10 Ambition

A funny scene could be spectated in Theodore self-proclaimed study.

His study was rather large and was currently not vert furnished. Theodore had decided in the morning that this room was of great proportions to hold his meetings in the future. He had some servants remove most furniture and put in a large wooden oval table and a large decorated desk with a comfy chair was installed near the windows looking out over the south hill towards the city.

A large map of the surroundings was displayed on the walls. Other than this the room was empty. Theodore dreamt of filling the walls with sturdy bookcases and curiosa.

Theodore had just explained his plans for the territory to his aides, Mr Heardly, Mr Ferris, Miss Ilverney and Barn had all received an invitation to his presentation 'of the future'.

He had invited Barn to have him review and critique his plans for the agriculture sector. Mr Ferris and Mr Heardly would fill in him on finances and could potentially help him work out various details. Miss Ilverny, as a clerk and teacher was well versed in many matters and could also assist in the same way as Mr Ferris. Mr Ferris however, as a local, was also indispensable. Or so Theodore had reasoned.

He knew he was ambitious, but he had not expected for all his invitees to look at him as if he was crazy. They were gobsmacked at first and had already taken a full minute or two to digest his presentation.

The first one to recover was Barn, the levelheaded farmer put in his two cents.

"Ambituous, erh?" He jested jovially. "Welll, as far as your farming plans. We can definitely try. I can't quite understand the technicalities of the plough you mentioned, if it works as you say, I'm all for it."

"But Theodore, even that is a costly endeavour. How are we going to finance this?" The first words of reason were uttered by Miss Ilverny, who did not look very supportive of Theo's wild plans.

"Erhh, I reckon that it's a big ambitious plan that's going to cost a bit of money." Theodore conceded.

"A bit of money?" Miss Ilverny's brows shot up and was ready to give Theodore a verbal beating, but she was interrupted by Mr Heardly. "Let's not shoot this plan down immediately. It's definitely a costly plan, but I agree with Theodore that the area is in dire need of improvements. Just looking through the records make clear that this area hasn't been developed for years on end."

"That may be so, but I doubt we can afford these projects?" Miss Ilverny decided to swallow her words and leave her verbal beating for later. She knew it was better to stay productive. And since Mr Heardly agreed, development must surely be lacking.

"Mr Heardly, can you get us up to speed on our financial situation?" Theodore asked.

"Sure can. I've studied the logs and the situation is not as bad as I feared. Truthfully, the territory is not running on a deficit. Which is something that I had expected from all the stories about this place."

"There has been very little, practically no money flooding back into town from the taxes. The income produced is enough to pay for maintaining the law, necessary maintenance and regular donations to the church."

"Frankly, there's quite a bit of money made in the harbour. Trade is the main income for our tax revenue. Our second highest stream of income comes from the logging. Since the forest and it's animals belong to the Lord, a steady amount of tax is paid to log and hunt. Income from local industries and agriculture are other big revenue streams. The total amount of tax revenue for the keep fluctuates between one-hundred-sixty and one-hundred-eighty-thousand Gulden per year."

"The total amount of money in the vault is roughly three-hundred-sixty-five thousand Gulden. Next to this we also have our storages filled with food and commodities that will last us for roughly three to five years depending on how much we will use annually."

"All in all, the situation of the keep can be said to be financially secure. We also won't starve for a while. However, we also have a great number of expenses."

"Firstly, the convoy that took us north will be leaving soon, your father has paid them in full for the trip. However, sixty knights will stay here as your personal force. The marshal, the knights and soldiers will cost you quite a bit. The company costs twenty thousand Gulden per year in salary. You are also expected to feed and house them. The marshal will also take care of your supplies in the castle, make sure the stables are staffed. Clerks, grooms and messengers that report to him will also cost a hefty 4000 gulden per year."

"Next are the servants in your employ. The chaplain has his private residence on castle grounds. Currently, this position is unoccupied, but I believe Mr Ferris would gladly take up this vocation. The chaplain that worked here previously, his staff and the almoner, cost twenty-eight-thousand Gulden annually."

"Your chamberlains, laundresses and other personal attendants cost only six-thousand Gulden annually. Frankly, your Lordship is understaffed compared to others who reign a territory like this. To prevent being looked down upon in the surrounding areas, I advise you to grow your staff."

"A butler, Twelve cooks, a small team of undercooks, servers and cupbearers, dishwashers and other menial workers cost sixteen thousand Gulden."

"My personal department, including scribes, accountants and other servants costs thirty-six thousand annually. " He answered, from the top of his head. " A grand total of one-hundred-ten-thousand Gulden annually."

"Another fify-thousand Gulden is used to uphold the law, maintaining the order and funds for the church." He added thoughtfully. "So the territory costs one-hundred-sixty-thousand Gulden annually. Whilst it brings in one hundred-eighty-thousand in taxes annually at best."

"How long have we saved up to get our current vault so stocked?" Theodore remembered that there was three-hundred-sixty-five thousand Gulden stocked up in the vault.

"A long time, honestly. The truth is that most of it was gifted by your father as a gift to the territory once he received it form his majesty. After surveying the local circumstances, all the installed castellans decided not to invest the money in the territory. They did not think the territory would be worth the investment." He sighed. "The town has also made little progress in the last twenty or so years due to the lack of investments."