Tales of the Reincarnated Lord Chapter 515

After forcing Jinolio to go get some sleep, Lorist got up, took a bath and filled his stomach before he started dealing with the food shortage, refreshed. He had already predicted that Morante would be short on food. That was already apparent from the fact that half of the transport ship fleets were transporting food.

There was a population of one million in Morante. Coupled with the 200 plus thousand laborers and poor folk outside the city as well as the 400 thousand Union troops at Falik Plains, the daily food consumption of those 1.7-odd million people was astronomical. Falik Plains was a well-known food production area back in the day, but it had already been ruined without a single grain of harvest during the past two years. Half of Morante's food had to be supplied by the poor Callisto Hills and supplying food was a huge burden for the Union.

Tarkel came forward and gave Lorist another piece of bad news. The neighboring citadel Mass was supposed to be the main food storage area of the 400 thousand Union troops. But it was only discovered when it was taken that a month's worth of food to sustain the troops at the frontlines had been transported there. There wasn't much food remaining within Mass and all of it combined could only last the Morantians a day or two.

The Union had planned to wait for the shipment of the food to sustain the Morantians and shipped away the rest they had left to the frontlines. Unexpectedly, Invincible Fleet was eliminated and the transport fleet became House Norton's spoils. While Lorist had prepared for the food shortage in the city, he didn't think that it would be so bad to the point that there was only around 15 days' worth of food remaining within the city. Most of them were rough foods like wheat and potatoes, with very less finer foods.

After the transport fleet surrendered, the last of their food had been sent back to Cape Romani. As the supervisor, Howard rationed the food consumption of the laborers working at the reef area. What remained was sent to Silowas by sea. Lorist on the other hand sent the 100 thousand new recruits of the Union to Armatrin Harbor before bringing the Firmrock and sentry troops there to Morante.

The problem was that Lorist had ships but nobody to man them, and Morante lackd food. Silowas had food but no ships, so there was no way it could be brought to Morante. And the private ship owners who helped transport the food to Silowas bought stuff from the Norton house in a frenzy and set sail for the southern seas already. It was already too late to hire them.

Senbaud's Northsea Blitz flotilla was also heading to Hidegold Bay to bring the family members of the surrendered sailors to reunite with their families on Silowas. All of their moves were executed precisely and according to plan, but the sudden food shortage in Morante almost vaporized all of Lorist's efforts.

When Senbaud arrived at Hidegold Bay with the Blitzes, he brought the family members of the captives back and also brought the transport ships there so that they could return with food. That trip alone would take at least 15 to 16 days and that timing was the key to whether Lorist could pull that off successfully.

Lorist estimated that the troops at the frontlines will be able to react in another three days or so after they receive word of Morante's fall. If the commanders of the 400-thousand-strong army were decisive enough, they would arrive at Morante with their troops in another ten days. Though Lorist had already planned for it and had Tigersoar and Jaeger hold those troops back, the Union did have 400 thousand men. Should they leave half of them behind to hold the lines at Falik Plains, they would still be able to withstand an attack from Tigersoar and Jaeger for a time.

Lorist's original plan was to resist the counterattack of the Union at Morante itself. As long as he could drag on for a week or so for Tigersoar and Jaeger's arrival, the Union would be surrounded from both sides and be unable to retreat. They would surely crumble. After circumventing that obstacle, House Norton would be in for a huge harvest.

However, Morante lacked food severely and it was like Lorist was sitting on the edge of an active volcano. There were a million people living in the 24 outer city districts but only two divisions' worth of 24 thousand troops maintaining order there. So far, they had managed to suppress the small-scale revolts by the citizens and held up a temporary peace. But if the food shortage caused a huge revolt to occur, Morante might really end up in the Union's hands once more after their attempt to retake the city. By then, it would be the end of it.

"Tarkel, how was the food supply problem of the 24 outer city districts solved in the first place?" asked Lorist.

"Your Grace, the Union would supply some food to the outer city districts every half a month. Most of the food supplied is coarse food and every household could use their registered booklet to buy a set amount from the shops at a set price. Each household is only limited to a certain amount and one would have to pay much more for extra.

"Food aside, meat, wine, leather and even some other consumables were rationed. Any amount of those products purchased within a set limit would cost little but they'd have to pay a few times more if they wish to purchase more. There are still some specially set up rationed shops in Morante now and I heard that they earn a few gold Fordes monthly," said Tarkel as he flipped open a folder.

