Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 139 Gold Bars and Drawalation

Among the currencies circulating in the republics, the most popular is undoubtedly the Ducat gold coin minted by the Central Mint of the Sealand.

[Note: The original meaning of the term "Ducat" was "coin minted by a duke," and many regimes used this term to refer to their own currencies. However, with the popularity of the Venetta Ducat, the term now specifically refers to the Venetta gold coin.]
The Venetian Ducat was nearly pure gold in purity and of consistent quality, making it the most stable coin. Major commodity transactions were priced in the Ducat, making other Allied gold coins pale in comparison.

Taking another type of gold coin with a large circulation, the United Province Gold Shield, as an example, ten United Province Gold Shields can usually only be exchanged for seven Ducats. If the payment is made with Gold Shields, the seller's fire loss must also be compensated.

The value of gold shield coins varies slightly depending on the year they are minted; generally, the more recent the year, the lower the value—everyone is well aware that the provincial mints are adding more and more base metals to the gold shields.

This makes the Golden Shield quite inconvenient to use and even less able to challenge Ducatier's position.

Merchants not only within the Cynas Alliance, but also as far away as the Empire and the Near East, were eager to use the Ducat for trade. As a result, the large outflow of gold coins each year caused some trouble for the Veneta Republic.

Therefore, merchants and artisans traveling between the various republics directly referred to the Ducat as "gold coins," while other types of gold coins had different names.

For the vast majority of people in the league, DuCut is synonymous with pure gold, representing one of the primary ways people come into contact with gold.

Kosha and Anna sent a completely different kind of gold—a whole gold bar weighing nearly 200 grams, so valuable that Winters couldn't possibly use it.

Each 3.56-gram Ducatiel is rarely circulated in the market due to its high value, let alone a gold bar like this that is worth 56 Ducatiels.

Kosha said that Winters would understand her meaning as soon as he saw the gold bars, but the only use Winters could think of was to use them for bribery.

However, Winters, being unfamiliar with the area, didn't even have the means to bribe anyone, nor could he abandon his fellow students and leave on his own.

Having supported each other through the arduous siege, shared tents and hot meals in the bitterly cold winters of the archipelago, and gone through the Battle of Taniriya together, the bonds among this year's Vineta cadets are far stronger than those of their predecessors.

Although he currently has nowhere to spend his money, and gold bars are no different from lead ingots, Winters' anxiety and stress have unconsciously lessened considerably after suddenly having a large sum of disposable precious metals.
Money has that kind of magic.

……

Charles got his wish and stayed with Winters, while Gold didn't stay in Wolftown for long.

The next day, the pirate captain set off, and Winters escorted him all the way to the Blackwater River crossing.

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Captain Gold.” Winters bowed respectfully to Gold.

“No problem.” Gold laughed heartily. “You’re not afraid I’ll run off with the money?”

“I’m not worried about that,” Winters said with a smile. “Just don’t tell Miss Navarre that I gave away the gold notes.”

Gold carried not only Winters' reply, but also a promissory note from Albert, the goldsmith of Kingsburg.

The goldsmith's promissory note was brought by Anatoshar. It is essentially a stub that can be exchanged for pre-deposited gold at the goldsmith.

The purity of coins circulating in the market varied, so in the past people needed to send their gold and silver to goldsmiths to be cast into coins of uniform specifications.

Precious metal craftsmen not only had vaults, but also hired guards. Gradually, people discovered that storing gold with a goldsmith was far safer than keeping it in their own hands.

Goldsmiths paid for gold only upon presentation of the gold certificate, not the person. Thus, the gold certificate evolved into a form of currency, widely used and traded by merchants due to its concealment and convenience.

At Winters' request, Gold would first go to Kingsburg to exchange the promissory note for gold coins, and then bring the map and gold coins to the Venetian lieutenants scattered throughout the new settlements.

Life is probably tough for the Venetians. Now that Winters is financially secure, he hopes to offer as much help as possible to others.

This was a difficult task, because Winters knew neither how many of his contemporaries had been assigned to the new land nor the specific locations of the others.

Winters had Charles send four gold bars to each of Andrei and Bader. The remaining Venetas could only be found by searching town by town, one by one, in Gold.

“Mr. Gold, I really don’t know how to thank you… really, thank you.” Winters expressed his heartfelt gratitude to his former enemy.

"No need to thank me, what's there to thank me for?" Gold flashed a gold tooth. "It's not like I'm doing this for free, I got paid."

