Sylvia's car was gone.

On the way back to Pinghu Town, Victor began to weigh the gains and losses of the two days.

The biggest benefit is the jaggery. Victor once hoped to make a fortune from cane sugar, but he didn't expect that this nutritious and energy-rich sweet was unsold for four whole years before it ushered in the dawn. This is mainly because the information in this world travels too slowly, and jaggery is not a necessity. In fact, Victor thought that it would take at least 5-10 years for people to get used to eating jaggery, and in order to open the market as soon as possible, he even sold it at a low price to caravans and traders.

It is reasonable and unexpected that jaggery sugar was suddenly designated as a strategic material. However, Victor still hopes that jaggery can become a daily consumer product for civilians, after all, Randall's production capacity of jaggery is particularly huge, and the consumption of jaggery sugar by soldiers is relatively limited, while the civilian market is vast. Victor is also ready to package and grade the jaggery to meet the needs of different classes and make more profits.

In any case, the major powers will compete to purchase jaggery, and Victor expects that the annual sales revenue of jaggery will not be less than 60,000 gold soles, and the Randall family's financial predicament will be solved. The thought of more than 10 million pounds of jaggery being wiped out made Victor feel as good as eating ice cream on a dog day.

Another takeaway was an agreement with the York family to share technology. In a sense, this is more important than the raw sugar trade.

Due to the changes of the times, there are many techniques that cannot be directly applied by the alchemy auxiliaries. For example, Busso's Tsersilver crossbow was a complete imitation of the design of the Duoduo military crossbow, which he designed himself was a full two turns larger than the military crossbow, and did not have a winch, but was wound purely by hand. In the entire Randall Territory, only Nelson could wield that kind of crossbow. Many of the equipment designs of the Alchemy Auxiliaries are oversized, making them very usable. Fortunately, alchemist humans have the ability to learn and can easily imitate any device. Randall's armour, ballistas, and trebuchets were mostly modeled after the armaments provided by the House of York.

The alchemy auxiliaries are all top craftsmen, but they are not scholars. Although they have the ability to learn to imitate, they only have a lifespan of 15 years, and their thinking is dull, and they will not innovate in their lifetime, and they will not even be able to improve technology. Technology sharing can compensate for the shortcomings of the alchemy auxiliaries. Victor provided the technology created by the commoners, and the scholars of the House of York put it into practical use, and the alchemy auxiliaries copied it. This is currently the most efficient way to do it, and it also cultivates the Randall family's technical talent.

Victor was baffled by Sylvia's wonderful attitude, she didn't care about the benefits of the jaggery and didn't show much enthusiasm for technology sharing, but she was angry with the dogs. When she heard that the Randall family did not recruit knights, she was overjoyed. The reasons for this are somewhat intriguing.

X-3's almost machine-like way of thinking gives Victor a glimpse of Sylvia's determination under the veil of warmth.

Victor is a gift from Sofia to Sylvia, and all the forces recognize it. At the beginning, Sylvia gave more than 10,000 square kilometers of territory to Victor with a pampering mentality. Although she tried to create a relaxed and free environment for Victor to grow up, she would never allow Victor to betray her, let alone allow Randall to break away from the control of the York family.

Draw a territory for you to toss, if you succeed, it is my success, and if you fail, I will catch you.

Sylvia never thought that Victor would play so big, so big that other forces would be ready to move, so big that she had a feeling that she couldn't catch it. In Sylvia's eyes, what jaggery, coffee, snow sugar, and new technology are not as important as the current Randall Collar.

No one dares to blatantly compete with the god knights for territory, which does not mean that they cannot take the means of infiltration. Sylvia was only worried that Victor would see herself as an independent lord, giving other forces a chance to take advantage of it. So, Victor cultivating the family hound like an independent lord touched Sylvia's nerves.

The Randall family refused to recruit knights, and the situation was different again.

Victor has only civilians under his command, no knights, and there is no family without knights, Viscount Randall is a part of the York family after all, and the achievements of the Randall family still belong to the York family.

Suppose that Victor recruits the knights of the family, even if the Yorkie family is short of manpower, Sylvia will arrange for the children of the family to fill the Randall collar up and down.

Randall's territory must be attached to the House of York! Stepping through this bottom limit, there will be no more relaxed and free environment for the Randall family. X-3 puts on the worst-case scenario, Victor lives in the Rose Manor, becomes the Rose Queen's companion and chief staff, and has many unspeakable things to happen with the female knights of the York family.

It is human nature to keep one's fruits, and there is nothing to blame. So it was with Sylvia, and so was Victor. Although Victor pretended not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Buryatia, if Judy colluded with other forces, he would have resorted to even more drastic measures than Sylvia.

However, Victor also has a limit, he admits that he is part of the York family, but does not accept the leadership of the York family. Sylvia couldn't imagine how ambitious he was.

In the future, if you obediently be my woman, I will reluctantly lead the House of York to glory!

Victor, who was immersed in fantasy, couldn't help but smile obscenely.

