Boulder Town Camp, where the Lombard spy who was previously imprisoned was saved by God's mercy this time.

Yesterday, Art received a secret message from Flanders. After another group of spies who were escorted south arrived in Boulder Town, he was ordered to expel all these spies from the Kingdom of Burgundy, but he must not kill these people secretly. Once this happened,

The untimely deaths of these people were bound to arouse the hatred of the Duke of Lombardy.

Letting these people back safely now is mainly to take this opportunity to express their attitude to the Duke of Lombardy - once the Lombards invade the country, they will not be so lucky to return alive next time.

In addition, Flanders also informed Art in the letter that he would add a thousand more troops based on the Wells Army and the Southern Border Guard Army and intensify training. He had already sent a special envoy to the Kingdom of France to request

The King of France came forward to frighten Swabia and Lombardy.

Of course Art understood that Flanders intended to defend the southern border of Burgundy. Once Lombardy sent troops, the Wells Army would become the main force to resist the Lombard army. This was Flanders' trust in himself.

, but at the same time it also posed a problem for myself.

The Welsh Army was already a gold-swallowing behemoth, so it would be difficult to expand it by another thousand people. Although last winter, the Welsh Province recruited more than 30,000 people, among whom the young and strong leaders

There are nearly 3,000 civilians. We have the source of troops, but where will the cost of raising them come from? This is the biggest problem that troubles At.

Based on the average weekly salary of an ordinary soldier of seven pfennigs, a soldier needs nearly 30 pfennigs per month, which is almost 360 pfennigs a year. The salary of just one thousand people requires more than 360,000 pfennigs per year.

Ni. Including the salaries of senior officers and junior officers, just ensuring that these people have food and drink costs up to 400,000 pfennigs a year.

This does not include the weapons and armor equipped for the soldiers. Although the valley is currently able to produce some of its own equipment and has captured a lot of it through the war, it still cannot meet the needs of an army of 1,000 people. It costs at least more than five yuan to purchase weapons and armor.

One hundred thousand pfennigs. In addition to the expansion of the soldiers' barracks and the replenishment of other supplies, it would cost more than one million pfennigs to raise troops every year.

With the current financial revenue and expenditure of the Province of Wales, it can barely meet the needs of supporting the Welsh Army. On the one hand, this comes from the army's wartime seizures, and on the other hand, it comes from the profits of the caravans. But the remaining almost needs to be invested in the territory.

During construction, there was really no extra money available to expand an army of a thousand men.

In this way, Art has been thinking about this issue for three or four days in a row. Without the support of the army, once Lombardy really sends troops, the province of Wales will be in danger. The citizens and the foundation they have worked so hard to build will be destroyed by war again.

This is definitely not what Art wants to see. But he is unable to do anything due to lack of military spending.

Half a month later, along with the group of Lombard spies who were escorted south, there was another good news~

…………

"...Your Majesty the Earl, this secret letter was written by the Marquis himself. He asked me to deliver it to you~"

In the lord's hall on the first floor of the wooden castle in the valley, after handing over the group of spies who went south to the custody of the garrison in Boulder Town, Flanders's personal guard, who was in charge of escorting them, led by the soldiers of Boulder Town, went to the valley to meet Art.

Then the guard slowly took out the secret message from his waist and handed it to Art with both hands.

"Thank you Sir~" Art said sincerely, turning to Ron and nodding. Ron then took out a bag of coins from the drawer on the side and handed it to the guard.

"Thank you, Lord Earl~"

"Ron, send this knight off for me."

"Yes, sir."

After the two went out, Art slowly opened the note. Looking at the yellowed Wells paper, Art was very happy. Now, not only the teaching staff use Wells paper in large quantities, but also nobles and big businessmen from all over the world.

I also fell in love with this light and convenient writing material. The palace was even a major customer of the Valley Paper Workshop.

