Chapter 199 - Episode 193: Talk of Politics ③
A population of 3,000. This was the minimum number Noein judged necessary to equip a territorial army according to his own vision.
By the time he had drafted the plan for the expansion of the territorial army, he had already calculated the minimum required population through discussions with internal affairs retainers such as Anna, Edgar, and Christy.
"...Is that not a bit too few? What say you, Marquis Skeggjason?"
"Yes. Considering the common sense of the Kingdom, it could be said to be considerably small relative to the scale of a regular army."
Generally, territorial army soldiers, who are professional soldiers, make up 1% to 2% of the population at most. Including artisans and merchants, that figure is around 10% to 15%, with the rest all being agricultural workers... that is the general composition of a Kingdom noble's territory. In small, low-ranking noble territories, there are many places where almost everyone is a peasant.
However, with the scale of 3,000 people Noein mentioned, even excluding the Reserve Corps, the ratio of professional soldiers to the population would exceed 5%.
"As His Excellency Skeggjason says, from a general perspective, it would be thought that the population is too small for the scale of the army. However, my territory has somewhat special food circumstances... in fact, until now, we have been able to maintain a territorial army of nearly 100 people against a population of just over 1,500."
Noein spoke about the food situation of his territory.
First, there were potatoes, one of the synonyms for the Arqvist territory. With a better harvest rate than wheat, the ability to grow in various types of soil, and a short growth period, potatoes had strongly supported the stomachs of the residents. Thanks to these potatoes, the Arqvist territory was able to produce food with overwhelming efficiency.
Furthermore, the ability to obtain a large amount of meat was another strength of the Arqvist territory. Due to the geography—where there are many forests... or rather, almost everything except for the settlements and the roads connecting them is forest—the territorial army could hunt a significant amount of beasts and monsters just by patrolling the interior.
Additionally, livestock such as pigs, cows, and chickens were raised to some extent within the territory; acorns and other nuts could be gathered from the surrounding forests as feed, and nutrient-rich fodder such as soybean and sugar beet pomace could also be obtained. The livestock grew fat, and plenty of milk, eggs, and meat were obtained.
In addition, if necessary, wheat could be bought from outside the territory using profits from mining resources or the sale of potatoes, oil, and sugar.
Therefore, the Arqvist territory could obtain food without problem even if the proportion of agricultural workers was low. In fact, Noein explained the situation that even now, the peasant population—excluding soldiers, civil servants, merchants, artisans, and miners—was under eighty percent, yet society was functioning without issue.
"Of course, this is strictly the minimum number of people. To make the interior more stable, I would like to increase the population to 3,500... preferably around 4,000, but for the time being, I intend to aim for reaching this 3,000. What do you think?"
Asked by Noein, Oscar looked toward Marquis Skeggjason, and the Marquis nodded. After confirming this, Oscar spoke.
"If you, the lord, say so, then 3,000 should be no problem. Very well, for now, you may make that population scale your goal."
"Thank you very much."
Noein felt relieved that the population plan had been accepted following the vision for the territorial army.
No matter how well the Arqvist territory could handle a sudden population increase, if he suddenly increased immigrants by several thousand, he would naturally worry about chaos in the territorial society and the deterioration of public order. He was relieved to decide that it would suffice to roughly double the current population.
"Now then... the Royal Family has decided to assist you in increasing the population of your territory as a reward for your rare military achievements."
As Oscar spoke with a smirk, Noein returned a mischievous smile.
Oscar's way of speaking was, of course, a formality. It was in the Royal Family's interest for the Arqvist territory to gain power quickly, and the King's act of favoring Noein to encourage that was merely being expressed as a "reward for military achievements."
"Lord Arqvist, what would you like me to do?"
"Then, if I may speak boldly... I would like you to gather the poor residing in the royal capital and the royal lands as immigrants for the Arqvist territory."
Noein answered Oscar's question without hesitation. Hearing this, Oscar made a gesture of thinking for a moment.
"The poor, eh..."
As is the case with any large city, there is a place called the slums at the edge of the royal capital. Similar areas exist in each city within the royal lands. While minimum charity is provided, the Royal Family considers them a source of worry because if one step is misplaced, such areas could fully slumify and give rise to large criminal organizations.
If Noein wanted to pull people from there, it was actually a welcome story for Oscar, but a question remained.
"Why specifically designate the poor? Many among the poor lack education. Would it not be more convenient to gather talented personnel?"
"It is exactly as Your Majesty says. However, there are advantages to them being poor... they have nowhere else to go. If I tell them that I will provide new housing and decent work, many will easily become devoted to me. I desire such, so to speak, obedient workers."
"I see, so the appeal is the honesty that comes from having nothing."
While watching Oscar nod as if convinced, Noein was hiding a part of the reason.
