Work Relief

At the crack of dawn, Hant entered the Baronial Manor clad in bloodstained armor.

The moment he saw Claire, he dropped to one knee. "Reporting to my lord, I did not fail you!"

"Rise." Claire waved a hand. "How much did we get?"

"They were carrying a total of 460,000 Gold Coins!" Hant said excitedly.

Claire nodded lightly and looked at Robin, the Tax Official standing beside her.

Robin naturally knew what Claire wanted to ask and hurriedly replied, "The price I negotiated with them yesterday was 300,000 Gold Coins. Adding the 430,000 Gold Coins recovered this time, the Baronial Manor's reserves have now exceeded 500,000."

"500,000 Gold Coins... that was Nafu City's tax revenue for the past ten years." Claire murmured.

She then turned to Regan and said softly, "Frank is dead. Our barony is now short of an administrative officer..."

Regan bowed slightly. "Young Master, I will go to other cities and find a qualified administrative officer."

"No need." Claire shook her head slightly. "Isn't there already a good candidate right here?"

Regan was puzzled. He looked around but still could not understand whom Claire meant. Robin was already the Tax Official, so surely she could not mean Hant should become the administrative officer.

"You." Claire pointed at Regan. "From now on, you will be the Baronial Manor's administrative officer."

Regan was overwhelmed and hurriedly tried to refuse. "Young Master, I..."

"No more." Claire said. "You are a capable steward of the Griffin Family, and I believe you can become a capable steward for the barony as well. Besides, this will help lighten my burden."

Regan's eyes flickered. In the end, he bowed deeply. "Thank you, Young Master, for thinking so highly of this old man."

Claire smiled. "Although the nobles in the city have all been cleared out, the common people are still suffering from shortages and poverty..."

"So, my next step is to rebuild all of Nafu City!"

Claire's words immediately caused an uproar. Regan was the first to raise an objection. "Young Master, rebuilding Nafu City will likely cost a great deal of money." As the Griffin Family's steward, he had always been especially sensitive to wasting money.

Though Robin said nothing, his expression showed some disagreement as well. They had finally squeezed this money out of the nobles, and pouring it into pointless construction would be a waste. Besides, what did that have to do with the common people's shortages and poverty?

Claire shook her head and smiled mysteriously. "Have either of you heard of Work Relief?"

Regan and Robin exchanged looks and both shook their heads. They truly had never heard the term before. Only Hant stood there foolishly; he knew absolutely nothing about such matters.

"Regan, do you remember what I told you before? Money is meant to be spent. It is not meant to be hoarded or stored away. Only when it circulates can it create value. Rebuilding Nafu City is only one part of it. The main purpose is to redistribute this money into the hands of the common people."

"Whether a territory prospers does not depend on how wealthy its lord is, but on whether its people are wealthy enough. When the people are prosperous, the territory becomes strong. Once they have enough wealth, they can drive the development of the entire territory."

Claire's explanation utterly shocked Regan and Robin. They exchanged another glance and saw the astonishment in each other's eyes. They had never heard such a notion before.

Claire continued, "What I said before was not empty talk. I first want to rebuild Nafu City. Leaving aside everything else, we need sewers. The garbage and filth in the streets stink terribly, and if they pile up for too long, they can easily cause epidemics."

"Mhm, mhm!" Robin nodded repeatedly. He agreed with that point.

"What I said before was not empty talk either. Schools and hospitals must be built. In ten or twenty years, there will not be a single illiterate person in our entire barony. Every illness can be treated, and there will be no more incidents like those involving quacks before. The people will be able to live and work in peace, free from oppression, and the entire territory will flourish."

Just listening to Claire's description made everyone feel excited.

At that point, Claire turned her gaze to the three people before her. "I'll leave this matter to you. Can you do it?"

"Yes!"

"First, clear out some of the nobles' properties and establish Night Schools so that adults can learn to read as well."

"No problem," Robin answered. He was responsible for taking over the nobles' properties, so he naturally knew which places could be used directly as Night Schools.

"As for teachers, we can only wait a while and recruit some from other territories." Claire sounded somewhat regretful.

"That won't be necessary, my lord!" Robin said excitedly. "My wife is a teacher! She used to teach noble children, so she should be able to teach people to read. As for primary school teachers, there is no rush. The schools have not even been built yet, so we can look slowly."

Claire's eyes lit up. "Good! I'll leave this to you." It seemed the Night School matter would not need to be delayed for too long.

"Oh, right. Now that we have money, raise the maids' wages to twenty-five Silver Coins."

"Yes, Young Master!"

At noon, Regan personally carried a large stack of papers to the city gate and posted them up. This was what an administrative officer was supposed to do.

The first notice announced that Claire had appointed him as the barony's administrative officer. The following notices were all for recruiting workers.

The moment people saw someone posting notices, travelers entering and leaving Nafu City immediately gathered around, all staring at the papers.

"Don't push! Didn't you say last time that you couldn't read? Why are you pushing in?"

"Move aside. Who in all of Nafu City can read? I just want to get closer."

"..."

Once nearly everyone had gathered, Regan cleared his throat and shouted, "I! From now on, I am the administrative officer of Griffin Barony!"

The people below looked bewildered and began discussing him.

"Who is he? Never heard of him."

"What happened to the last administrative officer?"

"Who knows? Why was he suddenly replaced?"

Regan cut off their discussion and shouted, "The administrative officer who arbitrarily collected taxes before has been driven away by the Young... by the lord! I am the new administrative officer appointed by the lord!"

"Oh! Appointed by the lord!"

The moment they heard Claire's name, the people below immediately became excited.

"That last administrative officer should have been hanged! But since the lord drove him away, that's good enough. Long live the lord!"

"That's right! The administrative officer personally appointed by the lord must be countless times better than the last one!"

Seeing the people below praise his young master, Regan's lips curled upward without him realizing it.

He then explained the contents of the notices posted behind him: the Night School, the rebuilding of Nafu City, and the construction of new hospitals and primary schools.

After hearing Regan's explanation, the people below erupted once more.

"Really?! Working for one month can earn twenty Silver Coins?! And meals are included?!"

"The notice was issued by the lord, so of course it's true!" another person said excitedly. "It's not the busy farming season right now, so we can definitely make time to work!"

"That's right! With such generous pay, what does it matter if the work is a little hard?"

"And there are barely any restrictions! Pretty much any adult can do it! I'm going back to the village to tell them this good news!"

"Our good days are finally coming! Long live the lord!" someone shouted while running away.

In only a few minutes, shouts rose in unison throughout Nafu City: "Long live the lord!"