If Shani. Baron Brett has taken refuge in the Camilles, so he will definitely say good things for them. If it is a hostile faction, it will definitely take this opportunity to denounce it now. However, Shani. Brett just raised the problem in the realm, but did not touch the root of the problem, so it can be seen that this baron is a wall-riding faction...... To put it mildly, it's centrist. But one thing is for sure, this person has a certain ability, at least he knows the work he is responsible for.

Perhaps it is for this reason that he is able to work quietly in his current position, because this kind of person is not dangerous to those who have a desire for power, and Hathaway is sure that there should be many officials in Mandy Gaza City...... In fact, in the Sith. This was pointed out in Karl's report.

At present, among the major forces in the Cordillera Territory, the most powerful is the Camille family, followed by the Bell family, and the other two forces are relatively weak, one is the conservative force loyal to the lord, and the last is the middle force of the three incompatible.

Hathaway does not discriminate against these centrists. These people are familiar with government affairs, and they will be of great use to her in governing the territory in the future, as for now...... Until she showed her muscles strong enough, she didn't have the luxury of expecting them to throw themselves into her camp.

"Baron Brett, I thank you for your hard work in Mandy Gaza City. Now, you can go down first. Hathaway said lightly.

"Yes, sir." Shani. Baron Brett bowed respectfully and reservedly, and then withdrew.

Wait for Shani. After Brett left. Hathaway sat alone in the living room, preoccupied.

The current situation in the Cordillera is worse than I expected, and the key is poverty. And it is impossible for a poor territory to support a certain number of elite troops...... If it was just this, she wasn't too worried, after all, her cooperation with the second prince and the car dealership now brought her a lot of income every month. However, there is emergency relief, but there is no relief for the poor, and the poverty and security situation in the territory must be changed. Otherwise, there is no hope for the civilian population. Leaving the Cordillera will make things worse, and I'm afraid it will continue for a long time before she takes full control of the Cordillera.

As it stands. A tax hike would certainly be a dead end. Cutting expenses...... Forget it. This will cause official riots, and the officials of the Cordillera Territory are not well paid. And other expenditures, it's not that you can't save, it's just that it's better to save money than open source, and it is not easy to change it.

"The key is that there is no money." Hathaway sighed.

Although she is now a huge amount of money, Hathaway has decided what to do with it. What's more, if you want to change the situation of the entire territory, you can't solve it with money alone.

Even if a large amount of money is obtained for a while, it can only solve the urgent need, and cannot fundamentally solve the problem of the Cordillera.

What worries Hathaway the most is that she doesn't have that much time left, and some external problems are already imminent.

Soon, Hathaway gave up on wasting energy on this, and although she had some ideas now, she had to wait until she had complete control of the entire Cordillera Territory.

……

The village of Bugallon, fifteen miles from Mandi Gaza City, is a very lively village, the only tavern in the town is open day and night, and a few guys are usually busy, but today's business is not very good...... It's raining.

It's not, it's still dotted early in the morning, and it suddenly becomes bigger after noon, and the rain is like a silk thread, connecting the heavens and the earth together, intertwined into a curtain of water, so that the whole village is in the world of water, a large area of the sky is covered by dark clouds, Zi Sun doesn't know where to hide, the sky and the earth are dark, as if in the evening, there is a deafening thunder in the clouds from time to time, and from time to time there are fine lightning flashes in the air.

In the midst of this heavy rain, a group of wolf mercenaries called open the village gate and plunged into the only tavern in the village.

By this time, the oil lamps in the tavern had already been lit, illuminating the whole room...... Because the lamp oil is made of animal fat, although it has been treated, there is still a faint and indescribable smell in the air, but neither the guys nor the guests care about it - after a few glasses of wine, it is all wine, and who will pay attention to the other tastes?

"Boss, serve the wine, serve the meat!" A mercenary with a goatee commanded loudly.

"Mr. Bilbo, please wait a moment, and it will be right now." One of the men agreed, and ran to get the wine without touching the ground.

Seeing that the tavern was gradually becoming lively, a satisfied smile appeared on the boss's face, he originally thought that today's business was sluggish, but he didn't expect that more than forty mercenaries would come at once, at least today's expenses were earned.

The wine and meat were served fragrantly, and the ale wine sold in the tavern was made from rye, which was cheap, and more importantly, it would not be mixed with water, which made the mercenaries who had been tired for a day suddenly have a great appetite.

"Cheers, brothers!"

Bilbo was the leader of these mercenaries, he got up and raised his glass, and then sat down on the wooden chair, and drank it in one gulp, the spicy feeling suddenly entered his mouth, flowed to his throat, and spread to his chest and abdomen, he let out a sigh of satisfaction, and his eyes narrowed into two slits.

"I heard...... New fields are being opened up in the village? Aren't you afraid that your lord will raise taxes? A guest next to him munched on meat, and his mouth was full of oil.

"Well, it's not just this village, I've heard that the new lord encourages the cultivation of wasteland, and it's also exempt from taxes for three years......" Another guest said drunkenly.

"When did those nobles become so human?" One of the mercenaries whispered.

"You know what? It's called a long line to catch a big fish, you know? In another three years, when taxes are collected, will there still be people who will abandon the fields that have been planted at that time? An elderly mercenary reprimanded.

"Hey, don't gossip about those nobles, it's going to get you in trouble if you're heard."

Bilbo put down his glass, tore off a piece of meat, put it in his mouth and chewed: "We are mercenaries, and those things have nothing to do with us. ”

"There's something relevant, you know Sukal, right? He was bitten off by a wolf last year, and now he is crippled, and I saw him the other day, decadent like an old man...... Huh! One of the mercenaries sighed, raised his glass, and drank it down. (To be continued......)