I'm not a lord

Chapter 47: The Death of the King
"We still need to repair another 40 kilometers? Master, this, this."

Old Albert subconsciously wanted to object, but he couldn't say it out loud.

It is true that he is loyal to his lord, but he also does not want the serfs in White Bear Territory to die from endless labor.

What does it mean to build a 60-kilometer road in a primeval forest with dense vegetation, large trees and swamps?
Even if it is a narrow dirt road that can only accommodate wheelbarrows, it can definitely be called a super-large project.

And it needs to be completed within this year?

The three thousand serfs led by White Bear have nothing to do this year. They just focus on building the road. There is a small chance that the project can be completed before winter comes.

But what should we do during the autumn harvest?
Who will harvest, dry and store the grain on more than 30,000 acres of farmland?
Should the farmland water conservancy project be repaired?

Will we still plant the fields next year?

Old Albert inexplicably thought in his mind: This is what a feudal manor is like. The lord only needs to order the serfs around, but the steward has a lot of things to consider.

"Don't be so quick to object. What if I tell you there's a salt mine at the end of this road?"

Lin En saw Lao Ai's worries and threw out the huge offer of salt mine at the right time.

Salt. Salt mine?

When he learned that there was a salt mine in the territory, old Albert's first reaction was not excitement, but suspicion and even horror.

He almost fell off his horse.

Fortunately, the second brother who was following behind Lin En gave him a hand, and he was able to hold on to the saddle without any danger.

After settling down a bit, Lao Ai lowered his voice as much as possible and asked, "Master, are you kidding? This must be the case, right?"

Lin En asked seriously, "No, I'm not kidding. Besides, is this something you can joke about? If there weren't salt mines, why would I build this extra 40 kilometers of road?"

"Master, do you really want to mine this salt mine?"

Old Albert's reaction was completely different from that of the second-in-command and other bandit brothers. His expression revealed his worries about salt mining.

Although he was just the steward of the manor, he understood the simple truth that an innocent man would be guilty of possessing a treasure.

Possession is a sin.

With the current strength of the White Bear Territory, how could it be qualified to interfere in the salt trade in the North?
Even if the master's family is the Earl of Cold Wind, it is far from enough!
Salt can bring countless gold coins, but it can also bring endless wars!
Lin En said impatiently, "Isn't that nonsense? I built the road just to transport salt, and I've already contacted the merchants. Once the road is opened, we can sell salt to the entire kingdom."

"But Master" Lao Ai still wanted to try to persuade Lin En.

But he was interrupted on the spot by Lin En: "Don't oppose me, Albert! I have decided to dig this salt mine! And I will never monopolize the profits from mining the salt mine!

Once the salt mine is successfully mined, the people of the entire White Bear Territory will enjoy free salt forever. Furthermore, I will reduce their taxes and even consider giving them farmland as a gift!

Politics is about having more supporters and fewer opponents.

Not only that, but also the distribution of benefits to supporters must be done well.

Countless political groups that succeeded at first and then failed mostly failed due to the distribution of interests.

Lin En prepared for the future and had already roughly thought out a plan for distributing the profits after salt mining.

As the lord, he naturally has to take the biggest share.

Of course, he wouldn't be stupid enough to leave such an astronomical sum of money in a warehouse to rot.

Most of the profits from the salt mines must be spent on building territory and the army.

In turn, the army is used to protect the interests of the salt mines.

The management of the territory took a small share, those who deserved to marry beautiful women got to marry beautiful women, and those who deserved to build large mansions built large mansions. Naturally, the serfs responsible for road construction and mining were not left behind.

Salt was free, land taxes were reduced, and land was even directly distributed to free people from serfdom.

In any case, the benefits must be given in place so as to fully stimulate the serfs' enthusiasm for work.

What? You said it would take three thousand people half a year to build the road?

Of course forced labor is inefficient!

But what if they clamor for road construction?

That is naturally a different matter.

In short, as long as the money is in place, six shovels per second is not a dream!

Even a pickaxe can create a shadow!

Lynn is not like some jailed president who brutally cuts down on military treatment.

This guy actually wanted to start a mutiny by relying on soldiers who were not well fed.

Old Albert was horrified when he heard this. "But, sir, if this happens, all the serfs in the territory will know about the existence of the salt mine. If the secret is leaked, the Duke of Swamp's army will immediately rush into White Bear Territory!"

The lord's lord is not my lord. Old Albert has always been loyal to the Baron of White Bear. He will be loyal to whoever is the baron.

After all, only the true owner of the territory would put the interests of the territory and the life and death of the serfs first.

What Old Ai is worried about right now is the Duke of Swamp's army.

The quality of the army these days can’t be said to be loving the people like their own children, but at least it can be said to be raping and looting.

Thirty years ago, the elite troops of the Duke of the Swamp did repel the barbarians who came south, but they also did not forget to cause trouble to the White Bear Territory and the Shoal Territory along the way.

If the Duke had not enforced military discipline, these ruffians would have stripped the serfs of their clothes.

"Why panic? With the White Bear Territory's terrain, as long as we do our best to block the news, the Duke won't be able to learn anything about the territory. By the time he finds White Bear Territory along the trade route, we'll have built a powerful army to keep all enemies out of the territory!"

Lynn has never been afraid of leaking information.

The White Bear Territory is located at the northernmost end of the Duke of Swampland. The west and north sides are all vast primeval forests, the east is the White River and cliffs, and the south is only connected to the Shoal Territory.

As long as the dock and the only exit at the southern end are blocked, the entire territory will become an intelligence black hole.

Will the serfs leak the secret?

What a joke! All the male serfs are building roads in the north, and their every word and action is being watched. Who could leak the news?
The women, children, the elderly and the young who stayed behind in the village had no way of escaping from the territory, and with their level of knowledge, they didn't even know what smuggling salt meant.

Just give out a few bags of free salt and the serfs can become the lord's most loyal cattle and horses.

As for the manager and the village head, they all have families and have been reproducing in the White Bear Territory for many generations. They have too deep ties and too many weaknesses, so it is unlikely that they will leak secrets on their own initiative.

The only dock in the territory is right next to the castle and is the easiest to guard.

More importantly, the Duke of the Marsh soon stopped caring about his own salt.

Lin En received a secret letter from Sanhe City, which stated that the King of the North had passed away and the entire Northern Kingdom had fallen into a situation of disarray.

The era of great strife is about to come, and he cannot waste even a second.

In order to speed up the progress and mobilize the enthusiasm of all the people in the territory, he must and can only announce the existence of the salt mine to the entire territory.

(End of this chapter)