CH 13

It’s been half a year since waking up from falling into the sea.

The white shorts worn by Xia Zuoyi also began to be replaced with slightly thicker trousers.

As the temperature gradually dropped, the sea breeze also became merciless, like a chilled knife straight to the face, blowing back and forth, whistling.

Xia Zuoyi used to read a book or deal with government affairs by the window before, and enjoy the seaside scenery by the way.

Now he moved beside the fireplace in the study room, surrounded by soft and comfortable sofas, with short and cumbersome square tables placed in the middle, and he almost didn’t want to move when usually nestled in it.

More than a month has passed since the end of the first drill.

The weather is about to enter winter.

Everything in Wissas is proceeding in an orderly manner.

Soldiers continued to train, and problems such as the occupancy or work of newly moved civilians and slaves were satisfactorily resolved. The Thorns Chamber of Commerce is working well, and the revenue from salt sales continued to increase.

At first, refined salt can only be sold in Wissas.

Later, Fort Comoy’s order to prohibit civilians and slaves from leaving the city was finally lifted.

The refined salt of Wissas began to circulate, the low-priced and high-quality refined salt gradually replaced the coarse salt sold in the Nagabi Chamber of Commerce.

Then, the sales channels of refined salt were opened all the way to the royal city of Gadaat, and even to the kingdom of Gaynor.

Compared with the expensive coarse salt, the new refined salt is not only cheap, but also as good-looking as snow-white fine sand. You don’t have to put it in front of you to know which one to choose.

As a result, in just a few months, the demand for refined salt increased rapidly, and in the continuous expansion, the sales scope became more and more extensive.

Within the scope of refined salt sales, the coarse salt of Nagabi Chamber of Commerce has almost been squeezed out of the market and can only occupy a small place.

In the same way, this kind of sales that almost monopolizes the market can bring the benefits to Xia Zuoyi, which can be described as piles of gold coins.

At this moment.

The feeling of Xia Zuoyi is that he has money and is not in a hurry.

But in order to save trouble, he directly used the emblem pattern representing the Desinian family as the trademark of the Thorns Chamber of Commerce, so that later, civilians and slaves gradually began to call refined salt as rose salt.

Xia Zuoyi: =.= 

The castle was built on a cliff by the sea and it was already humid.

At this moment, it’s about to enter the winter, so the environment is even colder. Therefore, firewood is lit in the fireplace early to warm the study.

Gibran’s mathematical talent is indeed very good.

He learned from Old Nick, and now he is getting familiar with the financial management of the castle.

Gibran is telling Xia Zuoyi the financial income and expenditure of the previous month.

“In general, income is far greater than expenditure.”

“A large part of the expenditure is spent on the soldiers’ training camp, such as buying weapons, buying food materials, changing clothes and bedding, etc…. Recently, Sir Fernandi and Sir Walker applied again for the purchase of coal or firewood for the soldiers, otherwise it would be hard to survive the winter.” 

Xia Zuoyi nodded, “Approve it.” 

In winter, use a stove or fireplace to burn coal or firewood.

Nobles naturally don’t have to worry about how to spend the entire cold winter.

But coal is expensive, and civilians and slaves can’t afford it. Some people don’t even have a stove in their homes. Although firewood can be obtained on Pal Mountain, it is undoubtedly a difficult decision to go up the mountain to cut wood in winter.

Sometimes there may be danger.

What’s more, freezing to death in winter is not unusual.

Xia Zuoyi said, “Udit, how many people in Wissas die in the coldest days?”

Udit, “If the snow covers Wissas… a lot of people will die.”

Toby whispered from the side, “Mom died in the winter…”

Gibran silently rubbed his brother’s head.

If he had not been fortunate enough to meet the earl, he and Toby would not have known how to spend this winter.

Xia Zuoyi, “We will set aside another fund from our finance to build a subsidy station, which is specially designed to help some poor people live in winter. No matter civilians or slaves, they can come to the subsidy station to apply for subsidies as long as they are in the territory of Wissas.”

“The subjects of subsidy are mainly those who have no survival ability like elderly people, orphans, injured or disabled persons…”

Toby’s eyes were bright.

Udit, “But in this way, some lazy people will play tricks and pretend to be in need of subsidies.”

Gibran couldn’t help but say, “Yes, my lord. The elderly and the orphans have no ability to keep money. There is no shortage of villains in the city and they can do anything for money. They may rob and control the old and the orphans secretly…”

He grew up living in the most marginal area of ​​Wissas, and he knows the sinister heart of the people. 

Toby frowned, ” What should be done then?” 

Xia Zuoyi: “In this case, the elderly and orphans living alone will be sent to the subsidy station.”

“They should know what kind of people need to receive the subsidy and what kind of people don’t need it, and order the knight to confirm. If they find that someone deliberately swindles the subsidy, take the money back and drive them out of Wissas.”

He said, “There are some bad things that can not be stopped and avoided, and we can’t accurately filter them out. But what we can do is try to help people in need.”

It’s just a matter of personnel.

The earl who spoke these words was nestled in a soft sofa, covered with blankets by Butler Udit, who’s all “I’m afraid you’re cold”. Only a round white face was revealed, his caramel-colored eyes were serious and solemn, and his little mouth ruddy. He has a lovely look of worrying about the people in the city.

