In the ten days or so since the Liberation Army entered Thorne City, more and more shops on both sides of the streets in the city began to reopen to accept customers.
There was a constant flow of diners coming in and out of the tavern, and the aroma of wine and meat mixed with the smell of bad beer drifted to the street, making the homeless people begging at the door with their families stare wide-eyed. When they meet a kind-hearted tavern owner, they will reward them with a couple of scraps of soup. If they encounter those guys with a bad temper, they will order their men to drag sticks and scold them away.
The business of Moulin Rouges all over the country is also booming day by day. Every day, a large number of soldiers go there with rewards to find girls for entertainment. The guy in charge of the counter couldn't count the money every day, and the sound of jingling coins hitting the iron box could be heard from time to time...
The order in the city is not what it was just a few days after the war ended. As more and more heads of soldiers who disobeyed military orders were hung on the city walls, incidents of robbing the residents of the city became less and less. All this is due to Flanders' strict military management. After all, those soldiers are also people who cherish their lives. In the face of military law and the majesty of the ruler, their lives are worthless. He finally managed to save a small life in the battlefield, but he couldn't lose it in the hands of his own people no matter what.
Seeing that Thorne City is firmly in his hands, everything is progressing smoothly. Flanders ordered the legion soldiers and officers to rest for a period of time, and gave away part of the rewards for the attack on Thorne City, allowing the soldiers to use it to "reward" themselves. The remaining rewards will be distributed after the remaining enemies around Thorne City are completely eliminated.
After several months of fighting in the second phase, the soldiers and officers fighting on the front line were indeed exhausted. It makes sense to take a break after the final victory. So on the day when the reward was received, the soldiers who could not bear the loneliness ran to the Moulin Rouge. Those who were addicted to alcohol went to the tavern to get drunk and enjoyed the rare delicacy of fruit stew and toast.
While the officers and soldiers were resting, Flanders was not idle. According to the report of the officer in charge of military intelligence, in addition to Thorne City, there are still many "hostile elements" (Bernard's die-hard loyalists) in other surrounding manors and some castles who are armed to resist Flanders' "tyranny."
· Under the banner of Thorne Palace, these people went around to spread the word about how Flanders brutally abused the residents of the city after the city was broken, and how the barbarians who came down from the mountains ruined all the women in the city.
There is even a rumor circulating that Flanders sent someone to have an affair with the former Marchioness on purpose to build momentum and create a legitimate reason for usurping the power of the county~
Once these rumors spread throughout the county and even the principality before the situation is completely stable, this will have a considerable negative impact on Flanders' future rule. Even now that Thorne City has been breached and Bernard and the little bastard have been imprisoned. But Flanders has not yet been rectified and officially inherited the position of marquis. Therefore, Flanders would not be able to sit still until those remnant bandits were completely cleared away.
Immediately, under the instruction of Flanders, in the name of maintaining security and stability around Thorne City, a legion of the Liberation Army secretly went to the places where the remnant bandits were "entrenched" under the guidance of sentinels to conduct a clean and thorough cleansing.
As Flanders's confidant and having a "blood" connection, Art certainly knew about this. Under his operation, some members of the Wells Corps also participated in the cleaning mission. However, they did not act together with the Restoration Army. Instead, under the leadership of Odo, they headed directly towards the canyon area bordering the principality in the west of Thorne Province. The purpose of their trip is very clear: to eliminate the remaining enemies on the border and occupy the border fortress, take the initiative, control the border ports by force, and place a chess piece here for the future development of the European trading companies.
As a "small businessman" holding a sharp sword, Art has already set his sights on this inconspicuous piece of fat. As an important port from the Saône Province to the Principality and the Kingdom of France, a large amount of goods must pass through this place every year from south to north. This means that whoever controls this place will have a steady stream of gold coins falling into his pocket.
With the current scale and profitability of the Continental Commercial Bank, there is simply no way to support the gold-swallowing behemoth of the Army of Wales. And this giant beast is Art's important support. If he wants him to expand territory for himself in the future, money is indispensable.
