Pendor Calendar 358 December 31, heavy snow.
The weather is getting colder.
This is the second snowfall this year, and it has lasted for three days.
In my impression, White Deer Fortress and Noldo Forest have never snowed so heavily.
Everything in sight became a vast expanse of white.
His Majesty said that this is the sequelae caused by forest fires. This winter will be colder than previous years, and next summer will be hotter than before.
I don't quite understand these principles about the weather, but I know what your majesty said is right, because Lake Alaclay was completely frozen.
This is the first time Lake Alaclay has been completely frozen.
Lake Alaclay is a snow-capped mountain lake. The nearby mountains are indeed very cold, and the snow-capped mountains to the west are even solidly frozen all year round.
However, because the lake is low-lying and has a large gap from the surrounding ridges, and the lake is extremely deep, the south side of the lake never freezes.
But this year, the entire lake Lake Alaclay was completely frozen, with the ice layer being three inches thick.
Of course, this may be a good thing - the fire half a year ago caused the lake surface of Lake Alaclay to be covered with ash and black carbon. Now that it has frozen, it is actually easier to clean up.
Most tribesmen love to be clean, and Lake Alaclay is the water source of the entire forest. His Majesty Li Ang and Wendy also feel that they should take the opportunity to clean up the lake.
The ash layer and black charcoal are all frozen on the ice. All you need to do is break up the ice layer, pick it up and throw it into the forest. It is like watering and fertilizing the newly planted saplings.
Today, His Majesty brought a lot of people to smash the ice - the number of tribesmen is too small, and humans are indeed better at this kind of work like swinging hammers on the ice.
In fact, this is also a way for His Majesty to promote New Currency - the money for hiring people was loaned by His Majesty from Pande Bank to Wendy, which is regarded as Duchy of Noldo's infrastructure funds, and Wendy divided those New Currency into the hands of several elf lords, allowing the elf lords to hire humans to do this work.
Of course I am also one of the elf lords.
Including Lord Aldarian, every elf lord can understand why His Majesty did this.
Using methods such as working together and employing each other to increase the frequency of interactions between humans and elves is the best way to quickly integrate elves and humans.
It's just that Lord Aldarian is stubborn and insists on saying that His Majesty arranged a forced loan for Duchy of Noldo in order to earn interest...
This is indeed true, because His Majesty has allocated two larger loans to Amy Queen and Empress Alina - these loans must be repaid to Pande Bank with interest.
I don't quite understand the operation of banks, but I can at least understand that when three countries owe Pande Bank a large amount of debt, unless these three countries perish together, otherwise Pande Bank will definitely not go bankrupt...
Of course, I also know that the more important reason why His Majesty brought people to clean the Lake Alaclay ice is to find work for more people in winter, a season when it is not easy to make money.
His Majesty is now vigorously promoting economic construction in the territory and has proposed a five-year plan, saying that within five years there will be no more "poor people" in the territory.
This is certainly a great vision.
Moreover, the method His Majesty plans to use is also great - he does not want to give away money and food to help the poor, but to give every young and middle-aged person in New Kingdom of Pendor a job, so that every family can make money by their own ability...
In my opinion, this is much harder than simple relief.
His Majesty said a very profound proverb, "It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish."
This is probably similar to what he said to Sir Roland.
In fact, every adult can understand His Majesty's intentions and his kindness to all the people under his rule.
Of course, this kind of charity is only for people like New Kingdom of Pendor...
As His Majesty once said to me, he is a "selfish" person who only helps his own people.
Fortunately, we have all become His Majesty's "own people".
To be honest, I have experienced the feeling of poverty myself - when I was exiled by my family, I once wandered penniless on the mainland.
I once hid hungry in human cities, and also had to rely on eating raw meat to survive in the wild. I spent about a year like this until I found a not-so-glamorous job in Xingar's tavern...
I have seen poverty and experienced hunger. I know what it feels like to spend the winter with a hungry stomach wrapped in a rag in a dark corner.
I know what His Majesty calls the 'poor people'.
Even within the Noldor tribe, there are many tribesmen who have fallen into extreme poverty for various reasons - of course, they can at least survive in the forest. This may be what His Majesty said, "A small population is actually an advantage."
