"...The balance of the 150,000 pfennigs for the weapons and armor purchased from Provence should be sent to Aix as soon as possible. This money must not be defaulted."
"Now, including the sergeant major's loan from the Holy Order's treasury in Besançon, we already have a fund reserve of five million pfennigs."
Art looked up at Governor Cooper, who was sitting on the right, and asked: "How much balance does the government treasury have now?"
Cooper did a little calculation in his mind and replied: "Including the 300,000 pfennigs just allocated to the Continental Bank of Provence's Western Front two days ago, there is still a balance of 1.4 million pfennigs in the government treasury."
“After the Successor’s War, the army was reorganized and expanded. The first branch of the Welsh Army was the fighting branch, which was the most expensive. The annual military pay of 500 fighting soldiers and more than 100 baggage soldiers amounted to 500,000 pfennigs, including armaments and baggage. The annual cost is over 800,000 yuan. "
"The newly expanded cavalry company has reached 200 people. These guys are real gold-swallowing beasts. Not to mention the huge cost of purchasing war horses and armor in the early stage. Now the raising of war horses alone costs more than 150,000 per year, as well as cavalry pay, armaments, and baggage. The cost does not need to be as low as 500 soldiers. "
"Fortunately, the Western Border Guard Corps has palace supplies. The Sap Company and Andermatt Company of the Southern Border Guard Corps do not need our full support, and the cost of the Tinets Company is not high. The Garrison Corps and the new reserve regiment belong to the peasant-soldier order, and the investment is not large."
"My lord, with all the current taxes from our province of Wales and the profits of the European trading companies, it is already very difficult to maintain an army of this size. Moreover, we not only need to support the army, but now that your territory has expanded, the territory has nearly 100,000 citizens, and nearly 10,000 people cannot be self-sufficient."
"Reclamation, construction, workshops, roads, as well as the salaries of government officials at all levels, the government treasury has been trying to support the situation."
"Although you are constantly filling the treasury through various methods, after all, this is not the province of Wales that can really make huge gains. The profit gained..."
At heard this, Art frowned. The old guy said a lot, but to sum it up in one sentence, he had always been out of balance and on the verge of bankruptcy. The reason why the Province of Wales had been prosperous was just because he could keep making extra money to fill the vacancies.
But this is not a long-term solution.
"We have to find a path to sustainable development." Art thought silently in his mind.
"Cooper, I understand everything you said. It's great that you can think long-term, but I have my own overall considerations."
Att calmed down and said to the confidants in the office: "Now that the money has been obtained, we have to make use of it."
"I have decided to allocate 1.5 million pfennig to the army out of 5 million to prepare for war. One million pfennig will be handed over to the government for various operations and construction. Another 500,000 pfennig will be allocated to the government for the purpose of purchasing and hoarding food supplies. The remaining two million will be kept in the treasury to prepare for the final battle. "
"How to use the appropriation of three million pfennigs, Odo and Cooper, you two will take the lead in formulating a specific plan for the military government and the government, and submit it to me within ten days."
"Everyone, remember, don't tell the origin of this money for the time being. The Holy Order was destroyed, and I also thought that the loan contract for this money was destroyed with them."
"Okay, you continue to report the important matters that need my resolution to the Military Government."
Odo immediately took out a submission in his hand, "Sir, the Military Administration is preparing to expand the staff department. This is the expansion plan. . In addition, Baron Antayas sent a letter the day before yesterday, saying that a dozen guys claiming to be mountain mercenaries have recently arrived and hope to cooperate with us. Antayas said in the letter that the mountain mercenaries are extremely poor and poorly equipped, and they don’t seem to have any fighting ability. "
Att was so busy that he almost forgot about the group of people in the mountains, "No, no, no, because the Mountain Confederation is very isolated, we haven't had much dealings with them in recent years, but I have heard that those mountain people in remote places He is extremely powerful, and we can take advantage of it."
"We will discuss this matter in detail when we return to Beiguan Army Fort tomorrow."
Hearing this, Cooper interjected: "Master. , I have some knowledge of those mountain people. In the early spring of this year, the recruitment of refugees in the North was slow. In order to expand the sources, I sent people to the mountain confederation to recruit. However, those guys have been in the mountains for too long, and their heads are as hard as pig iron. They probably regard us as slave traders and refuse to come down from the mountains to join us no matter how much we persuade them."
Matt smiled and said, "Then you can send someone to the Mountain Confederacy again, bring more food, and tell them that they can eat enough if they join us."
Hinterland of Wales, North Gate Military Fort in the Wells Valley. The heavy snow in the sky has reduced the training of the First Division of the Wells Corps by more than half. The soldiers are much more relaxed, but the officers have to enjoy the rare leisure while enduring day after day of military theory teaching.
The Officer Academy has started again.
All officers of the First Division of the Wells Corps and several combat units directly under the corps and above were rushed to the school hall of Beiguan Army Fort.
In addition to the front-line soldiers, several second-line legions and their independent agency chiefs were also summoned to Beiguan to receive lessons.
Now that Yat is busy with general affairs, it is unlikely that he will give lessons to the officers in person. However, several high-ranking officers of the Wells Corps and a large number of middle- and high-ranking officers have both theory and practical experience, and they are more than enough to teach those middle- and low-ranking officers.
In the army commander's barracks at Beiguan Army Fort, Art frowned as he stared at the three guys wearing thin leather armor and worn-out leather boots, exuding a strong shabby air.
He knew that the mountain people were poor, but it was not uncommon for them to dress up like this when they went out to discuss business.
"You guys haven't eaten yet, right?" Art finally found the topic.
The three mountain people who claimed to be the leaders of the mercenary team were a little nervous when they saw such a distinguished nobleman as the Count for the first time.
iousous in that he must have traveled far and had some experience.
"We fought, with the Swabians."
"Killed anyone?"
"I have killed, two, but they were just miscellaneous soldiers. They have been on the battlefield, but they have never killed anyone."
"Quite honest."
At looked at a few mercenaries who were more like farmers than farmers, "You have two hundred people?"
"Two hundred and thirty people. If you need it, we can gather a thousand people in ten days. They all have battlefield experience, but they don't have decent weapons."
Matt waved his hand, "You guys come here first. I will hire you for a month first, and we will discuss it after one month."
"Here." The guard at the door walked in.
"Take our mercenary brothers to the kitchen to have a full meal with more wine and meat."