Although it claimed to be a conferral ceremony to the outside world, Lind had already made it clear in previous correspondence that he would not accept the title of Northern Border Governor.
After all, Lind was continuously weakening the influence of the nobles within his territory, so it was impossible for him to request any title from the royal capital in the end.
Of course, he still needed to continue serving as Governor; if he were to resign from this position, the royal capital would likely become furious.
Lena didn’t quite understand why Lind was unwilling to accept the title of Northern Border Governor, given that it was an hereditary position of the Lars Family, but she chose to trust Lind.
In fact, many people in the family hoped that Lind could take over this position.
Once Lind and Lena had children, this position would ultimately still be inherited by someone from the Lars Family.
However, these voices were suppressed by Lena; Lind must have his reasons for doing so.
And those in the family who saw that Lena did not oppose Lind’s actions also fell silent.
You could offend Lind; although the Lord Governor seemed fierce, he treated his own well, and even if he pointed a finger and scolded you, the worst would be just checking your past performance.
But if you offended Lena… the Lars Family would immediately expel you.
“First, let’s talk about the issues regarding the southwestern border.”
Nora found her familiar feeling during the meeting and began to take out documents, which the attendant handed to Lind. She said, “Your Excellency the Governor, I believe you, like us, are very concerned about the situation in the southwestern border.”
Could he not be concerned? Lind and Alberto had never deliberately concealed their correspondence; everyone knew the Northern Border Governor and the King of Anju were having pleasant chats.
“Now, the firearms from the Anju Kingdom are even stronger than our previous firearms, so we hope that the Northern Border can provide weapon assistance to the royal capital and the southwestern border.”
After that, Nora added, “Your Excellency the Governor, the King of Anju is ambitious, foolishly attempting to marry Your Majesty, which is simply outrageous! Now the southwestern border is in urgent need, and I ask Your Excellency the Governor to consider the kingdom’s overall situation.”
But Lind asked somewhat disdainfully, “What does this have to do with the Northern Border?”
Nora was momentarily taken aback; although she was mentally prepared, she didn’t expect the other party to be so straightforward.
Judith then said, “Your Excellency the Governor, the defense of the southwestern border is gradually beginning to collapse. The old-style cannons are completely unable to resist the Anju Kingdom’s Anju Cannons. The southwestern border is also part of the kingdom; Your Excellency the Governor cannot ignore it.”
Judith found it a bit strange; wasn’t the Queen and the Governor on the same side? Why was the Northern Border Governor’s attitude so cold? Even if it was just acting, it seemed to be a bit too much. If the southwestern border truly fell apart, how could they expect to restore the glory of the Old Empire?
But Lilith, who was in the middle, wasn’t too worried; she had generally figured out the thought process of the Northern Border Governor. They really didn’t care much about the southwestern border but were more concerned about other matters.
Naturally, Lind didn’t directly refute her but said, “I can understand the sentiments of your Excellency the Chancellor and your Excellency the Southern Border Marquis, but you also know that the Northern Border has just finished a big battle and has only recently unified. Even if we were to provide assistance, we would be short-handed.”
In simple terms, they needed money.
Nora was in trouble; no one knew better than her about the current financial situation of the royal capital. Although the palace had started to show some surplus with the reforms, all of that surplus needed to continue flowing into the financial chain, and there was hardly any cash left.
If this continued, they would have to sell the palace.
Judith still had some wealth; it was fine to do some small-scale arms trading with that wealth, but if large-scale purchases began, the royal capital would become highly sensitive.
Lind was also aware that there wasn’t much money left in the royal capital, so he took a contract from the attendant, saying, “Of course, I also understand the difficulties of Your Majesty and the royal capital. Furthermore, the previous transactions of trading materials with the royal capital for weapons were quite unsatisfactory, so I’ve considered that we could continue this model in the future. The royal capital could exchange other goods with us for weapons.”
“Mutually beneficial; that’s how we can win.”
Lind spoke quite sensibly, but when this contract was handed to Lilith, her face darkened.
In contrast, when Nora saw this contract, her expression relaxed quite a bit, but not much compared to Lilith.
Lind’s requirements were very simple; although the royal capital was impoverished, both the royal capital itself and its surrounding areas had a population.
The contract clearly specified how many people each type of weapon could be exchanged for, and Lind’s requirements were quite broad; as long as the individuals were healthy and had no special diseases, they could be included.
The royal capital was also responsible for safely transporting these people to the Northern Border. Although this was cheaper than directly buying weapons, the expenses along the way were not low.
It was obvious that the Northern Border had estimated how much wealth remained in the royal capital, basically squeezing out the last bit of cash.
However, the troubles of relocating people didn’t end there; surrounding the royal capital were many noble territories. These individuals publicly pledged loyalty to the king, but since they were close to the royal capital, their power would also slightly consolidate.
Regardless, these nobles were still landed nobles, and the population represented the labor capacity in their territories. Although there was no such concept, nobles wouldn’t allow their populations to shrink for no reason.
It is worth noting that the population in their territories, as well as serfs, was also part of a lord’s wealth. Lilith wanted those noble lords to support her in exchanging people for weapons, and she had to provide sufficient benefits in return.
Thinking of this made Lilith feel overwhelmed.
It was truly heartless. Lilith looked up at the indifferent Northern Border Governor across the table; a weakened royal capital was beneficial for the Northern Border. This royal capital couldn’t be too weak; they needed to extract the last remaining value without allowing Anju’s invasion to go smoothly, while also continually transferring population and resources to the Northern Border.
“Although these lords are quite loyal, the serfs within their territories are also part of their wealth. Even if I am a queen, I have no right to forcibly take away the wealth of these lords. So, Your Excellency the Governor, can this matter be further negotiated?”
Although there were still solutions, such as sharing some of the weapons obtained through exchanging populations with these lords, was this truly the best solution?
This kind of back-and-forth balance left Lilith feeling like she was going to lose control.
“There’s nothing to negotiate. Your Majesty also knows that our Northern Border has lost a large population due to the monsters from the Demon Clan and urgently needs people now. Moreover, these are merely worthless commoners; Your Majesty won’t be unable to handle such a matter, right?”
It had become rigid; Lilith’s fists clenched tightly.
