After returning to the Barony of the Valley with 150,000 Fenni, Art repeatedly summoned several core subordinates from the army and civil affairs to discuss the most important matters in the official room...
In the secret room of the lord of the Valley Castle, Art was arranging the strips of cloth on the wooden table and considering them repeatedly.
Lottie brought a silver wine glass to the secret room and handed it to Art, asking: "My dear, what have you been doing with those little rags these days?" Due to the military achievements recorded by them, I am now a baron (the knighthood is still valid) and have the right to confer knights under me. Due to the obstruction of my opponents, the palace only gave me four new knights. I am thinking about how to distribute them..."
"Oh? In this way? I've never seen this before."
Lotti climbed on the table and looked at the cloth on the table carefully for a while, and said in her mouth: "When I was ambushed at Fort Sarp, I personally killed four bandits and commanded the soldiers to kill six bandits. Is this Odo's achievement?"
"Yes, this is just one of them. This row is considered Odo's achievement!" Art pointed to the widest row of cloth on the wooden table.
"Well, Odo should be among the canonizations."
............
In mid-June, the weather turned hot.
Yat held the first joint military and civilian meeting since he was promoted to baron. Now, the military and civil affairs in Ate's territory have already had the habit of meeting.
The army is called the Military Council, and its meeting place is at Beiguan Military Fort; the civil affairs is called the Council, and it is in the hall of the Lord's Mansion in the Valley Mubao; the two councils discuss military affairs and civil affairs respectively.
The joint military-civilian council discussed major matters that determined the survival and development of the entire barony, and was convened by Art himself.
The first joint meeting was held at the Officer Academy of Beiguan Army Fort. All civil affairs officials above the deputy director level and military officers above the squad leader level came to attend the meeting. The hall where the officers were literate had been temporarily converted into a meeting hall.
The layout of the hall is somewhat like a church sanctuary. There are four chairs and a long wooden table in the main seat. The middle chair is of course the seat of Lord Art. The other three seats are occupied by Civil Affairs Officer Cooper, Military Adjutant Odo and Military Adjutant An. Gus; Opposite the main seat are five or six rows of low stools and sloping tables. This was originally a place where the officer apprentices could read and write. On the left were the army commanders headed by Bass, Ron and others, and on the right were the civil affairs officials headed by Salt, Scott, Lawrence and others.
Today's military and civil affairs have basically become their own groups, and there is not much intersection between the two waves of people. Except for Salt, Lawrence, and Spencer who often travel between the army and civil affairs and can talk a few words on both sides, the rest of the people have no topics to talk about, so everyone just whispers in their own circles.
Seeing that the hall was getting more and more lively, Civil Affairs Officer Cooper raised his hand and said kindly: "Everyone, be quiet. This is not the first time you have participated in such a meeting. You don't need to remind me."
Everyone in the hall stopped whispering and sat upright, staring at Art who was sitting in the main seat.
At cleared his throat, looked around at everyone, and said: "Everyone, we haven't held such a meeting for a long time. Looking back on the past few years, I have a lot of feelings. Every time such a meeting is held, it is accompanied by a huge development in our valley."
"Some of you should still remember the scene when this kind of meeting was held for the first time. At that time, I was just a civilian patrol officer. The total number of men, women, old and weak in the entire valley was only about forty people. The food stored in the valley was only enough for two months. At that time, our biggest concern was to do everything we could to fill everyone's stomach." At that time, more than a hundred acres of land had been cultivated in the valley, and the population began to increase. "
"By the time we fought with the Swabians at Talmuburg for several months, and used the enemy's heads to pave the way to the Lord Knight and obtained the fief, there were more than 180 households in the valley, and more than 300 acres of land had been cultivated. The number of troops had reached more than 60, and the weapons and armor were getting better and better..."
"In the past year, I have focused almost all my energy on the army, often fighting abroad. Until yesterday, the civil affairs official calculated the population of two fiefdoms and a garrison under my command. The total number of castle residents exceeded a thousand, and this number is still increasing. Not only the number of residents has increased, but also land, workshops, shops, houses, mills, villages, livestock, food, etc., everything is increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye..."
"I have said thank you many times. I have called you here today to give you an account of your hard work over the years and to fulfill the promise I made to you for the first time."
When Art said this, everyone in the hall was excited, but the few sitting next to Art were much calmer. After all, Art had discussed these matters with them in advance.
However, Art did not rush to announce the most important thing. He whetted everyone's appetite, "Before fulfilling my promise, I would like to ask Civil Affairs Officer Cooper, Army Adjutant Odo, and Army Adjutant Angus to give us a brief introduction to the overview of the Barony of the Valley, the situation of the army, and the situation outside the valley."
