However, the management of Graudin's wealth was rather messy. On one hand, Brando had given Amandina, who was now his assistant, the absolute right to manage the wealth. On the other hand, he promised the Roman that she could use the wealth to complete the redevelopment of Tónigel's economy.
Later on, even Xiaer, the three commanders, and Master Smith Bosley were given limited access to the resources they needed. They didn't have to go through anyone else when they needed the resources.
Brando's original arrangement was purely for convenience. Even though he was a Great Commander in the game for a period of time, it was done with the help of the game's system. The game would systematically record the situation of the guild's deposits and withdrawals, and even set up a simple budget.
However, he did not have such a helper here. In fact, he only realized that he did not have much experience in managing a territory.
Soon, he found that his finances were in a mess. Many things overlapped, and it led to a considerable amount of conflict. In the end, the Roman personally went to Amandina and suggested that one person be in charge of managing the finances, while the other was in charge of keeping records. Only then was the management system stabilized.
Brendel's financial system was starting to take shape for the first time.
He glanced at the accounts. Of course, to a large extent, he did not understand. Roman had her own way of keeping records. According to her, this method was taught to her by her aunt. According to The Shire, the symbols were probably a code between the Witches. However, Brando did not mind. If there were anyone he could rely on, it would be Roman and Freya.
After a brief glance, he raised his head again to look outside. The sounds of quarreling could be heard from outside, and it had been going on for quite some time. Jutta's voice was the loudest, Cornelius was supporting her from the side, and Bosley was only occasionally interrupting. Amandina spoke the least. Metisha, who was trying to mediate the argument, was on the verge of losing her voice. However, it seemed that no one could convince the other.
"What are they arguing about?" he asked.
The young Roman immediately shook his head happily, imitating Amandina's tone: "Only the master of the house knows the price of food, my lord."
Brando was stunned. He had already vaguely guessed the core of the dispute outside.
…
The dispute in the courtyard had been going on for quite some time.
Amandina furrowed her brows as she looked at the people in front of her. Even though she maintained basic courtesy on the surface, she was actually annoyed to death.
Of course, she would support the Lord's decision to establish his own army. She also knew that Brendel had given Jana, Raban, the Nightsong Tiger, and Cornelius a mission. He wanted them to pick a few people from the citizens of Firburh and prepare to set up the framework for his future private army.
But that was not the problem.
Abies had a population of nearly fifteen thousand. The autumn harvest was over, and the grain reserves in the city were tight. It was just enough to last them until the next Month of Thunder. In other words, the extra mercenaries' rations could not be guaranteed. They had to rely on trade.
On the other hand, Tónigel was going to face a large number of battles. During wartime, the soldiers' rations would be doubled. Not to mention that they had to reserve food for the next spring. The men and women who worked in the fields needed a large amount of food.
When all these food shortages were added together, it was quite a big problem.
The Subterrane Dwellers in the forest also needed food. Graudin did not care about how many people starved to death in his territory, but the Subterrane Dwellers could not.
Moreover, if he wanted to further control Abies' territory, the food shortage would be even more inconceivable. Amandina now knew that in the Year of Blooming Flowers and Summer Leaves, the crops in the south of Aouine were generally failing.
One reason was because of the weather, and the other was because of Madara's invasion.
Thus, they had to face another problem if they wanted to purchase food. This was because everyone knew that the war in the south had just ended, and the war in the north was about to break out. Erouine's sky could be said to be filled with dark clouds.
The consequences of the war was that the price of food would become more stable than precious metals. In other words, the price of food would rise, and it would not be just a little.
As Erouine's largest free trade port, the merchants of Ampere Seale would not be unaware of the current situation. These unscrupulous merchants would not slow down even a little bit out of pity. They would only take the opportunity to drive up prices.
Thus, the future of purchasing food was bleak.
Amandina had rubbed her forehead many times because of this, but she still could not come up with a good solution. She had considered the silver mines in Schafflund, but as an assistant, she could only make suggestions when it came to military matters. If Brando rejected this suggestion, then she could only consider the problem from the perspective of the resources in her hands.
Furthermore, she knew that Lord Macsen and Lord Palas's army was right in front of her, and her lord would not be able to free himself for a while.
In fact, even the Roman lady who always did things her own way had obediently delayed her own plans.
