LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 44. To the land of frozen land (4) First of all, practical work.
“You must have already known because I notified you. I want you to properly accept the residents I brought.”
Most of the slaves I brought were divided into villages and relocated.
They are mainly families of slaves.
There are too many to bring them all to the castle.
Families live in villages and educated guys work here.
that's the intention
For your information, I have already conditionally pardoned the status of a slave.
It was because they were concerned that their loyalty would be shaken if they were discriminated against or treated badly in the village.
And they wanted to live here as residents, not slaves.
Otherwise, true allegiance cannot be obtained.
can't even develop.
“Ha ha ha...
But the village chiefs' expressions weren't very refreshing.
From the point of view of the residents of this place, they are foreigners, and they are from slavery.
It won't be easy to accept.
The wall of identity is really hard and jingling.
“The question is more about receiving…whether others will agree.”
One of the village chiefs carefully conveyed his opinion to me.
There seems to be quite a bit of dissatisfaction.
No, in fact, there must have been quite a voice of dissatisfaction among the residents.
“don't worry. I'm not asking you to just accept it. Every time I receive a villager, I will show that much sincerity.”
I smiled and continued.
“You already know that you have received my sincerity, right?”
The village chiefs twitched their shoulders.
They had already relocated slaves to the village and sent money in the name of settlement money.
With that money, no one will starve to death for the next three years or so.
But if you don't do it according to my will, there is no grace.
this is my warning
“I'll try my best.”
Knowing this, the village chiefs meekly bowed their heads.
The most important thing is to let people know that if they follow me, they can eat warm meals.
They have no choice but to stand on my side more than anyone else and cooperate in spreading my will.
I hold the stomachs of the residents.
Because you know that fact better than anyone.
* * *
After the face-to-face with Arel, the 12 village chiefs were escorted out of the lord's castle by the servants.
“...Are lords like that in the first place?”
The youngest village chief asks in a low voice.
“I haven't even arrived in the village yet, but carelessly...
The oldest who received the question clicked his tongue and said in a low voice that he would like to hear someone.
“Compared to past lords, I might have to say it’s unusual.”
Usually, most of the lords assigned to Pahilia do not have much interest in the territory itself.
Because this place is practically a land of exile for them.
Most of them were lords who spent their free time with their remaining wealth.
Of course, there were cases where he tried to do something like the former lord.
However, the village chiefs do not have good feelings for the former lord.
It's because he only gave unreasonable instructions.
As a result, many residents starved and many were injured while following his orders. Because of that, a new lord came after falling to the ground in distrust.
Surprisingly, he is still a young boy.
I hear you just went through a coming of age ceremony.
Just before convening the village chiefs, the manager came to the village and repeatedly asked them not to be rude.
Everyone was surprised to hear that he was the youngest prince in the royal family.
How long can life be twisted... No, what circumstances did the prince come to be the lord of this place?
In fact, they didn't expect much.
I just hoped that he wasn't an idiot like the previous lord.
“I’m sure it’s not for the average person.”
The eldest village chief muttered so.
The impression of the new lord he met for the first time could be said to be unexpected.
His behavior is playful like a boy in his prime, but there is something definite in his true heart that can be seen in his eyes.
It is the appearance of a person with a clear goal.
“…Are you really okay?”
The young village chief seems worried.
Although Arel expressed his intention to make sure that all the villagers would not starve. In fact, it provides considerable support in the name of settlement funds for new residents.
Undoubtedly, his behavior is different from those of previous lords.
However, there is a possibility that it was a nobleman's whim.
If that's the case, aren't they the ones who are being swayed, after all?
It seems that he is still inexperienced.
“That's... you'll know when the time comes.”
To the anxious young village chief, the eldest man said just that.
“Trust Him now.”
* * *
Next comes the slaves... no, now I'd say the servants who work in our castle.
They have been thoroughly trained during the preparation period of the past year.
And since I've been trained, of course I have to pamper them.
It was mainly made so that you could read the text and do simple calculations.
“From now on, your job is to take care of the paperwork here.”
It's the same thing I ordered the ladies-in-waiting to do in the palace before.
I leave the documents that they can handle to a certain extent to them, and I have no choice but to take care of the important ones.
Like this, I try to play somehow during office hours even here.
“Especially the budget and related paperwork must be handled meticulously.”
I will not tolerate a single gap in the water.
Money never compromises.
That's my secret to sucking honey.
“I will keep that in mind.”
To my request, the servants responded a little nervously.
After all, they will do their job faithfully.
