But I have to admit that in this special period, something must be done.

The Marquis of Brackbarne turned his gaze to the Chancellor of the Exchequer: "Lawrence, how much more money can you come up with over there?" ”

He was referring to military spending.

"One hundred and forty-five thousand pounds, which can be given to you by tomorrow afternoon at the latest, of which forty-three thousand four hundred pounds are gold coins. I know you want more silver and coins, but I can't find more. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was unusually calm, and he had a natural sensitivity to numbers: "In addition to this, there is a tax from the Southern Governorates, which is about 110,000 pounds. The money is already on its way and will arrive early next month. ”

He paused: "If you can hold out until then, and the giants have not completely surrounded the capital, the money can be used by you." ”

The Marquis of Brackban looked at him deeply, nodded slightly, and said from the bottom of his heart, "Thank you!" ”

He had a few more confidence in the defense of the capital.

"It's my job." The Chancellor of the Exchequer shrugged his shoulders, his face was still not good-looking, and his brow furrowed: "I don't want to be food for those giants, so you have to do your best to win this battle." ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn narrowed his eyes and asked, "Hearing you say that, it seems that there is a backhand?" ”

Laurent did not answer directly, he turned his gaze to the king: "I have sent for all the nobles and merchants in the city to attend the palace ball tonight. ”

"What did you say?" King George jumped up from his chair as if his butt had been pricked by a needle, shocked and angry: "When is it, you...... You're still in the mood for a prom? ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn was also stunned, and then his face became gloomy again. The ball meant expense, not to mention the extravagance of all the nobles and merchants in the capital, and the cost would not be less than fifty thousand pounds just by thinking about it.

"It's a donation ball." The Chancellor of the Exchequer was very calm, he did not defend himself, but said in a normal tone: "No drinks, no lavish buffets, no delicious pastries." The ball was held in the hall, and the only thing needed was a royal band. Of course it's extra overtime, and I'm not going to pay them even a penny for it. ”

The king and the marquis were stunned.

Brackbar pondered and asked, "Donate...... You mean, let them pay? ”

"Yes." The Chancellor of the Exchequer nodded: "These are extraordinary times, soldiers are fighting bloody battles on the front line, and there is no incentive to boost morale without rewards and salaries." Even if His Majesty now promulgates a temporary law to increase the war tax, it will not be effective in the short term, and on the other hand, it will exacerbate the civil unrest. Civilians have no money, and even the money that comes out of a lord's pocket is worth ten commoners. Brackbarne, I need you to give me an army, the most elite kind, two thousand, or a thousand. Anyway, these guys have to come up with money tonight to help us figure things out. ”

The Marquis, who was surprised, nodded frequently: "I will issue a letter of transfer, and from now on, you will be the deputy commander of the garrison in the city of London." ”

A smile finally appeared on Lawrence's face.

He got up from his chair, exhaled a long breath, faced the window that shone in the light, and prayed devoutly: "May the Lord bless the Saxons." ”

The Marquis of Brakbar also stood up and drew a rice frame on his chest with his fingers: "May the Holy Lord bless the Saxons." ”

The king sat silently on his throne, slowly closing his eyes, and fell into a painful thought that even he did not know how to describe it, mixed with fatigue and helplessness.

……

The sprawling city of London is at high speed.

It's just that this so-called "high speed" seems chaotic to the Marquis of Brackbarn.

Count Comer is the Inspector General of the Kingdom Police, and he is a little old man who gives people a kind feeling. He was short and thin, which is said to be the after-effect of his illness when he was a child. Count Commo knew his physical weakness, so he learned from his governess to always smile and appear in public as sunny and gentle as possible.

The Marquis of Brackbarne has always believed that it is not ordinary people who can achieve the position of Inspector General of Police. The manageability of order and the location of the capital, which had been passable for many years, proved the Count's ability. But he never imagined that when he came to the police headquarters and talked about the imminent war with the Count behind closed doors, Count Cummer's face changed suddenly, and his mood became nervous and crazy.

"Here they are...... Are they really coming? ”

"Oh my God, with London's current defenses, we can't hold it at all."

"The giants of the north will eat us all, they are a horrible pack of ogres."

The Count had many friends, some of whom received a notice of the dead from the War Department after the Northern Campaign. That's all their family...... The Earl had attended many funerals in the past few months, most of them nobles, especially those who had little money and needed to change their living environment and future fate through their military exploits.

The environment has a great influence on people, and Count Commo is no exception. A self-proclaimed optimist, he has seen too much death and developed an inexplicable fear of war and the giants of the North.

The Marquis of Brackbarn was very unhappy with these words of the Inspector General of Police. He coughed a few times, relieved and reminded, "The situation is not as bad as you think, reinforcements from the Southern Province will arrive soon, and we can hold the city." ”

"What do you want me to do?" The Inspector General of Police reacted quickly.

"Let your people do their best to maintain order." The Marquis of Brackbarn was blunt and said what he wanted: "I need a stable London, not a pheasant's nest that was messed around during the war." ”

Count Cummo's expression was gloomy and he fell into thought. After a long time, he raised his head and said earnestly: "You must give me enough bread, only in this way can I stabilize people's hearts." ”

Ever since the Marquis of Brackban proposed the strategy of "bread instead of gold", food in Saxon has become an important strategic commodity. The amount of money circulating in the market is getting smaller and smaller, and most of the time people usually trade directly in grains, flour, and even bread and various cured meats.

