In a sense, this problem was unsolvable.
The reason was that the total amount of food was limited. After the Months of Demons, the flow of food in the kingdom would enter a state of shortage. Not only would the price soar, but it was also not guaranteed that people would be able to buy it. The food shortage would not be alleviated until the wheat fields were harvested. Autumn was the season with the most frequent food transactions, and the price would rise rapidly during the Months of Demons.
Of course, these transactions were generally for merchants and nobles. As for the penniless refugees and Rats, they would have to go into the cold winter with empty stomachs, no matter how much wheat they had.
According to Barov's many years of experience as the Assistant Minister of Finance, at this time, all the major cities were waiting for the wheat to ripen, so it was unlikely that they would sell a large amount of food. The shortage of a few thousand people might be able to be made up, but it would not be satisfied with tens of thousands of people.
Since they could not increase their income, they could only reduce their expenditure.
Edith's most likely suggestion was to reduce the food supply of the whole city, reduce the daily purchase quantity, and let the subjects eat oatmeal instead of bread, so that they could persist until the day of the harvest.
In this case, he could refute the inappropriateness of this approach from His Majesty's promise to exchange food, the fact that the facts contradicted the propaganda, and the food shortage panic.
Seeing Edith's raised eyebrows and flipping through the list, he knew that this problem was not easy to solve.
It would not be long before she asked him what to do.
Thinking of this, Barov could not help but stroke his beard. To be in charge of the overall situation, one must not only be skilled in government affairs, but also have a clear understanding of the characteristics of the city. For example, when he was in King's City, he could recite the price of the specialty products of the Alchemist Workshop and the amount of silver ore shipped from Silver City every month without thinking. These were not things that could be remembered in a short time.
And the specialty of Neverwinter was the witches.
Barov knew that there was a green-haired woman named Leaf in the Witch Union, who could make the wheat fields grow at an incredible speed. When she did not care about the soil, she could even make the wheat ripen in a day, and the ears of wheat were far better than those of the Golden Ones.
In other words, as long as she was asked to manage a wheat field and focus on rapid grain production, she could make up for the current shortage.
Of course, he also knew that His Majesty was asking Leaf to control the Misty Forest in the west to build an early warning line against the demons. However, given that the demons would appear in several years, there was no hurry to stop for two or three months.
This was something that Edith had no way of knowing.
No matter how talented she was and how she had been involved in managing the affairs of the Northern Region since she was an adult, it was impossible for her to know this completely unfamiliar city like the back of her hand after only half a month since she arrived in Neverwinter, let alone understand the abilities of every witch.
She didn't even understand why the office of the Ministry of Education was connected to the archives, and why the Minister of Education often appeared there and had the power to read all the documents.
After a while, Edith put down the list and slightly raised the corner of her mouth.
"This problem is actually not difficult to solve."
"Hmm …" Barov nodded at first, then froze. "What?"
"Before Deepvalley Town was developed, most of the land in the Northern Region was not suitable for growing wheat. So in spring, food would be particularly scarce, so the local lord set his sights on the Eastern Region and the Kingdom of Dawn."
"You mean …" He suddenly realized something.
"Since we can't plant it or buy it, we can only rob it from others," Edith said casually. "Isn't that the situation now? His Majesty's army is attacking Fallen Dragon Ridge. I heard that Countess Spear's brother has roped in many local nobles in order to resist her, right? Now that we have all the reasons and means, let's kill them one by one. How many Golden Dragons and food do you think they have hidden in their basements? "
"The shortage of food is just that there's not much food left. In fact, most of the food produced by the kingdom has been divided by the nobles. They can use this part of food to control the freedmen and farmers in their territories, and also make a large amount of Golden Dragon during the bad harvest years." She spoke slowly, but her voice was chilly in Barov's ears. "If we turn Fallen Dragon Ridge upside down, I think it's not a problem to provide food for tens of thousands of people. If it's not enough, there are several cities in the Southeast waiting for His Majesty's demand. "
"They're all nobles …" The director closed his mouth halfway. That's right … After His Majesty occupied the Southern Region, they were no longer nobles. As long as they acted quickly enough, these spoils would be enough to fill the granary of Neverwinter again.
And unlike King's City, Fallen Dragon Ridge was a city completely loyal to His Majesty, and it was also the key to the Southern Region. At that time, City hall would not only directly send people to assist Countess Spear to establish a new government, but also copy the laws, planning, and education of Neverwinter. Therefore, removing all the nobles would be beneficial to the stability of the city.
What puzzled Barov was why Edith could accept the edict to remove the nobles so quickly. Even if he wholeheartedly supported His Majesty's order, he would not be able to adapt so quickly … And she was the successor of the Duke of the Northern Region.
*
Back in the Foreign Affairs Building, Edith pushed open the door and saw Cole leaning over the table, flipping through a thin book.
"What's that?"
"Er … I bought it from the Convenience Market. It looks like a picture, but it's accompanied by a story. It's quite interesting." Her brother looked up. "You look happy."
"Am I?"
"I rarely see you smile like this in the City of Evernight." Cole curled his lips. "Are we really not going back?"
"For the time being. When Father replies, His Majesty will probably allow you to return to the Northern Region." Edith sat opposite him and reached out to pick up the cover, only to see the words "Diary of a Witch" printed on it.
"What about you?"
"I'm going to stay here."
"Why?" Cole was puzzled. "Is the City hall that interesting?"
"It's not the City hall that's interesting. It's Roland Wimbledon's City hall that's interesting." She corrected him with a chuckle. "Do you know what I need to do in the City of Evernight?"
"Just let Father know."
"Something like that. Many people will carry out the order. Now that I think about it, it has little to do with me. It's just because of my identity and Father will listen to my advice … Of course, it's only in the fief of the Kant Family. " Edith said with interest, "But here, my identity not only doesn't work, but even hinders me. There are almost no nobles in the City hall, and they don't care whether I'm the daughter of the Duke of the Northern Region or not. Everyone works according to their ability. Do you understand what I mean?"
Cole shook his head.
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