Lord of Winter: Beginning with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 600: Chapter 356: Impact of the Red Tide

Before dawn, the city gates of Silver Ridge Hill were already bustling.

The sound of hooves crunching on snow was incessant, mingling with the chill of metal and the white mist of steam in the air.

Yorn rode alongside the convoy, urging his horse closer to Louis’s carriage and lifting the curtain for a brief greeting: “Boss, I imagine the journey north must be dull. Luckily, I received an invitation from Astha too, so we can travel together.”

Louis glanced at him and smiled slightly, “I suspect it’s you who’s bored in the territory.”

“A bit, indeed.” Yorn naturally fell into step with him, joking half-heartedly, “I’ve arranged everything at Silver Ridge Hill, so why not take this chance to visit other territories? Besides, it’s a rare opportunity to travel with you.”

Louis nodded gently, “Then observe well and learn.”

In truth, Yorn knew that staying in Silver Ridge Hill left him with little to do.

Life was now so stable it bordered on boring, as the Red Tide administrators managed everything in his territory.

Rather than hunting idly, following Louis north to gain some insight seemed more exciting.

Moreover, he was now among the top twenty nobility of the Northern Territory, making his participation in the northern reconstruction meeting both justified and appropriate.

At Louis’s command, the entire convoy slowly set off.

The vanguard knights formed up, the standard-bearers raised the Red Tide and Harvey flags, the banners snapping proudly in the wind and snow.

Yorn rode on the flank of the convoy, feeling both proud and elated. Turning to shout to the knights beside him, he exclaimed, “Now this is a sight! Tell me, where in the Northern Territory could there be anything more magnificent?”

Riding behind him were nearly a hundred officials and knights, their spirits high, as their armor and lances gleamed dazzlingly white in the snowy light.

Louis’s carriage cut through the morning mist, departing from Silver Ridge Hill and advancing grandly north.

This journey was not only about traveling; it was a tour to assess the spread of the Red Tide system in the Northern Territory.

At every stop, Louis would pause for half a day to inspect the storage, civil affairs, education, and production systems.

Every place they arrived was a reflection of the Red Tide model, with clean streets, full granaries, and open schools.

The Red Tide system was like an invisible order, reshaping the rhythm of the Northern Territory.

In each demonstration point, Louis lingered, speaking little, just observing quietly.

For instance, in the former noble territory of Snow Peak County, families that once resisted the Red Tide rule were now fully integrated into the administrative hall system.

When they first joined, their arguments were intense, complaining that the Red Tide’s management was too broad, suffocating, with some cursing at banquets that the administrative ledger was heavier than the Empire’s shackles.

But soon they found that the precise allocation of the storage system prevented grain from spoiling in warehouses, the distribution system ensured timely workshop profits, and unified ledgers left no room for deceit or conflict.

Grumblings gradually turned to silence, and after silence came reliance.

They understood that this was like shearing the wool from their backs; the Red Tide took resources from them but gave them back stability and prosperity.

Though they knew this, none were willing to return to the past.

A life of wealth made them increasingly lazy, with banquets replacing council meetings and dividends substituting for power.

These nobles spent their days drunkenly sighing, “This isn’t governance; it’s being conquered by happiness.”

The old city was incorporated into the Red Tide, and Louis reallocated their territories, achieving division and cooperation in mining, farming, and workshop activities under the Red Tide’s dispatches, eliminating internal strife and conflict.

The lives of the people improved significantly, with less famine and more stable security.

When Louis returned, those once most stubborn nobles nearly welcomed him at their doors.

The banquet was brilliantly lit, and they hurried to pour him wine, their mouths full of flattery.

Someone half-jokingly said, “If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have days like these.”

Louis simply smiled lightly, his gaze sweeping over the many docile faces: “Just remember, don’t forget who’s keeping you alive.”

That smile was calm, yet it caused a brief silence among everyone present.

After a moment’s pause, a round of dry laughter erupted in the dining hall.

The nobles raised their glasses again, plastering fawning smiles on their faces, their voices more fervent than before.

For they knew, without the Red Tide, they had no way to survive.

Without Louis, their wealth and stability would also turn to dust in the wind and snow.

Even if they felt humiliated, they still smiled compliantly, for this happiness was too warm to let go, resisting the return to the cold past.

The Winter Dawn Territory, now filled with a dense cluster of warehouses sprawling across the snowfield, steam cranes rumbling.

Managed directly by the Red Tide Economic Administration, it became a transit hub and standardized storage center of Lady Grant’s territory.

As one of the earliest lords to join the Red Tide system, she nearly fell apart when she initially took over the territory.

The land was barren, staple crops wouldn’t grow, with no mineral veins or trade routes, and both her sovereign and husband’s family had cast her aside.

After the Snow Peak County meeting, she sought to meet with Louis.

That night, she said, “I really have no way out. I want to join the Red Tide system.”

Louis replied, “Everything you can’t handle alone, we’ll take care of.”

Afterward, Red Tide craftsmen and administrators conducted on-site assessments, discovering rare mineral salt hidden underground.

The Red Tide sent people to build roads and warehouses, and within just a year, this barren land became a source of winter salt stones.

The special local product winter salt stones established a long-term supply agreement with the Red Tide Alchemy Workshop, with the workshop recycling finished products, then distributed throughout the Northern Territory or sold to the South.

Louis’s intervention became the turning point in her fate.

She turned her fortunes around with the Red Tide’s dividends, becoming the wealthiest widow in the Northern Territory.

Her ex-husband’s family tried to approach her again, but she kicked them away with one swift movement.