"We don't have any money. ”

Embiter clasped his hands together, his two fat thumbs in circles with each other, fast and flexible, "I'm also short of money." He added.

Vassals, large and small, stared at the Duke in amazement, then turned their gaze to the Queen of the Roses. Sylvia pursed her crystal clear red lips slightly, but did not speak.

"Okay. Let's do the math. Embiter seemed to have received instructions, knocked on the table, attracted everyone's attention, and said: "According to the salary system of the Randall family's hired soldiers, the soldier's salary from the first year to the third year is 3 gold soles, 3,000 soldiers are 9,000 gold soles per year, and from the fourth to the sixth year, there will be an increase of one gold soles, that is, 12,000 gold soles per year, and the total salary for six years is 63,000 gold soles. These 3,000 soldiers only train, not work, and each person is paid at least 8 gold soles per year for food and medicine, which is 144,000 gold soles for six years. ”

The vassal lords looked at each other.

"I don't count the seventh to ninth years with you, but only the expenses of the first six years. Embiter said with a smile: "A mercenary army of 3,000 people has an average annual military expenditure of no less than 34,000 gold soles. ”

The vassal lords turned pale with earth.

Embither continued: "Viscount Randall has a jerkery trade, and besides him, who of you can raise a mercenary army?"

"Humph!"

Nicole is very dissatisfied, if you don't have money, you don't have money, why mention Victor's wealth? Don't you see that Caterina's eyes are shining?

It wasn't just the high-ranking female knights here whose eyes lit up, but Victor was not the lord of the York family, and it was a pipe dream to seek his support. And he doesn't have enough money!

"Lord Duke, is this what you call 'a little problem'?" said Viscount Hanas in a sullen voice. The military expenses of 34,000 gold soles a year made him despair.

How can money be a minor issue for a lord?

Audrey's beautiful eyes reflected Victor's calm expression, and she thought about it, and said with a coquettish smile: "I remember that Lord Randall put forward an interesting theory - let the meat rot in the pot. The annual salary of 3 gold soles per year for a hired soldier is actually not high, and it is not even as high as the annual income of a hired man. The soldiers had money, and they also needed to spend. Taverns, inns, casinos, and grocery stores will drain their pockets. These shops are subject to rent to us, and the goods of the shops come from us, and we can follow the example of Lord Randall and levy a transaction tax on the shops. Eventually, the pay flowed back into the family's treasury. In this way, the salaries we pay do not increase cumulatively from year to year, but decrease in the annual cycle, because it is profitable for us to sell supplies. ”

"As for the food and potions consumed by the mercenary corps...... Audair giggled, "with the crops, herbs, cattle, sheep and livestock we harvest every year, can't we afford to support 3,000 mercenaries?"

Earl Trendon nodded with a smile and said, "The military expenses proposed by Lord Duke are very scary, but no matter how scary the number is, it is just a number. ”

The vassal lords were relieved.

"Hmm. The Duke of York's voice came again: "But are you really willing to raise 3,000 men for nothing?"

Trisley's brother, Viscount Raven, shook his head and said, "To tell you the truth, I am reluctant to pay a single copper sol to a mercenary soldier for nothing...... That's not the case......"

The lord will often hire some outcast mercenary groups to carry out combat missions, but they will not be kept for nothing. The mercenary group is exchanging life for money, and as long as the mercenary regiment participates in training, it can eat and drink for nothing, and there is also military pay. The vassal soldiers did not have this treatment, they brought their own weapons, trained spontaneously, did not have money, responded to the call of the lord at any time, at most enjoyed free food and medicine during the service, took some allowances as pocket money, or received a reward from the lord.

The lords of the House of York were unaccustomed to the professionalization of mercenaries, but if they were not trained, the mercenaries would have no combat effectiveness, and if they were not paid, the mercenary corps would have no legal cloak.

In other words, the mercenary soldier took the lord's money, and the lord could cure him of the crime of escaping, and the mercenary army had the basis for existence.

Raise soldiers for a thousand days, and use them for a while. How will the mercenary corps be used? Whether it will be used or not? It is still unknown, but spending money to raise soldiers has become an urgent problem. Compared with the loyal vassal soldiers, the lords are always in a bit entangled at the moment.

Embiter took in the expressions of the crowd, and there was an indescribable pleasure in his heart: I am inferior to you in terms of strength and blood, and you are not necessarily better than me in terms of wisdom and talent...... I'm not a puppet, I'm the Duke of York!

"In addition to eating and drinking, mercenary soldiers also need weapons. We can't let the soldiers carry the pig ham to the battle, can we?"

The Duke of York grasped the rhythm of the conversation and said at the right time: "The standard equipment of the Randall family's mercenary soldiers includes chain mail, leather armor, shields, short swords, one-handed spears and javelins, each set is worth 80 gold soles, and 3,000 sets are 240,000 gold soles, not counting the value of war horses, crossbows, and swift birds. Is this huge amount of money the expense of the lord? Will the armament wear out? Should it be replaced?"

This series of questions weighed on the vassal lords' minds like stones, and their expressions were serious and silent.

The Duke of York continued: "The Centaur Hills are rich in iron ore, but lacking it, and the soldiers need iron for their equipment. As soon as his voice changed, he suddenly asked, "Victor, you have built so much equipment, have you used up all the iron ore reserves?"

