92
The most talked about topic at the meeting was the exam for the trainee knight.
“Are you saying that the exam scheduled for the end of July will be moved to the end of June?”
“That’s right. We are also thinking of significantly increasing our staff. If you have any opinions on this, please feel free to speak up.”
“How much do you plan to increase the number of personnel?”
“We need to increase the number to at least one thousand.”
The faces of the knights began to show concern at Abel’s firm answer. They knew that the number of knights had decreased so much that they had to increase their numbers significantly.
“… … If it’s a thousand, isn’t it five times more? If that happens, the maintenance costs and quality decline will be big problems. The immediate cost of repairing the damage and the cost of recruiting soldiers are also big problems… … .”
It was precisely because of these two problems that it was inevitable that they would be held back.
“… … That’s right. Honestly, those two are the biggest problems. Even if there is a famine, it will take time for the price of wheat to rise. Maybe… … I will have to sell the items in my household.”
“Umm… … .”
The servants remained silent as Abel spoke with a bitter smile.
In the end, the biggest problem right now is money and quality decline.
Let me help you out a little.
I glanced around at Abel and his men and then opened my mouth.
“I have an idea.”
“If it’s a thought… … .”
“In order to take the original training knight exam, didn’t you have to be at least a semi-noble?”
Although the lesser families recruited commoners, it was different for the noble families such as the Marquis.
Because you had to be at least a semi-noble to be eligible to take the exam.
Leonhard was also able to take the exam because he was born to a knight who was a semi-noble.
Originally, once you rose to semi-noble status, that status was inherited for up to three generations.
So, it would be safe to assume that those taking the apprenticeship exam were children of nobles or semi-nobles.
Abel nodded at my words.
“Right. So?”
“We’re changing that restriction. We’re going to keep the existing test of selecting 200 people, but we’re going to add one more test. For example, we could have the commoners gather separately to select people.”
“Are you talking about selecting those among them who have trained in swordsmanship?”
“No, it’s a little different. The idea is to make it possible for everyone to take the test, whether they’re a farmer, a woodcutter, or a herbalist.”
Did you not understand what I said?
A question mark appeared on the faces of the servants and Abel.
“What is that… … .”
I felt like I needed to explain in a little more detail.
“Among the population of the Empire, the nobles and semi-nobles combined would not amount to even 3%. Am I right?”
“… … You are right.”
“3% is a very small minority in the grand scheme of things. In other words, we have been weeding out 97% of the people from the very beginning. Have you ever thought about how many of them are diamonds?”
“… … .”
He continued speaking to the silent Abel and his men.
“Everyone is just trying to select those who are prepared, and they are not thinking about digging for gems. It is the same now. Even among the commoners, they only thought of those who trained with the sword, and they did not even think about people like farmers.”
“… … .”
“Public opinion. He is a talent I discovered. And he is also a commoner. However, he has much greater potential than most of the knights in the family.”
Abel nodded slowly at those words.
“Yes. I heard from my father. He said he was a great talent.”
“Yes. It doesn’t necessarily have to be someone who has trained in the sword. There may be hidden gems like Seron among the farmers. Let’s try to discover these talented people.”
In short, the idea was to hold a nationwide audition.
Did you sense something in what I said?
Abel’s expression began to change strangely.
However, there were some who raised objections.
It was a craft.
“I understand, but I don’t know if that’s a good way to do it.”
“Why do you think so?”
“It’s simple. Everyone wants to become a knight, but the process is fraught with pain and suffering. Do you think those who have never held a sword before can endure that process?”
What Kraft said was true.
That he had never held a sword.
That could be due to environmental issues, but it could also be due to a lack of will on my part.
So, you may wonder whether you can endure the harsh training process.
There was a way.
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“You say there’s no need to worry?”
“If you say that you will allow everyone, even dogs and cows, to take the test, then a lot of people will come. Of course, most of them will be idiots. But that doesn’t matter.”
He continued his explanation to the old knight who had a question mark in his eyes.
“A lot of people will come. Of course, there will be some talented and zealous people among them. You just have to sort out the wheat from the chaff.”
One of my followers opened his mouth to speak.
“I understand your opinion, but if you do that, another problem will inevitably arise. It will be a lot of work to sort out the countless people who come in, and even if you do choose them, there is no way to know if they will be able to adapt well to the training… .”
“There’s no need to think too hard about it. If you’re just going to give the ignorant a chance, shouldn’t we go?”
It was a gap.
It’s also a super armor among armors.
So there was no reason to choose with difficulty.
Just by choosing the training article in the way I am talking about now, it was a situation that the common people could only say was a great blessing.
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
What kind of family would select a person who has never held a sword before as a trainee knight??
Even the small families that recruited commoners as apprentice knights did not naturally hold exams targeting farmers.
It may seem like crazy, but
This was a proven method.
Even in modern times, when society is much more developed than it is now, we still had a lot of fun with audition programs like this.
“If we set up some dummy dummies in the training ground and ask them to swing their swords, wouldn’t they get a rough idea? We can quickly test fifty people at a time, and if they are judged to have some talent, we can just pick them.”
“… … Yes? If you pick them out like that, there will be various problems starting with maintenance costs… … .”
“Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. Those who are selected like that are not trainees.”
“No?”
“Why don’t we just give them temporary positions like trainee knights and then train the people we’ve screened out separately? That’s when we can really look into it. Since we’ve already screened them out, the number of people will have decreased significantly.”