They will give you a decent salary as well.
Above all, he has a family living in the village, so he will work for his wife and children.
Even here, our workplaces aim at black companies disguised as white.
I'll give you the money, but I'll pamper you thoroughly.
Above all, if I hadn't reaped it, I would have been a slave for the rest of my life.
They are deeply grateful to me.
good night.
Work for me with that mindset.
I'll go and take a nap by the fireplace.
Don't worry.
I'll be sure to take care of you when you need it.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
? ? ?
“Hmm? Is that so too?”
I was rolling around on the bed in my room checking the papers the servants had arranged.
Seina is looking down at me with a warm smile while holding me as a lap pillow.
It's an attitude that seems familiar to me.
It's because I've been fooling around like this while escorting the female knights.
I don't want to work, but when the time comes, it's my own trick to try to motivate them while enjoying their touch.
In addition, Asha is strict, but Seina, if I insist on it, will make her fool around to a certain extent below the line.
My age is still a risky period where I am not rejected even if I stick to it like this.
Let's cherish this moment.
“Is this the document that the servants handled a while ago?”
“huh. I need to see you for a while.”
If it's tolerable, I'd just stamp it in moderation, but now I need to look at things while thinking about them a little.
“Is there not such a big change in the population?”
He ordered servants to instruct village chiefs to survey and report the exact village population.
In the documents at the time of the first takeover, it was written that there were about 10,000 people, but when I actually investigated it, there were exactly 9 651 people.
If you include the villagers I brought, you can think of it as about 9,800 people.
“When I think about when I was there, it definitely decreased.”
“Certainly, considering the blank period between the former lord and me, the population actually decreased.”
It is also slowly declining.
Not just a census, but also the number of people born in the past few years, but the results are disastrous.
“Come to think of it, Seina worked here when she was the former lord, right?”
“It is. To be precise, I worked at the border, not at the castle.”
“What kind of guy was he?”
“I haven't seen you that often either...
but can I say this? He seemed to hesitate for a moment, so I urged him to say it was okay.
“He was an aristocrat who was only ahead of his words.
Thanks to that, not only the residents but also the soldiers had a hard time waking up.”
It must have been a really incompetent lord.
Seina smiles bitterly as she speaks, but for some reason there is annoyance in her voice.
“The biggest problem with declining populations is probably because they are poor.”
If we can't eat and live, there's no way the population will grow.
It would be too much for them to stick in their mouths now.
You have to be able to make a living so you can naturally get married and have children.
Well, most of the lords don't even understand such a simple reason.
“With this amount of people, it is possible to maintain it right away.”
Currently, out of the money I've earned from trading, the assets I can roll my way are about 450,000 gold.
Anyway, this place is basically tax free, and if you want to maintain the current status purely, wouldn't it be possible to hold out for about 50 years?
‘Did he send me with that in mind?'
I can't see through the nobles' inner thoughts exactly, one by one, but I can understand the public intentions.
You genuinely intended to let me rot here for almost half my life.
If you have to struggle, you must be drowning in the mud-like economic situation and die.
With the financial situation of an ordinary aristocrat, just maintaining this place would make your head explode.
So the question now is, how do I roll this place?
“Are you going to do farming?”
“It is impossible.”
came to a conclusion at once.
Seina agreed without hesitation.
In the first place, just looking out the window now is a snowstorm.
Common sense makes farming in this kind of weather.
No sane person would encourage them to farm.
“The former lord encouraged farming, but it failed....
That means he is insane.
At least the weather right now is pretty good in winter.
It's warm in the room now, so I don't care much, but it's a harsh climate for ordinary people.
Upon investigation, the ground melted at best in the summer.
Full-scale farming is difficult.
‘No matter how much I think about it, self-sufficiency is the limit.' If you use crops that are quite strong against the cold and house farming methods properly, at least self-sufficient farming will be possible here.
However, it is difficult to generate full-fledged revenue.
Agriculture is almost abandoned.
After that, there is fur, but this one passes. However, the quality of fur here seems to be recognized, but if you want to feed here only with fur, you will have to dry the seeds of this local wildlife.
“In the end, is it trade using special products?”
I need to make something that will sell.
me too? You say difficult things really simply.
If someone heard me talking to myself, they might call me crazy.
“Specialties... Specialties... Specialties...
Fortunately, there are suitable ideas.
All that remains is to create the basis for execution.
how?
Isn't there such a saying in an old saying(?).
Local development is the truth!
So, do you invest in land with confidence?
....is not it?