When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

Three days have passed since Moliat assassinated Bishop Resite.

The situation is even better than Moliat expected.

Apart from some setbacks at Changfeng Castle, nearly two thousand Mountain Knights successfully captured three strategic locations like a flood.

After these three strategic points were taken down, the Knights of Cold Spring Castle began to clear the Church's strongholds in the Central River Valley one by one.

As for Mountain County, there weren't many places to garrison originally. With Resite killed and White Water Castle conquered, the lower-tier church was leaderless.

In the countryside of North Mangde County, knights in black armor and red robes attacked one monastery after another along the way, and even located a Blue Blood Orphanage.

The priests' ugly and luxurious lifestyles were exposed to the sunlight, and of the wealth plundered, Moliat estimated that they could gain nearly a hundred thousand pounds of gold.

Bear in mind that according to the Church and Empire tax rolls, North Mangde County's annual taxes should be around 4,100 gold pounds.

However, more than a hundred thousand gold pounds were buried underground at various monasteries.

A large number of lower-ranking monks of Thousand River Valley People were promoted to bishops and priests, while the territories of temple knights and the Church were continuously divided among local knights.

As per Moliat's requirements, new territories had to sign written contracts, rather than verbal oaths.

Industries like mines, shops, and workshops were even split and swallowed by Dragon Worship Sect dwarves and Meigedi merchants sent by Moliat.

Meanwhile, cheap grain from the Norn direction rapidly entered the market, with Meigedi Commerce Association selling grain and seeds at cost price.

Moliat abandoned her high-interest lending nature, even frantically laundering her past deeds, severely cracking down on unscrupulous private lenders disrupting the market.

The money obtained from these usurious lenders was entirely converted into labor wages.

Having followed Horn for so long, Moliat not only copied siege tactics from Carburg but also adapted the work-for-relief idea.

Though work-for-relief was considered normal under Horn, it became abnormal under Moliat.

After the flood, the mountain people had exhausted nearly all their stored grains throughout the entire winter, and they wouldn't harvest again until summer after spring planting.

During this period, they didn't have any rations or income, forcing them to escape and beg around.

Across the whole Thousand River Valley in early spring, a large number of unemployed migrants emerged.

In this scenario, Moliat realized that giving free relief grain to farmers would only foster laziness, and official low-interest loans for farmers would often again turn into high-interest loans due to corruption.

Having made her fortune through usury, nobody in the Thousand River Valley understands usury better than Moliat.

Thus, only by learning work-for-relief, promoting rural handicrafts, and opening wasteland and mines can farmers be bound to the ground, earning wages to buy grain by working as laborers to weather the crisis.

Moliat had long determined the direction for rural handicrafts, namely iron smelting and forging.

The produced iron could be used domestically or exported to Norn for grain, forming a cycle.

However, there's a problem: the more iron produced, the lower its price, leading to reduced workshop profitability, eventually decreasing iron production.

Put simply, the more iron production there is, the less iron production there is.

In the current era, adjusting production and hiring or firing employees based on market demand is normal.

But the issue is, reduced production lowers profits, leading to labor layoffs. Without income, they can't afford food, which might compel them to rebel against Moliat.

Land consolidation doesn't cause farmer uprisings, but hunger does.

To resolve this issue, Moliat came up with the idea to divide the grain from Norn into two directions.

The first direction was used to recruit labor, for land reclamation, mining, and developing the iron smelting industry and military industry.

The second direction was to expand the army, expanding massively.

This way, even if iron prices drop, Cold Spring Castle's purchase of weapons for war can stabilize iron prices, ensuring Workshop Masters make a small profit without losses.

Laid-off workers can be turned into soldiers on the spot, wielding the iron weapons they produced, heading for the battlefield.

The wealth they plunder on the battlefield can gather at Cold Spring Castle to purchase weapons and arm soldiers.

The war machine Moliat constructs can continuously achieve positive cycles.

Based on her prediction, their future warfare demands will be significant.

These new iron smelting workshops and forges are not simply built; she needs a large number of skilled iron smiths and technical talents in iron smelting.

Thus, she previously found Dragon Worship Sect dwarves through high-interest loans and reached an agreement.

Moliat granted them the right to "live on flat land and freely believe" in exchange for the dwarves' assistance in establishing iron smelting workshops and forges.

In just three days, the black smoke and black flood of iron smelting were spreading across North Mangde County.

On February 13, 1445, Duke of Cold Spring Castle, Moliat, relocated with three thousand Mountain Knights to Changfeng Castle.

She originally planned to raid High Castle, but due to the sudden betrayal of the lord of Changfeng Castle, the information was leaked.

After Phil's investigation, precautions were taken at High Castle, losing surprise attack potential, making the raid unnecessary.

Instead, this gave Moliat an opportunity to focus internally, working to thoroughly cleanse the Church's influence in the Central River Valley.

Ever since learning Moliat garrisoned at Changfeng Castle, countless minor lords, knights, merchants, guild heads, and other public representatives have come daily to pledge allegiance.

Even nobles and knights from Shangruifo County have been writing to Moliat expressing, "Arriving at Thousand River Valley means being one of the Thousand River Valley People."

According to Moliat's recruitment procedures, on paper, she has near a hundred Extraordinary Knights and over a thousand soldiers under her command.

Even Moliat's iron-strong body felt somewhat fatigued after three days of continuous work.

After sending away a group of artisans who pledged loyalty, Moliat, sitting by the fireplace in the hall, took a breather seeing no urgent tasks and sneaked a nap.

Unfortunately, she didn't sleep long before footsteps disturbed her.

As soon as the door opened, the highly alert Moliat opened her eyes.

"What's the matter?" Tidying her disordered clothes, Moliat stood up and looked at Phil approaching.

"Lady Moliat," Phil looked at Moliat, now more dignified than before, half-kneeling in salute.

"I'm not a king yet, even if I were, you wouldn't need to salute me like this." Grabbing Phil's shoulder, Moliat lifted him up. "Speak, what's the matter."

Phil lifted his head to face Moliat's iron face, his expression serious, and took out a secret report:

"Duke, there's news from High Castle that Lingya Knight Arman, with two decrees of command, four hundred Extraordinary Knights, and several infantry is heading toward Changfeng Castle."