Financial Crisis

"Your Lordship, here are the expenditures and tax revenues for this quarter." Chief Steward Ford, who managed the territory's affairs, handed over a roll of parchment with both hands.

Paul quickly unrolled it, skimmed through it, and asked, "Is there a problem?" He had absolutely no interest in things like financial reports.

"Er... there is indeed a bit of a 'problem.' The situation isn't very optimistic." Chief Steward Ford furrowed his brow slightly. He glanced at Butler Philip, who was sitting across from him, and discreetly signaled with his eyes.

Butler Philip was responsible for managing the treasury at Lord's Manor. He spoke up, "My lord, if this continues, our finances will become unsustainable."

"Gah—is pirate activity affecting tax revenues?"

"Yes. During this period since the Old Earl was Called by God, apart from the pirates who have come ashore, some lawless opportunists have also taken advantage of the chaos. The activities of highwaymen and river bandits have cut off transportation to some villages and towns. Several of the tax officials we sent out have already been humiliated and driven away."

"Especially Franklin Harbor. Although pirates extort some of its wealth every year, it's still our largest source of tax revenue. Now the Shark Gang has occupied it and refuses to leave." Chief Steward Ford was at a loss whenever he thought of this.

"And this is what's making us run a deficit?"

Butler Philip explained, "The recent expansion and training of the army have consumed a great deal of money and provisions. In the past, we only had to feed the soldiers. Once a battle was over, we sent them home. Now we also have to pay them military wages and commission uniforms..."

"Then there's the purchase of raw materials for making new weapons, the recruitment of craftsmen... At the last meeting, we even decided to build ships..."

The more Paul listened, the worse his headache became. He unrolled the parchment again and read it carefully.

Some measures really had to be taken.

After the last military meeting ended, Lakeheart Town had intended to continue "playing dead" for another month. Once two complete Infantry Battalions had finished their training, they would sweep away the pirates within the territory in one stroke. Unexpectedly, Chief Intelligence Officer Cecil made a contribution as soon as he took office. He discovered an important piece of information: Shark had swallowed up the remnants of Quirk's forces that had fled back. To avenge his new underling and establish his reputation, he had sent five hundred men to teach Paul a lesson. It seemed that killing an earl had made this pirate chief rather swollen with pride.

The army's morale was high after its victory, and there was no need to wait for Shark's men to travel all the way to Lakeheart Town. With the help of Cecil's intelligence, the old knight Schroeder led the army and several bold fishermen to intercept the pirates halfway there.

Schroeder used a small force to lure the pirates ashore, gradually drawing them away from their ships. He then led the main force swiftly between the pirates and the riverbank, cutting off their retreat.

The two sides formed up and fought a chaotic battle. With the tremendous advantage brought by discipline and firearms, along with the fact that the soldiers had already been completely transformed by their previous victory, the Lakeheart Town army won another great victory.

The pirates lost more than four hundred men between the dead, wounded, and captured. The Shark Gang became honest after that and adopted a defensive strategy as well, hiding in Franklin Harbor and refusing to come out.

The Lakeheart Town army pursued them all the way to Franklin Harbor, only to discover that its walls had been raised higher than before and that many more Defensive Fortifications had been added. They did not dare attack rashly. Instead, they stationed themselves nearby and kept watch on the pirates, preventing them from going out to raid again.

"Even after all this, they still haven't retreated out to sea?" Paul was very surprised. It seemed that these pirates truly intended to occupy Franklin Harbor for the long term.

Never mind. Sooner or later, they would become meat on his chopping block.

He issued orders to the officers: with the two newly formed Infantry Companies as the main force and the Internal Guard Unit as support, they would wipe out the highwaymen and river bandits throughout the territory. They would train while fighting. The recruits might struggle against pirates, but dealing with these newly formed gangs of thugs and hooligans was well within their abilities.

As the campaign against the criminal gangs proceeded, Lakeheart Town gradually restored its control over the entire earldom except Franklin Harbor. However, many villages and towns had been stripped bare by pirates and bandits. Faced with the tearful representatives of the people, the earl ultimately could not bring himself to squeeze another layer of oil from these poor victims. He ordered the taxes of several villages and towns to be waived for two quarters.

As transportation gradually recovered throughout the territory, at least some tax revenue began coming in. This temporarily eased the current financial crisis and allowed Lakeheart Town's leadership to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, this was only a temporary reprieve. To truly resolve the financial crisis, they had to immediately launch some projects that could bring in money easily.

That afternoon, Paul summoned Chief Steward Ford and the others.

"Everyone, take a look at this thing I made. What do you think?"

Everyone was given a sheet of "paper."

Chief Steward Ford held the stiff piece of material and asked doubtfully, "Is this 'paper'?"

"Ahem... This is only a trial product, but once it's perfected, it will have tremendous potential."

This was the "paper" Paul had created based on his understanding of papermaking. He had gathered a pile of bark, wood, and bamboo, steamed and boiled them in a pot, then pounded them into pulp with a stone mortar. Finally, he spread the pulp out beneath the sun to dry. In the end, he finally obtained a... well... brittle sheet of cardboard.

"Does this stuff have any use?"

"It can replace the parchment we use now."

The writing material used in this world was basically parchment. Its production process was extraordinarily complicated. The entire hide had to be treated with lime, then dehaired, defatted, trimmed, stretched, scraped repeatedly, polished with pumice, and finally dried. Its output was also low. A sheepskin might look quite large, but after processing, it yielded less than one square meter of parchment. This made parchment exorbitantly expensive. No wonder illiteracy was so widespread—commoners could not even afford something to write on.

"But this..." Chief Steward Ford applied a little force and bent it slightly. The paper in his hand immediately broke apart, leaving him speechless.

"Ahem, ahem..." Seeing that everyone seemed rather dismissive of his great invention, the earl cleared his throat and said earnestly, "Given enough time, I'm confident I can make it softer and thinner. Every great invention is subjected to doubt when it is first born, but no amount of doubt can stop the wheels of history."

"Just look at parchment now. How expensive is it? Even some minor nobles don't dare buy much of it, let alone commoners. Take the Church, for example. I asked Priest Anderson about it. Even without considering various failures and accidents, copying a single Holy Book requires the slaughter of more than three hundred sheep. My heavens! A single book actually requires more than three hundred sheep in exchange, not to mention all the complicated copying and production processes in between."

"But this 'paper' in your hands uses nothing more than such inconspicuous materials as bark and bamboo. Once the process matures, we can produce huge quantities in just a few days. If we can make it softer and thinner, and less brittle, it will absolutely be an epoch-making invention that overturns the world."

After such a passionate speech, everyone could not help but let their imaginations run wild.

"If it can really be improved as my lord described, then it will certainly be a powerful tool for making money." Troubled by the financial crisis, Chief Steward Ford was the first to think of this.

"Exactly!" Paul clapped his hands hard. "Although the early products may not be as durable as parchment, the raw materials are plentiful and production is simple. When the time comes, we'll focus on the advantage of being 'cheap.' We certainly won't have to worry about finding buyers."

"And besides writing, it has another wonderful use." A mysterious smile appeared on the earl's face.

"Oh? May I ask what that is, my lord..."

"To liberate your buttocks."