Chapter 428: The Battle to Get Rid of Poverty and Become Rich
On December 31, 358 of the Pandrite calendar, there was heavy snow.
The weather is getting colder.
This is the second snow this year and it has lasted for three days.
As far as I can remember, there has never been such heavy snow in White Hart Keep and the Noldor Forest.
Everything in sight turned into a vast expanse of white.
His Majesty said that this is the aftermath of the forest fires, this winter will be colder than in previous years, and next summer will be hotter than in previous years.
I don't quite understand these principles about the weather, but I know that His Majesty is right because Lake Erakle is completely frozen.
This is the first time that Lake Erakle has completely frozen over.
Lake Erakle is a snow-capped mountain lake. The nearby mountains are indeed very cold, and the snow-capped mountains to the west are even frozen all year round.
However, because the lake is low-lying, with a large difference in elevation from the surrounding ridges, and the water is particularly deep, the south side of the lake never freezes.
But this year, the entire surface of Lake Erakle was frozen solid, with the ice three inches thick.
Of course, this may be a good thing - the fire half a year ago caused the surface of Lake Erakle to be covered with ash and black charcoal. Now that it is frozen, it is easier to clean.
Most of the tribesmen love cleanliness, and Lake Erakle is the source of water for the entire forest. His Majesty Leon and Wendy also think that they should take the opportunity to clean up the lake.
The ash and charcoal are all frozen on the ice surface. All you have to do is break the ice, scoop it up and throw it into the forest, just like watering and fertilizing the newly planted saplings.
Today, His Majesty brought a lot of people to smash the ice - the number of tribesmen is too small, and humans are indeed better at this kind of work like swinging hammers on the ice.
In fact, this is also a way for His Majesty to promote the new currency - the money for hiring people was loaned by His Majesty to Wendy from the Pendor Bank, which was regarded as the infrastructure funding for the Principality of the Noldor, and Wendy distributed the new currency to several elven lords, allowing the elven lords to hire humans to do this job.
Of course, I am also one of the Elf Lords.
Every elven lord, including Aldarian, could understand why His Majesty did this.
Increasing the frequency of communication between humans and elves by working together, employing each other, etc. is the best way to quickly integrate elves and humans.
But Aldarian was stubborn and insisted that this was a forced loan arranged by His Majesty for the Principality of Noldor in order to earn interest...
This is indeed true, because His Majesty has allocated two larger loans to Queen Amy and Queen Alina - these loans must be repaid to Pend Bank with interest.
I don't know much about the operation of banks, but I can at least understand that when three countries owe a large amount of debt to the Pend Bank, unless these three countries perish together, the Pend Bank will definitely not go bankrupt...
Of course, I also know that the more important reason why His Majesty brought people to clear the ice on Lake Erakle is to find jobs for more people in winter, a time when it is not easy to make money.
His Majesty is now vigorously promoting economic development in the country and has proposed a five-year plan, saying that within five years there will be no more "poor people" in the country.
This is certainly a great vision.
Moreover, the method His Majesty intends to use is also great - he is not going to give money and food to help the poor, but to let every young and middle-aged man in the new Pendor Kingdom have a job, so that every family can earn money with their own abilities...
In my opinion, this is much more difficult than simple relief.
Your Majesty said a very profound proverb, which is "It is better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish."
This was probably similar to what he had said to Sir Roland.
In fact, every adult can understand His Majesty's intentions and the good deeds he has done for all the people under his rule.
Of course, this act of kindness is only for the people of the New Pendor Kingdom...
As His Majesty once told me, he is a 'selfish' man who only helps his own people.
Fortunately, we have all become His Majesty's 'own people'.
To be honest, I have experienced poverty myself - when my family was exiled, I wandered around the mainland penniless.
I once hid from the city of humans with a hungry stomach, and I once had to survive in the wild by eating raw meat. I spent about a year like this until I found a not-so-glorious job in the tavern of Singal...
I have seen poverty and experienced hunger. I know what it feels like to spend the winter hungry and wrapped in a rag in a dark corner.
I know what your majesty means by 'the poor'.
Even within the Noldor, there are many people who have fallen into extreme poverty for various reasons - of course, they can at least survive in the forest. This may be what Your Majesty said, "A small population is actually an advantage."
