Roland pushed open the office door, Barov had been waiting in the room for a long time.

He tossed the document to the Minister's Assistant, went straight to the armchair, and put his feet on the desk.

If there weren't an outsider present, he would have liked to hum a little tune.

"Your Highness, please accept my condolences," Barov quickly finished reading the document, frowning and saying, "The King unfortunately passed away, and the murderer is actually the Eldest Prince, this is truly a tragedy, I wonder what Your Highness plans to do next."

"Gollum's death is too suspicious, I want to see what my Third Sister and Fifth Sister decide before making plans," Roland said, "But in any case, there are some things we should prevent in advance."

Barov looked at the prince, waiting for him to continue.

"The royal capital may become turbulent because of this change of power. The first thing to do is to take your relatives and family members away." Of course, more importantly, to avoid the Second Prince using these people to threaten his subordinates. At present, in order to maintain the normal operation of the Border Town's administration and finance, the Minister's Assistant is indispensable. Roland took a sip of tea and continued, "You and Carter, and your men, all write a family letter, I will have the guards take it to the royal capital, and arrange for them to take refuge in other towns."

"Not to Border Town?" Barov wasn't a fool. More than 20 years of political experience made him immediately understand the Prince's deep meaning.

"No need." Roland didn't want the other party to threaten his subordinates with their families, nor did he want his subordinates to think he was threatening them with their families, so he chose a compromise. First, settle them in other safer towns, and then move them over after Border Town has gained a firm foothold.

"I understand, thank you for Your Highness's concern," the Minister's Assistant nodded in agreement, which relieved Roland. In the final analysis, he had too few talented people under his command.

"Also, about the ore trade, the recent iron ore exports will be suspended, and only gemstone raw stones will be sold to Willow Town," he instructed, "I need to keep these iron ores for my own use."

"This will reduce fiscal revenue, Your Highness."

"But it won't decrease too much. The miners have discovered a new gemstone deposit, which can make up for some of the shortfall," Roland said. Moreover, there is usually little business in winter. Everyone is reluctant to travel during the days when demon beasts may appear at any time. There may only be two or three rounds of transactions in the long four months. For light sloops, it is obviously a more cost-effective choice to transport gemstone raw stones.

"I understand," Barov recorded these.

After the Minister's Assistant left, Roland called Carter Lannis again, "I need to expand the militia team. After the recruitment is issued, you can arrange it. Transfer a few quick-witted and capable team members to the new team to be captains. The training will be carried out according to the method implemented last time."

"Your Highness, if we still use the training method from last time, the new team will probably take a long time to be useful."

"That's still better than a bunch of rabble," Roland waved his hand and told him to do as he said. Although the team trained in this way is far from an army, probably only at the level of university students after military training, but sometimes measuring combat power requires comparison with the opponent. In addition to the demon beasts without brains, his most likely opponent is a "mixed army" temporarily pieced together by private soldiers, mercenaries, and serfs. As long as they are equipped with weapons from a new era, the level of university students will be enough to deal with.

After Carter also left, Roland couldn't help but laugh.

He didn't expect such a coincidental thing to happen! It's like sending charcoal in the snow, and offering a pillow when you're sleepy.

Is this bad news for him? Is it a dilemma? Wrong! He doesn't know much about Garcia Wimbledon, but she is definitely not the kind of person who is at the mercy of others. The Eldest Prince was sentenced to death in such a short period of time, even if there is no insider story, she probably wouldn't easily return to the royal capital.

He just needs to follow suit. As long as he stays in Border Town, someone will definitely jump out – and the Duke of the Fortress is likely to be the first to be unable to sit still. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent the recall document to him in such a hurry in this terrible weather.

The Duke wants him to see it sooner and have sleepless nights.

If he chooses to stay in Border Town, it would be equivalent to disobeying the new King's decree. Once the Months of Demons pass, the Duke is likely to use the banner of Tiffko Wimbledon to teach him a profound lesson. And this is exactly what Roland needs.

If you ask what is most lacking in industrialization, the answer is undoubtedly people.

It requires a large number of people to be invested in this large-scale production, turning people into parts, and driving this huge machine. It is no exaggeration to say that England had the "enclosure movement of sheep chiren," which drove a large number of farmers away from the land and made them ziyou laborers, which laid a solid foundation for the later Industrial Revolution.

The industrial age is so crude. As long as you continue to invest workers who have received universal education into this furnace, you can get rich returns. The finer the industrial classification, the more the population required will be multiplied.

What has been troubling Roland is the population problem.

Border Town has a total of more than two thousand residents. Even with new era machinery, it is only workshop-style production. Without a large number of available people, many projects cannot be launched. But where can he steal and deceive so many people from?

Buying slaves? Not to mention where you can buy thousands of slaves at one time, adult slaves are expensive, and there is not much meaning to cultivate them. The training cycle for young slaves under the age of ten is too long, and even if you go against your conscience and employ child labor, you will have to wait several years.

Recruiting talents? How many people can be attracted to this kind of borderland? And the cost will only be greater than buying slaves.

Encouraging more births? Forced marriage? Forget it…

He also put his eyes on Longsong Fortress, but the kingdom is in a stable state, and attacking the surrounding lords is simply a joke with his future. And Duke Ryan also dared not openly target him, and could only set traps in secret.

But now it's different. After Tiffko ascended the throne, he desperately hoped that all of his competitors would disappear. From this recall order, you can see his eagerness. Duke Ryan can obviously see this too. Once he loses the restraint of the old King, as the ruler of the Western Territory, it would be strange if he didn't do something.

This is the opportunity that Roland has been waiting for.

Longsong Fortress, as the kingdom's border and a major town that has been operating for hundreds of years, has nearly ten thousand permanent residents. And after the fortress, there are large tracts of land and towns with no defensive capabilities. As long as he defeats the Duke of the Fortress and takes this city, he can get a large number of ziyou people and complete the original accumulation of wealth.

What is easier to obtain population than annexation? What is faster to accumulate wealth than plunder?

This news is like a lighthouse that dispels the fog, illuminating Roland's path forward.

He will definitely not let go of such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

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