After leaving Dragon Mountain City, Ryan followed Norton to the other party's territory. It was a large village, but it was overcrowded due to insufficient housing. Many people lived in simple shacks and came and went every day. It is no wonder that Norton was worried about territory management.
"You just let them live in these places?"
Norton doesn't look like a new recruit at this moment. He shows his noble demeanor in his own territory.
"These slaves can't create wealth for me at all. They can't even pay for buying wooden boards. I loaned these shacks to them and I have to pay them in return every month."
Speaking of this, Norton was very angry. He had not received the full rent of the slave all winter.
"How will they get the wealth to pay you if they can't work in the winter?"
Ryan Speechless, it is a very simple truth, but it is difficult for nobles to understand it.
Not long after, Ryan met Norton's housekeeper, who was also a servant brought from Clayton County. He was quite old, just like the original Old Beard.
"Master, you are back."
Norton nodded, and Ryan asked:
"He is your butler, responsible for everything in your territory?"
Ryan looked at the housekeeper again and asked:
"What do you think about the buildings in the villages and towns with a population of 2,000 in the territory? They are piled up in such a mess around Lordship's mansion?"
"And those houses, I saw one the Forest and two Mountain Forest around. There should be a lot of dead branches in a winter. Regarding firewood for heating, who do you use to supply firewood to the Lordship mansion?"
"Where are the dead people buried? Are the sick people still staying in the sewage ditch? Not to mention there are no patients in this territory, there is no way they won't get sick living in those shacks."
"The most important thing is, how is the food distributed?"
"Baronet Norton should own part of the mine. That is almost the source of all of Lordship's wealth. Why did all the money disappear after one winter?"
Ryan asked a series of questions, each question was asked in a place where the housekeeper was caught off guard, and Norton looked at the housekeeper with fierce eyes.
The butler was panic-stricken, not because he was stealing or anything. The butler of the nobles was the most loyal servant of the nobles. The reason for his panic was that he failed to understand Ryan's words quickly and appeared panicked.
"Master, I, I..."
"Don't worry, answer them one by one."
"Two thousand people, that's about the population of a town."
The housekeeper finally calmed down, but still didn't know what to say.
"Those damn mud-legged people are lazy and can't bring wealth to me at all. They don't deserve to own a house."
Ryan turned his head, looked at Norton and said with a smile:
"Look, this is unprofessional behavior."
"How can those slaves be motivated when they have nothing? How can they be afraid of losing more?"
"The only thing they're afraid of is you hanging them up and killing them. That's the only fear they have left."
Ryan looked at the butler again and asked him to answer the following questions.
"Firewood, the firewood on the mountain and the Forest are all the master's wealth. Even if those mud-legged people freeze to death, they will not have the courage to steal the master's wealth."
There is no problem with firewood as it is a precious asset, except that its only purpose is to make fire.
"I remember that when Norton came to our gang for population, population was very valuable. But now, with so many slaves in your hands, the advantage of population has not been taken advantage of."
Norton lowered his head. He only thought that the territory could develop with the population, but he did not expect that the population was only the first step in the development of the territory.
As for the second step, he himself didn't know what to do.
"If nothing else, the dead are buried casually, and those who are sick are not counted. If they are allowed to live in shacks, they will only infect more people."
"If you don't stop it, this summer, the population in your territory will die again."
"They will continue to die until the population drops to the point where you, Master Lordship, can take charge."
"You've eaten too much, and you don't have the ability to swallow the benefits."
Ryan looked at Norton, who blushed. He did not contribute much in the war. So many people and resource interests were the help of Ryan. At this moment, Norton was instinctively unconvinced when he heard such words.
"Your greed is the same as before, but your ability has not improved at all."
"As a lord, you are much more failed than me."
Ryan laughed, Norton clenched his fists, and had no good temper towards Ryan.
"Tell me what you can do!"
"It's very simple. You need a group of manpower, professional manpower, someone to help you distribute food to these slaves, keep them fed, and keep them alive, but you can only keep them alive."
"You also need someone to help you arrange the building of the house. It must at least look good, so that other nobles will be willing to trade with you. The most important thing is that you must lend your wood to these slaves so that they can have houses and stay in the houses. At least they will not get sick easily."
"You also need someone to help you deal with the dead and manage the living."
Ryan said one sentence after another, but the housekeeper next to him was anxious.
"Master, those are my master's wealth. How can you let those mud-legged people cut down my master's trees and build houses for them? This is great for the slaves."
