For the Pechenegs, horses were the most trustworthy companions in life.
Inside the stables, they spent a long time carefully observing the mounts, trying to choose the horse with which they felt the strongest connection.
Thanks to training from early childhood, the new recruits possessed exceptional horsemanship. Some even surpassed the cavalry instructors in their control of a mount.
"Excellent," Company Commander Havrun murmured in admiration as he watched several riders demonstrate the technique known as hiding beneath the stirrup.
"These men were born to be light cavalry. Far better than those dull-witted peasant recruits."
On the training field, the nomad riders sat firmly in their saddles as their horses accelerated to full speed.
Then, in the blink of an eye, a rider's upper body suddenly dropped off the side of the saddle, seeming to vanish completely.
In reality, one foot remained hooked tightly in the stirrup like an iron claw while the rider's body clung to the galloping horse.
Moments later, using tremendous core strength and leverage from the hooked foot, the rider snapped back upright into the saddle.
According to the Pechenegs, the technique had three uses:
avoiding arrows
retrieving objects while galloping, such as dropped weapons or hunted game
concealed assaults, making enemies think the horse riderless until the rider suddenly reappeared to strike
However, the cavalry instructors strongly discouraged such dangerous displays of skill.
Every light cavalryman already wore armor capable of resisting arrows. There was little point risking one's life for theatrics.
After training ended, Santan led his horse back to the stable.
Because he had learned the most Viking words among the recruits, he had been appointed temporary squad leader.
Before he had gone far, excited shouting erupted behind him.
It was Havrun, commander of First Company, accompanied by over a dozen cavalrymen.
Havrun had graduated from the cavalry department of the Military Academy the previous year. He was also the youngest son of the wealthy merchant Harry.
The man spent money lavishly:
frequently buying drinks for his men
occasionally taking outstanding soldiers into town for entertainment
The Pecheneg recruits liked him immensely.
Unfortunately, Santan belonged to Second Company and had no chance to enjoy such privileges.
After spending an hour caring for the horses, Santan went to the communal bathhouse, then headed to the mess hall for the usual meal:
fried fish
vegetable soup
hard flatbread
"More fish sauce," he requested.
He had grown fond of the seasoning. Just one spoonful made the entire bowl of soup far richer in flavor.
Suddenly, six bells rang outside.
Santan quickly finished his fish and soup, tucked the hard bread into his clothes, and hurried out of the dining hall.
As a lower-level leader, he was required to attend two extra hours of training every evening:
learning Viking speech
drawing terrain maps
navigating by the stars
Life had become so busy and structured that even his dreams were filled with drills and lessons.
Without realizing it, his memories of life on the steppe were slowly fading.
Londinium
An auction was underway in the city, selling pearls from the Caribbean.
Back in June, two three-masted ships carrying exiles had sailed to Puerto Rico.
Afterward, Commander Lake took the Voyager to explore the surrounding seas and made a major discovery among the southern Caribbean islands:
Pearls.
The local waters produced them in abundance.
Through trade, Lake acquired huge quantities of pearls in exchange for trivial manufactured goods.
Fearing jealousy from his peers, he presented most of the pearls to the Crown and promised even greater future profits.
As expected, he was granted the title of Governor of the Caribbean.
Most of the pearls were white or cream-colored, while a few possessed pale rose hues with flame-like patterns on their surfaces.
Vig kept the finest specimens for the queen to distribute among noblewomen visiting the court.
The remainder were auctioned.
In just two days, the entire stock sold out, earning the royal treasury 1,500 pounds.
Thanks to this unexpected windfall, this year's projected revenue rose to 46,000 pounds.
Agricultural taxes had increased only modestly.
Even with:
New World crops
seaweed fertilizer along coastal regions
the growth still could not compare to the booming handicraft and commercial sectors.
"Nine hundred and ten thousand directly governed subjects producing this level of agricultural tax revenue is already sufficient," Vig concluded.
Total expenditures amounted to 29,000 pounds.
More than half went to military spending, including:
soldiers' wages
equipment procurement
militia training across the twelve direct counties
horse purchases
Other expenditures remained relatively stable.
With the completion of the two main highways:
Londinium–Manchester
Londinium–Edinburgh
the kingdom's land transportation had improved dramatically, fully meeting Vig's expectations.
For the foreseeable future, he had no intention of investing in additional major infrastructure projects.
After finishing the accounts, Vig recalled a letter recently intercepted by the intelligence service.
The sender was a noble from the Paris court.
The recipient was an abbot in Normandy.
The letter mostly complained about trivial matters—but among them was valuable information regarding the finances of West Francia.
According to the letter:
The total value of rents from Charles the Bald's directly controlled lands was around 13,000 pounds, representing half of royal income.
That implied annual revenue of approximately 26,000 pounds.
West Francia possessed fertile lands with agricultural yields superior to Britain's.
Its weakness lay elsewhere:
Charles directly controlled only:
the Île-de-France (Paris region)
portions of the Loire Valley
parts of Burgundy
scattered estates in Aquitaine confiscated from rebels
Moreover, these territories were geographically fragmented, making administration inefficient.
Britain's royal domain, by contrast, formed two large continuous blocks:
the five southern counties centered on Londinium and Cambridge
Tyne County and all of Scotland in the north
This greatly improved administrative efficiency.
Based on intelligence gathered from multiple channels, Vig and the Cabinet estimated Charles's directly governed population at only 400,000–600,000.
For those lands to produce 13,000 pounds in rent already represented the upper limit of what the peasantry could bear.
The noble's letter also complained about the decline of industry in Flanders.
Previously, annual commercial taxes and customs duties totaled around 4,000 pounds.
Now they had fallen to barely 1,000-plus, and continued declining.
As for expenditures:
Charles the Bald's annual spending was roughly comparable to Vig's—around 25,000 pounds.
Of that:
60% went to military expenses
fortress construction
equipment procurement
constant preparations against Viking attacks
Because Charles claimed the imperial legacy of his grandfather Charlemagne, he also had to maintain appropriate splendor.
Court expenses consumed another 20%—around 5,000 pounds.
Each year, Charles routinely donated more than 3,000 pounds to monasteries, accounting for another 15% of expenditures.
He occasionally granted land as donations too, steadily shrinking future tax income.
The remaining thousand pounds or so covered noble rewards and administration.
West Francia employed far fewer civil officials than Britain, so bureaucratic costs remained low.
Overall, the finances of the West Frankish monarchy appeared dangerously fragile.
The kingdom constantly hovered near deficit.
This reflected the broader reality of continental Europe:
Most states lacked rational fiscal planning.
When confronted with large-scale war, rulers relied on only two methods:
raising taxes
borrowing money from the Church
Vig leaned back in thought.
"Two years ago, when the Franks attacked Denmark, Charles the Bald repeatedly pressured Gunnar into launching offensives and forced him into battle with me near Hamburg…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"The royal treasury probably couldn't hold out any longer."
—------------------------------
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