A rare sunny day in late winter, the scorching sun completely melted the thin layer of snow covering the valley. There was peace and quiet in the wooden fort, and there were no soldiers fighting in the noisy training ground in the past.
The wooden castle has a single courtyard, the hut has a long table, and the first military and civil affairs meeting after the valley became the knight's territory started with everyone's serious and slightly excited expression.
As usual, the military commanders and civil affairs administrators sat on the left and right sides of the long table, but this time there were some slight changes in the seating order and the participants - on the left side of the long table were Odo, Angus, Ron, Bass, Kazak, Tuba, Simon, and on the right side were Cooper, Salter, Scott, Lynn, Bud, and Thomas.
The army commander has not changed much, except for the addition of an army adjutant, Angus.
On the civil affairs side, Salter has achieved a position second only to Cooper in the civil affairs of the valley due to his extraordinary performance in the caravan. Lawrence should have been ranked before Scott, but he was allowed to miss the meeting because he was still recovering from his injury. Bud recently mainly assisted Cooper in leading the craftsmen to be responsible for construction matters and attended the meeting. Thomas has officially joined the Valley Wood Castle. He is proficient in medical skills, so he also attended the meeting.
Before the meeting, Art had already discussed with several major military and civil affairs officers and reached a basic consensus. Now this meeting is mainly to finalize the future development direction and military-civilian structure of the Valley Knights.
Today, Art rarely wore a baron's cotton robe captured from Biltenburg, a cowhide belt, and a pair of comfortable deerskin soft boots. He sat on the leather armchair at the head of the long table, holding a charcoal stick in his hand and several pieces of dried birch bark in front of him. He looked around at the military officers and valley stewards around the long table, cleared his throat and said to everyone : "Everyone, this is not the first time you have participated in such a meeting, but today's meeting is different from the past, because now we are discussing how to build a better Valley Knights as the owners of this valley. Everything we discuss today is related to the future of this land and the future of everyone here, so everyone should think more and talk more."
"Now, Cooper, the steward of the valley, will tell you about the current situation of the Valley Knights." Art turned his eyes to Cooper.
Old housekeeper Cooper found the oldest one from a thick pile of birch bark on the table, raised it up and said to everyone: "Everyone, what I have in front of me is the registration documents of people, money, materials, and land in this valley in the past two years. "Two years ago, the total inventory of people, property, and property in the entire valley was only half a birch bark. At that time, we only had a few broken thatched huts, a piece of wasteland in the forest, and a few fort residents. The food in the warehouse was not enough for us."
As he spoke, Cooper pulled out another piece of birch bark, pointed to the dense text on it, and said: "This piece of birch bark records the documents left behind when we checked the personnel, land, money and materials after the master returned from serving as the southern border patrol officer of the palace. At that time, we had a total of forty-three people, two acres of land, more than a thousand pounds of grain, more than 20 sets of farm tools and equipment, and one mule and horse. It was also from that time that the master continued to recruit fort residents. Entering the valley to reclaim wasteland..."
"Gradually, there are more and more fortresses, money, materials, and land in our valley. When I took Neil to organize the people, land and materials in the valley some time ago, I already used two full pieces of parchment and five pieces of birch bark." Cooper took out the top thick pile of parchment paper and birch bark, and there was an uncontrollable excitement and pride in his words.
“I was the first person to follow the master, and I was also a witness to the transformation of this valley from a wasteland to a fertile land. From wasteland to fertile land, it only took us less than two years under the leadership of the master. Having said that, I just want to tell you that this valley belongs to the master. It belongs to all of us. Our destiny is closely tied to the master and this valley. As the valley becomes more prosperous, you will also be honored..." As a man with rich experience and ability, Cooper's words are beyond the reach of ordinary civilians.
As expected, the emotions of everyone in the room were aroused by Cooper's words. Even Art was not aware of being slightly excited by Cooper's words.
After Cooper waited for everyone to calm down, he picked up a piece of parchment and said: "I will briefly talk about the current situation in the valley now."
