Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

Mireille rolled her eyes, her magnificent bosom heaving. This half-elf inherited the beauty of the elves but abandoned their aloofness, possessing instead the charm of humans.

This eye-roll was full of teasing.

"Li Wei, do you know how much the cheapest Mamluk warrior costs?" She held up two slender fingers. "A full twenty gold Krones!"

"Which means that even if you buy four thousand warriors, it will cost eighty thousand gold Krones!"

"Not to mention that buying them is not enough. We have to provide the equipment ourselves, or spend extra money to buy it, and there are various material costs. You can't be ignorant of these!"

"In short, do you have the money?"

"Twenty gold Krones per person isn't too expensive," Li Wei muttered.

Back then, he had spent forty gold Krones to buy the orc barbarians from Flynna, and that was after a discount. Otherwise, orcs, as natural fighters, would cost at least seventy or eighty gold Krones.

Mireille became even more agitated when she heard this, even slapping the table. "Li Wei, you don't understand what seven thousand standing soldiers represent."

"Even if you have the money to buy them, Highcliff Castle won't be able to support so many people with its current population!"

"The warriors of Highcliff Castle are already big eaters, each one eating as much as ten people, and we're barely managing."

"Adding another seven thousand warriors, especially if they are half-orcs who eat even more, Highcliff Castle simply can't afford to support so many full-time soldiers!"

Zart heard this and was swept by Mireille's gaze, but continued to gorge himself, not caring at all.

The shaman orc Orak looked awkwardly at the lamb leg in his hand, unsure whether to eat it or not.

Throughout Highcliff Castle, only the centaurs and the orcs eat more.

"Don't even think about spending money to buy food. The weather in recent years has been obvious. Harvests in many places are bad, and food prices are rising rapidly," Mireille sneered. As a merchant, she knew this better than anyone. "Some nobles have even started hoarding grain, preparing to drive up prices and sell when they reach their peak."

"Those damned nobles!" Zart didn't understand Mireille's elaborate explanation at all, only that the nobles were causing food prices to skyrocket and Highcliff Castle couldn't buy food.

But the next moment, he seemed to realize something, shrank his neck, and ran out of the cafeteria in a puff of smoke.

Li Wei put down his iron fists, refraining from directly beating this simpleton, all for Aesch's sake. To act violently in front of the Elf Queen would somewhat damage his lordly demeanor.

"The number of residents is indeed a problem," Li Wei frowned. He had been managing Highcliff Castle alone, so he hadn't considered the ratio of residents to soldiers.

In this world, noble territories generally have a ratio of twenty-five to one, meaning that five thousand standing soldiers require at least one hundred and twenty thousand residents.

"At worst, we'll handle both at the same time. Anyway, Highcliff Castle's population is a bit small. Let's solve the resident problem first, then the soldier problem," Li Wei waved his hand, setting the course.

"I have something I want to discuss with you about this," Brestina raised her small hand as everyone pondered where to abduct residents from.

"Speak," Li Wei snapped his fingers.

"In the Cass Mountains, there are some Northern Old Folk tribes who were once friendly with the Fede tribe, numbering about ten thousand people," Brestina said nervously. "They want to become vassals of Highcliff Castle."

Since Highcliff Castle had experienced several battles, its reputation had spread and it had become a hegemon in the wilderness.

These Northern Old Folk were hiding in the Cass Mountains, and their lives were already difficult. This year, the wilderness has been plagued by constant heavy snow, making it even harder to survive. Naturally, they thought of joining Highcliff Castle.

After all, they still had some friendship with the Fede tribe, and now that they saw how well they were living in Highcliff Castle, they became interested.

"Tina, you've done well. This is a good thing," Li Wei said directly, a smile on his face.

He had been thinking about going to the Cass Mountains to abduct residents, and now that they were coming to him, he was naturally happy.

The Fede princess couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although she was the chief administrator of Highcliff Castle, she couldn't make decisions on such major matters.

"Where are they now?" Li Wei asked with concern.

