It was a rare sunny day in late winter, and the sun melted away the thin layer of snow covering the valley. There was peace and quiet in the wooden fort, and the noisy training ground of the past was no longer full of soldiers.

The wooden castle courtyard, the cottage and the long table, and the first military and civil affairs after the valley became a knight's lord, began with the solemn and slightly excited expressions of everyone.

Traditionally, the army commander and civil steward sat on the left and right sides of the long table, but this time there were some slight changes in the seating order and attendees - on the left side of the table were Otto, Angus, Ron, Bass, Kazak, Tuba, and Simon, and on the right were Cooper, Salter, Scott, Lynn, Bard, and Thomas.

The army commander did not change much, only one army adjutant Angus was added.

On the civil side, Salter has achieved a position second only to Cooper in the valley because of his extraordinary performance during the caravan with the army, and Lawrence should have been ahead of Scott, but he was allowed to be absent from the council because he was still recuperating from his injury, and Bard has recently mainly assisted Cooper to lead the craftsmen to take charge of the construction of the affairs to attend the meeting, Thomas has officially joined the valley wooden fort, he is proficient in medical skills, so he also attended the council.

Prior to the meeting, Art had already consulted with several major officers and stewards of the army and civil affairs, and reached a basic agreement, and now the meeting was mainly to finalize the future development direction and military and civilian structure of the Valley Knights.

Today, Arte wore a rare baronial cotton robe captured from Beardenberg, tied a cowhide belt, and wore a pair of comfortable deerskin soft boots at his feet, he sat upright on the leather chair of the main seat of the long table, holding a charcoal rod in his hand, and a few pieces of air-dried birch bark in front of him, looked around at the army officers and valley stewards at the long table, cleared his throat and said to everyone: "Everyone, this is not the first time you have participated in such a meeting, but today's meeting is different from the past. Because now we're the masters of this valley and we're talking about how to make the Valley Knights better. Everything we are discussing today is related to the future of this land and the future of all of you, so you should think about it and talk about it. ”

"Now, Cooper, the steward of the valley, will tell you about the current situation of the Valley Knights." Art turned his gaze to Cooper.

The old butler Cooper took out the most shabby one from the thick pile of birch bark on the table, raised it and said to the people: "Ladies and gentlemen, before me is the register of people, money, goods, and land in this valley for the past two years, and two years ago, when the books of people, property, and land in the whole valley were only half a piece of birch bark, and at that time we had only a few broken grass huts, a piece of wasteland in the forest, and a few burgers, and the food in the treasury was not enough for us to be satisfied. ”

As he spoke, Cooper took out another piece of birch bark, pointed to the dense text on it, and said: "This birch bark records the books left by the old man when he returned from serving as the southern border patrol officer of the palace when we checked the people's land, money, and materials, and at that time we had a total of forty-three people, two acres of land, more than 1,000 pounds of grain, more than 20 sets of farm tools and equipment, and one mule and one horse. It was also from that time that the lord continued to recruit the castle people into the valley to reclaim the wasteland......"

"Gradually, there are more and more people, money, materials, and land in our valley, and some time ago when I took Neil to sort out the people, land, and materials in the valley, I have used two full pieces of parchment and five birch barks." Cooper took out the top thick stack of parchment and birch bark, and there was an irrepressible excitement and pride in his words.

"I was the first person to follow the master, and I am also a witness to the valley from a wasteland to a fertile land, from the wasteland to the fertile land, under the leadership of the master, we only took less than two years. Having said all this, I just want to tell you that this valley belongs to the lord and all of us, and our destiny is closely tied to the lord and this valley, and the valley is becoming more prosperous, and you will follow the glory......" Cooper, as a person with rich experience and ability, said words that ordinary civilians could not reach.

Sure enough, the emotions of everyone in the room were aroused by Cooper's words, and even Art was slightly excited by Cooper's words.

After Cooper and the others calmed down, he picked up a piece of parchment and said, "I'll briefly talk about the current state of the valley now."

