"This is what life is like!" Laurist exclaimed in satisfaction.
At this moment, he was in the study room on the third floor of the main building of the Raging Bear City's central castle. The warm November sunlight shone on him through the large window, making him feel a little tired as he leaned against the chair. Yes, he had slept with Sylvia and his four concubines for half the night. Early in the morning, he was woken up by his precious son's cries. Now, he felt a little sleepy under the sun.
However, the arrival of Fatty Shi and the others interrupted Laurist's wishful thinking.
"Hey, hey, hey, Your Highness, you've already rested for five or six days since you came back. It's time to get down to business …" Fatty Shi complained. He couldn't bear to see Laurist enjoying himself. Whenever he thought about how he was so busy while Laurist was lazily basking in the sun, he felt unbalanced.
Laurist sighed and stood up. However, when he saw the stack of documents that Fatty Shi and the three attendants behind him were holding, he couldn't help but sigh. "No way, why are there so many documents?"
Fatty Shi instructed the three attendants to put the documents on the desk and let them leave. At the same time, he ordered Genolio, who was standing at the side, to bring him a bottle of fruit wine. At the same time, he instructed the kitchen manager to make more delicacies for lunch and send them directly to the study. He would be working here for the day.
"Is this a lot of documents?" Fatty Shi said unhappily. "Go to my office and see if there's any place to stay. It's all stuffed. The documents here are all summaries of the affairs of the past two years. I've basically handled them. Now, go through them and sign your name. Then, I can put all the executive documents in the office into the archives. "
This was the rule of the Norton Family. Even though Fatty Shi could handle the various family affairs on Laurist's behalf, the relevant documents couldn't be put into the archives without Laurist's signature. All the plans and execution of the affairs had to be summarized according to procedures for Laurist to look through, so that the head of the family could know what was going on.
However, Loriste dealt with these documents very quickly, reading ten lines at a glance before signing his signature. As the Chief Knight of the Norton Family, Fatty Shi handled these affairs very well, and Laurist approved of his methods. There were a few documents that Laurist was interested in that were picked out and placed to the side. He planned to ask Fatty Shi about the details of this matter in a while. Soon, a large stack of documents on the desk was dealt with, but there were still three stacks of the same documents on the desk.
"By the way, Your Highness, is Shihuard not back yet?" Fatty Shi, who was tasting the fruit wine, asked when he saw Lollister stretch and stop.
"Yes, Redi went to pick him up. He should be back tomorrow or the day after." The two years of seclusion had long since passed, but it was said that Shi Huard had touched the core of his training and was still honing his swordsmanship in the back mountain of Monolith Castle. After Laurist returned to the Monolith Castle, Redi was ordered to fetch him back.
"Are you going to let Howard take over the guard camp when he comes back?"
"Yes." Laurist nodded, "But the most important thing is to let him get married first. Before he came back, Duke Filim complained that his daughter was almost an old maid. I've already promised him that he will bring his daughter back at the end of this year. After the New Year's celebration, I'll take care of Shihuard and Katerina's wedding. "
"Didn't Duke Filim say what his daughter's dowry is?" Fatty Shi asked with interest, "He's already been promoted to a duke. I think his daughter's dowry must be generous, at least it should be presentable."
Laurist smiled and shook his head, "You know the situation of the Filim Family. The entire southern province is now their territory. Duke Filim wanted to break a gold coin in half and spend it. The southern province is poor, and it's difficult to support the development of the entire southern province with the income of his original family territory. So his daughter Katerina's dowry isn't much, but he's going to combine the entire Porto Ridge into a viscount for his daughter as her dowry. But he'll need my help to develop this viscount. "
Fatty Shi clicked his tongue in wonder and said, "Duke Filim is really generous. The Podolj Mountains cover almost one-tenth of the entire southern province. This dowry will be shocking. Howard is really lucky to have a viscount without being conferred a title. "
Laurist nodded, "Actually, we have no choice. Before we returned, the second prince came to see us off. He said that although the four northern families are very close, the southern province is now the territory of the Filim Family. It's not appropriate for the Norton Family's Monolith Regiment to be stationed at the border of the Eastern Barren Province. In other words, he wants me to withdraw the Monolith Regiment."
