It was a rare sunny day in late winter, and the scorching sun completely melted the thin layer of snow covering the Valley.
The Wood Fort was peaceful and quiet, and the usually noisy training ground was devoid of Soldiers clashing in formation.
In the Wood Fort's private courtyard, at a long table in a small room, the first military and Civil Affairs meeting since the Valley became a Knight Territory began with everyone looking serious yet slightly excited.
As usual, the Commander of the army and the Civil Administrator sat on opposite sides of the long table, but this time there were some subtle changes in the seating order and attendees.
On the left side of the long table sat Odo, Angus, Ron, Bass, Kazak, Tuba, and Simon, in order.
On the right side sat Cooper, Sartre, Scott, Lynn, Bard, and Thomas, in order.
There were not many changes for the army Commander, with only one additional army Deputy Officer, Angus.
On the Civil Affairs side, Sartre, due to his extraordinary performance during his time with the army merchant caravan, had achieved a position second only to Cooper among the Valley Civil Administrators.
Lawrence should have been seated before Scott, but he was granted absence from the meeting as he was still recovering from injuries.
Bard was attending the meeting because he had recently been primarily assisting Cooper in leading the Master Craftsmen in construction matters.
Thomas had officially joined the Valley Wood Fort, and as he was skilled in medicine, he also attended the meeting.
Before the meeting, Art had already discussed matters with the main military officers and Civil Administrators of both the army and Civil Affairs, achieving basic consensus.
This meeting was primarily to finalize the future development direction and military-civilian structure of the Valley Knight Territory.
Art, uncharacteristically, wore a baron's cotton robe and everyday clothes captured from Biertun Fort today, cinched with a cowhide belt, and comfortable deerskin soft boots on his feet.
He sat upright in the leather-covered armchair at the head of the long table, holding a charcoal stick in his hand, with several pieces of air-dried birch bark in front of him.
He looked around at the army officers and Valley Stewards seated at the long table, cleared his throat, and said to everyone, “Everyone, this is not the first time you have attended such a meeting, but today’s meeting is different from previous ones, because now we are discussing how to build the Valley Knight Territory better as the masters of this Valley.
Every matter we discuss today concerns the future of this land, and also the future of everyone present, so please think more and speak more.”
“Now, let the Valley Steward Cooper tell everyone about the current situation of the Valley Knight Territory.” Art’s gaze turned to Cooper.
Old Butler Cooper found the most worn-out piece from a thick stack of birch bark on the table and held it up, saying to everyone, “Everyone, what I have before me are the registration documents for the personnel, money, materials, and land of this Valley over the past two years.
Two years ago, all the personnel, money, materials, and land documents for the entire Valley amounted to less than half a piece of birch bark.
At that time, we only had a few dilapidated thatched huts, a piece of barren land in the forest, a few fort residents, and not enough grain in the storeroom to fill our stomachs.”
Speaking, Cooper pulled out another piece of birch bark, pointed to the dense writing on it, and said, “This piece of birch bark records the documents left when we cleared the personnel, land, money, and materials after Master returned from his post as Southern Border Patrol Officer of the Court.
At that time, we had a total of forty-three people, two acres of land, over a thousand pounds of stored grain, over twenty sets of farm tools and equipment, and one mule and one horse each.
It was also from that time that Master continuously recruited fort residents to enter the Valley and reclaim barren land…”
“Gradually, our fort residents, money, materials, and land in the Valley increased.
Some time ago, when I took Niel to organize and register the personnel, land, and materials of the Valley, it already took two full sheets of parchment and five pieces of birch bark.” Cooper took out the thick stack of parchment and birch bark from the top, his words containing an uncontrollable excitement and pride.
“I was the first to follow Master, and I am also a witness to this Valley’s transformation from a wasteland to fertile land.
From wasteland to fertile land, under Master’s leadership, we only took less than two years.
I say all this because I just want to tell everyone that this Valley belongs to Master, and it also belongs to all of us.
Our destiny is tightly bound to Master and this Valley.
