Owen listed the order, houses first, then food, soldiers, people, land, and utensils.
Needless to say, the biggest asset in his hands now is this ancient castle built hundreds of years ago. Because the main body is built with stone walls, it still stands tall even after hundreds of years of wind and rain.
On the contrary, forget about decoration. Three generations of the Hydera family have only added some log furniture and installed a door. As for everything else, nothing else.
But the area is indeed not small. If the city wall is rebuilt, it will be enough to accommodate three to five hundred people. However, if you want to build a castle of this size in the North, it will take at least thousands of people and more than ten years, mainly due to poor materials.
To do it, you need to quarry the stones from a distance, polish them and then transport them back bit by bit. This is the most labor-intensive and time-consuming part.
At present, there are only about ten people in the entire castle including him. In addition to eight soldiers, there are only two servants, and these two servants also serve as gardeners, cooks, grooms, etc.
Originally there was a housekeeper, two maids and several guards who were part of the dowry of the predecessor's mother. However, after the predecessor's father died, the predecessor's mother took them away without any regret, leaving only the predecessor.
Replaced by him in loneliness and suffering.
Under such circumstances, Owen, let alone enjoying the decadent aristocratic life, had to do many things by himself.
Fortunately, he is not really an aristocratic young man. He can do laundry, cooking and cleaning, but he doesn't have the tools at hand, and he is still getting used to it.
The most difficult thing for Owen to get used to is that at night, in such a big castle, just these few people would cry and howl when the wind blows in the middle of the night. They would lie on the wooden bed wrapped in animal skins and wake up several times a night. They would not dare to go out to relieve themselves.
As for how to solve it, you have to think about it yourself.
In fact, it feels even scarier to go out to the toilet, because the castle toilet is built like a hole in the bay window. Not only does your butt hang in the air when you sit on it, you can also clearly feel the updraft outside the castle. At the same time, if the people underneath
Looking up, you can clearly see a budding daisy or a vomiting black chrysanthemum.
Later, because some people used weapons such as crossbows and extended spears to assassinate people, this kind of toilet was also improved. For example, something like a garbage channel was built underneath, leading directly to the moat. However, there are still thin warriors who choose to go up against the shit and use daggers and iron.
Weapons such as cones are used to carry out brutal assassinations, and victims with ruptured intestines often wail for several days before dying. This shows how cruel this assassination is.
Although it has various shortcomings, it is better than nothing. It is still a castle after all, and the Hydra family may not have the money to build it for several generations.
Having already seen the castle, Owen turned around and came to the warehouse.
The land in the North is barren, and the yield of fine crops is too low. In order to fill one's stomach, one can only choose to plant rye with a higher yield. In addition, black beans, onions and cabbages are all used to maintain life and provide balanced nutrition.
Don't even think about taste, so these are the only things stored here.
In fact, if the internal conflicts within the empire had not accumulated to the point where they were about to explode, and the emperor persisted, there would not have been such a thing as the development of the North, let alone a title as a reward.
Because of this huge power, those in higher positions will try their best to maintain the stability of the class, that is, to cut off the channels for advancement, even if this will cause countless lower-ranking people to resist, or even burn themselves to death.
Rubbing his nose, Owen saw the sun outside shining through the dust and evenly falling on the warehouse, illuminating the bags of grain piled on the wooden shelves.
He took out the key, which looked like an iron rod, and inserted it into the tight, dry hole with great effort. After twisting it hard, he couldn't move it, so he had no choice but to pull it out first, find some grease and apply it on it, and finally spent a long time to open the lock.
Although Owen didn't have to worry about being assassinated, sitting suspended above the dark cave always made him feel uncomfortable, so he would rather dig a hole in the open space to solve it.
As for why he lived in such a miserable life, it was naturally because of his noble reputation that Hydra II was still able to marry the daughter of the president of the Hairui Chamber of Commerce.
The reason is very simple, because as a superior, you can unconditionally deprive the inferior of everything, from wealth to life, and the process is simple and direct, and you don't even need to cover up your intentions.
I opened a few bags and found either rye or black beans inside. There were also some dry and flat onions stacked in the corner. In addition, there were twenty or thirty spears and a pile of leather armors on the side shelves. This is
The only property left by the Hydera family.
There is still a lot of rye as the staple food, but Owen knows that this is not enough, because it is just the beginning of spring, and there is still a long time before the harvest, but the serfs in the territory have no food. In order to ensure that they will not starve to death, they also
In order to maintain the physical strength for spring plowing, the food consumed every day is as low as water, so there is nothing saved throughout the year. Otherwise, how could a dignified Viscount live in such misery?
All along, there are countless people who want to break through this invisible barrier and try to rise to the top, but not even one in ten thousand has succeeded.
Even so, the imperial nobles separated the northern nobles, resulting in the northern nobles not being accepted or even recognized by the imperial nobles.
Faced with a large lock weighing seven or eight kilograms and a keyhole that could be inserted with fingers, Owen finally understood the purpose of the iron rod that his predecessor had always kept close to his body.
Although the climate in the North is dry, moisture protection is still a problem. In order to prevent the food from getting damp and moldy, the food will be piled on wooden shelves. Although it takes effort, it is better than not being able to eat it if it gets damp and moldy.
The classes in this world are so strict that it makes people despair. The descendants of farmers are farmers, the descendants of hunters are hunters, the descendants of merchants are merchants, the descendants of knights are knights, and the descendants of nobles are nobles. Your identity is determined by the day you are born.
It was decided in an instant.
Pushing the door open with force, a smell of grain mixed with dust hit his face, making Owen's nose itchy and making him want to sneeze.
In fact, if the Hairui Chamber of Commerce hadn't sent a batch of supplies every year, the Hydra family would have been even worse off than they are now.
When my predecessor's grandfather was able to become a Viscount, apart from strength and luck, bloodline was the biggest reason, because my grandfather's father was the second son of a certain imperial nobleman who had no right to inherit.
This identity is not something that can be used in the empire, but it can make people shine on the northern border. That's why my predecessor's grandfather can stand out and become a border viscount instead of a lousy knight or baron.
Even if the border nobles have all kinds of shortcomings, they are still nobles, at least in the North. This means that the Hydera family has stepped into another class. Otherwise, the Hairui Chamber of Commerce will be full and marry their daughter.
They give gifts every year, and it’s not just to build a relationship.
As long as this relationship exists, the Hairui Chamber of Commerce will be able to obtain a lot of conveniences at the northern border, which is enough to make up for the investment in giving away materials when marrying off a daughter.