The Blade Peak Mountain Range was like a steep wall that separated the Norton Family's territory from the sea.
Loriste stood at the top of the cliff, his expression grim as he watched the waves crash against the sharp black reefs near the shore …
"Are all the reefs in the Blade Peak Mountain Range like this?" Loriste asked.
"Yes, Sir," Old Man Barlek said. "The Blade Peak Mountain Range in our family's territory is like this. The only way to reach the sea is through the three openings I showed you. The other places are impossible to climb down. We used to boil seawater and salt from the three openings. With firewood and a big pot, it took about ten days to finish … "
"Sir, I understand what you mean. You want to find an outlet from here, right?" Old Man Barlek asked.
Loriste nodded.
"Sir, follow me." Old Man Barlek led Loriste to the other side of the cliff after walking for half a day.
"Sir, look …"
In the distance, a part of the precipitous mountain wall collapsed and fell into the sea, forming a slope. What made Loriste curious was that he could vaguely see some wooden stakes on the slope …
"Sir, in the past, the four families of Beiye Town also wanted to use the convenience of sea transportation to get in touch with the outside world. They spent more than a year building a long trestle from the slope and went deep into the sea, bypassing the reefs in the coastal waters. At that time, Sir's grandfather was in charge. He went to Northern Field Town to negotiate with the four families and asked for half of the shipping rights. However, before the negotiation could come to an end, the bridge was destroyed by a storm. The four families were greatly weakened, and all the capital they invested was lost in the storm. All that was left were the broken wooden stakes … "Old Man Barlek recounted a family history that Loriste did not know.
"Are there many storms here?" Loriste asked.
"Not many. It's just that during April and May, tornadoes are more likely to appear on the sea. At other times, there are strong winds and waves, but there are few storms," Old Man Barlek replied.
"Forget it, let's go. We've been in the Blade Edge Mountain Range for almost two months, it's time to go back," Laurist said.
After Fatty Shi ended his vacation and took over the family's administrative affairs, he really couldn't stand Laurist's work attitude of 'when there's work to be done, when there's no work to be done'. Coincidentally, he encountered a difficult problem, so he forced Laurist to organize a group of people to explore the Blade Edge Mountain Range and solve the problem a few days earlier.
The problem that Fatty Shi encountered was salt. In the past, there were less than ten thousand people in the family. When they ran out of salt, just like Father Barlek said, they would bring firewood and a big pot. They would boil seawater at the seaside for a few days to get enough salt. However, now that more than 500,000 people had entered the Norton Family's territory, if each person consumed one pound of salt per year, they would need 500,000 pounds of salt. This did not include the amount of salt needed for the tanning of fur and meat.
Fatty Shi received Spear's report that all the family's salt reserves would be used up by next July. He took the report to Laurist and asked him to go to Blade Edge Mountain as soon as possible to find a way to supply large amounts of salt. He didn't want to have sex with Miss Tracey in the office all day …
For Laurist, this two-month trip to Blade Edge Mountain Range was very fruitful. The first thing he confirmed was that the deep valley that Father Barlek had discovered was indeed filled with rubber rattan. Although the quantity was not as much as the Romon Empire's annual production of more than a million barrels of rubber rattan juice, it could provide nearly 100,000 barrels of rubber rattan juice every year, which was enough for Laurist to plan the large-scale development of the family's territory.
Next was Master Sid, who was in charge of mineral exploration. He discovered a black iron mountain in the Blade Edge Mountain Range. The entire mountain was made of black iron, and he also discovered tungsten and silver chromium mines nearby. He was so happy that he danced and boasted, "As long as he studies for a while more, he will definitely be able to make armor better than the White Lion Legion's standard equipment …"
Laurist, on the other hand, felt that it was very strange. This was too much of a coincidence. These three mineral veins seemed to have been arranged by someone. However, the world was big, and anything was possible. Since he couldn't figure out the reason, he could only put it aside for now.
As for the salt problem that Fatty Shi was worried about, Laurist also had a solution. That was to dry the salt instead of the troublesome process of boiling it. Originally, Fatty Shi wanted to transfer 3,000 people to boil the salt and spend two months to make a reserve of two million kilograms of salt. He could then boil it again in the future …
Laurist had never seen a pig run, but he had eaten pork before. It wasn't like he hadn't visited a salt pan in his previous life, so he remembered some of the principles and steps of drying salt. He chose a wide valley and designed a plan for a salt pan, which was handed over to Father Barlek. The main thing was that the infrastructure was more expensive, but they didn't need much manpower. About a hundred people would be enough. However, the monthly production of salt was estimated to reach more than 100,000 kilograms, which was enough to solve the family's salt shortage.
