novelraw Chapter 119: Procurement
Chapter 119: Procurement
Ch 119: Procurement
Finishing a plan for forming a standing army, Vig looked out the window. The sun hung high in the sky; it was almost noon.
“Hmm, I think I forgot something.”
He picked up the water bottle from the long table, poured out some clean water to wet his face, and pulled out a booklet from under the scroll.
This was the work of the military shaman and a fifth-grade student. Based on records from various monasteries and field surveys, they roughly estimated the population and land area of the Central Lowlands.
Currently, the total population of the Central Lowlands is 160,000. Including the still-uncontrolled Northern Highlands and Southern Highlands, the total population of the Scotland region is approximately 200,000.
Of this, the lords’ own lands account for one-third of the total cultivated land area, cultivated by tenant farmers and slaves.
Reviewing the data from various settlements, Vig finally remembered the forgotten matter—releasing the slaves.
It is estimated that after the lands of the original nobles and gentlemen were distributed to the new nobles and soldiers, there was a remaining part. Vig planned to use it to win over the slaves, who account for 10% of the total population. These people are helpless and have the lowest acquisition cost, and their loyalty is guaranteed.
As for the ordinary peasants, who make up the vast majority of the population, Vig wasn’t interested in bothering with them. He wouldn’t collect taxes this year （anyway, they couldn’t be collected anyway）, and they could pay taxes as usual next year. The situation has been unstable in the past two years; as long as they don’t rebel, everything is fine. “Twenty acres of cultivated land per household; maintaining subsistence is not a problem.”
Vig wrote a document, stamped it with his seal, and instructed the Four Northern Counties under his jurisdiction to implement it within half a year.
After finishing all this, his energy was exhausted. He returned to his bedroom and slept until the early hours of the next day.
In early August, Vig took the time to return to Tyne, to deal with the increasingly tense financial problems.
“Twelve hundred pounds of silver is gone? Is it that serious?”
“The front lines are tense, supplies are heavily consumed, prices have risen sharply, and I don’t have many methods,” Herigifu spread out the ledger, explaining the detailed expenditures of each month to her husband:
“The funds required for the standing army are simply too much. Currently, there are only 150 pounds of silver left in the storehouse. Even with the taxes that Tyne is about to collect, it’s still impossible to support until next autumn, unless you find a way to borrow another 200 pounds of silver.”
Two hundred pounds of silver.
Vig pulled out a sheet of parchment, thought for a moment and wrote: “To my dearest Majesty, your most reliable vassal has recently encountered some economic difficulties and requests funding of two hundred pounds of silver to help me overcome this difficulty.”
After writing, he sealed it and then began to write a second letter: “To my dearest friend Theodulf, I am currently experiencing tight military funds.”
Then came the third, fourth, and fifth letters. Herigifu’s face turned pale. “Enough, enough, don’t write anymore. The large-scale war is over. Why are you borrowing so much money?”
Vig sealed the letters with sealing wax, explaining to his wife: “What else can I do? Of course, it’s to expand the iron mine, clear the swamps, and reclaim wasteland.”
After saying this, under Herigifu’s terrified gaze, he began to write the sixth letter:
“To my dearest brother Gunnar, I heard that you have become the Duke of Normandy and married Charlemagne’s great-granddaughter. Congratulations! I’m sending a gem necklace with this letter to express my congratulations.
West Francia produces excellent horses, and the North produces wool textiles, beer, iron ingots, and tin. Both sides have their needs. Could we reach a trade agreement with you?”
The next day, six messengers set off for their respective destinations, one of whom specifically took a ship to the castle of the Duke of Normandy—Caen.
Sailing up the Orne River, the longship went some distance and found a river barrier stretched across the front, with a wooden fort standing on both the east and west banks.
（Note: There are two Orne Rivers in France. One flows through Normandy and north into the English Channel. The other originates in Verdun and eventually flows into the Moselle River. This refers to the former.）
Seeing the garrison drawing bows and arrows, the messenger shouted, “I am a messenger from the Duke of Tyne, delivering a wedding gift to the Duke of Normandy.”
Under the orders of the garrison, the small boat approached the west bank. After verifying his identity, a Viking wearing a silver crucifix pendant muttered softly:
“It’s been almost a year since the wedding. Why is your master only sending a gift now? Too slow. And you’ve come at a bad time; the Duke isn’t currently in Caen.”
The messenger showed slight disappointment. “What? Where is he then?”
“Pepin II of Aquitaine has declared himself king, and His Majesty has raised an army to attack him. If nothing unexpected happens, the Duke has already arrived at the front lines to fight. You may have to wait a while.”
For a long time, Pepin II had been dissatisfied with the Treaty of Verdun signed in 843. 《They were all descendants of Charlemagne, belonging to the same family. Why could his three uncles claim kingship, while he, occupying the vast land of Aquitaine, was deprived of the crown?》
At the instigation of the nobles, Pepin II officially rebelled in AD 845, declaring himself King of Aquitaine and demanding equal status with Charles the Bald, Lothair, and Louis the German.
After four years, the conflict between uncle and nephew finally escalated. Charles the Bald finally made up his mind and gathered a group of vassals with their own thoughts to prepare for war.
However, these people outwardly supported the king but actually made many excuses, claiming that their territories were experiencing difficulties and could not provide many troops.
After the meeting, Gunnar stayed behind and made a bold suggestion to his new boss:
“Mixed with these vermin, our army will be unable to win in the short term. The longer it drags on, the more likely we are to suffer external interference. Why don’t you lead the troops to make a big show of force to attract the rebels’ attention, and I will lead the army by ship, making a surprise attack on Bordeaux along the coastline!”
Empty where it is full, full where it is empty.
When everyone went to Constantinople together, they were idle on the way, and inevitably talked about various matters to pass the time. Vig would occasionally make some inexplicable remarks, which everyone thought was funny at the time. Now, Gunnar, looking back, realized that this guy’s words were golden sayings, unfortunately, he only remembered a few, most of his memories were lost.
After persuading the king, Gunnar used the pretext of purging pirates to go to sea. In order to conceal his true intentions, he only took 100 Frankish soldiers and 800 Viking soldiers, sailing on twenty-five longships and sailing west along the coastline.
Reaching the westernmost point of Brittany, the fleet turned south and arrived at the Garonne River Mouth in early August.
“What a wide river surface, it seems Bjorn wasn’t exaggerating.”
Then, forty carefully selected Frankish soldiers pretended to be merchants, each boarding two ships, sailing into the Garonne River channel one after the other.
According to the plan, they would mingle into the city during the daytime and assassinate the guards on the city walls at night, allowing Gunnar’s main force to enter Bordeaux.
Looking at the sails disappearing on the wide water surface, Gunnar assumed a calm demeanor. Things had come to this point; worry was meaningless. He could only place his hope on these soldiers.