Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence - Chapter 484 - 302: What Mary Saw and Heard

Chapter 484: Chapter 302: What Mary Saw and Heard

The convoy slowly entered the southern district, the streets gradually widened, and pedestrians began to increase.

The sight before her made Mary stop in her tracks.

The Southern Square had already taken shape; although there weren’t many buildings, the arrangement was orderly. On both sides of the stone-brick road, vendors set up temporary stalls in twos and threes.

Shouts echoed back and forth, the air was melded with the sweet fragrance of dried fruits and the salty aroma of smoked fish; from afar, one could even smell a hint of honey wine.

“Come quickly to see the cotton cloth brought from the south! Fine as snow!”

“Fresh smoked fish, just dried from the Red Tide Lake!”

“Raisins, honey wine, southern-specials!”

The sounds of selling, bargaining, and laughter intertwined, creating a long-lost liveliness that Mary felt.

Mary, being a merchant’s daughter, was more discerning than others.

Those few rolls of delicate white cotton cloth must be from the prosperous Southern Territory. That basket of raisins and spices also came through the southern trade route.

However, there were also local specialties of Red Tide: smoked fish, honey wine, and coarse pottery woodenware.

This meant goods from the south could be brought here, and Red Tide’s products were being organized and produced, entering market circulation.

“More prosperous than Frost Halberd City…”

This sentence floated gently in Mary’s mind, yet left her stunned for a long time.

Frost Halberd City, the old capital of the Northern Territory, was now a desolate place, the embers of war not yet extinguished, with markets depressed, vendors scarce, and food hard to come by, even money couldn’t buy anything.

But here, people were buying and selling, bargaining.

Even their smiles lacked that cautious flattery and defensiveness, but had a sense of ease.

Inexplicable, a strange sourness and shock surged within Mary’s heart.

She couldn’t explain this feeling, like watching barren land after years of frost suddenly sprout green.

In this Northern Territory ravaged by disaster and war, Red Tide Territory resembled an oasis abruptly rising, with wide streets, thriving markets, and peace and smiles on the faces of its people.

In fact, the vitality of Red Tide’s market wasn’t incidental, all stemming from Louis’s personally crafted system.

Unlike Frost Halberd City with material scarcity, nor like the southern areas exploited by the nobility.

Almost all of Red Tide’s resources were under the control of the Lord’s Mansion: food, iron ore, timber, medicines, even the most basic salt, all required registration and allocation by the Resource Coordination Hall.

Bulk commodities were not allowed to be freely traded.

Food, fuel, minerals, etc., were prioritized for the military corps, construction teams, farms, and workshops.

Every household was registered in the government’s rolls, receiving ration and salt through ration coupons.

Newly arrived refugees first received basic settlement: warm shelter, hot porridge assistance, but for more, they must work with their hands to exchange.

“Work for food.” This was the iron rule of Red Tide Territory.

Mary’s gaze fell to the street corner, where a group of young new refugees were carrying bluish-grey stone bricks, their expressions weary yet without complaint.

Beside them, an official with the mansion’s insignia recorded their working hours. Upon completing tasks, the workers received extra ration coupons and even a few shiny copper coins.

And the government’s tight control didn’t make this place stagnant.

On the contrary, the streets of Red Tide appeared exceptionally lively, because Louis didn’t completely seal off the marketplace.

On Southern Square, vendors were allowed free trade, small workshops could sell their products, as long as they paid a minimal market maintenance tax, the government wouldn’t interfere with pricing.

Thus Mary saw on the stalls lining the square, incessant calls, vendors and customers haggling, children running around the stalls.

At this moment, the air was filled with the breath of life.

Mary quietly watched the intersecting passage of carts, horses, and people on the street, her ears filled with the sound of vendors’ cries and laughter.

“Perhaps…” she murmured in her heart, “this is the future center of the Northern Territory.”

The convoy continued onwards, turning a wide stone brick street, Fierce Tide Square slowly came into view, permeated with the faint scent of lime and wood shavings.

Here was still under construction, half-built podiums surrounded by sturdy wooden frames and ropes, dozens of workers orderly continued their tasks, hammering and shouting sounds constantly intersecting.

The young official turned around, pointing to the center of the square: “This is Fierce Tide Square, one of the government centers of Red Tide Territory.”

His voice slightly raised from excitement: “Here lies the most important heart of Red Tide Territory, all governmental announcements, mobilization orders, and resource allocations are immediately published here for anyone to directly see.”

Mary looked up, and her eyes were drawn to a towering bulletin pillar, the ink words starkly visible under the sunlight:

“Food Distribution Order”

“Spring Plowing Mobilization Order”

A few civil servants stood in front of the pillar, loudly reading the latest government orders.

Numerous people gathered around, some holding children, others carrying bamboo baskets, expressions focused.

“The second batch of grains this month will be distributed by the seventeenth; please bring ration vouchers to collect!”

“Spring Plowing Mobilization Order, any resident aged sixteen to thirty who registers for farming, Red Tide Territory will additionally issue subsidies and food rations!”

The officials’ voices were loud and clear, occasionally pausing to allow the audience to digest the information, beside them, Red Tide Knights quietly maintained order, no noise or confusion, only a sense of orderly flow in the air.

Mary looked at this scene, inexplicably moved within.

In any city she had been to, she had never seen government orders made so public.