The "talented personnel" Oscar mentioned were, in other words, influential merchants, artisans, or even the children of court nobles who could not inherit the family headship. Such personnel would care not only about the Arqvist territory, but also about the interests of their former merchant guilds, workshops, or family homes. It was not guaranteed they would show loyalty purely to Noein.
Furthermore, there was the issue of relations with the veteran residents. He had given them farmland, provided education, and the veteran residents had finally gained power as landowners. The guilds of veteran merchants and artisans like Philip, Dmitri, Victor, and Daphne had also grown steadily. Despite that, he did not want to introduce a group of talented new immigrants who would become a competing force at this late stage.
What the Arqvist territory needed now was simple labor to support the veteran residents. An elite class that held a sense of belonging to the outside of the territory was unnecessary. One could even say they would be a hindrance. If he wanted to increase personnel with high education or skills in the future, he could simply raise them anew within the territory.
However, since speaking these reasons aloud would be far too raw, he hid them.
"Yes, however, it is not as if just anyone among the poor will do. If possible, I would like to gather those who became poor due to the domestic turmoil of the last few years, those who originally should not have become poor. Such people will work diligently if given an opportunity... at the least, I wish to exclude those who became poor due to a criminal record or their own laziness."
"...Very well. Marquis Skeggjason, it is possible to screen for such safe individuals, is it not?"
"Yes. The Ministry of Internal Affairs shall handle the recruitment of those wishing to migrate from the poor, as well as the confirmation of the gathered individuals' backgrounds and the presence of criminal records. It will be certain if we use the 'Insight' magic tool possessed by the ministry's investigative agency."
The Marquis nodded at Oscar's question. 'Insight' was a high-level psychological magic used to see through lies.
If the Arqvist territory, a strategic point on the border, became ruined by being filled with ex-criminals and lazy people, the Royal Family would be troubled as well. Therefore, Noein was certain that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would seriously screen only for decent immigrants.
"The transport of the selected immigrants shall be handled by the Kingdom's Army."
"Yes, that would be appropriate."
Count Burkhard spoke, and Oscar nodded in agreement.
"Thank you very much. Regarding the transport of immigrants, it would be helpful if you could divide them into groups of about a hundred and stagger the timing of their arrival. We also have preparations such as the construction of houses and the expansion of farmland..."
"Ah, of course. It would be pointless if the Arqvist territory fell into chaos by increasing immigrants too suddenly."
After that, discussions continued to hammer out more concrete points and details, and although it took a considerable amount of time given the scale of the topic, the necessary matters were decided generally smoothly.
.....
Having finished the long discussion with the King and the two heavyweights of the Kingdom, Noein returned to the guest room provided to them at the detached villa of Viscount Koenitz, his lodging during his stay in the royal capital.
"Welcome back, dear. You must be tired."
Upon entering the room, Clara greeted him with a gentle smile.
"I'm home, Clara. You're right, I'm tired... Claraaa."
Receiving his wife's smile, Noein hugged her while letting out a spoiled voice.
"Oh my, you really seem to have been exhausted. There, there."
While being patted on the head by Clara, Noein then turned toward Matilda and beckoned her.
"Matilda, come here."
"Yes, Noein-sama."
Matilda had accompanied him as a guard at the royal castle until just before Noein entered the meeting room, and they had returned together, but until entering this room, Noein had maintained his face as a noble. Therefore, this was the first timing where the exhausted Noein acted spoiled toward her.
The called Matilda immediately drew close to Noein and was hugged alongside Clara.
Since both Matilda and Clara were taller than Noein (or rather, Noein's stature was short), Noein, who pulled the two close, ended up in a very slovenly posture, sandwiched between their two ample breasts. Both of them gently hugged him back and stroked him.
"I'm tired—, I'm so tired—."
Noein acted spoiled without reservation toward his lover and wife.
The current Noein had the resolve and confidence to face any job without flinching if it was necessary as a lord. In fact, in today's discussion, he had shown that he could maintain his composure until the end. However, not being nervous and not being fatigued were different things. Things that are tiring are tiring.
He had held a discussion that influenced the lives of 1,500 residents and more than 1,500 people who would soon become residents. Moreover, the opponents were the King of this country and two minister-level bureaucrats. There was no way a twenty-year-old brat who had been a low-ranking noble until just recently would not be tired.
Since he had accomplished a great task, he wanted to be comforted immediately afterward. He wanted to be told he did well, that he worked hard. Those feelings burst through, and Noein returned to his childhood self.
"Noein-sama, let us move toward the bed."
"Let's spend this afternoon relaxing together. We shall heal you."
"Mm."
Led by the hand by Matilda and Clara, Noein walked to the bed. At this moment, there was no longer any dignity of a lord or anything of the sort.