“My lord, you are so kind!” Toby cheered.

Xia Zuoyi’s face looked calm but the tip of his ears were red, “Don’t flatter me.”

Toby giggles, “No, the earl is very good.”

Gibran covered his fiery chest, “My lord, your heart is as pure and beautiful as the sacred flower belanka.”

Udit also whispered, “You are the glory of Desinia.”

Xia Zuoyi finally couldn’t help burying his blushing face in the blanket, muttering, “Don’t talk about it anymore, there’s no money for you.”

You really flatter people to death.

Since Fort Comoy lifted the order to prohibit leaving the city, the civilians and slaves who hesitated and had a wait and see attitude before, thinking that the notice of Wissas’ enlistment and tax reduction was false, began to regret it.

As time goes by, the contrast becomes more and more obvious.

News spreads into Fort Comoy at every moment of every day—how good life is in Wissas, how good the lives of civilians and slaves are.

After six days of work and one day of rest, the copper coins earned are not less than before, and sometimes they can even eat meat.

Not to mention the people who become soldiers do not have to worry about food and lodging at all, they can even get a monthly allowance to subsidize the family. Recently, even the stove and thick quilt have been used together.

They felt sour in their mouths and stomachs as if they had eaten a lemon.

Today, there is another new story.

Earl Desinia ordered the construction of a subsidy station in Wissas, and it’s said that it was specially designed to help people who could not survive the cold winter.

Moreover, people who have been to Wissas said that the subsidy station has brought all the widowed, elderly, and children without parents to live inside, so that they can spend the entire winter safely.

Once the news was confirmed to be true, the huge Fort Comoy seemed to have cold water slowly boiling in the oil pan.

The people’s hearts are floating, as if an undercurrent is brewing. The more repressed on the surface, the more intense it will be when it breaks out.

No one knows how many people regret it, that their intestines turn green.

How cold is winter in Gadaat?

Under a heavy snow cover, civilians and slaves would not even dare to close their eyes, for fear that the snowy night would take their souls away if they were not paying attention.

If the previous news is related to livelihood, then the news brought today is related to life.

They want to go to Wissas so much.

However, although the ban on leaving the city was lifted, the knights guarding the city gates were still strictly investigating civilians who wanted to move into Wissas.

As for the slaves, they were closely guarded by the owners of the manor. There was no knight from Wissas to buy the population, and even the freedom to enter and leave the manor was restricted.

There are unwilling civilians asking, will Wissas recruit again? When will conscription begin?

The answer is—Wissas will recruit soldiers every summer.

It’s impossible this year. They can only wait for next year but although they can’t join the army, Wissas welcomes people to move in at any time.

After the news of the subsidy station spread, the old people and orphans of Fort Comoy left without nostalgia.

They are not taken seriously, even the investigation is careless.

Because of this sentence, the civilians of Fort Comoy also began to try their best to leave.

They would rather abandon something that is bulky and heavy even though they are needed, just to escape the knight’s investigation. The civilians with a large family population scattered and left, and the small population did not dare to be careless. They had never been so cautious.

People have a herd mentality. Seeing that the commoners and slaves yearn for them, some small manor owners have raised the idea of ​​moving to Wissas.

But they did not dare to express it blatantly, for fear of offending Earl Beavis Elliott. Besides, their family properties were all in Fort Comoy, they could not move away as they wished.

After half a month.

Beavis Elliott suddenly discovered that Fort Comoy had been in a lot of depression.

His intuition is not right. He sent the knight into the city to investigate.

Only then did he realize that many houses in the city were empty, and the civilians who lived in them disappeared for no reason. Although the furniture and other items were left behind, some important items were missing, even in several places.

If Beavis Elliott still couldn’t tell what was going on.

Then he is a fool.

No, he’s not much different from a fool now.

Xia Zuoyi Desinia pried away almost half of the civilians in his city!

However, he did not even have a strand of hair to guard against. The people will soon be gone before he discovered that his territory was gradually becoming deserted and desolate, and there was an unspeakable desolation walking on the street.

Beavis Elliott is going to be mad.

He yelled out his anger in the castle and smashed a lot of things.

The butler did not dare to step forward to stop him, and waited for him to calm down a little bit before slowly saying, “My lord, why don’t we lower taxes as well and follow Desinia’s approach…” 

Beavis Elliott raised his head with red eyes and while gritting his teeth, he said, “How to imitate?!”

“The little bastard Desinia has huge profits from selling salt behind him to support him doing this. What do we have?! After the tax is reduced, where is the revenue in the castle?!”

“Do you think I’m a fool?!”

“No, dare not…” The butler lowered his head in trepidation.

Beavis Elliott kicked the chair again in annoyance.

He regretted it in his heart. Why didn’t he send more knights to completely kill the nasty little boy, so now he’s blocking him up. He felt as if a sharp fishbone was stuck in his heart.

A cruel look flashed through Beavis Elliott’s eyes, and he ordered the butler, “Prepare the letter paper.”

He’s going to send a letter to His Grace Bass Richards.