“What, do you like this Victoria very much?” Noticing Otto’s unusual reaction, Queen Therese asked, “I remember now, you went to London before, so you’ve already met her?”
Making such a deduction, and thinking of Victoria’s age in the material, Queen Therese’s gaze was a bit strange.
“Let’s look at the others first.” Otto shook his head, suppressing the thought that had just emerged.
Becoming King directly might seem great, but the political landscape in Britain was already taking shape, capitalists were gradually gaining the upper hand, and various interest factions had begun to contend with the royal family. It wouldn't be easy to reverse the situation and seize power.
Especially since Victoria was deeply influenced by liberalism, many of the governance strategies he envisioned ran counter to liberalism. At that time, when he was fighting with Parliament, he might also have to deal with internal family struggles, which would be too exhausting.
Another thing was that Victoria seemed to have hemophilia, and Otto did not want his future descendants to suffer from genetic diseases.
Choosing a fiancée required considering not only appearance and character but also political influence, so it wasn't an easy decision to make. After dealing with Queen Therese, Otto hurried to his territory to get busy.
“Wester, how are the manors in the territory now? How are those Greek refugees?” Upon arriving, Otto immediately asked his head butler, Wester.
Ever since he obtained his territory, Otto had instructed his butler Wester to recruit more refugees from Greece and settle them in the manors within his territory.
Since the start of the War of Independence, Greece had been in a state of war and turmoil for nearly ten years. The lives of the people within the country were difficult and precarious, and many were forced to leave their homes where they had lived for years.
Under Otto’s instructions, Wester had been actively recruiting refugees within Greece for many years. Over these past few years, more and more Greeks had come to live in Otto’s territory.
As of now, there are over four thousand households, totaling more than eighteen thousand people, working in the territory alongside the locals recruited by Otto.
Most of these Greeks were young and strong adults, with fewer elderly and children. Otto organized them to farm and study in the territory.
Unlike many nobles who leased land to farmers and then ignored them, Otto began managing his territory’s land using a large-scale farm approach from the moment he acquired it.
Although agricultural machinery had not yet appeared in those days, Otto spent money to purchase a large number of farm tools and cattle.
Coupled with the construction of water conservancy projects and the unified popularization of fertilizers suitable for this era, not only was more farmland reclaimed, but the average yield was also generally higher.
At this time, agricultural experts had already discovered the role of fertilizers, but ordinary farmers, firstly, lacked access to relevant knowledge, and secondly, did not have the capital to invest.
These were not problems for Otto. He first hired agricultural experts, compiled methods for grain cultivation and fertilizer use, then implemented them in the territory, adjusting them based on practical feedback.
These people in the territory usually farmed in Otto’s territory. In their free time, Otto also arranged for Greek scholars among the refugees to teach them the Greek language and history, providing basic education and simple military training. Otto even specially established a school in the territory.
This school specifically recruited these Greek refugees and the descendants of Otto’s trusted subordinates, to cultivate the talents Otto would need in the future.
Especially in the past year, after earning more money, Otto even invited many famous teachers to teach various subjects based on the students' strengths.
After all, his future foundation for ruling Greece could not rely entirely on people from Bavaria, but needed to rely more on Greeks, or at least people familiar with the Greek language and script, so that management could truly be decentralized to the grassroots.
These people were actually the core team for Otto’s future governance, so they naturally needed to be well cultivated, allowing them to unleash their potential and selecting usable talents from among them.
“Not much new land has been reclaimed this year. Most of the arable land in the territory has already been developed. Also, there aren’t enough people in the territory,” Wester offered his suggestion:
“The people in the territory spend too much energy on daily studies and military training, which results in some work not getting done. I think we can appropriately reduce these arrangements…”
“No, this work cannot be reduced; it needs to be strengthened. If there aren’t enough people, recruit more,” Wester stood in his position, naturally with his considerations, and Otto also had to maintain his stance.
“But in that case, the territory’s income will decrease, especially with the high costs of inviting teachers and military officers for the education and training of the villagers recently.
The farmers’ children could have helped with some farm work, but now they all need us to pay for their upkeep, and we also need to hire teachers to educate them…
These are all expenditures. The territory’s income has been decreasing in the past two years, and recruiting more people will increase expenditures. If this continues, it might even lead to losses.”
“It doesn’t matter. Now I no longer need to rely on the meager income from the territory to live. Instead, the cultivation of these people is more important. I need enough talents and soldiers,” Otto directly issued the order.
Wester nodded with a hint of pain. Being loyal enough and naturally meticulous, he was trustworthy when managing finances.
However, from his position, he could not comprehend Otto’s ambition, and Otto could not casually reveal his intention to become the King of Greece everywhere.
In fact, after earning a large amount of money, Otto’s pursuit of power unconsciously increased.
Even if he could not become the King of Greece in the future, there were still many unclaimed lands in this era, and he would consider seeking another suitable place to colonize and establish his own country.
If a prince trained a private army in his territory, the first reaction of people in the Far East Empire would be that this feudal lord was rebelling.
Especially if it spread and the emperor found out, being summoned by the emperor for a reprimand would be a minor issue. In severe cases, they might be directly arrested and imprisoned, spending the rest of their lives confined to a single courtyard.
Even if they encountered a brother or a more distant relative who was the emperor, it would not be surprising if a ruthless one directly eliminated the entire family, including wives and children.
But in the West, it was different. In Western tradition, nobles all had their own private armies in their territories, and no one would care if a prince did the same.
Otto could even use the royal channels to purchase various weapons and hire military officers, directly asking the King for help in introducing contacts and relevant talents.
Currently, the total number of Greeks and locals in Otto’s territory is over forty-three thousand. These people are extremely supportive of Otto. If expressed in terms of loyalty in a game, their average loyalty is above seventy points, and many even reach over eighty.
This was already quite impressive, as in games, if your subordinates’ loyalty was insufficient, you only needed to give them treasures and beautiful women to maintain their loyalty at ninety or even full. However, the reality of human nature is complex, and simply giving more rewards does not necessarily guarantee loyalty. The current level of support from the people in his territory is inseparable from Otto’s diligent management.
Of course, part of it was also a comparison. In an era where most territorial nobles were not humane, Otto’s method of managing the territory might seem very hard on these people from a later perspective.
But in this era, he was already an extremely rare and benevolent lord. Many commoners in the surrounding areas were very envious of the lives of the people under Otto’s rule.