Although the order volume is not very large, it also allows Yate to earn huge profits. The main reason why Wells Paper has not been fully promoted is that it is limited by the scale of the papermaking workshop. The current production of Wells Paper

It is only enough for the domestic use of the Marquis of Burgundy, and there is no excess paper to be sold to the other principalities.

For this reason, Art has ordered the government to expand the scale of the papermaking workshop and strive to increase the production capacity of the papermaking workshop by two or three times in half a year. In this way, Welsh paper will spread throughout the world ~

In the secret letter, Flanders mentioned to Art that in view of the current predicament in the Province of Wales, he had sent people to communicate with the Knights Templar and was willing to use the taxes of the Kingdom of Burgundy as a guarantee and Art's

A nominal loan of five million pfennigs was used to build the territory. However, the prerequisite was that Art must first repay the debt owed to the previous loan. Once the loan is settled, the second phase of the loan can begin.

"Great!" Art Yuebi thought silently in his heart.

In recent days, Art has been suffering from the issue of military spending, and after thinking for a long time, he finally found no solution. Now, a secret letter from Flanders has solved all these problems together. As long as the military spending is available, the next thing will be much easier to handle.

That night, Art wrote a secret letter and gave it to Bob, asking him to send it to Besançon. He agreed with Flanders's suggestion and paid off the debt first, and then borrowed another five million from the Knights Templar.

Finney.

After dealing with this matter, Art finally breathed a sigh of relief~

The next day, Ron took Art's order to Boulder Town and sent all the spies to the border outpost. After giving them enough dry food for seven or eight days, they all blasted out of the outpost gate.

The only thing left was the "Southern goods" from those carriages. Afterwards, after counting, the goods were worth 100,000 pfennigs, and there were also gold coins worth 100,000 pfennigs. These were all loaded into his own by Art.

Take it as a meeting gift from the Duke of Lombardy~

…………

At the end of April, spring plowing has been over for more than half a month. There is a busy scene everywhere in Wales. The construction site south of the workshop area is even more lively.

"...Next one~"

"Hey, it's my turn, it's my turn."

"What's your name~"

"..."

Recently, the Military Affairs Office and the Government Affairs Office jointly issued an announcement that all men of appropriate age can sign up to join the army. After being selected by the legion, they will become a member of the reserve group of the Southern Border Guard Corps of the Wales Army. The main responsibility is to guard the southern border and resist foreign enemies.

On the second day after the announcement was made, officials from the Military Affairs Office took people to the construction site in the south of Gongfang District to start recruiting soldiers.

Although these refugees have not been in the valley for a long time, they are somewhat familiar with the reputation of the Welsh Legion. Not only because of its strong combat effectiveness, but also because the salary of the soldiers of the Welsh Legion is higher than that of the general army. As long as they are in the Legion

After working for a year and a half, the salary earned was enough to build a nice wooden house.

Seeing officials from the Military Affairs Office coming to the construction site to recruit soldiers, many young and strong citizens rushed to sign up to join the army. On the first day alone, the number of applicants exceeded 500. Even though it was dark, there were still many people waiting in a long queue.

The team was waiting. After the officials announced that recruitment would continue tomorrow, these talents reluctantly returned to their camps...

Three days later, after layers of screening, the soldiers of the reserve group of the Southern Xinjiang Guard Corps were finally determined - 200 soldiers more than the original standard. In order to avoid more troubles, Yat ordered the extra 200 soldiers to be added to the Southern Xinjiang Guard Corps.

.But still training with the reserve group.

At present, the soldiers have basically been recruited, and the five million pfennigs borrowed from the Knights Templar have also been quickly transported to Tyniec. The top priority is to arrange for these recruits of the reserve group to be stationed in the temporary camp of Beiguan Army Fort, and then follow the instructions.

The existing establishment of the Els Army will be reorganized. Once the reorganization is completed, training will begin immediately.

