Returning to Vela, Part One

So far, the border garrison of the Eastern Sea Province has not dared to relax its vigilance. However, with the five Vela Legion that Victor took away returning to their homeland one after another, Vela's mobile forces have increased again.

With this fresh force, the situation in Eastern Sea Province should be able to be completely stabilized very soon.

Victor hadn't expected so much to happen while he was away.

There's nothing that can be done about this. After all, for most of the Vela Nobles, such forceful plundering, while it might cause conflict, is something the Vela Nobles fear least: war. It's normal for them to choose such methods.

Victor couldn't interfere with them, and besides, these things didn't affect the Golden Sunflower Family's new territory.

However, it seems that the impact is not significant at present. After all, the entire Eastern Sea Province has five legions of the Kingdom Regular Army alone, and if you include the private armies of the Vela Nobles, the total number is several hundred thousand.

The people of Vela themselves weren't really paying much attention to the affairs of the Eastern Sea Province. What truly sparked heated discussions among the Vela Nobles was something else entirely.

That was Alex's plan to mobilize the noble sons of Vela to serve as the king's Guard Cavalry in the kingdom's homeland, a task that the Vela Nobles took very seriously.

After all, when the Vera Duchy still existed, the Vela Nobles would send their children, other than the heirs, to the Capital City of the duchy, whether to become civil officials or join the duchy's army, and perhaps they would have the opportunity to become Court Noble.

But now that the Vera Duchy is gone, this channel has completely disappeared.

Those children who couldn't become heirs could at best try to become junior officers in noble territories with whom they had connections, or use their family's money to start businesses; it was difficult for them to find a good future.

Now, Victor and Alex have come up with a way for the Vela Nobles to send their sons to the kingdom's mainland, where they have the opportunity to stay and become civil or military officials. It is indeed a good option.

In any case, Vela is still a small place compared to the rest of the kingdom, so opportunities are scarce.

Even if these children ultimately cannot stay within the Imperial Guard or become civil servants.

They could also look for opportunities within the Raine Kingdom's own territory, given how vast the Raine Kingdom is.

That's why when Alex announced the recruitment of his Guard Corps, it attracted a large number of Vela Nobles.

Moreover, due to the urgency of the time, the fact that 2,000 people rushed to Iron Tree City to participate in the selection does not mean that these 2,000 people can cover all eligible noble youths in Vela. In fact, many more people did not arrive in time.

If the remaining young nobles who haven't arrived yet reach Iron Tree City, even after selection, it shouldn't be a problem to gather another 1,000 people.

However, now that the channels have been established, the nobles and their children are no longer in such a hurry. The age for guard recruitment is between 18 and 22 years old, and many younger children can wait another three years to participate in the next recruitment.

Under these circumstances, many Vela Nobles said that this group of Vela Nobles children had caught a lucky break.

After the Raine Kingdom, the Vela Nobles expanded their territory to both the north and the south.

The newly promoted Vela Nobles also need retainers, and the sons of these Vela Nobles are undoubtedly the most suitable candidates, now in addition to being able to serve as soldiers in the kingdom's homeland.

It can be said that the opportunities facing this generation of Vela Nobles far exceed those of their predecessors, and many of these young people will likely have the chance to rise to the nobility in the future.

Noble families like Victor's Golden Sunflower Family and the Iron Birch Family, which have relatively small populations, generally wouldn't consider this path for their descendants.

After all, Victor will most likely also bestow a noble title upon his brother, and besides his eldest son who will inherit his title, his other children should also be granted noble titles.

After all, the Golden Sunflower Family is now Duke family, and it is not unusual for them to bestow noble titles upon the Duke's children.

However, Victor also learned from Edmund that many of the Vela Nobles felt this was a good opportunity.

Therefore, some noble families have begun to increase the education and training of their children, hoping to gain an advantage in the recruitment and selection process three years later.

Victor could only sigh after hearing this; these nobles of Vela had indeed entered "tiger parenting mode."

However, these things meant nothing to Victor, or even to the Golden Sunflower Family.

Now, within the entire territory of the Golden Sunflower Family, there are enough places for any member of the Golden Sunflower Family, whether direct or collateral.

These relatives of Victor, especially those with decent skills, have no shortage of future prospects.

Even relatives from his grandfather's side of the family, and relatives from his wife Victoria's side of the family, could find plenty of opportunities with him.

