Lind did not plan to stay in the River Valley for too long, but the urgent task at hand was to restore production in the River Valley and Fang Ge Territory, so Lind still needed to stay for a while longer.
In history, some rebel forces clearly won, but in the end, they could not maintain their advantage, primarily because they could not restore production, which meant they could not stabilize the people’s hearts and restore order.
The North Wind train had just begun to whistle and operate, but the cargo it was bringing was not soldiers and weapons, but rather craftsmen and production equipment from the western side of the Northern Border.
In addition, many merchants were also boarding the North Wind train for the first time, experiencing the power of the train and bringing goods to the River Valley region.
These merchants were specifically invited by Lind, and although the population of the River Valley was currently sparse and there was not much business to be done, Lind was not an expert in this field and did not quite understand how to manipulate the economy with tangible hands for rapid development of a region. However, Lind could still directly manipulate those merchants.
Attracting these merchants was quite simple, and there were plenty of means to do so: reducing taxes, allowing them to rent the civilian railway first, and then implementing some aid policies. Soon, these merchants from the Northern Border would rush to the River Valley to do business.
In fact, even if Lind had no supportive policies and forcibly brought some merchants to the River Valley, many would still be eager to come.
Not to mention that Lind held the mindset of making money together and helping everyone to enrich themselves, the prestige from just recently defeating the Demon Clan would also attract these merchants, who would be willing to invest money—not just for profit, but as a form of political investment.
However, Lind would not truly let these merchants earn no money; that would not be sustainable. So Lind first started distributing military salaries with Lena to the soldiers. After all, although some soldiers had already gone to the Graywhite Territory, the situation in the River Valley had just experienced a battle, and with many affairs to deal with, some people still needed to stay. Those who received military salaries but could not leave immediately were the best consumers.
Sitting in the center of the square, Lind and Lena were checking off names from a list, with boxes containing military salaries next to them, as they personally distributed the salaries to the soldiers lined up in the square.
“I recognize you.”
Lind sorted out a bag of silver leaf coins and handed it to the soldier in front of him, placing it in the soldier’s palm and saying, “Your family is very worried about you in Black Iron City. The North Wind train now has a mail service, so remember to send home a peace of mind.”
At the same time, Lind took out two more bags of neatly packed silver leaf coins and two medals and handed them to the soldier in front of him.
“This is your two brothers’ compensation, and there are honor medals as well. I’m sorry that the certificates haven’t been prepared yet; please send these home first. Remember to tell your family that their sons are all good examples and the pride of our Graywhite soldiers.”
The soldier silently accepted the two packets of compensation and honor medals with a blank expression, but after leaving, he couldn’t help but start wiping away tears.
Although they won, the victory was quite brutal. Since declaring war, the number of sacrifices from Graywhite was less than the casualties in this battle, while the sacrifices before that were relatively few as well.
Watching the departing soldier, Lind sighed. War was indeed very cruel, but would those soldiers suffer from what is known as post-traumatic stress syndrome?
There would likely be some, but most soldiers would just regret not killing a few more monsters or saving a few more comrades.
Distributing military salaries to each soldier was exhausting, but fortunately, it wasn’t just Lind and Lena doing it; there were other officials in the square helping. In fact, Lind could completely stand aside and watch, even not participating at all. At this foundational stage, no one dared to reach into the soldiers’ military salaries. Even if Lind was completely indifferent to the military funds, nobody would dare to take advantage.
But Lind still chose to do it this way. Aside from Lena’s request, he also wanted to set a good example for those who would come later, just as emperors of certain dynasties needed to personally review troops in the military camp at first. Although this custom had faded away since a certain War God, Lind could not let this practice be abandoned by ungrateful descendants.
To enrich the population of the River Valley and surrounding areas, Lind also helped to bring over the families of the soldiers stationed here and provided additional subsidies for these families.
This led some soldiers who lived a little more difficultly to actively choose to be stationed in the River Valley and surrounding regions, although the numbers were not high.
In this regard, it can only be said that it will take time. More crucially, the Golden Wheat Plain needs to be properly handled to turn it into the granary of the Northern Border again. Even without subsidies, people would continuously come to enrich the population nearby.
After distributing the military salaries, Lind sought out Tia, who was snacking in the encampment.
At this moment, Tia was lying on a sofa that had been moved out from a noble’s house, flipping through a book while eating dried fruits, and occasionally scratching her thigh, looking relaxed as if she was on vacation.
This was indeed the case. Not long after returning to the High Ger Empire, Tia’s bad habits formed in Graywhite led Aivelia to near madness. While hitting Tia’s bottom, Aivelia wrote a letter blaming Lind for being too indulgent, leading Tia to take a course in etiquette when she returned.
Originally, Aivelia did not want to let Tia return, but after listening to the information provided by Tia and the Druids, she reluctantly sent Tia back to continue helping Lind. After all, the monsters from the Demon Clan were no small matter, and trustworthy individuals were needed to continuously understand the situation.
This was indeed a good opportunity for Tia to accumulate experience.
“When do you think the Golden Wheat Plain will return to its former state?”
“Quite hard.”
Tia closed the book and said, “Usually, it’s pretty challenging to restore lands that have just undergone battle to their former state. If we have the help of our Druids, we might barely make it in time for the sowing season. I believe you’ve also noticed that the blood of those monsters will contaminate the land.”
“There are methods for dealing with this in the primal teachings of the Nature God, but to be honest, us Elves are more concerned about what exactly these monsters are. After all, the primal teachings only describe the pollution situation and methods to deal with it, without directly describing those monsters.”
“We Elves will certainly help you restore the lands of the Golden Wheat Plain, but accordingly, we also need information about the Demon Clan’s monsters and the Demon God.”
Tia’s tone was straightforward, as if she never considered that Lind might refuse, and indeed, Lind had effectively become an ally of the Elves.
Moreover, regarding those monsters, Lind had some of his own speculations. After all, he had discovered some pieces of meat from the Demon Clan’s camp that had not been processed or transported. The arrogant Demon Clan seemed to have never considered that they would lose; they didn’t even have a retreat plan, and those meat pieces had not been destroyed.
“We have already begun investigating those monsters, and the information will certainly be shared with you. However, I need to ask one thing: some of this information comes from a somewhat extreme religion. Can you accept such extremely radical heretics?”
Tia seemed to understand who Lind was referring to and pinched her nose, saying, “As long as it’s just exchanging information.”
Lind nodded. Once they returned to the Graywhite Territory, he could arrange for the Elves to meet with the Lantern Dream.
At the same time, letters from various other factions began to arrive at Lind’s location.
The war on the front had ended, but the war behind the scenes was just beginning.