As for the impoverished people in the countries of the continent... to be frank, they live almost exactly the same life as those stray dogs in the alleys of Singal - searching for food in garbage dumps, looking for scraps of cloth discarded by the rich in the streets and alleys to piece together clothes, wandering around in every place where labor might be needed begging for employers to choose them, or just putting their heads on their belts and taking risks.
But adventures do not always succeed, and hard labor is not needed all the time. Many helpless people have no choice but to sell their children or themselves to slave traders - just in exchange for food.
Therefore, I probably understand better than most nobles how great your Majesty's ambition of "eliminating poverty in the country" is.
Which country has no poor people?
Even gods can't make everyone rich, right?
His Majesty said that this is a war with the gods, and the outcome of the war depends on whether we can ensure that everyone in the New Pendor Kingdom has enough food and clothing.
Perhaps only Your Majesty would dare to fight such a "war"...
After hearing about His Majesty's ambition, even Sir Roland rushed to White Hart Castle and swore allegiance to His Majesty Leon - he was a paladin and the messenger of the goddess of justice, and he would not be loyal to any king.
But Sir Roland publicly said a blasphemous word: "Any god should bow his loyalty to such a great ambition!"
Yes, I think so too.
There is no doubt that the one who can provide everyone with food and clothing is the true Supreme God.
Because even the God of Creation has never done this...
If such a grand ambition can be realized, then Your Majesty will surely become the only holy king throughout history, or even a truly supreme god.
But it's hard, we all know it's hard, it's a hundred times harder than conquering the world, or more.
His Majesty has assigned to himself and to us an unprecedented and difficult task.
Of course, it also brings us unprecedented attractive motivation...
If we can help His Majesty achieve the grand goal of eliminating poverty in the country, then I believe that Queen Amy, Queen Wendy, Sir Roland, Eric... or myself, our names and biographies will be forever recorded in the mithril chronicles passed down by the Inor family - this is true eternity and immortality.
This is the final war.
We must win.
——Excerpt from "New Pendor Battle Diary", written by Lisadilan Aino.
…
Time passed day by day, and it was winter again.
Nothing supernatural happened during this period, and Kavala and Malbert did not appear in dreams or in other ways. Leon was not even sure whether they were still in his soul space.
The voice of Eunomia, the goddess of order, did not appear again.
But Li Ang no longer cared about them - perhaps the gods could no longer harass Li Ang. Li Ang knew that he might have a little bit of the so-called "power of faith", although Li Ang still didn't know any divine arts...
In fact, divine arts are no longer important. Le Ang is not pursuing them now, and he does not need to cast spells.
True strength does not come from possessing any powerful divine arts or magic.
But I always know what I want to do, what I can do, and... what I should do.
Li Ang now knows very well what he should do.
Since he intends to make himself the God of Wealth, then a kingdom ruled by the God of Wealth certainly cannot be poor.
So Leon proposed a "Five-Year Plan", intending to eliminate poverty in the entire New Pendor Kingdom within five years or less, and to ensure that everyone has enough food and warm clothes.
When this plan was first proposed, everyone, including Amy, was shocked - anyone who had been a lord would realize how difficult this was, as no monarch in the history of the continent of Pendor had ever done this.
However, Leon still insisted on making this plan a national policy, and posted it publicly in every village and town. He also sent "policy interpreters" - his non-commissioned officers - to all the castles and towns in Sarleon and Noldor.
The specific content of the plan is not complicated. Leon intends to try his best to ensure that every able-bodied person in the entire New Pendor Kingdom has a job, so as to achieve the goal of ensuring that everyone has enough food and clothing.
Of course, poverty cannot be alleviated by charity, otherwise it will only support lazy people. Not only will it have no practical effect, it will also lead to all kinds of messy things.
Only by allowing people to do it themselves, allowing everyone to realize their own value, and allowing people to create wealth with their own hands, can we truly get rid of poverty.
The true teachings of the God of Wealth also need to be conveyed to people's hearts subtly in this way - allowing people to make money based on their own abilities and in a way that suits them.
To accomplish this, of course, we must first do a good job of statistics and determine specific goals - that is, the specific problems people face.