As for the destitute human beings in various countries on the mainland... To put it bluntly, they live almost exactly the same life as those wild dogs in the alleys of Xingar - rummaging for food in garbage dumps, looking for scraps of cloth discarded by the rich in the streets and alleys to piece together clothes, wandering around every place where coolies may be needed and begging for the employer's choice, or putting their heads in the waistbands to take risks.
But adventures are not always successful, and coolies are not needed all the time. Many helpless people have no choice but to sell their children or themselves into the hands of slave traders - just to earn a living.
Therefore, I am probably better able than most nobles to understand how great His Majesty's ambition is to "let there be no more poor people in the territory".
Which country has no poor people?
Even gods can't make everyone rich, can they?
His Majesty said, this is a war with the gods. The outcome of the war depends on whether we can keep everyone in New Kingdom of Pendor fed and clothed.
Probably only Your Majesty dares to fight such a 'war'...
After hearing about His Majesty's ambition, even Sir Roland came to White Deer Fortress to pay allegiance to His Majesty Li Ang - he is Paladin, the envoy of Goddess of Justice, who would not be loyal to any king originally.
But Sir Roland publicly said something blasphemous, "No matter what god it is, all gods should be loyal to such an ambition!"
Yes, I think so too.
The one who can make everyone have enough food and clothing is the real supreme God. There is no doubt about this.
Because even Creator God has never done this...
If such an ambition can be realized, then His Majesty will surely become the only holy king in history, and even the truly supreme god.
But it's hard, we all know it's hard, it's a hundred times harder than conquering the world, or more.
His Majesty has set an unprecedented and difficult task for himself and us.
Of course, it also brings us unprecedented attractive power...
If we can help His Majesty achieve the ambitious goal of no longer having poor people in the territory, then I believe that whether it is Amy Queen, Queen Wendy, Sir Roland, Eric... or myself, will definitely be able to leave a name and biography forever in the Mithril chronicle inherited by the Aino Family - this is the real eternity and immortality.
This is the final war.
We must win.
--Excerpted from <New Pendor Battlefield Diary>, written by Risadiran Aino.
--
Time passed day by day, and in a blink of an eye it was midwinter again.
Nothing strange happened during these days. Kavala and Malbert did not appear in dreams or in other ways. Li Ang was not even sure whether they were still in their soul space.
The voice of Goddess of Order Eunomia did not appear again.
But Li Ang no longer cares about them - probably the gods can no longer harass Li Ang. Li Ang knows that he probably already possesses a bit of the so-called 'Faith Power', although Li Ang still doesn't know any Divine Art...
In fact, Divine Art is no longer important, Li Ang is not pursuing these now, and he does not need to cast spells.
Real power does not come from possessing any powerful Divine Art or magic.
Rather, you always know what you want to do, what you can do, and... what you should do.
Li Ang Now it is clear what he should do.
Since you plan to build yourself into the God of Wealth, then of course a kingdom ruled by the God of Wealth cannot be poor.
Therefore, Li Ang proposed a "Five-Year Plan", intending to eliminate poverty in the entire New Kingdom of Pendor within five years or less, and ensure that everyone has enough to eat and is clothed warmly.
When this plan was first proposed, everyone, including Amy, was shocked - anyone who has ever been a lord can realize how difficult it is. Pande Continent No monarch has ever achieved this in history.
However, Li Ang still insisted on making this plan a national policy, and posted it publicly in every village and town. He also sent "policy interpretation officers"--that is, his non-commissioned officers--to all the castles and villages of Lion Territory and Noldo Territory.
The specific content of the plan is not complicated. Li Ang intends to try its best to ensure that every person with working ability in New Kingdom of Pendor has a job, so as to achieve the goal of keeping everyone fed and clothed.
Of course, we cannot rely on charity to alleviate poverty, otherwise it will only feed lazy people. Not only will it have no practical effect, it will also lead to all kinds of messy things.
Only by allowing people to do it themselves, allowing everyone to exert their own value, and allowing people to create wealth with their own hands can we truly get rid of poverty.
The true teachings of the God of Wealth also need to be spread subtly into people's hearts in this way - allowing people to rely on their own abilities and make money in a way that suits them.
To accomplish this, of course, we must first make statistics and determine specific goals - that is, the specific problems that people face.