Bright sunlight illuminated the study through the window, and in Bishop Perot's eyes, the smile on Viscount Randall's face was brighter than the sun.

"Victor, have you thought of a solution?" asked Perro eagerly.

Randall's system of worship was of great significance to the Church, and when Pero learned of it, he was a treasure. However, after investigation and research, Perot found an unavoidable problem. If this problem is not solved, the worship system will not be promoted, and even the Sunday of Randall's collar will die. Like a hungry goblin, Pero suddenly discovers that there is a feast in the house, and if you find the key to open the door, you can feast on it. In order to find the key, Pero stayed up all night, still not having a clue, but he would never give up.

Perro thought that since it was Viscount Randall who made him see the feast, perhaps the Viscount himself had a way to open that door. Bishop Perro was not reserved, and as soon as Victor returned with his front foot, he chased after him with his back foot. After some pleasantries, Perro went straight to the point and put the difficulties in front of Victor. Victor then fell into deep thought, and Bishop Perro waited patiently for a quarter of an hour until Viscount Randall stretched his brow and smiled confidently.

Perot expects Victor's answer, and knows that Victor has been daydreaming of conquering Sylvia, and he doesn't understand that the so-called problem is just part of Victor's larger plan.

"Hmm. Victor cleared his throat and said sincerely, "Your Excellency Perot, without your reminder, I would not have realized that my respect for the Supreme Lord would have been frustrated. ”

Speak your mind out loud is the greatest respect to the Most High!

Perro thought to himself, but said in his mouth: "Victor, the Most High Lord shows the way for us all, and your respect for the High Lord is not accidental, and I am confident that our Lord will guide you to the answer." ”

"It's hard...... But it's not that it's unsolvable. Victor's shaking and nodding made Perro's heart go up and down.

Victor continued: "Your Excellency Perot, you have seen the passenger and cargo carriage I designed, it is much larger than a normal carriage, can transport 40 passengers at a time, and if you want to pull so many people, you must use a strong horse. In order to transport Randall's followers to worship in Pinghu Town, I put in 80 wagons and transported them in two parts. The cost of the carriage plus the horses was 60 gold soles, and this did not take into account the feed for the horses, the depreciation of the carriages, and the wages of the coachmen. ”

"As you feared, Randall's population has exceeded 30,000, and I need to prepare 200 passenger and freight wagons to complete the transportation task, and the population has exceeded 50,000, and 400 ...... I can't afford to be under such a lot of financial pressure. ”

"Actually, you don't need so many carriages. When Randall's population reaches 50,000, we will build at least 3 churches here, arrange 5 pastors, and believers don't need to go to Pinghu Town Church to worship, they can choose a closer church. As long as you can stick to public transport, I think 120 carriages will be enough......"

For the church, calling believers to worship was not a problem at all, and the lord could not force the people to work unless it was labor. Perot's research found that in reality Sunday is not important, the key is public transportation. Believers are happy to go to church to pray, but due to travel restrictions, if there is a public carriage to travel, believers in remote areas can often go to church to pray in their leisure time, which is many times stronger than a Sunday, and can also reduce the lord's financial investment. However, how many carriages will be needed for Randall's 50,000 men in the future? How many carriages will the overpopulous parish lords buy? Not to mention 120, even if 20 public carriages are maintained, the lords will not be happy! The contradiction is almost unsolvable, and Perot's voice is getting quieter and quieter.

"You're right, not all believers will be concentrated in one day's service, and 150 wagons are indeed enough. However, I still can't afford such a large shipping cost. So...... I'm going to charge!" Victor nodded.

Perro frowned and said, "Charges, isn't that good, many believers are poor. ”

"There's no way around it. Victor shook his head and sighed: "Civilians can walk up to 40 kilometers a day, and it only takes 3 hours to ride in a horse-drawn carriage. For every 20 km, I charge 1 copper sol per passenger. Civilians pay more than 2 copper soles a day, although they have to eat every day, but they save time to travel and work more time. ”

Pei Luo thought for a moment and said, "That's true, it's a feasible way." ”

Victor smiled and said, "Even so, I still can't afford it. ”

"This ...... Why is that?, the carriage can be fed for money!," asked Perro, surprised.

"Public carriages depart regularly, and not every carriage can be full. Victor explained

Perot suddenly understood that it was true that the toll public carriage was a business, and it would definitely make money, but the investment was large, the profit was thin, and the return on investment was slow, and even Viscount Randall couldn't look down on it, let alone other lords.

When the bishop began to be discouraged, Victor laughed and said, "I am going to leave this business to the freedmen, and I can provide them with loans to help them buy carriages, and I will also entrust them with the transportation of supplies, so that they can earn money to support their families, and I can save a lot of money on my investment and the coachman's wages." ”

"Good idea! Many freedmen can't find work, this business can feed a group of people" Perro's eyes lit up, and he sighed: "Victor, you are indeed a genius favored by our lord!"

Genius? It's a contract!

