"...Everyone, I think you are not very clear about the situation in the valley. In order to survey the situation in the valley clearly in the coming time, I feel it is necessary to tell you about the general situation in the south of the valley."
After breakfast, Art called everyone to the open space outside the camp to prepare for the next task. But in view of what happened in the morning, he felt it was necessary to remind everyone present about the difficulty of this survey task.
The twenty or so people gathered in a circle immediately pricked up their ears to listen to Art's warning. Matthew and Ron sat on either side of Art.
“Our survey of the valley this time will mainly face two difficulties. First, the terrain. Generally speaking, the entire valley is mainly mountainous, with dense forests, deep ditches, and slippery roads. Although there are many flat wastelands, because they have not been cultivated, the dwarf pine shrubs and weeds are overgrown, making it difficult to pass. Secondly, it is summer, and venomous snakes and beasts often appear in the valley. It is difficult to guard against them. If you don't handle them well, your life will be in danger."
Matt turned his attention to the man, and did not blame him, but encouraged his men to speak freely. After all, these people can be said to be powerless, and they cannot be expected to be as brave and good at fighting as legionnaires.
"If you have any ideas, just say it without restraint."
The officials looked left and right, but all they had in mind was their own personal safety. For them, if they really encounter those beasts in the mountains, they will probably become a piece of meat in those guys' mouths.
After a while, an official with a fat figure, dark complexion, and wearing coarse linen clothes said: "Your Majesty, as you know, we work in the government office on weekdays, so it's okay for us to write and do calculations. If we encounter the wild beasts in this valley, I'm afraid..." The official then lowered his head in shame.
"You boy, with your physique, you can feed several wild wolves." Ron teased the official, causing everyone to laugh.
After the laughter, Art raised his hand to signal everyone to quiet down and said: "I can't blame you. After all, you are not a soldier, and the wilderness does not belong to you. Since you said it, I will make arrangements for the personnel for the survey after entering the mountain..."
Considering the large area of the entire valley, Art had to divide the people accompanying him into groups to improve the efficiency of the survey.
"Ron and Matthew will follow me, and then add a government official and two soldiers. The rest are arranged according to the standard configuration of two officials and four soldiers, with six people in each group. In addition, the personnel of the baggage team will not change, you only need to do your job."
"Yes, sir." Everyone accepted the order.
After assigning the task, Art summoned several officials alone and explained to them the precautions during the survey.
The valley will become the core of the entire province of Wales in the future. Therefore, the survey involves factors such as valley topography, topography, water sources, and land.
The officials held quills in one hand, listening and taking notes, and occasionally asked a few questions.
It was not until noon that Art assigned the survey tasks to each group one by one.
"What nonsense! Get back to the wooden castle quickly, and be sure to bring the two hounds here at night. If you miss my job, you will be punished by military law!" Art raised the whip in his hand with a serious expression.
"Yes, sir."
After a while, Ron galloped towards the north on horseback...
At sunset, one man, one horse and two hounds arrived at the camp where Art and others were.
After having enough wine and food, Art ordered everyone to rest early and start surveying the valley early tomorrow morning. I went into the camp to study the map of the valley...
It was getting dark, and the area around the camp began to quiet down. In the camp, Art stood alone in front of a table made of simple wooden boards, holding a quill in his right hand and sketching on the parchment from time to time. The golden beer in the glass at the corner of the table has changed from a full glass to a half glass, and only half of the candle is still flickering with a yellow light.
With the dim light, it can be seen that the valley map on the parchment is no longer as simple as it was originally, with some more lines, graphics and text annotations.
Just when Art was thinking about it, Ron and Matthew pushed open the door curtain and walked in.
"Sir, according to your instructions, I and the baggage team put all the food into sacks and hung them on some big trees about two hundred steps away from the camp. The hounds were also tied at the gate of the camp, and bushes covered with barbs were planted around the camp~"
Matt put down the quill, rolled up the parchment, folded it, and placed it in a wooden box aside.
"Hmm~" Art nodded slightly.
The reason for this arrangement stems from the encounter with a black bear this morning. Once the food in the camp attracts the black bear, disaster is inevitable. And with the protection of hounds, Art can sleep peacefully.
"You should also go back and have a rest. By the way, tell the people in the baggage team to prepare breakfast as soon as dawn. After dinner, it's time to get down to business~"
"Okay, sir. You should also rest early." After that, Ron took Matthew out of the camp.
On the second day, after breakfast, everyone packed up the camp and began the mission of going south to survey the valley. According to Art's plan, it will take about twenty days to complete the survey of the valley.
