Chapter 288 100,000,000 pounds
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……
While Archbishop Thomas was preparing to welcome visitors, the nobles gradually completed the work of sorting out their territories.
The huge losses made all the nobles frown, so much so that almost half a month had passed since the locust plague, and the nobles had not even held a cocktail party.
I really wasn’t in that mood.
Hyde is also one of them. He is only 23 years old this year, only 1 year younger than Raven, but his face is so haggard that he could be Raven's uncle.
He was sitting in the study, smelling of alcohol, looking at the numbers on the documents in front of him with a frown. Even his favorite drink of Angel's Tears tasted bitter.
The loss is too great!
Because he misjudged the speed of the locust invasion, all the food in his territory became food for the locusts before he could harvest it. A rough estimate showed that he lost at least 23 million pounds.
And this is only the superficial loss, not counting the food that will be distributed to the destitute serfs in the territory to prevent them from starving to death. This will require at least 28.5 million pounds.
Combined, the two amounts to nearly 52 million pounds.
Even in an ordinary year, this means the loss of tens of thousands of gold coins, and now is the year of great disaster after the locust plague!
Now on the market, the price of 1 pound of unground, the lowest aged coarse wheat has soared from 2 copper coins to 37 copper coins. Moreover, the price is not marketable, and it is rising at a jaw-dropping rate every day.
In other words, in terms of food alone, Hyde lost nearly 200,000 gold coins!
But if he had a choice, Hyde would rather lose a few more gold coins on food, because that was already the most insignificant loss.
What really hurts him is the loss of population.
Fortunately, there were soldiers in full armor delivering some food in the towns, and not many people starved to death.
But the serfs were in dire straits. They didn’t have much food storage to begin with. As soon as the locusts arrived and were sealed in their homes, they quickly stopped eating. Some died of starvation, some were forced to eat their family members and still starved to death, and some couldn’t help but go out hungry. Foraging for food only to be buried in the mouths of locusts.
According to statistics, 12,000 people were lost in this part.
Including the refugees who fled in advance, Hyde's territory lost at least 20,000 people, which is about 1/5 of the population.
Hyde's butler knocked on the door, pushed in after getting permission, and brought him a pot of strong tea and a few pastries.
"The past is in the past, sir." The butler persuaded in a low voice: "You don't have to worry about these things. Just eat something and rest for a while."
"Yes, some things have passed, but..." Hyde smiled bitterly and pointed at the dozens of smoke pillars rising out of the window: "But aren't there some things that have not passed?"
The impact of locust plagues is not only reflected when they arrive, but also leaves huge problems when evacuating.
There are dead locust corpses all over the mountains and plains. They not only fall on houses, roads, and courtyards, but also float on every inch of water.
Hyde couldn't find a way to deal with them at all. Even if he organized people to salvage, collect, and burn them intensively, the efficiency was still extremely low.
So in the hot weather, the locust corpses quickly began to rot, contaminating almost every water source, and the plague broke out unsurprisingly.
The pillars of smoke outside the window that never stop day and night are burning the bodies of locusts and the citizens who died of illness.
The reason why Hyde was always drunk was not because he wanted to escape reality through his drunkenness, but because he always felt that the water in front of him was not clean, even if his servants swore that it was saved before the locust plague.
Seeing that his Viscount's face was getting increasingly unhappy, the housekeeper thought for a while and said, "But don't worry, sir, we have already followed the methods of the five northwest counties and sent people to deal with the locust corpses..."
The so-called method of the five northwest counties is actually to collect locusts, cook them, dry them, and grind them. Lei Wen did not hide his secrets and published the method.
But this didn't make Hyde feel better, because his territory was located in Arag County in the center of the province, and the locusts left about 10 days earlier than Raven's side.
This 10-day gap is enough to cause the corpses of most bugs to rot and deteriorate. Now even if Raven's method is used, it will not have any effect.
At this moment, footsteps came, and a man wearing a black satin mage robe pushed open the door and entered: "Oh, let me see, who made the little snake of the Slater family unhappy?"< br>
"Uncle Jon!" Hyde immediately stood up with a joyful look on his face: "Why are you here?"
Jon is a third-level wind magician supported by the Slater family, and is now preparing to be promoted to the fourth level.
His upper body is long, his lower body is short, and his facial features are slightly flat. He is the kind of person who would be hard to find in a crowd.
The most striking feature is the tuft of white hair on his forehead.
Jon has been working in the Slater family since 20 years ago and has watched Hyde grow up. The relationship between the two can be said to be as close as that of father and son.
