The military meeting ended quickly, and Bridget and her legionnaires had already deduced the outcome of the battle here into several possibilities. Locke's appearance only allowed them to tell Locke about their tactical plans and existing difficulties.

Frontal warfare is not a big problem, but syndicate infiltration and assassination are no small trouble for the southern theater of operations. Bridget, who knew Locke's strategic intentions, naturally didn't want to leave a large number of troops behind to ensure the security of all the towns in this land after the war here was over.

But she doesn't have a good solution at the moment.

Only Bridget and Hudson were left in the chamber, as well as Mabray and Redpass, and a major officer representing the Security Service.

"The one named Clito, did he come to Nanhai Town?" Compared to the others, Locke is still more concerned about this issue. This and the family behind him were the new nobility after the end of the Second War, and they had legal inheritance here, and if he was indeed one of the heirs of the Duke of Alabham, it would be a real problem.

"No, the latest news we have learned is that he was kidnapped by his vassal, Dasalia, as a bargaining chip against us." Mabrey cupped his eyes and said with some caution, "I am personally skeptical about this, we all know here that Dasaliah has always been a loyal vassal of the Abraham family, how could he kidnap his own feudal lord?" ”

Locke subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and then he said, "It seems that he refused my summons, so I have a reason to take back the territory of the Arrabeth family after the war." ”

In addition to the royal family, Lordaeron's future no longer requires a large nobleman with the title of duke. This is necessary to maintain the unity of the royal family and Lordaeron.

Naturally, the rest of the room wouldn't have commented on Locke's words, but Redpass offered some of his own thoughts on the Syndicate.

"Lord Harvey, if possible, I feel it is necessary to curb the evil deeds of the Syndicate bandits in this land. The law and order war is not as simple as you think, the alliance forces have been fighting them for a while, and they are quite cunning. ”

"It's like the ambush you were in when you came here, it's so common in this land that we can't afford to be surprised. If you don't encounter an ambush from them, that's not normal. The people here can't hang them from every big tree in Nanhai Town! ”

"I agree with Commander Redpass that the civilians are already angry with the bandits of the Syndicate." "They are happy to take revenge on the people who destroyed their property and killed their families," Mabray echoed Redpass. We just need to do some guidance. ”

Hudson looked at the map on the opposite wall with his hands folded, he looked at the Alterac Mountains, and then looked at Talenmere carefully, and then said to Locke, "I have an idea, didn't A while ago say that he wouldn't support Clito?" If he needs our help, then show us something practical. So deal with those of his men who do not listen to him, and that is when he proves it to us. ”

Locke nodded, in fact, he also thought about it, it was a scheme. If he wants to return to the country, he must drill this trap.

Hudson's Ayden was Ayden, because the deal was done in secret and could not be known to outsiders.

However, there is a better way to deal with these scum Locke.

This method is naturally to play to your strengths...

"Let him concentrate on dealing with the undead in the mountains, I have a better solution." Locke smiled and shook his head at Hudson, and he said to Marbray in a bit of a fog, "I'm sure the Hillsbrads will like my next approach to the enemies who are stained with the blood of their own relatives." ”

"Does the Syndicate have a special mark of its own?" Locke thought for a moment and asked Mabray, "How do you usually identify them?" ”

"From what we've experienced over the years, the syndicates have been working on their own." "But they still have some distinct characteristics, and the Syndicates may have some letters on their backs, which represent the Alterac nobles they play for. ”

"But really, King Terenus should have guillotined all of Alterac after he rebelled in Pernord. Otherwise, the Hills Bled Hills wouldn't be what they are now. ”

"Come on," Locke beckoned to Ben behind him, and the young squire quickly ran over, "Go get a pen and paper." ”

When Ben left, Locke turned his head and looked at everyone present with a smile, "You say, as long as anyone kills a syndicate bandit, is it appropriate for me to pay him 5 silver coins..."

"This...."Everyone looked at Locke dumbfounded, they didn't expect that Locke would use this method to deal with this problem...

Before the others could react, Mabrai came back to his senses first, and he began to quickly calculate an account, "In Nanhai Town, the price of a long piece of black bread used to satisfy hunger is five copper coins, and this piece of black bread is enough for an ordinary family of three to eat for more than two days. If you have a lot of children, you can eat for up to one day. ”

"One silver coin can buy 20 pieces of black bread, which is equivalent to offsetting the daily expenses of some families for more than ten days. Of course, we can't just count the aspects of their food, everything they need for daily life needs money to solve. For example, the clothes to wear, the forage needed to raise livestock, the toys to buy for children, and so on. ”

"What is the exact value of the 5 silver coins? I can give you the math for you. Mabray looked at Locke and talked. I can combine the actual local situation to calculate for you. ”

"Because Southsea is a trading port, and the rolls of linen from the Elwyn Forest can be shipped to the local area in a steady stream, the price of the most expensive linen clothes in the area is roughly under four silver coins. For example, an ordinary linen dress costs about 50 copper coins to 3 silver coins. Well, there may be different prices depending on the size, quality, color, etc. of the long skirt, but it won't vary too much. ”

"In other words, your five silver coins are only enough for those maids to buy a decent linen dress."

