HTLCCBFT Chapter 186

Has The Lord’s Career Chart Been Filled Today? – Chapter 186

From the perspective of potential benefits brought by road construction, repairing the road connecting Gregor City to Riche City would undoubtedly offer the highest long-term cost-effectiveness.

However, this infrastructure and farming maniac lord deliberately overlooked the matter.

The reason was quite simple.

Unlike the predicament faced by Laina—which only possessed a destitute isolated city and had no choice but to expand outward—Oliver now ruled over three cities and could almost establish himself as a minor duchy.

Even in the worst-case scenario, if he had to build high walls and cut off foreign trade, there was nothing to fear.

Gregor and Laina provided agriculture, Laina handled livestock, and Albury supplied fine wines for trade.

While lavish attire might be reserved for nobles, wine—when stored properly—was a hard currency beloved by all social classes.

Even if the domestic market were completely abandoned, Albury’s wines could still be exported eastward through Laina’s trade routes. Though the journey might be winding, there would be no shortage of buyers in other nations.

If one didn’t pursue extravagant living, the residents across these three cities had already achieved a self-sufficient balance.

With more options available, and given that the current lord of Riche City had chosen to shelter Count McKenna’s only son while maintaining an ambiguously neutral stance toward both the capital and Gregor City, Oliver wasn’t selfless enough to act against his own interests.

Moreover, compared to expanding northward to challenge the capital, Oliver had other plans to execute.

In his yet-unspoken vision… those three mining cities west of Albury had already been quietly marked as his possessions.

These three cities, whose lifelines entirely depended on mineral veins, were distributed almost in a straight line from north to south, connected by roads.

Were it not for their close interconnection and the relatively convenient supply point of Albury, their geographical positions wouldn’t be much better than Laina’s.

They bordered Albury on the right, while to the left lay towering mountains rich with mineral veins—definitely not easily traversable by ordinary people. It took six days and nights of northward travel to reach other supply cities.

Therefore, residents of these three cities unanimously chose to replenish supplies in the much closer Albury.

If road construction were to be prioritized, Oliver would definitely focus on expanding the routes connecting Albury to those three cities.

Besides reusing the old tactic of setting up guard posts to protect merchant caravans, he also planned to exercise his lord’s authority and use public funds to establish affordable services along the routes, such as “bus stops,” “public horse/cart services,” and “mount rentals.”

This would further promote population flow between the cities, encouraging people—with ensured safety and significantly reduced travel costs—to leave their own cities and travel among his various territories.

That was his external policy.

As for the three cities under his jurisdiction, they were already tightly bound together like a single war chariot. Residents who currently remained unfamiliar with each other would inevitably grow increasingly interconnected in the future.

The relatively smooth achievement of this was undoubtedly greatly aided by the former Albury refugees who had once drifted to those two cities; additionally, he could provide merchants and other travelers with a safe environment that other lords would likely be unwilling to guarantee. When conditions permitted, he also planned to later add a route from Gregor to the three mining cities, further increasing population mobility.

The large-scale recruitment he recently held to replan Gregor city internally created many well-paid job opportunities with durations lasting a considerable length of time, stimulating the enthusiasm of the entire city’s residents. After personally participating in this construction, their sense of belonging to the city would more or less increase.

Externally, it created more trade demands, attracting more merchants—apart from the largest aspect of material consumption, the increased income levels of the people would also raise their consumption levels, making them more willing to purchase various goods brought by out-of-town merchants.

In the upcoming Summer Market in Gregor city, Oliver intended to showcase such a spirit to the out-of-town merchants, to deceive… well, no, to tempt more merchants to come.

Count McKenna had “diligently” exploited his subjects for so many years, amassing wealth so vast that it once astonished even Oliver, a duke. Now, it could be put to full use.

Taking advantage of the ample funds on the accounts to spend freely, Oliver decided to grant some rewards to the first batch of merchants with discerning vision and sufficient boldness. He planned to lower their tax thresholds, in exchange for them reducing the prices of goods equivalent to the tax exemption, both promoting their sales volume and encouraging the residents’ consumption.

On the surface, their profits did not increase, but this would definitely attract merchants with niche or expensive goods, or those with large quantities needing quick clearance.

For example, for a batch of fabric costing 5 gold coins, since it would incur at least 3-4 gold coins in transaction tax, plus 1-2 gold coins in profit, it would have to be sold at a high price of at least 10 gold coins.

If Oliver lowered the tax point to 1 and required them to subtract the exempted tax from the selling price, people might be able to buy the fabric for around 7 gold coins.

In Gregor city, the number of potential buyers who could afford 10 gold coins for this fabric was probably only over 100; but if it only cost 7 gold coins, the number of potential buyers would undoubtedly double.

Of course, this was just the simplest example—for other goods with lower selling prices, the basic tax points were relatively low, and Oliver would naturally only have them lowered further.

For the merchants, the amount of money they received seemed not to increase, but with lower prices leading to higher sales, people were more willing to buy their goods. Those goods that originally required them to painstakingly travel to two or three cities to clear might now be sold out in one city, reducing transportation costs and eliminating the risk of encountering bandits—this alone undoubtedly represented a great attraction.

As for the tax-collecting lord, would this mean a loss?

Although Oliver had not had anyone conduct specific statistics or budgets—it was impossible to find talent capable of doing so now—in his mind, it was actually not a loss.

