The return to Radensdorf went smoothly. No trouble was going to break out in this area at this point, and no one had the gall to attack a marching column of some two hundred soldiers.
At most, we stumbled across a few bandit packs disguised as vagrants along the way and wiped them out. With stray dogs like these loitering at every crossroads, it’s no wonder trade between villages suffers.
Once I return to Rosenheim, my first order of business will be organizing a dedicated patrol cavalry to maintain regional security. Only when public order improves can the people’s livelihoods and economic activity stabilize.
On the road to Radensdorf, I heard from Oscar and Ted about everything that had happened in Feuzen. Stories of Feuzen and my family were an oasis that let me forget the tedium of the march.
Ted, in his element, pulled out every story he had.
"Haha, Hilda is so restless that Priscilla must have her hands full."
"Ugh, don’t even get me started. The mistress slipped out on Schatten and rode a full lap around Feuzen. Priscilla was so furious about it that she nearly tied the mistress down. We barely managed to stop Priscilla."
"Wh-what? She actually went riding? While pregnant?"
My heart dropped. No matter how much she hates sitting still, riding a horse while pregnant is something that would horrify even the people of this era.
Which is why Priscilla had apparently hit the roof.
Ted said he still got dizzy just thinking about it.
"The mistress had to promise Priscilla she would absolutely not ride again until the young master was born. Priscilla kept hounding Sir August to report it to you immediately, Master."
"Poor August must have been in a bind. Priscilla did a truly admirable thing."
"As it turns out, Priscilla is pregnant herself now, so the two of them are being careful together."
Come to think of it, with Priscilla pregnant, Sabine might struggle to handle things alone. In fact, most of the married handmaids are pregnant now. Is this the power of a ten percent population increase? Incredible.
I’d assumed it just meant more immigrants or settlers. I never imagined it would force the population up through biology itself. I should hand out generous rewards to every household expecting a child next year.
Lords almost never give gifts for childbirth, but this might be a good opportunity to establish policies like maternity leave and childbirth subsidies. The Church would welcome it too.
You can only prosper by winning the people’s hearts, firmly and completely.
Of course, anyone caught pulling tricks to milk the subsidies will lose their head.
"Is the ranch running well? It burned down after the Battle of Feuzen, and Winter took it hard."
"Everyone pitched in, and it’s bigger and grander now than it was before. Winter is running it with real enthusiasm. He even bragged that five foals had been born."
"Good to hear. And did you receive the spoils I sent through Wenzenberg?"
Since I was sending Wenzenberg to Breisburg anyway, I had him carry the various spoils I’d collected on to Feuzen. Even after selling off everything but the items in the best condition from the hauls I’d gathered battle after battle, an enormous amount was still left. Proof of just how many battles I’d fought.
"The merchant Wenzenberg brought so many spoils from the east that we had to build two new warehouses. The carpenters were the only ones celebrating. They’d been sulking about having no big jobs since the ranch was finished."
"The carpenters are going to have more work than they can handle from now on."
I’d earned plenty of gold, and just thinking about all the ventures I could launch in Rosenheim, a territory with limitless potential, already put me in a good mood. The existing wine business and the saltpeter business would be the core.
"And remember, those spoils are what your master earned fighting tooth and nail in the east."
"How could we ever be careless with spoils earned by your blood and sweat, Master? Our only regret is that we weren’t there at your side. At least we heard all about Brother Anton’s heroics."
As retainers, not being able to stand on the battlefield with their master must sting, but there will be plenty of chances ahead. The days we have left are long, and wars are many.
Hmm, come to think of it, this whole region is a powder keg.
First, the Duchy of Burgundy, the most powerful of the princely states, is eyeing the lands along the Main River, and in Strasbourg we might collide with the Palatinate Wittelsbachs or the Duchy of Roden.
And there’s no telling when the honeymoon between Basel and the Swiss Confederation, right next to my territory, might sour. Of the four directions, the east has been settled, which leaves the west, south, and north.
