In less than two days, Bruce's Bank of Normandy was an unparalleled success, with as many as 3,500 knights and soldiers (including the 600 Evre levies who followed into the city) choosing to open deposits in the Normandy Bank, and most of the booty held by the soldiers was bought by the Bank of Normandy at a very low price.

According to rough statistics, the amount of new deposits in the past few days has exceeded 20,000 pounds of silver, or about 400,000 Triss gold coins, which is equivalent to one-third of the annual revenue of the Kingdom of England.

Of course, some of the 400,000 Triss gold coins are not real gold and silver currency deposits, but some gold and silver utensils, gems and ornaments purchased at a low price.

A closer look showed that the cash deposits in the Normandy Bank amounted to 390,000 Triss coins, including 100,000 Triss gold coins allocated by William and 290,000 deposits from the army.

Counting the thousands of loot, if it were through Uncle Adolf's connections in Evler and William's own channels, he would definitely be able to sell these loot in a short time and sell them for a high price, with a rough estimate of at least 300,000 Triss gold coins.

Looking at Bruce with a respectful face in front of the desk, William flicked the parchment handed over by Bruce in his hand, smiled, and said: "You have done a good job, Bruce, with these funds, we can quickly revitalize the trading houses, mines, workshops, etc. in the hands of the Normandy consortium, and you have to hurry up the establishment of various subsidiaries." ”

"I will live up to your expectations, His Highness William."

"One more thing I want to tell you, Bruce, is a good thing." William stood up, stepped over to Bruce, and said, "Get on your knees, Bruce." ”

Poof, as if reflexive, Bruce fell to one knee in the blink of an eye.

"Bruce, are you willing to be loyal to me?" William pressed his sword in his right hand and stared at Bruce as he spoke.

"I do, His Highness William." Bruce looked up at William and said aloud with an excited expression.

"Bruce, I bestow upon you the title of a noble knight, and grant you a 1,000-acre estate near the town of Damini in the Barony of Alençon." William drew his sword with his right hand, placed it on Bruce's left shoulder, and said with a serious face.

Hearing this, Bruce raised his right hand and swore an oath: "I, Bruce. Walter, by my honour and my life, I swear that I will always be loyal to my lord, His Highness William, and I will never leave the throne. ”

William's saber in the blues. Walter touched his shoulders three times and said, "In the face of a strong enemy, be fearless; Courageous and faithful, worthy of God; Loyal and upright, rather than give in; It is your oath to protect the weak and not violate the principles of heaven. ”

Bruce. Walter followed William through the vows one by one, and the canonization ceremony was completed, and he officially became a knight loyal to William.

After Bruce got up, William sat down and said, "Bruce, in addition to continuing to form a consortium, you also need to find some literate and managerial talents for me, and I need them to manage the city and village manor for me."

Of course, if those gifted councillors are willing to serve me, I will mercifully pardon their sentences and appoint them as municipal officials. ”

"Yes, His Highness William." With a look of surprise on his face, Bruce said excitedly, "I think these councillors will be happy to serve you." ”

"You have to be careful when you choose, and you must not let disgruntled councillors and businessmen get involved, you know Bruce." William said with a solemn face.

"As you command, His Highness William."

Bruce bowed and took the order.

When Bruce had gone, and the empty study had regained its tranquility, William took out a roll of parchment and a map of Alonçon from his bosom, spread them out, and brooded with his chin on his hands:

"According to the report of the steward of Osborne, the Barony of Alençon has a total of one hundred and thirty-three estates (1,500 acres for the large, 500-600 acres for the smaller), of which twelve estates need to be returned to the eleven knights who followed Uncle Adolf, and twenty-three estates directly under Uncle Adolphus are returned to him, and the territories of the noble knights who abandoned Uncle Adolf are of course confiscated.

As for the remaining ninety-eight estates, 12 officers directly under the army, eleven knights loyal to me were to be felt, and Sir Hubert, Steward Osborne, Rodrigo, Faller, Geoffrey, and Andrew each needed a large estate of 1,500 acres.

In the end, there are only 69 estates left that I can leave, with a total area of more than 70,000 acres (of course, the large estates remain), accounting for about half of the total number of estates. ”

William thought as he wrote and drew on the blank parchment, using a quill pen to circle Alençon's map.

"Fortunately, in addition to the more than 70,000 acres of these 69 estates, the nearly 50,000 acres of land owned by the rebellious merchant councillors also belonged to themselves, and in addition to the 20,000 acres of land owned by some neutral merchants, squires, and yeoman farmers, there were also 600 square kilometers of public land such as mountains, forests, wastelands, and swamps.

Although less than half of the 600 square kilometres of about 150,000 acres of land are reclaimable and require sufficient money, materials and labour, it is worth it, because no amount of money can buy food and people. ”

Knock knock... Knock knock...

"His Royal Highness William, we are here."

A knock at the door interrupted William's thoughts, and William put down his pen and looked up, saying, "Come in, Uncle Adolphus, Steward Osborne, Sir Hubert." ”

Hearing this, the three people outside the door pushed open the door of the study, and walked in together to greet William one by one.

"Sit down, Uncle Adolphus, Steward Osborne, Sir Hubert." William stretched out his right hand and pointed to the three chairs in front of his desk.

All three nodded yes, and took their seats at once.

"Uncle Adolphus, steward Osborne, and Ser Hubert, come and see what I have to do with Alençon's domain." William handed the parchment in his hand to the three of them and said.

"It's... No, William Jr. After reading the parchment handed by William, Uncle Adolf shook his head and refused: "As me and my knights who have turned our backs on the people and fled, we really don't have the face to accept these manor territories, so please take them back."

What's more, your uncle Robert also said that this Barony of Alençon will belong to you as long as it is defeated, and I, as the nominal lord, will not own any territory. ”

"Uncle Adolf, you should accept it, this is also my heart. And as the lord of the Barony of Alençon, even if it is nominally, it makes sense to own some manor lands. William shook his head in agreement, refusing.

"Yes, Lord Baron Adolphus, you have accepted Master William's wishes!" Osborne's butler on the side also came over to help.

"It's... Alas" Uncle Adolf looked at the two of them with sincere expressions, and had to sigh and compromise: "Okay, I will accept the twenty-three manors that originally belonged to me, as for the manors of the knights under my command, please take them back, and I will be responsible for dividing their manor territories." ”

Looking at Uncle Adolf's resolute expression, William had no choice but to nod helplessly in agreement.