Chapter 74: Seventy-four people's worldly affairs
In early December, it is the Birthday Festival.
It was snowing lightly, around seven in the morning, with just a little light, the sky was glowing blue, and the snow was falling slowly.
Early in the morning, servants lit torches in the corridors of the manor and placed them against the walls, illuminating the house with a warm yellow glow.
Figures filed into the room under the lamplight, carrying buckets of hot water into the room.
On the second floor of the house, Theresa lived in the guest room on the west side, and Sansa and Lainey lived together in the room next to her.
After washing her face, Theresa picked out a cloak made of blue velvet and trimmed with sable from the box and put it on.
This is the most respectable cloak in her closet. Old Renault made it for her last year. It cost a lot of money including the labor and materials. She never wears it except when she goes to the Baron's Mansion.
Theresa packed up and walked out. Standing in the corridor, she could see heavy snow falling in the courtyard outside and the servants downstairs washing in the yard.
She looked for a while, then walked to Sansa's room next door, intending to catch her, dress her, and make her look good.
The whole family had to visit the Baron's mansion.
Today is a big festival. Before dawn, the butler, as Olivia instructed, brought a dozen purses full of cash and gave one to each servant.
He also sent errand boys to deliver a modest holiday gift to several nearby estates and two priests.
A humble gift was given to each of the two millers, Jacopo's family, and several workshop owners' families.
The gift-giving rules formulated by the manor are divided into different levels.
The best gifts are used to repay favors when there are weddings or funerals in neighbors' homes.
I usually pick out the best things in the warehouse and let my wife take a look before sending them to me.
The medium gift was the ordinary holiday gift, given only to neighbors and close relatives, usually twenty yards of muslin or a pair of roosters, accompanied by five pounds of butter, two pounds of spices, and two pounds of dye.
Other families responded in much the same way.
As for the lower-grade gifts, they are gifts given as return gifts to small merchants who send gifts to the family, or given to the family's managers.
Most of them are a bag of wheat flour, two pounds of fine salt, two pounds of sugar, and two pounds of cheese.
During this year's festival, everyone in and outside the manor took something away.
And this is just an appetizer.
Looking at the current situation, they can't be lazy during this festival this year.
I always have to go out with money, spend it all over the Baron's mansion, and take care of things.
After washing her face, Olivia wiped her hands with a dry cloth, turned around and asked Fanxi to wait for her outside and guard the door to prevent anyone from coming in.
After Vansh went out with the water, he closed the door. Olivia locked the door from the inside before going to change her clothes.
After changing her clothes, she went to the jewelry box and took out a few jewel rings and put them on her fingers.
She took out another necklace and tied it around her neck.
After thinking for a while, she counted out a few hundred gold coins, found a few velvet bags from the box, packed them, and put them into the inner pocket of her outer robe.
Although there were several hundred gold coins, they were not very heavy. They were hidden in his loose robe and covered by the fur coat, so they were not noticeable at all.
The reason I brought so much gold and silver was not to run away, but to give them all away today.
If all these things can be given away, it means that the rewards in the future will be far greater than these.
If she can't deliver it, it means that what she wants is not mature enough.
After doing all this, Olivia tidied her clothes, locked the suitcase, opened the door, and walked out with grace.
Fan Xi was still standing outside the door, but the basin of water had been taken away long ago.
As soon as I walked out of the bedroom, I saw a long and narrow corridor with several windows open.
She saw the snowflakes dancing in the courtyard outside and stared at them in silence for a while.
The snow in December this year was just right, neither too heavy nor too light, just enough to freeze the insects to death and irrigate the land, but not enough to cause a snowstorm that would keep people indoors.
If there is no snow, there will be drought next year.
"Are they all up? Is the carriage ready?"
Olivia walked slowly along the corridor, followed by Vansh, answering each question one by one.
"The carriage is ready."
"Madam Renault is calling for Lady Sansa, and Lady Lainey is in the living room dining room."
When Olivia went downstairs, Lainie was already having breakfast. They didn't have so many rules.
There were some instant noodles on the table. Since I had to go out today, I couldn't make time-consuming soups or spicy food, so I could only make do with what I had.
Olivia ate a few quick bites and drank a glass of mint almond milk before Theresa brought Sansa down.