Wait a second... Why does this sound so familiar? This sounds just like planned allocation used during the time of the planned economy! My grandparents always brought a large number of tickets with them for meat and cloth. I remember using a ticket to exchange for a piece of maltose candy only to be pummeled by my grandfather! He said that he wasn't mad that I was eating candy though and instead was angry because I took something without permission and that it was tantamount to thievery.

I really don't know what these Union merchants are thinking. They actually planned the whole economy. Lorist asked curiously, "Wasn't there any objection to this at all? How are these rationed shops managed?"

Tarkel shook his head. "Your Grace, the Morantians are easily swayed. The Union's propaganda cites that everything is for the sake of the frontlines and they claim that everything will return to normal after the Andinaq invaders are defeated. They say that the pain they suffer today is for the bliss of tomorrow. Also, even though the coarse goods are rationed, the prices are kept low. There is also fine goods, but those are priced a little higher. Many families are willing to sell their fine good ratio for a little more coarse goods and extra spending money.

"I've already sent some men to investigate the 24 outer city districts and didn't find anything special apart from some little issues here and there. According to my men, the cheapest food in Morante right now are dried and salted fish and potatoes. The potatoes come from Callisto Hills while the dried salted fish are from the harvests of the Morantian fishermen throughout the past few years. Nobody consumed much of it before, but it has become a delicacy in the outer city districts nowadays.

"Now that our house has occupied the city, even the potatoes and meat from Callisto Hills can no longer sustain us. After Sir Belnick occupied the warehouse area outside the east gate with one Firmrock division, he realized that there aren't many potatoes or other coarse food remaining, with there being only enough to last the citizens of the outer city districts for ten or so days. If we decrease the amount each household gets, it'll last 15 days at most. There are, however, a lot of dried salted fish, but that isn't nearly enough to fill their stomachs.

"All the rationing and selling of goods is handled by the various merchant guilds. For instance, fine goods and meat are handled by Forde Merchant Guild while Peterson Merchant Guild dabbles in their usual field, leather and cloth. Mayflower Merchant Guild deals with honey, spices and other luxuries like that while Riwald Merchant Guild deals with the allocation of daily necessities. Chikdor Merchant Guild handles seafood and other related goods and Twinhead Merchant Guild sells various precious ingredients and targets the rich and noble market.

"All in all, the divide between the rich and the poor in Morante is stark. The rich and powerful can eat as usual as long as they had money while the poor has no choice but to eat whatever their rations afford them. Other things aside, even the mutton and beef the citizens in our dominion consumes would be sold at a sky-high price here, at least ten times that of market price. I heard that there are people who formed rat-catching teams to catch and sell rat as food...

"What's worth noting is that all the shops of those merchant guilds in the 24 outer city districts have closed up since our occupation of the city. The citizens there are used to purchasing the goods all in one go when they go on sale, and the scheduled date for the next sale is in three to four days. However, those shops are still closed up and some of the citizens there are getting a little restless. They're worried that they won't be able to get their daily necessities..."

Lorist stroked his chin as he paced around in his room. Tarkel's report did sound rather grave and it was imperative that the citizens of the outer city districts get placated soon. Stability was of paramount importance and they definitely couldn't afford a revolt breaking out in Morante during such a critical juncture. That would lead to all their effort up till now becoming wasted.

"Have Torin, Belnick and Jades come to see me. Send someone to pass on the orders to Els and Ovidis to finish transporting the supplies at Gypsy and Mass immediately before returning to Morante," instructed Lorist before the guards rushed out.

"Tarkel, send an eagle message and have Baron camorra and Supervisor Spiel prepare a transport fleet immediately to send the million magical beast furs and all the extra daily necessities within the dominion to Silowas. Get Baron Charade and Spiel to also send some capable administrative officials here."

"Understood, Your Grace. I'll be on it immediately," replied Tarkel.

"Tarkel, wait. Send someone to notify the ones guarding the outer walls about the syndicates managing the outer city districts. Invite them to a council using my name and set the time at nine in the morning tomorrow."

Torin was the father of Tok, the second-in-command of Northsea Fleet. As he is already rather old, he only had to deal with the logistical matters of the fleet. He had headed the sealing of Hidegold Bay with the cannon-equipped LLDAW-class vessels and performed his task really well.