Uh, the goblins enslaved by the swamp half-drakes dig me more than 8 tons of iron-rich ore every month...... I have a fire elemental crystal melting pot that can refine 5 tons of iron per month...... Victor muttered in his heart, he had roughly understood Embitser's intentions, so he followed his tone and pretended to be heavy: "I have indeed used up the iron ore reserves, and I have also purchased a batch of high-priced iron materials from Yeliu City. ”

"Everybody heard. Embiter said, "We have exchanged the purple cane wine for iron and iron-rich ore from the hands of the Nevilles. After a long time, iron is easy to corrode, so iron ore reserves are very important and cannot be easily moved. If there is no iron ore in the warehouse, someone else will choke us by the neck. ”

"The Randall family was in a special situation, lacking vassals, and had to recruit outcast mercenaries to defend the southern fortress. Therefore, the problem of iron ore has not yet manifested. When Sophia joins the Centaur Hills and we form mercenary legions, how will the other lords react? They will definitely have to do something about the iron trade in the Centaur Hills, charging fees along the way, and exploiting layer by layer, and our pork may have to be sold for hay in exchange for iron and iron ore. Are we farming for other families to raise pigs and herd cattle and sheep?"

"In fact, we are not short of money, what we lack is trade channels!"

Viscount Hanas was silent for a moment and said, "We have Jinshui City, Yeliu City, and Raven Town...... Raven Town is doing business with the Duoduo, and the lord of Gambis can't do anything about us!"

"It's useless!" the Duke of York scoffed, "and the Duoduo will not miss the opportunity to eat meat and drink blood. ”

The atmosphere in the room became dull again, and Sylvia finally spoke, holding her cheeks in her hand and smiling gently, "Embiter, Caterina, how are you going to solve this 'little problem'?"

Caterina stood up and saluted, "Your Highness, I think it is necessary to reduce the size of the mercenary group, the establishment of 3,000 people is too much, it is difficult to train, command, and cooperate, the consumption of materials is large, and the target is also large, which is easy to arouse the fear of other forces, and attract suppression and infiltration." I propose that we first select young and strong homeless people, form a mercenary group of 500 people, train them as the backbone, and explore the mercenary group system while training. When the time comes, it is not too late to expand the mercenary group. ”

"On the other hand, the equipment of the mercenary legions should be different from that of the vassal soldiers. Mercenary soldiers are equipped with hard leather armor, shields, one-handed spears, and one-handed daggers. Only those who trained hard and performed feats in battle were qualified to become vassal soldiers and use well-equipped equipment. ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is a difference between vassals and outcasts, and they cannot be surpassed!"

Caterina's blood, appearance, and intelligence are all the best choices, and the participants nodded frequently when they said something. After all, she was the concubine of the Joshua family, and she almost became the queen of Gambis, and if she didn't have outstanding talents, Sylvia wouldn't let her take over the authority of the duke's line.

"What do you think, dear?" said Sylvia, asking Victor for advice.

Victor nodded, and said, "Lady Caterina's suggestion is very reasonable. However, the Randall family's mercenary corps has only increased. I will only make adjustments in the size and number of legions, distinguish between elite and mediocre, and establish the main corps and reserve corps. ”

Victor sits on Alchemy Tower 7, and his actual control of the land far exceeds the area of Randall's domain, and the resources of the Skylark Mountains and the Swamp are at his disposal. The smuggling caravan took control of hundreds of hill villages and homeless camps, and the strength of the Golden Regiment grew stronger and stronger, and it had infiltrated the Wharton Prairie. In the near future, mountain hunters, steppe herdsmen, and outcast bandits are all potential sources of Victor's troops. The large division of labor brought about by the lease and employment system is the guarantee for the establishment of a professional army.

There are resources, channels, soldiers, technology, and systems, not to mention the formation of a mercenary corps of 3,000 people, even the formation of thirty.

Of course, it is impossible for Victor to expand the mercenary legion indefinitely, and the upper limit of alchemy humans determines the total size of the mercenary legion, once this limit is exceeded, it is difficult to guarantee the loyalty of the mercenary legion, and it is very likely to be infiltrated and controlled by the church or the great lord.

Based on the calculation of one alchemy auxiliary for every 25 mercenary soldiers, Victor currently recruits a maximum of 15,000 mercenary soldiers to form 5 integrated legions.

With such a small number of troops, he obviously can't compete head-on with the Ant-Man army, and he also needs to hide behind the back of the York family, cultivate his henchmen, and secretly increase his strength.

The development strategy of digging deep holes, accumulating grain, and slowly becoming king is very much in line with Victor's current situation.

"We're counting on you and Nicole to guard the Southern Fortress and share the pressure on the family. Caterina grinned, white and bright.

The Duke of York coughed dryly and said: "The equipment of the mercenaries, it is better for us to be able to solve it ourselves, and try not to rely on external forces." You recruit mercenaries on your own, and I don't interfere, but it's impossible to borrow money from me. With so many lords, no amount of money I have is enough. ”

"However, as the lord of the House of York, I also have an obligation to ensure the livelihood of my vassals...... In this way, my craftsmen have improved the manufacturing technology of rattan leather armor, you transport the tanned cowhide to Jinshui City, and I will order someone to make rattan leather armor for you, and for every five pieces made, I will draw one as a reward, what do you think?"

Viscount Fred was the first to jump out, "Brother, it's too unkind for you to do this! Twenty pieces to draw one piece is in line with the spirit of the lord!"

"Fred is right! Twenty out of one. The Earl of Turlandon nodded repeatedly.

The Duke of York slammed the table and shouted, "Don't even think about it......!

"My lord, we are very poor......"

"How poor are you, how many cattle do you raise, I don't know?"

The vassal lords and dukes bargained with each other, the etiquette was lost, and the meeting room was instantly transformed into a vegetable market.

Sylvia watched this scene with amusement, and Victor also laughed silently, he had mastered the technique of improving the rattan leather armor.

"Lord Randall, rattan leather armor was originally invented by your subordinates, and you are here to judge, is it unfair that Embither wants to draw one of the six pieces?" said Count Trandon with a glare.

"Fair. Victor smiled slightly, and said, "But I'm against it!"