Our Family Has Fallen

”There’s not much money left in the account; if you keep spending like this, it’ll soon run out.”

”When the money’s gone, we’ll just earn more. Don’t worry about it,” Lance said casually, offering some comfort.

”It’s easy for you to say when you’re not managing the finances. You’re spending hundreds or thousands of gold coins at a time. You’re taking so much out, but where’s the money coming in?”

Tiffany felt frustrated seeing Lance’s indifferent attitude. She was so stressed about the finances that she felt like she was losing her hair, wishing she could split a copper coin in half just to stretch it further.

Not to mention the dead, now she even wanted to squeeze some profit out of stones.

But she could understand; not having money can really drive a person crazy.

Lance realized she was here to ask for money.

He could only laugh bitterly and explain, ”Where do I have money? I’m so poor, I can only afford to eat lobster. You know exactly how much is in the account; even if you sold me, it would still be the same.”

Everyone knew Lance lived a simple life; he didn’t even have a servant.

The only thing slightly extravagant was eating crab and lobster every day.

But in this era, seafood with little meat like this was cheap, and only poor people ate it. In fact, it was actually cheaper than eating beef or lamb.

So Lance eating this stuff every day was regarded by everyone as frugal living.

The real heavy expenditure was the development costs in Hamlet.

Don’t think that Lance got all the goods brought back by ships and carriages for free. Although the town had some output, the main expense still needed to be supplemented with money.

Moreover, maintaining this powerful professional army was a huge cost, even with the serfs who didn’t take wages and only ate meals; otherwise, it would be even more severe.

The vigorous development of Hamlet was supported by the million gold coins Lance plundered in Totnes.

But now, that’s about to run out, too.

”Now we’re going to war again. Fighting is one thing; rescuing our own people, I can understand. But do you know how much it costs to take care of all those wounded prisoners? They can’t work, so why keep them around? It would be better to give them a quick end!

And those caravans, how much do we need to maintain them? Have you even...”

Lance couldn’t help but laugh when he heard this.

Goodness, although Paracelsus claimed to be researching, he was the one showing concern for the injured prisoners, regardless of their status, while you just want to give them a quick end with a single sentence; truly a living Bodhisattva.

”What are you laughing at?”

Tiffany noticed Lance’s reaction and reprimanded him; he quickly straightened his attitude.

No choice, if you can’t hand over public grain, you’re destined to be beneath others.

Tiffany gazed at Lance, a moment of silence enveloped them before she continued.

”If there’s no money, let’s not fight. We can’t afford the expenditure.”

Tiffany was aware of Lance’s struggles, but no money means no money. Warfare in Hamlet, at least for her, brought no benefits, only increasing pressure.

Although Lance gained something from every battle, his trophies were immediately invested back into development, and many were solid assets that couldn’t be monetized, like those weapons and caravans, and the arrival of so many horses incurred further expenses for their upkeep.

Some battles were strategically significant and unavoidable, like striking against the Ascension Sect, or developing the wilderness.

These investments brought no short-term income, and while Lance foresaw the long-term, the urgent difficulties were right under Tiffany’s nose.

”Heretics must be eradicated, there’s no other way! Besides, preparations have been made for so long, and the battle opportunity is fleeting. If we miss it, it will be difficult to seize it again!”

Upon hearing this, Lance disagreed; regarding the wilderness action, he was all set except for directly pushing forward.

”I don’t care; regardless, you need to find money. Without money, don’t wage war; focus on earning money honestly.”

Tiffany’s demand was not surprising because she was now in charge of Hamlet’s treasury.

Lance made the decisions, but the money had to pass through her hands.

In normal times, Lance would never delegate such authority, but now he simply didn’t have the time to deal with these minor matters.

Tiffany’s appointment to such an important position was due to the lack of knowledgeable people in the town, and she was the only one Lance could trust.

This trust wasn’t just about capability, but more importantly loyalty; this role required access to many secrets and had a high risk of corruption, thus necessitating a reliable person.

Her whole family was in Lance’s hands.

Regarding capability, she wasn’t bad, even somewhat talented.

Initially, when she took over the merchant guild, it nearly crashed because she was suddenly thrust into the role; before this, she was just doing odd jobs, lacking a gradual process and experience in handling the relevant incidents, lacking mature methods.

More importantly, her mentality was not right; she lacked psychological support, and the people below did not support or cooperate with her.

However, now the pillar supporting Hamlet stood firm, and she didn’t need to worry about other things, only focusing on her job, operating within the stipulated guidelines.

This resolved all her troubles about decision-making, allowing Tiffany to fully unleash her talents.

Moreover, Lance trusted her greatly; now, it was politely termed as entrusting important tasks, though bluntly, Lance was using her like a workhorse.

This high-intensity work, regardless of other factors, indeed boosted her capabilities visibly, and her aura was honed substantially, making her a completely different person.

See, she directly asked Lance for money in front of the dead.