Herald of Steel

Alexander's order that the army was soon going to start marching for Zanzan and then be disbanded upon reaching the city, caused another group to weep- all the nearby shopkeepers, the tavern owners, the merchants, the peddlers, and most of all, the prostitutes who had catering to every whim and desire of these nearly 40,000 men.

These 'service' providers were not only residents of the capital Parthenigh, but also the camp followers who had been following Alexander till last year.

And due to Alexander's grace, they were able to make money hand over fist during this time.

But what was this grace you ask?

Well, upon entering the capital, the very first thing that Alexander had done was reinforce the city watch there, disbanding most of the existing officers and replacing them with his own trusted men, and then bolstering the guard with more of his men from the army.

He did this to gain control of the city, to obtain a tool to carry out his will, through which he would be able to bring order and the rule of law to the city.

To do this, Alexander first and foremost declared that anyone who refused to pay for goods purchased or forcibly purchased them at a discount would be whipped twenty times in public and then have all his personal property seized.

This was of course primarily directed towards the camped soldiers, who were famously known to frequently shoplift, simply taking whatever they fancied from the store or eating a meal without paying a dime.

This was targeted to stop them.

And if Alexander had not been clear enough with only this, the man also made the following proclamation for the slower ones,

"The citizens of Parthenigh are now my citizens. Anyone, regardless of who that identity may be, found imposing an unjust burden on them will be punished, and punished harshly."

And following the next few days after the decree was issued, quite a few such miscreants were indeed caught violating the law, and they then found much of their horror that they were indeed being punished accordingly.

They did not think Alexander was being serious, that the city guards would dare to touch them- the military!

But this was exactly another reason why Alexander replaced the city guards with legionnaires, to show the unruly grunts that the people they were facing were not soft, town militia, but people of similar, if not higher rank than them.

Thus they were whipped publicly in front of their very camp, their backs turning a river of bloody red by the end, as the cruel, barbed whip flayed the skin with every touch, eliciting pained almost tearful groans from the men.

And if this demonstration was not enough, there were even three drunks who had not only refused to pay, but attacked an innkeeper for even daring to ask such a thing, as they killed him, before violating his wife, and then setting fire to the whole place.

These scoundrels were first whipped a hundred times, with two of them simply dying from this, before they were hung once again, their naked corpses left swinging in the breeze right in front of the camp's main gate as a nice decorative piece, as well as a grim remind everyone to mind their manners.

And after that particular demonstration, every one else straightened their spine and started to pay for their stuff just as they were asked, much to the delight of shopkeepers everywhere.

Sure, there was even still some unscrupulous backhanded haggling by the truly reckless, but that was more of an exception rather than an example.

This move brought a great grin to both merchants and citizens alike, as for the former, it finally meant they could start profiting from this booming business, while for the latter it meant they troublemakers would not cause commotion anymore.

All of which netted Alexander quite a bit of favorability points with the local populace, who began to see their new conqueror in a new light.

Even Crown Prince Philips was impressed by the way Alexander handled the thing so quickly and efficiently, muttering to himself in a half impressed tone,

"No wonder Zanzan got so powerful almost overnight. There were indeed his skillful hands behind it. Very skillful full indeed."

Philips did not think even someone as experienced as him in governance might have been able to do any better.

And seeing this the prince did not know whether he should be glad over having gained a competent new overlord, or lament since the presence of such an individual meant any thoughts of rebellions would be very hard to foment.

"*Sigh*" And in the end, he could only shake his head ruefully.

Due to Alexander's strict enforcement, the last two to three months had been nothing but almost like a dream for the merchants of the city, letting them earn money hand over fist like Christmas had married Valentine's Day.

The men and women there made more money in this short time than they would have made, not in one but two and even three years for some lucky bastards.

And this was really not that surprising given that there sat idle 40,000 hot blooded men right in front of their doorsteps, having just won the war, with purses overflowing with looted coins and nothing better else to spend it on.lightsnovel

So what else were they going to do other than enjoy themselves using their newfound wealth after their great triumph?

They drank every drop of wine the taverns could produce, ate the best meals the city had to offer, and gambled away entire monthly wages in a single throw of the dice like it was nothing.

lightsΝοvel But the greatest recipient of this love were of course the prostitutes, who by now were beginning to feel they were swimming in cock.

Cock for breakfast, cock for lunch, and cock for dinner.

The demand for them was so high that other than sleeping and eating, most of these working girls only saw only one thing during their waking hours- cocks and more cocks, cocks of every kind, shape, color, and smell imaginable, and then be dyed in the entirety of its stored turbid fluids.

And while they walked the streets, their profession was clear for anyone, for most walked bowl legged with unsteady steps, courtesy of all the constant pounding no doubt.

But despite the hard labor and long hours, it was still honest work, and the money was more than enough to drive away their fatigue.

Many even felt they had managed to save up enough money to retire after this, setting the girl's heart aflutter.

But the same could not be said for the shopkeepers, who despite their best efforts were unable to keep up with the ever increasing demand, failing to raise production in such a short time.

Sure, some had started set up brand new distilleries but those would take a while to come to life.

After all, you could not exactly speed up the fermentation, not at least by any drastic amount.

Meaning soon after Alexander made camp, wines and booze began to run dry as tavern owners had to scrape the bottom of the barrels, while food items like eggs and meat such as chicken, beef, mutton, lamb, and most specifically venison began to disappear off the shelf so quickly that one might think a swarm of locust had snatched them away.

And faced with this shortage, what did the merchants do?

Of course, they did not just obediently sell their stock, and close their shops once they ran out.

That would have run antithetical to their being.

Instead, lured by the huge profits, and afraid that they were going to lose out on such much sale,these men started to employ various unscrupulous means to artificially increase their stock.

This act ranged from the relatively harmless, such as diluting their drinks with water, to eyebrow raising like mixing sawdust and even mud into bread, to disgusting like mixing the meat of rodents and pets into dishes, to the vilest of them all, serving items with animal droppings in them.

There was really nothing these men would not do for one extra coin.

And many even got caught by the magistrates during this endeavor, even red handed right in the middle of the act, before being promptly hanged as punishment.

But even still, the practice continued.

Because while Alexander's previous example worked to deter ignoble men, this time, the shine of the coin proved too bright.

Not even the fear of death was enough to deter most from this path, for the sheer amount of money out there proved too large to ignore.

And even on the opposite side of the spectrum, the soldiers, even knowing the merchants were swindling them refused to curb their, such insatiable was their thirst.

And as it could be guessed, such circumstances of scarcity caused hyper inflation to rise in the city, as the soldiers, who were now much wealthier than the native citizens drove up prices of everyday commodities sky high and then beyond the atmosphere, alarming the people in the royal palace.

The situation was finally brought back to normal with Philips's intervention, as the Crown Prince set firm price limits on everyday essentials and instituted a form of rationing.

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