As long as the people purchasing these goods were subjects living on his territory, their daily activities would inevitably involve the production and consumption of resources. The flow of traveling merchants symbolized invaluable word-of-mouth and greater future traffic… No matter how one looked at it, as the lord of the territory, he could not possibly lose out.

Moreover, his original intention was to benefit the people while simultaneously strengthening his own influence.

He did not truly intend to engage in penny-pinching business dealings, nor to recklessly squeeze every last drop of blood and marrow from those hardworking, unfortunate souls like McKenna and Butor did.

In any case, the reason why the “safe trade routes” he provided were so attractive in the eyes of merchants relied entirely on the contrast with other “fellow lords.”

Their indifference and tacit indulgence toward the bandit gangs ravaging outside the city walls had thoroughly fattened those scoundrels’ appetites.

This made trade routes increasingly perilous, while the long-neglected roads grew rougher and more treacherous.

Expecting those pleasure-seeking nobles, who cared about nothing but their own amusement, to fund road repairs was nothing short of a pipe dream.

——This only made the smooth, wide, clean, and tidy roads between the cities under Oliver’s command, frequently patrolled by guards, all the more precious.

Now, many small merchants traveling from Riche city to Gregor city were being intercepted by bandits—either killed on the spot or captured along with their goods…

This was a “minor incident” that the lord of Riche city completely disregarded, one he could stand by and watch indifferently, leaving only the unfortunate merchants to vanish without a trace.

The exceptionally tall and slender vice-knight captain knelt meticulously on one knee, his slightly bowed back taut like a drawn bowstring: “Your Highness, do you have any other instructions?”

“Yes.”

After a moment of distraction, hearing Loyel’s inquiry, Oliver replied unhurriedly: “The merchants willing to continue traveling between Riche and Gregor city under these delicate circumstances, coming to this city to do business, are all welcome guests of Gregor city.”

The corners of his lips curved slightly.

“Since they are guests worthy of our attention, it is only natural for us, as hosts, to provide them with protection.”

Hearing this, Loyel slightly raised his eyes, his pale gray pupils clearly reflecting that golden, radiant figure.

Curly golden locks cascaded over the exquisitely pale cheeks, falling onto the snow-white collar like a strand of winter sunlight scattering across a field of pristine snow.

Gazing cheerfully at the robust and valiant vice-knight captain who sincerely knelt before him, obeying his commands, he said softly: “Don’t you agree, Loyel?”

The reason Oliver presented was undoubtedly a casual fabrication of his own—an excuse unheard of among other noble lords.

Though perfectly aware of this, Loyel, who had never harbored the slightest doubt in his mind, felt his chest tighten slightly under the sweep of those beautiful azure eyes. He promptly lowered his head with force and declared solemnly: “Your words could not be more correct, Your Highness.”

“Those who dare offend our guests are our enemies.”

Oliver smiled faintly.

Through a thin layer of fabric, he naturally rested his hand on the deputy knight commander’s right shoulder, much like the holy divine messenger in legends bestowing blessings upon a devout and loyal follower. With a blend of tenderness and authority, he delivered the oracle: “—My brave and resolute guardian, deputy knight commander of the Duke Knight Order, Loyel, heed my command.”

As if startled by the weight of that hand, Loyel, caught completely off guard, tensed for a moment before reflexively replying, “Yes, Your Highness!”

“I command you and grant you the authority. In the name of the Angel Duke, recruit all the subordinates you require on this land,” Oliver continued with utmost seriousness, though he felt a twinge of embarrassment when first uttering the adjective “angel.”

“Depart at once. Ensure your own safety while swiftly eliminating the scoundrels who dare harass and harm the guests of Gregor city on the northern roads, and bring back the frightened guests. Can you do it?”

Loyel closed his eyes briefly.

In the eyes of the other knights, Sir Loyel was always the epitome of steadiness and composure, even surpassing the knight commander Noel at times. Yet, upon receiving a command from His Highness after so long, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement, like a novice knight squire.

“Yes.”

The unusually tall and robust deputy knight commander assumed a posture of submission, akin to a fierce beast willingly allowing a collar to be placed around its vulnerable neck.

He naturally extended his right hand, carefully cradling Oliver’s hand that rested on his shoulder, and gently pressed a devout kiss onto the delicate, fair, and artistically sculpted back of that hand.

Before the beast in his chest could lunge out to savagely tear into the damned prey, he spoke in a low voice, as if taking an oath: “I will surely live up to the high expectations of my lord, Your Highness Oliver.”

Oliver was momentarily taken aback by the unexpected kiss on the hand, but upon hearing these words, he couldn’t help but smile.

Just as he was about to speak, the hand still lightly resting in the other’s broad palm was suddenly grasped by another hand that reached over from the side.

“Set off quickly.”

Amidst the stunned and bewildered gazes of those present, the usually silent and inconspicuous blond youth, who rarely spoke to anyone but Oliver, suddenly stepped forward and spoke.

His handsome face was devoid of any excess expression, cold and detached, while his typically clear golden eyes now seemed to conceal unfathomable whirlpools.

“God’s blessing be upon you.”

His tone was exceedingly cold, yet inexplicably filled with an overwhelming authority that brooked no resistance: ” — Go.”

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