Sansa looked miserable when she got up early in the winter and went out for a walk. Lanie had to stuff a handful of citron candies into her mouth to make her feel better.
Sansa ate citron candy and skipped breakfast. She followed her sisters and mother into the carriage and had the guards and grooms take them to town.
Behind their carriages was a small carriage in which sat the steward of the Renault Manor who was in charge of buying firewood and charcoal for the military camp. There was also a pile of account books belonging to Olivia.
In addition to visiting the Baron's Palace, today is also a day for settling accounts.
Along the way, Olivia was thinking about her itinerary.
When she got to the city, she would pick up Letilen first and then go to the Baron's Palace.
First, go find the Baroness to express condolences to the Baron who was sent back from the front line due to injury and give him some gifts.
After that, she and Theresa could go to the aide-de-camp to deliver the account books to settle the bills, take care of the count's subordinates who stayed here, and deliver things to the front line.
After finishing her work, Olivia will go to Letilen's house to settle the November accounts with these merchants.
After settling the accounts with the businessman, I went to my aunt's house for a meal.
After returning to the manor, she had to go to the camp and spend money to ask the Knights to send two boxes of things to the front line.
Now, as long as the money is spent, it’s no problem to let Dad and Caesar eat tofu pudding outside.
Now the entire Constant County is probably stable, and the Knights' army is currently stationed on the border between Constant County and Hobbs County.
Throughout December, the Earl would search the entire County of Constantia, wipe out all the scattered rebel forces, and count how many indigenous people were left in the County of Constantia.
On the border, they had to fight the rebels and be wary of the two counties bordering Constantia in the hands of the Lenian nobles.
Even if the battle is won, there will still be a lot of defense to do afterwards, and the Knights will have to spend at least two or three months in Constant County.
However, now that the rebel leader has been defeated and the remaining thousands of soldiers are insignificant, if nothing unexpected happens within a month, Constant County can be considered a sure thing.
Once he has secured it, the Earl will divide the County of Constantine into fiefs.
First, he took the open route and asked the king to grant him a title, allowing his grandson and granddaughter-in-law to become the legitimate lords of Constantine.
Then the five towns originally in the entire county were divided into fiefdoms.
This place is in the hands of the Earl, so the administrative areas must be redivided.
By then, it is estimated that the fiefdoms of the existing barons will have to be expanded.
Some knights should also be promoted to barons and a large number of knights should be awarded titles, so that these people can extend to every corner of Constant County.
Olivia had a vague hope that, judging by the situation on the front line, her baron's territory would definitely not be lost.
When we arrived at the city of Lavosen, Letilen had been waiting for us at the city gate for a long time.
He followed Olivia and her group into the Baron's mansion.
It was the first time for Letilen to enter the depths of the Baron's Mansion. In the past, he only went to the vicinity of the barracks outside.
The old baron broke his leg while fighting outside.
Lavossen, who was just sent back last night, was escorted back by a team of knights led by Stuart in a carriage. The other knights were still guarding the coast at the port.
Fortunately, the baron survived, otherwise the Baron Lavoisin would have been passed on to his nephew.
Even though he had a broken leg, the Earl still commended him, saying that he had made great contributions in capturing the port, and sent him gold, silver and treasures as a token of his condolence.
Letilan followed into the Baron's mansion and met many important figures along the way who, like Olivia, came to give gifts and express condolences.
He and the steward of Renault Manor were waiting in the large corridor on the first floor of the Baron's Palace with the account books.
There were more than just the two of them waiting in the large corridor. At a glance, there were about ten to twenty people, all of whom were managers and merchants who had come with them and were preparing to settle accounts with the quartermaster.
Olivia and Theresa, along with Sansa and Lainie, were led by the maid into the bedroom where the Baron and Lady lived.
Originally, the Baron and the Baroness did not live together and each had two rooms, but now that the Baron's mansion has been requisitioned by the Earl, the couple can only squeeze into one suite.
"The Baron has just finished his meal, and everyone is inside now."
As the servant spoke, he pushed open the door of the suite, and inside was a living room.
The Baron himself was being carried to the table and was sitting there, with the Baroness beside him.
There were a bunch of people in the room who were comforting him, some wearing soft armor, some ladies she knew, and some wearing velvet robes, who brought him a bunch of gifts.