"On the part of the burgers. In addition to the army officers, soldiers, and caravan dependents, several new groups of people were added to the valley one after another. At present, there are 45 farming households and 126 people, including 97 young men and women; There are 10 households and 25 people (including families), including three blacksmiths, three carpenters, one cobbler, and three other craftsmen, two of whom are Swabian craftsmen, and the others are mostly Swabian craftsmen, who have not yet fully adapted to the valley, but have begun to work under the leadership of me and Bard. Eighteen prisoners of war were forced into labor, temporarily guarded by the fort guards. There were also two healers, Thomas and the Persian woman Fanaz, and the thirteen orphans brought back by the caravan were to be taken care of by me and Neil for the time being, and as for Father Hamish, he was an apostle of the Lord, and we did not count him as a burgher, and the wooden fort would provide him with money and food every month after the church was built. There were a total of one hundred and eighty-four burghers in the entire valley knights. Except for the first group of fort residents who had land to harvest grain and could take care of their own food, we had more than 100 mouths waiting for the food supply of the wooden fort, not counting the consumption of the army, and the burgers alone needed more than 4,000 pounds of grain per month. After the autumn harvest last year, the grain returned by the peasant households, the grain seized by the army, and the grain we purchased by ourselves added up to more than 38,000 pounds, and these grains could only barely support the consumption of the people in the valley, and if the supply of the army was added, it would be difficult to support the autumn harvest. So for now, we either buy a lot of food from outside, or stop recruiting the burghers, which needs to be decided by the master. ”

"In terms of money, due to the huge consumption of money, food, weapons and equipment and military salaries during the army's expedition, and the fact that we have purchased a large amount of food in the past six months, the original money in the wooden fort has basically been used up. However, it is fortunate that the army's battle gains are very considerable, not to mention the materials for the time being, the money alone has captured nearly 70,000 pfennigs, plus the money earned by the army caravan, our money is about 100,000 pfennigs, which is enough to cover the expenses of the valley for five years, of course, most of this money will be allocated to the army one after another, so it is impossible to completely use it for the valley to support the ...... "On the issue of money, Cooper intended not to disclose it to others, because money is the foundation, and it is best for Art to control it himself, But Yate thinks that it can be announced to the core backbone for the time being, so that everyone knows that they can not panic when they have money and food.

"In terms of materials. The first is the house, the valley wooden fort has eight houses, two workshops, two barns, one arsenal, one house, and two stables and livestock sheds; There are two large wooden huts in the valley, fifteen huts built by the peasants, a barn, a barn, and a tool room, and a small church will soon be built on the side of the wooden fort, and Father Hamish will come to the church to guard the valley for the Holy Lord. The second is horse-drawn carts and agricultural tools, and there are three two-wheeled pack wagons and wooden carts, 62 sets of various agricultural tools, 25 sets of iron pot cooking utensils, and 31 sets of various tools in the wooden fort and the valley. The third is livestock, there are nine ploughing cattle, four horses, five mules, two donkeys, six pigs, twelve sheep, and more than 20 chickens and geese in the wooden fort and the valley. The above supplies do not include the part of the army and caravans. ”

"In terms of land, the 120 acres of land that had been reclaimed in advance had already been harvested once, some of which had now been planted with winter wheat, 240 acres that had recently been reclaimed, and a small part of which had been replanted with winter wheat. The newly reclaimed land will be given to the residents before the spring planting, and the specific distribution needs to be discussed separately. It should be noted that nearly 70,000 pounds of grain were harvested last autumn on the 120 acres of land that had been reclaimed in the early stage, and in addition to the grain seeds returned to Mubao and the wheat seeds that the farmers kept for spring ploughing, the farmers still had 40,000 pounds of surplus grain in their hands. After the autumn grain harvest, we bought some surplus grain from the farmers, but we did not buy a large amount of surplus grain from the farmers in view of the possibility of expanding the planting in the spring this year. ”

"That's the brief status quo of the valley."

Cooper briefly explained the current state of the Valley Knights in one breath and handed the book to Art.

Yate took the document and glanced at it, and said to the civil affairs people on the right: "I said one by one, one is the problem of the burgers, at present, our burgers are about to have nearly two hundred, this number is enough, we can stop the recruitment of the burgers for the time being, we will make good use of the existing people first." I won't say much about the farmer's cultivation of the land, but you have been doing a good job. We now have a lot of craftsmen, we can't stay in the valley to eat, the army needs craftsmen's workshops to cast and repair weapons and armor, and they need to contribute to building houses in the valley to build farm tools and tools, and if the materials for the workshop are not enough, let the caravan buy them from outside. Their food and lodging are provided by the valley, and they will be paid in the future, and I will send people to take care of them. As for those prisoners brought back from the battlefield, let them participate in all the heavy labor in the valley, whether it is clearing wasteland, building houses, or building barracks, or expanding roads, they can be allowed to do it, and the prisoners of war captured by the army in the future will be treated according to this, and if they perform well, they can be restored to civilian status, distributed to land, or joined the army. I made special arrangements for the dozen or so recruited orphans to build a special house next to the Mubao Church as a parish school, which was said to be an orphanage school set up by Father Hamish. They were taught literacy, medicine, and military affairs by Cooper and Guy (rescued petty traders), Neil (rescued petty traders), Thomas, Fanaz (Persian women), and military officers, and Father Hamish taught them theology. ”

"Second, in terms of money, at present our money is mainly used to buy food, pay military salaries and salaries of stewards, but in the future, the army needs money in many places, and the money in the valley is temporarily managed by Cooper, but priority is given to the army's expenses."