As the Valley prospers day by day, everyone will also gain glory.” As a person with rich experience and considerable ability, Cooper’s words were naturally beyond the reach of ordinary commoners.
Indeed, the emotions of everyone in the room were stirred by Cooper’s words, and even Art felt a slight surge of excitement from Cooper’s words.
After everyone’s emotions calmed down, Cooper picked up a piece of parchment and said, “I will now briefly talk about the current situation of the Valley.”
“Regarding fort residents.
Aside from the army officers, Soldiers, and caravan members, the Valley has successively welcomed several new groups of people.
Currently, there are forty-five farming households, totaling one hundred and twenty-six people, of whom ninety-seven are young and strong men and women.
There are ten artisan households, totaling twenty-five people (including families), of whom three are blacksmiths, three are carpenters, one is a tanner, and three are other craftsmen.
Two of the artisans are Master Craftsmen from Swabia, and most of the others are also artisans from Swabia.
Currently, they have not fully adapted to the Valley, but they have already begun to engage in craftsmanship under my and Bard’s leadership.
There are eighteen prisoner laborers, temporarily supervised by the fort guard team for work.
In addition, there are two Medical Officers, Thomas and the Persian woman Farnaz.
The thirteen orphans brought back by the merchant caravan are temporarily cared for by me and Niel.
As for Father Hamish, he is an apostle of the Lord, and we have not counted him as a fort resident.
Once the church is built, the Wood Fort will provide him with money and grain monthly.
The entire Valley Knight Territory has a total of one hundred and eighty-four fort residents.
Except for the first batch of fort residents who were allocated land and harvested grain and can manage their own food, we have over a hundred mouths waiting for the Wood Fort’s grain supply.
Excluding army consumption, the fort residents alone need over four thousand pounds of grain per month.
However, the grain seeds returned by farmers after the autumn harvest last year, the grain captured by the army on various occasions, and the grain we purchased ourselves amount to only over thirty-eight thousand pounds.
This grain can only barely support the consumption of the Valley fort residents, and if army supplies are added, it will be very difficult to sustain until the autumn harvest.
Therefore, we either need to purchase a large amount of grain from outside, or stop recruiting fort residents.
This requires Master’s decision.”
“Regarding money and finances, due to the huge consumption of money, grain, weapons, equipment, and military pay during the army’s expedition, coupled with our continuous purchase of large quantities of grain over the past six months, most of the original money in the Wood Fort has been used up.
However, it is fortunate that the spoils of war from the army’s expedition were considerable.
Leaving aside materials for now, the money alone amounted to nearly seventy thousand fenny, plus what the accompanying merchant caravan earned, our total money is about one hundred thousand fenny.
This money is enough to cover the Valley’s expenses for five years.
Of course, most of this money will be successively allocated for army use, so it cannot be entirely used for Valley expenses…”
On the issue of money, Cooper’s original intention was not to disclose it to others, because money is the foundation, and it is best for Art to personally control it.
However, Art believed that it could temporarily be disclosed to the core cadres, so that everyone would know that having money and grain would prevent panic.
“Regarding materials.
First, housing: the Valley Wood Fort has eight houses, two workshops, two granaries, one armory, one kitchen, and two stables/livestock pens.
The Valley Land has two large wooden houses, fifteen self-built shacks by farmers, one granary, one livestock pen, and one tool room.
A small church will soon be built here at the Wood Fort, and then Father Hamish will reside in the church to shepherd this Valley for the Holy Lord.
Second, carriages, farm tools, and equipment: the Wood Fort and Valley Land have three two-wheeled cargo wooden carts, sixty-two sets of various farm tools, twenty-five sets of iron pots and cooking utensils, and thirty-one sets of various tools.
Third, livestock: the Wood Fort and Valley Land have nine oxen, four warhorses, five mules, two donkeys, six pigs, twelve sheep, and over twenty chickens and geese.
The above materials do not include the portions belonging to the army and the merchant caravan.”
“Regarding land, the one hundred and twenty acres of land reclaimed earlier have already been harvested once, and some are now planted with winter wheat.
An additional two hundred and forty acres have recently been reclaimed, with a small portion replanted with winter wheat.
