Richard held the ledger in his hand, and the pine wood burning in the furnace exuded the fragrance of pine resin, which imprinted a layer of sunset on his face. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The temperature in the info study was pleasant, in stark contrast to the white world outside. Kidd crossed Wren's ankle, squinting as if he had fallen asleep, and with each breath he felt the "scarf" around his ankle tighten a little and quickly loosen. Probably some kind of sweet dream, Kidd stuck out his pink tongue around his mouth, moved his heavy head, and changed positions.

In just three months after coming to Ortlenburg, Wren pacified the unruly forces in the city, and also made a lot of money, about 300,000.

This money seems to be a lot, but in fact it is really not much, and almost 100,000 gold coins are taken out to renovate and renovate the city, which may not be enough. The rest of the money is the "only legal" income of the City Lord's Mansion in the next two years, and the average annual income of Ra is only 100,000 gold coins. Ortlenburg has a population of 2780,000 people, and once the city's security is stabilized, people's living standards improve, they no longer endure cold and hunger, and they will no longer have enough to eat, and there will be a big explosion of population growth in a short time.

As the number of family members grows, the gap in funds will further increase, and the desire for money will be stronger, which will lead to a series of torrents hidden under the calm to erupt. If you want to tie Ortlenburg to yourself, in addition to the cult of personality, the most important thing is the collusion of interests.

People are always selfish animals, selfless, and glorious characters seem to be detached from reality, but everyone's pursuit is different. Some people are after very simple money, some people are after power, and these people are selfish people in the eyes of the world. What is Guangwei pursuing? Fame! Fame, when necessary, can be converted into something else, money or power. History has proven this indestructible fact over and over again.

For example, Wang Mang.

How to make the people of Ortlenburg grateful and satisfied, and also reflect their own value and create profits economically, Rennes has considered a lot for this. The "heavy industry" of this world is the same as the other world, and it is the most cutting-edge technology, and the indispensable link is "magic". The large number of applications of the solidified magic array solves the power problem, and also makes it possible for many things that require a scientific and technological foundation to become a reality. However, in the whole of Ortrenburg, not to mention finding a magician who can "engrave the magic array" now, there is not even a single magic apprentice.

After the exclusion of heavy industry, what remains are intensive light industrial factories, creating wealth with cheap labor and repetition. Throughout the history of another world, many historical powers started with light industry. Light industry does not need cutting-edge technology, does not need high-end technical personnel, as long as it is a simple training can be employed cheap labor. This was unmatched by any other city in Ortlenburg, where labor was almost cheapest in the entire eastern part of the empire.

His thoughts became ethereal, and Wren's pupils began to dilate slowly, and the focus of his gaze seemed to penetrate the tabletop, the floor, and shoot into the distant void. His slender index finger subconsciously clicked rhythmically on the armrest, and the slight tapping sound was like a drum in everyone's heart.

What kind of light industry can drive the economy?

This goal needs to be placed in the items that people need to find in their daily lives, from food, clothing, shelter and transportation, and the answer is obvious - clothes.

Wren came back to his senses in the blink of an eye, his tapping fingers stopped in mid-air, he glanced at the four people seated in the room, and asked, "Do you know any flowers that are white and bloom like silk threads?"

Just now he was talking about the financial problems of the City Lord's Mansion, and in a blink of an eye, the topic of Rennes jumped to the flower, and the speed of this jump made it difficult for the other four people in the room to react for a while. After about two minutes, Cooper breathed a sigh of relief, the corners of his eyes were slightly raised, his eyebrows were raised high, and he said with a smile, "My lord, I know." Wren raised his chin slightly, and he continued, "My late mother believed in the god of light, and I once accompanied her on a pilgrimage to Sunset City, and the surroundings of Sunset City are full of plants like this you mentioned. They call this kind of flower 'sacred flower', and because this flower is like a dense star in the sky when it is in full bloom, it is also called 'starry', and it is an ornamental flower unique to the Church of Light. ”

Richard patted his head and said, "That's true, but only Sunset City and the cathedrals grow this plant, it's rare in other places, and it's rare for non-believers to know about it." ”

Wren was slightly surprised, but it was not wrong to think about it, the high-quality cotton did not have a trace of variegation after blooming, which was the same as the "pure color" advertised by the church, but it could also be called a "sacred flower". He rubbed the brass ring on his index finger and asked thoughtfully, "I remember that the church people seem to have arrived in Ortlenburg, right?"

Missionaries from the church had been arriving for several days before the snow closed the road. During this time, he was busy with the New Year's affairs, and Wren did not have free time to entertain them, and he had another intention, to dry them first, and not to think that he was the first major religion in the empire to be domineering, that set would not work in Ortrenburg. I didn't expect that it would involve the church now, and it was really effortless.

