Fifth Chapter 570 Ediths Reason

This question is unsolvable in a sense.

The reason lies in the limited total amount of food—after the Month of the Evil Moon, the kingdom's circulating grain will enter a state of shortage, not to mention soaring prices, and it may not be possible to buy it. Only after the wheat fields are harvested will the grain shortage be alleviated. Autumn is the season with the most frequent grain transactions, and it will rise rapidly again during the Month of the Evil Moon.

Of course, these transactions are generally for merchants and nobles. As for the penniless refugees and rats, even if there is more wheat, they can only go hungry into the winter.

According to Barov’s years of experience as an assistant to the Minister of Finance, the major cities are now waiting for the wheat ears to mature, and it is unlikely that they will sell grain in large quantities. A gap of several thousand people may still be filled, but tens of thousands of people cannot be satisfied no matter what.

If it is impossible to increase income, one can only reduce expenditure.

Reduce the city’s food supply, lower the daily purchase quantity, and let the people change from eating bread to drinking wheat porridge, persevering until the day of harvest—this is also the most likely opinion Ediths would propose.

Then he could refute the inappropriateness of this approach from all aspects, such as His Majesty’s promise to exchange grain, the contradiction between fact and propaganda, and the fear of food shortage.

Looking at Ediths raising her eyebrows and flipping through the list, he knew that this trouble would not be easy to solve.

It wouldn't be long before she asked him what to do.

Thinking of this, Barov couldn't help but stroke his beard. The so-called overall management requires not only proficiency in government affairs, but also a clear understanding of the characteristics of the city. For example, in the Royal City, he could recite the specialty prices of the Alchemy Association and the amount of silver ore shipped from Silverlight City every month without thinking. These cannot be remembered in a short period of time.

And the characteristic of Neverwinter City is witches.

Barov knew that there was a green-haired woman named Yezi in the Witch Union who could make wheat fields grow at an incredible speed. When she didn't care about maintaining the land, she could even make the wheat ripen once a day, and the wheat ears produced were simply incomparable to Golden No. 1.

In other words, as long as she is asked to manage a wheat field and focus on quickly producing grain, she can make up for the current shortage.

Of course, he also knew that His Majesty was having Yezi control the Miasma Forest in the west, which was used to build an early warning defense line against devils, but considering that these enemies would not appear for several years, there was no rush to stop for two or three months.

And this is something Ediths could absolutely not know.

No matter how talented she is, and has been involved in managing the affairs of the Northern Lands since adulthood, it is impossible for her to be familiar with this completely unfamiliar city after arriving in Neverwinter City for half a month, let alone understand the abilities of every witch.

She wouldn't even understand why the Ministry of Education's office had to be connected to the archives, and why the Minister of Education would often appear in it and have the power to view all documents.

After a long while, Ediths put down the list and slightly raised the corners of her mouth.

"This trouble is actually not difficult to solve."

"Um..." Barov nodded first, then was stunned, "What?"

"Before Willow Town was developed, most of the land in the Northern Lands was not suitable for growing wheat, so food was particularly tight in the spring. So, the local lords set their sights on the Eastern Lands and the Kingdom of Dawn."

"You mean—" he suddenly realized something.

"Since you can't grow it and you can't buy it, you can only rob others." Ediths said easily, "Isn't this the case now? His Majesty's army is attacking Dragonfall Ridge. I heard that the Earl of Sperber's younger brother has gathered a lot of local nobles to resist her, right? Now that the reasons and methods are all in place, just kill them one by one. Guess how many gold dragons and food are hidden in their basements?"

"The lack of food is just that there is little circulating food left. In fact, most of the food produced by the kingdom is divided by the nobles. They can use this part of the food to control the free people and farmers in their territory, and they can also earn a lot of gold dragons in lean years." Her tone was not fast, but her voice sent chills down Barov's spine, "If you search Dragonfall Ridge thoroughly, I think the food for tens of thousands of people will naturally not be a problem.

If that's not enough, there are several cities in the southeast waiting for His Majesty to demand."

"They are all nobles..." The Chief Steward stopped halfway through his words. That's right...after His Majesty occupied the Southern Lands, they were no longer nobles. As long as they act quickly enough, these seizures will be enough to fill Neverwinter City's granaries again.

Moreover, unlike the Royal City, Dragonfall Ridge is a city that has completely sided with His Majesty and is also a key thoroughfare to the Southern Lands. At that time, the City Hall will not only directly send people to assist the Earl of Sperber in building a new government, but the laws, plans and education of Neverwinter City will also be copied in the city. Therefore, removing all those nobles is actually beneficial to the stability of the city.

What puzzled Barov was, why could Ediths accept the decree to eliminate the noble class so quickly? Even he himself, even if he fully supported His Majesty's orders, did not adapt so quickly...and she was originally the heir to the Duke of the Northern Lands.

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Back at the Foreign Affairs Building, Ediths pushed open the door and saw Cole lying on the table flipping through a thin book.

"What's that?"

"Uh...I bought it from the convenience market. It's like a picture scroll, but it also has a story. It's quite interesting." The younger brother looked up, "You look very happy?"

"Do I?"

"In Eternal Night City, I rarely see you smile like this." Cole pouted, "Are we really not going back?"

"For the time being. When Father replies, His Majesty should allow you to return to the Northern Lands." Ediths sat down opposite him and reached out to pick up the cover. She saw the words *Witch's Diary* printed on it.

"What about you?"

"I want to stay here."

"Why?" Cole asked, puzzled, "Is the City Hall that interesting?"

"It's not that the City Hall is interesting, but that Roland Wimbledon's City Hall is interesting." She corrected with a chuckle, "Do you know how I would get something done in Eternal Night City?"

"Just tell Father."

"Almost. Issue an order, and naturally many people will do it. Now that I think about it, this has little to do with me personally, only because of my identity and that Father will listen to my suggestions...of course, only within the lands of the Kant family." Ediths said with great interest, "But here, my identity not only has no effect, but may even be an obstacle—there are almost no nobles in the City Hall, and they don't care whether I am the daughter of the Duke of the Northern Lands. Everyone is doing things based on their abilities. Do you understand what I mean?"

Cole shook his head.

"Everyone is willing to listen to you not because of your identity, but because of your own abilities. It is still effective even outside the fief. His Majesty said one thing correctly: enfeeoffment seems to have great power, but it also limits the upper limit that nobles can reach. As it stands now, he is fully capable of expanding his territory to the entire continent, and the City Hall will become a behemoth, and the area under its jurisdiction will extend to every corner of Graycastle. Once you are recognized, with a single word, even the entire kingdom will run for you. Tell me, why should I stay in that small fief?"