On the Baron's left sat Erslow Everk, the Earl's second-grandson, the one who married the heiress to Constantine.
When he was only sixteen years old, his grandfather arranged a marriage for him with a lady who held a countship. He was truly born into a good family.
Olivia and Theresa also came forward and gathered around.
The Baron was brought in last night. He had been to the Bishop for a doctor and had now washed, shaved, dressed, and put on comfortable clothes.
As the first baron sent back injured, everyone was asking him about the situation in Constant County.
The baron also told everyone about his experiences outside with a proud look on his face.
While gesturing, he said:
"In Constant County, the snow is this deep... and the ice on the coast is this thick..."
"We fought for several days against the hundreds of rebels occupying the port fortress before we took over the entire port.
You don't know that in the port, there are four or five hundred Lenians, with their hands and feet tied, doing hard labor in the shipyard at the port.
As soon as we captured the fortress, we released these poor Lenians."
The baron looked proud of being a righteous army.
When Urslo heard the Baron describe how harsh and difficult the conditions in Constant County were, he felt inexplicably distressed.
He had just gotten married, and in the future he and his wife would openly inherit the territory of Constant County and live there permanently.
So he asked the baron four or five questions about the environment in a row.
The Baron said that Constant County was entirely covered in deep mountains and old forests, with only the tundra plains near the border river valley. Even the eastern coast was rugged and had fjords.
This time, not only Erslo had a bitter look on his face, but even Olivia and the ladies of the knights beside him frowned.
It didn't look real on the 2D map. She only heard Caesar say that this place was easy to defend and difficult to attack, with many passes and depth. She didn't expect the environment to be so harsh.
Forget it, if she could really be made a baron, she would have to accept any land given to her.
After staying here for a while, and after Erslo left, Olivia subtly stuffed a few jewel rings into the Baroness's hands as a token of sympathy.
Giving gifts in this way seems to be a simple expression of sympathy, not a request for favors.
These rings were worth a lot of gold coins, so the Baroness accepted them with a smile and told her to go find Artie, otherwise she would miss out on a number if she was late.
So Olivia and Theresa returned to the Grand Corridor and found the butler and Letilan, both of whom were still holding the account books.
Then he followed Olivia to Artie's office.
His office was near the former baron's study. It was a medium-sized open space with a corridor outside.
There was a group of people standing in the corridor outside the door. Two of Ati's servants were maintaining order. Ati called one of them in at a time.
Olivia glanced at the line and realized that if they behaved properly, they would have to wait here until next year.
So she called over the two servants who were maintaining order, asked them a few questions, and then secretly slipped two gold coins into the servants' pockets.
These two servants must have done this kind of thing many times, as they glanced around with shifty eyes.
"Madam, please wait a moment. I will go and urge the master right away."
After saying that, Olivia cast a glance at Letilen behind her, shook her head and whispered:
"In a place like this, money is everything. After our account is signed, we have to go to the treasurer to queue up and get the receipt. Only after we get the receipt can we go to the vault to withdraw the money."
Letilen was a small merchant who had never before had any dealings with the count's officials.
When doing things for the baron, most of the time you just need to pay the bill and get the money from the butler.
As for the Earl, if he wanted to get the money, he had to get signatures from many people, first the quartermaster, then the financial officer, and then he had to go to the vault to find the treasurer.
You have to queue up in these three places and pay money to smooth things over so that there won’t be any problems.
However, stuffing the money into the bag did work, and the servant inside only mentioned it twice.
Olivia and Theresa were called in by Artie first.
Artie had been busy for two hours. After exchanging a few pleasantries and learning that they were from the Baron, she began to look at the account book.
Here at Yadi, there are consumption accounts recorded by the logistics department itself.
He recorded in detail how much bread the army ate and how much charcoal and firewood it used.
As long as the quantities in the two account books match and can be verified, he can sign.
Artie had just looked through a pile of ledgers.
Most people kept their accounts in a mess. When he asked, they would have to think for a long time before they could tell him the specific details of the money.
Olivia and Theresa's accounts were written very clearly.
He asked about two accounts, and Olivia knew at a glance which merchant the two accounts belonged to, whether the grain was oats or wheat, and the specific number of pounds.
Things like grain have many processes and many contacts, making them the easiest to be used to steal money.
