But I have to admit that in this special period, something must be done.

Marquis Brackbarn turned his attention to the Chancellor of the Exchequer: "Lawrence, how much more can you take out?"

He refers to military expenditure.

"At the latest afternoon, you can give it to you tomorrow, forty-three and four hundred pounds of gold. I know you want more silver and auxiliary coins, but I really can't find more." The Chancellor of the Exchequer was extremely calm, and he was born with a natural sensitivity to numbers: "In addition, there is a tax from the southern provinces, about 110,000 pounds. The money is already on the way and will be delivered early next month."

He paused: "If you can hold on until then, the giants have not completely surrounded the capital, and this money can be used by you."

Marquis Brackbarn glanced at him deeply, nodded slightly, and said from the bottom of his heart: "Thank you!"

He had a little more confidence in the battle to defend the capital.

"This is my duty." The Chancellor shrugged his shoulders, his face still looked bad, and his brows frowned: "I don't want to be the food of those giants, so you have to do your best to win this battle."

Marquis Brackbarn narrowed his eyes and asked, "I heard you say that, it seems that there is a backup plan?"

Laurent did not answer directly, and turned his gaze to the king: "I have sent people to inform all the nobles and merchants in the city to attend the palace dance tonight."

"What did you say?" King George suddenly jumped out of the chair as if his butt was stabbed by a needle, and was shocked and angry: "When is it, you... are you still in the mood to hold a dance?"

Marquis Brackbarn was also stunned, and his face became gloomy again. The dance party meant expenses, not to mention the grand scale that all the nobles and merchants in the capital participated. Just thinking about it, you can tell that the cost will not be less than 50,000 pounds.

"This is a donation ball." The Chancellor of the Chancellor was very calm. He did not defend himself, but said in a normal tone: "No drinks, no luxurious and hearty buffets, no delicious pastries. The ball was held in the hall, and the only thing needed was the Royal Band. Of course it was an extra overtime, and I would not pay them even a penny for it."

The king and the marquis were both stunned.

Brack Barn thought and asked, "Donate...you mean, let them pay?"

"Yes." The Chancellor of Finance nodded: "It is an extraordinary time. Soldiers are fighting bloody on the front line. Without rewards and military pay, they cannot inspire morale. Even if His Majesty now promulgates temporary laws to increase war taxes, it will not work in a short period of time, and on the other hand it will intensify domestic turmoil. Civilians have no money, and even if the money taken out of a lord's pocket can be worth ten civilians. Brackbain, I need you to give me an army, the most elite, two thousand people, or one thousand. In short, these guys must be asked to give us money to help us solve the problem tonight."

The Marquis, who was surprised, nodded frequently: "I will issue a transfer letter. From now on, you will be the deputy commander of the city of London."

A smile finally appeared on Lawrence's face.

He stood up from his chair, exhaled a long sigh, and faced the window that shone into the light, prayed devoutly: "May the Holy Lord bless Saxon."

Marquis Brackbarn also stood up and drew the word "March" on his chest with his fingers: "May the Holy Lord bless Saxon."

The king sat on the throne in a silent expression, slowly closing his eyes, and fell into a painful thinking that he didn't know how to describe himself, mixed with fatigue and helplessness.

...

The huge city of London has entered a high-speed operation.

But this so-called "highway" seems chaotic to the Marquis of Brackbarn.

Earl Commer is the director of the Kingdom Police. He is a kind old man. He is short and thin. It is said that this is the sequelae left by his illness when he was young. Earl Commer knows his weakness in appearance, so he learned from his tutors that he always smiles and appears in public with a sunny and gentle side as much as possible.

Marquis Brackbarn always believed that it was not ordinary people who could achieve the position of police chief. The order management and position of the capital over the years proved the Count's ability. But he never expected that when he came to the police headquarters and closed the door with the Count to talk about the imminent war, Earl Commer's face changed suddenly, and his emotions became nervous and crazy.

"They are here... they are really here?"

"Oh my God, with London's current defense, we can't defend it at all."

"The giants in the north will eat us all, they are a group of terrible ogres."

The Earl has many friends, some of whom received notices from the military headquarters after the Battle of the North. They were all their families... The Earl has attended many funerals in the past few months, and most of them are nobles, especially those who have no money at home and need to change their living environment and future destiny through military achievements.

The environment has a great influence on people, and Count Kemo is no exception. He claims to be an optimist and has seen too many deaths and has inexplicably feared the war and the giants of the north.

Marquis Brackbarn was very dissatisfied with the words of the police chief. He coughed a few times, comforted and reminded: "The situation is not as bad as you think. Reinforcements from the southern provinces will arrive soon, and we can completely defend the city."

"What do you want me to do?" The police chief responded quickly.

"Let your people do their best to maintain order." Marquis Brackbarn said his request: "I need a stable London, not a chaotic pheasant nest during the war."

Earl Commer looked gloomy and fell into thinking. After a long time, he raised his head and said seriously: "You have to give me enough bread, only in this way can people's hearts stabilize."

Since Marquis Brackbarn proposed the basic officer strategy of using "bread instead of gold coins", Saxon's domestic food has become an important strategic material. The amount of currency circulating in the market is getting smaller and smaller, and people usually trade directly with grains, flour, and even bread and various cured meats.

