Chapter 180

Victor sat in the main seat of the living room, Nicole and Anthony sat on both sides of him, and housekeeper joffrey stood respectfully below, waiting for Victor's questions. As the housekeeper of the feudal aristocracy, he must defend the dignity of the master. Even the superior aristocracy can't compete with the host. Sitting in the master's position like Victor is an extremely serious provocation. But neither Nicole, Anthony nor Geoffrey raised any objection, which seemed to be taken for granted. On the one hand, this is a villa rather than a castle, which is an informal occasion. On the other hand, it also shows that the Anthony family regards Victor as the male master here.

Anthony is very satisfied with joffrey's respectful attitude, or he is very satisfied with the current situation. After Nicole was promoted to knight, an endless stream of people came to propose, including the second son of count tellandon. As long as Nicole promised him, she would become a baroness immediately. However, no matter how her parents persuaded her, Nicole refused. Nicole left the Baroness to be Victor's mistress. Anthony was puzzled and depressed about it.

Now the situation is different. Nicole is determined to victor and becomes the Lord again, which is no better for Anthony's family. Anthony knows that the moon elves are notoriously hard to bear, and it's great to have one or two children in their life. Even if Nicole and Victor have children, they will inherit Victor's family, and Nicole's territory is mostly inherited by her mother's children, maybe Anthony's own offspring. So Anthony's family wanted Nicole and Victor to go on like this.

Victor knew nothing about Anthony's careful thinking. Now he just wanted to find out how to manage these 10000 people?

"Housekeeper joffrey, what do the civilians mainly eat? How is the food supplied and distributed?"

"My Lord, the main food for civilians is black bread, green wheat porridge and a small amount of beans. We can also eat broth every few days. We have built several warehouses to store food. The food is received and distributed by the vegetable head. Every half month, the family's motorcade will transport food and store it in the warehouse."

Victor asked curiously, "what grain is green wheat?"

Anthony explained: "green wheat is a unique crop in the north. Its yield is three times that of ordinary wheat. It is twice a year. The grain reserves of the Sassanian empire are very surplus because of green wheat. The green wheat of the Sassanian empire is also sold to our three kingdoms. Just because of mutual hostility, the green wheat trade can only be carried out in the dark, your wife... HMM." With that, Nicole glanced over and Anthony changed his mouth: "Marquis Sophia is the biggest grain merchant. These green wheat were sold to our York family by her caravan. It is said that green wheat tastes good, but the price is not cheap. One pound of green wheat in the market needs four copper sols, and the green wheat provided by Marquis Sophia also needs two copper sols per pound. Our nobles generally don't eat porridge and seldom eat bread, don't you know Green wheat is also normal. "

Nobles mainly eat meat, eggs, milk, vegetables and fruits, and almost don't eat wheat. Some big nobles will put white bread slices on the plate. After dinner, these bread slices will be distributed to civilians. Victor lives such a luxurious and ignorant life in the Marquis house. Anthony is so kind and persuasive for fear of Victor's embarrassment. But Victor doesn't have time to pay attention to it Some details, he asked eagerly, "can green wheat be planted here?"

"No way." Anthony shook his head and said, "for thousands of years, the church and lords have tried to transplant green wheat, tried countless methods, and failed."

"That's a pity." Victor was disappointed and relieved. If green wheat could be transplanted to the south, the human country would not be in the current pattern. He cheered up and asked, "housekeeper Geoffrey, how many civilians are there now? How much food is consumed every day?"

"This..." Geoffrey thought for a moment and said awkwardly, "Sir, I really don't know that. I'm afraid I'll have to ask the foreman and vegetable head."

Victor frowned and asked, "where are they?"

"My Lord, the foreman Dennis and the vegetable head Papo are waiting for your call outside. Do you want to call them in now?" Asked joffrey, bowing.

Victor grinned slightly. Joffrey turned and went out. A moment later, he came in with two strong middle-aged men. The two men were wearing brand-new coarse linen robes, their hair was still wet, and obviously had just bathed. After saluting Victor, Nicole and Anthony respectively, they stood rigidly aside.

