Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 94 Not Enough Food
Bradley ignored the little knight's astonishment, took out a notebook, opened to a page, and began to explain:

"Current grain reserves are as follows: 170 tons of rye, 70 tons of potatoes, and 20 tons of turnips..."

If distributed properly, this batch of staple food will be enough to feed two thousand people for three or four months.

Louis slowly scanned the neatly arranged grain sacks in the warehouse. The wooden crates were clearly marked, with a reasonable layering, and all were stacked proportionally, with gaps left for moisture and rodent protection.

He praised, "Very good."

Bradley continued to lead the way, pushing open the door to the next warehouse.

A smoky, caramelized aroma wafted over.

"Regarding smoked fish, this season's output is twelve tons, and another ten tons of fresh fish are stored in ice water pits for preservation." He explained as he walked, "In order to increase the food reserves for winter, we have changed to denser fishing nets. When the last wave of fish migrates in autumn, we should be able to catch quite a lot more."

Louis nodded.

In order to maintain the sustainability of the fishery, he once instructed that large-mesh nets be used to release small fish.

However, given the current special circumstances, he personally approved reducing the mesh size of the fishing nets to allow for a faster catch and maximize the harvest.

Further inside, there is a small room filled with cured meat and dried herbs.

The space is small, but it is arranged in a neat and orderly manner.

Dried wild game hung on the wall, and slaughtered pieces of farmed meat were placed on the shelf.

There were also a few bundles of dried herbs in the corner. Although the quantity was not large, it was enough for emergency use.

“These are all from the hunting and slaughtering in the first few rounds of autumn,” Bradley explained. “Not much, but they can come in quite a few hands.”

After completing their tour, the group retraced their steps, passing through various warehouses, and finally returned to the exit of the main warehouse.

Bradley opened his notebook, bent down to organize his notes, and slowly summarized:
"The current reserves of staple foods, smoked fish, dried meat, and miscellaneous herbs are as follows:"
One hundred and seventy tons of rye, seventy tons of potatoes, and twenty tons of turnips can be used as staple food.
Twelve tons of smoked fish and ten tons of fresh fish are being processed.
Approximately four tons of cured meat and game were seized, some of which were still being air-dried.

The herbs, though few in number, are just enough to treat several common cold-related ailments.

He paused, then said calmly, "If we distribute and rotate grain according to the standard of two jin per day, supplemented by a policy of exchanging labor for grain..."

It can support the current permanent population of more than 2,000 people in the Red Tide Territory and barely survive four months of the cold winter.

However, if we encounter extreme cold, blizzards blocking roads, or other external disasters, things could get very difficult. In the coming months, we will need to strictly control entry and exit as well as consumption.

Louis listened quietly without speaking immediately; he knew Bradley was right.

The food supply... is indeed "enough".

But this "enough" is supported by thrift, by systems, and by people's hearts.

If any link in the chain goes wrong, even if it's just a sudden epidemic in winter or a few days late in the spring, the little grain left in the warehouse could be eaten up within a few weeks.

The Red Tide Territory is located in the southern part of the North, and the situation is somewhat better than in the true Arctic, but the harsh winter should not be underestimated.

From the beginning of December until the end of March of the following year, there will be a full four-month period of permafrost, with low temperatures, blizzards occurring on average once or twice a week, and snow accumulation reaching up to three meters deep. Meanwhile, the coastline will enter a period of complete freezing, lasting at least one or two months.

Even if the warehouse is full, there's no guarantee it can withstand the wind, snow, delays, and all sorts of unforeseen events during this period.

This is already the best that Red Tide Territory, and even the entire Northern Territory, can achieve before facing the harsh winter at the end of the year.

He could not ask the people to do more. They had already been frugal and hardworking enough.

Moreover, Bradley's calculations only included the existing 2,500 people in the Red Tide Territory.

On that newly acquired territory of over a thousand square kilometers, there are still many more people waiting to be accepted.

Most of those people were displaced people after the war, and they had no surplus food to get through the winter. If they were not given relief, it was almost foreseeable that they would die one by one in the snow after the winter, and their remains would not even be found.

"Even with the new grain supplies from Father... there's really not much left, not enough to save those people at all."

Louis silently calculated, his eyes darkening slightly.

The food supplies provided by the Calvin family included black rice, beans, dried wheat flour, and a small amount of salted meat, totaling less than one hundred tons.

After deducting losses during the long journey and storage losses along the way, the actual amount that can be stored in the warehouse is probably only seventy or eighty tons.

This amount of food can sustain a few hundred people.

But for the tens of thousands of people waiting for food to get through the winter, it was just a drop in the ocean.

Louis tapped the edge of the warehouse door with his fingertips, lost in thought for a long time.

He understood that he actually only had two choices in front of him.

One option is to abandon the refugees in that new territory.

Next spring, we will buy slaves from the south and use them at a lower cost to cultivate and build the land, gradually turning it into a fiefdom that truly belongs to us.

This road... is the right one.

If you just close your eyes and don't look at those people shivering from the cold and hunger, everything will fall into place.

But Louis couldn't do it.

His gaze fell on the mouth of the valley in the distance, as if he could see those tattered figures kneeling and begging in the snow, and he couldn't bear it.

However, the storage capacity of grain has been reached, and there is simply not enough time to collect it in the wild.

The only way to truly fill the gap is to buy grain, which is the second option.

He is now the Calvin family's agent in the North, and he has the authority to mobilize all the resources and transportation channels of the Chamber of Commerce.

By taking this route, the cost of buying grain will be much lower than that of ordinary nobles.

"Bradley."

The old man immediately stepped forward and bowed slightly, saying, "Yes, sir."

Louis ordered, "Go and arrange for a group of people to buy grain directly through the Calvin family's trading channels."

A flicker of surprise crossed Bradley's eyes, then he bowed his head and replied, "Understood, but... regarding funding..."

“Don’t worry about the money,” Louis said calmly.

The bounties earned from his war exploits, the income from mining and selling magic marrow, and various other profits add up to more than 20,000 gold coins in cash.

In other words, he was practically "so poor that all he had left was money."

But that's perfect, because this money should be spent on the most important things.

Even if they don't spend extravagantly, saving a little is enough to buy people's hopes for the winter.

Therefore, he not only has the ability to handle this matter, but he must also handle it cleanly and efficiently.

"Buy me the best that keeps me full the longest, the cheapest and most practical." He stared into Bradley's eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately. "Most importantly, be quick, before winter comes."

Bradley nodded solemnly: "Understood."

(End of this chapter)