If the people who were selected half-arbitrarily were formal trainees, then it would be a problem, but if not, then it wouldn’t matter at all. After giving them a plausible title of trainee knight candidate, they could just train them while providing them with regular meals, right?
Why, isn’t there a saying like that even in modern times?
Passion pay or something.
Like an intern.
You can just roughly say something like that.
“Then, among them, there will probably be some who are talented and tenacious. We can gradually promote those people to the rank of training knights.”
“… … .”
At those words, several of the vassals’ eyes began to light up. It seemed as if they had a rough idea of what I was trying to say.
“There’s no need to spend a lot of money on the candidates. All you have to do is feed them well. A decline in quality? Since they’ve been filtered out from the numerous people, they might actually have better potential than the officially selected trainees.”
Surely there isn’t even a single moonfish?
“If you select people like this, there will be a lot of noise right away. However, after a few years, many things will definitely change. If there are not enough people to write articles, you can use them as officers of soldiers like the tens or hundreds.”
Is recycling a big deal?
This is true recycling.
Abel, who had been listening to me, nodded slowly.
“That’s a pretty good method.”
Using this method will not only save you a lot of maintenance costs, but it will also allow you to pick off only the most talented people from the crowd that flocks there.
There was plenty of time to buy before the famine came.
Because you only need to pay for the meal.
Later, when things got better, I just uploaded them one by one as training articles and that was it.
“We can start by running it as a pilot project within our territory. For the territory’s citizens. If it works well, we can expand the scope to the entire empire.”
“It’s aimed at the people of Yeongji… … .”
“Yes. Right now, no one knows the method, but as time goes by, our method will become the gateway for commoners. Even the most ignorant of people will come knocking on the door of the Marquis at least once.”
Even if you have never learned swordsmanship, they will select you as a trainee knight, so of course you should come.
“What if there was a rumor going around that even if you don’t become a trainee knight, you could still be chosen as a Ten-Man or a Hundred-Man?”
“Umm… … .”
“Certainly… … It seems like a good way… … .”
I looked around at the people and smiled.
“It won’t be okay. At first, everyone will laugh at us, but if this method becomes widespread… … eventually, all families will follow our method.”
It was a way to recruit talented people efficiently without spending much money.
So there was no reason not to do it.
‘Well, even if I follow along.’
Although the Marquis, who was the first to introduce this method and was known as a master swordsman, is still the most important consideration for commoners.
“Kyle.”
“Yes, big brother.”
“You said that the people who are lacking will be selected as officers of soldiers like Baek In-jang. Can you elaborate on that a bit more?”
“It’s simple. Wasn’t it originally the method of promoting experienced and seasoned soldiers to the rank of tens and hundreds?”
Abel nodded at my words.
“yes.”
“I’m going to choose that from among the trainee knight candidates. A position between a knight and a soldier. It would be even better if they gave them some benefits. For example, teaching them swordsmanship and mind techniques.”
“… … Then isn’t it no different from a knight?”
“No. You just have to set a limit.”
“… …Limit?”
“yes.”
“What is the difference? The lowest level of swordsmanship and mind law is inferior.”
I had already thought about it.
“For now, I just need you to teach me the lower level swordsmanship and mind techniques. That should be enough.”
“… … Okay, I understand. By the way, there’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“Go ahead.”
“I don’t know what benefit there would be in selecting the 10th and 100th captains from among the candidates.”
“First, we can greatly improve the level of our soldiers. The Ten Commanders and the Hundred Commanders. Aside from being more experienced and skilled, aren’t they essentially no different from ordinary soldiers?”
Abel nodded at those words.
I don’t know if it would be different for a thousand people, but I didn’t teach swordsmanship and mind techniques to just that many people.
“If we teach the new 10-man and 100-man generals swordsmanship and mind techniques, we will be able to greatly improve the level of the unit.”
“If that happens, the existing soldiers might rebel.”
“In order to change, we have to tolerate that level of noise. Now that the number of soldiers has been greatly reduced, this could be seen as an opportunity. Furthermore, if we elect some of the existing soldiers and give them the opportunity to receive education, we might be able to alleviate some of the discontent.”
“Hmm… … Okay, I see. Since you said the first one, I guess there will be a second one.”
I nodded at those words.
“Yes. That is because we can spread the word about the exam we are going to hold. The Ten Commanders are not much different from soldiers, but the Hundred Commanders are different. Being a trainee knight seems like an impossible goal, but wouldn’t the Hundred Commanders feel different?”
Even though he was a soldier from the rank of Baek In-jang, it was a position that gave commoners a certain amount of strength in their shoulders.
In the era I lived in, it was roughly equivalent to a manager position among employees at a large corporation.
So I’ll just run at you with my eyes rolled back.
I don’t know about the training article, but if it’s at the level of Baek In-jang, it’ll give you hope that you can do it too.
They say a dragon can come out of a stream, how could you not be amazed?
Abel nodded at my words and looked around at the attendants.
“I think Kyle’s opinion is pretty good, what do you all think?”
“… … .”
There was no opposition.
“Then, we will run this test as a pilot program targeting the residents of Yeongji.”
“yes!”
After the meeting ended like that.
As the attendees left the conference room one by one.
“Big brother.”
I called Abel.
Differential education?
I said earlier that I only had low-level swordsmanship, but in fact, I had an item that was perfect for differential education.
A modified storm sword.
What if we also modified the remaining seven sword techniques into Form 1?
You can teach the knights the modified swordsmanship, and you can just teach the officers and soldiers the traditional swordsmanship.
Now it was time to talk to Abel about the modified swordsmanship.