"The Earl is worried about the situation here, so he asked me to come over and take a look. He also sent a batch of food to help you take care of it first."
There was a touch of emotion in Hyde's eyes: "You must have told your father, right?"
"That's not true." Jon shook his head and said, "I don't dare to take away the Earl's love for you. He specifically asked me to escort it here personally. It's 8 million pounds, which should be able to sustain your territory for a while. .”
A feeling of relief spread from his chest, and Hyde felt the pressure on his shoulders lessen.
After pouring a cup of tea for Jon, Hyde asked: "How is the situation with the family? Will there be any problem with giving me so much food?"
Jon picked up the teacup and sat down, smiling and saying: "Don't worry, after all, the Earl is in charge of the overall situation. Although the situation is not too good, it is not particularly bad either."
"How much is the specific loss?" Hyde asked.
Pursing his lips, Jon raised his right thumb and index finger.
"Two million gold coins!? So much!?" Hyde was shocked.
The Hodges County occupied by the Slater family was originally the richest county in the province. Now that the locust plague is raging through it, it is understandable that the disaster will be serious.
But he didn't expect that there would be such a huge loss.
This is the income of the Slater family for five or six years.
"Then these 8 million pounds of grain are too much." Hyde rubbed his hands: "Let's do this, I'll keep half of it, and you can transport the other half back. I still have some grain in the warehouse."
Jon chuckled: "My lord, I knew you would say this, but don't worry, this food is not enough to bring down the family, so just keep it honestly."
"But..."
"Okay, don't be gloomy anymore." Jon slapped his hand fiercely: "You are still young now, and your thoughts are so heavy all day long. Sooner or later, you will age before you get old. How did I teach you in the early years?"
"Uh..." Hyde thought: "You said that if you are unhappy, go see someone who is more unlucky than yourself."
Jon showed a cowardly expression.
"But under the locust plague, everyone's losses are similar, how can you single out the more unlucky guy?" Hyde was puzzled.
"You don't know something about this." Jon lowered his voice and pointed his finger to the south: "That person over there is much worse than our Slater family."
Hyde was stunned for a moment: "You mean, Marquis Anthony!?"
Marquis Antoninus, the governor of the province of Nord, has been in a violent state recently and executes several maids and maids every day for trivial reasons.
The medicine that used to be taken every five days to suppress old injuries now has to be taken every day. Occasionally, I take it in the morning and have to add a "late night snack" at night. No matter who he was, he just took office as governor and received such a great gift from the locust plague before he could show off his talents. He couldn't calm down.
What happened in Hyde's territory was almost exactly repeated in Ferdoro County where Anthony was located.
But the area of Ferdoro County is more than 10 times that of Hyde Territory, and the population is even more than 20 times!
During this period, Anthony thought of a way. He organized the extraordinary people around him to hunt the insect kings, and killed 7 insect kings in 10 days. However, it did not have any visible effect at all.
Just like what his personal alchemist said at the beginning, if you kill an insect king, another one will soon be born in the insect swarm.
And no matter how you kill them, the locusts seem to be endless and you can't kill them all.
It wasn't just the locust plague that gave him a headache. The hidden dangers he had laid before began to explode one by one.
After the locust plague, famine and plague began to spread. Following this, various secret sects sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, recruiting believers, gathering people to cause trouble, and even began to attack businesses and wealthy households in various places, causing a large number of tragedies.
Even three knight families were uprooted.
On the other hand, many mercenaries have temporarily changed their identities due to losing their livelihoods, and work part-time as highway robbers. Even if they accept the task, they may directly kill their masters to collect the money and run away because they are dissatisfied with the price.
Anthony's policy of "using mercenaries to control cults" came to nothing before it could be implemented.
He had to ask those close to him to set off one after another and mobilize the troops originally belonging to the Fox family to go to various places to provide disaster relief and suppress rebellions, so that the small amount of food would be consumed even faster.
However, the two surrounding counties were suffering from disasters and there was no way to buy food. It was also during the war, and it was impossible for him to write to His Majesty the King to request support.
"Damn locusts!"
Anthony slammed the table, grabbed his old hair, slowly clenched his fists, and finally made up his mind.
"Come here, prepare a greeting note for me and give it to...Archbishop Thomas!"
Anthony was assigned the position of governor. In addition to dealing with Fox, he wanted to take good care of the Church of Light. However, now he was forced to ask the Church of Light for help.
I have to say, it's a wonderful irony.
