Food Poems

Chapter 15 Taking office and creating profits

The Kingdom of the Golden Lion.

Warm ocean currents bring rich fisheries and trade to the southern provinces, and the beautiful Agate River runs through the central plains, irrigating large tracts of fertile land.

In the northern provinces, snow-capped mountains rise high and frosted coniferous forests stand in the barren lands.

The sunlight is weak and the air is fresh and chilly.

The noble boy held an owl in his arms, standing on the hill, overlooking the village at the foot of the mountain.

Morningfrost Ridge.

A frontier barony built against the Jueling Mountains and facing the cold wave.

At the foot of the mountain, a silvery stream flows through the village. Farmhouses are mostly stone cottages that are warm and fireproof. Fences protect the village, and pine and fir forests stand outside the village. In the distance, the Jueling Mountains with snow-capped peaks stand tall. Across the mountains is the icy northern border and the vast sea of ​​ice.

Phocas mounted his turnip and rode into the village to inform the local official and regent of the lord's arrival.

After a while, the militia let the carriage pass, but their eyes were still full of hostility when they looked at it.

The horses' hooves trotted on the stone road in the village, and the road to the lord's mansion was empty.

The farmers stayed indoors and the village was filled with a strange silence.

Not until the carriage stopped in front of the lord's mansion and the lord got off did the villagers dare to open the door and look in secretly. When the girl who was like a guard beside the lord turned her head, they quickly closed the door again.

"It seems that the locals are not very friendly to you." Gray said.

"A new lord means unknown tax laws, and everyone will always feel uneasy."

Ye Zhi could understand this feeling very well. Morning Frost Ridge was already poor enough, and the new lord was the youngest son of a notorious earl.

Thanks to the previous operations, Yeats's reputation has a negative value. If there is another harsh tax law, peasant riots will happen in a matter of minutes.

Gray seemed to have thought of something, and her expression became a little serious: "I'll make it clear in advance that I'm just a guard. I won't help you suppress the peasants like your vassal knights do."

"You seem very worried that I will have a conflict with the local farmers?" Ye Zhi glanced at Gray.

"I don't think you're the kind of... short-sighted lord." Gray said softly, "At least, you're not quite the same as the noble I imagined."

Yeats smiled.

"The cold wave is coming. No matter you are aristocrat or commoner, human or beast, you are all equal in the face of the cold wave."

Gray was slightly startled. She looked at the back of the silver-haired boy as he walked towards the lord's mansion and felt that the figure seemed particularly tall and straight.

equality?

Gray shook her head and followed Yeats's pace, thinking that although he was younger than me, his words seemed very profound.

The lord's mansion has been in disrepair for many years and is covered with dust, but at least there is an office room.

There was a fireplace in the center of the room, with orange-yellow flames dancing.

A handmade wooden table is placed with ink bottles and quill pens, a high-back chair is placed on it, and several heavy books are placed on the bookcase.

Yeats sat down at his desk, took the quill in his hand and looked at it, listening to what the official Derek had to say.

"My Lord, Morning Frost Ridge has been waiting for you to take office for a long time. I believe that under your wise leadership..."

Derek is an elderly man who worked as a librarian in the royal capital in his early years. He has met many dignitaries and knows that these nobles always love to hear flattery.

Yeats interrupted his flattery.

"Just tell me what's going on at Morningfrost Ridge, Derek."

Ye Zhi said in a cold tone, following the character of his predecessor in his memory:
"I need to know the current population, taxes, expenditures, and major industries of Morning Frost Ridge. Don't tell me that as a regent, you didn't even prepare these documents when I took office?"

Derek's cloudy eyes flashed with something strange, he hunched his back, and spoke in a more respectful tone:

"Of course I am prepared, Lord. Please wait a moment."

Not long after, a servant pushed a cart full of huge account books into the office, and Ye Zhi's eyelids jumped.

Well, it looks like I’ll have to spend the next few days dealing with these account books!
"I'll go over these myself later. Now, I need to ask you something, Derek."

"My Lord, please feel free to ask me any questions you may have. I will answer all my questions."

"How much do you know about the cold wave?"