After saying this, Gold laughed loudly, spurred his horse on the ribs, and rode away.

Watching his old friend leave, Winters suddenly understood Lieutenant Mason's feelings.

……

Lieutenant Colonel Custer and Lieutenant Mason were right; in mid-September, a week after Charles and Gold arrived in Wolftown, an army communications officer delivered three items to Lieutenant Montagne.

The official gazette, next quarter's salary, and a conscription order from the New Reclamation Corps.

The command was very brief, vague about the specific plan, and only briefly stated the requirements and timeline.

Quoting a portion of the original text:

"This order is issued by Major General Kevin J. Adams of the Republic of Palatour, Commander of the New Reclamation Legion, and recipient of the Order of the Violet, in accordance with the glorious and inviolable Treaty of Told."

"The town of Langtun, under the jurisdiction of the joint-administered county, is obligated to provide militia as an auxiliary force when the New Reclamation Army needs them."

Leaving aside the formalities and clichés, the specific requirements were that Langtun Town provide a full-strength militia of one hundred men, who would not be required to be armed themselves, and the conscription would be limited to able-bodied men aged 15 to 35.

The roster must be delivered to the garrison in Revodan by October 15th. The specific assembly location and time will be notified separately.

The tone of this conscription order was unlike that of a republican government; it sounded more like an old-fashioned nobleman demanding loyalty from his vassals.

They only care about getting people; they don't ask about anything else.

It is important to understand that the fewer the instructions and the broader the restrictions, the more room for maneuver the person carrying them out has.

This order, signed by General Adams, had no restrictions other than specifying the quality of conscripts. If it fell into the hands of some unscrupulous individuals, it wouldn't be difficult for it to ruin ordinary farmers and wipe out their entire families.

Winters was quite surprised by this, but Girard and the commoners of the various villages in Wolf Town were already used to it. After the order was read out to each village, the villagers had no objection to the method of conscription; their only concern was the number of men to be conscripted.

Many villagers murmured, "Last time they only conscripted forty people, why are they conscripting eighty this time?" Some literate villagers even mustered up the courage to look at the original conscription order.

However, the order to seal the wax seal was clearly written in black and white, and although there was dissatisfaction, people only complained a few times. In front of Winters and Girard, no one dared to openly oppose it.

Winters hadn't expected the people of Wolftown to accept the need for conscription so readily; the process of reading the order went very smoothly, and he hardly had to say a word.

Back at the police station, Winters invited Girard, Father Carman, and Brother Reid to discuss the conscription method.

“Don’t worry too much. Wolftown has gone through many polls before, and everyone is used to it.” Girard noticed Winters’ unease. “If you ask me, we should stick to the old method: drawing lots.”

Father Kaman shook his head: "Relying solely on drawing lots probably won't work. In the past, only forty people were drawn, which wasn't too many. This time, eighty people will be drawn, all able-bodied men from each village. If a family has two people drawn, then the remaining elderly, weak, women, and children will have a hard time. I'm afraid some people will try to evade the service."

Girard pondered for a moment and said, "How about a lottery, where those who don't win pool some money as compensation?"

“Perhaps it’s feasible,” Father Kaman said, holding the necklace. “However, the amount of compensation must be carefully considered. Some families are poor, and some are rich; it would be best to differentiate between them.”

Girard and Kaman began to discuss the matter, exchanging their thoughts.

But Winters was more curious about what Girard said about Wolftown having "expelled soldiers many times before".

"What was the situation with the previous 'drawing of the rod'?" Winters asked.

“Cough.” Girard sighed and said, “Every time we fight the Heds, whether it’s a big battle or a small one, we have to conscript men. Before, we didn’t have a resident officer here, so I was the one leading the men.”

The newly reclaimed lands were not only subject to harsh and complicated taxes, but also required more frequent corvée labor than Winters had imagined.

Seeing Winters' furrowed brow, Girard quickly added, "They're called militia, but they're really just laborers. They hardly ever fight on the front lines. Their main job is to do odd jobs for the soldiers, carry things, and escort supplies."

"Fighting the Heds? What do you mean?" Winters' focus wasn't on what Girard was saying: "And many times?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Reed scoffed. "To the east of Palatul are the Venetians and the United Provinces, and to the west are the Herd tribes. If we don't fight the Herds, are we going to start a war with our allies?"

"Why didn't I hear much about the battles between Palatul and the Hed when I was in the United Provinces and Venetta?"

