Chapter 010: Recruitment Agreement

“Master Barbari, look—we’ve invested a great deal of money and resources in recruiting these students. You see, it’s possible to transfer some of your students, but you must compensate us for the costs incurred in recruiting these students, right?” Du Fan said to Barbari.
“Alright, I can agree to that,” Barbari replied immediately upon hearing Du Fan’s words. “Duke Du Fan, how do you want us to compensate?”
“One thousand gold coins per student,” Du Fan said with a smirk.
“Duke Du Fan, this is extortion!” Barbari exclaimed angrily.
“Master Barbari, how can this be considered extortion? Think about it—how much money and effort we put into recruiting one student! We travel thousands of miles, losing countless horses along the way. Once there, they need food and shelter, and we even have to pay them double wages.” Du Fan continued.
Of course, in the most remote areas, which were indeed thousands of miles away from Doha City, there were already administrative institutions set up by Du Fan in the four southern provinces, so there was no need to send people from Doha City all that way. It was the members of the Magic Guild who had to travel thousands of miles if they wanted to recruit there.
“Du Fan, to be honest, I can decide matters within one million gold coins. If it exceeds that amount, I can only ask the guild leader to find other solutions,” Barbari said after hearing Du Fan’s reply.
“Then let’s go with one hundred! For the students I recruit this time, you take sixty and I’ll take forty,” Du Fan said, laughing heartily.
“Are you serious?” Barbari asked, eyes widening.
“Of course. But from now on, I’ll be in charge of all recruitment. Your Magic Guild just needs to pay one million gold coins every year,” Du Fan replied promptly.
“Hmm…” Barbari pondered for a moment.
“Or, Master Barbari, you might as well recruit on your own,” Du Fan added upon seeing Barbari’s hesitation.
“Alright, fine. It’s settled as you say,” Barbari agreed immediately.
By gathering all the suitable students from the four southern provinces, Du Fan would likely prevent Barbari from recruiting enough students in those provinces for the next three years.

Moreover, even if Barbari wanted to recruit students in other provinces, he would need to build relationships with those provinces first; otherwise, the lords of those provinces would not allow a force like the Magic Guild to recruit on their territory. Such recruitment would be nothing but outright poaching. As a result, the Magic Guild was forced to pay Du Fan one million in fees each year for recruiting students, with Du Fan’s responsibility being to ensure that no fewer than three thousand students were recruited each year. In fact, even including Du Fan’s costs for this large-scale recruitment, the total expenditure did not exceed fifty thousand gold coins! The next afternoon, Du Fan went to the Bilu Tribe carrying five hundred Mist Magic Scrolls and five hundred three-jin explosive packs. The fifty thousand jin of Fireweed that Ringtone had grown last time had been turned into one thousand five hundred units of explosives. After understanding the function of the Mist Magic Scrolls, Du Fan immediately said, “Chief Li, I’m counting on you! More weapons and armor, as fast as possible and in large quantities!” “Duke Du Fan, rest assured! I will do my utmost to forge them!” Chief Li said solemnly, looking at the heavy explosive packs before him. “Good, Chief Li. To be honest, this time I plan to expand my army to one hundred thousand to deal with future situations, so the burden on you is heavy,” Du Fan said. “Duke Du Fan,” Chief Li thought for a moment after hearing this and then said, “If Your Grace is really in a hurry, our Bilu Tribe actually has a stock of weapons and armor that could equip about thirty thousand people. However, these weapons and armor were specifically made for our dwarf race. If Duke Du Fan is truly in urgent need, I will order the craftsmen to modify them first.” “Very good,” Du Fan repeated, pleased to hear this. Although dwarfs were short in stature, their upper bodies were quite large, and since it only required modification, producing thirty thousand sets of weapons and armor should not be difficult. “Your Grace, rest assured. Our Bilu Tribe will definitely forge the weapons and armor as quickly as possible,” Chief Li said cheerfully, observing Du Fan’s expression. … Back in the city lord’s mansion, Du Fan was sipping tea in the afternoon sunlight, lounging in a wicker rocking chair. With his eyes closed, he kept pondering various issues. Initially, just one Siluo Province had allowed him to assemble a force of two hundred fifty thousand soldiers. Now that he controlled four provinces, how many soldiers should he assemble?