Wren nodded, the matter was over, he looked at Richard, the tax collector of Ortlenburg, who was actually also the financial staff of the City Lord's Mansion and Wren's retainer. He said: "Next year's budget will be made as soon as possible, I will approve it, you have to pay attention to one thing, the budget must be reasonable, all unreasonable budgets will be overturned and redone for me, so as not to embarrass you." ”

The budget system in the restructuring of the City Lord's Mansion can be said to be the first in the world, and although Richard doesn't quite understand why he wants to complicate simple things, he still implements it well. The city lord's mansion is in charge of all the government affairs of a city, such as road maintenance, house renovation, city construction, sanitation and cleaning, salaries and expenses of the people in the city lord's mansion, etc., etc., etc., etc., must be included. Including all aspects of the garrison and the city defense army, after Prince Kant left, he completely tore his face with Joberg, crossed the governor's palace, and directly intervened in the affairs of the city defense army, and now the city defense army can be said to be the army of Ortlenburg, and it is his private army of Rennes.

Now the salaries and benefits of all the privileged classes in the entire city come from Wren, and Wren's control over the city has risen to a new level.

He turned his head to look at Marven, "I need to expand the army, the goal is a thousand knights and two thousand elite infantry, you make a plan and hand it to Richard, and after approval, I will give you an appropriation immediately." ”

Marven was stunned for a moment after hearing this, rubbing his calloused hands, his smile was full of embarrassment, "What's that...... I don't quite know how to do it. It's okay to ask him to go into battle to kill the enemy, and it's okay to ask him to train those young people, but this involves copywriting, a big old man and a soldier with bloody hands are really not good. He also understands that this lord has a lot of ideas and a particularly strong desire to control, you can question his claims, but you can't refuse to carry them out. As soon as he thought that this would involve eating, drinking, and wearing the clothes of the 3,000-strong team for the coming year, he could no longer pretend to be a background.

Wren smiled: "I will arrange a few paperwork for your city defense army, and when the time comes, you say, they write." ”

"Thank you so much, Lord Castle. The old thing smiled like a chrysanthemum, which was a big advantage. There are very few literate people in Ortlenburg, so they arrange a few to come over at once, isn't it to take advantage of what?

Then, Wren looked at Harvey, "I intend to carry out a large-scale slave hunting after the beginning of spring, you can arrange it." ”

Harvey, like Marven, had been playing a parody in the background, sitting there without making a sound, at which point he sat up straight. To say that Harvey in the past was like a rogue leader who was a monkey, after just a little more than a month of changes, at this time he has taken off the smell of dirt and slag on his body, and is more like a businessman like Sarcomo. It's just that there is more cruelty between the eyebrows and eyes than Sarcomo's shrewdness, after all, this kind of person sells his own kind as cattle, and he is destined to be impossible to become a gentleman as gentle as jade.

Wren's words made him nod his head, every year before the arrival of winter, the slave trade is a high tide, a large number of stocks of slaves are sold, become consumables in the winter, three or four out of ten. After the beginning of spring, the shortage of slaves will open up again, which is one of the reasons why the spring slave hunting movement flourished. In fact, even if Wren didn't say it, Harvey and the other slave merchants would go into the mountains to hunt slaves after the ice and snow melted. It's just that Wren said that the scale will not be as large as before, and it will increase a lot.

With that, Wren waved his hand and let the three of them leave. After they left, only Wren and Alma were left in the room, and there were some things that were not suitable for too many people to know, and he still knew this truth.

"What has Joberg been doing lately?", at this time, almost a month has passed since Prince Kant's visit, and His Royal Highness the Prince and Sarcomo have reached a series of cooperation agreements, but it will not involve the division of profits in Ortlenburg, but only the transaction between the Chamber of Commerce and His Royal Highness the Prince.

Alma had already had a case, and she immediately replied, "There has been no movement since Joberg returned to the city of Millin, and he has been either fooling around with the technicians or having a banquet all day. I haven't seen him talk to anyone, and as for the too private situation, it can't be detected for the time being, but in general he is still very honest. ”

Of course, if he was disgusted with His Royal Highness the Prince, he was inexplicably beaten up, and Joberg immediately woke up to the fact that the contradiction between him and Wren could not be faked by others, simply put, he wanted to deal with Wren could, but he could only do it himself. The fall of the Bol family did not set off a political storm, and the imperial capital acquiesced to the conclusion given by the province of Bell that the Bol family died at the hands of the rogues.

In fact, everyone knows it, but no one has thought of lifting the lid, and it will not benefit themselves but offend a group of powerful nobles in Bell Province. Now that everyone has become smarter, it is clear that Jolberg has run out of ways to use them as weapons again, and the harsh reality has blocked his path.

But don't rest assured, the more stable this kind of person is, the more careful he should be.

"Keep an eye on him, I want him to report back every night in whatever posture he uses. Wren changed the subject, "How's the training of the new recruits?"

