Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 155: Flower of the Nobility: Hessen Royal Guard Knight
In fact, Su Li’s surprise and pressure are very normal. After all, the development time of Heisen Territory is still short.

Not counting the dwarves, the total population is less than two thousand.

Using these two thousand farmers and merchants to support nearly two hundred golden knights must be a financial strain.

For a territory of this size, supporting 20 knights was considered excessive. Su Li had previously felt in good shape because his territory had various special industries that could produce high-value items, such as dwarven heavy armor, witch amulets, and monastery potions.

But these buildings are limited after all, and they are definitely not enough to support 200 knights.

The key point is that in Silver Spring Valley, there are still 60 elite knights and hundreds of knight squires.

In other words, in Hessen County, the total number of knights whose salaries are paid by Su Li and those whose salaries are not paid by him is more than 300, close to 400.

But all this is not the most difficult thing. The most difficult thing is how to divide the fiefdoms among so many knights?

Su Li couldn't suppress them all the time, but if he enfeoffed dozens of nobles, his army would be overwhelmed and the territory would become too fragmented.

Su Li had never thought of such a huge scale of enfeoffment. From the beginning to the end, he estimated that the scale of enfeoffment would not exceed ten.

But Su Li couldn't tell the military all this directly!

A virtuous lord must generously reward his meritorious knights. At least when facing the army's commander, Knight Orstein, Su Li must show his willingness to divide the land!

So Su Li pondered for a moment and asked tentatively: "My commander, what do you think of me distributing these knights? You know the finances of the territory are overwhelmed."

Orstein immediately shook his head and said, "I don't think this is the right time. The knights are eager to gain more merits under your command and achieve more breakthroughs. If you divide them now, it will greatly shake the morale of the army. An ambitious knight should not waste time on farms, especially at this moment when the decisive battle with the demons and the green dragon is about to break out."

Su Li stroked the soft beard growing on his chin. His mentality, like this beard, was becoming increasingly tough and mature. So he asked, "But our territory's finances are indeed overwhelmed. Even if I take the Kisser to Maraisburg and sell it for thousands of gold crowns, it won't last long with such huge military expenses."

"We should think of a way to solve this problem. The knights' opinions are certainly important, but the stability of the territory's finances is also extremely important. Of course, even more important is to solve the knights' path to advancement."

Sure enough, Su Li’s words worked!

He also raised many difficulties, and Knight Orstein failed to discover Su Li's true intentions.

Knight Orstein pondered and said, "Perhaps we could change our thinking and make the division of land a necessary condition for promotion. For example, we could establish a legion of noble flowers, the Hessian Guard."

"The Knights of the Hessian Guard?" Su Li's eyes lit up and he was quite interested. There were many such elite knightly orders in the empire, especially near the capital.

This kind of knightly order is generally only loyal to the emperor or elector.

These Knights Guards also created their own legends with their bravery and fearlessness in battle. They charged into the front of almost every battle, rarely deserted, and were willing to fight in various parts of the empire for the Emperor/Elector.

Commander Orstein continued, "To demonstrate the nobility and strength of the Hessian Guards, Lord, you can equip them with the finest weapons and gleaming plate armor. The Black Forest emblem will also be prominently displayed to identify them as warriors."

"All of this is done to highlight the strictness of the recruitment requirements. In the territory, joining the Hessian Guard is considered a special honor. This will make many young nobles eager to join, eager to add color to their youth."

"If everything goes smoothly for us, perhaps even places like Nordland, where warriors abound, will recruit men from the Hessian Guard. We might even see other Elector Counts' heirs joining the Hessian Guard."

Su Li suddenly understood that it was indeed correct for this legion to be called the Flowers of Nobility!
To join the legion one must be a young noble, and this condition is very common.

Within the Empire, many warriors of noble birth would not join any provincial standing legion, as this would mean fighting alongside ordinary soldiers. They preferred to join specialized knightly orders.

These knights were majestic, clad in gleaming heavy plate armor and equipped with sophisticated weapons, launching a devastating charge against the enemies of the empire.

To become a member of the Empire's select knightly order, a nobleman must renounce his feudal responsibilities and inheritance rights, and then pass a rigorous initiation ceremony.

If the Hessian Guards are successfully created, this will be another opportunity to increase the lord's virtues!

However, unlike the Nineteen Taxes, which were paid by the subordinates first and then returned by the lord, Su Li generously granted the knights the territory first, and then the knights gave up their feudal responsibilities and inheritance rights to the territory.

When joining the Hessian Guard becomes a widespread honor, it may even attract young nobles from other territories to give up everything and join this powerful knightly order.

Especially after Su Li gradually became stronger, the scope of this honor would become wider and wider. When he became an elector, this honor would affect the entire border princedom, and when he became the supreme emperor, this honor would affect the entire empire.

Moreover, the existence of the Hessen Guard was a banner that would inspire other knights to fight more bravely and pursue honor more fervently, thus looking forward to the day when they could join the Hessen Guard. Su Li felt a little happier. In this way, the issue of the knights' fiefdoms was indeed resolved.

