The army that Ryan brought out from Zero Crossing Prefecture consisted of members formed by nobles, recruited along the way, and those who followed him from within Zero Crossing City because of the food supply. In general, most of them did not come from any fixed house in this land.
They had nowhere to live; they were driven here because of the Orcs invasion.
Now that it's over, where will they go? Will they return to their territory? If so, they'll be captured and enslaved along the way.
For these people, they were confused, and surviving the war was not necessarily a good thing for them.
The city, which evoked a sense of natural fear, came into view.
However, this was not a problem for Ryan; he already had a plan to deal with these people.
As the army halted, he shouted loudly to the refugees among the soldiers behind him:
"I will build three villages around Zero Crossing City. You can choose to stay and become citizens of one of the villages, or you can choose to leave."
"Those who remain will take root in this land. You will pick up tools and cultivate the wasteland. In the Swamp north of Zero Crossing City, you can cultivate vast farmlands."
Then Ryan uttered one sentence after another that made these people's eyes light up.
"I will help you build your houses so that you can avoid the cold winds of the Northlands at night."
"I will provide you with land, and villages and towns will be established. You will be the first inhabitants, and you will become the original inhabitants of this place."
"I will give you Gold Coin and silver coins so that you can buy tools, pots and pans, and even food so that you can survive."
"Once the village is established, and the Swamp thaws next spring, I will allow some of your representatives to follow the Chamber of Commerce to the place you fled from, to bring your families back. The nobles will not prevent them from reuniting with you."
Ryan pointed to the Rhino Horn Mountain flag fluttering in the sky and said loudly:
"I'm telling you in Ryan's Name that this is not a dream."
"Now tell me, what else do you need?"
Ryan's voice shocked everyone, and pairs of eyes stared at him in disbelief, wondering if they had misheard.
Suddenly, startled by Ryan's questioning, they finally realized that everything they had just heard was not a dream.
A slave ran out, dropped what he was holding, and immediately prostrated himself on the ground.
"My lord, Morris will be your servant forever, and will always be loyal to you."
He was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes. He never expected that such a stroke of luck would fall into his lap at the end of the war. He was so excited that he could hardly describe it and could only keep kissing the soil on the ground.
Gradually, more and more people knelt on the ground around them.
Did he give them money? Ryan did give these people money because they wanted to build a completely new settlement from scratch, and it wouldn't be possible without money to buy things.
This isn't like the primitive era where everything relied on nature for sustenance.
Ryan gave each person a fortune of one Gold Coin, but instead of handing the Gold Coin to them directly, he gave them a smooth, dark green stone. These stones came from a hot spring in Bilki and were embedded in the edge of the spring. However, as the temperature in Bilki grew colder, the hot spring lost its function.
The stone was unique, and everyone looked at it with some hesitation.
"With these stones, you can enter any merchant guild in Zero Crossing City to purchase the tools you need."
These people knew better Ryan what tools were needed to survive, and the reason they didn't give them Gold Coin directly was because Ryan was certain that most of these people wouldn't spend the Gold Coin coins but would hide them.
Those who were willing to spend Gold Coin would be ripped off by the merchant guilds. If a merchant guild could buy back something worth only one silver coin for every Gold Coin they gave them, then that merchant guild was considered to be a decent merchant.
These stones are indeed worth one Gold Coin, because eventually those merchant guilds can take these stones to Ryan to exchange for real Gold Coin.
These are Gold Coin, and also vouchers. Lord Ryan's intervention in this transaction ensured that these people could obtain sufficient and appropriate items from the Chamber of Commerce.
As for why it was a chamber of commerce, rather than these people going to random carpenter or blacksmith shops in the city, it was because of the Gold Coin themselves.
These are Gold Coin! The thing Ryan calls light and airy could fall from Rhino Horn Mountain and smash a whole area of houses. A family, after a year's income, can't even save a few silver coins beyond basic food. Gold Coin are worth twenty times more than silver coins.
For these people who were once commoners and slaves, it was an immense fortune, so much so that they might not be able to control it.
Ryan could only trust that those unscrupulous merchants would solve the problem. In short, the purpose of the vouchers was to allow these people to survive in the simplest way possible, on the three plots of land he had fenced off around Zero Crossing City.
There is a lot of wasteland in the Northwind Province. In fact, it could be said that not only the Northwind Province, but any province in the empire, the lands far from the nobles are all barren. With the productivity of this world, there is simply no qualification to develop so many natural treasures.
