Stockpiling Food First

"Quickly, clean up all the clutter in here!"

"Hurry up, everyone! Haven't you all eaten yet?"

Construction began, and the once desolate mining area finally came alive with life. The once lifeless refugees even showed rare smiles on their faces.

People are not afraid of hardship, but of not seeing hope.

The lord is the backbone of everyone. They have been used to living a life dependent on noble lords since childhood, so it is too difficult to ask them to be independent.

Of course, the main reason was that they were first robbed by the Rebel Army and then by the army that quelled the rebellion, suffering the most brutal social blows, which led to a severe lack of security among the people.

Even though they followed Hudson south, eating all day without doing any work, everyone was still unsure of themselves.

Things are different now. With new jobs, they have value. They no longer need to worry about the lord suddenly abandoning them.

Hudson had no idea what the serfs were thinking. The bustling construction site was essentially doing one thing: repairing the infrastructure damaged by the war.

"Sir, a group of refugees has arrived outside. They are said to be miners from the mines, along with their families, who want to come and seek refuge with you!"

Upon hearing this good news, Hudson thought he had suddenly become a king. He hadn't even sent troops, yet people were already coming to him to pledge allegiance.

But once they saw who it was, that feeling vanished. They weren't miners at all; they were clearly a bunch of beggars.

They were all emaciated and ragged, walking with a shaky gait; they were clearly starving.

Despite being an aristocrat, Hudson did not distance himself from the lower classes, uttering phrases like "Why don't they eat meat porridge?"

The group of nearly a thousand people, including many elderly, weak, women and children, were a miracle to survive in the mountains and forests; it was impossible for them to live well.

Even if the territory is rich in resources and the jungle is teeming with wild animals, making up for the lack of food through hunting, it is still just a drop in the ocean.

Hunting over a thousand kilograms of meat in a single hunt might be possible, but hunting hundreds or thousands of kilograms of meat every day is pure fantasy.

If hunting could not guarantee a stable supply of meat, Hudson would not have set such low quotas for his men.

Their bellies were growling with hunger, no wonder they came to seek refuge with the new lord. If Hudson had arrived ten or fifteen days later, a cannibalistic tragedy would probably have occurred here.

At that point, the miners are essentially finished. People's bottom line is always very low; once it's crossed the line the first time, it will happen countless times.

After scanning the crowd, Hudson didn't waste any words and directly announced the results:

"With the unfortunate passing of Alphonse, I am your new lord, Baron Hudson - Coslo, and I now declare my allegiance to you!"

After receiving the homage of the people, the relationship between the lord and his subjects was established. In the years to come, they would fulfill their obligations and enjoy their rights with each other.

After the simple ceremony, everyone was considered one of the family. Hudson didn't stand on ceremony and immediately arranged for his men to take the newlyweds to the river to wash up.

That's how the game works: when the old lord dies, the new lord simply declares that he accepts the allegiance of his subjects, and that's the end of it.

The serfs' opinions were simply no opinions. They were part of the nobility's property; who would care about their thoughts?

Everything seemed so natural, without the slightest sense of unease. Forcing "extra scenes" to win people over will only make things worse.

This is no joke. Historically, there have been lords who were so approachable that the serfs suspected them of being imposters. This was because the lords they remembered were always aloof and powerful figures.

With more people comes greater strength, and the repair of the territory's infrastructure is accelerated, but the corresponding food consumption is also increasing day by day.

Left with no other choice, Hudson divided his troops to transport the remaining grain from Dadir City while simultaneously writing letters to nearby nobles to purchase grain.

With near-total crop failure in Huaidun and Laite, rising food prices in the Southeast Province are highly probable. Even if the province has no food shortages, political reasons will likely drive up prices.

In the small territory of the Southeast Province, grain merchants nominally determined grain prices, but in reality, the Dalton Family was the mastermind behind the scenes.

Based on Hudson's understanding of Count Pierce, this political strongman would be unworthy of his nickname "The Blazing Lion" if he didn't seize the opportunity to gain benefits.

The fact that grain prices haven't been driven up isn't because Count Pierce has a conscience. It's mainly because which of the local nobles doesn't have some grain reserves?

With proper development and family support, they could weather the initial food shortages during the startup phase. Even if prices skyrocketed, it wouldn't matter if they had enough food on hand.

Hudson is an exception; with the addition of the miners in front of him, the territory's population has exceeded four thousand, and that's not all.

The trusted confidants he sent out to deceive people are still working hard. He himself doesn't know how many people he can ultimately deceive, so he can only keep more on hand.

Hudson's thinking was very clear: while they could still buy food, they should buy as much as possible. As for the aid his father had promised, they could leave it there for now and send someone to collect it when needed.

Within a radius of two hundred miles, all nobles who had not participated in the development of their territories received Hudson's letter requesting the purchase of grain.

He would buy 80,000 pounds from one neighbor and order 100,000 pounds from another. As long as someone was willing to sell, he would accept anything, whether it was rye, oats, barley, potatoes, broad beans, peas, carrots, or pumpkins.

As for higher-end daily necessities such as monster meat, beef and mutton, wheat, and spices, they are all excluded from the procurement scope.

It's all because of prices. Wheat is 1.5 times more expensive than rye, and nearly twice as expensive as oats and beans, even though they are all grains.

Like countless other lords, cheapness and large quantities were the primary considerations. The cheapest potatoes cost only 1.5 copper coins per pound; rye cost only 3 copper coins per pound...

(1 gold coin = 15 Silver Coin = 1500 copper coins)

The only expensive food item purchased in large quantities was salt, costing as much as thirty copper coins per pound. This was the inferior salt consumed by serfs; the refined salt enjoyed by noble lords had a price that soared to two hundred copper coins per pound.

Knowing full well it was extortion, Hudson had no choice but to grit his teeth and accept. After all, salt production was controlled by the powerful nobles.

Shopping spree ensued, with money flowing like water. Although these transactions remained only on paper due to time and distance constraints, money still needed to be set aside.

It would be a tragedy if someone delivered goods to your door but you couldn't pay. For nobles, failing to repay debts was extremely shameful.

I ordered over three million pounds of supplies from my neighbors in one go. If all the orders go through, my budget of seven thousand gold coins will be completely wiped out.

Living off one's savings is not Hudson's style. Thinking of his nearly empty wallet, reality told him he had to find a way to make money.