The development of Merlo City is getting faster and faster, and taxation alone can no longer satisfy the construction of Merlo City.
The sewer system and water conservancy channels all eat a large portion of Merlo City's finances. If we only rely on the industrial tax revenue in Aslan's name, we will simply not be able to meet such huge expenditures.
At the same time, Aslan is also worried about the privatization of the military industry. One day, if he is gone, some people will sell weapons to the enemy in order to make huge profits, which will be desperate.
Some people may find it funny, but in the face of capital and the desire for wealth, anything is possible.
"Lord, the chaos is coming, shouldn't we continue to expand the army?" Goode raised his hand and asked like a curious baby.
Others nodded in agreement, and even civil servants like Essien were very supportive.
This time there are not only the former human officials in Merlo City, but also new foreign officials.
For example, Elijah from the Alien Affairs Office, Wenner, the newly-established Director of the Education Bureau, and Cu Chulainn, the deputy captain of the Knight Guard, all attended.
"What is the current population of our Mero City?" Aslan asked lightly.
A half-elf secretary next to Essien stood up at his signal and began to read.
"The new census has come out. The population of Melo City has reached 164,531, the population of Metz Town has reached 56,232, and the total population of several other towns has reached 4
There are 79,857 legal residents living on various farms. Last month, several villages surrendered, and the population in the outer rural areas also reached 96,880.
One hundred and thirty-one, if the attachment of rural areas around each town is still increasing."
The faces of the half-elf civil servants were full of confidence. This census almost caused their civil servants in the city hall to break their legs.
Nowadays, the Mero area has a population of more than half a million, not counting the aliens from the Changfeng Plain.
"More than half a million people, how many troops are there in the Melo area now?" Aslan asked.
"Excluding the main force, the reserve force is 20,000, the city defense force is 10,000, and the construction corps is 10,000." Gawain, who had taken over as the chief of military affairs of Mero City, said without any hesitation.
"In addition to the main army, there are nearly 50,000 troops. If we need to expand the army, don't we need people for urban development and agricultural production?" Aslan said with a sigh.
There was silence in the conference room.
Although the size of the army seems to be very large, considering that the reserve troops belong to the militia sequence, they will gather together for training during the off-season. Most of the time, they are the main force in agricultural production. War and mobilization have always been in the Mero region and
Between the Belgium region, so it has little impact on agricultural production. Once they go to war far away from the Mero region, who will be responsible for the fields they are responsible for.
Don't say that it's okay for women to farm. In this era, women also need to work in the fields.
"The city defense army also needs to maintain regional security and conduct daily patrols in the area. The construction corps has enough projects to complete next year. The reserve force is indeed the most stable source of troops, but they also have to bear the burden of agricultural production in the Melo area. You said we should
Go there to recruit troops." Aslan said with a sigh.
"Do you all want to go to war?"
There was silence in the conference room.
"But what if the war spreads to the Mero area?" Gut said subconsciously.
"Starting from the next month, this lord will move to Dowstone Fortress. The lord will guard the country's gates and keep the enemy at bay!" Aslan said firmly.
Everyone was touched and ashamed.
"There is still a Billy area in front of us. It is difficult for the war to spread to the Mero area. However, in order to ensure that the war does not spread to the Mero area, we must send the main army to participate in the war. When the time comes, I will lead the army to go out.
, I will trouble you all about the affairs of the Melo region." Aslan continued.
"Lord! You must not do this." Gawain was the first to stand up and stop him.
Every time Aslan leads an army on an expedition, he never comes back intact. They must not let Aslan take this risk.
"That's right! The lord is now the backbone of the Mero region. If you do anything wrong, the Mero region will be over." Le Anning also figured out a lot of things during the incident of Aslan's arrest.
Nowadays, many places in the Melo region are not perfect, and they rely entirely on Aslan's prestige to support them.
"I am the lord of the Mero region and my teacher's disciple, and I personally lead the army. No one dares to use the Mero army as cannon fodder." Aslan said calmly.
The conference room fell into an eerie silence for an instant.
Being treated as cannon fodder, no one dares to refute how much pressure this sentence contains.
As Aslan said, if the leader of the Merlot army is not Aslan, if the war goes unfavorably, there is no guarantee that the main force of the Belgian army will not be used as a rear force or abandoned to block the enemy.
In normal times, they may not dare to do this, but it is different in times of crisis. After all, compared to Mero Jun, a nephew, Billy Jun is his biological son.
"In addition to preparing for war, this meeting is also about the locust plague in the Beifeng Prairie." Aslan knew the seriousness of the matter and did not continue to discuss the matter and directly changed the topic.
Regarding the locust plague in the Beifeng Prairie, it is no longer a secret now. Even some well-informed merchants in Billy City know about it. However, considering that the food must be transported to the Beifeng Prairie and must pass through the Changfeng Plain, they decided to
Give up!
Otherwise, they would not let go of such an opportunity to make a fortune.
"I have conducted on-site inspections and found that this matter is not trivial. As expected, starting next year, the locust plague will spread across the mainland, and our Melo region will also be affected to a greater or lesser extent." Aslan said.
Everyone's expressions became solemn, except for Goode and Gut, who looked at Johnson with doubts on their faces.
"Johnson's Town Order! There hasn't been a locust plague in our Melo area for many years."
When Johnson heard this, he looked at Aslan with a speechless face.
"It is recorded in the literature that the last locust plague broke out more than a hundred years ago. At that time, there was not much vegetation to eat in the Mero area, so a large area starved to death. Later, the extremely hungry Mero people
Boiled them, and from then on, there was a custom of eating locusts in the Merlo area."
Upon hearing Johnson's words, outsiders like Gawain and Arthur suddenly took a breath of air.
"Eat bugs!"
Ilaya's face was even more pale, and even Nomeli, who was standing behind Aslan, had twinkling eyes, obviously disgusted.