Essenbach and Offenburg will handle the north, but the most likely main battleground against Basel and the Swiss Confederation is Rosenheim. Fortifying Hissen, the strategic linchpin, is the most critical task of all.
"Sir Falkenheim and Sir Steinhof have recovered enough to be active again. Physician Arzt vouched for it himself, so they’re throwing themselves into training as we speak."
"They ought to rest longer, but of course they’re pushing themselves again. Thank God we have Arzt."
"Um, where on earth did you find a physician of that caliber? Even the mistress was curious."
"I can’t tell you until he chooses to speak of it himself. It’s a sensitive matter."
The only ones who know Arzt was once an executioner are Anton and the Simon couple. Every member of the order who spent that day with us in that village is dead now. A truly sad thing.
Simon is Viktor’s son, and when Simon nearly died at Eisten, it was Arzt (then called Stock) who treated him and barely pulled him through. That’s why Simon now studies medicine under Arzt.
"You haven’t slacked on gunner training while I was gone, have you?"
"All ten of them shoot skillfully. Not as well as me, of course."
Ted has a sniper’s talent. During the last Battle of Feuzen, armed with two notoriously inaccurate arquebuses, he shot dead every commander he spotted.
And as training instructor, he’d been diligently running the standing army through the calisthenics drills I’d passed down. Since the exercises cost nothing but sweat, he’d naturally extended them to some of the levies as well.
The Feuzen standing army currently numbers ten, with thirty levies.
My plan is to expand the standing army in Rosenheim and train at least a hundred gunners. My forces would be split broadly into three categories: infantry from the duchy army, cavalry from the Gale Knights, and gunners as soldiers of the Streit family.
And filling the gaps in between is the mercenaries’ job.
The captured Schlieffen mercenary captain has a decent disposition, so if the chance arises, I intend to hire him and put him to use, maybe even organize and run a separate mercenary outfit.
Hm, that would make it three pillars: saltpeter, wine, and mercenaries.
"Are the Boeven settlers adjusting well?"
"The mistress was pleased to have new subjects, but the original villagers didn’t seem the least bit welcoming. The Boeven folk must have sensed it too, because they keep entirely to themselves."
"I knew it would go that way. True integration will take considerable time."
"Starting with the choice of the orchard site, there have been quite a lot of problems between the villagers and the settlers."
Just as I feared, the people of Feuzen were hostile to outsiders, and the settlers couldn’t look kindly on them in return. The stone already set in the ground and the stone that rolls in are bound to clash.
Harmony among the people was an important matter, but clashes of emotion can’t be resolved by effort alone. The retainers had apparently suffered plenty, caught in the middle.
Guard captain Hans, in particular, practically lived at the tavern. Not because he loved drink, but because fights between Feuzen villagers and Boeven settlers broke out there constantly.
Fortunately, before things spiraled out of control, Hilda summoned representatives from both sides and brokered an agreement: on this matter, both parties would abide unconditionally by the lord’s decision.
That’s my lady of the manor. With this, defying the lord’s decision becomes that much harder. And above all, my fame and influence in the west have become untouchable, so no one would even dream of pushing back.
On top of that, the Streit Family Prestige score of 3,450 points (Recognition 69%, Governance 69%) exerts powerful influence here. Thanks to that governance stat, the people tend to follow direction fairly well.
Resolving this conflict is my first priority the moment I return.
Otherwise, only division remains. And division ultimately means decline.
Still, if no resolution is in sight, there’s nothing for it. I’ll simply have to build a proper hamlet where the Boeven settlers can live on their own. Offer them tax reductions, and their discontent should soften.
I had been lost in thought for some time when Drek came running up from the rear.
"Baron, Count Heinlein says he wishes to make a final offer."
"A final offer? A final death throe, more like."
Well, I might as well hear it. I halted the march for a moment.