Under the cover of night, warm and bright candles were already lit inside the manor villa.
"Master! Welcome back! "
Once Wu Ming returned to the villa, Amelia stepped forward and gently helped him take off his outer robe. She stole Beatrice's job, causing her to pout in dissatisfaction.
"Oh! What's for dinner today? "
Wu Ming did not feel anything. Instead, he was happy that this woman could quickly get into her role.
"The main dish is roasted lamb, and the side dishes are onion soup and roasted white bread. There's also a bottle of wine. The olive oil produced by our manor is also very good …"
"Mm!"
Wu Ming sat in the master's seat and watched Amelia instruct the maids to place the cutlery and serve the meal. She was also wearing a maid's outfit, and her every movement had the gentle taste of a mature woman.
"Godfather!"
The two lolitas, Celise and Cecil, bowed to Wu Ming. They were the only ones qualified to eat with him.
"Amelia!"
After Wu Ming ate, he tapped the silver spoon on the table. "I'm going to appoint Jorv as the captain of my militia. He's going to train more than 30 good lads for me!"
"My master!"
Amelia was a little hesitant. "This might affect their farming!"
"So, I'll compensate them, and I'll choose to mobilize them after the spring plowing!" Wu Ming replied with a smile.
"Mobilize? There's going to be another war? "
Amelia was very afraid of this. She had just lost her husband in the previous war, and she did not want to lose her stable life because of another war.
"No, it's just to suppress bandits! The bandits and barbarians of the Tucker Mountain Range are constantly harassing my territory and robbing my people. As a lord, this is an intolerable shame! "
Wu Ming announced. "I'll retaliate ruthlessly, kill their warriors, take back their women, and make them our serfs! They'll work for us to make up for their sins! "
Alright, there was always a way to frame someone. Wu Ming still wanted to replenish his territory's manpower.
"However, when I ordered Jorv to check our storeroom, I received disappointing news. In the entire armory, he only found five rusty swords, three longbows, a dozen spears, and one spear. There wasn't even a piece of leather armor …" Jorv sighed and said, "But I ordered Jorv to check our storeroom.
Wu Ming spread his hands.
"I'm very sorry!"
"My husband took a lot of equipment with him when he left … If you need new weapons, we might be able to get enough Thales to buy them after this year's harvest." Amelia's hands clutched the hem of her skirt nervously.
"I have no intention to blame you. I'm just stating a fact. If we rely on selling grapes and olives to of our weapons of war, we'll have to wait until the year after next!"
Wu Ming shook his head and said, "I brought 500 Gold Delong. You and Qiao Fu take them to the nearest city and buy these pieces of equipment!"
He passed a piece of parchment to Amelia.
These were all gifts from Alfreid. Wu Ming wasn't a miser, and he wouldn't miss out on anything that could be used to arm himself.
Amelia took the parchment and saw the words written on it. 'Five pieces of leather armor, with iron being the most suitable. Twenty crossguard swords, fifty javelins, ten longbows, a thousand arrows, some kerosene, some ropes …'
"Alright. Is there anything else?"
"Be quick. Also, get Jorv to find out how to buy bows and crossbows. Don't be stingy with the gold coins. Ask me for more if it's not enough!"
Wu Ming waved his hand, looking rather rich and overbearing.
"Got it!"
Amelia replied, even though the equipment was enough to arm a hundred regular soldiers.
A few days later, Wu Ming stood on the field and watched as the farmers came for training at dusk.
They were rather shrewd. Although Wu Ming was voluntary, as long as they trained for a certain period of time, they would receive a loaf of bread and even dinner!
The value of this naturally made them reluctant to part with it. They came every day, and it gradually became a habit.
The seeds of the future army were here.
On the field, there was a large pot of fish, vegetables, and flatbread. Wu Ming deliberately added a lot of oil and salt. His generous attitude made Amelia's heart ache.
Any high-intensity training without sufficient food and meat was a hooligan! Wu Ming naturally wouldn't do that.
Of course, he didn't have much expectations for the farmers under him. As long as they could understand simple orders, familiarize themselves with the weapons in their hands, and know a certain formation, it was fine. He couldn't ask for more.
This was a rotten world. It didn't matter if his own army was rotten, as long as they were stronger than other barbarians and lords.
"My Lord!"
