Although there is a dragon, and it should be very strong when it grows up, it is in the state of a cub after all.

It takes time for young dragons to grow, and it is also full of uncertainty.

If Gu Bei wants to become strong, he can't just rely on the young dragon, he himself, as well as this fiefdom Thorn City, must develop and grow.

If you want to develop, you must first understand the situation of the entire fiefdom, because the predecessor was a lord who spent all day and wine, and did not care about government affairs at all, and the fief has been handed over to the housekeeper to manage on his behalf, so Gu Bei called him over to understand the situation.

Although the housekeeper didn't know how Gu Bei was interested in managing government affairs today, as a loyal servant, he still told everything he knew.

"Old Lu, how many people are there in the fiefdom of Thorn City?"

"Back to Your Highness, there are more than 10,000 registered people, and the unregistered homeless people are hidden in the deep mountains, and they can't be counted." The butler replied honestly.

There are more than 10,000 people, Gu Bei's face turned dark, and he said that it was a city, but in fact, the population was about the same as a small town in later generations, which was really pitiful.

"How big is the fiefdom in total?"

"According to the imperial court, there are 8 million mu, in fact, most of them are some lofty mountains and barren land, less than 200,000 mu of fertile land, and more than 500,000 mu of mountainous land."

"Most of the fields are cultivated by local families, and annual taxes are paid, and they belong entirely to His Highness's fields, with only more than 10,000 acres, which are used to cultivate crops and vegetables and raise some livestock for the use of the city lord's mansion."

"What about taxes? How much can I collect in a year? ”

"The total tax revenue is more than 3,500 taels, most of which are grain, cotton, and other goods, and the cash collected last year is less than 1,000 taels."

"What, a thousand taels?" Gu Bei thought that he had heard it wrong, which was ridiculously rare.

"Less than one thousand taels, nine hundred and sixty-five taels to be exact." The housekeeper carefully corrected Gu Bei's statement.

When he was in Longya City, the national capital, Gu Bei was used to spending money, but after coming to his fiefdom, he was faced with the dilemma of lack of money, and the housekeeper was a little worried that Gu Bei would not be able to accept it.

In fact, after listening to the situation in Thorn City, Gu Bei was indeed like being poured down by a basin of cold water, and his heart was half cold.

This shabby place is worthy of the southwest border, and it is so poor that it is home!

"That's not right!" Gu Bei suddenly said: "There are two mansions in Thorn City, which are more magnificent than the City Lord's Mansion, why are they so rich?" ”

"It was the house of the Hou family and the Gu family, these two families had a big caravan in their hands, it was said that they were branches of the big family, there were people in the court, and the business was very big."

"Almost all the large and small businesses in this city are from these two families, and the salt and iron materials needed in the city are also transported by the two major families, and the four hundred and sixty-five taels of silver I just mentioned are at least four hundred taels, which are the salt and iron taxes paid by the two families."

"When the previous city lord was here, he also relied on these two families to carry out government affairs."

In the past, Thorn City had a city lord, but later it became Gu Bei's fief, and the city lord was naturally transferred away, and Gu Bei acted as the city lord.

It is said that the previous city lord was elated when he left, and if Gu Bei hadn't come, he didn't know how long he would have stayed in this place.

Gu Bei's heart was about to cool, in a place that was not rich in the first place, there were still two bloodsucking insects lying on his stomach, it was strange that this broken place could develop.

"What about the defenders? How many people are there, and these people are in my charge, right? Gu Bei asked without giving up.

The steward replied helplessly: "Thorn City is too small, and there are a hundred people in the garrison army, but in fact there are only fifty people, and they are guarded by two major families in turn. ”

"Nominally, the city defenders are at the mercy of His Highness, and if something really happens, I'm afraid it will be up to the two families."

"How much silver does the treasury have now?" Gu Bei asked weakly.

"Thorn City needs to pay half of the tax to Xihai City every year, and then Xihai City will hand it over to the national capital, and all parts of the city need silver to operate, and there is not much silver left in the treasury."

After Gu Bei listened, his eyes almost darkened, and his heart was completely cold.

His current situation is already obvious: no people, no money, no food, except for this ruined city lord's mansion, 10,000 acres of land, almost nothing.

Seeing Gu Bei's loveless look, the housekeeper comforted: "Your Highness, although the treasury has no money, but fortunately, I have received a lot of rewards this time, if Your Highness ...... If you are thrifty......"

Speaking of this, the housekeeper didn't say any more, because with Gu Bei's previous style of acting, it was a dream to want him to be thrifty.

Once the reward money is also lost, the housekeeper can't imagine how the six princes will survive in the future.

"You go out first, I want to be quiet."

Gu Bei waved his hand weakly, and the housekeeper went out nervously, and when he walked to the door, he looked back, his face full of worry.

On this day, Gu Bei didn't go out, except for feeding the young dragon a few times, the rest of the time was thinking about how to change the predicament in such a poor and dilapidated place......

The next day, Gu Bei had roughly smoothed out the path to take in the future, he took a one-man high plank, took the housekeeper and guards, and went out of the city again.

The first step is to gather a group of strong guards, not only to protect his safety, but also to be more confident when managing Thorn City!

The thirty guards around him were really bad, not even a single cultivator, and when he was in trouble, it would be good not to leave him and run away.

Because of the Falling Dragon Incident, the remote Thorn City attracted a large number of cultivators.

Although the dragon corpse had been transported, there were still many cultivators who came over with a fluke mentality and wanted to pick up the leak.