The advantages and disadvantages of doing this are obvious. The advantage is that gold and silver currency can be concentrated into the hands of the government to the greatest extent, and the disadvantage is that the reduction greatly reduces the royal family's credit among the people. However, as a special wartime economic substitution plan, Marquis Brackbarn undoubtedly did a very successful job, and also avoided the kingdom's economy not collapsed in the first few months after the defeat, and thus maintained stability.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Lawrence objected to this. He believed that the plan to replace currency with food would only lead to a sharp recession in the domestic economy. Because there was no stable and unified currency, it would disrupt the entire market. However, in the face of the threat of war, the Chancellor of the Exchequer's opinion was not taken seriously at all. However, Marquis Brackbarn did not insist on his own. In his opinion, the plan to replace currency with food could be implemented for up to one year, and then the kingdom's financial power must be returned to Lawrence.

"How much bread do you want?" asked Marquis Brackbarn.

"There are three million people in the city of London." Earl Commer remembers this figure very clearly: "I need to meet at least three months of daily food storage for civilians."

A trace of doubt flashed deep in Marquis Brackbarn's eyes: "You want so much for three months of ration?"

"The slums are the biggest instability factor," the police chief explained. "It is the source of almost all crimes. We lost so much in the Northern War that after the news of the defeat came, many people in the slums were ready to seek property from civilians and nobles in various ways."

Marquis Brackbarn looked serious and he sat up straight: "Why have I never heard you say this?"

"Your attention is on the military, and when you are defeated, the whole Saxon is a mess, and you need to deal with too many things. In fact, I have sent the relevant reports to your office long ago, but the reply I received was to let me deal with it at my own discretion." Earl Commer spoke very slowly, and did not hide the sarcasm in his words.

The Marquis concentrating on his mind for a moment and nodded slowly: "I remembered that I did read the documents about this at that time... Sorry, I was really too busy and almost everything had to be handled by me personally. As for Kingdom Police..."

He did not say the following, but instead directed the question to what the count had just said: "Tell me, what have all the guys in the slums done?"

Poor people, not civilians.

"Those poor people are the biggest source of problems in London." Earl of Commer said seriously: "There are too many poor people in London. They mainly gather in the east and south areas of the city, with a number of up to one million, and maybe even more than one. Two million. I can't do accurate census and numerical calculations on them, because these guys have hollowed out the bottom of London. Especially the sewers and dumps, where they build housing like rats, and the police and civil servants can't go deep."

"Most of the poor are orderly people, working in business shops, yards, workshops, factories and various shops in exchange for the bread they need every day. Women have more choices, mainly laundry women and caregivers, cleaning and service industries. If you change into civilian clothes and go to the East and South Districts in the evening, you will see bars and rivers full of exposed women."

Marquis Brackbarn had heard of this, and he asked calmly: "Are you referring to special services?"

"It's the most convenient thing for them." The police chief did not deny: "Just spread your legs or stick your butts out, you can make money."

The Marquis smacked his lips. He didn't like this topic, nor did he like to talk to the police chief about various disadvantages of social security. In Brackbarn's view, only the army is the state machine, and the police are at most auxiliary. This actually stems from the Marquis' prejudice against the Kingdom's police department. Marquis Brackbarn feels that the daily work of the police is not so much about maintaining public order, but rather uses power to blackmail the poor. He has seen too many similar things, but it is out of the reserve and arrogance of the nobles, and he ignores them.

"How are their income?" Marquis Brackbarn would not have talked about this with Earl of Commer, nor would he sit in this chair if it were not for the assistance of the police chief.

"Every time they receive a guest, they can get a day's ration." The Count's old face was a little emotional, and he sneered and sarcastic: "The ration standard is very low, not the sausage, cheese, bread and broth you imagined, but black bread with grass seeds and wood chips, cabbage soup and salt. Of course, sometimes you will get some butter, very little, just a piece as small as a fingernail."

Marquis Brackbarn was surprised: "If you follow this standard, you will only need three pennies. This is not too little, right?"

As long as it is a man, it is inseparable from the topic of "special service industry". Although Marquis Brackbarn is strict with himself, he is not ignorant of it. Some of his friends often visit high-end bars in the city, where women are expensive, starting at least four pounds.

"You can have a meal like this for just one and two pennies." The police chief's voice was a little hoarse: "They only eat two meals a day. For these women, the luxurious afternoon tea is simply unimaginable."

According to his own understanding, Marquis Brackbarn shook his head and said, "The poor also need women... but I don't understand that even the poorest women are beautiful. Since they choose to work in this kind of industry, why are their income still very low?"

"Do you think anyone can do this kind of business?" Earl Commer said coldly: "They are controlled by the gangsters, and every week there are people coming to collect money regularly. Just like the officers under your command, there are training tasks that must be completed every month."

Marquis Brackbarn was stunned.

He had heard of this kind of thing, but at that time it seemed irrelevant to the Marquis and never paid attention to it.

The Marquis felt that the topic had deviated from his original thoughts. He shrugged his shoulders and suppressed his temper and said, "I don't understand, what does these things have to do with the giants in the north? We're talking about war, and I need the city to remain stable for the next time."

"Have you ever seen those women who were executed?" the police chief did not answer, but raised questions that seemed to the Marquis not to the war itself.

"Execution?" Brackbarn narrowed his eyes, and he slowly rubbed his fingers: "What do you mean?"

"Do you think it's as simple as making a living between the bar and the river? They just need to pay the money once a week. If they can't pay it, or if they don't have enough quantity, they will die." The old earl's expression was a little painful.

Marquis Brackbarn couldn't help but gasp, and his expression became serious again: "Are you talking about the gangsters who manipulate them behind their backs?"
Chapter completed!