Chapter 431: Selling Property for Construction

Levis celebrated his birthday on the ship. Though there wasn’t a grand banquet, the whole family gathered together, and except for Penelope, who had never been to sea, everyone sent their blessings.

The next afternoon, they returned to Tulip Castle and held a belated banquet. Liszt also spent a night at Tulip Castle before returning to Flower Town.

However, this time he returned to Flower Town, he couldn’t afford to relax.

Levis's wedding preparations were underway—at Longtaro Castle, Lee William had spoken with Roger Golden Wheat, the only son of Marquis Roderick, and the wedding date had been set for September 12.

The pioneering decree was also imminent—the Kingdom of Steel Ridge would definitely send a delegation to visit Blue Dragon Island to determine the date of the war with the Kingdom of the Eagle this year—strangely enough, almost every year during the autumn harvest, the two kingdoms would engage in a large-scale conflict, a tradition lasting for hundreds of years.

In addition to the feud, another reason was likely driven by the knightly system—without war, how could one earn merit and wealth? Without war, how could the tensions between new and old nobles be eased? Without war, how could wealth be redistributed? Without war, how could their boundless energy be vented?

They worked hard to become Earth Knights, even Sky Knights, just to go to the battlefield and achieve glory.

On the return journey, Liszt felt uneasy: "Levis's birthday gift was easy to handle, but his wedding gift must not be inferior to the one I gave Meopo... Although the knight team has added two Earth Knights, the territory's development is in full swing, and it’s really not suitable to withdraw knights for war."

Knights form the backbone of the knightly system—because only knights, especially those from noble families, have access to complete knowledge.

Without knowledge to broaden their minds, it’s difficult to be competent for management roles.

Now both Port Town and Flower Town are short of officials, especially those capable of leading large-scale operations. Earth Knights can only barely manage the territory.

If all of them are withdrawn, it will seriously hinder development.

"However, if I plan to participate in the war, I can’t go without the knight team... For the sake of the serfs, I still have to prepare and set off. Fortunately, I can seize resources. My Hiddleston and the eight little ones can all be taken to the battlefield. If I dismantle a few castles, I can probably raise enough money to buy serfs."

During the Iron Horse Island campaign, the Grand Duke forbade the seizure of resources.

The pioneering decree, however, is primarily about seizing resources, with only a tax owed to the Grand Duke. It’s undoubtedly more cost-effective to follow the pioneering decree.

On the way, he called out the smoke mission again.

"Mission: The revived Fire Dragon bones, have you forgotten? The dry dragon bones need the nourishment of magic power, only in this way can they give birth to the result that makes your heart beat. Please organize the serfs to mine 10 tons of volcanic glass. Reward: The agitation of the rubber worm."

No change.

Ten tons of volcanic glass still haven’t been fully mined.

When he returned to Flower Town, he found Gort was waiting in Flower Town.

"My lord, in the process of developing Black Horse Island, there’s an overlooked issue that needs immediate attention," he said. "We only have two sailing ships, the Flower and the Thorn, but Black Horse Island cannot produce food now, and just transporting food takes up most of the transportation capacity of the two ships."

"This is indeed a problem. Has the Flower Town Office seen any recent financial growth?" Liszt then asked Isaiah.

"With Flower Brew’s successful distribution on Red Crab Island, revenue has increased significantly, but it needs to be paid to Tulip Castle to repay the debt. The scale of Flower Soap hasn’t been able to expand further due to insufficient raw materials... So, the office’s current revenue hasn’t increased significantly."

"I see..."

"My lord, with the increase in revenue from Flower Brew, do you think we can repay part of it first and retain some for the territory's expenses?" Gort suggested.

Liszt rubbed his forehead: "I also want to do this, but Tulip Castle is facing a gold coin crisis now. My brother is about to get married and needs a lot of gold coins for the wedding. My father has decided to impose an additional tax to get through this difficult time."

Tulip Castle is his support.

But Tulip Castle cannot provide him with endless resources, especially with Levis's wedding approaching—a noble’s wedding is an extravagant affair, requiring a vast amount of gold coins. This is why many countries have a special "wedding tax" when a lord or their child marries.

But what if I'm broke?

Naturally, the solution is to impose taxes, shifting the financial burden of the lord's wedding onto the local populace. It doesn't matter if the people grumble or go along with it.

Now Tulip Castle has to rely on marriage taxes to raise funds, and Levis is too embarrassed to borrow more from Tulip Castle.

He's got to figure something out on his own.

"Thorn ironwood grows fast, but not fast enough to match the cutting rate; rubber bugs fix trees, but we still can't harvest much rubber; flower soap's a hit, but we're short on ingredients like animal pancreas; flower wine's market-ready, but distribution takes time."

The territory's goods sell fast, but they don't cover the costs of developing Black Horse Island.

After much fretting, Levis decides he has to sell off some of his stuff. He dismisses Gort and Isaiah, retreats to his study, and starts tallying up what he can sell.

Mithril, jade, crystal—his stash is running low.

He's reluctant to part with them.

His eyes finally land on three precious gems: a ruby-studded Red Blood Sword, a sapphire ring imbued with magic power, and a pink gem seized during the Iron Horse Island battle.

"I don't need the Red Blood Sword anymore, and Lvera's had her eye on it for ages. She'd never go for fifteen hundred, so I'll offer it at eight hundred—she can swing that; the sapphire ring, Curtis Truth's phylactery, might hold secrets, so I'll keep it for now; the pink gem can be sold."

Then, a new idea strikes him.

A fresh inspiration hits him: "I don't really need to stack up gifts for Levis's wedding. I can just give him the pink gem. A gem worth a grand in gold? That's a killer gift... Gift the pink gem, sell the sword, and buy two used ships to cover the transport gap."

With his plan set, he immediately heads to Tulip Castle to find Lvera—though she's enfeoffed in Falcon Town, she spends eleven months of the year in Tulip Castle, a true freeloader.

"You want to sell the Red Blood Sword to me?" Lvera looks at the travel-worn Levis in surprise.

"Not sell it to you, but sell it at a discount. I'm short on money, and I thought you might need a good weapon, so I made this decision."

"Are you really short on money?"

"As you can imagine, for the enfeoffment of Black Horse Island, I hardly received any material rewards from the Iron Horse Island battle; and the development of Black Horse Island has turned me into a pauper; plus the weddings of Meopo and Levis, my funds are severely depleted, so I have to find a way from you."

Facing Levis's predicament, Lvera thinks for a moment and says, "The Red Blood Sword was a gift from our grandfather, and it holds great significance. I won't take away his expectations for you, but I can lend you some gold coins."

If he can borrow money, Levis naturally doesn't want to sell the Red Blood Sword.

It's a very good backup weapon.

"How much can you lend me?"

"Five hundred gold coins, is that enough?"

"Make it a thousand, I'm really short on money... If you have more, just lend me two thousand gold coins."

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . The mobile version reading URL: