Preparing for Winter from Summer (1)
Ever since Melania’s dumplings became a massive hit, the villages near the Lord’s Castle had been in an uproar. The long-held stereotype that business required a proper storefront—or at the very least, a street vendor’s cart—had been completely shattered.
According to rumors, Melania’s delivery business didn't even have a separate kitchen. Her husband would head to the gates of the Lord’s Castle early in the morning to take orders from the commuting officials, return home, and then work tirelessly to prepare the food in time for lunch.
People who were known in their neighborhoods for having one or two signature dishes—the kind of folks people would point to and say, "Oh, that guy's [Dish Name] is the best!"—suddenly jumped into the delivery business. While Melania suffered losses for the first few days due to the influx of competitors, she quickly found a way to overcome it.
Her husband, who had already made a name for himself by being the first to deliver to the low-level officials at the Lord’s Castle, had even built a specialized cart for deliveries. Since he was already considered a master craftsman of wooden furniture in the village, the cart he built significantly reduced the damage to the food during transit. Soon, he was signing delivery contracts with the latecomers to the food business.
However, the number of low-level officials at the Lord’s Castle was limited, and they didn't order food every single day, so the newcomers soon found themselves in a bind.
The quick-witted ones began hiring the local children. Since visitors from other villages, non-Northern merchants, and the countless laborers following them usually bought raw ingredients to cook their own meals, the vendors realized: "Instead of ingredients, why not sell prepared food?"
The result was the current scene. While those who wanted hot, fresh food or didn't want to wait for delivery ate at the snack zone in the market, many others started ordering food from the children carrying promotional signs, half out of expectation and half out of amusement.
"You can choose from these. Hehe. I gathered them by going all around the market."
"The variety has grown quite a bit, hasn't it?"
A tent was always set up in one corner whenever the market opened. The tent, which bore the grandiose name of "General Situation Room," looked a bit worn from being reused so many times. It was shabbier than the rest areas of some external merchant guilds, but no one could ignore the people inside.
Aiden, having finished his urgent tasks, chuckled to himself as he looked at the list of delivery food Jamie had collected.
'It’s spreading in an instant.'
Capitalism was truly terrifying. Even without an academic foundation or historical precedent, once the stage was set, it spread like wild grass. 'It probably helped that the administration was encouraging it.'
Since the vast majority of people with steady paychecks were still concentrated in the Lord’s Castle, the primary customers for food delivery were inevitably the low-level officials and the soldiers in the barracks. Even that alone would have been enough for the general residents to realize that the government wasn't going to interfere with their business. With Jamie leading the way and high-ranking officials scrambling to order delivery and enjoy a level of gastronomy they’d never known before, the vendors could focus entirely on their trade without any other worries.
"Since the options have increased, I find myself agonizing over what to order every time," Jamie said.
"My, what a fortunate problem to have," Aiden replied.
"Hehe."
Jamie’s head squeezed over Aiden’s makeshift desk. "There are a lot of things I’m seeing for the first time today, too."
"Is that so?"
"It seems everyone prepared special menus for market day. There are even fried foods, which are hard to come by usually. Shall I order some?"
"Fried food?"
Aiden wasn't usually one to crave food, but the mention of fried items piqued his interest. In a poor neighborhood, fried dishes that required large amounts of oil were rare. Even within the Lord’s Castle, he could count on one hand the number of times he’d eaten fried food.
"What’s the price like?"
"It’s about three or four times what we usually pay. But if not now, when would we ever get to eat it?"
"That’s true."
It seemed Jamie’s heart was already set on it. The quail, deep-fried whole after removing only the head, looked perfect for chewing right down to the bone.
"The person selling fried quail seems to have quite the business acumen," Aiden remarked with admiration. It was something that would have been difficult to attempt due to the high cost of ingredients, but today was market day. 'A day when many people have a decent amount of cash in their hands after selling their goods.' And most people’s spending habits grew along with their wallets. It wasn't for nothing that fathers in the 80s would buy a whole rotisserie chicken on the way home on payday.
"Wait, isn't this Melania’s doing?"
"Melania? The dumpling lady?"
"Yes."
As expected. 'If I support her well, she might just become a major merchant in the North.'
Aiden’s current interest was in "indigenous Northern merchant guilds." Since Northerners were beginning to open their eyes to business, if the administration cooperated and expanded support programs, wouldn't the nascent Northern commercial sector stabilize more smoothly? Some might argue that it wasn't good for the government to intervene too much in the market, but the role of the government should change according to the times and circumstances.
