King
Chapter 1060 - 1060 150 Triumph

1060: Chapter 150: Triumph 1060: Chapter 150: Triumph The Orc Army left, and the Kingdom’s Army also began to withdraw in batches after successfully reclaiming the lost territories.

As for the Near East Region targeted by the Kingdom, not a single soul was present now; there was simply nothing worth guarding.

The army’s urgent withdrawal was mainly due to the massive consumption of money and grains, which the Kingdom’s finances could not sustain.

For a feudal dynasty, war was always the heaviest burden.

No matter how advanced the mobilization mechanism of the Alpha Kingdom, it couldn’t change the fact that the productivity was backward.

Unlike the previous Orc invasion, where everyone immediately quarreled over the spoils of war as soon as the war ended, this time, everyone’s enthusiasm was significantly lower.

Recently, numerous nobles sought Hudson’s activities, but their targets were all unclaimed lands within the country.

As for the lands of the Seven Northern Provinces, everyone looked at them with disdain, not to mention the even more remote “Near East Region.”

Whether the land was fertile was not important at all.

The mere disadvantage of being adjacent to the Orc Empire was enough to make many nobles hesitant.

No matter how much they loved their fiefs, they couldn’t sacrifice their lives for it!

With the relationship between the Kingdom and the Orcs, peace would last at most three to five years.

Once the Orcs recovered, the border areas would certainly be troubled again.

Constantly facing the threat of the Orcs, there was no chance for developing productivity.

Even regular harassment by the Orcs could crash the local economy.

Referring to the practices of the northern nobles from the past, the lands in the border areas were directly abandoned, and the main sources of income for the domains were only three: subsidies from the Kingdom, smuggling trade, and slave trafficking.

The income from the domain might seem not low, but this money merely passed through the lord’s hands and was immediately invested in military preparations.

Even in peacetime, it was barely possible to balance the income and expenditure.

Once war broke out, it would immediately lead to a financial deficit, and bankruptcy was a common occurrence.

The dominance of the five major families in the north, besides their own ruthless methods, was also a major driving factor behind the financial issues plaguing the medium and small nobles.

Medium and small nobles, lacking the ability to withstand risks, simply could not survive round after round of Orc invasions, and decline was just a matter of time.

With countless precedents, having finally obtained an opportunity to receive a fief, nobody wanted to jump into the huge pit of the Near East.

Not only the medium and small nobles had no love for it, but even the major nobles of the Kingdom now also lacked interest in the lands of the Near East.

Including the prior purchase of the Kingdom’s land bonds, that was also out of desperation.

During the war, they couldn’t just watch the government go bankrupt!

Relying on the “land bonds,” the Finance Department had offloaded most of the Kingdom’s debts, but the “shareholders” had become the leftover-receivers of the debts.

If it weren’t for Hudson, the proposer, setting an example by subscribing to a share of the bonds second only to the King, he probably would have been attacked sneakily.

Hudson believed that there were definitely not a few noble lords who wanted to hit him stealthily.

The main reason they hadn’t was that everyone knew they could not win.

Domestic nobles stayed far away from the Near East Region, but Hudson was very clear that no matter how deep the pit in the Near East was, the Kingdom must incorporate this land into its dominion.

The insiders of the truce knew enough.

When propagating externally, the Kingdom must appear as the victorious state.

The war this time did not end with an absolute advantage on the battlefield and purely relying on a truce treaty, which couldn’t be shown off, wasn’t enough to prove that Alpha Kingdom was the victorious state.

Based on political needs, the Kingdom must also expand its territory.

Even if the newly added land was indeed toxic, the Kingdom had no choice but to swallow it.

Externally, this demonstrated to the Human Alliance that the Alpha Kingdom was firmly against Different Races; there was no truth to the rumored “begging” for peace with the Alien Coalition.

Internally, this was to justify to the countless soldiers and citizens that their blood had not been shed in vain.

Defeating the Orc Empire alone could lift this long-standing mountain off everyone’s heart.

Propagate the victory several times to let the victory resonate deeply within people’s hearts, so when the next great war erupted, no one would fear the Orcs anymore.

“Marshal, Count Orlan requests an audience.”

The voice of the guard pulled Hudson out of his deep thoughts.

The current situation of the Hollis family was particularly dire.

The domain was reclaimed, but the losses caused by the war were irreparable.

The number of domain people drastically reduced, all farmlands were deserted, and a large amount of infrastructure was destroyed.

Now their task was to rebuild the domain atop ruins.

The reserves of an old noble family were not infinite, and the initial development of the domain had already consumed much of their labor, physical, and financial resources.

In this process, a large amount of social capital was also spent.

The value of these intangible losses was greater than the direct economic losses.

Rebuilding a domain sounds simple.

But actual implementation would inevitably cost a great deal.

From a short-term perspective, the northern advance strategy of the Hollis family was deemed a failure.

Consuming the family’s foundations accumulated over many years for just a piece of ruins was a total loss.

“Please,”

Hudson said calmly.

He could roughly guess the purpose of Count Orlan’s visit; it was nothing more than seeking support.

Now, if the Hollis family did not receive a helping hand, they might very likely continue to decline and fall once again.

…

After brief pleasantries, the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

The circle of nobility was always driven by interests, and anyone who failed to realize this would eventually be eliminated by the world.

As in-laws and political allies, the Koslow family and the Hollis family had been very close in recent years, frequently assisting each other.