"Yes, Lord Baron, he said that no trade can be carried out until the end of winter!" Old John replied.
William knocked on the wooden table, thinking intently, and said, "How is the situation in the village?"
Old John knew what William was talking about!
"The situation is not good!" Old John said in a serious tone, "Dikas has no income now, and all expenses are supported by your treasury. With the purchase of supplies, you don't have much property left!"
"How much is left?" William asked.
"There are about three hundred gold coins left." Old John took out a stack of parchment from his arms, looked at it carefully, and then replied.
"More than three hundred gold pis coins." William pursed his lips. He brought out a thousand gold pis coins from the city of Patras. In three months, he only had more than three hundred pis gold coins left. It was really a waste of money.
Like running water.
He thought for a moment and then asked, "What about food?"
Old John's face turned sad again and said, "It's even worse!"
"Worse? Tell me." Since ancient times, food has been the most important thing for people, and the food problem is a big problem.
The villagers may complain a little if they don't get their wages, but if they don't have food to eat, this is forcing people to rebel!
So William attaches great importance to it.
"Originally, there was enough food, but Lord Baron, you captured thousands of people, and you gave them plenty of food, so there is now a problem of insufficient food stock."
"Originally I wanted to buy it from Hughes, but he said it is no longer available in Patras!"
Old John replied sadly.
"Huh! You really can't buy it or you don't want to sell it?" William sneered, and he could see the fishiness in it at a glance.
But he had no way to pursue it. He thought for a moment and then said, "Old John, don't be like this, the problem can always be solved!"
"You don't think they eat a lot, but they do a lot too! You see, if it weren't for them, we wouldn't be able to build such a high wall in such a short time! Even with such a high wall, even if
If the lizardmen come to attack, they will have nowhere to attack. We will be safe!" William encouraged.
After hearing this, Old John's face became very happy.
The construction of this wall really inspired the villagers!
In the past, villagers would still have confusion and fear about the future, but now, their faces are filled with confidence in life.
It can be said that this is a wall built in the hearts of the villagers!
Not long after Old John was happy, when he thought of the cruel reality, his face turned sad again, "But, Lord Baron, if we follow the current consumption rate, the food on our hands can only last for half a month at most."
time."
The grain in William's hands refers to the 40% of the grain he collected from the people in his territory, as well as the grain forcibly purchased from the large households such as the Adams who left, and does not include other villagers' own grain.
Although the number one thousand slaves do not need to be paid, they still have to eat.
Because William asked them to do manual labor, William was not as stingy with food as other slave owners.
There is no problem if you eat well, but there is no problem if you are full.
There are more than a thousand people, plus the 120 members of the escort team who are provided with food. The food consumed by so many people every day is not a small amount.
"Even if we purchase their food from other villagers, we can only sustain it for another month at most. Baron, winter is three months long! Not to mention that after winter, we have to wait a long time for the harvest season."
Hearing what Old John said, he understood that he was encountering a financial crisis and a food crisis.
The financial crisis is easy to talk about, but the food crisis is very serious.
But at this time, he was cut off from the source of transactions again.
There are fewer and fewer wild animals in the forest, and many of them are hiding and hibernating, waiting for spring to bloom.
For a moment, William really couldn't think of any good solution and fell into deep thought.
Old John saw William's appearance from the side and was worried, so he suggested, "Lord Baron, how about we control the consumption of food. The members of the escort can't eat so well, why not..."
"No!" William flatly refused. The army is the basis of power. You can't deduct anything from the army!
Think about William's fate in the Ming Dynasty in his previous life. How happy the army leaders drank the blood. As a result, the Ming Dynasty army's combat effectiveness was low and they were not as good as servants!
The lizard men are about to attack, and William doesn't want to end up like Chongzhen!
Old John also felt that he had said something wrong, smiled awkwardly, and then said, "Then Baron, why don't you reduce the food for those slaves? I want Old John to tell them that there is no need to give them such good food at all, and they can still eat black bread, directly
Give them batter mixed with water, plus some bark and sawdust, and some wild grass. Change three meals a day to one and a half meals a day, as long as they don't starve to death!"
Old John's advice was genuine.
I have to say that what Old John said is a good way to save money.
But William didn't want to implement it unless it was absolutely necessary.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Let me think about it. Old John, you go out and do things first. Supervise that wall, its quality is related to our life and death!"