"As for the residents of the fort, in addition to army officers and soldiers and caravan members, several new groups of people have gradually entered the valley. Currently, there are 45 farmers' households with 126 people, including 97 young men and women; 10 craftsmen's households with 25 people (including families), including three blacksmiths, three carpenters, one leatherworker, and three other craftsmen. Two of the craftsmen's households are Swabian craftsmen, and the others Most of them are craftsmen from Swabia. They have not yet fully adapted to the valley, but they have begun to carry out craftsmanship under the leadership of Bud and me. Eighteen prisoners of war are temporarily under the supervision of the fort guard team. In addition, there are two doctors, Thomas and the Persian woman Farnaz. The thirteen orphans brought back by the caravan are temporarily taken care of by me and Neil. As for Father Hamish, he He is an apostle of the Lord, and we do not count him as a fortress. After the church is built, the wooden castle will provide him with money and food every month. There are a total of 184 fortresses in the entire Valley Knights. Except for the first group of fortresses who are assigned fields to harvest food, we have more than a hundred mouths waiting for the food supply of the wooden castle. Not counting the military consumption, the fort residents alone need more than 4,000 pounds of food every month. The grain returned by farmers after the autumn harvest, the grain seized by the army, and the grain we purchased on our own add up to more than 38,000 pounds. This grain can only barely support the consumption of the valley fort residents. If we add the army's supply, it will be difficult to support the autumn harvest. Therefore, we must either purchase a large amount of grain from outside or stop recruiting fort residents. This needs to be decided by the master."
"In terms of money, due to the huge consumption of money, food, weapons, equipment and military pay during the army's expedition, and the fact that we have successively purchased a large amount of food in the past six months, the original money in the wooden castle has basically been used up. However, fortunately, the army's harvest from the expedition was very impressive. Not to mention supplies for the time being, the money alone was nearly 70,000 pfennigs. Including what we earned with the army caravan, our money was about 100,000. "Finney, this money is enough to meet the expenses of the valley for five years. Of course, most of the money will be gradually allocated to the army, so it cannot be completely used for the expenses of the valley..." Regarding the money issue, Cooper originally intended not to disclose it to others, because money is the foundation, and it is best for Art to take control of it himself. However, Art believes that it can be announced to the core members for the time being, so that everyone knows that they will not panic if they have money and food.
"In terms of materials. First, the houses. The valley wooden castle has eight houses, two workshops, two barns, one arsenal, one kitchen, and two stables and stables. There are two large wooden houses in the valley, 15 self-built shacks by farmers, one barn, one animal shed, and one tool room. A small church will be built soon on the wooden castle side, and Father Hamish will be stationed in the church to pastor the Holy Lord. This valley. Second, there are horse-drawn carriages and equipment. There are three two-wheeled wooden carts, sixty-two sets of various farm tools, twenty-five sets of iron pots and cooking utensils, and thirty-one tools of various kinds. Third, there are nine cattle, four horses, five mules, two donkeys, six pigs, twelve sheep, and more than twenty chickens and geese in the wooden castle and the valley."
“In terms of land, the 120 acres of land that were previously reclaimed have been harvested once, and part of it has been planted with winter wheat. Another 240 acres have been recently reclaimed, and a small part has been replanted with winter wheat. The newly reclaimed land will all be given to the fort residents before spring plowing, and the specific distribution matters need to be discussed separately. What needs special explanation is the land that was reclaimed in the early stage. Nearly 70,000 pounds of grain were harvested from 120 acres of land last fall. In addition to the grain seeds returned to Mubao and the wheat seeds kept by farmers for spring farming, farmers still have 40,000 pounds of surplus grain in their hands. After the autumn grain harvest, we purchased some surplus grain from farmers. However, considering the possible expansion of planting this year, we did not purchase a large amount of surplus grain from farmers. "
"This is the brief current situation of the Valley."
Cooper briefly talked about the current situation of the Valley Knights in one breath, and handed the document to Art.
Yate took the brochure and glanced at it, and said to the civil affairs people on the right: "I will talk about it one by one. The first is the issue of fort residents. At present, we have nearly two hundred fort residents. This number is enough. We can temporarily stop the recruitment of fort residents. Let's make good use of the people we already have. I won't say much about farmers farming. You have been doing a good job. On the issue of craftsmen, you must build craftsmen's workshops, and we will There are a lot of craftsmen now, and they cannot stay in the valley to make a living. The army needs craftsmen's workshops to forge and repair weapons and armor, and they need to contribute to building houses in the valley and making farm tools and tools. If the materials for the workshops are not enough, the caravans will buy them from outside. Their food and accommodation will be provided by the valley, and they will be paid in the future. I will also send people to manage the captives brought back from the battlefield. They can participate in all the heavy work in the valley, whether it is reclaiming wasteland, building houses, building forts, or expanding roads. Prisoners of war captured by the army will be treated accordingly in the future. If there are outstanding ones, they can be restored to civilian status and given land or join the army. I have special arrangements for the dozen or so recruited orphans. I will build a house next to the wooden castle church as a parish school. It is said to be a school for orphans established by Father Hamish. The school is taught by Cooper, Guy (a rescued small businessman), Neil (a rescued small businessman), Thomas, Farnaz (a Persian woman) and army officers. Father Hamish will also teach them theology. If there are suitable boys from the families of army officers and soldiers who are willing to be sent to the school, they can also be admitted. The cost of the school will be provided by the wooden castle. "
"Second, in terms of money, our money is currently mainly used to purchase food, pay military salaries, and pay administrative staff. But in the future, the army will need money in many places. The money in the valley is temporarily managed by Cooper, but priority will be given to military expenses."
