Imperial Year 421 (the Imperial Calendar was calculated from the founding of the Hanover Empire, which had already existed for over a century before unifying the realm).
In winter, a rare blizzard swept across the northern Empire.
Heavy snow continued for days without end, the wind was sharp as a knife, and the world was a vast expanse of desolate silence.
Coupled with years of poor harvests, this snow was like the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Unlike the imperial capital near the south, the entire northern frontier was beset by hunger and cold, truly reaching the miserable state of “frozen corpses on the roadside, while the rich’s gates reek of wine and meat.”
The northernmost border towns even saw entire villages wiped out overnight.
Infants froze to death in mothers’ arms already stiff; old people wrapped in thin blankets breathed their last alone in the unheeded cold night.
Even the livestock huddling together in the sheds froze to death in droves, lying stiffly together.
Even so, the barely surviving people still had to pay taxes, hand over food and firewood to the nobles every month.
Facing the tax collectors and those armed-to-the-teeth guards, the villagers dared not speak out despite their anger.
The territory of the Maximilian family also belonged to the northern frontier.
Fortunately, Lai En had adopted Alicia’s suggestion during the New Year, requisitioned some empty houses, and set up relief stations.
A few bonfires and some hot soup at least allowed the homeless and the poor to barely survive.
But that was only in the city.
In the remote villages, the minor lords with barren lands and limited food reserves could barely take care of themselves.
Some even tightened their exploitation of the villagers to fill their own deficits.
How could they spare the resources to set up relief stations?
For many villages, the so-called “relief work” was just an empty promise made by the lords after they had eaten and drunk their fill.
The situation was not optimistic.
Alicia had originally planned to rest for a few days over the New Year and prepare the logistical supplies needed for the spring military campaign against Lemeng.
But as the blizzard raged, the stockpiled “meat cakes” and “compressed bread” were distributed in large quantities.
These high-calorie, long-preserving foods became precious items that kept countless people alive.
But unfortunately, due to the natural disaster, the raw material supply for the food factory was in jeopardy.
The reason was simple: as the blizzard began, merchants and nobles of all sizes started hoarding, driving grain prices through the roof.
It had already risen to more than ten times the original!
If this continued, before spring came and the weather warmed, Lai En’s family wealth would be drained!
This was outrageous! Alicia was gritting her teeth with hatred.
These people would use every means to amass wealth, with no regard for the common people’s lives!
“These people deserve to be skinned alive, have their legs broken, and be hung on the city walls for ten days!” the girl gritted out through clenched teeth.
“Alright, alright, calm down. I know how much you want their heads, but the immediate problem is that based on the current deficit, we can only maintain the relief stations for another month!”
Lai En frowned deeply, flipping through the ledger over and over, tapping his fingers unconsciously on the desk.
“Damn it! These merchants, these suppliers—their books are flawless! Not a single fault to be found! But my money is gone like throwing it into the sea! I only hear a splash!”
It wasn’t surprising that Lai En was angry.
Alicia demanded large sums and spent money like water, but every expense brought tangible returns or visible results.
Other retainers had also produced some results, but the return on investment was still too low.
Comparison truly infuriated.
“Didn’t we confiscate a large amount of grain from Biluo’en Castle?” the girl had a sudden idea and started calculating.
“If we use that grain, it should greatly relieve the food pressure.”
“Don’t even mention it.”
Lai En leaned back in his chair with a long sigh.
“The grain stored in Biluo’en Castle was far below expectations. It seems that since the autumn harvest, Lemeng’s men have been operating there. Half of this year’s grain from Biluo’en Castle was shipped to Saxon City.”
Half?
The girl quickly opened the ledger and flipped through it.
The numbers distributed to each village and town were unsettling.
“This is all that’s left after dividing it among each village and town?”
“And this is on paper. The problem is that these guys are hoarding the grain and waiting to get rich!”
Lai En closed his eyes tiredly and pinched his nose.
“I know you can’t conjure grain, but… do you have any suggestions now?”
The girl pursed her lips, wearing a chilling smile.
“Yes! Arrest every single profiteer who is hoarding and driving up prices. Force them to sell grain at the pre-disaster price, or even at par.”
She paused and said lightly, “If they don’t comply, simply chop them off, confiscate the grain, and seize their property. Kill one to warn a hundred. Let’s see who dares to cling to their grain and wait for riches!”
“You…”
Lai En’s eyes widened, sizing the girl up as if she were an alien.
“Why are you so angry today? Did you take the wrong medicine?”
“Wrong medicine?”
Alicia’s eyes flashed an eerie red under the candlelight.
“I haven’t eaten anything today! I can only get this much rations now. I’ve tightened my belt and eat nothing but dry bread once a day! And every month around this time…”
She suddenly stopped, cleared her throat unnaturally, but the ferocity in her eyes intensified.
“In short! I’m annoyed with everyone right now! Especially these bugs making a fortune on the country’s disaster! I have to make them spit out every bit of grain they swallowed, with interest!”
