Throne of the North

Viscounty of Dragon.

Seeing the slaves kneeling on the ground in front of him, Viscount Dragon couldn't help but feel angry. He drew out the sword of the knight next to him and chopped down the two people in front of him in a pool of blood.

Blood flowed down the body of the wailing slave, and everyone was trembling and afraid to make a sound.

"Waste! Waste!"

Viscount Dragon chopped wildly until the corpse in front of him was no longer moving.

"That's my wealth, sir, that's the Dragon family's wealth. You damn mud-legged people, how dare you steal my wealth!"

"Kill, kill them all, hang their whole family in the street!"

Viscount Dragon roared, his eyes red with anger, and his murderous intent made the surrounding soldiers kneel down in fear.

After a long time, the body on the ground was gone. Viscount Dragon slumped on the chair and wanted to reach out, but found that all the silver cups had been thrown out by him.

After killing the slave, he finally calmed down a lot, and his heart was filled with fear.

"No, it shouldn't be like this. Dragon's glory must not fade in my hands, and I cannot become a sinner."

There were tears streaming down the corners of Viscount Dragon's eyes. He slumped down on the chair in an awkward manner without any aristocratic demeanor, and his eyes gradually became dull.

"No, no, we can't go on like this. I'm going to find the Marquis. Only the Marquis can save me."

"Yes, there is another world. The wealth in the other world can make up for the lost wealth."

“Where are all the damn people going!!!”

"Damn Baron Lane, damn Lingdu County nobles, I won't give in so easily, absolutely not! The glory of the Dragon family cannot be desecrated!"

Outside the door, the knight of Viscount Dragon came in and knelt on one knee in front of the viscount.

"master."

"The only thing that can save the glory of the viscounty territory now is another world."

"Augusto, I want you to take slaves to another world to mine ore and bring them back."

"Follow your wishes."

Augusto, the golden knight, stood up, took off his mask, and then said hesitantly:

"Sir, but there are not many slaves in the territory who can mine. You have lost a lot of people in the wars in the past few years."

"Then turn all those damn commoners who can't grow food and jasmine into slaves. If it weren't for the damn mud-legged people who couldn't sell the things they grow, how could I have lost tens of thousands of gold coins in a few months? !”

"All of them deserve to die, all of them deserve to die! Only by mining for me can we make up for their sins!"

Viscount Dragon was so angry that he covered hundreds of civilians with his anger.

"As commanded."

The Lord Viscount's order was executed faithfully by the knight, and soon the Viscount was in a state of uproar, but in the face of the military's suppression, no one could resist.

"Tax, summer tax, land tax, all will be increased by 10% for me!"

Viscount Dragon gritted his teeth. As long as those damn mud-legged people kept squeezing them, they would always be able to squeeze out some wealth. At worst, they would all become his slaves and be sent to another world to mine.

"I have to see the Marquis, I have to see him."

…

Tundra territory.

Butler Beard came to the study, where Ryan was using the flames burning on his fingers to grill a leg of lamb that was rolling over the charcoal fire.

"It smells so good."

Ryan took a greedy breath of the mutton smell that was fragrant due to various spices. It was not very pungent, perhaps because these goats had been so well-fed.

"You're here, how's the ice cellar going?"

Master Lane asked, and Beard lowered his head respectfully.

"Sir, the three ice cellars have been sealed. Master Missi said that the food inside will be kept fresh for at least six months."

"Well, Master Missi is about to become a magician. Send him two thousand magic crystals to help him break through."

"After all, he is a descendant of the nobles. Archmage McCann said that he might become an archmage."

In the Imperial City Magic Academy, everyone is a debt-ridden magician, but being able to borrow so much money and still follow the archmage shows that he is very talented.

Beard nodded respectfully and then stated his purpose.

"Sir, Viscount Dragon has a group of more than 3,000 mining slaves heading to Leiyun County."

"oh?"

Ryan's eyes lit up.

"More than 3,000 people. Tsk tsk. It seems that the remaining population in the viscounty is less than 15,000, right?"

