Pérot took a sip of black tea, leaned back in the soft lord's chair, and took a deep breath.
It had been more than two months since he took over Longsong Stronghold, and he found that he liked this hall more and more. The stair-like structure allowed him to look down at the officials and attendants standing below from the main seat. This feeling of having power in his hands made him very satisfied.
In the first month, some small nobles jumped out to openly question him, or secretly planned riots and so on. Of course, the people behind the scenes who provoked them were from the Elk and Wolf families. Pérot followed his father's advice and sent all the nobles without titles or underground rats to the gallows, and the small nobles with titles were imprisoned until their families paid the ransom and expelled from the Western Region.
Thunder implemented this set of measures, and the situation quickly calmed down. After all, except for the Honeysuckle Family, the other families' Knight were all arrested in Border Town, so it was impossible to openly oppose Pérot's policy. Afterwards, he divided a part of the profits of Longsong Stronghold to compensate the big families for the losses during the arrest, so that all the nobles temporarily formed a relatively stable interest group.
Now, 30% of the income of Longsong Stronghold was turned over to Border Town, and 30% of the remaining 70% was used to maintain the city's operation, 20% was used to appease the other great nobles, and the Hull Territory received the remaining 20%.
Now, the portrait hanging behind the Lord's Throne was replaced by the Duke Ryan, the 4th Prince, Roland Wimbledon, who was looking forward to the day when he could hang his own portrait of Pérot Hull.
If he could completely control Longsong Stronghold, his Earl's Territory and Longsong Stronghold would be connected, becoming a veritable Duke's Territory. He could also save 50% of the taxes paid to appease the nobles and invest it in Longsong Stronghold's business and trade in exchange for more generous returns.
Of course, the premise was that Roland could smoothly ascend the throne and become the King of Graycastle.
"My Lord," a guard walked into the Lord's Hall and handed him a letter. "It's news from Border Town."
Hearing the words "Border Town", Pérot immediately sat up straight.
He took the envelope and flattened the thin papyrus. From the poor quality of the paper, he could see that the letter came from his informant among the serfs.
The result of the battle more than two months ago was incredible. Although Pérot did not go there himself, he heard a bizarre story from his father. In order to ascertain the cause of the Duke's defeat, he placed many of his confidants in the hands of the people he sent to the town. They disguised themselves as craftsmen, herdsmen, or serfs, and sent back to the stronghold the news and intelligence they saw.
He believed that the other families would do the same.
But so far, apart from the two people disguised as serfs who still sent new information every month, there was no news from the craftsmen and herdsmen, as if they had disappeared.
Did they betray him, or were they killed by the prince after he found out?
He shook his head and focused on the secret letter.
The contents of the letter were written with charcoal, and the handwriting was crooked, with traces of water in some places. It seemed that it had been written surreptitiously while working.
The first paragraph said that an unknown iron tower was being built on the bank of the Redwater River. The top of the tower was piled up with a huge iron pot, three of which had already been erected, each of which was close to the height of the stronghold wall. The blacksmiths seemed to have completed the production of the iron tower in the town, and when they arrived at the river, they had already completed the tower. Then the soldiers of the First Army would erect a barrier around the iron tower, and the next day, it would magically be erected.
Construction... it's this word again, Pérot thought, the last secret letter was also like this. Looking at the information, it seems that the prince is constantly building the town. Last time it was roads and bridges, and this time it is building the iron tower. Does His Highness want to spend all the Golden Dragon that he plundered from the stronghold castle? Moreover, the purpose of the iron tower is still unknown... It must be known that the spy hidden among the serfs is not a real serf, but an experienced and knowledgeable guard. If it was a sentry tower or an arrow tower, he would certainly be able to see it at a glance.
Probably because the iron tower has not been completed yet, it is not easy to judge. Pérot shook his head, maybe he will have more detailed information next month.
He moved his eyes to the next paragraph.
In the letter, it was written that a large merchant fleet stayed at the town's pier for a week and then left to the east, their destination unknown. During the stay, a lot of ore ingots and saltpeter were unloaded from the ship.
The purchase of saltpeter was easy to understand. The second month of summer would become very hot, and the castle would need to consume a lot of saltpeter to cool down. It could also be used to refrigerate wine and fruit juice. As a member of the royal family, he certainly did not want to sweat all day long like a farmer in the field.
But the purchase of ore ingots made Pérot feel a little surprised. Border Town is an ore producing area. He remembered that before the Months of Demons, when he went to the town as a messenger, Prince Roland had exaggerated and said that he would double the total amount of ore sold. But now, not only did he not export ore, but he also wanted to import ore ingots?
Thinking of the iron tower that was as high as the stronghold wall, he found that he was becoming more and more confused about what His Highness wanted to do.
But when Pérot read the last paragraph of the secret letter, he suddenly froze.
In the last two weeks, Border Town has held several open-air theatrical performances in the square?
They don't charge tickets, the names of the plays are unheard of, and they even encourage the serfs to watch. What surprised him the most was that among the performers, the Star of the Western Territory, Miss Mey, had disappeared recently!
What's going on?
The disappearance of Mey was a big news in the stronghold recently. Several of the plays that she was supposed to star in were changed, and the nobles left halfway to express their protest. The theater had to issue a notice, claiming that Mey had left the theater without telling anyone, and her current whereabouts were unknown. As soon as the news came out, the theater-loving nobles of the Western Territory suddenly went into an uproar.
In the end, she ran to Border Town? There is no theater there! And to perform for civilians and serfs... Pérot could not imagine such a scene for a while. In his impression, Miss Mey was not an approachable actress.
After thinking about it again and again, he decided to write a letter to His Highness Roland and formally ask him about it. As a theater enthusiast, he hadn't seen the wonderful performances of the Star of the Western Territory for a long time, and even the opportunity to invite Shirley had decreased a lot. Since the play was performed in the town square, it was not surprising that it was seen by a peddler. It just so happened that this peddler came from Longsong Stronghold, so the news had reached his ears. Thinking about it this way, it should not expose the hidden guards among the serfs.
Just as Pérot was about to let the attendants draft a letter, a Knight quickly walked into the hall and said in a hurry, "My Lord, the guards at the east gate watchtower have found a Knight team approaching the stronghold!"
"Knight? Can you tell where they came from? "He suddenly stood up.
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