Chapter 1151: Chapter 10 eting_2
“I also have sothing to ask.” Andre raised his hand and complained, “When will the reward for the Battle of Shovel Port be issued? The regular soldiers are all eagerly waiting—of course, so am I.”
Colonel Seber’s ears perked up imdiately. He leaned forward so much that his nose almost touched Winters’ forehead: “There were many of my n in the light cavalry raid on the Chilian Sect. They risked their lives for you, so don’t shortchange them when it cos to dividing the spoils.”
Winters noted it down and nodded in agreent: “The distribution of war spoils will also be discussed today.”
However, Seber’s ntion inadvertently reminded Winters of another issue. Clearing his throat, he tried to point it out as calmly as possible: “When you brought the cavalry back, you bought wine, threw money around, held banquets, and as a result, the spoils from the Chilian Sect battle…”
“Hah!” Seber laughed carelessly, “It’s a victory celebration; it’s only right to spend a little. So what? It’s hardly a big deal.”
He glanced at Winters: “Such stinginess!”
Winters took a deep breath.
“I have sothing else to say!” Andre raised his hand again, impatiently interrupting, “Since we’re not fighting for the ti being, shouldn’t the warhorses that were previously requisitioned be returned to the cavalry unit and the horse farms? And shouldn’t the cavalryn who were drafted also be given back to ? Sigh, I worked so hard to fatten them up, but now with spring coming and all the chaos, it was all for nothing…”
Winters hadn’t had ti to reply when Bard interjected first.
Bard looked intensely at Andre and asked seriously, “The battle report says that the prisoners you captured at Shovel Port were all executed by you?”
“Those people were raiders and bandits; killing them is no loss.”
“No loss?” Bard fell silent for a mont before saying, “No, it is a loss.”
Andre disagreed: “What loss could there be?”
Bard countered: “Do you know how long it takes for a woman to carry a pregnancy and give birth?”
“What’s that supposed to an?” Andre frowned.
“It takes ten months for a woman to carry a pregnancy to term. Only half of the babies survive until age three, and only one-third grow to adulthood,” Bard explained patiently to Andre. “It takes at least seventeen years for a helpless infant to beco a strong adult. And for you to end a life, it only takes one swipe of a blade.”
Andre stiffened his neck, unwilling to concede: “So?”
“So have you ever thought about how much waste you’ve caused?” Bard pressed his lips and spoke slowly: “Weapons can be mass-produced in a month; food can be harvested twice in a year; warhorses can be replenished in three years.”
He scanned the other officers present: “But people? It takes at least seventeen years to raise one. Compared to weapons, food, and warhorses, ‘people’ are the hardest resource to replenish—and the resource we’re most lacking. Iron mines, farms, lumber yards, construction sites—all over Iron Peak County, we need people capable of labor, whether they’re guilty or innocent, deserving of death or not.”
Andre was left speechless. He stamred: “Bard, what exactly are you trying to say…”
“The ‘head-taking decree’ needs to be stopped.” Bard looked at Winters earnestly and declared, “Using enemy heads as an incentive may be effective in the short term, but as far as I’m aware, there are already soldiers killing surrendering enemies just to collect heads. Even if we set aside moral considerations, indiscriminate slaughter is a waste we cannot tolerate.”
“Agreed.” Winters nodded and noted down another item: “This matter needs to be resolved today as well.”
“I have sothing else to bring up.” Mason slowly raised his hand, and when everyone turned to look at him, he bashfully said, “It’s not a big deal. Recently, Mont Blanc County has blocked the ferry bridge. Several local trading firms have asked to inquire about the situation.”
“Understood.” Winters noted another item: “I’ll send soone to investigate. Anything else?”
“I might as well say it all now.” Mason began counting on his fingers, listing item by item:
“While you were away, I built six new blast furnaces. Now, the local production of both pig iron and wrought iron has far exceeded what Forging Village can handle. Poltan and the Gonza brothers want to know if the surplus iron can be sold to other counties.”
“The craftsn you brought back from Steel Fortress have been settled in the south city. Are you planning to employ them collectively, or let them choose their own jobs? Several forge owners have already approached , trying to discreetly inquire about hiring the Steel Fortress blacksmiths.”
“The road from Revodan to Forging Village has been completed. Should we continue building roads to other places? Now that Iron Peak County has stabilized, the construction workers all want to go ho. If you want to keep them, you’ll likely have to offer higher wages.”
“Money isn’t a problem for the ti being—the gold you brought back is more than enough to cover expenses. The issue is that gold can’t be distributed directly. If you approve, I can arrange for Revodan’s goldsmiths to start processing the pure gold into gold coins. Or—” Mason hesitated, “we could mint our own currency.”
“Oh, and there’s also the wool issue…”
After Mason finished listing all the matters accumulated during Winters’ absence, Bard also spoke softly: “The sumr grain will be harvested in June. We need to decide soon whether to collect taxes, how to collect them, and how much to collect. There’s also the reclamation of refugee farms, the return of refugees to their hos, and the rent paynts owed to the manor owners…”
Winters kept jotting notes, filling the page with more and more items.
Major Seber, growing impatient, slamd the table and scolded Winters: “Stop just writing! I ca here to get an answer from you. Give a clear reply, and I’ll leave right now—I have no interest in playing house with you all!”
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