Once you control this place, it is equivalent to controlling the entire western trade route of the country. By then, I don’t know how many wealthy businessmen will act based on Art’s face. Perhaps, Art's sneeze is enough to make the western part of the country tremble ~
Now, the heads of the five major business houses in Thorne City have disappeared for no apparent reason. Once this port originally controlled by these guys is swallowed up by Art, his power will far exceed the combined strength of the others. What's more, he now still has that "unexpected" fortune as a basis.
………
After receiving your secret message, the Count of Codor obediently sent someone to secretly transport five million pfennigs worth of gold coins. The original hall of Count Bernard's palace, after Flanders captured Thorne City, this has been his temporary palace. The officer responsible for managing military pay, money and food delivered this unexpected news to Flanders in the hall.
Flender, who was dealing with recent military affairs, raised his head and glanced at the official, signaling him to wait a moment.
"Now, I don't have to worry about Count Codor anymore. You immediately send someone to count the money and register it. Someone will escort these gold coins back to Besançon."
Flanders stood up and said after finishing the official business.
"Yes, Lord Marquis, I will go and do it right away."
Early when Flanders captured Thorne City, they sent people to Codor City to "deliver" the news to Earl Codor, in order to test Earl Codor's reaction.
·Having been in charge of the Côte d'Or province for many years, the Earl of Côte d'Or, although not good at military affairs, knew very well what Flanders was thinking, and he was reaching out to ask for money from himself.
Flender's meaning is very clear. Since Count Codor has joined his own camp, he must make a statement. Now that Thorne Province has been included in his pocket, Codor Province only surrendered midway when the situation was not conducive to Thorne Palace, which made Flanders somewhat uneasy. The Côte d'Or is the richest county in the county after the Saône. Over the years, under the leadership of Count Codor, who is good at business, he has accumulated a lot of money, at least five million pfennigs.
This succession war has left the people of Botswana in dire straits, productivity has stagnated, and the damage has been extremely serious. A large amount of money is urgently needed as a basis to slowly recover after the war, recuperate and develop production. Flanders is now short of money, and the five million pfennigs he previously borrowed from the Knights Templar have almost been exhausted. If they hadn't fought tooth and nail to capture Thorn City, I'm afraid the Liberation Army wouldn't have been able to hold on for long.
As long as the Count of Codor "pays" this "war tax", it can not only alleviate the current dilemma of empty treasury, but also weaken the strength of the Count of Codor, making him unable to gain a foothold with a large amount of money, killing his opportunity to resist himself, and thus stabilizing the current situation.
………
In order to be canonized as a Marquis of the Count as soon as possible, Flanders wrote a secret letter and sent it to the Kingdom of France, requesting that the County be directly transferred to the Kingdom of France.
In this battle of succession, the Kingdom of France deployed troops on the border of the duchy when the east and west armies were fighting, in order to coerce the duchy so that it did not dare to easily increase its troops in the west. This relieved the military and political pressure on the Liberation Army to a great extent.
In addition, the Bishop of Paris also announced his support for Flanders to become the new ruler of the county, and gave Flanders support at the religious level. The Knights Templar also provided it with a loan of five million pfennigs to support the Restoration Army.
It was precisely with the support of the dignitaries of the Kingdom of France and high-level religious figures that the Liberation Army turned defeat into victory and seized the opportunity to defeat the Spanish army in one fell swoop. At this time, swearing allegiance to the Kingdom of France will not only gain further support from them, but also use the power of the Kingdom of France to fight against the principality.
However, Flanders' ultimate goal was to maintain the relative independence of the county. Even though the county belongs to the Kingdom of France, it is separated by a principality and actually becomes an extra-legal state with a high degree of autonomy and is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of France at all. As long as the interests of the Kingdom of France in the Count are not damaged, all the power in the Count will be in the hands of Flanders.
As long as it has the support and canonization of the Kingdom of France, if the principality wants to swallow up the county in one fell swoop, it will not dare to do so because of the eagerly watching lion behind it. Through this kind of check and balance of power, Flanders was able to monopolize the power of the country.
