I'm not a lord

Chapter 183 Why not just pledge allegiance to me?

As soon as the more than 500 new serfs arrived, County Magistrate Robert couldn't wait to arrange for them to reclaim wasteland and plant soybeans.

Lynn provided Shallow Beach County with a large number of draft horses and a large quantity of soybeans, all free of charge.

With the provision of population, supporting materials, and preferential policies, Lynn's extensive upfront investment naturally warranted tangible results.

Along with the serfs, four young tax collectors who had just graduated from school also arrived in Shallow Beach County.

They will be stationed in Shallow Beach County to oversee future tax collection and oversight work, and will also assess Robert's performance this fall.

Therefore, the number of acres of wasteland reclaimed by each new serf household had to be recorded and 70 percent of the land had to be paid in full as taxes.

In addition, tax collectors would also count the original amount of farmland in Qiantan County, compile it into a map, and report it to the Ministry of Finance.

This Ministry of Finance was naturally a newly established department by Lynn, and the official in charge was none other than Chief Financial Officer Leah.

Lynn's current full-time army exceeds two thousand men.

This massive army could not be sustained by a single county, so it was necessary to coordinate the finances of the six counties under Baihe County to ensure adequate supplies and military pay.

At the same time, Lynn also established a treasurer's office directly under his control, headed by another lover, Jacoba, responsible for the storage and allocation of supplies, and playing a certain supervisory role over the Ministry of Finance.

The benefits of his foresight in establishing a complete financial department in White Bear Territory are beginning to show.

Simply by copying and pasting the old team, a financial system covering the entire Baihe territory can be built in a short time.

Although the system was still rudimentary, it was at least a four-wheeled carriage that could be driven on the road, and it wouldn't fall apart as soon as it started.

As for the talent gap, it is filled by students who have just graduated from school.

They were forced into this role by Lynn; they were young and inexperienced, but at least they could collect taxes, draw diagrams, and write simple official documents.

Lynn firmly believed that excellent officials could not be taught in schools alone, and that it was better to put them to work earlier than to have them continue their studies in school.

Because of the high salaries offered, these students were happy to start working early.

Lynn also set performance targets for them, and as long as they worked hard and diligently, they would have the opportunity to be promoted.

While establishing the financial system, Lynn also began to relocate important departments such as the tax collectors' school and the armor workshop.

Following his instructions, the school, led by Lao Liu Timo, moved to Canglu County, and the number of teachers and students quickly expanded from about thirty to more than two hundred.

Heron County is located north of River Marsh County, making it easy for Lynn to patrol and manage, and also allowing him to maintain a certain distance from the front lines of the war.

Most students came from families of stewards and village heads in various districts and counties. They had a certain foundation in arithmetic and literacy. After receiving about a year of education, they could follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and become a glorious tax official.

The purpose of this tax collector school is very clear: it can provide Lynn with much-needed tax collectors and also win over officials from various territories, making them willing to work for the master.

As for the armor workshop, it was naturally gradually moved to Chixi County in the middle of the Baihe River under the leadership of blacksmith Eric.

Now the entire White River Territory lives off the twenty tons of iron ingots that Lynn 'scammed' from Three Rivers City.

Ten tons were used for daily life and ten tons were used for forging weapons, arrowheads, and armor.

With the recruitment of a thousand new soldiers, the iron ingots are being consumed at an alarming rate, and it is highly unlikely that the supply will last until July.

Fortunately, the people of the Gaoya tribe have begun to build a road connecting to the limonite mine, and the mine is expected to be in production by mid-June.

Therefore, Lynn issued another order to Chixi County to build iron smelting facilities.

Compared to the advanced and complex blast furnace ironmaking, bloomery ironmaking technology is far behind.

The advantage is that the equipment needed for iron smelting is relatively primitive.

A small, mud-built furnace a little over a meter high, plus two sheepskin blowers, is enough to heat and reduce raw limonite into spongy bloomery iron.

Eric was very familiar with this simple iron-making technique. He had already put aside his task of forging plate armor and rushed to Chixi County ahead of schedule to oversee the construction of the new armor workshop and iron-making workshop.

Eric will then train a group of ironworkers for Lynn.

Lynn was willing to sacrifice a small amount of short-term benefits in order to enable more efficient armor production in the future.

Since last October, the armor workshop has been operating at full capacity, providing Lynn with twenty sets of half-body plate armor and fifty sets of half-body plate armor suits.