Victor was secretly amused in his heart, but said with a sad face: "I provide a loan, and I will definitely charge interest." I'm afraid some freedmen will cheat my carriage. So, I have to see their sincerity...... People who want to do this business have to come up with at least 20 gold soles! I roughly calculated that pulling freight passengers can earn about 10 gold soles a year, and they can pay back their capital in six years, and if nothing else, they can work for 20 years. That's it, I started to recover the principal and interest from the third year, and they repaid me 5 gold soles a year, which was paid off in ten years. ”

"That's as it should be. Perro nodded in satisfaction.

"The problem is......" Victor stared into Bishop Perro's eyes and said slowly: "Randall is a pioneer leader, and it will be attacked by Ant-Man at any time, 20 Kinsol is not a small number for the free people, will anyone be willing to invest in the public carriage business?"

Bishop Pero gasped, this is the problem of the pioneer territory, all the territories have the same problem, the lord does not trust the free people, and the free people do not trust the lord.

When the time was ripe, Victor said, "Your Excellency, I have asked for a pre-divine notarization to ensure that the property of the freemen is inviolable, but it has not been done. That's what makes it hard for me. ”

Pero was silent for a long time before he spoke: "The Radiant Code clarifies our responsibilities, the protection of the lords, the salvation of the Church, and the devotion of the people, and you are violating the principles of the Radiant Code by recruiting soldiers from among the freemen. Unless you change the content of the notarization before God, the church will not agree!"

"I had no choice but to do so. Victor raised his voice and said, "Your Excellency, you should know that the Randall family has just been established and there are not enough vassals and lords, but I need an army to protect the territory. The dark clouds of Ant-Man have never lifted, and if this place is lost, the people will be the biggest victims!"

"Then we can't let the civilians die! You must know that the civilians have no ability to fight monsters! They are the lambs of our lord, not the victims of the lord! Such a tragedy only happened thousands of years ago!" Peero also became angry.

Victor was irritable, which was the source of his conflict with the church. The Church regards the freedmen as its own property, and even if the mercenaries are voluntarily enlisted, the Church will still shelter them in the event of war. How can a soldier fight to the death if he has a way out.

Pero persuaded bitterly: "Victor, the centaur hills are guarded by Her Highness Sylvia, you don't need too many troops. A wise monarch will not provoke a war easily. ”

"But he needs to be ready to fight!" said Victor coldly, "I can't take refuge under a woman's skirt, can I?"

"His Highness is a knight of the gods, the top figure of our time. It's an honor for you to stand behind her. Don't belittle yourself with the views of civilians. Perot shook his head secretly, Victor had been mixed with civilians for too long, and he was simply not right.

"......" Victor was dumbfounded, and he remembered that the world of nobility only has power, and there is no male superiority or inferiority.

"You are right, but I have lost my words. Victor hastened to admit his mistake, it would not be good if this word reached Sylvia's ears. Victor took a sip of his coffee and said, "You just said that civilians can't fight, and that's not true. ”

"As far as I know, the Sassan Empire has gathered thousands of mercenaries for this expedition into the northern wilderness. There are also many mercenary groups active at the junction of the Seuss Kingdom and the Twilight Forest, and my subordinate Nelson is also a mercenary, aren't mercenaries civilians?"

"This ...... There are indeed some warriors among the civilian population who have volunteered to fight, and they deserve respect, of course...... There were also some thugs. Perro stumbled and explained, "In short, mercenaries are free, and no one can force them to fight. ”

"I can recruit mercenary groups, right?" Victor pressed in.

"Yes. They are willing to accept your employment, and that's their right. Perro emphasized: "But you can't force them!"

"How could I persecute them. Victor said with satisfaction: "I will offer a good bounty and conditions, and there will always be warriors who will voluntarily accept my employment." As long as they work for me for 25 years, I can even give them land, isn't that what the mercenaries are for?"

"However, I have paid a high sum of money, and if any mercenaries dare to escape, I will punish them for defrauding the lord. The church can't interfere in my governance, can it?"

Bishop Pero pondered for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, the Church will not shelter criminals. ”

"In that case, I'm willing to delete the pre-god notarization of the recruitment of freefolk soldiers. Victor smiled, mercenaries and mercenaries are just a word difference, but they are different in nature for the church, and it is better not to change the name if they knew this.

Perro was also satisfied, as long as Victor understood that the Radiant Code was unshakable, his goal had been achieved, and with Randall's example, the public carriage could be promoted.

"Your Excellency, my abilities are limited, but I am willing to convince the Buryatia family to introduce a public carriage. ”

Victor took the initiative to make Perro happy, "This is really good, may my lord protect the Randall family." ”

"Unfortunately, my financial resources and influence are not enough, and other families may not be willing to protect the property of the freedmen, and they will probably not lend money to the freedmen. Victor shook his head regretfully. Bishop Pero smiled: "Don't worry, there will naturally be devout disciples engaged in the public carriage industry." As long as there is no war, the Church will also supervise the actions of the lords and vassals, and will not let people confiscate the carriages of the freedmen. Well, the process of promotion can be slow. ”

Victor struggled to maintain an elegant smile, and if he had a fox's tail, he couldn't hide it now.