Hmm? Where is this? Laurist, who had just woken up, stared at the milky-yellow birch wallboard in a daze. The curved wood grain on the wall formed a strange pattern. On the gold-plated brass bed frame, a soft white muslin fluttered in the wind. The morning breeze blew into the room from the two French windows, bringing the melodious chimes of the amethyst wind chimes hanging by the window. Looking at the crystal candlelight hanging down from the white ceiling and the carvings of a demonic bear in the corner, Lollister finally came to his senses. Oh, this is the Bear Palace, my new home. I'm currently in Maria's bedroom.
Laurist couldn't be blamed. Although he had been living in the Bear Palace for three to four months, he had spent most of his time sleeping in Princess Sylvia's bedroom or in his own resting room in the study. Last night, it was his concubine Maria's turn to sleep with him. On a whim, Laurist didn't call Maria to his resting room and instead went to Maria's residence and slept in her bedroom. That was why he didn't know where he was when he woke up in the morning.
"Darling, you're awake …" The sluggish Maria opened her hazy eyes. Her naked body moved closer to Lollister, and her right hand moved down Lollister's abdomen in a practiced manner. She quickly found his erection and started to play with it. Then, she burrowed into the thin blanket made of velvet, until her head was under Lollister's crotch …
Actually, I don't want to train in the morning … Laurist really wanted to say this, but his body's reaction was very honest. Even though he had already done it twice with Maria last night, little Laurist was already as hard as steel under the teasing of Maria's tongue … Looks like I have to find a chance to catch up on sleep in the study … Laurist cried out in his heart as he pulled Maria up, letting himself enter her body deeply …
However, Laurist didn't think that there would be so many things to deal with in the morning …
"Your Highness, according to Lord Tagger's report, His Majesty the Emperor has once again lowered the qualification reserve for honorary nobles. Now, you only need to spend 3,500 gold coins to get the title of an Honorary Baron of the Empire, and 5,000 gold coins to get the title of an Honorary Viscount of the Empire. However, the price of an Honorary Earl of the Empire remains the same, 8,000 gold coins. "
Fatty Shi looked at the document in his hand with a serious expression. "In the second half of last year, His Majesty conferred more than 130 honorary nobles, and the income was no less than 500,000 gold coins. What's worth noting is that most of the rich people who bought the noble titles came from our family's territory. They were the beneficiaries of the business transactions with Morent City. After they became rich, they hoped to further integrate into the upper class, so they bought the noble titles … "
Laurist spread his hands, "There's nothing we can do about it. We can't stop them from becoming nobles, right? After all, the Empire's honorary nobles sound much more impressive than our family's honorary nobles …"
However, Fatty Shi's reply made Laurist not know whether to laugh or cry. "No, Your Highness. After they obtained the status of the empire's honorary nobles, they returned to our family's territory and spent money to convert the empire's honorary nobles into our family's honorary nobles. In our family, it takes about 8,000 gold coins to get the noble title of a Baron, but to convert them into an Honorary Noble of the Empire, we only need to spend a little more than 2,000 gold coins. This way, they can save two or three thousand gold coins … "
"What a profiteer. They even want to save so little money …" Laurist muttered to himself in admiration.
It was normal for the nobles of the various kingdoms and territories in the Galinthea Continent to sell the title of an Honorary Noble. For the rich, obtaining an Honorary Noble title would help them protect their family's safety. At the same time, it would elevate their status and allow them to integrate into the upper class and the noble circle. If they were lucky, they might even be able to obtain a fief, making their family a true noble. The Kenneth Family was a very inspirational real-life version.
Only by mixing into this circle would one have the opportunity to meet a superior lord and obtain the opportunity to serve him. Only with the opportunity to serve him would one be able to earn the appreciation of the superior lord. In the long run, becoming a true noble would no longer be a dream. Therefore, there were many rich people in the Norton Family's territory who wanted to change their status because of their wealth. What made Fatty Shi unhappy was that they were buying the title of an Honorary Noble. Wasn't this giving money to the second prince to spend?
On the other hand, Laurist was very satisfied with the fact that these people who obtained the title of an Honorary Noble returned to their family's territory and converted them into an Honorary Noble. This showed that everyone was optimistic about the Norton Family's development and future. They thought that the title of an Honorary Noble was more secure. This showed that everyone was very clear-headed, and no one placed their bets on the second prince.