If Highcliff Castle wanted to grow, it had to increase its population first. Abducting commoners from Deberre was unrealistic, and he had been thinking about these Old Folk in the Cass Mountains for a long time.

"They are at the iron mine, saying they are helping us guard it, to prevent ill-intentioned people," Brestina smiled.

Being able to help Li Wei made her happier than anything.

"They are a very enthusiastic group," Li Wei smiled. He could see that they genuinely wanted to join Highcliff Castle; otherwise, they wouldn't be guarding the iron mine. He snapped his fingers. "Gus, Hogg, take some people to bring them over."

The iron mine was not far from Highcliff Castle, so even in the heavy snow, these wilderness veterans wouldn't get lost.

Mainly, the lord was afraid that the snow would get heavier and heavier, so the sooner they were brought over, the better.

Gus and Hogg had already finished eating. Hearing this, they gathered their men, took enough cold-weather clothing, and braved the wind and snow to head towards the iron mine.

"Now that the resident problem is solved, we can talk about expanding the army," Li Wei looked at Mireille triumphantly.

He was quite curious about those Mamluk warriors.

He remembered that the Persian Gulf country was separated from Deberre by a sea, but the two often traded, usually spices or something, but he didn't expect them to mainly sell slaves.

"Li Wei, what good will adding ten thousand residents do?" Mireille spread her hands, a sneer escaping her nostrils. This half-elf seemed to enjoy arguing with the lord. "Don't even mention seven thousand, even three thousand is beyond Highcliff Castle's current financial capacity."

"Although I have no intention of knowing Highcliff Castle's finances, it can be easily calculated."

"Currently, Highcliff Castle's sources of income are nothing more than trade and weapons trade. Together, these can bring Highcliff Castle three thousand gold Krones per month, and that's in the best-case scenario."

"And now Highcliff Castle's available funds probably don't exceed ten thousand gold Krones. At most, it can only afford a five-hundred-man Mamluk warrior unit."

"Not to mention maintaining a standing army of several thousand people!"

For most barons, three thousand gold Krones a month would be enough to make them laugh in their sleep, but trying to maintain a standing army of seven thousand people with that amount is a pipe dream.

Someone famous once said that the army is a money-burning prodigal, but Mireille didn't think so, because burning money doesn't happen that quickly.

Li Wei was a little stunned. As the lord of Highcliff Castle, he didn't know these things as clearly as Mireille, an outsider.

And she was just the owner of a shop in Highcliff Castle.

He pondered. Highcliff Castle did need a financial manager.

"Li Wei, do what you can," Mireille said like someone with experience, snatching the apple in front of the lord and taking a bite. "Although you are strong, strength cannot be turned into gold."

"Hahaha, who says it can't?!"

Contrary to Mireille's expectations, the lord laughed three times, took out a piece of parchment from his pocket, and slammed it in front of Mireille. "Pick it up and take a look yourself."

Mireille picked up the parchment and read it carefully, the expression on her face gradually changing from disdain to shock, muttering to herself, "Southern Border Auxiliary Corps, three thousand standing soldiers."

After reading it, the half-elf merchant asked in disbelief, "Li Wei, did you sell yourself to Lia?!"

It was no wonder Mireille was so distraught. This so-called auxiliary corps was just a superficial cover. In reality, the Southern Border was paying Highcliff Castle to support three thousand soldiers, and the term would last as long as the new duke was in power.

It could be said that even a father wouldn't help his son like this.

Mireille felt that the lord of Highcliff Castle must have sold himself to Lia to get such help from her.

"Look at you, what are you talking about? Are you jealous of my talent?" Li Wei said with disgust. "This is the result of my fighting with a sword and spear."

At this time, Layton calmly threw another bombshell into the turbulent pond: "We also brought back several carriages full of coins, silverware, and antiques. After a rough estimate, the conservative value is over two hundred and fifty thousand gold Krones."

"H-how much?" Mireille felt like she was dreaming, surrounded by the sound of gold Krones falling.

"Over two hundred and fifty thousand gold Krones. We only made a rough estimate. The specific amount would probably have to be calculated by a specialist, but I personally think it's more than that," Layton pushed up his glasses. In fact, when he saw the gold and silver, his reaction wasn't much better than Mireille's.

