On Hardstone Road, Su Qin rode slowly along, chatting with the two silver knights escorting him home. These two knights were the Earl's daughter's personal knights and owed allegiance only to her.
In fact, the Earl's daughter worshipped the Crone, one of the Seven. The Crone represented wisdom and foresight! She did not worship the Old Gods as her family did.
The Earl's daughter had her own intelligence network and knights sworn only to her, precisely a reflection of her wisdom. Her reach extended to Pentos.
Along the way, Su Qin chatted with the two silver knights, both of whom had [Martial prowess: 10], mainly asking about the distribution of the nearby Mountain Clans. Su Qin cared a great deal about this.
One of the knights said to Su Qin, "Ser, I don't think you should concern yourself so much with the Mountain Clans."
"Why?"
The knight looked at Su Qin. He could not believe Su Qin had defeated one man all by himself, and dared not imagine how formidable Su Qin was. Anyone who had been in a fight knew that someone who could take on three opponents was already a monster.
"The Mountain Clans roam the fringes of the territory. Their tribes live deep in the mountain forests. If we march out to suppress them, they hide inside; if we don't, they merely attack a few villages on the outskirts."
"They aren't without intelligence. They don't attack cities. For nobles, dealing with the Mountain Clans can cost a great deal while accomplishing very little!"
"We admire your concern for the common people. You possess a precious knightly spirit. But you must never arrogantly go after the barbarians. Arrogance exacts a price in blood!" This was said on Delia's behalf.
Su Qin nodded deeply. Indeed, perhaps his strength had gone to his head. "Knight, thank you for telling me all this."
"These are also the Earl's wishes!" the knight continued.
So it was the Earl's wish. Su Qin thought for a moment and realized the Earl was afraid he would recklessly charge into the mountains. He smiled. "Understood. I'll treat the Mountain Clans cautiously. I'll wipe out the barbarians once I'm fully prepared."
The knight nodded. His task was complete, and they all resumed their journey at a brisk pace.
Su Qin returned to Gulltown without trouble. After bidding the two knights farewell, he entered Gull Manor. Gull Manor lay west of the Gull River, as did Gulltown, though Gulltown was south of Gull Manor.
In fact, the Gull Mountains gave rise to rivers and underground streams. They flowed through Gulltown, Runestone, and the Ironoaks territory, providing the people of those lands with precious water.
The Gull Mountains were very tall. Their highest point might have exceeded ten thousand meters, with heavy snow and no human inhabitants.
Monsoon winds carrying evaporated seawater met the bitter cold, producing abundant snow and rain in those places, enough to sustain all living things.
As soon as Su Qin returned, he first inspected the training grounds. After a week of training, the ranks were considerably more orderly. Some men even had a martial prowess of 1. Su Qin was very pleased.
He then entered the craftsmen's courtyard to check on their research into walls, only to be told that Gery was leading experiments outside the manor, so Su Qin changed direction again.
As soon as he arrived, he saw that lad Gery directing several men to smash a wall with large iron hammers. Naturally, it was a stone-brick wall he had built himself.
Su Qin called to him, and Gery slowly turned his head...
"Smash it! Hit it as hard as you can! I want to see how many blows this stone wall can withstand this time!"
"Yes, just like that! Hit it hard!" Suddenly, Gery thought he heard the lord's voice behind him. Turning to look, he discovered Su Qin had returned and immediately walked over.
Gery approached and bowed to Su Qin. "My lord, I'm testing the strength of the mortar, but the results are always barely satisfactory."
Su Qin smiled. "It's all right. Keep smashing. I'm only here to watch. Don't let me interfere with your research."
"Yes, my lord!" As soon as Gery turned away, Su Qin brought up the lad's panel.
"System, bring up Gery's panel!"
[Gery's effective attributes: Intelligence: 7]
After all, even Su Qin's displayed intelligence was only 10, and that was the result of years of modern education.
Su Qin was a little surprised. It actually increased by one point! He lowered his head and thought some more. Even solving math problems gets easier with practice. Humans can draw knowledge from experience and thus grow wiser. Attributes increasing with time, reading, and practice is actually perfectly normal!
