Chapter 4 Complex Identities
The gold coins jingled, making a pleasant sound.

Rhodes' mood was a little subtle.

Regarding this expedition to the North, in addition to the sword he once carried from his father, he also received 60 gold coins in sponsorship, which was not a small amount.

As a coastal country with developed commerce, the Kingdom of Rosa has a relatively stable currency exchange rate.

The exchange rate of gold, silver and copper currencies used has remained stable at 1:100:10000 throughout the year.

Jianling is a prosperous shipping port, but a capable porter at the dock only earns about 20 copper coins a day.

In the city, this is enough for an ordinary family of four to spend in one day.

In the countryside outside the city, free farmers relied on farming, and their daily income after taxes rarely exceeded 10 copper coins.

As for the self-sufficient serfs in the manor, they could often only get food as payment from the lord and had little access to money.

The 60 gold coins in Rhodes' hand were enough for him to live a luxurious life in the most prosperous capital for several years.

If he planned to buy a few shops and run them, it would be enough for him to have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life and to support several generations.

When Rhodes first received the money, he felt a sense of joy at having suddenly become rich, and he marveled at his father's generosity.

But when he walked into the Equipment Chamber of Commerce and sat in the chair in the VIP room.

When he looked through the price list, he had a bad feeling as he was somewhat sensitive to numbers.

Raising his hand to reject the Chamber of Commerce receptionist's enthusiastic recommendation, Rhodes took the cargo form and looked at it himself.

Due to the close ties of the guild, the equipment on the list is very comprehensive.

From full sets of plate armor, half armor, chain mail, to long swords, bows, crossbows, spears, and so on, everything is available.

Even if some products are not in stock in the Chamber of Commerce, we can quickly contact the cooperating blacksmith shop to place a priority order.

The most important equipment for a knight on the battlefield is undoubtedly plate armor, and this is also the commodity with the greatest price fluctuations.

The most common cavalry armor set costs 4 gold coins each, while high-end armor with exclusive prefixes on the front often costs more than double-digit gold coins.

With limited funds, Rhodes chose cavalry armor.

The three knights, myself, Noah and Holmes, all need to buy a set.

Knight Holmes also had armor himself, but considering that he definitely wanted to pass it on to his son, Rhodes had to prepare another set for him.

In addition to plate armor, you also need to buy a two-handed greatsword for Noah as a weapon, which costs 40 silver coins.

In addition to these three people, each of the twelve knights following him needs at least a set of chain mail, which costs 50 silver coins each, and a set of breastplate and helmet to protect vital parts, which costs 40 silver coins each.

In terms of weapons, each person needs to be equipped with a knight's sword, which costs 12 silver coins, and a small round shield, which costs 2 silver coins.

By this calculation, the total cost of equipment for the fifteen of them was 24 gold coins and 88 silver coins.

As Rod held the pen and calculated, sweat began to form on his back.

In addition to weapons and armor, you also need to purchase fifteen war horses, fifteen bows and at least four hundred arrows.

The unit price of a warhorse is 2 gold and 40 silver. Fifteen horses plus bows and arrows cost a total of 45 gold coins.

Rhodes began to sweat.

He also needs to arm 6 militiamen, with leather armor costing 5 silver coins each, spears costing 4 silver coins, and large round shields costing silver coins each.

Rhodes took a look and finally added an axe at a price of 60 copper coins as a melee and construction tool.

The fifty-two militiamen cost a total of 8 gold and 11 silver.

This means that if he wants to arm this team, he will need at least 78 gold coins for equipment!

This wasn't the end yet, Rod's head started to hurt.

It would take at least two months to get from Jianling to the Northern Territory, and he would also need to buy draft horses and carriages, as well as food to prepare for emergencies along the way.

In addition to these, there are also salaries paid to subordinates.

Rhodes promised that the militia would receive 30 copper coins a day and the knights' squires would receive 80 copper coins a day.

You need to prepare at least two months' salary, which is 15 gold coins.

