Chapter 65 Meetings
Yingzui Island, the lord's cabin.
"Sit down."
Samwell sat down at the round table first, and then invited everyone to sit around the table.
However, everyone was a little hesitant, after all, they were not used to sitting at the same table with the lord.
Only Cheeman sat down in the first position on the left of Samwell.
With the leader, the rest of the people took their seats one after another.
For this meeting, Samwell convened the village chiefs of the 14 villages under him, together with the domain steward Gavin, the craftsman leader Vido, the blacksmith leader Busso, and Bachelor Qyburn, a total of 18 people.
These people are the main managers in his territory.
Originally, Todd Flowers was also counted as one, but this guy went to Highgarden to collect refugees and has not returned yet, so he was absent.
After sitting down, Natalie, who was wearing a floral dress with slender legs, offered scented tea to everyone.
After pouring the tea, although there was no place for her here, Natalie did not leave, but stood behind Samwell, looking like a well-behaved maid.
Samwell didn't drive her away either, but just coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention away from the energetic and beautiful girl:
"Although the castle has not been built yet, and I am not yet an official lord, it will be a matter of time. Therefore, in order to better manage the territory, I decided to officially accept you as my retainers."
Hearing this, everyone quickly stood up, some bent down to salute, some loudly swore allegiance, and some were so excited that they didn't know what to do, so they just giggled...
Although the lord's retainers didn't even touch the threshold of nobility, this still couldn't stop everyone from being proud of it, as if with this title, he was a superior person from now on.
Samwell waved his hand and signaled everyone to sit down: "There is no need to be so serious, all sit down, all sit down. This meeting, I also want to tell you about the obligations of retainers to the lord.
First and foremost, you are responsible for maintaining my authority and supporting every resolution I make;
Secondly, you have the responsibility to advise me and help me manage the people and govern the territory. This kind of meeting will become a routine in the future, and it will be held once a month. At the meeting, you will report to me about your work, and I will also give instructions;
Finally, when I launch the war order, you must answer the call, join my army, or provide logistical support for the army. If I am captured, you must find a way to raise a ransom to save me. "
After Samwell finished speaking, everyone quickly responded.
"Okay." Samwell pressed his hands down, stopped everyone's loyalty, and then turned to look at his butler, "Gavin, I will let you introduce the current basic situation of the territory."
"Yes, my lord." Gavin got up and saluted Samwell, then sat down again, and said, "Currently, there are more than 12,300 people in the territory, including 184 soldiers and others. One hundred new recruits.
In addition, there are thirty-five dairy cows, twenty-seven rough horses, fifty-four meat pigs, more than forty yellow sheep, and more than one hundred chickens and ducks.
Counting the food supplies brought in from Yangwu City yesterday, the flour in the territory reached 1.3 million pounds, oats 700,000 pounds, and beans 500,000 pounds. In addition, we also stocked 50,000 pounds of jerky, and over three thousand pounds of salt..."
While listening, Samwell calculated silently in his heart.
Although it seems that there is a lot of food, it is not too much to share with more than 12,000 people.
Not to mention the soldiers, they are full and have meat every day, and the other laborers, after all, do physical work and eat a lot. In order to speed up the construction of the castle and win people's hearts, Samwell never skimps on food. , so the food consumed by the entire territory in a day is really amazing.
The current reserves are enough to last for more than a month.
It's a bottomless pit.
Fortunately, he has already signed food and material supply contracts with Yangwu City, Qingting Island, and Old Town, so he doesn't have to worry about food shortages for the time being.
However, these contracts only have a "free period" of three months. If the subsequent supply is to continue, Samwell must spend real money to buy them.
This is not a small sum.
Fortunately, last time on Green Arbor Island, Samwell played the role wholeheartedly, and got a lot of golden dragons from the Lannister family, otherwise he must be panicking now.
But this is only a one-off, and it is impossible to have such a good thing every day.
If the territory wants to develop sustainably, it still has to rely on the two cash cows of brandy and silver mines.
At this time, Gavin also began to introduce the brewing of brandy.
"...organized 300 female savages to pick wild mountain grapes in the nearby forest, and also opened up 900 acres of open space near the valley entrance, planted mountain grapes, and it is expected that the first batch will be harvested in half a year..."
Hearing this, Samwell interrupted:
"The planting area of mountain grapes will be doubled, to 1,800 mu. And after this batch of planting is over, you will have to open up another piece of similar size to use it as a fallow crop. Don't worry about sales, our wine As long as it is brewed, there is no need to worry about selling it. And even if there is surplus, it can be kept for storage.”
"Okay, my lord." Gavin quickly responded, and then continued, "Due to limited raw materials, the production of brandy cannot be increased for the time being. There are only twelve gallons per day..."
Hearing this number, Samwell frowned, but felt a little helpless.
It is really difficult to increase the yield by picking wild mountain grapes alone. We can only expand the scale of production after the grapes planted in half a year are ripe.
The steps of brandy brewing and distillation involved secrecy, so Gavin didn't go into details.
Samwell turned to Bachelor Coburn again, saying:
"Cobain, tell me about the silver mining situation."
"Yes, my lord." Cobain nodded, and said in an unwavering tone, "The mining and refining of silver mines are on the right track, and the daily output of silver is about 140 ounces. If there are more With the addition of more hands, the output can be further increased..."
Samwell roughly estimated based on the weight of the silver deer, which is equivalent to producing about 350 silver deer every day.
Of course, there will be losses during the casting process, so the actual output will be lower than this.
Moreover, this has to be shared with the royal family... Of course, because of the treasury minister with bad intentions, the royal family will not be paid too much tax.
So, definitely a pretty decent income.
With the output of this silver mine alone, more than 10,000 people in the current territory can live comfortably.
Sure enough, mining is still making money!
And it's just a silver mine, if it's a gold mine...
No wonder the Lannister family is so rich and powerful, and they are willing to pay so much money in order to drive away the blind date competitors.
Damn big dog!
Jealousy changed Samwell's face beyond recognition, and he felt that his asking price last time was still low.
(end of this chapter)