When forming the army of Siluo Province, basically all the expenses were borne by Du Fan alone, as Siluo Province couldn’t provide much financial support to him at the beginning of his tenure. Although there are now four provinces, although those three provinces plus Fairfield have been returned to him, the Lanni Empire had already drained their finances before withdrawing. Money, money, money—what Du Fan needs most right now is money! The light balls created by Robo can be sold at high prices, but after all, too few people have the means to afford them. If there were too many items that could change one’s cultivation foundation, they surely wouldn’t be valuable. The money he had accumulated before is now almost used up. How should he make more money next? “Money, where is the money?” Du Fan called out. Recruiting soldiers, equipping the army, and carrying out infrastructure projects in his territory—all of these require money. Moreover, looking at the state of his territory, it’s already quite good that he’s managed to keep things running on his own in the past two years. “Giggle, my Grand Duke Du Fan. Are you really in need of money?” As soon as Du Fan thought this, he heard a bewitching voice say. Without looking, Du Fan knew it was Princess Angel who had arrived. “Well, Your Highness, as you belong to the royal family, you naturally can’t understand the hardships of us poor people,” Du Fan said with a smile upon seeing Angel. “Duke Du Fan, you’re joking. If it were an ordinary family, maybe, but your Green family, although they’ve invested most of their funds in building the Northern Army, it’s impossible for them to be short of money, right?” Angel said, winking. “But I really am short of money now!” Du Fan said. “Although I’ve taken over the three southern provinces, as you know, Angel, what taxes can be collected from territories devastated by war? It’s already good if I don’t have to put in any money myself. On top of that, I have to take care of such a large group of people—their food, shelter, and everything else. It’s really not easy for me.” “Du Fan, I have a way that can let you get a large sum of wealth right away. Do you want it?” Angel said mysteriously. “Of course I do. Tell me, how can I get it?” Hearing this, Du Fan quickly asked.

“Hehe, Du Fan, as long as you marry me right away, I think, with my status as a princess and you as the most trusted minister of the current prince, just the gifts and dowry alone should be enough for us to make a fortune, right?” Angel said with a smile. “Besides, when a royal princess gets married, I think my brother will have to give me a substantial dowry.”

Hearing Angel’s plan to make money this way, Du Fan was instantly speechless.

“Are you sure you really want to do this?” Du Fan asked, staring at her.

“Haha, Du Fan, do you think I want to marry you?” Angel replied evasively to his question.

“It seems like marrying you wouldn’t be a loss for me either,” Du Fan said, staring at her with a naked gaze, as if she were standing bare before him.

Under his gaze, Angel’s face turned red for the first time.

“I was just joking with you,” Angel said. “But since you said you need money, I can help a little. These are a few items I brought from the palace—things my father once bestowed upon me. Over the years, I’ve also saved some money. Since you’re in need, I’ll give them to you.”

As she spoke, she took out several items—exquisitely crafted artworks that would surely cause a sensation at an auction! Among them was a Sunflower painting by the master painter Van Gogh from 200 years ago! Just a few years ago, one of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers was auctioned for tens of millions in gold coins! There was also a half-foot-tall jade statue by the sculptor Michelangelo from 500 years ago, whose market value was also over tens of millions. The other items, though not as valuable as these two, still totaled over twenty million in value.

As for the private money Angel had, it wasn’t much—only over three million. But it was normal for a princess to not have much wealth; generally, princesses didn’t need money. It was already quite strange that Angel carried millions in gold coins with her.

“Angel, these items you’ve given me are probably relics left to you by your father. How could I possibly accept them?” Du Fan said with a smile.

“And, Angel, if I, Du Fan, still need your money to cover expenses, then I’m not worth following. Angel, keep these things. If you really decide to be my woman, keep them as a family heirloom for our future!” Du Fan said with a smile.
After saying that, Du Fan immediately stood up and headed outside, ignoring Angel, who was still standing there, lost in thought.
“Du Fan! Don’t worry, you’ll never be able to escape my grasp in this life,” Angel said. She wasn’t angry at Du Fan’s words; instead, her face showed excitement.
“What a shame!” Du Fan thought as he walked toward the door. “Having to rely on a woman for support! Unforgivable!”
After stepping outside, Du Fan suddenly remembered that he had asked Bati to form a caravan in the Siluo Province. He wondered how things were going with Bati now.
With that in mind, Du Fan headed straight to the commercial district in Doha City.
“You want to see the president? He’s not available today,” said a guard at the door loudly when he heard Du Fan asking to see the president.