Art glanced sideways at Civil Affairs Officer Cooper, and nodded to indicate that he could start.
Cooper gently lifted a piece of parchment and said: "Sir, fellow commanders and civil affairs stewards. Let me give you a brief introduction to the situation in the Valley Barony..."
“The barony of the valley currently has 325 households and 1,120 people (excluding the army), which are divided into three villages: the border post, the valley wooden castle and the southern valley area. Among them, the largest number of residents is Kutim village and the newly built village, with 208 households and 780 people. Both are farmers. The remaining places are mainly farmers, with military families, craftsmen, doctors, officials, craftsmen..."
"In the Barony of the Valley, the existing cultivated land is mainly concentrated around the three villages in the southern valley. Currently, 4,500 acres of land have been reclaimed, of which 3,200 acres are fertile cultivated land. Due to the good fertility, there is no need for rest farming for a few years; the remaining 1,300 acres are far from the river bank, and the soil fertility is relatively poor, so two or even three nursery rotations are required..."
The total amount of land is too small, resulting in less than four acres of cultivated land per household in the entire valley. In other places, it may be difficult to even provide food and clothing. However, the land in the valley is formed by rivers for thousands of years, and the fertility is not to mention. The unique water source facilitates irrigation and "retting manure fertilization" has been implemented. The grain-to-grain ratio of the valley has reached an average of one planting to six harvests, and Art is still recalling the remaining agricultural knowledge in his mind and improving the valley's agricultural technology.
“The barony of the valley currently has four workshops, namely a weapons workshop (also a blacksmith shop), a woodworking workshop, a textile workshop and a mill. The four workshops have a total of three craftsmen, fifteen craftsmen, thirty-two craftsman apprentices and seventeen laborers. Currently, the valley is recruiting craftsmen, craftsmen and craftsmen through caravans, and at the same time purchasing the tools needed for the workshops. Equipment, according to the master's arrangement, the southern caravan is buying equipment at low prices from bankrupt workshops in Provence. Some areas have been set aside along the river to prepare for new workshops. However, our treasury reserves are currently insufficient and we can only build some small-scale workshops. In addition, taverns and grocery stores are also expanding..."
“The barony of the valley has three main sources of income. One is the army’s previous war profits, which is the main source of income. So far, a total of 250,000 pfennigs have been paid to the civil affairs of the valley. The second is the trade surplus of the caravans and shops. So far, the caravans have recovered all their investment, with a trade surplus of 90,000 pfennigs. The two caravans have a monthly profit of 20,000 pfennigs. Together with the profits of the three southern goods shops, the monthly trade income is more than 30,000 pfennigs; the third is the revenue from the border post's transit commercial tax. Last year, the border post collected a total of 64,000 pfennigs from the transit commercial tax. However, because the construction of the outpost requires a large amount of capital investment, the current surplus is less than 20,000 pfennigs. However, the commercial tax revenue will definitely increase after the outpost market town is completed. "
"Finally, I want to tell you about the security situation in the territory this year. Now that our land is wider and the number of people in the territory has increased, there will always be a few borers hanging around us. This year, the Valley Guard Corps punished a total of six criminals. One of them died in a fight in the newly built village and was beheaded by the guards. The remaining five were all for theft, Those found guilty of provoking troubles, defecting in groups, etc. were punished as slaves (similar to war slaves). Last month, two temporarily appointed officials in the newly-established villages in the territory were imprisoned and awaiting the final conviction of the master. "
"The above are important civil affairs matters." Cooper briefly introduced many common affairs in the valley territory.
After listening to some simple arrangements, Yat said, "The valley needs to continue to develop, and the recruitment of citizens can be slowed down a little. Currently, there are two main things to do. One is to continue to reclaim the land, increase food output and tax collection. The second is to focus on the establishment of various workshops. To fill the belly, you rely on the land, and to fill the wallet, you must rely on industrial and commercial trade, that is, industry Workshops, shops, caravans. In addition, civil affairs officials must also start discussing a set of feasible territorial laws. Too many people and things can easily lead to chaos. We need to establish a good position. "
"Odo, give everyone a brief report on the army." Art then handed over the right to speak to the army adjutant Odo.