So it looks like there are a lot of people here, but after being divided into three groups, it's not that big of a place. At most, there are just tens of thousands more villagers around Zero Crossing City.
The reason for keeping these people around Zero Crossing City is for the sake of this city that is destined to prosper.
If Zero Crossing City wants to become more prosperous, it cannot rely on itself alone; it needs help from all sides. As a connecting point between the empire and the kingdom, Zero Crossing City is destined to become a place where Gold Coin converge.
Ryan built his reputation through a series of events and repeated publicity, all so that one day, the name Ryan Clayton alone would be worth thousands or even millions of gold.
At that time, he will be unparalleled in this land.
For this purpose, Ryan left behind a cavalry force of five hundred men, led by Harrington, to take control of the tens of thousands of people and set up camp in several locations. The simple tents in the army were reserved for their lodgings for the next few days.
"This is Lord Ryan's mercy towards you. Don't think his mercy is undeserved; you already owe him a huge debt!"
Harrington said coldly. Ryan didn't say anything, but he couldn't pretend it didn't exist. Every Gold Coin given to these people was Ryan's wealth, and as a family knight, he had to protect this wealth.
"You'd better finish building your houses this winter, or you'll lose your right to stay here. Without Lord Ryan's protection, you'll be captured and enslaved."
Unlike Ryan's gentleness, Harrington's knights were much more imposing. However, this fear actually put tens of thousands of people at ease. Yes, this was the feeling they were familiar with; it meant they had truly survived.
Moreover, they live right around this city.
On the other hand, after Ryan entered Zero Crossing City, he naturally summoned the managers of the merchant guild again to prevent these guys from hindering his plan to establish a village and town.
At the same time, the outbreak of war allowed these chambers of commerce to make a fortune from it.
Ryan asked them for a portion.
"This... this is all the wealth of my noble lord! You can't just rob it like this!"
Ryan smiled upon hearing this, without any politeness.
"Robbery? You've got it right. I'm just rightfully taking back what rightfully belongs to me. Don't forget, you've made your fortune through war, but the outcome of the war doesn't depend on you. If the war is lost, you will lose all the wealth you've accumulated during this period."
"At the same time, they will also lose all their future wealth on this land."
"Think about it, how many years will you be able to stay on this land after this war ends?"
"Thirty years ago, the Northwind Province became part of the Empire, and the peace that lasted for thirty years was only broken in recent years. Now, and from now on, will thirty years be enough?"
"This is an enormous fortune. I think you understand the profits involved better than I do. I don't need to elaborate on how much your merchant guilds have acquired in the two eastern kingdoms during this period, do I?"
After Ryan finished speaking, he smiled and looked at the people.
"You don't think I don't know, do you?"
The representatives of the merchant guild fell silent. They knew they couldn't fool Baron Ryan, because the Northern Territory Merchant Guild, like themselves, was the one that had reaped the most benefits. After all, the Northern Territory Merchant Guild was the local power, protected by the nobles.
This is not surprising. In the provinces where the nobles behind them reside, they are even more cunning than the Northern Territory Merchant Guild. The Northern Territory Merchant Guild is too young and immature compared to them, which has resulted in too many of its members being left to be devoured.
"We will give you a portion of the gift money."
Elena was the first to speak, and the moment she bowed, her snow-white valley was exposed, tempting Ryan to recall some tender memories.
"Then I'll wait and see."
Ryan turned and left. He needed to give these merchant guilds a warning. Viscount Miles of Zero Crossing City was still too weak, and he spent more time in the Frozen Earth Territory, so he had to do it this way.
After leaving Zero Crossing City and returning to the Frozen Earth Territory, Ryan was finally exhausted and slept for more than twenty hours in the castle before waking up.
"The nobles of Zero Crossing Prefecture have all come to visit you, perhaps for the sake of distant lands, but the Orcs are also a reason."
Avril said as she tidied his hair, which had already covered his earlobes.
On the ground, the Viscountess knelt on the carpet, gently massaging his legs as she sorted through the intelligence gathered over the past few days.
After clearing his mind of all the clutter, Ryan pondered and said:
"These nobles probably want me to send troops to help them eliminate the Orcs threat inside and outside their territories."
"But that's impossible."
Avril was somewhat puzzled, as she felt that Ryan was now capable of doing these things.
