King

80: Chapter 79: Resist Temptation_1 80: Chapter 79: Resist Temptation_1 The banquet that ended in discontent further deepened the divide between the northern aristocrats venturing south and the native nobles.

Early the next day, the Governor’s Mansion had the contract documents delivered to them, sparing them even the trouble of registering them officially.

Not a single person showed any sign of wanting to keep them around, not even a platitude of politeness was offered, it was as though they were escorting the Plague God away, wishing them gone from their sight as soon as possible.

The Earl of Piers never once showed his face throughout all of this.

The aristocratic officials skilled at reading the room fully understood their master’s intentions.

Beyond dispatching soldiers to guide them, the northerners were entirely ignored.

Even the most basic information about their territories was dismissed with a map.

There was no mention of specific resource distribution within their territories, suitable agricultural crops to be grown, or suggestions for economic development; they were even left uninformed of who their neighbors would be.

A clear policy of non-interference, non-cooperation, non-responsibility.

Still, this surprised the northern aristocrats.

Handover went too smoothly, and the anticipated difficulties never occurred, which was astonishingly procedural.

As for vigorous cooperation, no one held any illusion.

How could one expect active cooperation when one trod on others’ turf and competed for resources?

The rich fief was about to be handed over, and Baron West was thrilled.

However, the moment he unfolded the map, he was stunned.

A perfectly good baron’s territory had been divided into four sizable chunks, distributed across both Layton and Wharton Counties.

In that moment, he was desperate to curse the ancestors of Governor Piers.

Although he had acquired the affluent Dardiel City, all the land surrounding the city belonged to others, with his own territory a hundred miles away.

He guessed that getting permission for city waste disposal would require the approval of the neighboring lords.

Recalling this terrifying scene, West felt he should take his complaint to the Governor’s Mansion.

But in the end, he held his tongue.

This kind of move wasn’t originated by Earl Piers, but was a trick of The Five Great Houses of the North to eliminate dissidents.

Having to swallow one’s own ancestors’ pill, however distasteful, kept the old skeletons safely in the closet.

Compared to the disgrace it would bring to his family among the noble circles and the political storm it might stir up, it was better to suffer in silence.

After all, given his mental preparedness for being troubled before setting off, West’s resilience was quite robust.

Such concerns were held by many other northern nobles.

Regardless of whether they were scions of The Five Great Houses or their vassals, they wouldn’t make life difficult for their liege lords, or it would spell disaster for their clans back home.

It’s just a matter of enclave ownership, it can be sorted out.

They could just switch lands with their neighbors, denying which would lead to a fight.

If one fight doesn’t work, they could have two; if two don’t work, they could have three, four…

Based on their experience back in the Northland, nothing is impossible with enough brawls.

If something is impossible, it’s certainly because they’ve lost the brawl.

Carrying their frustration, the northern aristocrats embarked on their journey to their respective territories.

…

While Hudson, still elated by the successful blast furnace ironmaking at Salam Mining Area, suddenly received a notice from the Governor’s Mansion.

His good neighbors from the North would soon arrive in Layton County, and he should prepare to “welcome” them.

That wasn’t the most shocking part—key was that the bureaucracy of Layton County needed reorganization after being completely wiped out previously, and he was hinted to consider entering the competition for the Prefectural Governorship.

Nobles’ autonomy was popular in the Kingdom of Alpha, and serving as the administrative chief of a county was a fairly good job.

As long as no rebellions or major unrest occurred within the county, basically there wasn’t much to do.

Tax collection was the responsibility of the Tax Official assigned by the King.

That said, in most cases, the King wouldn’t bother to dispatch Tax Officials to every region.

Barring a few regions, most areas of the Kingdom practiced a contract tax system, usually implemented by local officials who bid for tax collection jobs.

Any excess collection went to them, while any shortfall was made up with their own money.

Such a lucrative position to have, if managed well, it could easily bring in tens of thousands of gold coins each year.

Within the kingdom, a prefectural governor also holds a special title, “Viscount”.

Of course, this is only an honorary title and not equal to a real fiefdom viscount, but it does elevate one above all the barons.

It doesn’t take much to realize that to collect taxes from nobles who possess troops, one needs to wield some considerable power themselves.

Normally, the noble serving as a prefectural governor is also the most dominant noble in the county, possessing the largest city and the most fertile land within the county.

Even if they aren’t the most powerful individually, when combined with the strength of their allies, theirs is the overall strongest force.

Am I the most powerful noble in Layton County?

This question, no one can give an accurate answer.

After all, the power struggle among nobles isn’t solely determined by one’s own strength, but also considers the support of the family behind them.

However, it can be certainly said that even if Hudson is not the strongest noble in Layton County, he ranks among the top few.

The title of “Divine Archery Knight” causes significant awe among the small and medium-sized nobles.

Those six hundred veterans are also among the foremost in the ranks of fiefdom nobles.

Those two factors combined result in even more formidable combat strength.

If a group battle breaks out, with Hudson conducting surprise attacks from behind his troops, it would be a massacre against ordinary soldiers.

If he receives full support from the Koslow family, he could indeed participate in this struggle for the Prefectural Governorship.

After hesitating for a while, Hudson finally resisted this temptation.

He admitted that Earl Piers was generous.

All he needed to do was nod to secure the support of the Dalton family servants.

With the connections of the Koslow family, and Hudson’s own influence, more than half of the fief lords in Layton county would support him.

Unfortunately he dared not act before understanding the position of the Northern tycoons.

If they intend to establish themselves in Layton and Wharton Counties, not even the Dalton family might be able to resist, let alone a pawn like him.

As for the historical discord between the Koslow family and the northern tycoons, it is not worth mentioning in the face of survival.

Even if the northern nobles expand their influence in Layton County, they must abide by the rules of the game and cannot behave recklessly as they do in the Northland.

Looking at the newly smelted pig iron, Hudson smiled slightly, thinking to himself: “Let them stir things up; the more chaotic, the better!

If the world were peaceful, who would buy these items?”
Although the overall quality of the pig iron in front of him is still not very good, a portion of it has reached a medium level.

If it’s repeatedly forged, it can be used to cast weapons.

If carbon is added in the later stage of refining, it might even be possible to forge steel.

That’s more than enough.

Noble lords may look down on these iron weapons, but they are excellent when equipped to the subordinate troops.

For no other reason than the fact that they are cheap.

These iron weapons cost merely one-third of what steel weapons do.

They are already being equipped on a large scale in the northern troops.

The Southeastern Province, due to the lack of coal and its humid climate, which easily rusts iron weapons, uses comparably fewer of them.

With that thought, Hudson immediately wrote letters to his friends asking for manpower.

Blacksmithing is a technical task, whether it’s forging pots and pans, or producing agricultural tools and weapons, it requires professional blacksmiths.

Though Hudson’s territory does have a few blacksmiths, to produce on a large scale, they are far from enough.

In the upcoming conflicts, thousands of weapons will be needed, and with only a few blacksmiths, they cannot forge many items a day.

The shortage of blacksmiths is further magnified if they also need to forge pots, pans and farm tools.

Surely, he could not just sell iron like his predecessor.

While directly selling iron can be profitable, the profits from selling finished products are even higher.

The profit from selling iron is halved; if turned into farm tools or pots and pans for sale, the profit is around 70-80%; if forged into weapons for sale, it’s not unreasonable to expect a profit margin of two to three times.

Being a merchant of weaponry means not being easily embarrassed about profit.

During special times, a ten or eight times profit is not beyond the realm of possibility.