"Yes, the salt pan below has to be filled with soil and stones first, then poured with green cement and flattened. When the tide rises, open the water inlet of the fence and let the tide flood the salt pan. After drying it for two or three days, the concentrated brine can be poured into a deep pool and washed with the water from the river, allowing the impurities to settle down. Then, the clean brine from the top layer is poured into the salt pan above, and after drying, it becomes edible white salt …" Laurist explained to Father Barlek for the last time.
It was no wonder that Father Barlek kept asking questions. For thousands of years, Galinthea had never heard of drying salt. Most importantly, it didn't require a large amount of firewood to boil the salt. In the past, how to bring firewood to the seaside to boil the salt had always been a big problem.
The side of the Blade Peak Mountains facing the sea was steep cliffs, but the inside was a gentle slope covered with grass. There were basically no trees, and the people who came here to boil the salt had already cut them down to make firewood. After descending the gentle slope, one would be faced with many jagged peaks. People had to walk along the bottom of these peaks, make a few turns, and then go up and down the slope. Only then could they leave the Blade Peak Mountains.
Miss Tresti and her maid, Little Winnie, were picking wild flowers on the gentle slope to make a corolla. The two of them were jumping around like two children.
Ever since her body was forcefully developed by Lollister, Miss Tracy had lost her usual modesty and integrity. She became interested in the matters between men and women. Especially after she found out that having sex greatly alleviated her menstrual pain, she began to take the initiative to seduce Lollister. She was very interested in having sex in the office.
The only thing that annoyed Lollister was that no matter how much Miss Tracy flirted with him in the office and was willing to try new tricks, no matter how Lollister persuaded her, Miss Tracy would not agree to marry him. She could be his lover, but not his wife …
Miss Tresti originally didn't want to come to the Blade Peak Mountains, but Laurist said, "Reading a hundred books is not as good as traveling a thousand miles. Your mother used to go deep into the primeval forest to explore the ruins, unlike you who stayed at home all day reading." Thus, Miss Tresti came to the Blade Peak Mountains.
Seeing that Lollister's expression didn't look good, Miss Tracy understood that Lollister was disappointed once again. The Black Bog was the end of the Blade Edge Mountain Range, but Lollister still hadn't found a suitable estuary in the hundreds of miles of Blade Edge Mountain Range.
Laurist kissed Miss Tresti's face softly, and said gently, "Dear, we should go back. I really didn't expect you to persevere on this trip to the Blade Peak Mountains. It's been almost two months. You must have gained a lot. "
Unlike Laurist, who was looking for an estuary, Miss Tresti was interested in the flora and fauna in the mountains, the growth of herbs, and the geographical formation of the Blade Peak Mountains.
"I'm not a pampered girl. I can do what my mother can do." Miss Tracy snorted proudly.
She held Laurist's arm as they walked down the slope together. She said, "Loke, to be honest, the two months of investigation and research in the Blade Peak Mountains have made me believe in one thing. The Blade Peak Mountains couldn't have been formed naturally. It's as if a god had used his divine power to build a dam to block storms and tsunamis in the west of the north. This is a great miracle … "
Laurist only smiled and didn't reply. He had read too many love stories, and his head was always full of strange ideas. He just listened.
… …
By the time he returned to Monolith Castle, it was already the 28th of October. Laurist had wanted to stay at Maple Forest Manor for a few days to see his precious son, but he did not expect to receive messengers one after another at the camp, urging him to return to Monolith Castle as soon as possible.
Laurist's last trip to the Blade Peak Mountains took more than ten days. During this time, a few messengers had arrived at the camp outside the mountains. They brought all sorts of news, but all in all, there were many messengers from the nobles in Monolith Castle. Two of them were the messengers sent by the second prince, and the other was Viscount Gaimus, who had been in Monolith Castle for half a month.
Laurist received Viscount Gaimus immediately. After all, he was the most respected guest in Monolith Castle. Viscount Gaimus, on the other hand, suggested that Laurist meet the messengers sent by the second prince first. His matter wasn't urgent, so it could be left until the end.
The messenger sent by the second prince was a middle-aged noble with an elegant demeanor. He called himself Viscount Sinderson, and he had been ordered by the second prince to deliver a letter to Laurist. He also requested for Laurist's handwritten reply. He didn't say anything else.
Laurist opened the second prince's letter curiously. It was very long, and was written on a few pieces of animal skin. The first two pieces of paper were about the deep friendship between the second prince and the Norton Family, as well as the sorrow and remembrance of Laurist's elder brother's death on the battlefield. It was very touching to read. But the last piece of paper revealed the second prince's greedy heart.
The second prince thought that the war between the Norton Family and Duke Lujins of the North was very regrettable and tragic. It was precisely because of the disputes between the nobles that the kingdom couldn't gather all its strength to revive the former Crimson Empire. So far, the second prince had already punished Duke Lujins, who had started the war, but he also announced the following punishments for the Norton Family who had plundered the Grand Duchy:
First, the Norton Family had to hand over the nearly 300,000 gold coins they had plundered from Duke Lujins' personal treasury to the second prince as punishment for the looting of the Grand Duchy. The second prince also gave up on pursuing Laurist's crime of forcing more than 200,000 citizens of the Grand Duchy to move to the Norton Family's territory.
