Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 705 705 41 Salt and Iron_2

?Chapter 705: Chapter 41 Salt and Iron_2 Chapter 705: Chapter 41 Salt and Iron_2 Winters informed his companions about the proposal from Mont Blanc County.

“They’re threatening us?” Andre burst out angrily, “Even better if he doesn’t sell! When winter comes, we’ll gather the troops and cross the Anya River! I want to see what that baldy can do!”

“Looting is also an option, let’s keep it in mind as a backup plan,” Winters said with a smile. “Actually, the most interesting part is the fact that Mont Blanc County is willing to ‘trade’ in the first place.

It seems that the New Reclamation Legion is not as united as we thought. I suspect General Adams’s fence-sitting attitude has caused some disunity within the counties as well.”

Moritz glanced at Winters nonchalantly, only to find Winters was also looking at him.

Winters spread his hands and explained helplessly to his former superior, “If we’re really out of options… we’ll have to resort to looting… like the Hurd tribe.”

“I’m just a bit curious,” Moritz smirked. “Don’t mind me, please continue with the important matters.”

Before the meeting, Winters first found Old Priskin and, through him, conducted a survey of Revodan salt merchants; he had come to roughly understand the situation with salt:
Iron Peak County really doesn’t produce salt; they rely entirely on buying it from neighboring Mont Blanc County. Though only separated by the Anya River, the natural endowments of the two counties are worlds apart.

Iron Peak County only has what some farmers call “salty land.” The soil of the salty land is poor, unfit for crops or salt extraction. Its greatest use is for farmers to take their livestock there to “lick the earth” during the agriculture off-season.

Mont Blanc County, on the other hand, boasts high-quality salt wells; Brine Town’s well salt supplies the entire Newly Reclaimed Lands Province. Salt is called white gold, and Mont Blanc is the mountain of white gold.

After giving a brief explanation, Winters concluded, “Mont Blanc County is indeed blatantly threatening us.”

“Not only that,” Senior Mason, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, “Newly Reclaimed Lands is a military-controlled province, and so is the salt. Salt merchants have to pay taxes to Maplestone City first, and then they are allowed to buy salt from Brine Town. It’s essentially a disguised poll tax.”

“Can’t we buy salt from outside?” Andre asked anxiously.

“The Legion forbids salt from outside to enter Newly Reclaimed Lands,” Mason sighed deeply. “The corvée ranch I used to manage had many smugglers of illicit salt. The lightest punishment was losing an arm—salt is not just salt, it’s also the Legion’s money bag.”

“Then we must fight them!” Andre slammed the table and glared at Winters, “Let’s do this! It’s all or nothing, we’ll take down Mont Blanc County as well!”

Mason sighed again, “It’s impossible.”

“Why not?” Andre glared at the senior.

“No food,” Mason spread open his notebook, his face clouded with concern, “Most of the storage in Revodan has been given to Bard to settle the refugees. The reserves left in the granary—by my calculations—are not enough to last until next summer’s harvest.”

Andre was stunned into silence.

Mason asked Andre, “Do you know what ‘the Hungry Gap’ means?”

Andre shook his head.

“No matter,” Mason patted his junior’s shoulder, “You’ll find out in a few months.”

“Wasn’t it said that maintaining ‘the bare minimum food supply’ would last until next year’s crop?” Winters was also surprised, “Why is it not enough now?”

Senior Mason answered leisurely, “It was barely enough before, but it’s not enough with an additional thirteen hundred mouths to feed.”

Winters immediately realized—prisoners, the prisoners from Vernge County.

…

The fundamental logic of agriculture is simple—no sowing, no harvest.

Though lacking statistical data, Winters was confident that the mass flight of hired laborers and tenant farmers had led to a sharp decline in the total grain production of Newly Reclaimed Lands.

The current situation was still manageable because 1) subsistence farmers were generally still tending their land; 2) estates primarily cultivated cash crops; 3) the stockpile from the last quarter hadn’t run out yet.

If they continued down this path, a major famine was waiting not far ahead. The famine would further escalate the chaos, and eventually, subsistence farmers would also flee, leading to an even greater famine… utter darkness with not a glimmer of light.

Driven by the simple idea of “finding ways to survive” for everyone, Winters wanted to get the refugees back into agricultural production.

However, the mad bull had already escaped its cage and was rampaging and trampling the earth. Was it so easy to get it back in?

Winters could have ignored the refugees and only needed to feed over fifteen hundred soldiers and their dependents; with Revodan’s storages, it would have been more than enough. But he decided to take on a bigger challenge.

So, from the moment he decided to shoulder more responsibility, the new government’s finances sprinted towards bankruptcy.

Winters had no choice but to tighten his belt.

Throughout the army, irrespective of rank, food was rationed strictly per person. Rations were limited, and even the smallest appetites could only be satiated by two-thirds. As for the refugee camp, the amount of food per person there was even less.

Everyone was in a state of semi-starvation. Refugees and soldiers not only had to till the land and sow seeds but also had to devise ways to find food: digging wild vegetables, picking wild fruits, fishing, hunting…

Thus, Tang Juan would be out hunting for days at a time. Winters also never went home for meals, opting to stay in the garrison with his troops.

The only piece of good news was that Winters had become completely numb to it all. When he used to wake up to thirty-some people eating and defecating, he was constantly worried; now, waking up to over twenty thousand people doing the same, he felt nothing at all.

According to Senior Mason’s estimates, by reducing consumption, the current stockpiles should last until next summer’s harvest. Once the summer grain is reaped, the situation will greatly improve.