Victor asked them, "who can tell me how many people there are here? How many young people are there? How much food is consumed every day?"

The two men looked at each other. Dennis, the foreman, said, "Sir, we don't know."

"Ha! I don't know? What do you know?" Victor asked with a sneer.

Dennis hardened his head and said, "my Lord, there are more than 500 stone masons. I have 30 big foremen and more than 100 small foremen. I can't know everyone." Victor turned his eyes to Papo, the vegetable head. Papo said quickly: "My Lord, I have 23 vegetable heads, each of whom brings about ten people to take charge of a camp. I have to ask them about the specific number of people. However, there must be more than 10000 people here. Many people come to make a living with their families. Those who can't do heavy work wash clothes and cook under the vegetable head, earn a little money and get enough food and clothing."

Then Victor asked a lot of questions and gradually figured out these young operation modes.

Anthony is the chief designer of the project. He led more than ten apprentices to complete the design and handed over the construction task to Dennis, the chief foreman. On the surface, Dennis is is a free man. In fact, he is a child of the vassal family. He has very rich construction experience and even has the ability to supervise the construction of standard castles. He broke down the construction plan to the following foreman, who then assigned the construction task to the small foreman. The small foreman carried out the construction with his youth, and Anthony's apprentice and chief foreman Dennis jointly supervised.

Papo is a big vegetable in charge of logistics. His vegetable head takes a group of people, hires civilians to wash, cook and clean, applies for food, materials and commissions from Papo every day, and Papo withdraws from housekeeper joffrey. As for how to distribute the Commission, Papo waited for a long time before he said that the commission would be paid every ten days, and each camp would have 10 kingsol a month. He didn't care how to distribute the following dishes. The masons will pay a commission once a month, and each foreman will receive 40 gold sols, which will also be distributed by themselves.

"I want to know how many people there are in total? How many young people are there in each camp? How many old people and children are there? How many people are there in the hands of the Mason? How many people are there in the hands of the vegetable head? Go back and find out these things and report them to the housekeeper. In addition, what else do you want? You can mention it now." Victor said to the two heads.

"Sir, you must move the people below as soon as possible, otherwise there will be trouble." Chief foreman Dennis said honestly.

Papo turned his eyes and said, "Sir, I want to take someone to reclaim some wasteland and grow some vegetables."

"I see. You go down." Said Victor faintly.

After the two retired, Nicole asked, "Victor, why are you asking about these things? Don't you just leave it to them? Do you have another idea?"

"No! I'm not going to change anything. I'm trying to settle accounts." Sighed victor.

"Settle accounts?"

"It's just accounting." Victor laughed: "I'm a layman in construction, but this project is a rare opportunity. I want to find out the cost and see if I can save some money. When Randall leads the construction of artificial canal in the future, I can know how many materials and how much money to prepare. I'm not as rich as your York family. I must be prepared in advance to avoid problems."

Anthony interface said: "we York family are also very difficult now. We have recently borrowed a large amount of money from Duke NIM. We have done our best to build sluice and reservoir this time."

"That's why we have to settle accounts." Victor looked serious and asked, "Sir Anthony, you should know about the artificial canal plan?"

Anthony nodded and said, "I've heard from Mr. Edwin that this is a great plan."

"Although the plan is great, it costs a lot of money. If you can't calculate carefully and reduce costs, I'm afraid the artificial canal will always be a plan." Victor said coldly: "Therefore, the project should not only be completed this time, but also see where the cost can be reduced. At present, the cost has two yuan, one is materials and the other is wages. I would rather pay more wages than waste materials. Heibao town is almost 400 kilometers away from here, and the material transportation cost is quite high. If we try to save this piece, the overall cost can be reduced by a large margin."