The equipment distributed was only loaned to the soldiers, but actually still belonged to Rhode, so if the team wanted to be stable, salaries had to be paid. Fortunately, Noah and Holmes did not need salaries.

They use a spoils system, where they can get a portion of the spoils according to their performance after each battle.

Rhodes added up all the expenses and finally concluded that he would need to spend 105 gold coins to build up the team.

The money on hand is far from enough.

"I now understand why many lords only have militias but no army." Rhodes sighed.

Militia is so simple. We just need to regularly recruit some villagers and let them bring their own weapons to maintain order. It doesn't cost much.

Building an army is a bottomless pit! The monthly military expenditure is terrifying, and no matter how much money is invested, it is not enough.

"Can't the price be cheaper?" Rhodes looked up at the receptionist waiting next to him.

The latter quickly bowed ninety degrees and replied sincerely:
"Sir Rhodes, this is the lowest price the Chamber of Commerce can offer. Even the Duke's army is purchased at this price."

As the news of the expansion of the northern border spread from the capital not long ago, the head of the Chamber of Commerce was very clear about Rhodes's purpose and understood that the Duke's will was behind it.

Despite Rhodes' bad reputation, the Chamber of Commerce prostrated itself at the foot of that castle.

The head of the Chamber of Commerce did not dare to risk his head to test the Duke's attitude, and the price he offered had already been urgently reduced to the lowest level.

Rhodes also knew that the other party was not lying. Before coming here, he actually asked about the purchase price at the castle armory.

The price offered by the Chamber of Commerce is even lower.

The military expenditure was too complicated, so let his father worry about it. He had to find a way to get the money together first.

After placing an order for the plate armor that needed to be transferred from other places, Rhodes walked out of the Chamber of Commerce and returned to the castle.

With his shoulder against the castle wall, feeling the lavender-scented evening breeze, he pondered over a solution to the problem of the gold coins.

It's nothing more than increasing revenue and reducing expenditure, either by cutting the number of employees in half or finding ways to raise money from other sources.

The former was seriously injured, and a pioneering team of sixty people was already the minimum standard. If there were fewer people, it would be questionable whether he could reach the northern border safely.

If one wants to collect a large amount of gold coins in a short period of time, the only options left are to rob or borrow.

It was difficult to borrow money from the noble relatives on Rhodes' paternal side, as they were all die-hard vassals of his eldest brother and he might not even be able to meet them.

As for his maternal side.

After thinking about the situation over there, Rhodes rubbed his brows, it was a headache.

His mother is the daughter of the King of the Northern Barbarians, or rather, she used to be.

Now she is the sister of the Grand Duke of Beishuang Principality.

The Principality of North Frost was formerly the North Frost Plateau. After William the King occupied it thirty years ago, there were constant attacks from the barbarians outside the territory and constant rebellions among the various tribes within the territory.

Years of war have caused the kingdom to show signs of decline.

In order to avoid being dragged into the quagmire of war, the then King William chose to win over a barbarian king in the north.

He was conferred the title of Duke of the kingdom, and the entire plateau was designated as his fiefdom.

From then on, it became the Northern Frost Principality in the northern part of the kingdom, suppressing rebellions and keeping out the barbarian kings in the north.

Rhodes' mother was the daughter of the first Grand Duke of Northern Frost, who married his father, Duke Bert.

In theory, this is a good thing, after all, the northern border is being developed right next to the principality.

If Rhodes gets the support of his mother's family, not to mention the royal pioneering group led by the prince, even the current crown prince would have to stand aside.

But the problem is that both King William and the first Archduke are dead.

The current Grand Duke of North Frost, Rhodes' uncle, has shown a provocative attitude towards the king more than once.

The king's decrees are of no force within the principality.

As for the relationship between his father, Duke Bert, and the Grand Duke of North Frost, it cannot be said that they love each other, but only that they are on the verge of a confrontation.

Since the death of King William ten years ago, Duke Bert has never brought his family to the Principality of North Frost again.

(End of this chapter)