Lai En suddenly understood, counting the days.
Today was the fourteenth.
The girl was a bit irritable around this time every month.
“Is there… a gentler method?”
He tried to guide her.
“Directly arresting and killing people would make too big a noise and easily cause panic! Besides, legally, it’s not easy to handle…”
“Gentle?” the girl sneered.
“Do you know what my original plan was?”
“…”
Lai En instinctively felt it was better not to ask.
But the girl had already started explaining on her own: “Divide these grain speculators, including any nobles possibly involved behind the scenes, into small, medium, and large categories based on their financial strength, influence, and hoarding scale.”
She raised one finger: “For the small ones, mainly intimidate. Send people to order them clearly to sell grain at official prices within a time limit. If they disobey, arrest a few typical examples, confiscate their property, and execute them to warn the rest. Most small merchants fear death and will yield.”
Then she raised a second finger, her tone as casual as chatting about household chores: “The middle level is the key target for purging.
They have some strength, hoard a lot of grain, are often the most stubborn, and are best at exploiting loopholes and resisting collectively.
For these, there’s nothing more to say—kill them all!”
Finally, she raised a third finger: “The largest ones often have deep backgrounds and intricate relationships. Killing them outright would cause endless trouble. Let’s reach an agreement with them. Offer them a price that gives them a slight profit, buy up a large amount of their grain in bulk, and compensate them by giving them the market share vacated by the middle merchants.”
Lai En’s scalp tingled.
“Finally, all the grain in our hands will be registered centrally, allocated uniformly, and distributed to each relief station and affected village according to need. This ensures the grain is used where it’s most needed, completely eliminating middlemen and nobles from skimming off the top.”
The study fell into dead silence, broken only by the occasional crackle of the charcoal fire and the howling wind outside the window.
Lai En sat stiffly in his chair, his gaze a bit dazed.
This plan could only be described as cruel and bloody.
If they actually acted according to her plan, he would most likely end up with a reputation for brutal tyranny.
After a long while, he slowly came back to his senses from the initial shock and instinctive aversion.
Setting aside the moral discomfort and dread of violent measures, he considered it purely from the perspective of “feasibility” and “results.”
Then he was surprised to find that with the New Army’s high loyalty and considerable combat strength now, the girl’s plan was actually viable!
This plan could bring the grain back under control in the fastest and most direct way, quickly alleviating the imminent famine crisis.
Small merchants would be intimidated into submission, middle speculators would be thoroughly purged, and larger merchants with backgrounds would reach a compromise through interest exchanges.
The efficiency was staggering.
Not only that!
If they used this as an opportunity and an excuse, they could even clean out opponents!
The wealth of those purged would also flow into his own pockets, giving a strong boost to future development!
Remove dissidents, stabilize rule; seize wealth, fill the treasury; alleviate famine, win people’s hearts.
Wait, she was the one who emphasized that the New Army was loyal only to the sovereign, not the generals.
She was also the one who demanded the establishment of the ‘Cheka.’
Could it be that this guy had already thought this far when she started training the New Army?
But… how many people would die in the process?
“This plan… is too cruel and bloody.”
“Ha?”
The girl grinned, her expression indescribably strange.
“Bloody? Cruel? No, you should call it efficient!”
“Are you okay? You’ve changed today. Are you sure you haven’t been possessed by something… unclean?”
He even unconsciously glanced out the window, as if some monster might be hiding there.
The girl’s expression was priceless.
She rolled her eyes.
“If you brought in a faith healer, the moment he saw my eyes, I’d really be branded a witch. Have you forgotten? When we first met, I was almost hanged by that old charlatan!”
“That’s true!”
Lai En choked, raising his hand to pat his forehead.
The girl took a few deep breaths, closed her eyes, and shook off her agitated mood, then slowly spoke: “I believe that after this comparison, you can also see that extreme violent measures are indeed unadvisable. Your subject believes we should still base our actions on benevolence and virtue, focusing on appeasement and guidance.”
She secretly glanced at Lai En’s expression.
Seeing his brow relax slightly, she continued: “But benevolent governance doesn’t mean we let them think we’re pushovers. When necessary, we must still take thunderous measures. It’s just that the ‘scale’ of that thunder must be carefully weighed.”
“Hmm…”
Lai En listened to her drastically different tone, raised an eyebrow, and his doubts turned into a mix of amusement and exasperation.
He leaned forward slightly, tapped the desk with his fingers, and deliberately drew out his tone: “Then what did you mean by all that frightening talk earlier?”
“Abandoned plan, just an abandoned plan!”
The girl quickly put on a flattering smile and waved her hands.
“Just a slip of the tongue. Don’t mind it!”
A slip of the tongue?
Lai En looked at the girl’s pleading face and quietly clenched his fist.
Such a detailed plan could never be a slip of the tongue! She must have seriously considered this plan, but for some reason, she ended up reporting the ‘gentler’ version.
Good.
Let’s try gentle methods first.
Hopefully, these bugs will know when to back off and not force me to consider this plan.