However, Laurist did not feel comfortable letting these profiteers take advantage of him. After thinking for a while, he said, "How about this. In the future, we will increase the price of an Honorary Noble according to the corresponding price of an Honorary Noble. Make it about 20% higher than the total price. This way, no one will continue to do this. Without this advantage, even if His Majesty lowers the reserve of an Honorary Noble, there will not be many people who will buy our family's territory. "
Fatty Shi nodded. This was a good idea. Since the cost was high, no one would go back and forth like this. It was better to directly buy the title of an Honorary Noble from the family.
"Your Highness, because the number of Honorary Nobles in our family's territory has increased, many Honorary Nobles have written a joint letter requesting the family to expand the special noble region. This will give them the opportunity to buy land and build manors and castles in the new special noble region. After on-site investigation and discussion, the Administrative Office believes that the empty space between the Bear Palace and the special noble region can be divided into three more special noble regions. They will be combined with the original five. This is the preliminary plan. Of course, in the plan, there will be 300 meters of empty space between the special noble region and the Bear Palace as a security zone … "
Fatty Shi handed a planning document to Lollister. Lollister took a look and signed it, agreeing to the request to establish three more special noble regions.
"In addition, the Administrative Office is preparing to carry out a comprehensive real estate reconstruction plan for the Red River Plain and Xing 'an Plain this year and next year. The family's finance department has already approved it. They will invest five million Gold Coins in the development. It will take five years, and the total income is expected to reach about 37 million Gold Coins. This is the general plan of the reconstruction plan. Please sign it here, Your Highness. "Fatty Shi handed another document.
The real estate development and reconstruction projects in the seven towns of Fengle Plain had greatly benefited the family. Although there had been many twists and turns, the problems had all been solved in the end. It had taken six years of intermittent work to complete all the reconstruction and development projects. It could be said that all the residents of Fengle Plain lived in the houses they bought. The family's income was about 13 million Gold Coins. This made Viscount Spear, the family's finance director, turn her attention to the more than three million residents in the Northern Region …
For this reason, Spear specially proposed to let all the residents in the Northern Region live in the houses they bought within ten years. It was obvious that she wanted to plunder all the residents' private property. No money? It didn't matter if you didn't have money. The family could lend you money and let you live in a good house. Then, you could slowly repay the debt for ten or twenty years …
Two years ago, Laurist was still thinking about how to deal with the Trade Union in Moront City. After reading Spear's letter, he was secretly amazed by her sharpness and ruthlessness. Spear was preparing to turn most of the residents in the Northern Region into housing slaves to work for the family. Laurist also understood that the family had invested no less than 50 million Gold Coins in the Northern Region over the past ten years. Whether it was the salaries and benefits paid to the family's armed soldiers, or the daily necessities provided to the forced immigrants, such as free housing, farming, building towns, and developing mines, all of these were shockingly large investments.
The wealth of the Northern Region was not only the millions of Gold Coins that the Norton Family collected as taxes every year, but also the factories and mines that covered the family's territory. There were also various service industries such as snack bars, grocery stores, hairdressers, tailors, and so on. The demand for daily necessities and supplies was increasing day by day, and the opportunities to work as long as one worked hard. After all these years, every household of the more than three million residents in the Northern Region had a few dozen, or even dozens, or even hundreds of Gold Coins hidden in case of emergencies …
Spear was now targeting the Gold Coins hidden by the ordinary residents. If they could use the real estate development project to plunder the hidden gold, it would be an astronomical amount. Spear's eyes were already red. However, Laurist considered that the family was still in the midst of a war with the Trade Union, and the family territory needed to maintain stability, so he stopped this plan.
Spear brought up the matter again last year, and Laurist decided to start the real estate development project in the Red River Plain and the Xingan Plain this year. He considered that these two places were the family territory that had been developed first. After the development of the Fengle Plain, the residents living in the towns in these two places would also be richer …
After signing, Laurist handed the document back to Fatty Shi and asked, "Oh, is there any change regarding the new construction and the recruitment of residents in the Side Mountain Province?"
