"It seems that I have to work harder." Roland shrugged inwardly. It was not a glorious thing to be left behind by his subordinates.
Fortunately, Redwater City had basically recovered its stability. Seventy percent of the nobles who had passed the screening had decided to continue their original businesses, while the rest hoped to try their luck in City Hall. Although the basic requirement to apply for the administrative examination was "literacy", Roland believed that these people had little chance of passing the final examination and becoming official officials.
After all, it was not easy to change the habits of the nobles.
Of course, even being a clerk was much better than being killed.
There were even three nobles who wanted to join the First Army. They were all knights, and under Nightingale's observation, they didn't have any malicious intentions. However, Nightingale still adhered to the decision made at the beginning of the establishment of the army and rejected their applications.
After solving the problem of reclaiming the feudal rights, the work efficiency of Redwater City and the surrounding areas was obviously much more efficient. In just over a week, more than 20,000 people had boarded the ships to Neverwinter, and more people were still gathering in Redwater City. On the surface, it seemed that giving up the small towns and villages had reduced the territory that could be controlled, but in fact, it had greatly increased the control of the City Hall.
In this era where even roads were scarce, it was no different from a fool's dream to implement the government's decree in the countryside. It was barely possible to put together a set of leadership within a year, but it was impossible to make grass-roots cadres flourish everywhere. Barov had asked him more than once why he insisted on transporting people back to Neverwinter instead of unifying the kingdom and letting everything continue as before, but he had never given a comprehensive and systematic answer.
Because the director of City Hall could not imagine how many people a coal and iron complex industry could absorb, and it was difficult to understand how much energy and time it would take to build such an industry.
And most importantly, those remote territories could not really operate freely. From the perspective of resources, it was a waste to keep them.
Therefore, it was more suitable for the current situation of Graycastle to concentrate the population in several major cities with convenient water systems and transportation.
From the moment of the land reform, Roland could truly be considered to have jurisdiction over the Redwater area.
His next target was naturally Silver City.
Compared to the behemoth Redwater City, it was much easier to deal with this satellite city of the old king's city. It was originally an ordinary fief, no different from the dozens of fiefs surrounding the king's city. It was not until the discovery of the first open-sky silver mine that its existence became special. As more and more precious metal ore veins were excavated, the place became more and more lively, and finally changed into what it was today.
Considering the importance of Silver City's production to Graycastle's coinage, the next few Lords were not only the "good guy" Earl William, who was loyal to Wimbledon, but their power was also limited. For decades, there were almost no other nobles who were enfeoffed.
In other words, as long as the City Lord expressed his stance, Silver City would be his.
And with the bloodline of Wimbledon III and his identity as the highest heir, Roland believed it wouldn't be difficult to "convince" him.
But what made him a little concerned was that this city built on a mineral vein was also Nightingale's hometown.
Although every time he asked her about it, the answer he got was "I've already broken off relations with the Gilen family, so you don't have to worry about my opinion", he always felt that Nightingale seemed to be avoiding something. But the busy government affairs prevented Roland from spending too much time on guessing, so he had to put this matter aside for the time being.
On the fourth day after receiving Iron Axe's secret letter, the First Army's Eastern Front Army marched along the artificial canal into the territory of Silver City.
…
Almost the same as when they entered Redwater City, Earl William led a team out of the city to welcome them. After a warm greeting, they invited them to a banquet. The difference was that the welcoming team in Redwater City were all enfeoffed nobles, while the old City Lord's team included many merchants, including his old acquaintance Hogg.
In the evening, the Earl's opening speech set the tone for the banquet — he was willing to surrender his enfeoffed rights and fully support His Majesty's new policies. There was a sudden warm applause in the hall, which made the latter swallow all the words he had prepared.
With Hogg's help, the welcome banquet turned into a business meeting.
"Don't you always ask me how the machine in the mine works?" He said proudly in front of a group of merchants. "Now, the real inventor is standing in front of you — it's His Majesty! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You don't have to go to the Western Region, you can get the answer directly in Silver City! "
The merchants immediately swarmed over.
"Your Majesty, can you tell us why it's so strong?"
"I don't know if you're willing to sell more of the rail system. Diamond's Chamber of Commerce is looking forward to cooperating with Neverwinter."
"Your Majesty, do you still remember the Swift Sail Association? Two years ago, we provided you with several sailboats to transport refugees from the Eastern Region. In terms of trade strength, we're definitely one of the best chambers of commerce in the Central Region. If possible, the Swift Sail Association hopes to purchase a complete set of steam engine manufacturing equipment. Of course, the price will definitely be generous! "
Thinking of the "good news" that the female merchant Margaery had revealed to him, Roland did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Hogg will bring a large number of merchants to the Western Region." He did not expect that he would be the first one to arrive.
If the rest of Graycastle was like Silver City, how wonderful the world would be.
After finally satisfying the curiosity of the merchants, he finally found a chance to be alone with the old Castellan.
The two walked through the hall and onto the balcony where the evening breeze blew, temporarily isolating the hustle and bustle of the banquet behind them.
Roland held a glass of wine and looked down at the city under the night sky for a while before saying, "Don't you feel it's a pity to hand over the enfeoffment just like that?"
"I've never really owned it, so what's there to feel pity about …" Earl William smiled. "Your father and your father's father, although they didn't say it explicitly, would never allow Silver City to have its own group of followers. The William family's motto is never to be enfeoffed, so to me, it's not as important as you think." He paused for a moment. "Besides, I don't need this power."
"You don't need it?" Roland could not help but ask curiously.
"The original intention of enfeoffment is to strengthen and consolidate one's own power to prevent others from spying on it. Silver City does not have this risk. Anyone who has designs on this city is tantamount to openly challenging the authority of the Wimbledon Royal Family. Therefore, as long as the family remains loyal, there is no need to worry about being harmed." The Earl took a sip of wine. "On the other hand, enfeoffment, in a sense, is also a form of weakening oneself. It divides the resources that originally belonged to oneself to others in exchange for the latter's loyalty. Rather than letting these resources be in the hands of others, I prefer to manage it myself. Do you know how much the output of Silver City has increased in the past 20 years? "
Roland shook his head.
"A full 16 times. For this, I have invested most of my energy …" The old Castellan said in high spirits. "In the beginning, it was only an open-air silver mine. Now, there are more than 10 types of mineral veins. Similarly, in the beginning, there were only mining teams sent by the Royal Family. Now, not only are there all kinds of ore and jewelry merchants, there are also many auxiliary industries developed through mining, such as oil lamps, mining shovels, and so on. Your steam engine can also be counted as one of them. Am I right?"
"Indeed," Roland said with a smile.
"This feeling is like raising a child and watching it gradually grow up. Tell me, how could I bear to cut it open and give it to others? Therefore, I do not need such power. " At this point, the Earl let out a long sigh. "Your Majesty, are you willing to let me continue to manage this shining city for you?"
"Of course, if you are willing." He raised his wine glass to the Earl. The two looked at each other and smiled. Then, the glasses gently clinked together, making a crisp sound.
"By the way," Roland drank the wine in one gulp and changed the topic. "Do you know anything about the Gilen Family?"
"Gilen?" Earl William thought for a while before he raised his eyebrows and said, "I have some impression of them, but I can't remember them clearly. After all, Silver City has not had a new noble for a long time. These families have existed here before the silver mine was discovered. If I remember correctly, the last Gilen should have changed his surname two years ago. Now, that land belongs to the Somi Family. "
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