………
Before receiving a reply from the Kingdom of France, Flanders ordered a peace announcement to be issued to the people of the county. One of the purposes was to inform the world that in this battle of succession, the Restoration Army had defeated the Western Army, and Flanders would become the future ruler of the county. In addition, because of this succession war, the country's national power continued to weaken and its people's livelihood declined. There was an urgent need to appease the people, resume production after the war, and enhance the country's strength.
After the war began, many people fled their homes where they had lived for generations because of the war, and they dragged their families with them to other places. Deaths from starvation and freezing were everywhere. Those who were lucky enough to survive had already fled to places such as the Principality of Provence and the Principality of Lombardy and started a new life. But most of them were reduced from free people to lowly serfs just for the sake of a meal.
According to preliminary statistics from officials in charge of civil affairs at the Besançon court, since the War of the Successors, nearly one-third of the labor force in the county has been displaced or died of starvation and freezing in the wilderness. Most of the young adults have been recruited by the army to fight on the front line. Most of the remaining people are old, weak, women and children.
Nearly half of the cultivated land was abandoned, and grain production was greatly reduced. People's lives are miserable and sorrows abound. For these people who depend on the land for their livelihood, being able to fill their bellies in peacetime is considered a blessing. However, with the advent of war, it was often the last meal but not the next. Many children died of hunger or strange diseases, which would inevitably lead to a reduction in the labor force later on.
In order to quickly restore national strength after the war, Flanders specially ordered someone to write a notice to calm the people, and then issued it to the entire county.
“...Firstly, the Liberation Army has defeated the Western Army led by the rebel Bernard. Soon, Flanders, the new ruler of the county, will accept the canonization of the Kingdom of France.”
The grain grown by the farmers is exempted from food tax for half a year. "
"Fourth..."
On the streets of Thorne City, a group of people gathered in front of the notice on the peace of the people that had just been posted on the wall. A man who looked like a country squire was surrounded by a group of illiterate refugees and beggars, and he read aloud what was written on the notice.
Many refugees and beggars immediately exploded when they heard that they had the opportunity to obtain land and be exempted from paying food tax for half a year. Throughout my life, I will always have endless taxes and levies to pay. This time I don’t have to pay taxes for half a year, which is a great blessing. They all went to ask the clerk who was sitting in a temporary tent next to the notice.
Everyone heard that it was true, rushed to register, and then left happily holding a small piece of birch bark with an official seal indicating the ownership of the land.
"Sir, you see, the Marquis's trick really works. There are also a bunch of people gathered over there~" Angus, who was standing next to the clerk, said to Art.
"The Marquis knows what these peasants care about most, so it's easy to see the effect. These guys don't care who sits on the Iron Throne, which symbolizes royal power. They care more about who can fill their stomachs and no longer starve. As long as there is food to eat, they will obey you."
Art turned and walked towards the other side of the street. Angus and Ron followed closely.
Just as a few people were approaching the camp of the Wells Legion, Stanley followed up from behind with several members of the task force.
"My lord."
Att turned around and saw the appearance of Stanley and his party, and he knew that what he had given them a few days ago was in place.
"How did you do what I asked you to do?"
Stanley looked around instinctively, and then said softly to Art: "Sir, that old guy Bernard is absolutely right. There is indeed a secret room under the dry well outside the south city gate. There are hundreds of iron boxes piled inside. I guess there are "Seven or eight million pfennigs"
"Seven or eight million?"
Matt's eyes widened after hearing this. He never expected that the wealth of this old man Bernard was far beyond his imagination.
"My lord? My lord?"
Looking at Art's stunned look, Stanley shouted twice.
"Tell those involved in this operation not to disclose the location of this money to anyone. Keep these things under your watch for me, and I will go and report to the Marquis immediately."
At came back to his senses and ordered with a serious expression.
"Sir, do you mean we won't leave any for ourselves?"
Stanley wanted to confirm Art's order again.
"That's right! The Marquis must collect the money in person, we can't make any plans."
It's not that Art doesn't dare to withhold part of the property privately, he is planning for the future, something more important than this money ~