I'm not a lord

Chapter 67 Ripples of War

The foundation of any regime is healthy finances.

Finance supports the military, and the military protects finance.

Who will risk your life with you if you don’t have money?
In Lin En's opinion, establishing the financial system of White Bear Territory is not just about appointing two officials.

The army should establish a quartermaster, who should be responsible for communicating with the financial officer and the treasurer to obtain supplies of money and food to support the soldiers;

Tax collectors were needed to collect taxes from serfs and artisans;
Each warehouse must have specific management personnel;
The financial officer and treasurer must also have their own office and staff.
Of course, the size of White Bear Territory was still very small at that time, and the entire financial and taxation system could be built by a dozen people.

But building the system is crucial, and in the future you only need to fill in more details according to your needs.

Once you conquer new land, you can copy and paste this system to allow the new territory to flourish as quickly as possible.

After all, Lynn had long been eyeing the Shoal Territory next door.

For the next week, he did not return to the road construction camp, but instead focused most of his energy on reorganizing the financial system.

He dismantled the existing territorial financial system.

Two literate and numerate estate managers were selected by Lynn and assigned to serve as subordinates to the treasurer, Yagna.

As for the treasurer Leah, her staff consisted of the maids she brought with her, both of whom had received appropriate education.

Although it may seem like nepotism, it is better than having no one available.

Anyway, Lynn's castle doesn't keep idle people. No matter what you do, the maids who come with the mistress also have to work.

Female serfs have to go to the fields every day.

As for the office location, it was set up in a two-story building next to the main building of the castle, making it convenient to report work to him.

Although Lin En has decentralized the financial power, it does not mean that he will not care about it.

Whether it is the financial officer or the treasurer, major policies and documents must be reviewed and signed by him before they can be implemented.

If a lord cannot firmly control the financial power of his territory, it would be better for him not to be one.

These days, Lin En also took time out in the castle to open a small class in the language of the wild people.

The students included two mistresses, the sixth child, Timo, and the two stewards, Little Albert and Finn.

The language of the barbarians is not difficult to learn. It has simple pronunciation and is similar to the common language on the mainland. There are no overly complex and difficult-to-pronounce words.

In just one week, these bright students have gotten started.

Lin En had no intention of training them to become masters of the wild language, as long as they could communicate in the simplest daily manner.

Anyway, they will have long-term contact with the barbarians in the future, and they will naturally master the language with more contact.

Just as Lin En was about to visit the road construction site, the third brother Yang arrived at the White Bear Territory by boat with a group of people.

The number of people this time was very large, exceeding the total of the previous three groups.

"Brother, the price of food in Sanhe City has skyrocketed by a factor of two recently. These 120 people were originally handymen at the docks. They couldn't afford to buy food, so they were willing to accept our recruitment."

The third brother not only brought valuable labor, but also brought enough explosive news.

"The merchants in Sanhe City are quite smart. The war hasn't even started yet, but the price of grain has already skyrocketed." Lin En was not surprised.

Hoarding is an instinct ingrained in the blood of businessmen.

If you don't speculate in grain when there is war, you are not a businessman.

The first people to suffer from high food prices are naturally the low-level laborers working in the cities.

They lost the right to live in the city, but they did not dare to return to their original territory for fear of revenge from the lord.

Lin En happened to be recruiting people in Sanhe City, so they had no choice but to go to the White Bear Territory. The third brother then brought the latest information about the Duke of Swamp.

It is said that the Duke of Swamp will send out troops in early June, preparing to break through the Crown Territory as quickly as possible and be crowned king in the Amber Harbor Cathedral.

His elite troops and mercenary groups will follow him eastward, relying mainly on vassals from all over the country to block the attacks of the Duke of the Valley and the Duke of the Meadow.

The entire territory of the Northern Kingdom can be divided into four main parts.

The richest plains of the lower Jinghe River are the crown territory of the royal family.

The area north of the central part of the Quiet River is covered with swamps and is the territory of the Duke of Swamp.

The western source of Jinghe River is mostly grassland and has a relatively dry climate. It is the Duchy of Grassland.

South of the central part of Jinghe River, near the "Boundary Mountain", is the territory of the Duke of the Valley.

The Boundary Mountains are a towering, continuous mountain range that stretches across the continent of Diewas, dividing the entire continent into two. The Duke of the Valley is named after the many valleys in his territory.

"This Duke of the Swamp is truly daring. He's completely disregarding the two great dukes and wants to seize the throne first, even going so far as to abandon his own home base."

Lynn believed that this home-changing tactic was a helpless move by the Duke.

According to the custom of the Northern Kingdom, whoever can be crowned in the Amber Harbor Cathedral can become the nominal King of the North.

It would be most irrational if the Duke of Swamp were to fight to the death with the other two dukes first.

In the south, the old king's son-in-law is eyeing the throne and may cross the sea to be crowned in Amber Harbor at any time.

Of course, the cost of this tactic is undoubtedly heavy.

The territories of the three dukes all bordered each other.

If the Duke of Swampland really sends out all his forces to attack Amber Harbor, the other two dukes will most likely send troops to attack him.

The west and south of the Dukedom of the Swamp will face the troops of the two great dukes.

Most of the Duchy of the Swamp will be engulfed in war.

However, Lynn's White Bear Territory happened to be at the northernmost end of the Duke's Territory and was basically out of the war.

"An era more chaotic than two hundred years ago is coming." Lin En couldn't help but sigh.

War is an opportunity for him, but it is destruction for most people at the bottom of society.

The third brother asked, "Brother, what should we do now? South of Sanhe City, across the Jinghe River, is the Mirror Iron Territory of the Duke of the Valley. Sanhe City could become a war front, and our illegal salt trafficking would certainly be affected."

He had been in Sanhe City for more than a month, and his knowledge had greatly increased, and his attribute value had reached three stars.

The biggest increases were in Intelligence and Internal Affairs, both rising to D-level.

Lin En snorted lightly: "There's nothing to worry about. Even the Duke can't mobilize many troops, so the scale of the war won't be large.

Moreover, the army composed mainly of knights had very poor siege capabilities. As long as the vassal of the Duke of Swamp was determined to defend the castle, the other two dukes could only chew bricks.

As for Three Rivers City, there's even less to worry about. It's a municipality dominated by merchants. They're not diehard fans of the Duke of the Swamp and will always stand on the side of the victor. The Duke of the Valley isn't stupid enough to attack a municipality."

Firearms had not yet been developed on the continent of Diewas, and the sturdy brick and stone castles were the knights' biggest nemesis.

At this time, siege warfare usually involves a long siege unless there is help from an insider.

The noble knights would not use their flesh and blood to fight against heavy crossbows, spears, rolling logs and stones, or even hot oil and gold.

This is why Lynn and Leon agree that the war will last for several years.

(End of this chapter)