The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Although it was publicly announced as a investiture ceremony, Lind had made it clear in previous correspondence that he would not become the Grand Duke of the North.

After all, Linde himself was constantly weakening the influence of the nobles in his territory, so it was impossible for him to eventually ask the king for some kind of grand dukedom or something.

Of course, he would have to continue holding the position of governor. If he were to resign from that position, the capital would probably be furious.

Lena didn't quite understand why Lind was unwilling to become the Grand Duke of the North, after all, it was a hereditary position of the Lars family, but Lena chose to trust Lind.

In fact, many people in the family hoped that Linde could take over this position.

Once Linde and Lena's child is born, the position will ultimately be inherited by a member of the Lars family.

However, Lena suppressed these voices; Lind must have his reasons for doing so.

When the family members saw that Lena did not object to Lind's actions, they all fell silent.

Offending Lind is acceptable. Although the governor usually seems fierce, he is quite good to his own people. Even if he points his finger at you and scolds you, he will at most check your performance evaluation first.

But if you offend Reina... the Lars family will expel you from their ranks first.

"The first issue is about the southwestern border."

Nora found the familiar feeling of chairing meetings again, and began to take out the documents, which were handed to Lind by his attendant. She said, "Your Excellency, I believe you are as concerned as we are about the situation on the southwestern border."

Of course we care! Lind and Alberto's correspondence has never been deliberately hidden; everyone knows that the Governor of the North and the King of Anjou are having a great time chatting.

“Now, the firearms in the Kingdom of Anjou are much more powerful than ours were before, so we hope that the North can provide weapons assistance to the capital and the southwestern border.”

Nora then added, "Your Excellency, the King of Anjou is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and has been dreaming of marrying Your Majesty. This is utterly rebellious! Now the southwestern border is in dire need of attention. I urge Your Excellency to prioritize the overall situation of the kingdom."

But Lind asked with a hint of disdain, "What does this have to do with the North?"

Nora was momentarily speechless. Although she was mentally prepared, she did not expect the other party to be so direct.

Judith said, "Your Excellency, the defenses on the southwestern border are beginning to crumble. The old-fashioned cannons are no match for the Anjou cannons of the Kingdom of Anjou. The southwestern border is also part of the kingdom, and Your Excellency cannot ignore it."

Judith found it strange. Weren't Her Majesty the Queen and the Governor-General on the same side? Why was the Governor-General of the North so cold? Even if it was an act, it was going too far. And if the southwestern border really rotted, how could the glory of the old empire be restored?

But Lilith, who was in the middle, wasn't too worried. She had a general idea of ​​what the governor of the North was thinking. He didn't really care about the southwestern border, but he was more concerned about other things.

As expected, Linde did not directly refute, but said, "I can understand the feelings of the Prime Minister and the Duke of the Southern Territory, but as you also know, the Northern Territory has just finished a major battle and has only just been unified. Even if we were to provide support, we would be willing but unable to do so."

Simply put, they want money.

Nora was in a dilemma. No one knew the capital's current financial situation better than him. Although the palace had some surplus since the reforms began, these surpluses needed to continue flowing into the cash flow, and there wasn't much cash in hand.

If this continues, the entire palace will be sold off.

Judith does have some wealth, but that's enough for small-scale arms deals. If she starts large-scale purchases, the capital will become extremely sensitive.

Linde also knew that the capital city didn't have much money right now, so he took a contract from the servant and said, "Of course, I also know the difficulties of His Majesty and the capital city. Moreover, the previous transaction in which the capital city used materials to exchange for weapons with us was very successful. So I thought about it and decided that we can continue this model in the future. The capital city can also use other things to exchange for weapons with us."

"Mutual benefit is the only way to achieve a win-win situation."

Lind's words made a lot of sense, but when the contract was handed to Lilith, her face turned ashen.

In contrast, Nora looked much more relaxed when she saw the contract, though not much better than Lilith.

Linde's requirements were simple: although the capital was poor, the capital and its surrounding areas were densely populated.

The contract clearly states how many people will be exchanged for each type of weapon, and Lind's requirements are quite lenient; anyone who is healthy and has no particular disease is acceptable.

However, the capital city was also responsible for safely transporting these people to the northern border. Although it was cheaper than buying weapons directly, the costs along the way were not low.

It was clear that the North had estimated how much wealth the capital had left, and they were practically holding the capital hostage to plunder every last bit of cash.

The troubles of relocating people don't stop there. In the central region surrounding the capital, there are actually many noble fiefdoms. These people are loyal to the king on the surface, but because they are close to the capital, their power is somewhat consolidated.

But no matter what, these nobles were still local nobles, and the population was the productive force of their territories. Although they didn't have this concept, no noble would let their territory lose population for no reason.

It's important to understand that the population and serfs of a territory are also a lord's wealth. If Lilith wants these lords and nobles to support exchanging their people for weapons, she must offer them sufficient benefits in return.

Just thinking about all this gave Lilith a huge headache.

It's so ruthless. Lilith looked up at the indifferent governor of the North across the table. A weak capital is a good capital for the North, but it can't be too weak. It has to be squeezed to the last bit of value to prevent Anjou's conquest from going too smoothly. At the same time, it has to keep transferring people and funds to the North.

"Although these lords are quite loyal, the serfs on their territories are also part of their wealth. Even if I am the queen, I have no right to forcibly seize the wealth of these lords. So, Your Excellency, could we discuss this matter again?"

Although there are still ways, namely to relinquish benefits, such as distributing or selling some of the weapons obtained in exchange for people to these lords, is this really a good thing?

This constant balancing act left Lilith feeling completely numb.

"There's nothing to discuss. As Your Majesty knows, our Northern Territory has lost a large number of people due to those monsters from the Demon Clan, and we urgently need manpower. Moreover, these are all lowly commoners who have no value whatsoever. Surely Your Majesty can't even handle something like this?"

Lilith's fist hardened.