Chapter 174： Winter Veil

The night is dark, and everything is quiet.

Only the wood burning in the fireplace made a crackling sound from time to time.

Xiaobai curled up and lay down in front of the fireplace. The hair on one side of his body was slightly browned because of being too close.

Colin stretched out and stood up from the pile of government documents.

"I have read the tax documents in the past few months. You have done a good job. The measures to reduce taxes and attract business have been effective and can continue to be implemented."

Colin said to Quincy, the tax officer, as he walked to the fireplace and picked up the kitten who had almost caught the fire because of the temperature of the flame, hugged it in his arms, and lay on the wicker chair in front of the fireplace.

"Meow--"

Xiaobai screamed in dissatisfaction, as if the angry stupid human being interrupted its rest, but soon fell silent under Colin's touch, and squinted his eyes again, lying on Colin's chest.

"Yes, Lord Viscount. Your approval is my greatest glory." Quincy bowed his head to Colin, and he was relieved.

Obviously, he did not expect that Colin would have patience and the ability to understand complicated tax documents. He was quite nervous before.

Most aristocratic lords in this world don’t have the mind to manage these mundane tasks in their territories. They are basically left to the housekeepers and tax officers to take care of, and they are either immersed in pleasure or lingering among the noble ladies, or I want to show off my strength.

Lords like Colin who are willing to spend their time on these boring government affairs are indeed relatively rare.

Quincy couldn't help but get up to twelve points, reminding himself that his future work must not be sloppy.

"Well, it's not too early, Quincy, you go back and rest first."

"Yes, Master Viscount."

After Quincy left, only Colin and the butler Yimon remained in the study.

Colin rubbed Xiaobai's soft hair and said, "Today is the last day of Winter Veil, and the snow has stopped. From tomorrow, let the slaves continue to work."

"Yes, sir. You have given them a rest for the entire Winter Veil, which is already very kind."

The corner of Colin's mouth twitched. He was still a little unaccustomed to the way the nobles in this world squeezed slaves.

"What are the main tasks next?"

Yimeng opened the sheepskin scroll in his hand and checked the Houhui report: "Master, the work in Bingyan City has been basically completed, and the next work is mainly to repair the Red Fort and the water conservancy project."

Immon paused, looked up at Colin, and saw that he had no objection, then continued: "This time there is a lot of surplus labor, I am going to renovate the Red Fort.

Warehouses, stables, martial arts grounds, and cellars also need to be expanded. This is the design drawing I asked someone to draft. Please have a look. "

Colin took the design drawings and asked, "What is the estimated budget for repairing the Red Fort?"

"It takes about 30,000 gold coins, sir."

Colin pondered for a moment, feeling that the cost was acceptable.

The current financial situation of the Angley family is no longer as embarrassing as it was half a year ago, not to mention that there are wealthy half-elves behind, and Colin can also splurge.

Moreover, taking advantage of the slave rebellion this time, Colin gathered a large number of slaves. These almost free labor, if not used well, it would be a pity.

"Okay, just follow your plan."

"Okay, sir." Yimen nodded, and then said again, "As for the second item, the water conservancy project. My plan is divided into two phases.

The project will be completed within three or four months, mainly for water diversion and irrigation, to serve the upcoming spring plowing.

In the long term, it can be slowed down to three to five years. River dredging, dam reinforcement, irrigation system expansion... all of these will take longer and costly. "

Colin looked at the short-term and long-term construction plan of the water conservancy project handed over by Yimeng, and nodded solemnly: "This is worth doing. Water conservancy is the foundation of agriculture. Even if it costs a lot, it needs to be done well."

"Yes, sir. In addition, there are many agricultural experts in the half-elf kingdom. I want to hire some to guide the slaves in Ice Rock City. I don't know if you can introduce them to me."

"Of course, I will write to Queen Aisha and ask her to send some people over."

"Thank you, master." Yimen put up the sheepskin scroll, hesitated, and said again, "Master, there have been more and more rebels gathered in Ice Rock City recently, although they are vulnerable to the Black Cavalry, but... so Many slaves are concentrated in the city, I am always a little worried..."

Colin squinted his eyes and asked faintly: "How many slaves have we gathered now?"

"We just completed a statistics the day before yesterday, and we have gathered more than 85,000 slaves."

"Well, that's really a lot. But the problem is not big." Colin waved his hand indifferently. "As long as you give those slaves a bite of food and let them see the hope of becoming free people, they won't rebel. "

Yimen still worriedly said: "Master, these slaves are numerous and have complicated origins, and they cannot be investigated one by one. I am worried that people with bad intentions will be mixed in and deliberately incited these slaves to cause chaos."

Only then did Colin opened his eyes, with a serious expression on his face.

"Let's do it, two measures." After thinking about it for a moment, Colin ordered, "First, we should mix slaves together, and don't let the slaves who were familiar with them continue to stay together to prevent them from linking together.

Second, a whistleblowing system is implemented. Anyone who finds suspicious behavior in the slave area or tries to confuse the crowd can take the initiative to report it. If the whistleblower is successful, the whistleblower can get a reward of ten silver coins. "

"Yes, sir."

Colin picked up the coffee at hand, took a sip, and then asked: "Is there still nothing happening with the Marquis Dawson and Earl Uman?"

"No." Yimen shook his head, "Master, I guess they should be waiting for the winter to pass. After all, now is not a good time to fight."

"En." Colin nodded and agreed with Yimeng's judgment, "Furthermore, it is estimated that he is waiting for the famine to further ferment.

There is still more than half a year before the next autumn harvest. At present, it is only the slaves of the lowest level who can't eat. When the civilians have no more food, I am afraid that the Northern Territory will fall into even greater chaos. "

"Master, the rumors that you brought me to pay attention to before are now intensified. Even in Ice Rock City, many residents began to think that the trolls were able to successfully invade the north and were the decoy of the Duke of St. Hild's failure. The consequences of this plan."

"Isn't there a response from Winter City?"

"not yet."

Colin couldn't help frowning, some wondering why the Duke of St. Hild didn't come forward to refute, but instead allowed this rumor that seriously damaged his prestige to spread in the north.

Could it be that the Duke was seriously injured in the previous duel with the Paladin?

Seeing that Colin's face was wrong, Yimeng asked, "Master, are we going to stop the spread of this rumor in Ice Rock City?"

"No." Colin smiled and shook his head. "Our most important task now is to develop and strengthen ourselves. We don't have to worry about other ups and downs, just watch the theater steadily."

"Yes, sir." Yimen nodded in response.

Then the old butler looked at the clock on the wall and reminded: "Master, today is the last day of the Winter Veil Festival, it is almost midnight, and you still need to preside over the vigil ceremony of the Anglia family."

Only then did Colin remember that there was such a thing, and sighed helplessly, standing up and walking outside as if he was dealing with hard work.

Clang clang...

When the clock struck twelve times, Colin, who presided over the night's vigil, finally stopped praying, raised his head, and looked at the dark night sky outside the window.

The stars are lonely and the crescent moon is dim.

The new year came so quietly.