" The Orcs of the Northwind Province must not disappear, especially not from the Emperor's sight."
"The nobles here need to constantly appeal to the emperor for help, telling him about the dire situation here and how the nobles are living in misery."
"We cannot deceive His Majesty the His Majesty the Emperor, so these things must be true."
Ryan said with a smile, stroking Avril's hand.
"Don't worry, the fact that these nobles have come to the Frozen Earth Territory means that their territories are not yet in dire straits, and they can still hold on."
"Those who truly need help are the nobles whose voices cannot even be heard."
"However, this is not something I should resolve."
"There are so many nobles on this land, they should help each other."
"People need to circulate, and only then can wealth circulate."
"Only when things circulate can they be gathered together."
Avril found it hard to understand, so she simply ignored it and told Ryan that the nobles had been visiting these past few days but hadn't been able to see Ryan, so they naturally had to relay the message through her.
She doesn't care much.
"So, you're not leaving again, is that right?"
Ryan thought about the letter from the Andara Kingdom, then hummed in agreement.
"I will be staying in the territory for a long time."
The war was over, and the only ones who got a break were the nobles; everyone else remained busy.
Suddenly, tens of thousands of dark-skinned people flooded into Zero Crossing City. Their dirty clothes and hands and feet caused the other people in the city to instinctively shun and reject them, but the merchant guild shops opened wide.
These newly arrived people, each holding a stone symbolizing a Gold Coin, dared not linger, for they were genuinely worried that the stone might not be as valuable as they had imagined, representing their glittering wealth.
Using it up quickly and securing the money became the most urgent choice.
The knights of the Frozen Earth Territory patrolled the Zero Crossing City without anyone finding it strange. These former soldiers, carrying a "huge sum of money," left the Zero Crossing City at sunset with bundles larger than three of themselves.
"One Gold Coin can only buy this much?"
Harrington asked, he didn't believe that the Chamber of Commerce had been informed beforehand, and that they wouldn't be haggling over the price like this.
Fortunately, someone answered his question.
"Reporting to the Knight, the manager of the merchant guild said that the rest will be delivered to Yellow Earth Slope tomorrow, and we can collect them ourselves then."
The items these people carried were all quite valuable, such as wooden basins, iron pots, and stoves. These items were relatively cheap in the Northwind Province, since they were made from local materials. Moreover, the quality of wooden tools had improved considerably due to the discovery of the Forest Otherworld, and their prices were much lower than a few years ago.
Prices have recently shown an upward trend because the lifespan of that Otherworld is nearing its end.
Harrington nodded after receiving the answer and paid no further attention. His status and position were not suited to handle such matters; merely showing concern was enough to terrify these people.
Back to Yellow Earth Slope, a place name that was just given a couple of days ago, because when the soldiers who came here were driving in wooden stakes, they discovered some yellowish soil and rocks deep inside that resembled sand.
People didn't build houses here haphazardly. A main road was marked out, and in addition, there were more than a dozen smaller roads intersecting with the main road. These initial roads divided the future Yellow Earth Town into small blocks, each of which would house twenty or thirty households.
So far, no one from the Frozen Earth Territory has come to participate, so Harrington, who is only keeping an eye on these people, is getting a little bored.
"General, the construction team from the Frozen Earth Territory will arrive in a couple of days, then you won't have to stay in this cold place anymore."
A knight nearby spoke up, but Harrington retorted.
"What do you know! I'm not leaving. Lord Ryan ordered me to stay and guard outside Zero Crossing City. Do you think this is punishment?"
"This represents trust. I am a member of Clayton's clan, and I am trusted by Lord Ryan more than that fellow Mikaela."
Harrington said with a hint of smugness:
"I'm not just here to watch these peasants build houses. I also oversee Zero Crossing City, which belongs to Lord Ryan. All the wealth belongs to the Ryan Family. The Frozen Earth Territory is too far from here, so of course I need to supervise it."
"And these peasants, Lord Ryan values them highly. After thinking about it for several days, I've finally figured it out."
"These peasants are more loyal than the people of Zero Crossing City. With them around, Zero Crossing City can never be taken away by others."
"When the people from the Frozen Earth Territory came before, I heard from that kid Bilder that Zero Crossing City provided Lord Ryan with a huge fortune a few days ago. We must protect this place and make sure that not a single copper coin of Ryan's wealth is lost."