Imperial Crown.

Chapter 288 100000000 Pounds

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……

While Archbishop Thomas was preparing to welcome the visitor, the nobles gradually completed the work of sorting out their own territories.

The huge losses made all the nobles frown, so much so that even after almost half a month of the locust plague, the nobles didn't even hold a cocktail party.

I'm really not in the mood.

Hyde is one of them. He is only 23 years old this year, only one year younger than Raven, but his face is so haggard that he could be Raven's uncle.

He sat in the study, reeking of alcohol, looking gloomily at the numbers on the documents in front of him. Even his favorite drink, Angel's Tears, tasted bitter.

The loss is too great!

Because he misjudged the speed of the locust invasion, the grain in his territory had no time to be harvested and all became food for the locusts. A rough estimate is that at least 2300 million pounds were lost.

And this is only the superficial loss, not to mention the food that will be provided to the destitute serfs in the territory so that they do not starve to death. This will cost at least 2850 million pounds.

Together, they amount to nearly 5200 million pounds.

Even in an ordinary year, this means the loss of tens of thousands of gold coins, and now it is a year of great disaster after the locust plague!

Nowadays, the price of one pound of unground, lowest-quality aged coarse wheat has soared from 1 copper coins to 2 copper coins on the market. Moreover, there is no demand for it, and the price is rising at an astonishing rate every day.

In other words, Hyde lost nearly 20 gold coins in food alone!
But if he had a choice, Hyde would rather lose a few more gold coins on food, because that would be the most insignificant loss.

What really hurts him is the loss of population.

The situation in the towns was relatively good, as there were fully armored soldiers delivering some food, so not many people starved to death.

But the serfs were miserable. They didn't have much food in stock to begin with, and once the locusts arrived and blocked their homes, they soon ran out of food. Some starved to death, some were forced to eat their family members and still starved to death, and some could not bear the hunger and went out to look for food, and ended up being killed by the locusts.

According to statistics, the loss of this part was 12000 people.

Including the refugees who fled early, Hyde's territory lost at least 20000 people, which is about 1/5 of the population.

Hyde's butler knocked on the door, pushed it open after getting permission, and brought him a pot of strong tea and some cakes.

"What's past is past, sir." The butler whispered, "You don't have to worry about these things. Eat something and rest for a while."

"Yes, some things have passed, but..." Hyde smiled bitterly and pointed at the dozens of smoke columns rising outside the window: "But aren't there also things that haven't passed?"

The impact of locust plagues is not only felt when they arrive, but they also leave behind huge problems when they leave.

The mountains and plains were covered with dead locust corpses. They not only fell on houses, roads, and courtyards, but also covered every inch of water surface.

Hyde had no idea how to deal with them. Even if he organized people to salvage, collect, and incinerate them, the efficiency was still extremely low.

So in the hot weather, the locusts' corpses began to rot quickly, contaminating almost every water source, and the plague broke out as expected.

The columns of smoke outside the window that rise day and night are the result of burning locusts and the bodies of the people who died of disease.

The reason why Hyde was always drunk was not because he wanted to escape reality by being drunk, but because he always felt that the water brought to him was not clean, even though the servants swore that it was saved before the locust plague.

Seeing that his viscount's face was getting more and more unhappy, the butler thought for a moment and said, "But, Master, don't worry, we have learned from the way of the five northwestern counties and sent people to deal with the corpses of the locusts..."

The so-called method of the five northwestern counties is actually to collect locusts, cook them, dry them, and grind them. Raven did not keep it to himself and made the method public.

But this did not make Hyde feel better, because his territory was located in Arag County in the central part of the province, and the locusts left about 10 days earlier than Raven.

The gap of 10 days is enough for most insect corpses to rot and deteriorate. Now even if Raven's method is used, it will not have any effect.

At this moment, footsteps were heard, and a man in a black satin wizard robe pushed the door open and walked in: "Oh, let me see, who made the little snake of the Slater family unhappy?"

"Uncle Jon!" Hyde stood up immediately with a happy look on his face: "Why are you here?"

Jon is a third-level wind magician supported by the Slater family, and is now preparing to be promoted to the fourth level.

He has a long upper body and a short lower body, and his facial features are slightly flat. He is the kind of person who would be hard to find if thrown into a crowd.

The most obvious feature is the tuft of white hair on the forehead.

Jon has been serving in the Slater family since 20 years ago. He watched Hyde grow up, and the relationship between the two can be said to be as close as father and son.