"This time, I'm not going to let the vegetable head and foreman get away with it. First of all, make clear the number of people and don't let people eat empty rates. Second, implement the number of people in each camp and distribute the materials according to the quota. The vegetable head can't apply for materials at will. In addition, the vegetable head and foreman are talents and should get more benefits. However, the benefits should be distributed in the open. It's in money Form, give subsidies and bonuses to every foreman and vegetable head, so that they are not afraid that they don't work hard. "

"Hehe, speaking of it, Cai tou Papo is also a smart man. He knows I want to check the materials carefully and came up with a good idea in advance." Victor laughed: "It takes a long time to build the artificial canal this time. If the required materials can be solved in the territory, the logistics pressure will be much less. Nicole, although your cultivated land is relatively small, you still have no problem growing vegetables and raising pigs. Let caitou lead people to open up wasteland, grow vegetables, mow grass and raise pigs, and then sell the output to the family at a discount, which can not only reduce the material transportation cost, but also help you after the project is completed Get arable land, farms, cottages and funds, and maybe a group of collar people work for you. "

"That's not good." Nicole said nervously, "I didn't give anything. How can I get so many benefits? Isn't it damaging the interests of the family?"

"No! No! No! That's good! Very good!" Anthony stood up and said excitedly, "Victor, Mr. Edwin said you were a real genius. Oh, sorry, I didn't think so, but now I believe it!"

"Nicole, listen, you are the Lord here, and the output of the territory belongs to you. It is natural for the family to sell the output to the family and give you money. This can also greatly reduce the cost of the family in building reservoirs and fortresses! Yes, including fortresses! These young people not only need to build reservoirs but also fortresses here. They stay here not for two years, but for four years . the better the infrastructure here, the more output, the happier the family will be! When the reservoir is built, those vegetable fields can be turned into cultivated land, and the farm is also very important. Wild boars are far better to raise than cattle and sheep. Replacing cattle and sheep with wild boars can save a lot of money. By the way, village houses should also be built. In two years, more young people will come here to build fortresses. With village houses, they can accommodate them As for the more than 10000 people here, they have built their homes and most of them are willing to stay here and become neighbors. Four years later, the fort has a source of troops and the logistics problem has been solved. That's a great idea! "

Nicole stared at the excited Anthony, while Victor said, "Sir Anthony, we'll discuss these details later. Now I see the man who repaired the sluice, but the stones? And your construction plan. Can you talk to me?"

"Yes, my Lord." Anthony straightened his collar and regained his elegance: "the stone for the construction of the fortress is provided by the kingdom. We can divert part of it for the construction of the sluice. The stone has been transported to the chebman collar and can be transported at any time. Before that, we will build a stone bridge."

The Heihe River flows from north to south, dividing Victor's territory into two. Chebman's territory is in the east of the Heihe River and Nicole's territory is in the West. Although the Heihe River is relatively shallow, it can't be crossed by ox carts. It's necessary to repair bridges and pave roads.

"The Heihe River is shallow and the stone bridge is not difficult to repair. However, you need to build a camp on the East Bank of the river to receive stones. That's your territory. So..."

"No problem. Please continue."

"Before the stones are transported, I intend to build a huge brick kiln to digest the clay produced by digging reservoirs and ditches, and the burnt green bricks are used to lay the bottom of artificial canals. We have built five huge brick kilns, which can be built in a month at most, and my disciples can complete them independently. Then, I will take someone to build a sluice. The sluice is just a special gate , Mr. Edwin has drawn a sketch. It's very simple. I estimate it can be built in two months. " Anthony paused and said tactfully, "Sir, there is no difficulty in the back wall, canal and reservoir. My disciples are fully competent for this job. I hope you can allow me to leave here after the sluice is completed. You know, there are not many opportunities to observe the construction of giant fortress, especially the design of Mr. Edwin."

Victor smiled happily. Anthony wanted to learn how to build a huge fortress. On the one hand, the bait thrown by Victor was also the reason why he chose to avoid suspicion. In short, the last obstacle was gone, and the huge human and material resources completely fell into Victor's hands.

"Sir Anthony, I totally agree!"