"The third is the issue of materials, which belong to the public property of the wooden fort, in addition to leaving important livestock, large agricultural tools and tools, such as cooking utensils, wooden utensils, simple farm tools and other bits and pieces of materials can be sold or leased to the people of the fort. If the food and supplies of those fort people are not enough, they can also ask the caravan to buy it from outside. ”

"Fourth, the land issue, the details of which will be discussed by Cooper and your stewards, and report to me when there is a major event. On the land issue, I have only determined one general direction, and that is to expand land and grow grain. The fiefdom granted to me by the court was 3,000 acres, and for ten years there was no onerous tax, no tax burden, and these 3,000 acres of fertile "wasteland" alone were enough to feed more than 500 of the burghers, and this did not include the supply of the army, of course. ”

Cooper hastily jotted down Art's words with a charcoal stick.

"The situation of the Valley Knight Leader will be introduced here for the time being, and Salter will talk about the caravan." Art turned to the caravan steward Salter.

"Yes, my lord, let me tell you a little about the caravan. The caravan consisted of thirteen four-wheeled carriages, seventeen pack mules, and pack horses, of which four were two-horse carriages carrying sixteen hundred pounds, six single-carriages carrying a thousand pounds, and three mule carriages carrying eight hundred pounds, and seven or eight more carriages in the wooden fort, but we did not have enough pack horses and cattle to pull the carts, and there was no need for so many for the time being; The caravan escorted five men (three killed in battle), six coachmen, and four caravan officers, including me and Lawrence. After leaving Talburg, we no longer operated the southern goods trade, mainly to help Baron Gaulwin of Sapp to transport goods to the north and south to earn commissions, and we ourselves also bought some groceries in the north and south to make money, and at present we can have a surplus of 5,000 to 8,000 pfennigs per month, in addition to the caravan's own consumption. The caravan's books were kept by me and two of the clerks, and Lawrence was in charge of them, and I gave them to the old butler for inspection every time I returned to the valley. ”

"The current situation of caravans is like this, and it is difficult for us to be more profitable if we only sell groceries sporadically or act as caravans. My lord, we still have to find a way to join the southern goods trade! "Salter has always been concerned about the southern trade.

"The matter of the caravan trade in the south will be handled by myself after I settle the valley and the army, and you will still maintain operations for the time being. The caravan guard has been increased to fifteen, and all the guards also serve as coachmen, and I will send a few soldiers from the army into the caravan, and you will recruit two more handymen and stables yourself. "Art has already discussed the caravan with Salter, and now let him briefly talk about the caravan just to let everyone in the house know.

"Scott, you don't have to talk about the valley lands, just tell me about the situation of the valley guards." Art turned her gaze to Scott.

Scott knew that Art would ask about this, obviously he was also prepared in advance, and he didn't stutter when he spoke, "Okay lord, the Fort Guard has gone through several transfers to the army and caravans, and later recruited young and strong Fort Citizens to join the Fort Guard, at present, there are eleven people in the Fort Guard, Lawrence is the captain, Lynn and I are the deputy captains, two wounded and retired Patrol Soldiers have joined the Fort Guard, and the rest are ordinary Fort Civilians who serve as Fort Guards in their spare time. Except for our three captains and two wounded soldiers, who were paid by the wooden fort, the rest of the peasant soldiers could only receive the food of the day when they were training and participating in the mission sent by the wooden fort. The main duty of the Forts was to be responsible for the safety of the valley during the army's absence, and the valley was not threatened by foreign enemies during the army's expedition last year, but a month and a half ago we reported to the old steward that we had imprisoned a guy who had stolen from the valley, and now that fellow was still working with prisoners of war to reclaim the wasteland. ”

The Castle Guards were more of a farmer, and Scott didn't have much to report on.

"Well, well, after this council, I plan to change the name of the Fort Guard to the Valley Guard, and the original Fort Guard's responsibilities will also change a little, which I will talk about in a moment."

After sorting out several important matters in the valley, Arteji began to make the most important arrangement—the division of civil affairs responsibilities and the appointment of civil officials at all levels.

