Mine or Land
After spreading out the map in his hand and quickly scanning it, Hudson identified more than a dozen targets.
Whether located at a major transportation hub, possessing fertile land, or owning mines, each one is a prosperous place. Acquiring any one of them would be a huge profit.
"We can only give it a try. There are quite a few forces eyeing these two prefectures. Not only the nobles of the Southeast Province, but also powerful forces from the Royal Capital and other regions."
The nobles, especially those from the north, would not give up the opportunity to move south. Most importantly, they possessed considerable military merit, which indirectly increased their influence.
If we want to compete with them, our biggest advantage is that we have been rooted in the Southeast Province for a longer time, making it easier to gain the support of the local nobles.
Secondly, my Coslo Family is too weak to pose a threat to the Dalton Family, and it is possible that we could gain the support of Count Pierce.
Baron Redman analyzed calmly.
Clearly, he was well-versed in the politics of the kingdom. He did not assume that all those competing were local nobles.
Compared to his colleagues, Hudson was indeed a formidable warrior, but he was far inferior to the Northern Nobles who were stationed in the Northern Frontier year-round and fought bloody battles with the Beastfolk every now and then.
The kingdom must reward these meritorious officials. Almost every year, a new nobleman is born in the North, but most of these people are of high moral character and decline the fiefdoms offered by the kingdom.
There's nothing surprising about this; compared to other regions of the kingdom with more stable situations, the Northland experienced the fastest political reshuffling. Through round after round of wars, the weaker, smaller nobles were eliminated.
The best lands in the Northern Frontier have almost all fallen into the hands of a few powerful noble families. The remaining lands are either too barren or are threatened by Beastfolk.
A fiefdom that's practically an abandoned village, offering no profit whatsoever, yet requiring one to assume the duties of a fiefdom lord—even Hudson wouldn't want that.
The Coslo Family and other minor noble families could not withstand the long-term ravages of the Beastfolk and were forced to change their development direction.
After two hundred years of reshuffling, the Northern Frontier became the territory of a few powerful noble families, and the situation began to change from that moment on.
Since the Beastfolk had no minor or medium-sized nobles to rob, they could only rob the major nobles. Although these guys were not to be trifled with, when you're starving, no one cares about anything else.
Every year during the lean season, Beastfolk would raid the northern lands, and the noble families would suffer greatly as well.
Winning means losing money, losing means suffering huge losses. The Beastfolk are like a stubborn skin disease, clinging to them, constantly sucking their blood, impossible to get rid of.
At this point, the high-ranking nobles began to think about the benefits offered by the lower-ranking nobles. Unfortunately, everyone had been burned before, and even with many preferential policies promised, very few nobles went there to settle down.
Of course, in Hudson's view, the main reason why few people went there was that the risks and rewards were not proportional.
Let alone minor and medium-sized nobles, even major nobles would be doomed if a large-scale Beastfolk invasion occurred.
In the last Continental War, the Alpha Kingdom suffered heavy losses. Even the royal family lost three provinces in the Northern Frontier, which directly led to the decline of the royal family's power.
Many nobles were also crippled. If it weren't for the reinforcements from various countries on the continent, the Alpha Kingdom might have become history.
Hudson strongly suspected that the main reason why the surrounding neighbors did not take advantage of the Alpha Kingdom's misfortune but instead provided substantial support was that they did not want to be neighbors with the Beastfolk.
The neighboring Warhammer Kingdom and the Moxi Duchy are well-positioned to speak on this point. Since the Alpha Kingdom lost cities and territories and began a strategic retreat, they have been forced to border the Orc Empire.
The Beastfolk threat that Alpha Kingdom originally faced alone has now become a joint challenge for three kingdoms. The most direct consequence is that since becoming neighbors with the Beastfolk, their territory has never expanded.
Although they lost cities and territories, the addition of two unfortunate enemies to share the firepower significantly reduced the defense pressure on the Alpha Kingdom. After decades of recuperation, its overall national strength actually improved further.
Those guys in the North are now clamoring to unite with their two neighbors to launch a counterattack against the Orc Empire and reclaim their homeland.
Of course, such slogans should be taken with a grain of salt. If they could truly defeat them, the Three Kingdoms would have joined forces long ago, instead of enduring this humiliation indefinitely.
The Beastfolk dared not launch a large-scale invasion, not because they feared the alliance of the three kingdoms, but because they were truly afraid of the intervention of other human nations.
The dominant race on the Aslant Continent is ultimately the human race. If the human race had not split into dozens of countries, there would be no space for other races to survive.
With a group of formidable competitors emerging, Hudson crossed off several targets after a moment's thought. His intuition told him that it's best not to be too greedy.
"Father, the family already has two territories in Whitton County. For the sake of balance, my territory will most likely be placed in Wright County."
If they directly pursued the fiefdom of Wright County, the chances of success would likely be higher. If that didn't work, they would settle for something else.
This major reshuffle should result in the splitting and merging of many territories, and some of the newly merged territories are worth considering. If managed properly, the profits might be even greater.
The territory is fixed and its boundaries are clearly defined; it is simply impossible to take more or occupy more of it.
The reorganized territory is different; all boundaries need to be redrawn. As long as you have the right connections, shifting the boundary line outward by a hundred or two meters could potentially create an additional village.
As he spoke, Hudson placed his finger on a corner in southern Wright County. Apart from the three Knight's Territory, the rest of the area belonged to the former Alphonse.
Whether the three Knight's Territory died out is unknown, but Alphonse and his entire family perished.
The Dadir City he left behind is tempting enough, and the chances of the other half of the county being swallowed up by someone else are extremely small. Even the Dalton Family wouldn't dare to do that.
Unless the King appoints a prince to come, but the Alpha Kingdom is the only one of its kind in this generation, he must stay in the Royal Capital to inherit the throne, so it is impossible for him to come and seize territory.
The unremarkable hills caught Hudson's attention because of a sizable iron ore mine in the area.
The main reason for the lack of large-scale mining was the coal shortage in Wright County, which meant that they could only rely on charcoal smelting, which was not very efficient.
This is both a drawback and an advantage. If there were other associated Coal Mine in the area, Hudson wouldn't have had the opportunity to plan this.
"Hudson, you'd better think this through. The Salam Mine does indeed have abundant iron ore reserves; its discovery caused quite a stir throughout the Southeast Province."
Unfortunately, the entire Southeast Province was short of coal, and the few Coal Mine that existed were of very low quality. The Ironware produced was of substandard quality and could not be used to forge weapons.
Because of the high transportation costs, Alphonse always used charcoal for smelting, and the Ironware produced could only be used to make farm tools, iron pots and other daily necessities.
Although the iron ore is profitable, the local land is relatively barren and grain production is low, making it difficult to be self-sufficient.
All things considered, the gains you can obtain will not be very high, far less valuable than the other fiefdoms.
Baron Redman offered a heartfelt reminder.
There's no way to explain it. You can't say he learned about steelmaking in his previous life and could improve smelting efficiency and quality, can you?
"Father, don't worry. This is just an alternative plan. The map only shows past data. To find out the actual situation, it's best to go and check it out in person."
If the land is too barren, or the iron ore yields less than expected, then abandon the site and seek other fertile land.
As he spoke, Hudson pointed at the Young Bear. Baron Redman, whose expression had been grim, instantly felt much better.
Mining methods on the Aslant Continent have always been shrouded in fantasy. They either employ alchemists or use magical beasts with special talents.
As the darling of the earth, the Earth Bear is a natural-born expert in mineral vein exploration, but the outside world only focuses on its powerful strength.