The money needs to go into the village chest beside Marius's ledger. Carrying 30,000 groschen on Henry does nothing for an empty village treasury. Keep some money on Henry for t…

The money needs to go into the village chest beside Marius's ledger. Carrying 30,000 groschen on Henry does nothing for an empty village treasury. Keep some money on Henry for the supply trip, especially the stone payment, and put enough in the chest to fund construction and the days passing around it. Marius also negotiates his wages. The agreed amount becomes an ongoing expense, so read the conversation rather than treating it as background dialogue. Then get familiar with the ledger. Look at the village's overall balance, the income and expenses for each building, and the requirements attached to whatever you want to construct next. Your opening construction chain is the woodcutters' camp for 2,500 groschen, the bridge and road for 4,000, and the trader's building for another 4,000. That is 10,500 before supply contracts, further buildings, or operating costs. Talk to Marius about the building, follow him to its site, and confirm the work. Time passes during construction, which is another reason not to calculate your budget down to the last coin. Do not rush the church or your upgraded Rathaus just because they look important. They matter later, but neither solves the immediate problem of paying everybody. First get the infrastructure working, then give the village businesses that can support those more expensive projects.