The pros and cons of this are obvious. The advantage is that the gold and silver currency can be concentrated in the hands of the government to the greatest extent, and the disadvantage is that the credit of the royal family among the people is greatly reduced. However, as a special wartime economic replacement plan, the Marquis of Brackbar was undoubtedly successful, and it also prevented the kingdom's economy from collapsing in the first few months after the defeat, and thus remained stable.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Lawrence disagrees. He believed that the substitution of food for monetary planning would only lead to a deep recession in the domestic economy. Because there is no stable and unified currency, which in turn disrupts the entire market. However, in the face of the threat of war, the Chancellor's opinion is simply not taken seriously. However, the Marquis of Brackbarn was not insistent on it, and in his opinion, the grain instead of money plan could be carried out for a maximum of one year, after which the kingdom's finances must be returned to Lawrence.

"How much bread do you want?" Marquis Brackbar asked.

"There are three million people in the city of London." Count Commo remembers this figure well: "I need at least three months' worth of food to meet the daily needs of the common people. ”

A trace of doubt flashed in the depths of Marquis Brackbarn's eyes: "Three months' rations, you want so much?" ”

"Slums are the biggest destabilizing factor." "That's where almost all crime comes from," the police inspector explained. We lost so much in the Northern War that when the news of our defeat broke, many people in the slums were ready to take property from the commoners and nobles in various ways. ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn's expression became serious, and he sat up straight: "How come I have never heard you say this?" ”

"Your attention is on the army, and the whole Saxon is a mess when you are defeated, and there are so many things that you need to deal with. In fact, I sent the relevant report to your office a long time ago, but the reply was that I should handle it at my own discretion. "Count Cummer spoke slowly, and made no secret of the sarcasm in his words.

The marquis pondered for a moment and nodded slowly: "I remember, I did read the documents on this at that time...... Sorry, I'm really too busy, almost everything has to be handled by me personally. As for the Kingdom Policing......"

He didn't say the rest of the word, but instead turned to what the Count had just said: "Tell me, what have all those slum guys done?" ”

Poor, not civilians.

"Those poor ghosts are the biggest source of problems in the city of London." "The number of poor people in the city of London is too many, and they are mainly concentrated in the east and south districts of the city, and the number is as high as one million, and perhaps even more than one and two million. I can't do an accurate census and numerical calculations on them because these guys have hollowed out the bottom of the city of London. Sewers and garbage dumps, in particular, are built like rats where police and civil servants simply can't get in. ”

"Most of the poor were order-keepers, working in trading houses, freight yards, workshops, factories and all sorts of shops in exchange for the bread they needed every day. Women have more choices, mainly in the laundry and caregiving, cleaning and service industries. If you change into civilian clothes and take a night trip to the East and South Ends, you'll see scantily clad women in bars and along the river. ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn had heard about this for a long time, and he calmly asked: "You mean the special services?" ”

"It's the easiest one for them." The police commissioner did not deny it: "Just spread your legs, or pout your butt and you can get money." ”

The Marquis smacked his lips, he did not like the subject, nor did he like to talk to the Inspector General about the evils of public order. In Brackbarn's view, only the army is the state apparatus, and the police are at best auxiliary. This stemmed from the Marquis's prejudice against the kingdom's police, who felt that the daily work of the police was not so much about maintaining law and order as it was about extorting the poor with the help of power. He had seen too many similar things, but out of the reserve and arrogance of the nobles, plus it was none of his business, so he ignored it.

"What about their income?" Had it not been for the need for the assistance of the Inspector General of Police, the Marquis of Brackbarne would not have talked to Count Commo about this at all, nor would he have sat in this chair.

"For every guest they host, they get a day's worth of food." There was some emotion on the count's old face, and there was even more meaningless sneer and sarcasm: "The standard of rations is very low, not sausages, cheese, bread and broth as you might imagine, but black bread with grass seeds and sawdust added, cabbage soup and salt, and of course sometimes some butter, very little, only a small piece as small as a fingernail." ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn was surprised: "By this standard, it would probably cost only three pence." That's too little, isn't it? ”

As long as it is a man, it is inseparable from the topic of "special services". Although the Marquis of Brackban was strict with himself, he was not ignorant of it. Some of his friends frequented the city's upscale pubs, where women were expensive, starting at at least four pounds.

"It only takes one and a half pennies to get a meal like that." The police commissioner's voice was a little hoarse: "They only eat two meals a day. For these women, extravagant afternoon tea is simply unthinkable. ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn shook his head according to his own understanding and said, "The poor also need women...... But I don't understand, even the poorest women have beautiful women, and if they choose to work in this kind of industry, why are their incomes still low? ”

"You think anyone can do this?" Count Commo said coldly: "They are controlled by the gang, and every week someone comes to collect money regularly. Just like those officers under your command, there are training tasks that must be completed every month. ”

The Marquis of Brackbarn was stunned.

He had heard of such things, but at that time it seemed insignificant to the Marquis, and he had never paid attention to it.

The Marquis felt that the topic had deviated from his original thoughts. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't understand, what does these things have to do with the Northern Giants?" We are talking about war, and I need the city to be stable for the next time. ”

"Have you ever seen the women who were put to death?" The Inspector General of Police did not answer, but asked questions that seemed to the Marquis to have nothing to do with the war itself.

"Execution?" Brackbarn's eyes narrowed, and he slowly rubbed his fingers, "What do you mean by that?" ”

"Do you think it's as simple as a woman who lives in bars and rivers and is just in the business of flesh (harmony)? They have to pay once a week. If you can't hand it over, or if you don't have enough of it, you have to die. The old earl's expression was a little pained.

The Marquis of Brackbarn couldn't help but gasp, and his expression became serious again: "You mean the gangsters who manipulate them behind their backs?" ”

The Superintendent of Police nodded slowly: "They are the biggest source of instability in the City of London. ”