The newly reclaimed land will be fully distributed to the fort residents before spring plowing, and the specific distribution matters still need to be discussed separately.
It needs to be specially noted that the one hundred and twenty acres of land reclaimed in the early stage yielded nearly seventy thousand pounds of grain in the autumn of last year.
Excluding the grain seeds returned to the Wood Fort and the wheat seeds kept by farmers for spring plowing, the farmers still have forty thousand pounds of surplus grain.
After the autumn harvest, we purchased some surplus grain from the farmers, but considering the possibility of expanding cultivation in spring this year, we did not extensively purchase the farmers’ surplus grain.”
“This is a brief overview of the Valley’s current situation.”
Cooper briefly explained the current situation of the Valley Knight Territory in one breath, then handed the documents to Art.
Art took the document and glanced at it, then said to the Civil Affairs officials on his right: "I'll go through this item by item. First, regarding the fort residents: we currently have nearly two hundred fort residents, which is quite a large number. We can temporarily stop recruiting more fort residents and focus on making good use of the people we already have. I won't say much about the farmers tilling the land; you've always done a very good job with that. As for the artisans, you need to build the artisan workshop properly. We have quite a few artisans now, and they can't just sit idle in the Valley Land. The army needs an artisan workshop for casting and repairing weapons and armor, and the Valley Land needs them for building houses, making farm tools, and so on. If workshop materials are insufficient, have the merchant team purchase them from outside. Their food and lodging will be provided by the Valley Land, and they will receive salaries in the future. I will also assign someone to manage them. As for the captive laborers brought back from the battlefield, have them participate in all heavy labor in the Valley Land, whether it's reclaiming barren land, building houses, constructing encampments, or expanding roads—they can do it all. All future war captives captured by the army will be handled similarly. If anyone performs exceptionally, they can regain civilian status and be given land or join the army. I have special arrangements for the dozen or so recruited orphans. A house will be specially built next to the Wood Fort church as a parish school, outwardly referred to as Father Hamish's orphanage. The school will be taught by Cooper, Guy (rescued small merchant), Niel (rescued small merchant), Thomas, Farnaz (Persian woman), and army officers, who will teach them literacy, medical skills, and military knowledge. Father Hamish will also teach them theology. If there are suitable boys from army officers' or Soldiers' families who wish to be sent to the school, they can also be accepted. All school expenses will be provided by the Wood Fort."
"Second, regarding finances: currently, our funds are mainly used for purchasing grain, paying military salaries, and the salaries of stewards and clerks. However, the army will need a lot of money in the future. The Valley Land's funds will temporarily be managed by Cooper, but priority will be given to army expenditures."
"Third, regarding supplies: public property belonging to the Wood Fort, except for important livestock, large farm implements, and tools, fragmented supplies such as cooking utensils, wooden implements, and simple farm tools can be sold or rented to the fort residents. If the fort residents' families lack sufficient food and supplies, the merchant team can purchase them on their behalf from outside."
"Fourth, regarding land: the detailed matters will be discussed and handled by Cooper and the other stewards, and only major issues should be reported to me. For land issues, I will only set one broad direction: expanding land for grain cultivation. The fief granted to me by the Court is three thousand acres, and for ten years, there will be no heavy taxes. Without the burden of taxes, these three thousand acres of fertile 'barren land' alone are enough to support over five hundred fort residents, though this does not include supporting the army."
Cooper quickly jotted down Art's words with a charcoal stick.
"That concludes the introduction to the Valley Knight Territory for now. Sartre, please tell us about the merchant team." Art turned to Sartre, the merchant team's steward.