Most of the advanced armor was allocated by Lynn to Hugh's cavalry, which was his most valuable troop type, so naturally they had to be equipped with the best armor and weapons.

The six hundred infantrymen under the command of the third and fourth princes were all equipped with chainmail. Apart from not having mounts, their equipment level was comparable to that of relatively wealthy knights' squires.

As for the two hundred barbarian archers, they still mainly wore leather armor. Compared to heavy armor, they needed mobility on the battlefield.

Before holding a mass wedding for the officers, Lynn first held a military parade outside the castle in River Marsh County.

Those under his review were the three hundred infantrymen under the command of the fourth brother, and the one hundred longbowmen led by young Soward.

The armed merchant ships of Sanhe City, which had blocked the Baihe River, no longer dared to sail into Baihe territory, and only dared to patrol north of the Sanhe City dock.

That's why Lynn dared to boldly hold the military parade.

He stood tall and imposing on the makeshift platform, below which came a deafening roar of shouts of "Loyalty! Sincerity!"

This army was formed last autumn and has now undergone more than half a year of training and several battles of varying scales. It has begun to possess what is known as 'military prestige'.

Just by standing there, anyone could tell them apart from ordinary conscripts.

Immediately after the military parade, a grand mass wedding took place.

This wedding will produce a total of fifty couples. Among the grooms are those from rural backgrounds and serf backgrounds, while the brides are among the youngest and most beautiful girls from their respective districts and counties.

Some of them were in love freely, some were arranged by their parents, and some were chosen by Lynn.

In the past few wars, many soldiers were seriously wounded and lost their ability to serve in the military and do heavy physical labor.

Lynn would not only provide them with lifelong welfare benefits, but also assign wives to unmarried wounded soldiers.

Most of these women were wives of knights and squires from their original territories; their husbands had died in battle, and they themselves had become widows.

However, due to their outstanding appearance and background, they remained very popular in the newly established Shirakawa Territory.

They were originally the collective spoils of Lynn and his soldiers, and it was appropriate to reward them with unmarried wounded soldiers.

There were fifty or sixty large wooden tables set up in the open space outside the castle, each table filled with delicacies such as ale, roast meat, bread, bacon, fried eggs, and honey.

Each dish is prepared by an excellent cook, and the enticing aroma fills the air.

Witnessed by their comrades and family members, fifty couples walked hand in hand into the venue.

Once everyone had arrived, Lynn invited the newcomers to the platform. He then stood to the side and suddenly shouted, "Attention!" The soldiers seemed to have been switched on, and instinctively stood at attention on the spot. Even the wounded soldiers who were missing limbs were trying their best to assume a military posture.

They even chanted in unison: "Loyalty! Honesty!"

The soldiers watching from below burst into laughter, and the grooms on the stage realized their mistake and blushed with embarrassment.

But Lynn's face was solemn as he addressed the bride and groom:

"The slogan of loyalty is not wrong. From this day forward, you will be husband and wife, and you must remain loyal to each other."

"With my witness, your marriage is sacred and inviolable. If anyone dares to break your marriage, I swear in the name of the Earl of Baihe County, I will not let him get away with it!"

Then he shouted, "Did you understand?!"

The brides were taken aback by what they heard, while the grooms beside them shouted back, "We understand! We understand!"

"Ladies, your husbands need your response too!" Lynn didn't give up, instead giving a serious look as she swept her gaze across the brides present.

A moment later, a soft yet firm female voice rang out from the crowd: "I understand now too."

Lynn looked in the direction of the sound and saw the blue-haired girl holding Soward's hand firmly; she was Soward's fiancée.

This girl had once served as a maid to Yagena and was fluent in the common language of the continent.

With one person taking the lead, the other brides echoed, "Understood!"

Lynn asked again, "Very well, are you willing to be faithful to your husbands forever?"

"Yes!" This time the girls' voices were much more unified.

"And you gentlemen? Do you take your wives to be faithful?" Lynn repeated the vows, but this time to the grooms.

"Of course we are willing too!" The grooms' excited voices were full of determination and strength, resounding through the sky.

A smile appeared on Lynn's face. He waved his right hand, and immediately soldiers carried two large boxes onto the platform.

Inside the box were the gifts he had prepared for the newlyweds—high-quality fur coats.