While Art was working hard on the construction of his territory, things were treacherous in the north of the Burgundy Kingdom. A drama about power and interests is being staged quietly...
After half a year of recovery, the national situation of the Marquis of Burgundy has improved significantly. Naturally, all of this is inseparable from the wise leadership of Marquis Flanders and the efforts of a group of important court ministers and subordinates.
·Through a series of measures to encourage production, develop commercial trade and agriculture, and foreign exchanges, the economic situation of the Burgundy Kingdom has been significantly improved.
Taking palace taxation as an example, at the beginning of the war of succession, most of what was recorded in the financial accounts were the palace's external debts. Just the amount Flanders borrowed from the Holy Order on several occasions totaled more than eight million pfennigs. Coupled with loans from the large and small nobles who supported Flanders, the palace's debt exceeded 11 million pfennigs. Although a lot of seizures were made during the Battle of the Successors, it was not enough to make up for the shortfall. Coupled with daily expenses and necessary initial investment, there is not much left in the financial account books.
Luckily, the Burgundy Kingdom entered a period of relative peace after the war, and the resistance to the development of production was not that great.
In addition, Art's father-in-law, the palace finance minister Galvin, had been in business for many years and had a good business acumen. He had close connections with business aristocrats and bureaucrats in various places. Coupled with a series of measures introduced by the palace to develop commerce and agriculture. Flanders himself also set an example, taking the lead in cutting back on food and clothing, reducing expenditures, increasing revenue and cutting expenditures, and putting an end to the palace's wanton waste and extravagance. Soon, Hou State was on the fast track of development step by step.
In about half a year, in addition to monthly expenses, the finance now has a surplus of more than one million pfennigs. The business, trade and agricultural development of the Hou Kingdom have also been significantly improved.
It is true that some of the important court ministers who saw that the Burgundy Kingdom was gradually emerging from the shadow of war and getting back on track began to feel sympathy and intended to get more benefits from this thriving money tree, so as not to waste their contribution in the battle of succession. Among them, the most obvious one is probably the Prime Minister of the Palace, Baldwin...
…...
"...Mr. Palace Prime Minister, here are the tax details for this month. Please take a look at it~"
In the official room of the Yona Province Residence where Palace Prime Minister Baldwin was, the housekeeper came to Baldwin with the checked accounts of the Yona Province for this month. He lowered his head and bent over to report to Baldwin, who was lying on a large mink chair and enjoying the service of the maid beside him.
Balwin opened his eyes slightly, stood up slowly with the help of the maid, and yawned. Because he drank until late at night yesterday, Baldwin felt a little dizzy, and then he lay back and fell on the big mink chair.
"Read!" Baldwin raised his finger slightly, but his body remained motionless.
"Yes, Your Majesty the Palace Minister." The housekeeper glanced at Baldwin, who had his eyes closed, and then glanced at the maid standing beside him, revealing a lewd smile. Then I opened the account book...
"Mr. Palace Minister, this month's tax revenue has increased by 120,000 pfennigs compared to last month, reaching 870,000 pfennigs. According to the reaction of the following people, the number of traders traveling to and from Yona Province has increased a lot this month, and part of the increased tax revenue comes from here. In addition, according to your instructions, the tax officer has slightly increased the tax revenue based on the previous one, and the remaining part is new..." The housekeeper moved his eyes from the account book to Baldwin. Seeing that Baldwin did not answer, he continued to report.
"After deducting the portion that should be turned over to the palace finance, there is less than 800,000 pfennigs left..."
"Hmm?" Upon hearing this number, Baldwin suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look at the housekeeper.
"Mr. Palace Minister, do you mean to reduce the part of the taxes paid to the palace again?" The head of the palace seemed to have become a roundworm in Baldwin's belly. After all, since Baldwin took the position of Prime Minister of the Palace, the taxes that the Province of Yona should pay to the Palace have been reduced again and again. All of this was handled by the housekeeper under Baldwin's instructions.
Last month, according to the statistics of the palace treasury, the tax paid by Jonah was only 5,000 pfennigs more than that of Longxia. Although the province of Yona is a bit poorer than the provinces of Saône and Lucesene, even so, the taxes are still much higher than those of the more remote and poor Longxia. Especially after Baldwin was elected as the Prime Minister of the Palace, many businessmen rushed to his position in the Burgundy Kingdom, injecting a lot of fresh blood into the business of Yona Province. Because of this, taxes in Yona Province continued to rise. Coupled with the tribute paid to Baldwin by those who cling to the powerful, the palace prime minister can be said to have made a lot of money. The improvement of his political status brought him endless wealth...
Even so, Baldwin still did not intend to let go of a coin that might enter his pocket.