239 Chapter 239: Eat Bugs

The development of Mellow City is getting faster and faster, and the construction of Merlo City can no longer be satisfied by relying on taxes alone.

The sewer system and water conservancy channels all eat up the bulk of Merlot City's finances. If they only rely on the property tax revenue under Aslan's name, they simply cannot meet such a huge expenditure.

At the same time, Aslan is also worried about the privatization of the military industry. If he is gone one day, some people will sell weapons to the enemy in order to make huge profits, which will be desperate.

Some people may find it funny, but in the face of capital and wealth desires, everything is possible.

"My lord, chaos is coming, shouldn't we continue to expand the army?" Goode raised his hand and asked like a curious baby.

Others nodded in agreement, and even civil servants like Essien were very supportive.

This time, it was not only the original human race officials in Melo City, but also the newly promoted foreign race officials.

For example, Elijah from the Alien Affairs Office, Wenner, the new director of the Education Bureau, and Cu Chulainn, the deputy captain of the Knights Guard, all attended.

"What is the current population of our city of Merlot?" Aslan asked lightly.

A half-elf secretary next to Essien stood up at his gesture and began to read.

"The new census has come out. The population of Mellow City has reached 164,531 people, the population of Max Township has reached 56,232, and the total population of several other towns has reached 40,000. There are six hundred and eighty-five people, and there are seventy-nine thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven legal citizens living in various farms. Last month, several villages were added to the village, and the population of the outer villages was also 96,800. One hundred and thirty-one people, if the attachment of the villages around the towns is still increasing."

The face of the half-elf civil servant was full of confidence. This time the census almost caused the civil servant of their city hall to break his leg.

Today, the Melo area has a population of more than half a million people, not counting the aliens from the Changfeng Plain.

"More than half a million people, how many troops does the Melo region have now?" Aslan asked.

"Excluding the main force, there are 20,000 reserve troops, 10,000 city defense troops, and 10,000 construction corps." Gao Wen, who had taken over the military chief of Merlot City, said without any hesitation.

"Including the main army of nearly 50,000 troops, and we need to expand the army, don't we need people for urban development and agricultural production?" Aslan said with a sigh.

There was silence in the conference room.

Although the size of the army seems to be very large, considering that the reserve troops belong to the militia sequence, they will gather together for training during the slack season. Most of the time, they are the main force of agricultural production. Wars and mobilization have always been between the Melo area and Between the Belgian regions, it has little impact on agricultural production. Once they are far away from the Melo region and participate in the war, who will be responsible for the fields they are responsible for.

Not to mention that it is enough for women to farm, in this era, women also need to work in the fields.

"The city defense army still needs to maintain the law and order of the area, patrol the area on a daily basis, and the projects in the hands of the construction corps are sufficient for next year. The reserve force is indeed the most stable source of soldiers, but they also have to bear the agricultural production in the Merlot area. You said we have to Go there to recruit troops." Aslan said with a sigh.

"Don't you all want to be militaristic?"

There was silence in the meeting room.

"But what if the flames of war spread to the Melo area?" Gut said subconsciously.

"From next month onwards, the lord will move to Dostone Fortress. The lord will guard the gate of the country and keep the enemy out!" Aslan said firmly.

Everyone was moved and ashamed.

"There is still a Billy area in front of us, and it is still difficult for the war to spread to the Melo area, but in order to ensure that the war will not spread to the Melo area, we must send the main army to join the battle, and I will lead the army to go out at that time , I will trouble you with the affairs of the Melo region." Aslan continued to speak.

"My lord! Absolutely not." Gao Wen was the first to stand up and stop him.

Every time Aslan led the army, he never came back intact. They absolutely couldn't let Aslan take this risk.

"That's right! Your lord is now the pillar of the Melo region. If you have any troubles, the Melo region will be over." Le Anning also wanted to understand many things during the arrest of Aslan.

Nowadays, many places in the Melo area are not perfect, and they are fully supported by Aslan's prestige.

"I am the lord of the Melo region, and I am also the teacher's disciple. I will personally lead the army, and no one dares to use the Melo army as cannon fodder." Aslan said lightly.

The conference room fell into an eerie silence for an instant.

Being regarded as cannon fodder, no one dared to refute the pressure contained in this sentence.

Just as Aslan said, if the leader of the Melo army is not Aslan, if the battle goes against him, there is no guarantee that the main force of the Belgian army will not be regarded as the rear troops or the abandoned son will be left behind to block the enemy.

They might not dare to do this in normal times, but it is different in times of crisis. After all, Billy Jun is his own son compared to his nephew Melo Jun.

"In addition to preparing the army for war, this meeting is also about the locust plague in the North Wind Prairie." Aslan knew the seriousness of the matter, so he did not continue to discuss this matter, and directly changed the topic.

Regarding the locust plague in the North Wind Prairie, it is no secret now, and even some well-informed merchants in Billy City know about it, but they only considered that the food would be transported to the North Wind Prairie, and there would be a Changfeng Plain in between. give up!

Otherwise, they would not let go of such an opportunity to make a fortune.

"I've done field research. This matter is no small matter. Not surprisingly, locust plagues will spread across the mainland starting next year, and our Melo area will also be affected to a greater or lesser extent," Aslan said.

Everyone's face became serious, only Goode and Gut looked at Johnson with doubts on their faces.

"Johnson's town order! We haven't had a locust plague in the Melo area for many years."

When Johnson heard this, he also looked at Aslan speechlessly.

"It is recorded in the literature that the last locust plague broke out more than a hundred years ago. When the locust plague broke out, there was not much vegetation to eat in the Melo area, so a large area starved to death, and was later killed by the extremely hungry Melo people. Boiled, and since then, there has been a custom of eating locusts in the Melo area."

Hearing what Johnson said, outsiders like Gawain and Arthur gasped.

"Eat bugs!"

Elijah's face was even paler, and even Nomiri who was standing behind Aslan's eyes flickered, obviously disgusted.