"It seems that he can't hold on any longer. Carrying the family's declining reputation will probably not make him look good in the entire aristocratic circle."

There are not many things that nobles care about most, land and glory.

In other words, wealth and fame.

Wealth is a golden punk, but fame represents status in the empire.

After such a long period of deliberation, he was still able to hold on when the supplies in the Dragon Viscount territory could not be sold for the first time. But the second time, which was also the last acquisition before winter, when the supplies still could not be sold, he decided to You can decide that those things are destined to rot in your own hands.

Of course, Viscount Dragon's family will not decline because of this incident, but not earning a few gold coins in a year means that Viscount Dragon's strength will not be maintained in all aspects next year.

What strength? The army cannot train on a large scale to maintain combat effectiveness, the nobles cannot hold banquets at regular intervals to maintain relationships with other nobles, the nobles cannot spend money to improve themselves, nor can they purchase expensive goods that represent status and face in the Southern Chamber of Commerce.

This is no different than sealing off the territory.

If you want to maintain all the needs of a viscount, you will inevitably need to use the accumulation and wealth left behind.

And this... often represents the beginning of a family's decline.

From generation to generation, nobles have kept gold coins in their treasury. This is a sense of accomplishment from a good harvest and represents the wisdom and talent of the noble family when they were in office.

Saving it inside shows that this generation of nobles is still capable and will be praised by others, but taking it outside shows that this generation of nobles is not good enough and needs to eat the wealth left by their ancestors to survive.

Such a noble is not called a qualified successor.

This is what the current Viscount Dragon cares about the most. The way he became the Viscount was originally not aboveboard and could even be considered dirty. Therefore, after becoming the Viscount, he cares about this the most.

But now, let alone the crops in the territory, the most important thing is that they can't sell the iron ore now. You must know that iron ore was the most direct and huge source of wealth for every noble in Beifeng Province in the past.

A baron's annual income of several thousand gold coins at that time depended mostly on iron ore.

If there were a table comparing expenditures and incomes, Viscount Dragon would definitely have a conspicuous deficit so far this year.

Twice, Ryan only needed to prevent Viscount Dragon's resources from being sold to the south or to the Kingdom of Andara through him. Viscount Dragon's revenue would be in deficit.

"This is the disadvantage. Seventy-eight percent of the family's wealth is put in one basket, and the remaining twenty percent relies on the production of slaves and civilians."

The life of Viscount Dragon during this period was not good. Viscount Dragon himself had no influence, but the further down the line, especially the civilians who had been forced to sell themselves to lords and became slaves, the worse the slaves became. However, the Viscount made no money, and they only had a meager bite of black bread every day when they were already hungry.

Hungry? Then you can only sneak out and eat something strange. If you are discovered, you will inevitably get slapped.

Everything in the territory belongs to the noble noble lord.

"Viscount Dragon should be looking for Marquis Beifong now, right?"

"It's a pity that our Lord Marquis has no channels to sell iron weapons and tools, and cannot spread the faith of light. How can the Cathedral of Light allocate funds?"

"When Viscount Dragon comes back, send someone to ask if you can buy the things from the Viscount at a low price."

"If it can't be done, forget it. He can rot in the ground if he wants."

Ryan ordered, and Beard took the order and left.

"in addition!"

Ryan sat up slightly and put down the mutton in his hand.

"Viscount Miles is not in Lingdu City now. We should help him manage that city and help the Miles family obtain the wealth they deserve."

"Let the Miles family prevent the miners from entering the other world to mine, but half of them will work for me."

"After they enter the other world, we will send the one thousand miners we left in the magic crystal mine to the Green Lion tribe to mine gold mines. Adding the population of the indigenous tribes, there will be three to four thousand miners, and the mining speed can be Faster."

Beard asked hesitantly:

"Sir, I'm afraid the Miles family won't agree."

"The pickaxes and other transportation tools used by the Myers family are all led by the tundra so that they will not refuse."

"They don't have the confidence to refuse."