These leather garments are not made of sheepskin, but are tanned from various animal hides, including fox, beaver, squirrel, bear, mink and deer hides.

These furs all have one thing in common: they are expensive.

The North has a strict hierarchical system, which legally restricts ordinary people from wearing expensive wild animal skins.

But in White River Territory, Lynn generously bestowed the furs that the city's wealthy coveted upon his newlywed soldiers.

"My soldiers, today is just the beginning of your new life. You will not only conquer your wives, but also follow me to conquer manors, territories and cities, and even the entire Northern Kingdom!"

These furs were not only a token of Lynn's affection for his soldiers, but also the first time he had shown them his ambition.

What are mere fur coats compared to this? The entire North will belong to you in the future!

After the trendy and exciting mass wedding banquet comes to an end, these soldiers will go to the military camp in the south in batches to take over the duties of the soldiers in the camp.

As is customary, after the military parade, they should naturally head to the battlefield.

Two days later, the second and third sons in the front-line camp led their troops back to River Marsh County for a short rest, while the fourth son, Joseph, and young Soward took over the camp's defenses.

It is now late May, and the destroyed strips of land have completely lost their value for replanting, so naturally there is no longer any need for the second son to continue patrolling.

The cavalry under the second son's command have been on the move for a month and deserve a good rest.

However, no sooner had they arrived in Kawanuma Prefecture than a messenger came from Mikawa Castle.

The envoy traveled upstream from the city of Mikawa in the smallest galley, with several conspicuous white flags flying on board, fearing that the soldiers would mistake it for an enemy ship and riddle it with bullets.

Lynn met the envoy at the dock warehouse and appeared extremely impatient: "So, what does Jürgen want to say to me?"

"Your Excellency Earl of White River, the mayor wishes to renegotiate with you to resolve the conflicts and contradictions between us." The envoy had visited White River Territory before, but this time his attitude was noticeably more humble.

"Renegotiate? What good would that do me?" Lynn crossed his arms and glanced at the envoy with disdain.

The envoy immediately replied, "Of course it will benefit you. The city council is willing to offer three times the price of grain produced in Baihe Territory, based on the grain price of the year before last."

"Wow? Three times? Jürgen is really generous." Lynn just sneered.

The envoy continued to adopt a humble stance: "Mayor sent me to Baihe Territory with absolute sincerity and is willing to meet all your reasonable requests."

"Sincerity? I see no sincerity from you!" Lynn suddenly raised his voice. "Too late! It's all too late! Three times the price was the old price. Now, most of the fields in the western suburbs are confirmed to have no harvest. Do you think a mere three times the grain price will satisfy me?"

"How many do you want?" the messenger hurriedly asked.

Lynn held up two fingers and said lightly, "Three times two, I demand six times the price of grain!"

"Six times! This...this...this is absolutely impossible!" The envoy was startled and immediately rejected the idea.

Lynn had also guessed that the envoy would reject the proposal.

The Northern Kingdom has always had a high grain production rate. Even during the worst years of famine and natural disasters, grain prices only need to increase tenfold or so to reach their peak.

The food shortage faced by Sanhe City was mainly due to the high-intensity local war. As long as one was willing to pay about five times the price, it was not difficult to buy food from other regions.

However, Sanhe City could not accept such a high price for grain, as most of the lower-class citizens could not afford it.

Lynn's offer of six times the price was clearly an attempt to arbitrate.

He immediately stood up, making a gesture as if to turn and leave:
"Then please leave. I see no sincerity from you."

The messenger anxiously stretched out his hand: "Please wait a moment. If you can accept three times the price of grain, we are willing to meet your requirements in other ways."

Lynn turned his head and asked, "In what aspect?"

"For example, we could make concessions on the prices of iron ingots, salt, ale, and cloth to compensate for your losses on grain prices," the messenger said hastily, as if afraid Lynn would leave at that moment.

Lynn sat down again, raising an eyebrow: "I would prefer you to make concessions in other areas rather than monetary gains."

"Please speak." The envoy's expression softened immediately upon hearing that there was hope.

“I am a kind-hearted person, and of course I don’t want to see a prosperous city decline. If you can meet one small condition of mine, I am even willing to provide you with the cheapest food.”

As soon as Lynn spoke, he saw the messenger's face light up with joy.

He immediately pointed at the messenger, a smile playing on his lips, "As long as you pledge your allegiance to me, won't all the problems be solved?"

(End of this chapter)