Art sat up straight, took out a piece of parchment written with a quill pen from the table, and said to everyone in the room: "Everyone, with the joint efforts of all of us, there are more and more people in the valley knights, more and more abundant materials, and more and more land, in the past, we only need one or two people to lead, and everyone can do it, but now the situation is different, we have more than a hundred farmers and peasant women, more than a dozen craftsmen, dozens of prisoners of war to serve, and all kinds of miscellaneous things such as the construction of wooden fort villages and camps, Therefore, in order to make the Valley Knights better develop, it is necessary for us to appoint a group of stewards and clarify their respective responsibilities, and in the future, if that thing is done well, I will reward the stewards, and if that thing is not done well, I will also punish the stewards. ”

The hearts of several people on the right side of the wooden table began to pound, some of them already knew their arrangements, and some of them did not know the position they were about to take, their position was not appointed by the court or the county, but in this valley, the "official position" appointed by the lord Art was the "official position" recognized by the law.

"Next, I announce the upcoming positions of the Valley Knights and the matters to be managed." Art paused deliberately, and several people on the civil side sat up slightly straight.

"Establish a civil magistrate of the Valley Knights to be responsible for all civil affairs in the valley territory."

"There is one commercial steward and two deputy stewards to be responsible for the trade and daily management of the caravan, and the two deputy stewards are also the caravan bookkeeper and the caravan escort captain respectively."

"Set up a valley cantonment steward, a deputy steward, and a tax collector, who are responsible for the collection of cultivated land and land taxes in the valley, and the cantonment steward is also the captain of the valley guard, and the deputy steward is the deputy captain."

"Set up a valley construction steward, concurrently serve as the deputy captain of the guard, a deputy steward, and a peasant and soldier instructor of the guard, mainly responsible for the management of prisoners of war under the valley knights, the construction of houses and roads, and the construction of castles."

"There shall be one Steward and two Deputy Stewards of the Valley, and one of the Stewards shall be the Deputy Steward of one of the craftsmen, and one Swabian Clerk, who shall be responsible for the management of the craftsmen and craftsmen's workshops of the territory, and shall be responsible for casting and repairing weapons and armor, making agricultural implements and tools, making wooden instruments, and assisting the Steward in the construction of the building."

"The establishment of a parish school, a valley doctor's shop, and a grocery store, with the clerk of the school being concurrently served by several literate stewards, and the grocery shop being managed by a clerk, and the school, the medical lab, and the grocery store under the direct jurisdiction of the civil magistrate. All other valley stewards are under the authority of the civil magistrate. ”

"The salary of civil stewards and their subordinates is no longer carried out with reference to the military salaries of the army, but is paid monthly according to the size of the position: the monthly salary of civil affairs officials is 120 pfennigs - the monthly salary of stewards is 100 pfennigs - the monthly salary of deputy stewards is 80 pfennigs - the monthly salary of officials is 60 pfennig, all ordinary craftsmen and clerks are treated as officials, and craftsmen and healers are treated as deputy stewards, and their own rations are supplied by the wooden fort, but their wives and sons and daughters are supported by their own money, and the grain and materials in the wooden fort can be sold to them at the lowest price in the market."

"Next, I announce the appointment of the Knights of the Valley Lords at all levels of civil affairs - Cooper, the Lords of the Valley; Caravan steward Salter, deputy steward Juventus (rescued peddler) and Ravin (leader of the wounded combat team); Scott, the steward, Lynn, the deputy steward, and Guy the tax collector; Construction Steward Lawrence and Deputy Steward Gehr (Wounded Combat Team Leader); Cooper served as steward for the time being, Bard and Lawrence (concurrently) as deputy stewards, and clerk Neil. The clerks of the parish school are Neil and Guy, and Cooper, Father Hamish, Thomas, and Fanaz are taught at the school, and the army will also send people to the school to teach training. For the time being, Thomas and Fanaz are in charge of the medical workshop, and in addition to teaching in the academy, they are also responsible for teaching some basic medical skills to the army's specialized medical (baggage) soldiers. The Wooden Castle grocery store is temporarily managed by Emma and receives the salary of the clerks. ”

"The above appointments are temporary, and I will adjust and make a formal appointment after three months according to your performance." Art rolled up the parchment in his hand and said to the people on his right.

When Art had finished announcing the appointment of the civil affairs officials at all levels, and it was already noon, Camille knocked lightly on the door of the wooden house, and very politely bowed to everyone in the house, and said, "Sir, my lords, lunch is ready, and my mother asks if I can have lunch first." ”

Art stood up and smiled at Camille, and said, "Camille, go tell your mother that you can bring food in, and we will discuss the army after lunch." ”

Camille bowed to Art again, turned around and ran out of the courtyard, and in a few moments Emma and a few women brought in a table full of food......