The current situation of the New Pendor Kingdom is as follows:
Leon's own direct territory, that is, the territory directly under the king of the new Pendor Kingdom, actually only includes Changhe County, Yongshield County and Karen Deer Castle.
Yongdun Castle and Fletcher Village were only designated as direct territories by Leon this month because he had to deal with the Jatu people. And Karen Deer Castle was taken over by Anson not long ago, so it can also be regarded as Leon's direct territory.
Qicha Fortress is about to be built into the 'Fortress of the God of Wealth', which can be regarded as a direct jurisdiction, but construction has not yet started, and there is currently no one living there, so it will not be counted for the time being.
The total population of the direct-controlled territory is about 250,000, of which about 200,000 are people fit for work, that is, people between the ages of 15 and 60.
About half of them are engaged in farming, and the other half should be doing odd jobs in Changhe City - if nothing unexpected happens, except for those who have lost their labor force, almost all people below the poverty line in the territory have come to Changhe City.
At present, Changhe City should be the largest city in the entire continent, with nearly 100,000 people living in the city and its vicinity (including construction sites).
Fortunately, Leon was able to continue to get a steady supply of mutton from the Jatu people. In addition, the Changhe Express was able to continuously dispatch supplies from various places, and grain taxes from all over the east would also be sent to Changhe City, which barely supported the city's consumption.
But the vast majority of these town residents were refugees from previous wars, that is, proletarians.
The construction of Changhe City attracted a large number of proletarians. These people could earn money by working in the construction of Changhe City, and their purchase of food was relatively guaranteed. Their problem lay in housing.
If the entire Changhe City was built and completed exactly according to Li Ang's idea, it would indeed be able to support 100,000 people living in it.
But at present, at least 50,000 people live in dilapidated wooden sheds they built themselves, and more than 30,000 people live in sheds on construction sites.
They couldn't afford to buy a house - in fact, even if they could afford it, it would be useless, as there were only so few houses in Changhe City ...
Judging from their income levels, these people can generally eat enough.
But if we look at their overall assets, they are still a long way from getting out of poverty - after winter, job opportunities have decreased a lot, and they don't even have a house to shelter from the wind and rain.
As for those who farm, most of them should be working for lords, knights and some manor owners. These people are considered to have owners, so Leon does not need to worry too much.
——Leon’s grain tax was not high to begin with. Since complete poverty alleviation was the overall plan of the New Pendor Kingdom, all lords, the knights under the lords, and the manor owners living in the New Pendor territory must obey orders and not treat employees and farmers harshly.
Otherwise, Sir Roland would have to go and punish the evildoers without Leon even having to take action.
The main problem of the direct-administered territory is accommodation, and Li Ang has a plan for this - build a large number of townhouses, provide cheap rental housing, and provide guaranteed loans for buying or renting houses.
A secured loan means that as long as the people of Changhe City who own real estate or other industries provide guarantees for these proletarians, Pender Bank can lend money without the need for collateral, which is considered an overdraft credit.
But the loan amount is not large and can only be used to buy or rent a house - that is, there is no need to worry about you not paying it back, because the house is there anyway.
Renovating simple townhouses can provide more long-term jobs, cheap rentals can solve their basic problems, and secured loans can help these people solve their biggest problems so they can devote themselves to work and life.
Anyway, businessmen now have a high sense of recognition for Li Ang. Li Ang has the final say on domestic grain prices and basic commodity prices. As long as grain prices can be controlled, there is no need to worry about inflation for the time being.
The direct jurisdiction is relatively easy to resolve, it just takes time.
The Fierce Lion Realm is more troublesome.
Amy's Principality of Sarleon currently includes Sarleon City, Lake Lion City, Kaine Castle, Long Howl Castle, Haringos Castle, Kelredan Castle and their subordinate villages and towns, which are basically the core areas of the former Sarleon Kingdom.
The total population of the Principality of Sarleon is currently less than 900,000 people. There has been no census, but based on rough estimates, it should be nearly half the number of people when Leon first arrived in Sarleon.
What is certain is that the vast majority of people in the entire Sarleon Principality who are unable to make a living are near Sarleon City - at least 300,000 people.
In fact, this is the number of refugees Amy has resettled in the past six months.