It’s a matter of supplies, which are the public property of the wooden castle. In addition to leaving important livestock, large farm tools and tools, small items such as cooking utensils, wooden utensils, simple farm tools, etc. can be sold or rented to the fort residents. If the food supplies of the fort residents are not enough, the caravan can also buy them from outside.”
"Fourth is the land issue. Cooper will lead you and the stewards to discuss the details, and report to me when major issues arise. I have only determined one general direction for the land issue, which is to expand the land and grow food. The fief granted to me by the palace is 3,000 acres. Within ten years, I will not have to pay heavy taxes, and there will be no tax burden. These 3,000 acres of fertile "wasteland" alone are enough to feed more than 500 fortress residents, of course, this does not include supporting the army.
Cooper scribbled down Art’s words with a charcoal stick.
"The situation of the Valley Knights will be introduced here for the time being. Salt will talk about the caravan." Art turned to Salt, the caravan manager.
"Okay, my lord, let me tell you briefly about the caravan. The caravan has thirteen carriages, seventeen pack mules and pack horses. Among them, there are four double carriages with a load of 1,600 pounds, six single carriages with a load of 1,000 pounds, and the other three are There is a mule cart carrying 800 pounds, and there are seven or eight carriages in the wooden castle, but we don’t have enough packhorses to pull the cart, and there is no need to use so many carriages for the time being; there are five caravan guards (three died in the battle) and six coachmen, including Lauren and me. There were four caravan officials including Si. After leaving Tarburg, we no longer engaged in southern goods trading. We mainly helped Baron Galvin of Sapp to transport goods to various places in the north and south to earn commissions. We ourselves also made money by purchasing some groceries from various places in the north and south. At present, excluding the caravan's own consumption, there is a monthly surplus of five thousand to eight thousand pfennigs. The caravan's accounts are recorded by me and two officials, and Lawrence is responsible for supervising them. Every time I return to the valley, I will give the accounts to the old steward for verification. "
"The current situation of the caravan is like this. If we only rely on selling groceries sporadically or acting as a cargo caravan, it will be difficult for us to make higher profits. Sir, we still have to find a way to join the southern goods trade!" Salt has always been concerned about the southern goods trade.
"The matter of the caravan's southern goods trade will be handled by me personally after I have settled down the valley and the army. You should keep the operation going for the time being. The caravan guards will be increased to fifteen people, and all the guards will also serve as coachmen. I will send a few soldiers from the army into the caravan, and you will recruit two more handymen and horse herders." Art has already discussed the caravan with Salt, and now let him briefly talk about the caravan's situation just to let everyone in the room know.
"Scott, you don't need to talk about the things in the Valley. Just talk about the situation of the Valley Fort Guards." Art turned his eyes to Scott.
Scott knew that Art would ask about this matter. He was obviously prepared in advance and did not stutter when he spoke, "Okay, sir, the fort defense team has deployed personnel to the army and caravans several times, and then successively recruited young fort residents. Join the fort defense team. Currently, there are eleven people in the fort defense team. Lawrence is the captain, and Linn and I are the deputy captains. Two retired soldiers from the patrol team have joined the fort defense team, and the rest are ordinary fort residents who serve as peasant soldiers in the fort defense team in their spare time. Except for our three captains and two retired soldiers who were paid with food from the castle, the rest of the peasant soldiers only received food when they were training and participating in the mission of the castle. The main responsibility of the fort guard team is to be responsible for the security of the valley when the army was out. The valley was not threatened by foreign enemies during the army's expedition last year. Only a month and a half ago we asked the old housekeeper to imprison a guy who stole things in the valley. Now that guy is still working with prisoners of war to reclaim wasteland. "
The fort defense team is more like farmers, and Scott doesn’t have much to report.
"Well, okay, after this meeting, I plan to rename the Fort Guards to the Valley Guards. There will also be some changes in the responsibilities of the original Fort Guards, which I will talk about in a moment."