But at this time, Jutta came to her to arrange for the recruitment of a private army. First of all, recruiting soldiers required money, especially at this time of the year. Secondly, the soldiers would also need rations, and if they had to train, then the shortage of rations would be even greater.
Amandina could not imagine the consequences of that.
It took her a lot of effort to convince the female mercenary commander to delay the recruitment of a private army until the people in the territory settled down. Just then, Grandmaster Blacksmith Bosley arrived, and asked for money.
Brando originally wanted him to build a workshop as soon as possible, but whether or not the workshop was to make enchanted armor, it would first require a lot of manpower and resources. Not to mention that Tónigel did not produce iron, even the training of blacksmiths required a lot of money.
Bosley, as a master blacksmith, did not need to worry about material things, so when he lacked these things, the first thought that came to his mind was, of course, he wanted it!
Cornelius had yet to calm down, but Cornelius had appeared out of nowhere. Of course, he wanted money as well. However, he did not come for the recruitment of soldiers, but for the funds of the mercenaries.
Everyone knew that there would be losses in war. At this moment, the mercenary groups under the mercenary leaders in Firburh City could be said to be under the tree that was Brendel. They were mercenaries in name, but in reality, they were a different kind of private army.
Without a regular source of income, the task of replenishing their equipment fell on Brando's shoulders. Originally, Brando wanted to maintain a special relationship with the mercenaries, but since they were all in the same boat, and Cornelius knew that the mercenaries were lacking in money, he did not mention the matter of hiring them.
However, the mercenaries were about to start a war, and the matter of replenishing their equipment could not be delayed, so he had no choice but to come. In order to replenish their equipment, including armor, arrows, and weapons, there was only one thing that needed to be mentioned: money.
Amandina was at a loss for words. She did not have enough money on hand. But before she could think of a suitable solution, a few people started to quarrel over a few words.
For a time, lines like "your business needs to be put aside, my business is more important" were flying everywhere. Amandina was able to mediate at first, but as time went on, she could not help but join in the fight in a fit of anger. In the end, it was Metisha who ran over in a panic to mediate the situation.
Only the red-haired girl who came with the Silver Elf Princess didn't care. She simply watched from afar as these people bickered with each other, feeling bored.
The quarrel between the mercenaries had reached its climax.
Jana had just finished listening to Bosley's sarcastic remarks. As a member of the Royal Faction, Bosley was a master craftsman who had been through a lot. Naturally, his verbal skills were quite good, and he had mastered the essence of sarcasm. Jana was so angry that she wanted to retort.
But just as she was about to open her mouth, her expression changed and she held her tongue.
"My lord."
The others were stunned for a moment before they turned their heads around: "My lord!"
Brando looked at them with an unperturbed expression and snorted: "It's quite lively here, isn't it?"
Everyone lowered their heads. Only Bosley, who was not part of the group, had a nonchalant expression.
"My Lord, according to what you've said, we should have a common goal and enemy. Naturally, I'm not here to cause trouble for you. But as we all know, war is a competition of financial resources. From the looks of it, your situation doesn't look too good." "That's right, I'm afraid you're not in a good spot."
Brando did not say a word after hearing Bosley's words. He naturally understood this point. Graudin's wealth might seem huge, but that was only for a commoner. It was not enough for the construction of the entire territory.
For example, the construction of the city walls cost a thousand gold a day.
In fact, in order to give the workers the confidence to work for him, Amandina had no choice but to double the price. This sounded a little ridiculous, because in this era, a true lord could use the labor of his citizens for free.
[Before the battle with Count Randner, I'm afraid every citizen here is doubting how long I can stay here. But I'm afraid that I'm not the rightful lord, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to stay here for long.
In order to appease the citizens, he had no choice but to use this emergency method to get through the difficult early days. Cornelius and Raban also suggested that he use forced recruitment to obtain labor, but this suggestion was met with unanimous opposition from Jutta and Amandina.
Moreover, the acting 'finance minister', Roman also disagreed with this plan. However, she was not against it for moral reasons, but for economic reasons. In the long run, ruining the territory's reputation was not beneficial to the development of the territory, especially the territory's commerce.
After all, Brando did not want to lower himself to Graudin's level.
But the problem was not just a problem. There had to be a way to solve it.
… …
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