Second, as the new head of the Norton Family, Laurist had to rush to the Grand Duchy's Gildusk City before the end of November to pledge his loyalty to the second prince, who was currently residing in the Grand Duke's Mansion. At that time, the second prince would consider raising the Norton Family's title as a reward.
Thirdly, the Norton Family had to provide the second prince with two full battalions to assist the second prince in pacifying the North. Before the seventh month of next year, the second prince would launch another attack on the Madras Principality. This was to contribute to the revival of the Crimson Empire.
That was a total of three conditions. Laurist laughed. He had to admit that the second prince was more sinister and cunning than the Grand Duke. These three conditions were very lenient, and did not hurt the foundation of the Norton Family. But Laurist believed that once he agreed to the second prince's demands, these three conditions would become three nooses around the Norton Family's neck, slowly dragging the Norton Family into the abyss.
Laurist had no interest in feigning civility with the second prince. Ever since his elder brother had died on the battlefield for the second prince, the second prince had turned a blind eye to the Norton Family. He watched as the new nobles of the territory, the Kenneth Family, and the Norton Family had a territorial dispute, and refused to mediate. Everyone knew about the second prince's nature. It was better to believe that pigs could climb trees than to believe in the second prince …
Now, Laurist was focused on the development and construction of his family's territory. He had no interest in occupying the North or the so-called revival of the Crimson Empire. He picked up a blank piece of animal skin paper and wrote two simple words as a reply. Then, after some thought, he printed the new family crest that represented the title of Earl on the letter. Then, he folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope before handing it to Viscount Sinderson.
Viscount Sinderson immediately took his leave after receiving the letter. He had already waited in Monolith Castle for more than ten days, and could not wait to return.
Next, Laurist received seven or eight envoys from the nobles, represented by Baron Filim of the Pegasus Family. They all had the same goal in coming to Monolith Castle. They wanted to buy good weapons and equipment from Laurist, such as armor and ballistae …
Laurist's reply to these envoys' requests was one word: sell. Even if they had no money, they could use rations to trade. The more the better. Then, he sent them off to discuss the price with Fatty Shi.
Finally, Laurist invited Viscount Kenneth over. He was very curious as to why so many nobles would run over to the Norton Family to buy weapons and equipment …
The first thing Viscount Kempis told Laurist was that the Northern Lands had fallen into chaos.
Then, Viscount Kenneth told Laurist about the current situation in the North. Ever since he had escorted Duke Lujins back to the Archduke's territory, the Duke of the North had fallen ill. And because Knight Henned controlled the families of the original soldiers of the Northern Army, he kept on seducing the soldiers still stationed at Forrester Castle and Hendry Bridge. As a result, more than three thousand soldiers ran over to Knight Henned, leaving less than a thousand soldiers to defend the two fortresses. It was like trying to put out a burning cart of firewood with a cup of water. When the second prince's army approached the border, they scattered in confusion, allowing the second prince's army to easily occupy these two strategic points.
When the second prince retreated from the Madras Principality and returned to the capital, he heard the news from the merchants who had returned from the North. He was very sensitive to the fact that there was an opportunity, so he sent the only army that was still in formation to the North. As expected, they easily occupied the two fortresses that were previously like a natural moat. So, the second prince did not return to the capital. Instead, he went straight to the North, occupied the Archduke's Mansion, and ordered his men to send Duke Lujins to the capital to recuperate.
Then, the second prince began to give orders and began to plunder the nobles of the North. In the end, he angered Knight Henned who was entrenched in the Cherry Blossom Manor Castle. He led the Northern Army and had a very small armed conflict with the second prince's subordinates. The second prince lost more than two thousand men, suffering another great defeat.
This was the reason why the nobles of the North sent people to Monolith Castle to buy weapons and equipment. The Norton Family had chased away Duke Lujins, the local tiger, and now the North had a hungry wolf like the second prince. To the ambitious nobles, this was actually a good opportunity to strengthen their family's power.
Viscount Gammus's purpose in coming to see Laurist was very simple. He wanted to form an alliance with the Norton Family and deliver a piece of news to Laurist. The Norton Family had spent more than five months and countless gold coins to finally build an iron chain bridge in the east of the North. In the future, goods and materials to and from the North would not need to pass through the Hendry Bridge, which was in the hands of the second prince.
This was good news for Laurist. At least in the Blade Edge Mountains, there was an additional channel to connect to the outside world. Laurist said that he had to discuss this with his knights and give Viscount Gammus an answer.
…
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