Norton also nodded, these damn slaves are not good people, they are greedy.
"So we have to find someone to watch over it. We have to specify how many trees each person has. And who said it was given to them?"
"Giving them a house is a loan. A house is equivalent to owing you ten Gold Coin. Is that enough?"
Ryan said again:
"And that mine, there are too many Northwind Province and Iron Ore. If you want to sell ore, you can't just sell the ore, you have to organize manpower for processing."
"There are more than 2,000 people. You raise so many people and use them all for farming? How can there be so much farmland for you to farm?"
"Organize manpower to open up wasteland and open up more farmland. Anyway, you can't control such a large population now. It doesn't matter if a group of people die during the land reclamation. Besides, isn't it recently popular to capture Orcs slaves and sell them?"
"Most importantly, you need money."
"You no longer have money, but you still need money, and then use the money to generate trade and production, turning the money into more money, instead of relying on the Gold Coin grown on this land to enrich your pocket, in which case you will be very poor in ten years."
"A population of more than two thousand is enough for you to use cheap labor to complete the initial accumulation."
Norton opened his eyes wide and asked a lame question after a long time.
"But, they are all slaves, and the wealth they create belongs to me. Will they take my money and pay it back to me?"
"Are you that stupid?"
Ryan looked at Norton and said angrily:
"How many hours a day does your slave work?"
"From morning to night."
"So, they still have extra time, don't they?"
"From morning to night, the Sun rises to the Sun sets. The wealth created by the slaves belongs to you, but in the extra time, they can create their own wealth."
"But... even at night, their wealth belongs to me."
Norton said unwillingly.
"Stupid, even if slaves create their own wealth, won't it still fall into your hands in the end?"
"You give them a little wealth so that they can create more wealth for you."
"Even if you are fishing, you have to put out bait, right? When slaves gain wealth, they will be happier, and then work hard to create more wealth. Only in this way will you be happy."
Norton opens his eyes wide, I give the slave wealth, and then I will still be happy?
Is that so?
He didn't understand, but he couldn't move under the power of Ryan and didn't dare to resist.
Regarding the exploitation of the ruled by the rulers, Ryan is not familiar with history and has heard a lot about it.
But you have to know that even the methods of exploitation he knows are like paradise compared to these slaves. Look at the life of the slaves in the Norton territory. They eat weeds and bark every day, occasionally get a little food supply, live in sewage awnts brought by the snow melting in spring, and are unkempt and smoky every day. Not to mention being exploited, the pig pens in the noble mansions are a hundred times better than their environment.
They are not worried about being exploited at all, but numbly accept all this inhumanity.
Although Ryan said it so directly, but if everything is really realized, the happiness of the people in Norton's territory will definitely rank in the top ten of Northwind Province!
Slaves will be grateful to Norton.
"But, but..."
"I have no money anymore."
Norton lowered his head, he had no money, Ryan looked around, at the gorgeous Lordship manor house, there were even a few beautiful maids standing on the side with their heads lowered and timidly, holding exquisite snacks in their hands.
Nobles cannot change their face and dignity, and Ryan doesn't care about Norton's extravagance. Nobles are like this. If they don't have enough class, they will laugh at them and exclude them from the circle.
The marriage would not be with nobles who are living in poverty.
"You don't have money, I have money."
Ryan laughed, showing fangs like Demons.
"Not only can I lend you money, but I can also find you some people. They are all qualified stewards who can help you manage your territory. They can make your territory look brand new in up to a year."
Norton made a sound, and the butler next to him also widened his eyes, thinking that there was something targeting him.
"Master, this is not okay. I am your butler. I have been taking care of your life since Clayton County."
Norton is also hesitant. Indeed, Old Steward is loyal, and nobles also have feelings, especially for servants like housekeepers.
"I didn't say I'd replace you. What are you worried about? I'm looking for some subordinates for you. Look at you. My previous butler Bilder is much stronger than you."
Ryan said speechlessly, and then spoke to Norton.
"You can have several butlers, or in other words, stewards who are under the steward and above the servants, just like the stewards of the Chamber of Commerce. They can help your steward and help you do things. One person cannot manage it."
"Your territory is under the management of this old guy, and the results will not be good."
Ryan patted Norton on the shoulder.
"Think about it carefully. Apart from me, my brother, who else would be willing to lend the golden Gold Coin to others?"