Basically, the lords of this world usually controlled commerce by keeping their own crony merchant guilds, causing all sorts of chaos that was on a different level from 21st-century protectionism or retaliatory tariffs. Therefore, Aiden stepping in to provide some support measures might not seem like such a big deal by local standards. 'Of course, we won't be funneling all our support to the Lord’s crony guilds.'
A moment later, the fried quail arrived, three skewered on each stick. There were ten skewers in total. Thirty birds in all.
"..."
"Thank you, Administrative Officer!" The delivery person left, beaming with the money in hand.
"Let’s eat!"
The money had come out of Aiden’s wallet. *Seriously? A subordinate who orders this much just because their boss said he’d buy?* No matter how small the quail were, wasn't this a bit much?
"Can you even eat all of this? Greed when it comes to food is—"
"Yes?"
Jamie’s deboning show began. In an instant, one bird was demolished. Kalisa also slid over and was already tearing into one. Indeed, no one could resist the allure of fried food.
What could he do?
"...Eat up," he sighed, pushing the plates toward them.
"Hehe, thank you! Loyalty!"
"We'll eat well!"
"..."
Watching his adjutants ravenously tearing into quail legs the size of pinky fingers, he felt both proud and sorry for them. Even though they were essentially the highest-ranking officials in the North, it was a bit sad to see such a reaction to fried quail, not even fried chicken.
After watching them eat for a while, Aiden took a piece of the still-warm fried quail into his mouth.
Crunch.
The fried quail tasted quite like home.
"I need to invest in livestock farming," Aiden said.
"Pardon?"
Back at the Lord’s Castle after the regular market ended, Aiden brought up a new agenda during the daily morning leadership meeting.
"Meat consumption is clearly increasing."
"Ah. That is true."
"The slaughterhouse has certainly become more active."
Both adjutants nodded. Money had started to circulate in the North. When money circulates, it’s only natural that the number of side dishes on the table increases. Along with the delivery trend, the slaughterhouse near the Lord’s Castle, which had been practically closed, was now crying tears of joy from the pile of work.
"But wouldn't it be better to leave this to the private sector? The residents must be feeling that the demand for meat is increasing, so there will likely be some reaction soon," suggested Kalisa, the head of the Commercial Development Department.
"The private sector will move, of course, but it will be difficult for them to handle the increased demand right away," Aiden insisted, not backing down. "Raising livestock basically requires a lot of initial capital. Even if small-scale livestock farming becomes more active in the private sector than it is now, the supply will inevitably be insufficient. And what happens then?"
"It will put a brake on the residents' business," Kalisa replied.
"Exactly. The wheels have only just started turning; we can't let them stop now."
The two adjutants quickly rummaged through their piles of documents, picked up papers, and offered their opinions. Kalisa spoke first.
"This is the surplus capital we can invest in livestock. The scale of trade with external merchants has grown quite a bit recently, so we have a decent amount of funds available immediately."
"We can't use all the available funds. We need to secure a reserve fund. Who knows what might happen?"
"The iron mine is consistently producing iron ingots, and the post office is gradually finding its footing, so the reserve fund should be sufficient," Kalisa assured him.
While the income from the iron mine and the post office would have made other territories scoff, it was manageable for the current administrative scale of the North.
"Rather than cows, sheep, or pigs, it would be better to focus on chickens, rabbits, quail, and ducks," Kalisa added.
"But wouldn't sheep or goats be better?" Jamie asked, to which Kalisa countered, but Aiden intervened.
"The Administrative Officer’s goal is to handle the immediate demand rather than seeking profit from the government side, so small livestock that can increase production as quickly as possible would be better."
"Hmm, that’s true. We could even distribute them to residents who want them later," Jamie said.
"Exactly. That would become a new source of income for the residents," Aiden agreed.
At Jamie’s elaboration, they nodded in agreement. "Good. Then, Jamie, you take charge of this project."
"I won't let you down."
"Let’s prepare as quickly as possible. Before winter comes."
"Yes, before winter comes!"
There was still a long way to go before summer ended, but the three of them already had to prepare for winter. Especially in the harsh North, no amount of preparation was ever a waste of effort. The administration had to live ahead of the seasons. At least, the administration of the North had to be that way.