King

76: Chapter 75, Big Fat Meat_1 76: Chapter 75, Big Fat Meat_1 The next day, early in the morning, people began to measure the land.

The Kingdom had clear regulations about the size of territories, and depending on various natural conditions, noble territories varied in size.

Normal baron’s territories were approximately between 120 square kilometers to 300 square kilometers in size.

In special cases, territories could encompass thousands of square kilometers or be as small as tiny morsels of land.

Generally speaking, territories in fertile plains where irrigation was easy or busy commercial hubs at crossroads were relatively small.

Conversely, territories located in difficult-to-cultivate mountain arenas with troublesome irrigation and inconvenient transportation were larger.

Territories in the Northland, constantly under threat from the Orcs, also tended to be slightly bigger.

If the area was a desert, only the oasis was considered, with the desert itself as an additional bonus; hence, every desert lord’s territory was enormous.

In the Southeastern Province, which mainly consisted of fertile plains, nobles’ territories were usually on the smaller side.

Theoretically, the Hudson’s hilly area, lying between plains and mountains, should receive certain consideration in size but not too much.

Benefiting from the stubbornness of the Southeastern Province nobles, who insisted that these small mounds qualified as mountains, it became mountainous territory.

The measuring of the territory was performed by close friends and acquaintances.

A bit of sloppiness in practice was inevitable.

Undeveloped land not marked on the map was not considered and promptly disregarded by everyone.

Thanks to Hudson’s persistent persuasion and lobbying with gold coins, the three hundred square kilometer territory, stretching from the mining area northwards, was given without any discounts.

North of the mining area, a third of Maple Town was incorporated, with nearly fifty square kilometers making up the prime farmland.

Meanwhile, Hudson carefully skirted past the three nearby hilly knight’s territories.

This caused the measuring team a few nervous moments.

If it wasn’t for the hint from above to favour the native nobles as much as possible, there would be no room for negotiation with such a territorial division.

If there were any complaints, they would all be justified.

It was entirely a case of bending the rules, with no room for arguing.

“Hudson, don’t you think this is a bit too much?

You’re making it difficult for us.

If anyone were to make a fuss….”
Baron Scolari voiced his concerns.

They came to set traps for the fief nobles, not for themselves.

Just because there were no problems now, doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be any in the future.

Once the can of worms was open, it would be a political stain on them.

“Uncle Scolari, you can’t just look at the surface of things.

From the mining area to Maple Town, most of the areas in between are undeveloped mountains and forests.

Actually, my territory only consists of Maple Town and this detached piece of mining area.

We only need to record a narrow pathway in the middle part; the rest can be excluded from the area calculations.

That way, the officially recorded territory will just be over a hundred square kilometers, perfectly compliant with the Kingdom’s rules.

No one would be able to find any fault.

If it wasn’t divided this way, my territory wouldn’t meet the necessary area!

You can’t expect me to annex the nearby three knight’s territories!

Those areas all have owners now.

Asking them to relocate wouldn’t follow the rules.”
Hudson hinted subtly.

The previous night’s banquet wasn’t in vain.

Hudson found out through idle chat that many exclave territories had been created during this land division.

Many regions that could have been connected were deliberately separated by the drawn borders.

Hudson was unaffected, partially due to his territory being at the extreme south, and partially due to his public relations skills.

Perhaps these potential conflicts could be resolved by land exchanges in the future, but human nature is greedy and a solution that satisfies both sides would be hard to find.

There was already enough tension between the Northern aristocracy and the native nobles; now territorial conflicts were being added to the mix, worsening the relations between neighbors.

While Hudson quickly sketched out on the map, the territory which was initially three hundred square kilometers instantly reduced by half on paper, and everyone’s faces immediately looked a lot more pleasant.

As long as there were no apparent issues, the rest didn’t matter.

Whether someone would call out Baron Hudson in the future over the unclear ownership is none of their concern.

Ultimately, in this world, strength speaks.

Besides, even if anyone wanted to fight Hudson for this vast Salam Mountain Range, they would have to reach it first.

The area directly adjacent was separated by Maple Town and the three knight’s territories.

Unless one of the knight’s territories was annexed, any advances wouldn’t be possible.

Although the Alpha Kingdom cannot say that it is thriving, there is basic order.

Under this rule system, annexing your neighbor’s territory isn’t so straightforward.

Aside from the Five Great Houses of the North, who managed to merge bigger territories by manipulating others, other areas of the kingdom had maintained balance.

Expanding territories was a major struggle.

Once the rough framework was agreed upon, the exact details were not needed.

After all, they were primarily here to lay traps and wouldn’t explicitly lay out all the details.

After bidding everyone goodbye, Hudson stood by the streamside and looked at Maple Town a few miles away, quietly sighing.

Undoubtedly, he gained significantly from this stint, but it’s a pity that the Governor’s Mansion’s bureaucrats still had some integrity, and he wasn’t able to acquire the Maple Town administration.

Once an opportunity is missed, it is unlikely to come by again.

Establishing a large town would not be a small expense.

Resisting the temptation, Hudson splashed some cold stream water on his face.

Calmed down, Hudson looked increasingly upset.

Benefits move people.

Originally thinking that he had seen through Earl Piers’ schemes and could respond properly, yet he couldn’t resist jumping into the trap.

The land area was limited when Hudson took more; it was inevitable that others would take less.

One can imagine the future lord who would be granted Maple Town, and what would be going on in his mind.

What was supposed to be a prosperous large town was forcibly cut into a third.

If he didn’t receive compensation elsewhere, this would be infuriating.

Given another chance to choose, Hudson still wouldn’t be lenient.

Over fifty square kilometers of plains and considering 80% of it as cultivated land equates to more than sixty thousand acres of farmland.

This was all tilled soil; serfs only needed to clear a bit of the weeds to replant.

This would be much more economically profitable compared to opening up new land in the hilly areas.

With Southeastern Province’s cultivation customs implementing the “year of cultivation followed by two years of rest” system, every year over twenty thousand acres of fertile land would yield produce.

The Southeastern Province had fertile lands; estimating that the rye yield per acre was 150 pounds, that would be a total of three million pounds, which, followed by a summer crop of various grains, was also expected to yield a similar amount.

Deducting cultivation costs, the serfs’ daily consumption, and the tithe, it wasn’t difficult for the lord to take 40% of the income.

One could say as long as there were no wars or natural disasters, every noble lord in the Southeastern Province led very comfortable lives.

If one managed this rich land well, more than half of the territory’s grain problem would be solved.

Even if the population exploded later, it could be resolved by continually opening up wasteland for farming.

Such a large piece of fat meat was right at his mouth, and Hudson simply could not refuse.

Forget offending a Northern aristocrat; he wouldn’t back down even if it came to a war.

In essence, as long as the benefits were substantial enough, there were no principles that couldn’t be broken.

If there were, it just meant that the benefits were not attractive enough.