Ancient people might have been even wiser. They simply had no access to this knowledge and no way to refine it through practice!
Having figured it out, Su Qin followed Gery and moved closer to watch. Gery seemed lost in thought.
Gery was pondering when Su Qin walked over and asked, "Gery, what difficulties have you run into? Perhaps I can offer some suggestions."
Gery looked up. "My lord, I've been trying to find the right ratio of earth to lime, but the results are always barely satisfactory." With the Red Keep standing so tall, the wall-building techniques at the heart of Westerosi culture were actually quite advanced.
Su Qin nodded and thought for a moment. "You're only using earth and lime?"
"Yes, my lord!"
Su Qin joined him in thought. After a while, something suddenly occurred to him. He smiled and said, "Try mixing in some sand. There's plenty by the river. Pay attention to the proportions."
With that, Su Qin left. He needed to have a servant notify the ministers that tonight they would make up the ministerial meeting for the first week of April.
With that hint, Gery immediately resumed his experiments.
That evening, in the lord's council chamber on the ground floor.
Dressed in an expensive golden gull robe, Su Qin sat quietly in the lord's chair to the east. Luke and his secretary Kerry stood behind him, with Luke standing straight as he guarded the inner door. At that moment, only the three of them were in the chamber.
Kerry was the youngest son of Kelun, the intelligence minister. Su Qin had brought him back on the first day he visited Kelun. These past few days, Su Qin had left him in the library to learn how to record meetings.
At his young age, he ought to read more! In fact, he had done very well. Su Qin had brought him today to write the minutes in his father's place.
Suddenly, the main doors opened, and the ministers filed in. Once everyone was seated, Su Qin began to speak. Kelun glanced at his son behind Su Qin and smiled at him. His son smiled back. His son being valued by the lord meant his own authority was secure.
Su Qin looked at the people on either side and said, "All right, everyone's here. Let's get ready to begin!"
Those present today were Aila, captain of the personal guard; Telang, Right Master of Coin; Kelun, intelligence minister; and Gery, master craftsman.
Some were young and some were old, but that did not matter. Ability mattered most.
"The meeting for the first week of April begins!"
"Kerry will take the minutes today." Su Qin glanced at the intelligence minister, whose face was full of surprise.
Behind Su Qin, Kerry looked at his father's surprised expression and smiled. "Yes, my lord Baron!"
He had already spent a week preparing, writing minutes in the library every day. At last, he had a chance to put it into practice. He quickly picked up his pen and paper and sat at the separate desk Su Qin had prepared for him, a short distance behind Su Qin to the left.
Su Qin immediately began chairing the meeting. "Master of Coin, I need to know the current population of Gulltown, excluding the small villages. How is your count coming along?"
Terry immediately stood and handed Su Qin a sheet of paper. "My lord, we not only went into every small refugee settlement, but also sent people to collect population figures from all the small villages around Gulltown. We've compiled everything by household."
Su Qin took the tally and studied it for a while. It had been prepared with great care; they had even counted the small villages ahead of time. He nodded. "Well done. Each administrator will be rewarded with one gold coin. Come collect it after the meeting!"
"Thank you, my lord!" The Master of Coin returned to his seat, his face full of delight.
After briefly examining the information on the paper, Su Qin nodded slowly. Then he looked at the ministers. "Gulltown has roughly 500 commoner households and 600 refugee households."
"The other places, Aite Keep, Augustus Castle, and Keir Keep, also have about 3,000 people." Of course, Su Qin had yet to gain full direct control over the four subordinate territories.
"I believe that during the year covered by my tax exemption decree, Gulltown will receive more refugees from Featherwood, the Kingdom of the Vale, and even Pentos."
"My lord, I'm concerned that other lords may take issue with your approach!" Kelun cautioned.
Su Qin looked at Kelun and thought for a moment, then understood why Kelun had warned him. Subjects fleeing their lands could be a serious matter or a trivial one; it depended entirely on the nobles themselves. He asked, "Are many of the refugees coming over illegally?"