The current New Kingdom of Pendor, the overall situation is as follows:
Li Ang's own territory directly under the jurisdiction of New Kingdom of Pendor is actually only Changhe County, Brave Shield County and Calundru Castle.
Brave Shield Fortress and Fletcher Village were classified as direct territories by Li Ang this month because they have to deal with Gatu people. Calundru Castle recently let Ansen take over again, so they can be regarded as direct territories of Li Ang.
Seven Forks Fortress is about to be built as 'Fortress of Wealth', which can also be regarded as a direct jurisdiction, but the construction has not yet started, and there is currently no one living there, so it is not considered for the time being.
The total population of the directly-administered territory is about 250,000, of which the number of people suitable for work, that is, people between the ages of fifteen and sixty, is about 200,000.
About half of them are working in agriculture, and the other half should be doing odd jobs in Long River City - if nothing else, except for those who have lost their labor force, almost all people below the poverty line in the territory come to Long River City.
At present, Long River City should be the largest city in the entire continent, with almost 100,000 people living in and around the city (including the construction site).
Fortunately, Li Ang can continue to get a steady stream of mutton from Gatu people, and Long River Express can continuously dispatch materials everywhere. The grain taxes from various parts of the east would have been sent to Long River City, which can barely support the city's consumption.
But the vast majority of residents in these towns are refugees caused by previous wars, that is, proletarians.
The construction of Long River City has attracted a large number of proletarians. These people can earn money by working in the construction of Long River City, and they are relatively safe in purchasing food. Their problem is housing.
If the entire Long River City is built completely according to the ideas of Li Ang, it will indeed be enough to support 100,000 people living in it.
But currently, at least 50,000 people live in dilapidated wooden sheds built by themselves, and more than 30,000 people live in work sheds on construction sites.
They can't afford a house - in fact, even if they can afford it, it's useless, Long River City currently only has so many houses...
If we look at their income levels, these people can generally have enough to eat.
But if we look at their overall assets, they are still far from being out of poverty - after entering winter, job opportunities have decreased a lot, and they don't even have a house that can protect them from the wind and rain.
As for those who work in agriculture, most of them should be working for lords, knights and some manor owners. These people are considered "owners", so Li Ang does not need to worry too much.
--Li Ang's grain tax collection is not high. Since comprehensive poverty alleviation is New Kingdom of Pendor's overall plan, then each lord, the knights under the lord, and the manor owners living in the new Pand territory must obey orders and cannot treat hired workers and farmers harshly.
Otherwise, there would be no need for Li Ang to take action, and Sir Roland would have to come to punish the traitors and eliminate the evil.
The problem in the direct jurisdiction is mainly accommodation. Li Ang has a plan for this matter - to build a large number of townhouses, provide low-cost rental houses, and provide guaranteed loans for buying or renting houses.
Guaranteed loans mean that as long as Long River City people with real estate or other industries provide guarantees for these proletarians, Pande Bank can lend money without collateral, which is considered an overdraft credit.
But the amount of this kind of loan is not large, and it can only be used to buy or rent a house - that is, you are not afraid of not paying it back, the house is there anyway.
Renovating simple townhouses can provide more long-term jobs, cheap renting can solve their basic problems, and guaranteed loans can allow these people to solve their biggest problems and devote themselves to work and life.
Anyway, now businessmen have a high sense of identification with Li Ang. Domestic grain prices and basic commodity prices are all decided by Li Ang. As long as grain prices can be controlled, there is no need to worry about inflation for the time being.
The direct jurisdiction is relatively easy to solve, it just takes time.
But Lion Territory is more troublesome.
The current territory of Duchy of Lionheart of Amy includes Lion City, Lion Lake City, Kaineburg, Longhowl Fortress, Harlingosburg, Kailledanburg and their subordinate villages and towns, which is basically the core area of the Lionheart Kingdom.
At present, the total population of Duchy of Lionheart is less than 900,000 - no census has been conducted. Based on rough estimates, there should be nearly half fewer people than when Li Ang first arrived in Lion Territory.
What is certain is that currently in the entire Duchy of Lionheart, the vast majority of people who cannot make a living are around Lion City - at least 300,000 people.
In fact, this is the number of refugees resettled by Amy in the past six months.