"My lord, everyone. The army is currently divided into four parts. The main force is the warrior corps. Currently, the warrior corps has five infantry squadrons, a sentry team, a crossbow squad, a baggage team, plus the lord's bodyguards, a total of one hundred and three people; followed by the border outpost garrison and the Boulder Town patrol garrison, with a total of thirty-two people; and finally the mountain army. The Valley Garrison currently has twenty-three standing peasant soldiers, mostly retired soldiers from the army and selected young and strong civilians. According to the arrangement of the Lord, the new troops have been assigned to the garrison, so together with the forty-five new recruits waiting for training, there are a total of sixty-eight people. The officer academy also has fifteen instructors and apprentices (different from the trained officers). "
“After more than a year of fighting, the army has abundant weapons, armor and ordnance supplies. It is initially estimated that the weapons and equipment in the warehouse can be equipped with two hundred ordinary soldiers. The combat soldiers have already replaced their weapons and armor once. The weapons and armor that have been eliminated by the soldiers have been allocated to border outposts, Boulder Town, and the Officer Academy. Those weapons and supplies that are damaged or cannot be reused are handed over to the weapons. After the workshop was repaired or recast, it was allocated to the new peasant soldiers of the garrison. "
"The military merits of all the battles this year are being verified. After a rough estimate, the average military reward of the soldiers is more than two hundred pfennigs, and the average military reward of the soldiers stationed in the outpost and Boulder Town is also more than fifty pfennigs. The military reward alone is estimated to be more than thirty thousand pfennigs."
"The last is the approximate military expenditure. At present, the per capita monthly salary of our military corps is seventy-five pfennigs, and the average monthly consumption of food, drink, accommodation and clothing is nearly one hundred pfennigs. The remaining border garrisons, patrol soldiers, standing peasant soldiers and new recruits consume about fifty pfennigs per month. The monthly military expenditure of the entire army is close to fifteen thousand pfennigs."
"Fifteen thousand pfennigs is just daily consumption. Taking into account the damage and replacement of weapons and armor, it is impossible to estimate. Fortunately, a lot of weapons and equipment have been seized this year, so there is not much extra cost. "
"According to your master's plan, we will expand the army to more than 500 men before the beginning of next spring, and the cost will be even greater." After Otto said, everyone in the hall truly realized the huge investment in raising troops.
Seeing that everyone was a little unstable, Art said: "Everyone, I asked Odo to explain to everyone the huge consumption of the army, so that everyone can have peace of mind. But everyone can rest assured that although there is not much surplus in the valley treasury, it is enough to maintain the expenditure of the civil administration this year. Moreover, I will soon start to reform various laws in the territory, especially the land tax issue. By then, everything in the valley will continue to produce silver coins."
"As for the expansion of the army, I will not appropriate the treasury of the civil affairs of the valley unless it is absolutely necessary. I will set aside enough money for the development of the valley. As for the military expenditure issue, you don't need to discuss it too much, I will find a way."
"Okay! Sergeant major, please tell me about the situation outside the valley."
"Everyone, now the storm has begun to surge outside the valley..."
After everyone introduced the situation inside and outside the valley one by one, it finally came to the important scene of Yate.
"Everyone, we will discuss the trivial matters slowly later. Today, I announce the nomination of the Lord Knight and the Baroness Trainee Knight under the Baron of the Palace Frontier."
At suddenly wanted to announce such an important matter, everyone in the hall suddenly raised their chests and backs, sat upright, and concentrated.
“Nominate the adjutant of the army, Odo Fernando, to be the leading knight under the baron of the palace.”
“Nominate the adjutant of the army, Angus Doyle, to be the leading knight under the baron of the palace.”
h “Nominate the commander of the garrison, Bass, to be the apprentice knight.”
“Nominate Ron, the captain of the guard, as a trainee knight.”
h “Nominate Kazak, the commander of the soldiers’ legion, as a trainee knight.”
h “Nominate Lusignan, the commander of the soldiers’ legion, as a trainee knight.”
h “Nominate Tuba, the commander of the soldiers’ legion, as a trainee knight.”
hh "The remaining current army captains (including border outposts and patrol teams) and above have been promoted to knight squires, except for those who already have knight status."
hh The above is the list of promotions for army commanders.
"Cube Alford, civil administrator of the Barony of the Valley, is specially nominated as an honorary knight under the command of the Baron of the Palace of the Marches."
As soon as he said this, everyone was shocked. "Knight" is a military honor that has always been awarded to military commanders and warriors who have achieved outstanding military achievements. This is the first time that they have seen a civil officer be canonized as a knight, even if it is just an "honorary knight". This is Art's high recognition of Cooper and the importance he attaches to the civil affairs system.
"All civil affairs officers will be promoted to official positions. The civil affairs officer shall have one commercial officer, one village officer, one construction officer, one industrial officer, and one peace officer. They will be promoted from the original officers respectively, and the remaining officers shall be promoted..."