"The Earl is worried about your situation, so he asked me to come over to take a look. He also sent a batch of food to help you with your needs."

Hyde's eyes showed a touch of emotion: "You must have told your father, right?"

"That's not the case." Jon shook his head and said, "I dare not take away the Earl's love for you. He specifically asked me to escort this here personally. 800 million pounds should be enough to sustain your territory for a while."

A sense of relief spread through his chest, and Hyde felt the pressure on his shoulders lighten.

After personally pouring a cup of tea for Jon, Hyde asked, "How is the family situation? Will there be any problem with giving me so much food?"

Jon picked up the teacup and sat down, smiling and saying, "Don't worry, after all, the Earl is in charge of the overall situation. Although the situation is not too good, it is not particularly bad either."

"How much is the exact loss?" Hyde asked.

Pursing his lips, Jon raised his right thumb and index finger.

"200 million gold coins!? So many!?" Hyde was shocked.

Hodges County, occupied by the Slater family, was originally the richest county in the province. Now that the locust plague has swept through, it is reasonable that the damage is serious.

But he didn't expect that there would be such a huge loss.

This is the Slater family’s income for five or six years.

"Then these 800 million pounds of food are too much." Hyde rubbed his hands and said, "How about this, I'll keep half of it, and you can take the other half back. I still have some food in my warehouse."

Jon laughed and said, "My Lord, I knew you would say that. But don't worry, this amount of food is not enough to bring down the family. Just keep it."

"But……"

"Okay, stop frowning." Jon clapped his hands fiercely. "You are still young now. If you think so much all day, you will age prematurely sooner or later. What did I teach you in my early years?"

"Uh..." Hyde thought: "You said that if you are unhappy, you should go and see someone who is more unfortunate than you."

Jon had a teachable look on his face.

"But in this locust plague, everyone's losses are almost the same. How do you pick out the more unlucky ones?" Hyde was puzzled.

"You don't know this." Jon lowered his voice and pointed to the south. "That person over there is much more miserable than our Slater family."

Hyde was stunned for a moment: "You mean, Marquis Anthony!?"

Marquis Anthony, Governor of the Nord Province, has been in a bad mood recently, executing several servants and maids every day for trivial reasons.

The medicine that was originally needed to suppress old injuries only every 5 days now has to be taken every day, occasionally in the morning, and a "midnight snack" has to be added at night. No matter who it is, just taking the post of governor, before he can show his skills, he received such a great gift as the locust plague, and he couldn't calm down.

What happened in Hyde Territory was almost exactly repeated in Feldoro County where Anthony was located.

However, the area of ​​Ferdoro County is more than 10 times that of Hyde Territory, and its population is 20 times larger!
During this period, Anthony did think of a way. He organized the extraordinary people around him to hunt insect kings, and killed 10 insect kings in 7 days. However, it did not produce any visible effect at all.

Just as his personal alchemist said at the beginning, if you kill one insect king, another one will soon be born in the insect swarm.

And no matter how hard they tried, the locusts seemed endless and could not be killed at all.

What gave him a headache was not just the locust plague; the hidden dangers that had been buried before began to materialize one by one.

After the locust plague, famine and plague began to spread. Following this, various secret religious groups sprang up like mushrooms after a rain, recruiting believers, gathering crowds to cause trouble, and even began to attack businesses and wealthy families in various places, causing a large number of tragedies.

Even three of the knight families were uprooted.

On the other hand, many mercenaries temporarily changed their identities due to the loss of their livelihoods and became part-time highway robbers; even if they accepted a mission, they might simply kill the host and run away with the money if they were dissatisfied with the offer.

Anthony's policy of "using mercenaries to fight cults" turned into nothing before it was even implemented.

He had no choice but to ask the people around him to go out and mobilize the army that originally belonged to the Fox family to provide disaster relief and quell rebellions in various places, causing the already limited food to be consumed even faster.

Unfortunately, the two surrounding counties were suffering from disasters and there was no food to buy; now it was a war, and it was impossible for him to write to His Majesty the King to ask for support.

"Damn locusts!"

Anthony slammed the table, grabbed his old hair, clenched his fists slowly, and finally made up his mind.

"Come here, please draft a visiting card for me and give it to... Archbishop Thomas!"

Anthony was assigned this position of governor. Originally, his task was to deal with Fox and keep a close eye on the Church of Light. However, now he is forced to ask the Church of Light for help.