"That's none of his business," Fatty Shi cursed in a low voice, dissatisfied.
"Gossip is a fearful thing," Laurist said. "After all, the southern province has become the territory of the Filim Family. We deployed the Monolith Regiment at the border of the Eastern Barren Province to guard against the Fisablund Family and to help Duke Filim. But others will not know. They will think that the Norton family is using force to oppress the Filim family and usurp the profits of the southern province.
That's why I'm going to hand over the defense line of the southern province to the newly formed garrison corps of the Filim family and withdraw the Monolith Corps. Duke Filim's plan to use the Podolich Mountains as his daughter's dowry solved this problem. We can deploy the Flying Tiger Army in the Podolitsch Mountains so that we can be on guard and coordinate with the southern province's border defense line. We can react to the Fisablon Family's abnormal movements at the first instance. "
Fatty Shi chuckled. "If we withdraw the Monolith Legion, I bet Duke Filim will be the first to feel uneasy. He's not confident that he can withstand a surprise attack from Duke Fisablun's Ranger Legion."
"There's nothing we can do about it. Right now, His Highness is overseeing Hans City, and is currently digesting the eleven newly acquired provinces. He will definitely rely on the Fisablun Family to threaten the alliance of the four families in the north. Asking us to retreat to the Monolith Legion means that they are preparing to open up the borders of the Southern Province. Duke Filim also doesn't want his family's territory to become a smooth road between His Highness and Duke Fisablun. That's why he combined the Podolitsch Mountains into a viscount's territory as his daughter's dowry. He doesn't want us to withdraw the army and continue to stay in the Southern Province to help his family defend against the Fisablun Family's threat to the Southern Province, "Laurist analyzed.
"Do you think Duke Fisablun will still send troops to the Southern Province?" Fatty Shi asked.
"No, he's an old fox, and he understands the current situation very well. At present, he will only stay in his family's territory to develop his strength, and it's impossible for him to provoke another war. The Iberian Kingdom has already become history. No matter how much he dreams, it's impossible for him to dream of dominating the northeast region. On one side is the alliance of the four families in the north, and on the other side is the second prince who has newly occupied eleven provinces. If he has any wishful thinking, it will only cause the entire Fisablun Family to fall into the abyss, "Laurist answered.
"Then we can relax and live in peace for a few years," Fatty Shi said.
"Yes, now we'll see when His Highness starts to stir up trouble again." Laurist nodded and thought of something. He turned around and picked up a document he had just picked out from the desk, "That's right, this document says that the standard Crossbow of the Hunter Cavalry has already been mass-produced and distributed. How's the effect?"
"Very good." Fatty Shi's spirit was immediately lifted, "Your Highness, you don't know, but the Crossbow that Master Sid made this time is simply a personal long-range attack weapon. It can accurately shoot from a distance of 120 meters, and it's also very powerful. Most importantly, it can be easily strung on horseback. According to him, it's based on the lever-type stringing device you proposed, and a lever handle is installed on the body of the crossbow. After firing, the crossbow body can be placed on the shoulder, and the lever handle can be pulled.
Joost loves it so much that he can't bear to part with it. He's currently urging the soldiers of the Hunter Cavalry to familiarize themselves with the Crossbow and conduct a kind of training called riding line shooting. According to him, after completing this training, the combat power of the Hunter Cavalry will increase by several times, and they will bring a storm of attacks to the enemy. The Hunter Cavalry will become the enemy's nightmare. "
"Is that so? Looks like I'll have to go to the Hunter Cavalry in a few days to see the results of their training." Laurist put down the document in his hand and picked up another one, "This is the budget for this year's New Year's celebration. Do we really need to spend so much?"