"Does a dog biting a man make everyone talk about it?" the old monk scoffed. "Only a man biting a dog would. What's so special about the Highlanders and the Heds fighting? Especially you Venettas, what do you Venettas care about besides money? Haven't you always been indifferent to Paratu? If Paratu ever discovers a great gold mine, I guarantee the Venettas will all know about it the very next day."

Ignoring the old charlatan's sarcastic tone, Winters pressed on, "What I mean is... why fight?"

"Why fight?" Reed laughed as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke. "You should ask when there was a truce?"

He stood up, dipped his finger in wine, and began to sketch on the table. With a few strokes, he outlined the general shape of the Paratú Plateau.

"The Hed people are not a unified whole. The various tribes and the Paratu people have been fighting each other for hundreds of years, with minor battles every three years and major battles every five years. If we start counting from the westward expansion of the ancient empire, it has been more than a thousand years. The Paratu people of today are actually the imperialized Hed people, who were originally one of the various tribes. It's just that the Paratu people don't recognize it."

As the old monk drew on the table, he said to himself, "In the last hundred years, the Palatul and the Hed were evenly matched. The tribes even fought all the way to the walls of Kingsburg, where the Duke of Palatul hid in the castle, trembling with fear, while the Hed burned, killed, and looted everywhere."

The old mendicant monk suddenly stopped, counted on his fingers, and sighed, "If you think about it, that was sixty years ago."

Winters, Girard, and Father Carman listened intently.

"And then?" Winters asked.

"Then the Heds destroyed themselves. Internal strife, division, and the struggle for the Khanate—the same old story." The old monk sneered. "Meanwhile, the Paratu gained the weapons of the United Provinces and the gold of Veneta. With this shift in power, the Heds naturally couldn't withstand it. The place where you're sitting now was originally the land of the Hed's Suta tribe, but now it's become newly reclaimed land for the Paratu, isn't it?"

The old monk gestured with his chin toward Father Kaman: "The Wolf Town Church was built by heretics who came to the Suta tribe to preach in the early years, so the murals on the walls are Arian murals, didn't you know that?"

“What did you say?” Father Kaman was stunned.

“Go back and take a closer look. See if the Divine Child in the mural gradually develops a beard from being beardless. This means the Divine Child is human, which is exactly the doctrine of the Arians.” The old mendicant chuckled. “The people who came to take over the church property knew nothing. They took it over exactly as it was, and the murals were not modified. I was afraid that old Anthony would be furious, so I didn’t dare to mention it to him.”

"Where did the Suta tribe go?" Winters asked.

“Where else could they go? They’ve all gone to heaven.” The old monk pointed at Girard: “Mr. Mitchell also did his part.”

Gerard, who had been listening intently, was startled when he was suddenly called upon. After a long pause, he slowly replied, "When we Dusa people first arrived in Palatour, the newly reclaimed land was indeed not yet newly reclaimed land."

Winters thought of the Herd people on Red Sulphur Island who were willing to die for their homes, and couldn't help but sigh: "You mean the war between the Kingdom of Galloping Horses and the Herd tribes has never stopped?"

"That's roughly the idea." The old cultivator blinked. "There were periods of fighting and pausing, but overall, it never really stopped."

Winters then recalled the wars in Venetia and the Islands: "Are the Heard people wealthy?"

"No, quite the opposite, the Hed are very poor. So in the past, it was always the Hed tribes that attacked, and the Paratul defended." The old monk pointed to the map on the table and said, "But now it's different. Now the Paratul are attacking, and the Hed are defending. The Kingdom of Galloping Horses craves more land, but it can't attack the United Provinces and Venetia, so it can only move westward."

"Isn't the area beyond the Great Horn River no man's land?" Winters had recently visited the west bank of the Great Horn River.

“What I want this time is this hundred-kilometer-wide no-man's-land,” the old monk stroked his beard and said. “The Palatul people fight for spoils. The more they fight, the more spoils they need, and the more spoils they need, the more they will continue to fight, like a snowball… But this has nothing to do with you. Don’t worry, the people of Wolf Town will definitely support the war against the Hed people. If the compensation is reasonable, it won’t be difficult to gather a militia of a hundred men.”

"Why?" Winters was increasingly bewildered. "There are still people willing to fight? I mean the poor... there are still poor people willing to fight."

“Boy, you’re completely wrong.” Reid narrowed his eyes and said mysteriously, “In the Republic of Palatour, the ones who most want to go to war with the Heds are the ‘poor people’ you’re talking about.”

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(End of this chapter)