"If your territory continues like this, my father will probably forget you as his son in a few years. You know, our father has many children."
"Then Dragon Heart should be his last gift to us."
"It's okay if you come out, but you are still Lordship, Lordship of the Count Clayton Family. During the holidays, you have to go back to Clayton County."
Ryan's expression is meaningful. Norton is not a separate family now, he is still Count Clayton's retainer.
There are some brothers and sisters in Count Clayton's family, but they have not kept up with Count Clayton's upbringing after becoming stronger. Ryan's experience in Imperial Capital has already shown that being made trouble for is not an unusual thing in the family of a noble family.
In the circle of the great nobles, the weaker their peers, the more they will be bullied.
"I'm your brother, how could I harm you? Mother asked me to take care of you. I'm worried that you won't be well fed or clothed in Northlands."
Ryan said seductively, Norton finally made up his mind.
Borrowed 10,000 Gold Coin from Lord Ryan.
"As my younger brother, of course you have preferential treatment. Within ten years, you can return me twelve thousand Gold Coin."
"If you calculate it this way, you only need to create... fifteen hundred Gold Coin every year. One hundred and twenty pieces a month. It is not a problem for you who has a collar that is not inferior to Baron, right?"
"Isn't it one thousand two hundred?"
"Don't count my brother like that. The extra three hundred coins are not for me, but for your territory. Don't you need to pay for it?"
Ryan pointed to the exquisite furniture next to it.
"In one or two years, Forest Otherworld will disappear, and the price of meat will rise by then. Also, you may have to add a group of these maids in the next few years. After all, as Clayton bloodline, the heir of an earl who devoured Dragon Heart, you should understand."
"You still have to entertain nobles, travel to Northwind Province's party, and even when you return to South, you are not allowed to bring some gifts back to your mother?"
Ryan looked at Norton, whose eyes were dull. He did the math, then looked at the maids on the other side and swallowed.
"Is three hundred Gold Coin enough?"
"Then you have to work harder, but I don't think this is a problem. At worst, I will ask the magic Mages to arrange a field for you to help me plant magic crops. You will not go bankrupt no matter what."
"By the way, in order to pursue Baron Melkin's daughter recently, you must not let Mr. Baron see your financial difficulties."
"As my brother, how about I personally give you another five hundred Gold Coin? As funds to invite some noble friends to attend the banquet, Baron Melkin will naturally see your ability."
Norton's eyes were red with emotion, and he looked like he was about to cry when he saw Ryan.
After all, this guy is a few years younger than Ryan.
Ryan said comfortingly:
"If Lordship asks about it then, just ask him to come to me. After all, we all came from South to Northlands, right? I think back then, when I was still at Imperial Capital, I might have known them."
"I never thought that in a few years we would live our lives as neighbors in the distant Northlands."
He thought that Ryan only realized it when he was Dragon Mountain City. In fact, he was not alone here, and he also had his own circle.
To be precise, it was the circle of his predecessor. He had always ignored Ryan·Clayton's previous sixteen years of life.
In the past, it could be ignored because it was of no use, but now there is no need, because they are all nobles who came from the empire South to Northlands alone. Their experiences are the same, and they are born in the same circle.
Just like Sauron Marquis's decision will largely affect the Natives nobles of Northwind Province, Ryan, Norton, as well as the children of those big noble families, who have now become Lordships of Northwind Province. There is a historical gap between them and other nobles.
They don't have it themselves, and Ryan can take advantage of this.
Because Lordship is attached to the fifth-class nobles, Ryan cannot completely win over these Lordship nobles to stand with him politically, but in Northwind Province, there is no such concern, and at the same time, they will be able to surround Ryan in the same way as Norton.
Norton is a natural ally, so you can just pay back a little a year, but for the other Lordship, if you borrow 10,000, you have to pay back 15,000, right?
Then over and over again, in these long ten years, is there only one contract?
Having tasted the sweetness, the nobles must not ask Lord Ryan for another loan?
usury? Ryan blinked, bank!
"No, it should be said to be a pawn shop. Banks are too advanced."
But what do these people do?
Ryan is not worried at all. The qualities of nobles are very strange. When faced with interests, nobles are cunning and greedy. When it comes to dignity and honor, nobles can literally fight to the death.
The public opinion effect of not paying back the money owed will probably be more uncomfortable than killing them, and this price will be with that surname for countless years.
Lord Ryan It's not like he doesn't have the ability to deal with the old guy.
(End of chapter)