I have to say, it's a wonderful irony.

But this is also a very normal way of thinking. Everyone knows the great power of the Church of Light. Anthony is not the only one who thinks of asking the church for help.

While most people were drafting their letters and a small number of people's letters were still on the way, those who had submitted their visiting cards five days in advance had already arrived at the Grace City Church.

He was wearing a brown robe, just like a clergyman in the church. He entered the church through the side door under the cover of night, and under the guidance of Savannah, he came to Archbishop Thomas' study.

An oil lamp was burning in the study, and Archbishop Thomas was quietly studying the "Divine Word".

Hearing the door open, he looked up and smiled: "Baron Raven, long time no see."

Taking off his hood, Raven bowed respectfully: "Sir Thomas, since we last met, I have wanted to listen to your preaching about the glory of my Lord all the time."

This sentence was impeccable. Even though Thomas knew that Raven did not believe in the Lord of Light, his expression became softer: "Please take a seat."

Sitting down in front of Thomas, Raven took the cup of tea handed to him by the nun and took a sip.

The door closed and the nun left, and the room fell into a brief silence.

Archbishop Thomas looked at Raven quietly with a kind expression, while Raven sipped the tea very attentively, as if it was the most delicious delicacy.

After a long while, Raven finished his tea and put the cup on the table. He looked at Thomas and said, "Sir, you look haggard."

Thomas was surprised to hear Raven say such a thing. Then he sighed, "The locust plague is so severe. How can I not be haggard when I think of the suffering of my Lord's Lamb?"

Raven also sighed: "My heart is the same as yours. Seeing my people struggling with hunger and plague, I, as a lord, feel deeply derelict in my duty and cannot rest day or night."

"I have taken the liberty of coming to visit you this time. First, I want you to baptize me, lead me to feel the glory of the Lord of Light, and wash away the worries in my heart. Second, I hope you can have pity on the people in my territory and prevent them from starving to death."

Archbishop Thomas raised the corners of his mouth slightly and then suppressed them, feeling a little funny in his heart.

He already knew that Raven came to ask for food, but these words were a bit too much.

Earlier, Thomas had received a letter from Herlind, the bishop of Snow Maple Town. Judging from the content of the letter, Raven's handling of the locusts was the most appropriate among all the nobles in the province.

Not only did eating locusts greatly alleviate the food crisis, but because the locust carcasses were handled in a timely manner, although epidemics occurred in the territory, they did not cause large-scale plagues.

If Raven can't sleep day or night, then the other nobles can just find a rope to hang themselves.

"The Lord of Light will not reject any believer," Archbishop Thomas said slowly, "but as His preacher, I will not use threats to force anyone to be enveloped by His glory."

"However much food you want, I will do my best to help."

Raven raised his brows slightly.

Originally, Raven's condition was that he would set an example and publicly convert to the Church of Light in exchange for Thomas' support.

It's a very fair deal.

But Thomas was clearly not satisfied with this, he hoped that Raven could be more deeply bound to the Church of Light.

Not allowing Raven to join the church publicly is to make Raven owe a huge favor.

"Your Excellency, your heart is so broad that it would put the ocean to shame." Raven stroked his chest with his hand. "Then I will boldly make my request."

Seeing Raven being so polite, Thomas picked up the teacup and smiled: "So, Baron Raven, how much do you need?"

He already had a bottom line in his mind. He could give Raven a maximum of 1000 million pounds of food, which should be enough to support Raven's territory's consumption for about three months.

It's not that he can't offer more, but although Raven has potential, he is not yet an earl after all. Thomas' focus should still be on Earl Tyrone and Marquis Anthony.

But Raven's next words directly broke through his bottom line.

Raven raised a finger.
"I want 100000000 pounds!"

"puff--"

Even though Archbishop Thomas was well-educated, he was still so shocked that he spat out half a mouthful of tea.

He picked up his handkerchief and wiped the water drops on his chest:

"One hundred million pounds? Lord Raven, how can such nonsense come from your sensible lips?"

"Please get out immediately!"

"Oh, don't get excited, Sir Thomas." Raven spread his hands: "I don't want your food for nothing."

As he spoke, he flipped his right hand and a cold aura of death spread out.

"This is..." Archbishop Thomas's eyes narrowed slightly:
"The Holy Symbol of Death!?"

……

(End of this chapter)