But this is also a very normal way of thinking. Everyone knows the great cause of the Guangming Church. At this time, Anthony is not the only one who thinks of asking the church for help.
While most people were drafting letters and a small number of people were still on the way, those who had submitted greeting cards five days in advance had already arrived at Meng'en City Church.
Wearing a brown robe, like a clergyman in the church, he entered the church through the side door at night, and under the guidance of Savannah, he went all the way to Archbishop Thomas's study.
There was an oil lamp burning in the study, and Archbishop Thomas was reading the Book of Holy Words quietly in his hand.
When he noticed the knock on the door, he raised his head with a smile on his lips: "Baron Raven, long time no see."
Taking off his hood, Raven saluted respectfully: "Sir Thomas, since the last time we said goodbye, I have never wanted to listen to your glorious preaching of our Lord."
This sentence was impeccable. Even though he knew that Raven did not believe in the Lord of Light, Thomas' expression became softer and softer: "Please sit down."
Sitting down in front of Thomas, Raven took the tea cup handed by the nun and took a sip.
The door closed, the nun left, and the room fell into a brief silence.
Archbishop Thomas looked at Raven quietly with a kind expression, while Raven was sipping the tea with great concentration, as if it was the supreme delicacy.
After a long time, after drinking a cup of tea, Raven put the cup on the table, looked at Thomas and said: "Your Excellency, you are haggard."
Unexpectedly, Raven would say such words. Thomas was startled at first, and then sighed slightly: "The locust plague is savage. How can I not feel haggard when I think of the suffering of my Lord's Lamb?"
Raven also sighed: "My heart is the same as yours. Seeing my subjects struggling with hunger and plague, I, the lord, feel deeply derelict in my duty and feel uneasy day and night."
"I have taken the liberty to visit you this time. Firstly, I want you to baptize me and lead me to feel the glory of the Lord of Light, so as to wash away the worries in my heart. Secondly, I hope you can take pity on the people in my territory and let them They will not starve to death.”
Archbishop Thomas raised and lowered the corners of his mouth slightly, feeling a little funny in his heart.
He had long known that Raven came to ask for food, but these words were a bit too much.
Earlier, Thomas had received a letter from Herlind, the bishop of Snow Maple Town. Judging from the content of that letter, Raven was the most appropriate to deal with the locusts among all the nobles in the province.
Not only did the food crisis be greatly alleviated by eating locusts, but because the locust corpses were disposed of in a timely manner, although there were occasional epidemics in the territory, they did not cause large-scale plagues.
If Raven can't sleep day and night, then other nobles can find a rope to hang themselves.
"The Lord of Light will not reject any believer." Archbishop Thomas said slowly: "But as His evangelist, I will not use threats to force anyone to be shrouded in His light."
"How much food do you want, I will try my best to help."
Raven raised his eyebrows slightly.
Originally, Raven's condition was that he would set an example and openly convert to the Church of Light in exchange for Thomas's support.
This is a very fair deal.
But Thomas is obviously not satisfied with this. He hopes that Raven can be more deeply bound to the Church of Light.
The reason why Raven was not allowed to join the church publicly was to make Raven owe a huge favor.
"Your Majesty the Archbishop, your heart is enough to make the sea feel ashamed." Raven put his hand on his chest: "Then, I have the audacity to make my request."
Seeing Raven's approach, Thomas picked up the teacup and smiled: "Well, Baron Raven, how much do you need?"
He has a bottom line in his mind, and he can give Raven up to 10 million pounds of grain, which should be enough to support the consumption of Raven's territory for about three months.
It’s not that he can’t bring out more, but that although Raven has potential, he is not yet an earl after all. The focus of Thomas’ win over is still on Earl Tyrone and Marquis Anthony.
But Raven's next words directly penetrated his bottom line.
I saw Raven raising a finger:
"I want 100,000,000 pounds!"
"Poof——"
Even though Archbishop Thomas was extremely well-educated, he was still so shocked that he spat out half a mouthful of tea.
He picked up a handkerchief and wiped the water drops on his chest:
"100 million pounds? Baron Raven, how can such nonsense come out of your rational lips?"
"Please get out immediately!"
"Oh oh oh, don't get excited, Sir Thomas." Raven spread his hands: "I don't want your food in vain."
As he spoke, he flipped his right hand, and a chilling aura of death spread out.
"This is..." Archbishop Thomas's eyes narrowed slightly:
"Holy Emblem of Death!?"
……
(End of chapter)