"Yes, My Lord, I will briefly talk about the merchant team. The merchant team has thirteen four-wheeled carriages, seventeen mules and packhorses, including four double-hitch carriages with a load capacity of sixteen hundred pounds, six single-hitch carriages with a load capacity of one thousand pounds, and three mule carts with a load capacity of eight hundred pounds. There are also seven or eight carriages in the Wood Fort, but we don't have enough pack animals to pull them, and for now, there's no need for so many carriages. The merchant team has five guards (three deceased), six coachmen, and four merchant team clerks, including myself and Lawrence. After leaving Talburg, we no longer engaged in the southern goods trade. We primarily helped Baron Galvin of Sapp transport goods to various places north and south to earn commissions. We also purchased some miscellaneous goods in various northern and southern locations to make money. Currently, after deducting the merchant team's own expenses, we can roughly surplus five thousand to eight thousand fenny per month. The merchant team's account books are jointly recorded by me and two clerks, with Lawrence responsible for supervision. Each time I return to the Valley Land, I hand over the account books to the Old Butler for verification."
"Currently, that is the situation of the merchant team. If we only rely on sporadic sales of miscellaneous goods or act as a transport merchant team, it will be difficult for us to achieve higher profits. My Lord, we still need to find a way to join the southern goods trade!" Sartre's heart was always set on the southern goods trade.
"I will personally handle the matter of the merchant team's southern goods trade after I have settled the Valley Land and the army. For now, you should maintain operations. The merchant team guards will be increased to fifteen, and all guards will also serve as coachmen. I will assign a few Soldiers from the army to the merchant team, and you yourselves will recruit two more odd-job workers who can also serve as stable hands." Art had already discussed the merchant team's matters with Sartre; having him briefly explain the situation again was just so that everyone in the room would be aware.
"Scott, you don't need to talk about the Valley Land. Just tell us about the Valley Wood Fort Guard." Art turned his gaze to Scott.
Scott knew Art would ask about this, and he had clearly prepared in advance, speaking without stuttering, "Yes, My Lord, the Wood Fort Guard has undergone several personnel transfers to the army and the merchant team, as well as subsequent recruitment of young and strong fort residents to join the Wood Fort Guard. Currently, the Wood Fort Guard has a total of eleven people. Lawrence is the Captain, and Lynn and I are Deputy Captains. Two injured Patrol Team Soldiers have joined the Wood Fort Guard, and the rest are ordinary fort residents who serve as farmer-Soldiers for the Wood Fort Guard during their agricultural off-season. Except for us three Captains and the two injured Soldiers who receive grain and salary from the Wood Fort, the other farmer-Soldiers only receive grain during intensive training and when participating in tasks dispatched by the Wood Fort. The Wood Fort Guard's main duty is to ensure the safety of the Valley Land while the army is out. Last year, the Valley Land was not threatened by external enemies during the army's expedition. It was only a month and a half ago that we reported to the Old Butler and had a fellow who was stealing things in the Valley Land imprisoned. That fellow is now reclaiming barren land with the captive laborers."
The Wood Fort Guard was more agricultural in nature, and Scott didn't have much to report.
"Hmm, good. After this council meeting, I plan to rename the Wood Fort Guard to the Valley Guard, and the original duties of the Wood Fort Guard will also change somewhat. I will discuss this shortly."
After Art had generally sorted out the important matters of the Valley Land, he began the most crucial arrangement: dividing the responsibilities of Civil Affairs and appointing Civil Affairs officials at various levels.
Art sat up straight, pulled a parchment written with a quill from the table, and said to everyone in the room: "Everyone, through our collective efforts, the Valley Knight Territory has grown in population, its resources have become more abundant, and its land has expanded. Previously, we only needed one or two people to lead, and everyone else would follow, but the situation is different now. We have over a hundred farmers and farmwives, a dozen artisans, dozens of captive laborers, and various miscellaneous tasks such as Wood Fort village construction and encampment construction. Therefore, to ensure the better development of the Valley Knight Territory, it is necessary for us to appoint a group of stewards and clarify their respective responsibilities. In the future, if a certain area of work is done well, I will reward the stewards and clerks; if it is not done well, I will also punish them."
The hearts of the few people on the right side of the wooden table began to pound. Some of them already knew their assignments, while others were still unclear about the positions they were about to assume. Their positions were not appointed by the Court or the county, but in this Valley Land, the "official positions" appointed by Lord Art were "official positions" recognized by law.
"Now, I announce the positions to be established in the Valley Knight Territory and the matters they will manage." Art deliberately paused, and the few people on the Civil Affairs side subtly straightened up.