Kelun nodded. "Most of them are."
Su Qin nodded and considered it. "It's fine. If commoners want to come, let them. If their lords come making trouble, I'll deal with them." At worst, there would be a Trial by Combat. Su Qin had nothing to fear on that front!
Kelun nodded. He had reported the matter; the rest was for the lord to resolve.
"My lord, the new refugees require a great deal of food, and jobs have become extremely scarce. Some refugees have begun causing trouble!" Telang continued, also offering Su Qin a reminder.
Su Qin thought it over. This was a major issue. Then, thinking there might be some children among them, he asked, "How many of the refugee children are homeless orphans?"
"My lord, very few orphans have come. Most arrive with their whole families. There are about 100 orphans."
"How old is the youngest?"
"Six, my lord!"
Su Qin took a deep breath! Six? These were children who knew nothing and needed immediate education and guidance!
Su Qin considered it. "Arrange for them to come to Gull Manor. From now on, bring over any orphans under ten who arrive. I'll raise them!"
"Spread the word that the lord is hiring large numbers of workers to build houses. Tell them that jobs will gradually become more plentiful..."
"Yes, my lord!"
Aila and Gery looked at Su Qin with admiration, but Su Qin wore a worried expression. Children were the hardest to manage.
"I'll resolve the food and employment problems as well. After the June harvest, I won't collect taxes, but I will offer to buy grain. There will be more grain circulating on the market. You are not to stockpile excessive amounts privately. Understood?"
(There was also plenty of other farmland, but it was not the lord's private property.)
Su Qin swept an icy gaze across all the ministers, cold as iron. In truth, he was intimidating them, intimidating all the nobles, old and new. He had to make them fear him!
"I think you understand what I mean! This is my bottom line!" In other words, only he was allowed to buy; they were not allowed to buy too much!
The nobles exchanged looks, then answered, "Yes, my lord!"
Su Qin nodded. "All right, that concludes the first matter." Once Kerry finished recording it, Su Qin continued, "On to the second matter!"
Looking at Kelun, the intelligence minister, Su Qin asked, "How is recruitment of intelligence personnel coming along?"
Kelun nodded. Things apparently looked good. He answered, "I've successfully established an intelligence organization. It's currently in its development stage, with more than fifty informants."
Su Qin nodded slowly. "How much funding does it need each month?"
"Twenty-five gold coins a month, my lord."
"Come collect it later!"
"I'll give you fifty gold coins. Make absolutely certain that most of them remain loyal!"
"Yes, my lord!" Once the record was complete, Su Qin drank a cup of wine.
"All right, you've done well with the tasks assigned at the first meeting. I'll now assign next week's tasks."
Su Qin glanced at Aila, the captain of the personal guard, who was watching him solemnly from beside him, then addressed the Right Master of Coin again. "Select militia recruits from among the refugees. Recruit another hundred. Telang, does every refugee household have an adult man?"
"My lord, it's hard to say. Refugee households are assigned at random, and the refugees don't mind," Telang reminded him at the appropriate moment.
Su Qin nodded. As expected. Some refugees had no marital or kinship ties, making it hard to consider them a family.
After further thought, Su Qin looked at Tron Augustus, the Right Master of Coin. "Next week, the Master of Coin's task will be to pair up the refugees for marriage. The principle is to let them look for themselves and talk among themselves in Gull Square. Those with children should talk to others with children. For those without children, being close in age is enough. They must be at least eighteen to marry. Once they find someone they like and register, I'll give them temporary housing."
"Tell them that once they're paired up, they'll be allocated housing, on the condition that they work for me for free for three years. I'll provide their food and lodging."
Telang looked at Su Qin. He did not know why, but he was somewhat afraid of him. Perhaps it was because Su Qin's manner of making his entrance had been too brutal. He immediately replied, "Yes, my lord."
Su Qin nodded and looked at the captain of the personal guard. "Aila, have the militia maintain order!"
"Yes, my lord!" Aila naturally answered at once. His family had served House Royce for generations, and he was naturally loyal to Su Qin.