I'm not a lord

Chapter 165 The Advancing Lover

Compared to Yagna, who is still dreaming, Lia is much more pragmatic.

Lynn arrived at White Bear Territory and had just spent some time being intimate with her in the study when she gathered her skirts and started talking about serious matters.

"My lord, this is the financial expenditure of the two territories for the past week. Please take a look."

Lia still manages the finances of White Bear Territory and Shallow Beach Territory, but has not yet incorporated the four southern territories into the overall financial system.

Finance is the key to managing one's territory.

Even if someone is not on the territory, as long as they know the territory's financial expenditures and income, they can naturally know the main recent developments of that territory.

As Lynn flipped through the documents, Leah stood beside him and offered her advice:

"My lord, you are now an earl, and the territory and population under your control have increased several times over. You should establish a larger-scale and more professional financial system as soon as possible."

In fact, establishing a judicial system is more important than a financial system. Previously, barons controlled judicial power within their territories; now, this power has fallen into the hands of the stewards. Over time, their power and prestige will expand significantly, impacting your authority.

Leah has received professional training and has a very broad perspective; every piece of advice she gives is to the point.

In an era of highly fragmented local power, business and politics are inevitably intertwined.

Therefore, it is very easy for businessmen to enter politics these days, and their professional inertia makes them exceptionally sensitive to numbers and accounts.

Many of the chief financial officers or senior advisors of the great nobles had business experience, and many had even served as mayors or guild leaders.

Now that Jürgen, the mayor of Three Rivers, has stepped down, he will most likely be able to enter the court of the Duke of the Marsh and become a senior financial advisor.

When it comes to specific land and population, the so-called power is nothing more than administration, judiciary, finance, and military.

That's true, at least in this era.

Previously, Lynn only governed White Bear Territory and Shallow Beach Territory, with a total population of less than 10,000. As long as he governed diligently, he could control a great deal of power in the territory.

Now he rules over six baronies, a vast territory spanning north to south, with a total population of nearly 40,000. He certainly can no longer handle everything personally as he used to.

Therefore, he needs to establish a new power structure and distribute the power in his hands to the officials below in an orderly manner.

Then, an effective oversight system must be established to prevent these officials from enriching themselves or neglecting their duties.

This thing sounds complicated, and it really is not simple.

The main problem is that Lynn is short-staffed.

He is now at odds with Sanhe City, making it difficult to attract talent from the city.

Cities are natural hubs for talent.

A graduate who completes the monastic course is qualified to assume any judicial, financial, or administrative authority within a baronial territory.

He had previously considered poaching teachers from the church's monastery schools with a large sum of money to expand the school's scale and establish a relatively complete education system, but now it seems unlikely that this will happen.

Of course, the literal meaning of 'digging' is still a possibility.

There are several monastery schools in the western suburbs of Sanhe City. When the second son, Hugo, leads his troops to plunder, he might be able to capture some students or teachers as well.

Just like when Lao Liu joined the group.

Returning to the present, Lynn put down the documents in his hand, pondered for a moment, and said, "The judicial and financial systems definitely need to be established, but we can't rush it; we can only take it slowly."

Currently, the governors of each territory are still in charge of administration and justice respectively. I will establish a count's court and a central circuit court as soon as possible to oversee and adjudicate major cases in each territory.

As for finances, I'll have to trouble you a bit more. In a while, you'll come back to the River Marsh Territory with me to set up the financial system for the entire territory.

Currently, the authority of the territory's chief steward is very similar to that of the county magistrate, and he basically holds all the major powers in the territory.

Previously, there were barons and fief knights who oversaw the stewards of the territories, but Lynn has swept away all these old power classes.

What he needs to do is to slightly divide the power in the hands of the territory's governor and implement effective supervision.

The judiciary and finance, in particular, cannot be left unregulated.

As time goes on, who knows what kind of trouble these managers will cause.

To achieve judicial oversight, it is necessary to establish higher-level count courts and circuit courts.

Judges are dispatched to conduct regular inspections of each jurisdiction, review case files, adjudicate major cases, and listen to the grievances of the people.

Financial oversight involves establishing a financial steward directly under the Earl to coordinate the financial policies and expenditures of the entire territory.

Locally, financial commissioners were appointed in each territory to lead tax collectors in collecting local taxes and, after deducting local administrative expenses, to remit the surplus to the earl's treasury.

With the existing territorial structure of general manager-manager-manor head, the entire bureaucratic system can be initially established.

The closed terrain of White River Territory has a hidden advantage: Lynn can more easily control the commercial exchanges throughout the territory.

He can use his lordly authority to concentrate the main trade products of the territory in his own hands and firmly control the main trading ports of the territory.

Merchants can only purchase products from within their territory through their channels.

Foreign goods entering the territory also need to pass through Lynn's hands first.

This way, he can effectively prevent corruption within his territory.

After all, officials who embezzle agricultural products cannot immediately exchange them for gold coins or other luxury goods, nor can they consume them all; they can only leave them at home to mold, while also bearing the risk of being discovered.