"Your Highness, don't forget that our family hasn't held a New Year's celebration for two years. This year, Princess Sylvia gave birth to a son, and you've returned victorious. How can we not hold a grand New Year's celebration? Moreover, all the knights of the family above the rank of commander will be attending. Duke Kempis, Duke Filim, Duke Shahin, and all the nobles under our jurisdiction will be attending. Preliminary estimates estimate that there will be at least a thousand people. If we hold a New Year's celebration on a low level and cost, it will be a disgrace to the Norton Family. "
Alright, Fatty Shi had a point. Laurist angrily threw the budget document for the New Year's celebration on the table and mumbled, "I just think this is a waste of money. I can't believe it would cost more than 70,000 gold fords for seven days …"
This was Laurist's personality. He was extremely generous when it came to military equipment and the development of his family's territory, but he deeply hated spending on the nobles' reputation. Fatty Shi said indifferently, "Your Highness, this is a necessary expense. Similarly, to our subjects and the nobles attending the New Year's celebration, the more we spend and the more extravagant the banquet is, the more they will think that our family is powerful. This will make it easier for us to govern them. "
Laurist nodded and picked up another document, "What's going on with Supervisor Hansk? How did the construction of the Northern Lands' roads go over budget by so much? "
"Your Highness, I've already sent someone to investigate this, and I've also carefully checked the account books. The main problem is that there is too much rework. The mountain barbarians who were sent to repair the roads are very restless and caused a lot of trouble, delaying the progress of the entire project and causing the construction to be delayed. Now, not only is the budget over half, but the original three years of construction has also been delayed to four years … "Fatty Shi replied.
"Then what is Supervisor Hansk's responsibility? Does he not punish the mountain barbarians at all?" Laurist asked with a frown.
"Your Highness," Fatty Shi took a deep breath, "In fact, the problem with the mountain barbarian labor is caused by Manager Hansk. He wanted to speed up the construction, so he extended the working hours of the mountain barbarian labor. At the same time, he also reduced the most basic welfare of the mountain barbarian labor, causing the mountain barbarian labor's dissatisfaction to reach its peak. Supervisor Hansk used even harsher methods of punishment, and in the end, the mountain barbarians rebelled. Although they were suppressed by the guards, the mountain barbarians began to panic after that, and from then on, the mountain barbarians began to grind … "
"Why didn't I know about this?"
"Your Highness, it's not my place to interfere in these matters. After all, Supervisor Hansk is the overall person in charge, and he was the one who suppressed these matters. I didn't notice it at first, but when Supervisor Hansk asked for an increase in the budget, I felt that something was wrong. I sent someone to investigate and found out that this was the case. Tagger has also gone to Morent City, and it's not my place to interfere with his matters. I thought that you would be back soon, so I waited for you to deal with it. "
Laurist nodded. Fatty Shi was right to do this. Tagger's Volibel Intelligence and Investigation Bureau definitely had a file on Supervisor Hansk. However, Tagger had to go to Morent City to investigate the situation of the Trade Union and the Southern Kingdom's Coalition Army, so the information here was delayed.
Laurist pulled the bell rope by the wall, and Genolio came in from outside the study.
"Genolio, go to Volibel Intelligence and Investigation Bureau and bring me the information on the situation of the Trade Union and the Southern Kingdom's Coalition Army, as well as the file on Supervisor Hansk," Laurist ordered.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"If I remove Supervisor Hansk from his position, who do you think can replace him to complete the construction of the road facilities in the north?" Laurist asked.
Fatty Shi thought for a while, "Your Highness, I think the most important part of this project is the mountain barbarians. The mountain barbarians have always been rebellious, and they are harder to manage than the prisoners of war that our family captured. We need to use both carrot and stick to make them obey orders, and I think Supervisor Cordan fits the bill very well. "
Laurist thought for a while and nodded, "Yes, I will think about it."
"There is one more thing that Your Highness must deal with as soon as possible." Fatty Shi stood up and found a blue folder in the three stacks of Laurist's unfinished documents, "Your Highness, this is the list of people who need to be promoted this year. Take a look. If it is confirmed, I need to arrange their land and prepare various documents. "
Laurist opened the folder and looked at the list. He nodded and picked up a pen to add a name: Redi.
"Your Highness, Redi has not become a Gold Knight yet …"
"Hehe …" Laurist laughed, "He can't be promoted at all, but his current level is about the same as a level one great swordsman."
Fatty Shi slapped his forehead in annoyance. How could he have forgotten that Lei Di was Laurist's eldest disciple? Lei Di practiced the Eastern Monk's cultivation method. Just like Laurist, he was a guy who pretended to be a pig to eat a tiger. He also laughed, "I understand."
… …
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