Jorv ordered the militia to line up and came before Wu Ming. He placed his right fist on his chest and saluted, "The militia has been assembled. There are 37 soldiers!"
"Very good!"
Although the training could only be described as tragic, Wu Ming couldn't ask for more compared to their previous performance.
"Dismissed!"
With his order, the troops dispersed and went to the pot. Everyone received a bowl of steaming chowder and a loaf of oat bread. They squatted on the ground and started eating.
Wu Ming issued an order. The oat bread could be taken home, but the chowder had to be finished here!
This was to prevent the militia from bringing their dinner home for their families to enjoy. After all, there was precious salt, meat, and oil in the chowder! This would not be able to achieve his goal of increasing the physical strength of the militia, so he strictly forbade this. At the same time, he opened the door and allowed the older youths from each family to train together and eat a good meal.
To be honest, Wu Ming's expectations for these teenagers were a little higher.
"Jorv!"
He looked at the old warrior beside him, "What do you think of those youths?"
"Very young … Very immature!"
Jorv thought for a moment and used two adjectives to describe them.
He looked at the energetic youths with doubt, not understanding why Wu Ming said that.
"Try teaching them the moves I taught you!"
What Wu Ming said was the same as what he had taught Ava. However, Qiao Fu had organized it more systematically, so he had only taught a part of it.
If he taught them all in one go, it would be too worthless. After all, it was a good training method for knights.
"That's too good for those brats!"
Jorv looked at the youths with jealousy. He knew the value of what Wu Ming had taught him.
When he had first ventured out into the world, he had suffered a lot just to learn a bit of a warrior's technique.
But now, they had gotten it so easily.
"Let them try it out first. If they really manage to cultivate something, then bring them to see me!"
This was just a simple training method. However, if they could persevere and have a good understanding, they would gradually become different from ordinary people and become outstanding.
From Wu Ming's point of view, this was a simple selection and screening method.
Of course, with the population and area of his territory, it was useless no matter how hard they trained. The most important thing was to go out and plunder resources, be it people, mines, gold coins, or markets … Only by doing so could they develop at the fastest speed.
Thus, two months later, the militia team had just taken shape, and Wu Ming could not wait to lead them into battle.
"I know that many of you are going to the battlefield for the first time!"
He stood on the platform and looked down at the many faces with different expressions, but they could not hide their uneasiness. He said loudly, "But the leather armor you are wearing, the swords, spears, and bows in your hands are all piled up with gold coins, while your opponents are just a bunch of barbarians and bandits covered in fur!
"Excellent equipment and experienced training are not something they can compare to, so what are you worried about?"
An excellent commander could motivate morale with words, and Wu Ming was obviously better.
"I guarantee in the name of the lord that once you make a contribution, not only will you become a freeman, but I will even issue a certificate to make that piece of land truly yours! Even if you die in battle or are injured, the manor will compensate you or your family! "
This generous reward and guarantee immediately caused a commotion in the crowd. Soon, the uneasiness in their eyes disappeared, and what emerged was desire! The desire to change their fate!
To become a freeman and have a piece of land that truly belonged to them!
For these serfs, this was simply the hope of a lifetime! Moreover, even if they died or became disabled, they would not have to worry about the consequences, so what was there for them to be afraid of?
They had nothing to lose anyway, so why not use it to fight? Perhaps their descendants would have the opportunity to become superior?
"Ao ao!"
Starting from the first militia, it was unknown who it was, but they all brandished their weapons and began to roar. That kind of expression made Amelia, who was watching from the side, very dazed.
She knew that what appeared in front of her was no longer the original group of cowering farmers, but a group of real trained soldiers!
"I will bring thirty people this time!"
Wu Ming said to Amelia at this time, "I will leave the other matters of the territory to you!"
An ordinary lord naturally would not be as leisurely as him. In fact, there were a lot of things to do in the territory, and most of them were trivial matters.
As a lord, he usually mainly dealt with disputes between two serfs in the manor's court.
Wu Ming was too lazy to do these trivial things, but Amelia was very handy and could handle them in an orderly manner, which made him very satisfied.
After handing over the matters of the territory, Wu Ming mounted his warhorse and shouted, "Go to battle!"
"Roar roar!"
The soldiers roared with fervent expressions on their faces as they followed the warhorse out of the manor and embarked on the journey.
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