"My Lord, cold waves come every year and will trigger corresponding demonic tides. In previous years, when demonic tides came, the royal family would specially dispatch the Guards. But this year, we still haven't received a clear response to send troops." Derek lowered his head.

Ye Zhi tapped the desk with his bony fingers. "How big is the scale of the demonic tide caused by the cold wave?"

"The scale is uncertain. For example, the scale of the demonic tide last year was relatively small. After we cooperated with the Royal Guards to repel the monsters, the snow soon melted."

"Snow melting?"

"Cold waves are always accompanied by heavy snow. At that time, the heavy snow will cover Morning Frost Ridge. Generally speaking, when the snow melts and the sun rises, it means that the cold wave has passed."

"What about the orcs?" Ye Zhi asked, "I heard that the orcs will also take advantage of the cold wave to invade the northern provinces?"

"To be precise, it's not just the cold waves. The orcs will invade the northern provinces when there is a food shortage."

Derek said, "But the number of orc invasions has decreased in recent years, and cold waves will also threaten the orcs, so they also need to deal with cold waves."

More than 20 years ago, King Golden Lion led the cavalry across the Absolute Mountains and attacked the tribe like a divine army descended from the sky, winning a great victory in the Battle of Black Castle and shocking the barbarians.

Having said that, the king is seriously ill, and the orcs may take the opportunity to cause trouble. The fighting power of these barbarians is much stronger than that of goblins, gnolls and the like.

Ye Zhi nodded thoughtfully and said, "Go down first and wait for me to call you."

"As you command, my lord." Derek took his leave respectfully.

The bonfire burned warmly. Yeats opened the thick document, looked at the densely packed small characters, and rubbed his brows.

Paper is very expensive in this world. In order to save paper space, the font size should be as small as possible.

At times like this, it would be nice if I could have some magic that would allow me to read ten lines at a glance or remember everything I saw.

There is no magic, only refreshing lemon black tea.

Yeats held the hot tea, sipped it, and read the documents.

According to the documents, Chenshuangling has about 5,500 acres of land, more than 200 farmers, and a population of about 800.

The population of the wealthy barony is comparable to that of a small town, but the population of Morningfrost Ridge is barely that of an administrative village, and the entire village can only support one knight who has reached the transcendent level with its full strength.

Before the cold wave arrives, more farmers will inevitably move away, and the remaining 200 farmers is the bottom line that Yeats can accept...

Night falls.

The snowy owl perched in a corner of the room woke up and opened its eyes.

Seeing Ye Zhi's solemn expression, it tilted its head but did not make a sound to disturb him.

"The main industry in Morningfrost Ridge is a copper mine. Most men go there to mine, while women stay at home to raise chickens and sheep and make cheese. There are only a few farmlands in the village where wheat and cabbage are grown. The main food is fish and black bread."

Ye Zhi muttered to himself, "Most of the tax revenue is spent on the operation of the copper mine. It's already difficult to break even. If we want to develop further, we must first find a way to generate income."

At one point, Yeats could think of two ways to generate income.

The first is to give the formula and production method of the new therapeutic potion to a group of villagers, and let the villagers make the potion and sell it to the Chamber of Commerce.

In the setting of "Phantom Wings", the common healing potion is made of wheat and blue mountain flowers.

However, this kind of healing potion requires the maker to have a very good understanding of the proportions of the materials, and is somewhat difficult to get started.

However, as long as butterfly wings are added in addition to wheat and blue mountain flowers, and special processes are used, the difficulty of making the healing potion will be greatly reduced, and the efficacy will be improved.

This method can only obtain short-term benefits, and the formula and process will soon be cracked by others.

However, it was enough to alleviate the urgent financial crisis and establish Yeats' initial prestige.

Think of this.

Yeats wrote down the recipe for the new healing potion and the specific production process on parchment.

This production process is not explicitly mentioned in the game.

However, medicine and food have the same origin, and the spirit of food and drink has also enabled Ye Zhi to acquire the corresponding knowledge of potions.

As for this second method of generating income.

The money has to be taken from the pockets of the nobles who pursue their appetites.

The flickering candlelight illuminates the silver-haired boy's deep eyes.

He flipped open the Necromancer's production guide, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Mold... cheese... that's it!"

(End of this chapter)