This is an excellent condition for Gu Bei to recruit guards.

The carriage stopped next to the big pit smashed by the dragon corpse, and Gu Bei put the one-person-high plank outside.

Many words were written on the board, which attracted the attention of people who did good deeds.

"Recruit guards."

"The prince is personally recruited, and the treatment is preferential. Eat and live, and the future is bright. ”

"There are many people who are rich, and there are many capable people. Don't miss this opportunity. ”

Someone read the words on the board, and everyone nearby knew what was going on.

"Recruit guards? It's still the prince who recruits people personally, which sounds very exciting. "Some cultivators are moved.

A cultivator who knew a little bit about the situation whispered: "Don't listen to him, he is the Sixth Prince, a famous playboy, and when he becomes an adult, he will be divided into the border land, what future can he have with him?" ”

"yes, let's go, let's go, I don't want to stay in this kind of place for a long time."

Those cultivators whispered for a while, then glanced at Gu Bei with disdain and turned to leave.

Gu Bei originally thought that after the wooden sign was hung out, at least someone would come over to ask, but he didn't expect that after waiting for a long time, no one came, and the scene was very embarrassing.

If a powerful prince recruits people, and the prince doesn't need to come forward, countless cultivators will flock to join in.

But who made the Six Princes have a bad reputation? They were also divided into poor border places, and those cultivators were all human spirits, and no one wanted to follow this kind of prince who had no future.

Gu Bei waited for a long time, and then sat in the carriage and dozed off.

"Boom!"

There was the sound of a heavy object falling outside the carriage, Gu Bei was startled, and his sleepiness immediately disappeared.

He stepped out of the carriage and looked outside.

I saw a stout woman with a scar on the left side of her face, who looked very fierce, standing next to the carriage and asked in a hoarse neutral voice, "Do you still recruit guards here?" ”

On either side of this woman, there was a pair of bronze war hammers with a diameter the size of a basin, and the sound of the heavy object falling to the ground just now was made by this pair of huge bronze hammers.

Gu Bei swallowed with difficulty, obediently, such a big bronze war hammer, let alone carrying two, it is one, and ordinary people can't carry it, let alone use it as a weapon.

From this alone, Gu Bei concluded that this woman was absolutely extraordinary.

"Recruit, of course recruited."

Gu Bei got out of the carriage, tidied up his clothes, and stood in front of the woman, who was actually half a head shorter, and he was a little embarrassed.

"Dare to ask what is the girl's name, and what is the cultivation realm?"

"Ye Wei, a third-order martial artist."

Gu Bei pulled the butler over and asked in a low voice, "Elsewhere, how much money does a third-order martial artist give a year?" ”

The housekeeper said: "Ordinary guards, it is ten taels of silver a year, a first-order martial artist is fifty taels, a second-order martial artist is one hundred taels, and a third-order martial artist is relatively high, and a year is three hundred taels of silver." ”

"Three hundred taels, so expensive!"

"It's not expensive, if it's a monk or a magician, the price is a little higher."

Gu Bei was secretly speechless, you must know that the tax revenue of Thorn City last year was only three thousand five hundred taels of silver, and in addition to the physical goods, the current silver was only nine hundred and sixty-five taels.

Recruiting a third-order martial artist will cost nearly one-tenth of the annual tax revenue in Thorn City, which is too expensive.

Warriors, monks, and magicians are generally divided into nine orders.

A third-order martial artist, in a small place like Thorn City, can definitely be regarded as a powerhouse.

If it weren't for the Falling Dragon incident, in a border place like Thorn City, there might not be a single third-order martial artist in a year, and as for third-order cultivators or magicians, it would be even more scarce.

"If you're too expensive, you can ...... It can be a little cheaper, but I eat more, and I just heard that you have a package of food and accommodation here. ”

The third-order martial artist's sense of hearing was very keen, and when Gu Bei and the housekeeper spoke, Ye Wei could hear it clearly.

Gu Bei was not a hesitant person, he gritted his teeth and said: "No, Yu Lu has three hundred taels of silver a year, one tael is not a lot of yours, I only have one request, that is, during my employment with you, you can't obey others, you can only be loyal to me." ”

Gu Bei was worried that Ye Wei had other identities, and if he did something unfavorable to him at that time, it would be bad.

"This is nature, I swear with the dignity of a warrior!" Ye Wei agreed without hesitation.

Gu Bei asked for some basic information, and after finding no problems, he immediately decided to hire Ye Wei.

In the blink of an eye, a day passed, and in addition to Ye Wei, Gu Bei only recruited two first-order martial artists later, which was still the weaker one among the martial artists.

In the case that no one was available, Gu Bei could only recruit these two first-order martial artists into his command at a price of fifty taels per year.

On the same day, Ye Wei and the two first-order martial artists lived in the City Lord's Mansion and became Gu Bei's new guards.

Because of his limited financial resources, he could only temporarily stop recruiting guards.

In the end, Gu Bei's escort team expanded to nine people, one third-order martial artist, two first-order martial artists, and thirty ordinary guards, which was already considered luxurious in a place like Thorn City.

Of course, the amount of money to be paid every year is also outrageous, plus the original guards in the house, Gu Bei has to pay as much as 7,000 taels of silver a year.

According to the current situation in Thorn City, it won't take a few years, and Gu Bei will have no choice but to dismiss these people, because he really can't afford to hire them.

Therefore, Gu Bei must find ways to develop his fiefdom.