"Yes! Lord Baron!" Old John left.
In the earthen house, only William was left thinking hard and thinking about countermeasures.
After thinking for a long time, William couldn't think of a good solution in reality.
He sighed helplessly, and with a thought, the Kalachakra hourglass, emitting bright and soft light, appeared in front of him out of thin air again.
It took three months for the Kalachakra Hourglass to be recharged.
Some time ago, the Kalachakra Hourglass was fully charged, but William has been hesitant to use it!
Because William is worried that the intestine of the world that passes through the hourglass of the Kalachakra will still appear in the palace of Snow White's stepmother, which means he has fallen into a trap!
However, William had no choice now.
I can only place my trust in this magical baby.
"It would be great if you could take me to a world that can solve my current financial crisis and food crisis!" William murmured while stroking the hourglass of the Wheel of Time.
The light of the hourglass spread out and enveloped William. The space in front of him was silently torn open, and a dark passage exuding a terrifying aura appeared.
William raised his feet and walked in without hesitation.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
…
Suddenly his vision changed, and William appeared in a dark forest, with only a faint moonlight shining down.
It's still daytime in the main world, but in the blink of an eye it's night in this world.
The worlds are really wonderful. William sighed.
But what made him happy was that this was definitely not the queen's territory.
He did not continue to appear in the world of "Snow White".
But what confused him was, where is he now?
When his heart moved, he shouted, "Mirror, look where I am now?"
"Master, master, are you spending energy on large-scale detection?" the magic mirror asked as usual.
Magic Mirror is now also a rich and powerful owner. The siege by the wild people has allowed Magic Mirror to acquire hundreds of young souls, and the maintenance time has been increased to two months.
That's why it asked this question.
But William was used to being thrifty, and since he was in the new world, he did not dare to be so extravagant and wasteful. He hesitated for a moment and replied, "Just explore the environment from the small village of Nisei to the city of Patras to see where this is.
?Are you still in the Kingdom of Florence?"
"Yes, Master." The magic mirror in William's arms flashed and began to detect this new world.
Soon, the magic mirror completed its detection and answered William's question, "Master, Master, we are not in the Kingdom of Florence now. Based on the analysis of the environment and language within the detection range, we are now in the Kingdom of Florence."
In the south, separated by several kingdoms and principalities is the Tartaria Alliance. The Tartaria Alliance is an autonomous alliance formed by the union of several city-states, and the Nagiriya language is popular in the alliance."
The queen has used it to detect the entire world before, so the mirror spirit knows all this information, and can only draw conclusions through simple comparisons.
"In other words, I am still in the world of "Snow White", but not in the Kingdom of Florence where the queen is." William frowned, "But what other treasures are there in "Snow White" that I can learn about?
Is the survival crisis of Kasland?"
For a moment, William had so many thoughts in his mind that he couldn't figure it out.
In the dark night, wolves howled in the forest, waking William up.
As soon as he thought about it, he made up his mind, "Forget it, take one step first and then calculate the next step to see what opportunities there are in this world? Magic Mirror, is there a place where people live nearby?"
"Master, there are two places!" the magic mirror replied. It had already detected this information just now, so there was no need to waste energy to detect it again. "One place goes north. It takes two hours and forty-five minutes to walk at the master's pace."
You can see a manor in minutes!”
The concept of minutes was taught to the magic mirror by William. Otherwise, every time he estimated time, the magic mirror would always use the burning time of the candle to estimate the time. William would also be very disappointed!
"The other place is in this forest. Walk south for fifteen minutes and you can see a house!"
"Is there a house in the forest? Is it a hunter?"
For more than two hours and fifteen minutes, William made a decision without even thinking about it.
At this time, the magic mirror said again, "Master, master, the current energy can still last for one month and thirteen days."
"It consumes so much?" William was a little surprised. It was originally able to last for more than two months, but suddenly it lost the energy of a month. He paused, then nodded expressionlessly and said, "I understand!"
The magic mirror fell into silence, and William clenched the cross sword in his hand and walked silently towards the house.
On the road, what surprised William was that there were peas on the right side of the road, and broad beans on the left side of the road.
In the middle of the road, there was a gray trail, as if guiding him forward.
William couldn't help but feel a strong curiosity in his heart.