.

In Aslant, a loan with an annual interest rate of 10% is charity. Especially in this war period full of uncertainty, it is the conscience of the nobles.

In order for everyone to send young men over for unified training, Viscount Caillaux also spent a lot of money.

They are all rolled out. Cayo, who didn't want to be left behind Hudson and wanted to make achievements, had to win over the nobles in the county.

It's not enough to just pull people over. On the battlefield, what everyone is fighting for is no longer political means, but the results achieved with one knife and one shot.

Caillot was self-aware and knew very well that when it came to using troops to fight, he would not be Hudson's opponent.

If you can't fight with troops, it doesn't mean you can't win the war. After all, war is all about strength. As long as a war-worthy soldier is trained, the situation becomes completely different.

The Dalton family, which owns the port and controls the sea lanes of the southeastern province and neighboring countries, will not be short of supplies.

For the Dalton family, helping the nobles in the county to advance supplies is nothing more than a matter of making two extra trips for the fleet. These investments will have to be returned anyway, and they will not be wasted directly.

In exchange for a combat-ready soldier who can go to the battlefield to win military honors for himself, Kayo feels that there is no loss at all.

This is also a conspiracy. Maybe other counties can learn from it, but Wright County cannot follow it.

Without investing its labor force in developing the territory and desperately expanding its steel production capacity, Hudson would not be able to complete even the tasks assigned by the Kingdom.

It is far easier to achieve results by bringing a well-trained army to the battlefield than by bringing a ragtag army.

"Master, all the young men in the county are gathered here. Even if the food and grass are shared among everyone, the training ground required is quite large.

There are a lot of undeveloped hills in the mountain territory. Apart from a few trees, they are just shrubs and weeds. Naturally, it would not hurt if they were used as a training ground.

Luoye Town is full of cultivated land. If a large area is set aside as a training ground, it will inevitably affect the territory's food production. "

The old housekeeper reminded carefully.

Although Wyton County is slightly smaller than Wright County, the number of young men owned by the nobles is not a small number.

The training ground for tens of thousands of people cannot be accommodated by the small military camp in Luoye Town, and it will inevitably occupy a lot of farmland.

"Understood, follow my instructions. It's just a temporary occupation of some farmland. Compared with the possible gains on the battlefield, it is nothing at all."

Viscount Caillaux said without changing his expression.

Once he makes a decision, he won't regret it. Having a capable soldier will not only increase his survival rate on the battlefield, but also greatly improve his status in the military in the future.

If they cooperate well with the family, maybe the Dalton family can take another small step forward this time.

Although in essence, Gong, Hou and Bo are all princes of the same party, and their powers are almost the same.

A powerful fiefdom count has even more say than some declining princes. But in terms of title, he is still a little short.

Viscount Caillot doesn't care about the minor issue of title. But he is still very interested in strengthening the family's strength.

Sufficient military merit + strong strength, and if you happen to catch a good time for a big reshuffle, it will be a good opportunity to take a step forward no matter how you look at it.

…

It was not just Viscount Caillaux who was rolled up like crazy. The counties in the southeastern province, or the nobles in the kingdom who can participate in the game, are desperately expanding their military force.

Of course, only a few young optimists want to seize the fruits of post-war victory. Older nobles don't have so many illusions, and increasing military strength is purely for self-protection.

If they win the war against the orcs, everyone will have a future; if they lose this battle for national destiny, the fate that awaits them is the destruction of their country and their family.

The more important a person is, the more he understands how powerful the Orc Empire is. Confidence in this war has become increasingly insufficient.

If it weren't for the fact that they had no choice, I guess no major force in the Alpha Kingdom would want to fight to the death with the orc army.

Seeing the neighbors detonating troops one after another, Hudson's heart slowly dropped.

You are not afraid of the enemy being strong, but you are afraid of bringing down your teammates.

Now his teammates are actively preparing for the war and have not slacked off just because the call-up order has not yet come to them. This is definitely a good thing for the Alpha Kingdom.

They are all grasshoppers on the same rope. The more powerful the teammates are, the greater the probability that the kingdom will win this war. Even if it really cannot win, it can delay time.

Instead of blindly joining the crazy wave of military training, the Mountain Territory is still operating in an orderly manner. Hudson is not afraid of being criticized for his inaction, and increasing military production capacity is also contributing to the kingdom.

Set a small goal first: increase the territory's raw iron production capacity to 500 tons/month within three months, and increase the production capacity to 1,000 tons/month within half a year.

Although it is not even close to the level of a small workshop and iron factory in the previous life, this number is already one of the best in the Aslant continent.

Even in many small countries, all the steel production capacity combined cannot reach this figure.

"Tom, it is up to you to arrange the mine production issues yourself.

These employees can be arranged for mining or later forging, but the most critical smelting link can only be controlled by our people.

The smelting plant must be strictly guarded and all outsiders are prohibited from approaching. If you find a suspicious person, arrest him first. "

It was only a matter of time that he concealed it. Hudson didn't want his blast furnace ironmaking technology to spread all over the world so quickly.

In the traditional smelting model, one furnace can produce 180 pounds of iron, and those who can produce two to three hundred pounds are master craftsmen.

But the largest blast furnace in the Mountain Territory can produce more than a ton of iron per furnace.

Not only is the production capacity high, but the quality of the raw iron produced is also better.

Although it is not as good as the legendary magic iron-smelting furnace, the production costs of the two are not at the same level. One uses magic crystal as energy, and the other uses charcoal and coal. There is no comparison at all.

In contrast, other secrets in the territory, even if they were placed in front of the serfs, would probably not attract their attention.

For example: Swamp brand fertilizer is no longer used during the busy farming season. Instead, it is spread into the ground in the name of increasing the soil thickness of newly reclaimed wasteland.

They are all in the same county, which is equivalent to working at home. During the busy farming season, everyone had to go back to their homes. They didn't have the opportunity to have detailed contact with the agricultural production in the mountainous areas.

In normal times, work was done in designated areas, and it was difficult for foreign serfs and local serfs to have close contact.

I bumped into him occasionally, but no one was familiar with it. Say hello, even if it is warm, I am afraid I won’t say a word more.

"Master, the production in the mining area is easy to arrange. The biggest trouble in the territory now is the rapid increase in food consumption.

Tens of thousands of mouths were added at once. We originally had a relatively rich food reserve, but now we may be able to barely sustain it until spring food is put into storage.

According to the original plan, the food produced in the territory from next year will be able to meet 80% of consumption, and only a small amount is needed to fill the hole.

Now the situation has changed, and the food gap has increased instead of falling. In normal times, that's all. As long as you have money, you can always buy it.

At times like this, unless you personally come forward, we may not be able to purchase enough food even if we can offer a high price. "