But even the most unimaginable beauty, when accompanied for months, becomes tiresome, let alone carriages of cold gold and silver.

When the excitement subsided, there was only calm.

Mireille finally reacted, the apple with saliva on it falling to the ground without her noticing, stammering, "You... you got rich?"

"So-so," Li Wei carried his hands behind his back nonchalantly, like a great virtuous monk who regarded money as dirt. "I was the first to break through Kalia Town and Black Stone Fortress, so naturally I had to enter the castle first to find my own hard-earned money. Plus, Lia gave me the property belonging to Damon and Penny, barely scraping together two hundred thousand gold Krones."

"These people are really rich," Brestina clicked her tongue in amazement.

Just looting a baron's castle and a marquis's castle, plus a duke's brother and daughter, could yield two hundred thousand gold Krones. It was unimaginable how fat the nobles in the noble estates were.

"Isn't it always like this? The world's wealth is always in the hands of a small group of people," Li Wei spread his hands, not surprised at all.

Think about the late Ming Dynasty in his previous life. The last emperor used all means to extract only a few hundred thousand taels of silver from the officials, but Li Zicheng extorted over seventy million taels of silver.

The court's total tax revenue at that time was only over three million taels of silver a year.

It was clear whose pockets those deficits had fallen into.

"Then what about the remaining fifty thousand? Didn't you say at least two hundred and fifty thousand?" Mireille asked impatiently. As a merchant, she felt heartache at the loss of even a single gold Krone.

So naturally, she wanted to know the origin of all the money.

"I took a trip to Terror Keep," the lord sneered, his sneer as cold as the white hair wind in the twelfth lunar month, making people feel cold all over. "Someone deliberately let those demons into White Bone Fortress. The people of Terror Keep are the most suspicious."

"I'm not just guessing out of nowhere. If it were Damon's people, they would have fallen long ago and wouldn't have waited for us to support them. And the Thorns Legion was also investigated afterward and there were no problems, so the suspicion can only be on those people from Terror Keep."

If he didn't have a good excuse, the lord would have taken the opportunity to flatten Terror Keep, instead of just pressing the army and making the other party unable to withstand the pressure, choosing to settle the matter with fifty thousand gold Krones.

Mireille and Brestina nodded in understanding.

This person in front of them was never one to suffer losses.

If it weren't for the fact that attacking a count without a justifiable reason would bring very troublesome consequences,

Perhaps Terror Keep would no longer exist in Deberre.

But obviously, this matter would not end so easily, because the lord of Highcliff Castle was not only not one to suffer losses, but also very vengeful.

Now that they had money and the residents had been settled, expanding the army by five thousand no longer seemed to be a problem.

Mireille took the initiative to ask, "Li Wei, do you need me to contact the slave traders in the Persian Gulf country?"

"I used to trade spices with him, but the slave trade is his main business."

"This matter is not urgent. Compared to buying these slave warriors, I would rather buy those gladiators in the Deberre arena."

"Moreover, Deberre isn't without slaves, so I don't need to go far."

Li Wei waved his hand.

When the Whisperwind tribe of elves joined Highcliff Castle, along with the Old Folk from the Cass Mountains, Li Wei's desire to buy slave warriors weakened a lot.

Because these specially trained Mamluk warriors were probably like robots.

They might be good for executing difficult melee battles, but it would be difficult for them to implement unexpected tactics.

Mainly, he also had some ideas about where to find elite warriors.

"Lord Baron..." Just then, a rabbitfolk sentry ran in, holding a spear, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Zart, who didn't know when he had returned, slapped him on the back of the head: "You have to call him Marquis now!"

"Lord Marquis," the rabbitfolk sentry covered the back of his head, tears welling up in his eyes. Looking at the mountain-like strong man next to him, he stubbornly held back the tears. "There is a very beautiful human woman outside, saying she is looking for you."

"A very beautiful human woman?" The lord was stunned at first, but quickly reacted. "It's Sian!"