King
Chapter 685 - 685 10 Preparing for the Big Wedding_2

685: Chapter 10, Preparing for the Big Wedding_2 685: Chapter 10, Preparing for the Big Wedding_2 Within many cult organizations, it is common to see illegitimate offspring of nobles.

All in pursuit of their own interests, unwilling to continue concealing their status, there are not a few who choose to take dangerous risks.

However, these pioneers often meet dire ends.

Noble lords who are concerned about their reputations would never admit to such disgraceful occurrences, often treating these offspring as members of a cult.

Of course, the possibility exists that these are from the emerging nobility, replacing the old nobles.

Though there might be a change in name, the essence remains unchanged.

…

With Hudson’s suggestion, the three-year plan was successfully updated to include incentives for childbirth.

Real, tangible reward measures were implemented, not mere slogans.

Aside from the allotment of living essentials, from now on, a reward of five pounds of meat is given for the birth of the first child, ten pounds for the second child, fifteen pounds for the third child….and so on, increasing in a stepwise fashion with no upper limit.

Besides, there was also an occasional beast milk subsidy.

As for what kind of milk one gets, it just depended on luck.

Given the current number of livestock in the territory, it was impossible to provide all the children with milk, and so it could only be given occasionally to make up for the nutritional deficiencies in infants and toddlers.

Of course, the concept of maternity leave was naturally introduced as well.

Although it’s only one and a half months, it’s a significant progress in these times.

Before this, no one had even heard of maternity leave.

If childbirth happened during the off-peak farming season, it was okay as the Lord didn’t require as much labor force, and a few days of rest at home didn’t matter.

But if it happened during the busy farming period, women would have to go back to work in the fields the day after giving birth.

Had Hudson not brought it up personally, no one would even consider the idea of maternity leave.

After all, there is no concept of a “holiday” in these days.

Not only maternity leave, there was no such thing as a leave at all.

Whether the serfs got to rest or not entirely depended on whether there was work in the field or on the mood of the Lord.

Generally speaking, in a well-developed territory, the serfs have more rest.

If it is a territory that is still under development and construction, it’s hard to find rest time all year round.

The exact amount of rest duration was entirely dependent on the weather conditions.

In places like the Southeastern Province with ample rainfall, taking ten or twenty consecutive days off during the rainy season was normal.

The only advantage was: no need to work overtime.

All strictly follow the routine of “work at sunrise and rest at sunset”.

To address child rearing issues, Hudson also instructed his subordinates to improve the childcare system, essentially it was further development of the Baojia system.

On top of the existing responsibilities, the Baojia leader now had an additional duty: encourage childbirth.

The rules were much more lenient with no concrete quotas, but rewards were offered for those who increased birth rate in their jurisdiction.

Each Baojia would have designated women to care for infants and toddlers, the number of which would be calculated based on the number of infants and toddlers.

In addition to this, each Baojia would have at least one midwife, specifically responsible for assisting with childbirth.

As for medical coverage, alas, pharmacist training had not been started in time and hence could not be thoroughly implemented.

Priests could be directly ignored.

These guys are indeed efficient in treating diseases, but there’s also a high probability of them leading people away.

The average life expectancy on the Continent of Aslante is less than thirty-five, and the medical system centered around the priests should certainly take the major responsibility.

According to Hudson’s knowledge, except for on the battlefield and other special circumstances, most of the serious nobles prefer to have magicians prepare potions when they get sick.

Although these individuals’ professional skills were also mediocre and the efficacy wasn’t guaranteed, as long as they didn’t drink potions that stimulated the body’s potential, they wouldn’t provoke direct aggression.

There’s also a reason why many priests were secretly researching magic potions.

After all, always relying on aggressive curative methods would eventually discourage all their patients.

For now, that is all that needed to be done.

If new problems arise later, solutions would be sought out then.

At its core, managing a territory is a process of continually encountering problems and resolving them.

All systems are improved slowly, refined after dealing with problem after problem.

The developmental plan hadn’t yet been executed when the wedding was pushed forward on the agenda.

It wasn’t Hudson’s impatience, but the Hollis family that couldn’t wait.

Once the strategic center of the family agreed to move north, they began the moving process.

According to the current progress, it wouldn’t be too long before Count Orlan would head north to take charge.

Prior to that, it would be beneficial for everyone to get the wedding taken care of.

If the Hollis family were to move, Hudson would have to rush more than a thousand miles, leading a team to the North for the wedding.

Not to mention the wasted time, the added expenses alone would be enough to make Hudson cringe.

Even now, the budget for Hudson’s wedding has already exceeded 100,000 gold coins.

This is merely the standard for marriages between major nobles.

The extravagance of the nobility is fully expressed here.

Not only is Hudson’s side spending a lot, but the expenses of the Hollis family on the other side will only be greater.

After all, the dowry prepared by the Koslow family will definitely not exceed the bride’s dowry.

Concerning the face of both families, no one will be stingy in this aspect.

As for how to handle it, the Koslow family is completely in the dark.

As far as marriage between major nobles is concerned, even if they were to attend as guests, they would only be relegated to a corner.

Fortunately, the Hollis family sent someone to help; otherwise, if they got the corresponding etiquette wrong, it would be a social death!

Not only is Hudson busy, but every member of the Koslow family is also occupied.

The elders from various branches all hurriedly came from all over to help with the preparations.

It’s completely an over-emphasized scene.

Hudson expressed a slight opinion on this matter and was severely criticized by Baron Redman.

Unable to resist, Hudson simply chose to turn a blind eye.

Overemphasis it is then; after all, this grand scene is also a highlight of Baron Redman’s life.

To make things even more respectable, he even transferred his title in advance.

There was no way around it; having an Earl for a father sounded better than having a Baron.

When the older generation of major families retire, they would choose to pass the title down to the next generation.

In principle, this is not allowed, but for major nobles, a backdoor is always open.

All of this was for appearances’ sake, and Hudson found it quite speechless.

However, as the person concerned, he really couldn’t refuse everyone’s goodwill.

Seeing Baron Redman writing invitations with gusto by his side, Hudson wanted to remind him that no one would scrutinize these, and it would be sufficient to have them handled by his subordinates.

In the end, he held back.

He would likely struggle if he didn’t take this great opportunity to show off to his friends and family.

“Hudson, do you see anyone missing from these invitations?”

Hearing this voice, Hudson felt a chill run down his spine.

The Koslow family doesn’t have much, but they do have an especially large number of relatives.

He can’t even recognize all of the clan members of his own family, let alone distant relatives and friends.

“Father, just don’t forget His Majesty the King and the major nobles in the Kingdom, as for the others, you and my uncles can double-check at your leisure!

Also, don’t invite the Rocknard family.

The other four major families in the Northland don’t be on good terms with me, they don’t need to be invited either.”

Hudson responded nervously.

“How do you write the King’s invitation?”

Baron Redman asked with doubt.

This question belongs to an area of ignorance, including Hudson himself who doesn’t know.

All he knew was that major nobles would send invitations to the Royal Family when they got married.

Caesar III certainly wouldn’t come in person, but the Royal Family would probably send a significant member to congratulate in their stead.

Not only does the Alpha Royal Family need to be invited, but the Moxi Royal Family also can’t be left out.

The hard-won expanded social circle can’t be easily discarded.

“I don’t know, I have never seen anyone else invite the King!

Write it according to the normal invitation.

If you’re not sure, you can ask the Hollis family’s representative.

They should have experience.”

Hudson responded as a matter of course.

…