Chapter 65

Chapter 65 Meeting

  Eagle Island, Lord's Hut.

  "Let's all sit down."

  Samwell sat down at the round table first, and then invited everyone to sit around the table.

  However, everyone hesitated, after all, they were not used to sitting at the same table with the lord.

  Only Cheman sat down on the first seat to the left of Samwell.

  Following him, the rest of the people all took their seats.

  For this meeting, Samwell convened the village chiefs of the 14 villages under his command, together with the Butler Gavin, the craftsman leader Vido, the blacksmith leader Busso, and Maester Qyburn, a total of 18 people.

  These people are the main managers in his territory.

  Originally, Todd Flower was also counted as one, but this guy went to Highgarden to collect the refugees and has not returned, so he was absent.

  After sitting down, Natalie, wearing a floral dress with slender legs, offered tea to everyone.

  After pouring the tea, although there was no place for her here, Natalie did not leave, but stood behind Samwell, looking like a well-behaved maid.

  Samwell didn't drive her away either, but just coughed lightly, drawing everyone's attention away from the energetic and beautiful girl:

  "Although the castle hasn't been built yet, and I'm not yet an official lord, but that is a matter of time. Therefore, in order to better manage the territory, I decided to officially accept you as my retainers."

  Hearing this, everyone stood up quickly, some bent down to salute, some loudly swore allegiance, and some were so excited that they didn't know what to do, so they just smirked standing ...

  Although the lord's retainers didn't even touch the threshold of nobility, this still couldn't stop everyone from being proud of it, as if with this title, they were the upper class from now on.

Waiting for some time .

  Samwell waved his hand and signaled everyone to sit down: "Don't be so nervous , all sit down. This meeting, I also want to talk about the obligations of the retainers to the lord.

First and foremost, it's your responsibility to maintain my authority and support every resolution I make;

  secondly, you have the responsibility to advise me and help me manage the people and govern the territory. Such meetings will become a routine in the future and will be held every month where you will report to me, and so i can give future instructions;

  finally, when I issue a war order, you must respond to the call, join my army, or provide logistical support for the army. If I am captured, You must find a way to collect the ransom to save me."

  After Samwell finished speaking, everyone quickly responded.

  "Ummhh." Samwell pressed his hands down, Stopping everyone's loyalty oath , and then he turned to look at his butler, "Gavin, you can introduce the current basic situation of the territory."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Gavin stood up and bowed to Samwell, then sat down again, and said, "Currently, there are more than 12,300 people in the territory, including 184 soldiers, and there are also 100 newly recruited soldiers.

  In addition, there are thirty-five dairy cows, twenty-seven horses, fifty-four pigs, more than forty sheep, and more than one hundred chickens and ducks .

  The supplies that were brought include 1.3 million pounds of flour from the territory, 700,000 pounds of oats, and 500,000 pounds of beans. Furthermore, we have also stocked 50,000 pounds of dried meat and over 3,000 pounds of salt..."

  Samwell calculated silently in his heart while listening.

  Although it seems that there is a lot of food, it is not too much when counted more than 12,000 people.

  The soldiers require a full meal with meat every day, and the other laborers, who engage in physical work, also have a significant appetite.

Samwell understands that providing ample food is crucial for boosting morale and expediting the construction of the castle.

Thus, he never compromises on the quality or quantity of food.

It is no exaggeration to say that the amount of food consumed by the entire territory in a day is truly astounding.

The current reserve is enough to last for more than a month.

  This is the disadvantage of not being able to be self-sufficient in food. No wonder no one has been exploring such a strategically important place.

  It's really a bottomless pit.

  Fortunately, he has already signed food and supply contracts with Sunflower City, Arbor Island, and Oldtown , so he doesn't have to worry about running out of food for the time being.

  However, these contracts only have a "free period" of three months. If the subsequent supply is to continue, Samwell must spend real money to buy it.

  That's a lot of money.

  Fortunately, last time on Arbor Island, Samwell played the drama with all his heart, and got a lot of golden dragons from the Lannister family, otherwise he should be panicking now.

  But this is only a one-off, and it is impossible to have such a good thing every day.

  The sustainable development of the territory still depends on the two cash cows of brandy and silver mines.

  At this time, Gavin also began to introduce the brewing of brandy.

  "...organized 300 female savages to pick wild grapes in the nearby mountains and forests, and opened up 900 mu of open land near the mouth of the valley to plant grapes. It is expected that the first batch will be harvested in half a year..."

  Listen to this point, Samwell interrupted:

  "The planting area of mountain grapes will be doubled to 1,800 mu. And after this batch of planting is over, you have to open up another piece of similar size for rotation planting."

"Don't worry about sales, as long as our wine is brewed, we won't have to worry about selling it. And even if there is surplus, we can keep it for storage."

  "Understood, my lord." Gavin quickly responded, and then continued, "At present, due to the limited raw materials, the production of brandy cannot be increased for the time being. There are only twelve gallons per day..."

  Hearing this number, Samwell frowned, but felt a little helpless.

  It is really difficult to increase the output by picking wild mountain grapes alone. We can only wait for the grapes planted in half a year to mature before expanding the production scale.

  The brewing and distillation of brandy and other steps involved secrecy, so Gavin did not go into details.

  Samwell turned to Maester Qyburn again, and said,

  "Qyburn, tell me about the situation of silver mine."

  "Yes, my lord." Qyburn nodded, and said in a nonchalant tone, " The production and refining of silver mine are on the right track, and the daily output of silver is about 140 ounces. If more people can join in the future, the output can be increased..."

Samwell roughly estimated according to the weight of the silver deer , which is equivalent to producing about 350 silver deer every day.

  Of course, there will be losses during the casting process, so the actual output will be lower than this.

  Moreover, this has to be shared with the royal family... Of course, because of the coin minister , the royal family will not be getting too much tax.

  So, it's definitely a pretty decent income.

  With the output of this silver mine alone, more than 10,000 people in the current territory can live comfortably.

  Sure enough, mining is making money!

  And it's just a silver mine, if it's a gold mine...

  No wonder the Lannister family is so rich, they are willing to pay so much money in order to drive away the blind date competitors.

  Damn big dog!

  Jealousy made Samwell's face twitch uncontrollably , and he felt that his last asking price was still low.

[END]