As for the army, it would naturally be directly commanded by Lynn, and the governors of each territory would only have the power to mobilize a small number of militia to maintain order.

Lynn's plan coincided with Leah's idea.

But Leah disagreed with one of them.

“My lord, I am merely your lover. In the past, I could barely manage the finances of the White Bear Territory for you. Now that you are a count, it would be beneath your dignity for me to manage the finances for you. It is inappropriate.”

If the name is not correct, then the words will not be proper. Leah longed for a title that was superior to that of a lover.

With a formal title, she can step onto a broader stage.

There is a fundamental difference between a wife and a mistress.

The former can not only manage the finances of the territory for her noble husband, but in some cases can even manage all affairs of the entire territory in place of her husband.

Take, for example, the Duchess of the Marsh.

The Duke led a large army on an expedition to the Crown Territory, and the eldest son of the first in line to the throne also went on the expedition. Naturally, the daily management of the territory fell into the hands of the Lady.

Whether it's diplomacy, military affairs, or taxation, the Duchess has complete control, and she can make decisions on most matters without informing the Duke in advance.

It can be said that the Duchess is currently the de facto lord of the duchy.

Most of the nobles and cities in the territory also recognized the Duchess's status as 'acting lord' and accepted her command and control.

Lovers are different.

They lack legal status and are people living on the fringes of society.

Taking the current Northern Kingdom as an example, if a local nobleman openly governs his territory with his lover, he is very likely to be stripped of his territory by the higher-ranking nobles.

Of course, lovers may influence a lord's decisions through personal relationships, such as recommending officials, interfering with tax distribution and trade within the territory.

But this depends on the lord's personal trust, rather than institutional power.

The influence of Lynn's behavior—openly allowing her lover to manage important affairs of her territory—on social values ​​is immeasurable.

Lynn may not care, but Leah cannot.

She stroked her slightly protruding belly and said, "I'm pregnant with your child. Lately, I've been feeling inexplicably sleepy during the day. If I accidentally make a mistake at work, I'll feel even more sorry for you."

Lia's words sounded nice, and her reasons were quite convincing.

But Lynn could still see through her hidden thoughts at a glance.

To put it bluntly, if we just make her our legal wife, wouldn't everything be solved?

The name is correct, and the words are appropriate!
This young lady may not have a large chest, but her ambition is astonishing.

Lynn smiled gently, his gaze softening as he looked at Leah. He reached out and gently took her hand, which was resting on her lower abdomen, his tone soothing yet firm:
"Lia, you have always been an extremely important person to me. In the past few months, under your management, the finances of White Bear Territory and Shallow Beach Territory have been operating in an orderly manner. I will always remember your contributions."

And your brother Leon, without his wholehearted assistance, I wouldn't have had such a smooth journey. I will also never forget the help your family has given me.

He paused slightly, then held Leah's hand and continued, "As for the issue of identity you mentioned, it's not that I haven't considered it, but the current situation is special. I will definitely give you an answer when the time is right."

"Rest assured, absolutely no one in Baihe Territory will dare to question your identity, and no one will dare to defy my authority because of you."

Lynn is not able to fulfill Leah's wish at the moment.

It wasn't that he looked down on Leah and Leon.

Rather, he wanted to see if he could use his wife's position to gain greater political benefits.

He would become one of the few powerful earls in the North, provided that the other two dukes or the royal family were willing to recognize his earldom.

Having a legitimate title opens up much more room for political maneuvering, such as forming alliances or marriages.

Lynn has always maintained a flexible political bottom line.

He indeed looked down on this outdated feudal aristocratic system.

But when the system is in his favor, he will naturally try to extract enough benefits and capital from it.

His methods are ruthless.

Who told him to start from a low point?
Of course, if the benefits he could obtain were not satisfactory, he could still promote Leah to the position of official wife.

After all, it doesn't do him any harm.

Leon, Lia's brother, has been trying his best to help Lynn.

These days, they have also been taking great risks, constantly sending secret messengers to Lynn to pass on intelligence from Three Rivers City.

Lia is an excellent and capable wife, obedient and well-behaved, and she can manage the finances of several territories very well.

It's just that he's a bit too ambitious, and, well, he's also prone to jealousy.

But these little flaws are actually quite endearing; at least he doesn't mind them.

With this thought in mind, Lynn hugged Leah tighter, pressed his ear against her soft, warm belly, and spoke in a very gentle voice:

"Right now, I just hope you can focus on your pregnancy and take good care of yourself and our child. As for the territory's finances, you can continue to oversee them for me. There aren't many people I can trust."

Although Lynn's attitude was ambiguous, Leah was already quite satisfied.

She certainly didn't expect to achieve everything in one step.

Today was just a prelude she had laid.

If she gives birth to a boy this September, she will have more confidence to make her move for the position of the legal wife.

Lia hugged Lynn tightly, and the two spent another tender moment together.

As the sun set, soft golden light streamed through the glass windows and bathed them in its glow.

Suddenly, Mira and Millie's clear voices came from outside the door: "Sir, Miss Leah, it's time for dinner!"

(End of this chapter)