With his uncle, Viscount Ron, as an example, many talented people from his relatives were willing to serve him, hoping to gain a title from him.

This is also good news for the Golden Sunflower Family. As Duke family, they need a trustworthy system of vassal nobles.

Otherwise, no matter how strong the main family is, it is still somewhat weak, lacking a group of vassals willing to cheer for them.

After leaving the West Coast, Victor rode at breakneck speed with his guards, changing ships along the way and arriving in Iron Tree City in just four days.

Thanks to the second phase of the Vela Grand Canal project, the entire Vela Region, encompassing parts of the present-day Upper Vela Province and Lower Vela Province, can now be connected by a single waterway.

This is thanks to the Vela Region's unique water resources. Several major rivers flow through Vela from north to south, and their water volume is abundant.

Victor stayed in Iron Tree City for two days. During these two days, Victor did not explore the Iron Tree City, which had been expanded considerably. Instead, he discussed some specific matters concerning Vela with Alex.

Victor is now one of only two Duke within the Vela Nobles system, and together with Alex, they have the ability to drive the Vela Nobles toward a common goal.

Victor currently having a headache over the outrageous behavior of the entire Vela Nobles in their colonization efforts in the Eastern Sea Province. He still doesn't want the Vela Nobles to expend too much of the Eastern Sea Province's manpower.

It would be such a waste to squander these valuable human resources.

He planned to join Alex and several Marquis from the Vela Region in launching a call to action to encourage the Vela Nobles to govern the lands and people of the Eastern Sea Province in a more moderate manner.

Since the Vela are still expanding into the Northlands grasslands, they need a lot of manpower. The East Sea Alliance can make good use of these surplus manpower. Why not find a way to transport these people to the Northlands and contribute to the Vela Northlands expansion?

However, Alex also pointed out that while Victor's idea was good, it would be very difficult to implement.

Both Alex and Victor understood that the transportation and food expenses for relocating this group would be a huge sum of money, and there were reasons why this money should be paid; no one wanted to do the work for free.

Therefore, Victor proposed an idea: the travel expenses and food for the immigrants from the Eastern Sea who were sent to the north should be covered by the Northern Frontier nobles who received them.

At the same time, the land they cultivate in the future will be distributed to the nobles who provided these immigrants in a certain proportion.

This way, the nobles would also benefit, and they would certainly be willing to provide immigrants to the Northlands for development.

Alex raised a slight objection: many of the minor nobles of Vela didn't want such trouble; they preferred to simply capture all the natives of the Eastern Sea Province and sell them to slave traders for a quick profit.

Victor waved his hand, telling Alex not to worry. According to what Victor had seen in Ryan, the slave market in Ryan was now close to saturation, and slave prices had dropped significantly.

Those nobles who wanted to sell the natives of the Eastern Sea Province to slave traders would soon find that slaves were no longer fetching a good price. Selling slaves now might only fetch a third of what it was a year ago, or even less. Such prices would certainly not satisfy the Vela Nobles.

When the time comes, Victor and Alex's appeal and the benefits they offer will surely attract the Vela Nobles to send these people to the Northlands to reclaim wasteland.

Anyway, those who survived can wait until the land reclamation yields results before selling them. By then, the price of slaves should have risen, and most nobles should be able to figure out the math.

Alex agreed with Victor's idea, and then the matter was handed over to Alex's inner circle for further refinement.

Victor then bid farewell to Alex and left Iron Tree City.

Victor traveled north along the canal.

Although the railway from Iron Tree City to the Northlands was being built smoothly, it was still a little while before it was fully operational. Victor didn't want to change trains along the way, so he figured it would be more convenient to take the waterway back to the Northlands.

What Victor one thing: Vela was indeed developing well, and there was a vibrant scene everywhere.

Although the entire Vela Region underwent a re-administrative division, the original Vela Region was divided in two, with most of it belonging to the Upper Vela Province and a small portion to the Lower Vela Province.

However, the Upper Vela Province remained the stronghold of the entire Vela Nobles community, and the vast majority of the wealth that the Vela Nobles acquired from the East Sea Alliance was used for the development of Vela itself.

After acquiring a large amount of manpower and wealth from the East Sea Alliance, the entire Upper Vela Province underwent tremendous changes.

The biggest impression Victor had along the way was that the flow of boats and people had become much denser. Although waterways are supposed to be fast, Victor encountered congestion at several locks and channels along the Grand Canal.