…………

When the recruitment of new recruits was over, Art summoned all officers above the flag captain of the Wells Army and the Southern Xinjiang Garrison Army to the Lord's Hall of the Beiguan Army Fort. Including Lunicion and Jafar who were training in the cavalry company camp

.Except for a few officers such as Odo who were far away in the city of Beaune and Fort Marsy in the Saône Province, all of them rushed to the Beiguan Army Fort after receiving Art's order.

Looking at the high-ranking officers above the flag captain who were crowded around the table, Art was filled with emotion and said: "Everyone, many years ago, I was a border patrol officer, and I could count the number of soldiers who followed me around to suppress bandits on both hands.

Come here~" Art stretched out his hands and mocked himself with interest, causing the officers at the table to burst into laughter.

"But now, looking at you all, such a big long table is surrounded tightly. I think we should let the craftsmen build a bigger one, otherwise the next military meeting, I'm afraid some people will

You have to sit on the ground and listen to me ~"

Another burst of laughter came from the hall, and the officers were all in high spirits.

After a moment, Yat said seriously: "The main reason why I have summoned you here today is to organize the preparation of the thousand-man reserve group of the Southern Xinjiang Garrison Army. Now, let the sergeant major tell you the specific situation~" After that

, Art picked up the wine and took two sips, then leaned on his back and listened quietly to Angus's speech.

Angus stood up slowly, glanced at Art, nodded, and then glanced at everyone present. He said: "According to the opinions of the Legion Staff Department, the new Southern Xinjiang Guard Corps Reserve Regiment has not yet been organized into separate regiments.

The reserve regiment is divided into six companies in total. The company captains are served by the deputy commanders of the six companies of the Wells Army and the Southern Xinjiang Garrison Army. The vacant positions are selected from the corresponding flag captains based on military merit. "An.

As soon as Gus finished speaking, the company deputy commander present began to look around and talk in low voices.

"...In addition, the flag captain in the new company will also be selected from the original deputy flag captains based on military merit. Officers below the flag captain will also be selected according to the same criteria~"

"...In addition, some low-ranking officers in the reserve corps can be selected from outstanding soldiers. This is the question of the establishment of the reserve corps in this military meeting. If you have any opinions, you can put them forward now.

"

After a while, when no one answered, Art said: "Since everyone here has no objection to the arrangements of the Military Affairs Office, we should make preparations as soon as we get down. In the near future, the appointment documents from the Military Affairs Office will be issued to those positions with certain positions.

In the hands of the transferred officers. This expansion of the legion is of great importance. All of you here are the backbone of our Welsh legion. The future safety of the province of Wales depends on you. When the reorganization and recruit training are completed, your positions will be

It will be adjusted again based on the results of the training. At that time, two sub-group leaders and sub-group deputy leaders will be produced. Those with outstanding performance will be given priority!"

"I am willing to serve the Earl!"

Everyone stood up and answered.

A few days after the military meeting ended, the formation of the southern Xinjiang garrison reserve group was vigorously launched under the guidance of the Military Affairs Office...

At this time, the Duke of Lombardy in the south of the valley was completely unaware of this matter. In addition, a shocking news reached his ears the next night.

…………

"Trash! You bunch of trash, you losers! What do I feed you for? You actually have the nerve to come back to see me! So many people have been taken away by others, and you have made me lose all face! Come on, put these people away.

Take that bastard out and chop it up for me!"

In the Lombardy court, the Duke of Lombardy was furious after learning that the men he sent to inquire about the Burgundy kingdom were captured, and roared loudly in the palace.

"Your Majesty, Duke, calm down! Your Majesty, Duke, please calm down!" The Prime Minister of the Lombardy Palace, who was standing aside, hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade him, while waving the baron in charge of this mission to leave.

"Your Excellency, you can't blame them. Flanders is a powerful character, so he will definitely be difficult to deal with. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing~"

The Prime Minister of the Palace stroked his beard on his chin, thoughtfully.
To be continued...