"One Civil Administrator of the Valley Knight Territory will be established, responsible for overseeing all Civil Affairs matters of the Valley Territory."
"One Trade Steward and two Vice Stewards will be established, responsible for the merchant team's trade and daily management. The two Vice Stewards will concurrently serve as the merchant team's account book clerk and the merchant team's Guard Captain, respectively."
"One Valley Land Garrison Steward, one Vice Steward, and one Tax Collector will be established, responsible for the Valley Land's garrison farming and land tax matters. The Garrison Steward will concurrently serve as the Valley Guard Captain, and the Vice Steward will serve as the Deputy Captain."
"One Valley Land Construction Steward will be established, also serving as Deputy Captain of the Guard. One Vice Steward will also be established, serving as the Guard's farmer-Soldier instructor. They will primarily be responsible for the management of the Valley Knight Territory's captive laborers, the construction of houses, encampments, and roads, and the building of the fort, among other matters."
"One Valley Land Artisan Steward will be established, with two Vice Stewards. The Construction Steward will concurrently serve as one of the Artisan Vice Stewards. One clerk who speaks Swabia will manage the territory's artisans and artisan workshops, responsible for casting and repairing weapons and armor, making farm implements and tools, producing wooden machinery, and assisting the Construction Steward with construction matters."
"A Parish School, a Valley Land Medical Hall, and a general store will be established. The school's clerk will be concurrently held by several literate stewards and clerks. The general store will have one clerk to manage it. The school, medical hall, and general store will be directly under the Civil Administrator. All other Valley Land stewards will be under the jurisdiction of the Civil Administrator."
"Regarding the salaries of the Civil Administrator and their subordinates, they will no longer follow army military pay but will be paid monthly according to the size of the position: Civil Administrator monthly salary of one hundred twenty fenny—Steward monthly salary of one hundred fenny—Vice Steward monthly salary of eighty fenny—Clerk monthly salary of sixty fenny. All ordinary artisans and clerks will receive clerk treatment, while Master Craftsmen and Medical Officers will receive Vice Steward treatment. Their own rations will be provided by the Wood Fort, but they must use their own money to purchase food to support their wives and children. Food and supplies in the Wood Fort will be sold to them at the lowest market price."
"Now, I announce the appointments of Civil Affairs personnel at all levels in the Valley Knight Territory: Cooper as the Civil Administrator of the Valley Knight Territory; Sartre as the Merchant Team Steward, with Yuwen (rescued small merchant) and Raven (injured Combat Squad Leader) as Vice Stewards; Scott as the Garrison Steward, Lynn as the Vice Steward, and Guy as the Tax Collector; Lawrence as the Construction Steward, and Gerr (injured Combat Squad Leader) as the Vice Steward; Cooper will temporarily concurrently serve as the Artisan Steward, with Bard and Lawrence (concurrently) as Vice Stewards, and Niel as the clerk. Niel and Guy will concurrently serve as Parish School clerks. Cooper, Father Hamish, Thomas, and Farnaz will teach at the school, and the army will also send people to teach and train at the school. The Medical Hall will temporarily be managed by Thomas and Farnaz; in addition to teaching at the school, they will also be responsible for teaching some basic medical skills to specialized army medical (supply) Soldiers. The Wood Fort general store will temporarily be managed by Emma, who will receive a clerk's salary."
"All of the above appointments are temporary. After three months, I will make adjustments and formal appointments based on your performance." Art rolled up the parchment in his hand and said to the people on his right.
By the time Art finished announcing the appointments of Civil Affairs stewards and clerks at various levels, it was already noon. Camille gently knocked on the wooden house door, curtsied politely to everyone in the room, and said, "My Lord, gentlemen, lunch is ready. My mother asks if we can have lunch first."
Art stood up, smiled at Camille, and said, "Camille, go tell your mother that she can bring the food in now. We'll discuss army matters after we've had lunch."
Camille bowed to Art again, turned, and ran out of the courtyard. Soon, Emma and a few other women brought in a table full of food...