Chapter 69: Raising an Army is Expensive

After sending off the twenty or so people, Viktor's prison was suddenly emptied of most of its occupants. There were hardly any left.

Viktor bid farewell reluctantly to these carefully nurtured slaves, while the slaves ran away from Viktor's prison at lightning speed, grateful and tearful.

"Perhaps we can find a way to capture some slaves to fill in the gaps and then train them to be productive," Alexander said, noticing Viktor's deep kindness and reluctance towards the slaves.

"But my lord, where do we find a sufficient number of high-quality slaves?" Viktor asked in confusion.

"I'm working on it," Alexander said, stroking his chin in thought.

Just as the two were discussing, a soldier walked in. "My lord, someone seeks an audience."

Alexander frowned. Normally, someone seeking to see him would at least provide their name or something, but this soldier simply said someone was seeking an audience, indicating that the person wasn't convenient to reveal their identity.

Sure enough, when Alexander and Viktor went out, they immediately recognized the visitor.

It was the relatively clever one among the group of robbers they encountered earlier.

He was now the leader of a band of more than ten robbers, doing reasonably well for himself.

He was wearing chainmail bought from Alexander, with an iron helmet on his head, a sharp hand-and-a-half sword in his hand, and a throwing axe hanging from his waist.

Fully armed, he looked hurried and anxious, as if he had something urgent to report.

When he saw Alexander, he immediately prostrated himself on the ground and shouted, "Respected lord, your majestic presence is unforgettable to me, as if I have seen the savior of the world."

"Speak if you have something," Alexander said, feeling a chill down his spine.

The clever robber immediately said, "Respected lord, I would like to ask for your help in dealing with my enemies within the territory of Barlow."

"Oh? Enemies?" Alexander raised an eyebrow.

Robber: "Yes, my lord. When we were expanding our territory, we encountered local bandits—forest robbers within the territory of Barlow. Their archery skills are incredibly strong."

Alexander pondered for a moment. "But these guys are within the territory of Barlow. Our army represents the Kingdom of St. Martin. Rushing in..."

Robber: "My lord, we are willing to pay 5000 denars and will definitely pay it off within the next three months. We only ask for your help in clearing out the local forest robbers."

"To be honest, I've been itching to deal with those guys for a while now. They're just a bunch of sneaky ambushers. Geoffrey! Mobilize the troops!" Alexander shouted loudly.

It's like asking for something and getting it right away. With both money and prisoners in hand, why not take the opportunity?

Alexander has already spent most of his denarii, and now he needs more people to make money for him, and these former slaves have already brought him considerable income. He can purchase the plundered goods at a low price, then sell them at a higher price to others, making a profit from the price difference. Moreover, the bandits also come to him to buy weapons, equipment, and various supplies.

Now, Alexander roughly calculates that he earns about 1000 denarii net profit per day. This means that just from the bandits alone, he can generate an income of 7000 denarii per week. Currently, the prosperity of the village of Calyssus is at 1, with a population of around 260 excluding slaves, which brings in approximately 1000 denarii per week. Additionally, the brewery in Calyssus can produce about 50 barrels of wine per week. Except for the initial 50 barrels used to make deer whip wine, the surplus capacity must be sold, resulting in a profit of around 1000 denarii per week after sales.

As for why Alexander doesn't produce all deer whip wine, it's simply because... there's no deer whip left. He hasn't gone hunting in the Barlow region for a long time.

In summary, Alexander's normal weekly income is around 9000 denarii. These are relatively stable sources of income, as the situation with deer whip wine is still uncertain.

Moving on to expenses, soldier salaries in Saint Martin are relatively easy to calculate, roughly equivalent to their experience level. This means that an ordinary Saint Martin knight earns about 300 denarii per week. Currently, Alexander has 11 Saint Martin knights (300 denarii each), 20 Saint Martin vanguard cavalry (300 denarii each), and 25 Saint Martin light cavalry (100 denarii each). In addition, there are Victor, Otto, Geoffrey, and Herzog, whom Alexander pays 500 denarii each per week directly. This income is considered quite high on the continent.

After calculation, Alexander's weekly salary expenses amount to 13800 denarii, roughly rounded up to 14000 denarii. Excluding other expenses, just considering salaries, Alexander has to pay out 5000 denarii each week.

And the reason why the troops haven't been dispatched yet, and Alexander is still lively and hasn't been hanged on a lamppost, is also thanks to an unwritten rule on the continent. That is, when troops are stationed in villages and towns, their salaries are halved by default. This means that Alexander only needs to pay 7000 denarii per week.

The wages of the 50 bandits also need to be calculated. Originally, they were supposed to be paid 500 denarii each week, but due to various reasons, only 43 of them are still active. Additionally, not all bandits come regularly every week to collect their wages; most of them save up and collect them all at once. So, for now, this isn't included in the income and expenses.

He can still save 2000 denarii per week. 

After various supplements and expenses, Alexander has around 10,000 denarii left after a month (purchasing building materials, food, books, buying warhorses for the army, providing research funds, etc., all require money, so the money is spent quickly). Just a month ago, he was a super-rich man with 100,000 denarii in hand. After a month, his assets quickly shrank to one-tenth.

But Alexander is both pained and happy because his industry has been established, and now he just needs to wait for the money to come in. Now, he needs to use the military again, and the huge expenditure is causing Alexander a headache. He tells the bandit that he and his troops can only go for a week. If they can't eliminate the forest bandits near the bandit base within seven days, then he will have to retreat.

After careful calculation by Alexander, he decides to bring only 25 Saint Martin light cavalry and Odoo for this operation. After all, do they need to bring elite Saint Martin knights and vanguard cavalry to deal with a group of inferior forest bandits? With himself leading the way, if they can't even deal with those forest bandits, it would be a joke.

So, under the guidance of the bandit, they once again entered the territory of the Barlow Kingdom. It's clear that the bandit is familiar with the terrain, as he quickly leads Alexander to a mountain in the Barlow Kingdom.

The mountain road here is extremely rugged, but it's vaguely discernible that it has been artificially cleared.

Not long after, Alexander and his men see a standard bandit camp. "My Lord, it's getting late. The Barlow people are very skilled in night battles. I suggest we go tomorrow," the bandit reports.

Alexander reluctantly agrees to this suggestion, suppressing the pain of spending money like water, "Agreed!"