From the time he first obtained a street in Lingdu City from Viscount Miles to now, Ryan has purchased a large amount of land in Lingdu City through many means, some of which were directly traded with Viscount Miles, and some It is a joint venture, that is, held by Baron Lane and Viscount Miles at the same time.

The price is not high, because Lingdu City is a city, and which streets can prosper is now all in Ryan's hands.

If Viscount Miles hadn't clung to the farmland outside the city, Ryan could have established a manor outside Lingdu City and become a farmer.

If in Beifeng Province, Baron Lane has stood at the top alongside those great nobles, then in Lingdu County, he has absolute say that is unimaginable to outsiders.

Has anyone in Lingdu County noticed it? Yes, for example, Baron Kendra was the first to notice this, but it was useless. Baron Lane now helps all the nobles in Lingdu County, except Viscount Dragon.

The wealth that all the nobles have gained this year is astonishing. It is still half a year before the Divine Grace Festival, and they have already gained 50% more wealth than last year.

In front of a large number of gold, silver and copper coins, the nobles had no complaints.

Why is it growing so fast?

Baron Kendra also thought about it. When he personally went to the workshop in his territory and saw that all the craftsmen were only producing certain parts or embryonic semi-finished products, he understood something.

The efficiency is not at the same level as before. Even if the workshop is not expanded, the efficiency of the craftsmen is double or even triple that of the past.

There is even a team from the frozen land in Lingdu County, which specializes in transporting the materials and tools needed by blacksmiths and carpenters, so that craftsmen can start working almost without leaving their homes.

Time is money, and efficiency is also money. With the blessing of both, the production efficiency generated by Lingdu County allows Ryan to easily handle orders from the Chamber of Commerce and the Kingdom of Andara.

Under this model, let alone Baron Kendra, even if the two viscounts join forces, they cannot shake Baron Ryan's position in Lingdu County.

However, in recent days, the efficiency in Lingdu County has been declining.

Because of the mineral veins in the other world, all the nobles have sent a large number of laborers to go there, and the population in the territory has declined a lot.

According to what Ryan has learned recently, the population in a baron's territory has almost decreased by 40% to 45%.

The population in a viscount's territory usually ranges from 25,000 to 45,000. In places like cities, it may be increased by about 10,000, but it is also reduced by almost 25%.

Without counting the earldoms, Ryan has calculated the population of the two earldoms. He is now certain that Count Winter has a dying alien world hanging in his hands.

They are all heading to the alien world to mine one after another. Ryan can't say how many miners will eventually gather there.

But with hundreds of thousands of miners mining together, the wealth of the nobles in the North Wind Province will probably be generally improved in a few years.

This is the charm of windfall.

But it also caused the North Wind Province to become deserted all of a sudden. Ryan stood on the top of the Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, looking at the strong wind blowing from the north, and didn't know whether it was due to popularity or weather.

"Are our firewoods prepared enough?"

Behind Ryan, the female official wearing a fox fur cloak thought for a while and answered.

"According to the drying, steaming, smoking and roasting in the past few months, the stock of firewood can sustain everyone in the territory for half a year without increasing."

"According to a family of six people, it can last for two more months. According to the different allocations of slaves and civilians, it can last for another month and a half. If the slave family only uses twelve pieces of firewood a day, it can continue for another month. If..."

"Okay, the minimum standard is twelve pieces. The average temperature of one piece is enough to maintain two hours. If it is lower, people will freeze to death."

According to the standard set by Ryan, a piece of firewood from another world can maintain the temperature for forty to forty-five minutes, but charcoal can also provide temperature, but it will be much lower. According to one and a half hours, if the air is cold in the last half hour, it can be resisted by a closed environment and clothes.

After half an hour, add the second piece of firewood.

Twelve pieces, a day has passed. There is no way. Their firewood is very strong, but in the cold winter in the north, it can only last for so long.

If there is a bigger snowstorm this year... Ryan will have to increase the distribution ratio of firewood at that time.

"If that's the case, it seems to be the best option for those nobles to send people to another world to mine."

Others are not as crazy as Ryan in preparing supplies for the winter.