King
Chapter 197 - 197 124 The Other Side of the Noble_1

197: Chapter 124, The Other Side of the Noble_1 197: Chapter 124, The Other Side of the Noble_1 After arranging related work, Hudson’s first reaction was to scramble for food, but he quickly abandoned the idea.

The urgent document from the Governor’s Mansion was issued at the same time, but given the location of the Mountain Domain, it seemed they were the last ones to get it.

Trying to buy up food at this stage, it would be unknown whether there would still be any food left for sale, either way, the price would have already skyrocketed.

Once the locust plague hit the Southeastern Province, the original food purchase contracts signed with various parties would definitely have to be nullified.

Luckily, Hudson had the habit of storing food.

Combining the supplies from the existing reserves and the rescued crops, they should be able to hold out until the start of the next spring.

But the premise was that the locust plague should end as soon as possible, it couldn’t endure and affect the autumn harvest, let alone the sowing of the next season’s crops.

If the autumn sowing was also damaged, then there would be a drastic problem.

As a major food-producing province, a single locust plague would not have a severe impact on the Southeastern Province itself.

Even if food production was drastically reduced, the nobles could still survive the crisis with their reserves.

The real crisis would be faced by the provinces of the Northern Border, who heavily relied on food supplied by other provinces in the kingdom.

The reach of this locust plague was vast, the Southeastern Province was currently only giving early warning, while the surrounding provinces had already faced widespread disaster.

These southern provinces, just so happened to be the main food-producing region of the Alpha Kingdom.

If the autumn crop was merely reduced, or in the worst-case wiped out entirely, everyone would grit their teeth and face it for the overall situation.

It would not reduce food supplies to the Northern Border.

But once the autumn sowing was affected, and the next spring crops were directly ruined by locusts, there would be no way out.

At that stage, the noble lords would have to face a food shortage themselves.

They would have a hard enough time looking after themselves, let alone supporting the Northern Border with a large amount of food.

Massaging his forehead, Hudson suddenly realized he was overthinking.

These were problems for the bigwigs to consider, not something a small fry like him should be concerned with.

The Alpha Kingdom had survived for so many years, it wasn’t the first time they were facing a disaster.

They had always been able to get through it, there was no reason they wouldn’t survive this time.

In the Farming Era, everyone had the habit of storing food for difficult times.

If the food was just for personal use, even a minor nobleman would have a reserve that could last two years through a famine.

Adopting some special measures, the endurance period could be even longer.

Every established noble clan was experienced in this matter.

The food reserves of the major nobles would only be richer.

The five major clans dominated the North Border Region.

What was originally seen as a disadvantage for defense, now turned into a blessing.

Hudson did not believe that the five major clans were unprepared.

If they really only had a few months’ worth of food reserves openly known, what was the point for the Orc Empire to attack?

Looking at the bigger picture across the entire continent, even if the Alpha Kingdom was hit by a famine, it wouldn’t mean that all human countries would also be hit by a famine.

As the gatekeeper among the human nations, asking for help in times of crisis could not be ignored, could it?

At the very least, the neighboring countries would definitely not dare to watch the Alpha Kingdom collapse.

Upon careful analysis, Hudson found that the national situation should be manageable, and the real crisis seemed to be in the Mountain Domain, or more specifically, in the counties of Layton and Wharton.

As a newly developed domain, besides the spring crops that had been harvested, everything else was still in the ground.

With the imminent locust plague, even though they were able to rescue part of the crops, a decrease in yield was inevitable.

The green-colored rye crops could be harvested now, but it’s more of a green storage feedstock rather than food grain.

This year’s summer crop would undoubtedly be drastically reduced.

Without enough reserves of their own, this limited harvest wouldn’t hold out for long.

The native nobles can rely on their families for support, but the nobles of the North could only grimly spend their money to buy the “overpriced grain”.

Those with money were okay, but those without money or grain, Hudson didn’t even want to think about what might happen next.

Either way, the two counties were going to be troubled, and it might even spread to nearby areas.

“Mountain Thief”, “Bandit”, these crime gangs, which had just been wiped out, would likely rise from the ashes in the shortest amount of time.

It seemed like the arms business would once again face new markets, but this wasn’t what Hudson wanted.

Compared to orders, he needed more food now.

Relatively speaking, the impact on the Mountain Domain was somewhat less severe.

At the very least, the green beans, peas, sesame…

they planted could potentially escape disaster.

It’s a pity that these items weren’t planted in large quantities, only a few thousand acres.

The main crops were still rye, potatoes, soybeans, all of which were within the diet of the locusts.

…

Faced with the same locust plague and the same problems, a group of nobles who received the news put into the fight against the locust plague at the fastest speed possible.

They hurriedly harvested what they could; even if the harvest could only be used as animal feed, it was better than having no return at all.

Even Baron West, who was preparing to settle accounts with Hudson, put his hatred aside for the moment.

After issuing an order to prohibit the transfer of food from the city, he led a team straight to Bera City to buy food.

There was no other way.

While other lords were struggling with farming, he was busy rebuilding Dardiel City and didn’t have much cultivated land.

The results were also quite remarkable.

The rejuvenated Dardiel City quickly became the trade center of the two counties.

The profits made were no less than farming, and buying food directly with money was also profitable, without having to worry about the problems on the land.

However, Dardiel City, which heavily relied on external purchases, had to face the “food shortage” issue brought about by the locust plague.