Fatty Shi replied, "Your Highness, because of the private land policy, we have received nearly 100,000 applications. We are currently in the preliminary review, and it will take at least half a month for us to come to a conclusion. I estimate that the first batch of suitable residents will be about twenty to thirty thousand. We are asking for three to four thousand people with mercenary qualifications and retired soldier experience. The rest have only trained in the local garrison for a few days to make up the numbers. "
"The Side Mountain Province is different from other territories. We don't need to develop it immediately. Everything can be done slowly." Laurist put his feet on the desk and slumped comfortably in the armchair. "Immigrants without military strength will easily encounter danger there. After all, it is too close to the Demonic Dragon Mountains and the Barbarian Plain. Currently, the Monolith Legion has already surveyed the terrain in the Side Mountain Province and chosen strategic areas to build a defensive line. The Flying Tiger Legion is already wiping out the horde of magical beasts in the Barbarian Plain. I estimate that it will take at least four to five years to stabilize the Side Mountain Province. The residents we are recruiting now are to establish a foothold in the Side Mountain Province and build a few towns, so we don't need to rush things. "
"I understand." Fatty Shi thought for a moment and said, "However, Your Highness, there is a situation at the moment. Many honorary nobles have sent letters or sent people to inquire about the Side Mountain Province's private land policy announced by our family. I suspect that they want to obtain or buy a large amount of land in the Side Mountain Province and turn themselves into territorial nobles …"
"Haha, they wish …" Laurist sneered. "Tell them that the 100 mu of private land that every resident in the Side Mountain Province will receive is the maximum amount, and the distribution will be random. Even if it is a mercenary group, their land will not be connected. Also, the land in the Side Mountain Province will not be sold. The land allocated to the residents will at most occupy half of the area of the Side Mountain Province. The other half will be given to those who have performed meritorious deeds. "
There were many things to do today. Even after Fatty Shi left, Laurist did not find a chance to slack off. This was because Malek and Tagger had arrived.
"Your Highness, this is the latest news from the imperial capital. His Majesty has stationed the Gale Legion in the Meishan Province. It is said that he is preparing to deal with the increasingly rampant bandits and bandits in the central eleven provinces. In addition, there are rumors that His Majesty is preparing to transfer the White Lion Legion back to the province of Verbhasya … "Tagger said.
Laurist immediately jumped up. "What does that idiot want to do? Is he going to declare war on our family and the alliance of the four northern families? "
Malek and Tagger both knew who Laurist was referring to, but they pretended not to hear.
From the map, Verbhasya Province was the neighboring province of Yungesandra. The two provinces were separated by the Egret Lake, and there was only a mountain road connecting the two provinces. When the northbound convoy arrived at Verbhasya Province, Duke Madras had closed the land passage and stationed the Iron Guards at the Lejidana Fortress at the border. This forced Fatty Shi, who was commanding the northbound convoy, into a corner. He was almost ready to adopt the Second Prince's evil plan to order a hundred thousand refugees to attack the Lejidana Fortress, opening up a path through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood for the northbound convoy …
Fortunately, Laurist rushed back from his family's territory and led the convoy across the Egret Lake at night. Then, he offered the Second Prince a plan to attack the Lejidana Fortress and conquer the Yungesandra Province. Now that the Second Prince was preparing to transfer the White Lion Legion back to Verbhasya Province, it was clear that he was targeting the Norton Family's territory. The White Lion Legion was in charge of the Crisen Empire's external expeditions. What did this mean? Was he treating the Norton Family's territory as an enemy?
Also, the newly formed Gale Legion in Meishan Province was creating trouble for the alliance of the four northern families! Apart from the fact that Duke Shahin's family had moved to the Crimea Province in the central region, the Gale Legion's deployment in the Meishan Province was equivalent to the deployment of the White Lion Legion in the Vilbas Province, cutting off the land routes of the Norton family, the Kemps family, and the Filim family. No wonder Laurist called the Second Prince an idiot. This was clearly a provocation to the alliance of the four northern families.
"Have El lead the Iron Guards and enter Yungesandra Province. Rebuild the Lejidana Fortress and include the land passage as a defensive position. Set up cannons on Bread Hill and make it look like they are on high alert. At the same time, set up a shipyard on the shore of the Egret Lake and build cannon boats to patrol the lake. Make sure that the sails on the opposite shore are not launched. The relevant shipbuilders will be transferred from the Oxhorn Bay shipyard. Our family invested nearly ten million in the development of the Yungesandra Province. The project is about to be completed. That idiot obviously doesn't want us to have an easy time. "
Laurist quickly responded, "Have the Hunting Legion head to Duke Shahin's territory. Tell them that they have received an invitation from Duke Shahin to defend his family's territory. This way, they will be sandwiched between the Pegasus Legion and the Filim Family in the southern province. I want to see how the Second Prince is going to get the Gale Legion out …"
"Yes, Your Highness," Malek said.
…
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