After Ate basically sorted out several important things in the valley, he began to make the most important arrangement - dividing the civil affairs responsibilities and appointing civil affairs officials at all levels.
Att sat up straight, took out a piece of parchment written with a quill pen from the table, and said to everyone in the room: "Everyone, with the joint efforts of all of us, the Valley Knights have more and more people, more and more supplies, and the land is getting wider and wider. In the past, we only needed one or two people to take the lead, and everyone just followed suit, but now the situation is different. There are more than a hundred of us. There are farmers and women, a dozen craftsmen, dozens of prisoners of war, and various chores such as the construction of wooden castle villages and camps. Therefore, in order for the Valley Knights to develop better, it is necessary for us to appoint a group of stewards and clarify their respective responsibilities. In the future, I will reward the stewards if they do well in that matter, and I will punish the stewards if they do not do well in that matter. "
The hearts of the people on the right side of the wooden table began to pound. Some of them already knew their arrangements, and some were not yet clear about the positions they were about to take. Their positions were not appointed by the palace or the county, but in this valley, the "official positions" appointed by Lord Art were "official positions" recognized by law.
"Now, I will announce several positions and management matters that will be established by the Valley Knights." Art paused deliberately, and several people on the civil side sat up slightly.
"Establish a civil affairs officer in the Valley Knights Territory, responsible for overseeing all civil affairs matters in the valley territory."
"Establish a trade steward and two deputy stewards to be responsible for caravan trade and daily management. The two deputy stewards also serve as caravan account clerks and caravan guard captains respectively. "
"Establish a valley construction manager, a deputy manager, and a tax collector, who are responsible for the cultivated land and land taxation in the valley. The village manager is also the captain of the valley guard, and the deputy manager is the deputy captain." , buildings, camps, road construction, castle construction and other matters. "
"Establish a valley craftsman as steward and two deputy stewards, and the construction steward concurrently serves as one of the craftsmen as deputy stewards. One official who can speak Swabian is responsible for the craftsmen and craftsmen in the territory. He is responsible for casting and repairing weapons and armor, making farm tools and tools, making wooden instruments and assisting the construction steward to be responsible for construction. "
"The parish school, the valley hospital and the grocery store were established. The clerks of the school were concurrently served by several literate stewards. The grocery store was managed by one clerk. The school, the hospital and the grocery store were under the direct jurisdiction of the civil affairs official. All other valley affairs were under the jurisdiction of the civil affairs officer." Salaries are paid on a monthly basis: civil officers receive a monthly salary of 120 pfennigs - stewards receive a monthly rate of 100 pfennigs - deputy stewards receive a monthly rate of 80 pfennigs - clerks receive a monthly salary of 60 pfennigs. All ordinary craftsmen and clerks are treated as clerks. In this case, the craftsmen and doctors were treated as deputy stewards, and their own rations were provided by the wooden castle, but their wives, children, and children had to pay for the food themselves, and the food supplies in the wooden castle were sold to them at the lowest price in the market. "
“Next, I announce the appointment of civil affairs personnel at all levels in the Valley Knights - Cooper, the Civil Affairs Officer of the Valley Knights; Salt, the Caravan Steward; Juventus, the Deputy Steward (the rescued small trader); and Lavin (the retired combat team member). Chief); Tunnel Steward Scott, Deputy Steward Linn, Tax Collector Guy; Construction Steward Lawrence, Deputy Steward Geer (Leader of the Injury Retirement Team); Craftsman Steward is temporarily held by Cooper, and Bud and Lawrence (concurrently ) serves as deputy steward, and Clerk Neil. The clerks of the parish school are concurrently served by Neil and Guy. Cooper, Father Hamish, Thomas, and Farnaz will teach in the school, and the army will also send people to the school to teach and train. In addition to teaching in the school, they will also be responsible for teaching some basic medical skills to the military's specialized medical (supply) soldiers. Emma will be responsible for the temporary management.
“The above appointments are temporary. I will make adjustments based on your performance and formally appoint them after three months.” Art rolled up the parchment in his hand and said to everyone on the right.
When Art finished announcing the appointments of civil servants at all levels, it was already noon. Kamil gently knocked on the door of the wooden house, curtsied to everyone in the house very politely, and said: "Master, ladies and gentlemen, lunch has been prepared. My mother asked if we can have lunch first."
Camille bowed to Ater again, turned back and ran out of the private courtyard, and soon Emma and a few women brought in a table full of food...