With the rebellion crushed, Vig announced the stripping of Edmund and his family's titles. East Anglia was confiscated and incorporated into the royal domain as a newly established county.
All vassals who had participated in the uprising were deprived of their lands. The core conspirators were executed; the rest were exiled to the Canary Islands.
Looking at the assembled great nobles inside the tent, Vig's voice was icy.
"Does anyone object?"
Under the current political climate, the nobility was wary of any precedent involving the revocation of titles. Yet Edmund had openly rebelled—there was no reasonable argument to plead on his behalf. The great lords could only acquiesce.
Next came Scunthorpe. Because Rickard and the four barons had reported the conspiracy, Vig lacked sufficient justification to strip them of power outright. The final arrangement was as follows:
Buden was stripped of his noble status and confined for life in a remote temple. His uncle Rickard inherited the title of earl, while the four barons had their lands doubled in size—serving as a form of mutual check and balance.
One new royal county.
Fourteen hundred prisoners.
The wealth, weapons, and grain stored in Norwich Castle's cellars.
And the confiscated property of the minor nobles.
This was the result of Vig's six-month wait. The gains were respectable—but far from his original expectations.
"I had planned to use several thousand captives to repair the roads. Now I'll have to hire laborers with coin—another heavy expense."
After the Roman invasion of Britannia in 43 AD, a systematic road network had been constructed, totaling roughly 4,000 kilometers.
Centered on Lundenwic, the roads radiated outward toward towns and frontier fortresses. Major highways had relay stations at intervals for messengers to rest and change horses. The two most important arteries were:
Dover — Lundenwic — Chester, stretching about 400 kilometers from the southeastern port to the Welsh frontier.
Lundenwic — York, over 300 kilometers northward, with a narrower extension beyond York to Hadrian's Wall, used for supply transport and defense against the Picts.
However, after the Roman withdrawal in 410 AD, Britannia fell into internal strife and technological decline.
The migrating Anglo-Saxon tribes lacked the capacity to maintain such an extensive system. Many dismantled road stones to build city walls, palaces, and churches. Most sections deteriorated into rural dirt tracks.
As King of Britannia, Vig resolved to restore the two primary highways—allowing rapid troop deployment for rebellion suppression and facilitating domestic trade to stimulate economic growth.
Suddenly, he recalled Roman practice: using soldiers as builders.
Roman legions were not merely combat units but highly organized engineering corps, far more efficient than loosely coordinated civilians. During peacetime garrison duty, large-scale public works had also served to maintain discipline.
The following day, Vig raised the issue at the cabinet meeting. Afterward, he convened officers of company rank and above. Following lengthy discussion, he decided to assign one infantry regiment to construction duty for four months at a time. With three regiments rotating, this would cover the entire year.
The kingdom assembled a four-thousand-man engineering corps composed of:
SoldiersCivilian laborersPrisoners of war
Priority was given to restoring the long-neglected Lundenwic–York road, using surviving Roman parchments as reference.
High-difficulty tasks were assigned to soldiers. Civilian laborers handled support work. Prisoners were sent to quarries and logging camps.
At the construction site, soldiers worked in coordinated teams.
The strongest men swung heavy mattocks into the earth. Clods split and overturned under powerful blows. Sweat quickly soaked their coarse linen shirts, while dust clung to exposed skin, stifling and oppressive.
Those slightly less strong shoveled the loosened soil, piling it along the roadside. Others mixed mortar nearby—lime, volcanic ash, and river sand.
Once excavation reached sufficient depth, another group transported crushed stone and dumped it into the trench.
After the foundation was filled, Minister of Industry Lucar shouted impatiently:
"Move! Don't dawdle—clear skies won't last forever!"
The most grueling phase began. A dozen men pushed and pulled massive stone rollers back and forth across the laid foundation, compacting it repeatedly. The heavy rollers rumbled again and again until the base was firm and level. Military engineers occasionally checked alignment with plumb lines to ensure quality.
To prevent flooding, the roadway was slightly elevated above ground level, with drainage ditches dug along both sides to channel rainwater away.
When the surface was completed, soldiers erected heavy granite milestones along the roadside. The inscriptions recorded the location, date of construction, and the unit responsible—ensuring accountability.
After the initial adjustment period, construction speed stabilized. Vig shifted his attention to Flanders across the Channel.
Soon after suppressing the rebellion, he had dispatched envoys to Flanders, demanding a response from its count and merchants. The reply had been perfunctory.
At this point, Vig needed to respond. Otherwise, outsiders would deem him weak.
During a cabinet meeting, Minister of War Baforth suggested launching a limited campaign to raid towns such as Bruges.
"A limited campaign?" Godwin immediately countered. Though not a battlefield commander, his strategic vision was sharp.
"Once war begins, who can predict its course? If Charles the Bald and Gunnar become involved, we'll face tens of thousands in open battle. We lack sufficient grain and arms. Our stud farms have not yet replenished cavalry stock. To recklessly ignite a third Viking–West Frankish war risks repeating Ragnar's defeat."
On the high seat, Vig remained silent, stroking his chin in thought.
After multiple wars, West Francia had significantly improved its tactics, army size, and fortifications.
During Ragnar's first campaign, the fleet sailed up the Seine and annihilated the Frankish main force at Paris. Afterward, the Frankish king invested heavily in constructing the Fortress of Le Havre at the Seine's mouth.
With double stone walls capable of housing over two thousand soldiers, it blocked any future Viking advance up the river.
Across the realm, major nobles were building stone castles, while lower barons and knights relentlessly trained. In the second war, sheer manpower had ultimately exhausted Ragnar.
After a long pause, Vig spoke.
"The Chancellor is right. This is not the time to send the regular army. But Flanders must pay a price. Otherwise, no one will fear us."
Drawing inspiration from later eras, he introduced a new strategy:
Letters of marque.
Privateers would be authorized to raid Flemish merchant ships and coastal settlements—letting foreign traders taste Britannia's iron fist.
To strengthen coastal defense and prevent retaliatory raids, Vig summoned representatives from towns such as Dover, ordering them to requisition fishing boats and merchant vessels to form coastal patrol fleets.
Their mission: intercept small enemy forces.
If confronted by a major fleet, they were to light the beacon towers, alerting Lundenwic with utmost speed.
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