"Do you mean giving less?" Locke figured out that because he had been separated from the living environment of civilians for a long time, Locke really didn't know the living conditions of the low-level people.

"I'll give you another example, a female pulp worker in Nanhai Town, who supports their children in order to ease the burden on their families. They work at least six days a week. They only earn 1 copper coin for washing two pieces of clothing, and they can wash about 35 copper coins a day at most, so their actual income per week is about 2 and a half silver coins. ”

"Let's compare the guards in the towns with seven silver coins a week because of their responsibilities and dangers. Their salary is in the high category of all the people in the town, after all, most of them earn between 3 and 5 silver coins a week. ”

"Your Excellency, the reward amount of your 5 silver coins is neither high nor low. But for the sake of this week's income, it is a little difficult to make ordinary people desperate. Although those people are their enemies, when it comes to money, they will always get different results. ”

"So, I think it's better for you to set the reward at least 10 credits. This is already a lot of money for civilians and adventurers. It will also make them more interested in using their best passion for this bounty. ”

Locke smacked his lips, and what Marbray said made sense.

In the past, when Eva was first founded, recruits were only paid 1 silver coin a month, and at that time, everyone shared the ups and downs, and they didn't think that the money was small. Later, with the addition of the kobolds, all the mountains in the area controlled by the locke had traces of the kobolds looking for ore veins, and several large gold mines were also found. At the same time, Locke also successively accepted some gold mines from the previous kingdom, which led to an increase in the salaries of the soldiers.

Of course, since Locke had more soldiers to support, and they were all professional soldiers, most of the soldiers under him were not well paid. Ordinary soldiers now only have an income of 30 silver coins a month, and if they have a position, it may increase, most of the low-level non-commissioned officers are 40-60 silver coins a month, and most of the senior non-commissioned officers and low-ranking lieutenants are 1-2 gold coins/month, which is actually not much, but the collection of all the troops under Locke's command needs too much money every month.

Therefore, the army under Locke's army, their salaries are paid once a month, and the bank built by Ivalok has always had business dealings with the goblins' bank, and they take a lot of interest from the goblins every month. None of the salaries paid to the soldiers were actual copper or silver coins, but they were all taken to the bank with receipts to get them themselves.

Shiloh once showed Locke that the actual salary he had to pay the soldiers every month was about 15,000 gold coins, which did not include the salaries of officers above the middle level and senior non-commissioned officers.

Shiloh had said that Eva's finances were already tight. Nowadays, the tax revenue of the sea trade is not yet fully developed because of the threat of piracy at sea. We can only rely on the continuous support of all the gold mines, but this is not an option after all, because sooner or later the gold mines will be depleted.

This is also the reason why Locke had to get out of the Silver Pine Forest and the Tirisfal Woodland, looking for more resources and trade specialties is what Locke now attaches special importance to, relying on the support of the Silver Pine Forest and the Tirisfal Woodland, feeding so many soldiers is already the limit. Otherwise, disarmament is needed, but it is clear that this is not the time for disarmament.

However, Shiloh also said that the kobold Golden Fang had said that the gold mines near Iva would last for many years, and that his kobold had found many gold veins in the Alterac Mountains.

In addition, Shiloh also suggested that while the development of Eva Port was coming to an end, Lordaeron must also trade with his own specialties. Locke's eagerness to open up the Hillsbrad Hills also has something to do with the pastures here. The horses of the Hillsbrad Hills were once the source of horses for Lordaeron's army, and the cattle, sheep and livestock here have always been the signature goods of this continent, and the Elwyn Forest may be compared to it.

In addition, the Andes Mountains in the northern part of the Hillsbrad Hills may contain rich mineral deposits, etc., and the expansion of the territory is actually imperative. Otherwise, they can only practice the feudal system like the kingdom in the past, and the feudal nobles let them each raise troops to fight with themselves....

This is obviously in conflict with Locke's centralization, and many people are openly and secretly asking Locke's attitude towards the feudal system. If it weren't for the fact that King Terenus had given the beginning of centralization at that time, he had recovered the territories of many nobles. Locke's centralization of power now will not be so smooth, so Locke will not take this path unless it is absolutely necessary.

"10 silver coins?" Locke couldn't help but feel pain for a while, how could there be no thousands of members of the syndicate?

"It's not much," Marbray said to Locke with a smile on the bridge of his nose, "Southsea is the Southsea town of Lordaeron, and we've been waiting for military support all these years, and we in Southsea have always had a wanted Syndicate announcement. Now, with your support, we can share the cost of three silver coins per person. ”

Locke's brow furrowed, and he looked back at Mabray with a smile, who pushed the eyes on his nose up again, smiling at Locke.

"Mayor Mabre, I have a question for you. Is it convenient for you to say? ”

"Of course, sir. Excuse me, I know everything. Mabray nodded, looking deaf.

"As far as I know, since the tragedy in Lordaeron, the taxes of the kingdom have not been paid to the royal family. I want to ask, where has the tax revenue of Nanhai Town been for so many years? ”

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