Torin was the first to arrive, follow later by Jades and Belnick, who had come from the eastern warehouse area. When all of them were there, Lorist candidly briefed them about the house's difficulties and the current situation before allocating their tasks.

"Uncle Torin, go to the ship docks and get Pajik to cooperate with you. Gather some of the surrendered sailors of Invincible Fleet and have them stay back. The rest can be shipped to Silowas as planned. Have Pajik let you use a brigade as an escort and man as many transport ships as you can. You must depart before noon tomorrow. I will give you 12 days to bring the food stocked on Silowas here.

"Also, I'll give you another written order. If you encounter Senbaud's fleet on the way there, show it to them and have them go to Silowas first to transport food. Understood?" The first one to be given orders was Torin. Lorist himself would only feel assured after the food crisis was dealt with.

He really regretted having the fourth flotilla and their family members sent to Silowas two days ago and would've held them back had he known about it earlier. The sailors that remained either didn't have family members or had family members who died during Northsea Fleet's attack. That automatically denoted them as unreliable. Having Torin lead this transport fleet was a huge lowering in the risk.

"Understood, Your Grace. Please be assured that I will return with food," said Torin. He hurriedly bid his farewell and left for the ship docks.

"Jades. seal off the commercial area immediately and start searching the stores of those shops. Transport everything valuable you find to the inner city and make and inventory of the rest and submit it. After that, await further orders from me."

"Understood, Your Grace," said Jades with a salute.

"Belnick, bring a brigade with you to Callisto Hills. We're not there to expropriate food, but to buy them. Whether it be potatoes or other coarse goods, buy them all at a rate of 1.5 times the market price. If the farmers there are willing to transport the food to Morante themselves, we will buy it for twice the market price. Also, buy their livestock at two times the market price as well. You only have three days and you don't have to go deep into Callisto Hills. Just make sure to spread the word that we're buying food, alright?"

"Yes, Milord. I will get to it immediately."

The next day, Lorist was meeting the bosses of the syndicates in a large meeting room. Among them, he was acquainted with Jindoz, Els's pal back in the day. However, after more than a decade of not meeting, Jindoz's gaze carried a weird look. He didn't greet Lorist either. After all, the two of them had already experienced vastly different things. Els had stubbornly insisted on following Lorist, leaving Jindoz to become the head of the syndicate. After all that time, he was still the same syndicate boss, but Lorist had transformed from a mere iron-ranked mercenary to a famed swordsaint on the continent and Duke of The Northlands of the Andinaq kingdom.

"Gentlemen, House Norton has conquered Morante for the sake of peace. We are not here to deprive you of your richest," said Lorist shamelessly without caring about whether those present believed him or not. He went on with a speech about establishing lasting peace between their two nations and the reason behind their occupation of the city: to force the Union to sign a peace treaty. After all that, Lorist went on to reveal his true intentions.

"House Norton promises not to mistreat the citizens of the 24 outer city districts as long as they don't resist or engage in any insurgent activities. We already said that we are only opposed to the cruel and merciless merchant guilds who involved the innocent citizens of Morante in their bloody war. So, even if we are going to confiscate the belongings of those merchant guilds, we will definitely not involve the citizens of the outer city districts in it.

"Please quiet down. I know what you all want to say. It is true that many of the supplies and daily necessities of the citizens are in the hands of those merchant guilds. If we confiscate them, then the million citizens of Morante will be in deep trouble. However, know that we will not leave the million Morantians uncared for as a sign of our sincerity in wanting peace. So, even though we're confiscating the goods of those merchant guilds, we will still sell them at a low price to those living in the outer city districts or give them away for free.

"Gentlemen, before, you were all in charge of the security, hygiene and taxation of your respective districts with the merchant guilds in charge of the distribution of supplies. Now that those guilds are gone, I hope that you will bear the burden of the troubles of the outer city districts' citizens. Cooperate with us to sell or distribute the supplies to the citizens to maintain the order of those districts."

Lorist's lips curved. "There's also a piece of good news. Three days later, we will give all the citizens of the outer city districts a batch of free food. Each household shall receive 5 kilograms of potatoes and half a kilogram of dried salted fish per person, whether they be adults or children. At the same time, we will also bring out the daily necessities we confiscate from those merchant guilds and put them up for sale for the citizens at a low price. I will leave the sale of those supplies to all of you present."

Chapter end