At Alvis's strong suggestion, Paul decided to restart discussions on the situation in the grasslands.
A meeting was held in Lakeheart Town. Crystal Radiance had clearly refused to continue supporting the Northwest Army's operations deep into the grasslands and had also rejected the authorization for cross-regional military service. With the capital's support cut off and Lakeheart Town's finances nearing their limit due to the long-term issuance of war bonds, how to maintain military pressure on the orcs became the key issue of this meeting.
Paul personally presided over the event, which was attended by key members of the Political Affairs Council, military staff officers, economic affairs officers, and others.
After hearing Alvis's report that the orcs were systematically integrating grassland resources and establishing state apparatuses modeled after human systems, everyone agreed that stopping the attack now would give Abar a chance to breathe, and the future threat would grow exponentially.
Everyone shared their opinions, among which Hansel proposed a very attractive solution—a resource contracting system.
Its core content is to divide the grassland area under the control of the Abar regime into several resource blocks, and then contract them out to well-funded industrial and commercial enterprises in Northwest Bay through bidding. The contracting enterprises will obtain priority exploration, exploitation and management rights of natural resources in the area for a period of ten years, and can form an "armed merchant group" affiliated with the enterprise to protect its interests.
The key point is that these lands were not seized by the Northwest Legion, but rather the companies were required to organize their own forces to take them from the Orcish tribes and maintain control. The government offered three forms of support: first, supplying firearms and ammunition at preferential prices; second, lifting restrictions on the use of firearms by civilian armed groups, allowing merchant caravans to be equipped with standard rifles and light cannons; and third, recognizing the legality of companies establishing outposts, levying resource taxes, and undertaking infrastructure construction within their controlled territories.
In his statement, Hansel emphasized: "The nature of private capital is profit-seeking. Rather than relying on continuous public financial support, it is better to guide private capital to take risks voluntarily. To protect their investments, enterprises will do everything in their power to drive out the orc forces. This not only reduces the pressure on the army at the front lines, but also transforms the war into a 'profit-driven' expansion movement."
The proposal sparked heated debate at the meeting. The military was concerned that the lack of discipline among civilian militias could lead to chaos on the front lines or the emergence of separatist forces. The Political Affairs Council, on the other hand, worried that the move would lead to resource monopolies and social injustice.
While Lord Paul Greiman remained noncommittal, he was secretly tempted.
After the meeting, everyone left one after another. Although Hansel's "resource contracting" proposal sparked heated discussions, Paul did not make a clear statement throughout the meeting.
After he returned to his office, Alvis quietly arrived again.
" Lord Glaeman," he said in a low voice, " Sir Abbott's proposal seems like a good solution to the current difficulties, but it actually hides a dangerous situation. You should be careful."
"Oh? Please explain in more detail." Paul gestured for him to sit down.
Alvis said seriously, "It's understandable to want to share the burden of war with private capital. But have you considered that once these companies establish armed forces, seize land, and control resources on the grasslands, they will quickly form semi-independent forces? They will no longer be merchants, but de facto lords. And you are not the highest authority in Aldor."
He paused, then emphasized, " The royal family of Aldor still exists. If you allow these business leaders of commoner origin to amass military power abroad, what will the royal family do?"
He looked Paul straight in the eye: "A title, a fief, a pardon—do you think those merchants will be loyal to you or to the legitimate royal investiture? Oh, perhaps you think they were loyal to you before, but please don't forget that they didn't have any real armed forces before."
"What does a commoner strive for in his life but dignity and recognition? The royal family can give them that. Once they have both official status and military power, will they still be as obedient to you as before?"
"This is very dangerous!" Alvis continued to warn. "With just a decree and a noble title, the royal family can turn a certain armed merchant group against you. They are armed and occupy key routes. If they suddenly declare independence or turn against you, Northwest Bay will be attacked from both sides. Instead of expanding, you will bring a lot of trouble upon yourself."
Paul remained silent for a long time. He had initially thought this was just an economic tactic, but now he realized the danger it contained.
He was not the king; his fiefdom was granted by the royal family, at least nominally. The royal family could use this to take control of the forces he supported.
A few days later, the resource contracting proposal was formally shelved, but companies were allowed to conduct limited cooperative development within military-controlled areas.
A revolution that could have given rise to an alternate version of the East India Company was thus aborted.
Just as the atmosphere in Lakeheart Town was tense due to the stalemate in the prairie war, an urgent letter from across the ocean broke the silence.
On the other side of the ocean in the New World, an Alda exploration team ventured deep into the interior and discovered a large-scale precious metal deposit in an area known as the "Silver Ridge Mountains." Preliminary exploration showed that silver veins were clearly visible on the surface, and deep drilling reached gold-rich layers. Moreover, the ore body was of extremely high grade, and the mining difficulty was far lower than that of the deep mines in Aldor's homeland.
When the news reached Lakeheart Town, it quickly went viral. Taverns, docks, and markets were all buzzing with talk of the New World's goldmine. Many were already planning to sell their possessions, hoping for just one ticket to the New World.
Rumors spread like wildfire. Some said that gold could be panned from the riverbeds, while others said that the indigenous people used gold for decorations without knowing its value. A gold rush craze quietly began.
After reading the details in the Political Affairs Council's confidential report, Paul's eyes lit up, and he immediately fell into deep thought.
Funding—the long-standing bottleneck restricting the expansion of the Northwest Army—may be on the verge of a turnaround.
If the precious metal mines of the New World could be systematically exploited, not only could the national treasury be replenished quickly to repay war bonds, but a large sum of military funds could also be raised.
The mass production of new firearms, soldiers' salaries, and the transportation of provisions can all be revitalized through this, and there is no need to rely on high-risk private capital anymore.
He envisioned: establishing an official mining bureau, dispatching trusted military officers for escort, setting up mining bases, and issuing "mineral bonds" to raise funds in advance... A self-sufficient war economy chain anchored by precious metals quickly took shape in his mind.
But he also knew that the New World was far away, the journey was arduous, and there were native inhabitants. Moreover, once it was developed on a large scale, it would inevitably attract the covetousness of other forces—the news of the discovery of the New World had already spread throughout Aldor —the gold and silver mines were not only wealth, but could also become the center of a storm.