Every year when heavy snow falls, it means that a large number of poor refugees die in the cold winter, and this is also the most lively time to sell children and daughters in exchange for winter resources. With only a small amount of money, Alma bought more than two hundred good-looking girls, and now they have just entered the stage of training. Although the profession of technician is low, there is not much discrimination among everyone, and even His Royal Highness the prince constantly summons technicians to satisfy his selfish desires when he patrols the place, which shows that the whole country and even the whole continent have not discriminated too strongly against technicians, at most they feel that this profession is not so decent and undignified.

Alma lowered her head in awe and stared at the gorgeous leather boots she had just ordered, "I have already gathered two hundred people according to your orders, and from the current situation, I am still very optimistic, after all, your method is really ...... That's great. A sense of fear grew deep within her, and Wren told her that if she bought the girls alone, she wouldn't necessarily have the best control over them, and that the best thing to do was to buy them with the family they valued most.

Although manpower is cheap, it is also in great demand, and there are many things that ordinary citizens are unwilling to do, such as transporting manure, which are handed over to these people. On the one hand, it solves the problem of the shortage of dirty and poor jobs in the city, and also gives those girls a bond, and at the same time gives them a goal, a future, and a hope. As long as a few important intelligence gatherings are completed as agreed, they can be given freedom and let them and their families live a prosperous life.

A demon that plays with people's hearts!

This was Alma's assessment of Wren, but she didn't dare to say it, as an accomplice of this demon, Alma actually felt a trace of excitement.

Wren nodded and said, "Very good, remember not to treat them harshly, give them enough food, clothing and respect, you go back and hire two bachelors to teach them literacy and knowledge, Alma you remember that women don't have to strip naked to impress men, sometimes temperament attracts men's eyes more than their bodies." He paused, "In addition, Sarcomo and I have already said that we will prepare a batch of the best girls, and Sarcomo will send them to the imperial capital after the beginning of spring." ”

Alma was startled and raised her head suddenly, but when she saw Wren's eyes like an ancient well, she quickly lowered her head and said yes.

Outside, the cold wind was raging, the snow had been falling heavily for two days, and several unrenovated houses in the city had been crushed, and more than a dozen people were injured. At the same time, there was an influx of refugees into the city, and compared to other cities that strictly forbade refugees from entering the city, Ortlenburg's attitude of not refusing to come here attracted a large number of people who did not hesitate to travel to the city.

Egger looked up at the shed above his head, the heavy snow made the shed squeak, he just picked up the broom and was about to clean up the snow on the shed, immediately someone snatched the broom in his hand and took the initiative to climb up to the shed, "Lord Egger, where do you need to do this yourself? ”

Iger smiled at the refugees, some snowflakes fell on the white silver-rimmed cloak, and he raised his hand to flick it off, the silver bracelet on his wrist was particularly dazzling in the snow. The silver cross pendant swayed back and forth with his movements, attracting the attention of some.

The almsgiving in the shed continued, the mediocre wheat kernels were crushed and mixed with vegetable leaves, as well as minced meat, and a large pot of boiling thick into a branch would not fall. Pastors poured spoonfuls of piping hot wheat porridge into various utensils, and were thanked for their kindness, but they were treated with great poise.

Picking up a folded shredded leather coat, he handed it into the hands of an old woman who looked at Egger with tears in her eyes, and the fire in her eyes seemed to ignite the whole world. He patted the back of the old woman's dirty hand and gave a warm smile.

At this moment, his soul was greatly satisfied.

Looking at the refugees around the shed who had survived because of their generosity, Egger breathed a sigh of relief.

Ortlenburg was much better than he had imagined, at least since he arrived, he had not seen any criminal acts, nor had he been cheated of his wealth. It was a city that was completely different from the church's records, and his gloomy mood brightened.

"Egg, Lord Castle wants to see you. A guard entered the shed against the wind and snow, stomped his feet, and the snow on his body fell to the ground.

He smiled, took a wooden cup from the side, poured hot water and handed it over, "I'm sorry for you, drink hot water to warm up." The guard showed a kind smile, took the cup and held it in the palm of his hand, and the heat passed through the thin wall of the cup into his hand, driving away the cold. Egg asked, "Do you know what you want to see me?" ”

The guard shook his head, "I don't know, it was the captain who gave it." ”

Ig thought for a moment, came back to his senses and said two words to the priest beside him, and put his hood on his head, "Let's go, go and meet the city lord." ”

It was the fourth day of coming to Ortlenburg, and the city lord had not asked to see him for four days, and he was also very anxious. He didn't come here for tourism, nor did he simply come to do good deeds, the establishment of the church, the arrangement of personnel required him to negotiate with the city lord, and only after negotiation could the construction be carried out.

After walking for more than half an hour in the wind and snow, his body had begun to heat up, and he also saw the city lord's mansion covered in silver in the wind and snow. Solemn and dignified.

Before entering the door, he watched the guards leave, cleaned the snow from his body, and then stepped into the side hall.

A man who amazed him smiled and said to him, "Waiting for you in the study of the city lord, please come with me." ”

"I'm sorry for you. Iger replied politely.

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It's a shift today, and it's a little delayed in the evening.