Just take flour as an example. There will definitely be a 10% loss when the whole grains are processed in the mill, and then there will be another 10% gain in weight after adding water and baking in the kitchen. This back and forth is a huge amount of money.
Even if he asked, he would give an excuse.
But Artie could see now that a total of 300,000 pounds of wheat and 200,000 pounds of oats had been purchased in November.
After the troops left the camp, 12,400 bags of bread were taken out of the warehouse, each weighing 40 pounds.
The flour turnover was only 4,000 pounds, which was within a reasonable range.
Olivia calculated that the loss was less than two tons.
Being able to control the loss to this extent is already quite impressive.
Artie was also very satisfied. If he could not control his subordinates, had a strained relationship with his colleagues, or was a little greedy, the loss would be tens of thousands of pounds.
Leni helped to calculate Theresa's account, and the amount was not large.
There are fewer soldiers in the barracks now, so not much firewood is used.
Besides, firewood is everywhere in the mountains and every household has it. It is cheap and not as scarce as food.
He quickly signed for Olivia and Theresa.
Before leaving, Olivia gave Artie three holiday gifts, three bags of gold coins.
"Although it's nothing to you, sir, it's a token of respect. It's been truly difficult to work with you for the Earl this year. I don't know if I'll have this opportunity again in the future."
"These other two are for Lord Ssona and Lord Bilson. Please pass them on for me and ask them to take good care of them."
Since it was a festival gift, Artie would naturally not refuse it, and he never complained about the amount of money. He weighed it, smiled deeply, and continued:
"Don't worry. As for the future, we still have many days to deal with each other, and you will know soon."
Giving gifts to these people will bring you more real benefits than giving gifts to the earl's two sons.
Olivia smiled and nodded, without staying any longer, then followed Theresa to the treasurer.
The office of Treasurer Debdo is nearby.
The invoices he had to issue every day were not only from the quartermaster, but also from all the earl's public and private accounts.
And Olivia was not wrong in her guess. Debdo was able to become the chief financial officer, and he was indeed a three-star talent in "Business".
Debdo has a proud and arrogant look on his face and never gets along well with anyone.
He only looked at the signature and seal before issuing the invoice and stamping it, all in one go without saying a word to anyone.
But when he saw Olivia leave a bag of money on the table, he took the money silently without saying a word.
The vault is in the basement.
The two men issued a ticket and took the people to the basement of the Baron's Mansion. After being searched and checked to see that they were not carrying any weapons, they were allowed to go outside the treasury.
There are more than a hundred fully armed soldiers guarding here in layers.
They handed the ticket to the warehouse manager outside the warehouse and waited for a long time before the warehouse manager brought people out the sealed box and counted the money for them.
There is a quota for the number of coins in each box. Generally, you can only receive silver coins. Gold coins are not minted in such large quantities.
But Olivia thought about it and realized that if she took 25,000 silver coins, it would take several large boxes, and she would have to find someone to escort them out.
So she gave some money to Mr. Ibo, the treasurer, and asked him to help them exchange it for gold coins of good quality.
Yi Bo is also a serious-looking man, but as long as the money is used properly, he can do his job without any problems.
A box of brand new gold coins that had not yet been circulated was brought out.
Such undamaged gold coins can be exchanged for more than ten silver coins outside.
Theresa received four hundred gold coins and Olivia received twenty-five hundred gold coins, five hundred of which were each for a small box, which could be stacked together so that Letilen could carry it.
After leaving the Baron's Mansion, Olivia separated from Theresa, and Theresa, Sansa, and Lanie were taken away by their aunt and others.
She and Letilen had another car waiting outside, with several soldiers and a large number of followers nearby.
After getting in the car, Olivia followed Letilan to his home.
It is called a residence, but in fact it is not far from the market, and is just half an office.
In the three-story townhouse, one and a half floors are used as his accounting area and study.
His father-in-law's family and his own family owned several shops of varying sizes in La Vossen and several other towns. Since they sold groceries, they had too many accounts to account.
He also bought two servants who could do accounting and keep records, and now he has set up a room to store the military supply account books, which is also used as a reception room.
The merchants who had been waiting in the house for a long time were relieved to see the two of them successfully pay the bill and come back with the money.
He first gave Olivia two carts of gifts, and then began to count the money one by one.
…
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