He could slowly enfeoff those knight families who had the need and the ability to help him develop remote areas at his own pace.

But then he thought of a problem and said, "My Lord Commander, your proposal for the Flower of Nobility is indeed a good one. However, it seems to only solve the problem of enfeoffment among the knights, and does not address the financial problems of the territory. Moreover, in order to establish such a powerful Royal Guard, it seems that the financial pressure will continue to increase."

Knight Orstein put down his knife and fork, stood up, straightened his robe, and replied confidently, "My Lord, the most important thing for the Hessian Knights is honor. Salary increases are not what they seek. A monthly increase of one to two gold crowns per person will suffice. However, the resulting increase in combat power is unparalleled, meaning each of them will acquire the trait of fighting to the death."

"On the battlefield, they will be the first to charge and the last to retreat. This kind of powerful fighting power cannot be purchased with any salary."

"I am the military commander, responsible only for strengthening the military and winning battles. Regarding financial matters, you may need to call together the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chancellor of Finance, the Lord Chancellor of Agriculture, and the High Chamberlain to discuss them."

Wow, he really pushed it all away!
You only want to achieve perfection in military affairs, and you should confidently leave the financial matters to the lord to solve!
Su Li sighed, put down the food, waved to Ingrid, and asked her to take down the flag of the Bauhinia family and hand it to Orstein.

"My Lord Commander, I will personally oversee the creation of the Hessian Guard. I will also find a way to resolve the financial issues. You will reorganize the army and deal with the Brass Sisters in the southwest of the territory and the Puma on the Brienne River in the east."

Puma meat can slightly enhance the training qualifications of wood-attribute knights. Its effect cannot be compared with that of tinder rabbit and light-scale fish, but its advantage is that the quantity is very large. The meat of a huge puma may reach 3000 to 5000 kilograms, which is almost as heavy as an elephant.

Bringing it back can greatly alleviate the food pressure in the territory.

Knight Orstein's eyes also lit up. He had eaten Lion's Mane Mushroom before. There were more than twenty of these mushrooms. Fifteen of them were planted in the territory and seeds were cultivated around the Consecrated Wisteria Tree. The rest were given to the knights to improve their qualifications.

He knew very well how important this tool that could improve people's aptitude was.

So he immediately saluted Su Li and said, "As you command, Lord, I will go and take care of these matters myself."

After he left, Su Li stood up, put on his windbreaker, and prepared to go take a look near Bjorn Bay.

Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. Su Li never expected one person to solve all his problems. The fact that the military commander could come up with a solution to help him solve the problem of dividing up the territory was already a pleasant surprise.

As for financial issues, he still has to take care of them personally.

He planned to talk to Lawen about this. He had spent so much time, spent so much money, and employed so many people. Wasn't it that each of them had their own responsibilities and was there to help him solve the problem?

Su Li was about to leave when Ingrid grabbed the corner of his clothes and asked, "Are you leaving?"

Su Li thought she was worried about the tree house near the wisteria tree, so he smiled, bent down and kissed her forehead, and said, "I'm going to Bjorn's Bay to check on the farming matters. Don't worry, I will have the dwarf engineers help you build the tree house and garden near the wisteria tree right away."

With the help of Su Li's intelligence, a batch of rainbow hail crystals were buried under the Holy Wisteria Tree. This magical spiritual plant ushered in another period of growth, as if time had accelerated on it. At this moment, it had grown to more than 40 meters, and the purple flowers cascaded down like stars, swaying in the wind, forming a purple ocean.

When the breeze blows, the petals dance, emitting a faint fragrance that makes people feel relaxed and happy.

The forty-meter-high wisteria is combined with the magnificent garden. The morning light shines through the petals, casting mottled light and shadows, like a magical fairyland.

It can be said that anyone who sees this beautiful scenery of light and shadow and the mysterious and beautiful atmosphere will be amazed that it is simply a wonder of nature, like a bridge connecting reality and fantasy dreams.

That's why Ingrid agreed to move the witch's hut in, and Su Li also wanted to build a beautiful building like a wizard's tower for her.

But Ingrid looked at him and said calmly, "That's not it. If you need money, I can give you 1000 gold crowns."

Su Li raised his eyebrows. He didn't expect that his female courtier was so rich!
However, considering that she sometimes sells various magical amulets, props and potions to the people in her territory, it is not difficult to understand why she has such wealth.

And she was willing to use her entire dowry to support him, which made Su Li feel relieved and smiled brightly. This was her personality, always cold and quiet, but willing to give silently. If you treat her well, she will be willing to return your kindness with great kindness.

But he just kissed the corner of Ingrid's lips gently and said, "No need, just hide your little stash of money. Leave the earning of money to support the family to me. I will take care of all these little problems."

Then Su Li touched her silky pink hair and said to her, "Don't change your hairstyle to this color anymore. It doesn't suit you. You look better with your original dark-brown hair."

"kindness."

After saying goodbye to Ingrid, Su Li couldn't help but feel excited. With such a wife, he felt happy even when he was struggling!
"Let's go to Bjorn's Shallows."

(End of this chapter)