Perhaps when Knight Lemmond was forcibly conscripted, he didn't properly explain to his wives the details of the intelligence he collected for the family. What Laurist wanted was the current politics, the business situation, and the dynamics of the surrounding kingdom. The most noteworthy thing was the movement and direction of the trade union in terms of armaments. Unfortunately, the large stack of newspapers in Morent City that Tagger brought were all tabloids. They were either sensational theories or serialized erotic or knight novels. Those serious political and financial news were all absent … Well, there was a tabloid called Moonlight Night, which had a total of twelve copies.
Well, there was a tabloid called Moonlight Night Talk, which had a total of twelve copies. It serialized a twelve-chapter erotic novel. The main character was a woman, and her husband was a captain. The content of the novel was that after her husband went out to sea, the female lead began her journey of infidelity. She met twelve handsome and extremely rich Prince Charming. The novel used extremely delicate techniques to describe the complex psychological changes and emotional fluctuations of the female lead as she dealt with the twelve Prince Charming. After spending a frenzied night with these twelve Prince Charming, the female lead made up her mind to elope with one of the Prince Charming. However, the other Prince Charming who loved her deeply killed the lucky one out of jealousy and also committed suicide. After this unforeseen event, the remaining ten Prince Charming also left the female lead for various reasons. The female lead had lost everything. She could only sit in front of the window and stare at the sea, waiting for her husband to return. The novel ended.
Laurist, who was reading the novel called Twelve Nights of Enchantment while eating his breakfast, immediately spurted out his food. Fortunately, he was eating alone, otherwise, it would be too rude. The plot was too melodramatic. At first, he thought it was one of those erotic novels. How the heroine and the twelve male supporting characters got to know each other, seduced each other, flirted, and had sex were described in a very harmonious and moving way. There were a lot of descriptions of the heroine's physical feelings and psychological state, which made people involuntarily want to masturbate. But he didn't expect the plot to take a sharp turn in the last chapter, and the erotic directly turned into a tragedy. The change was as if a bucket of ice water was poured on the head when he was in high spirits, and he had a tendency to become impotent …
This was too much. He didn't know how many people would scold the author who wrote this novel. However, Laurist immediately thought that it might be one of Rummed's wives' private hobbies. It seemed like Rummed was in danger of being cuckolded. However, why would Lemmond be recruited to the frontlines? Although his combat energy had been trained to the Silver rank, his swordsmanship was not very good. He could only be considered as a Level 2 Pharmacist. Perhaps the situation after the war between the Commerce Alliance and the South Southern Kingdom was not too good, so they recruited Lemmond to treat the wounded.
Putting aside the matter of Knight Lemmond being drafted into the army, the war between the Commerce Union and the Southern Kingdom's Allied Forces was a major event. Unfortunately, Laurist was far away in the North and could not get first-hand information. In the past, the intelligence that Knight Rummed collected for his family had to be delivered through the Peterson Merchant's Guild's cargo ship to the Cirvas Island. Not only was it time-consuming, but it was also very troublesome. It would take at least half a month for the information to reach the Northern Lands.
Although the family had a system to train falcons to send messages, they were unable to give it to Rummond. Firstly, the amount of information was small. The messenger eagle could not carry too heavy a letter on a long-distance flight. Secondly, raising a messenger eagle required training, which was very troublesome. Thirdly, it was coveted. They had once tried to equip Rummond with a messenger eagle, but they did not expect that a new noble from the Commerce Alliance would come to ask for it in just three days. Rummond had no choice but to sell it to the other party at a symbolic price. Fortunately, the messenger eagle flew back to the Northern Lands, but Rummond's house was turned upside down by the nobleman who bought the eagle. The nobleman only stopped after confirming that the eagle did not return to Rummond's house.
After breakfast, Laurist asked Genolio to summon Tagger. He pointed to the pile of tabloids and said, "Tagger, it seems like you have to send two people to Morent City to teach Knight Lemmond's wives how to collect intelligence. They should not bring back these boring tabloids that only publish gossip, advertisements, and gossip to make up the numbers. Look here, there's even a tabloid that claims that the reason the Commerce Alliance and the Southern Kingdom Coalition Army started the war is that the Southern Kingdom Coalition Army asked the Commerce Alliance to withdraw from the annexed countries and re-establish those kingdoms and duchies …
The Southern Kingdom Coalition Army must be crazy to make such an impossible request. The families of the kings and grand dukes of the annexed kingdoms and duchies are all dead, and they have no heirs. These merchants are much more ruthless than the noblemen. If they don't even have heirs, what's the use of re-establishing a country? Besides, will the Commerce Alliance spit out the meat that they ate? There must be some other reason for the war between the two sides. It's just that these tabloids can't get any information, so they make up stories to deceive the people who buy them. "
"Alright, Your Highness. I'll send someone. It just so happens that I also want to send someone to Morent City to see why Knight Lemmond was forcibly recruited into the army." Tagger looked a little puzzled. "But Your Highness, what do you mean by making up the numbers?"
"Uh …" Laurist thought for a while and got it. "When I was studying in Morent City, I heard from the neighbors that there was a vendor at the farmers' market who would always put the rotten taro into the good taro that the buyers had chosen when they were not paying attention. That's why people gave him the nickname 'Rotten Taro'."
Tagger's face was full of admiration. "Your Highness, you're really knowledgeable."
Laurist's face was a little red. "You don't have to flatter me. Just do your job seriously. Send someone to Morent City. On one hand, teach Knight Lemmond's wives how to collect information and classify it. On the other hand, find out if Knight Lemmond offended anyone when he was forcibly recruited into the army, or if the Commerce Alliance had a bad start and suffered a defeat. Carry out a general mobilization and carefully understand the situation after the war between the Commerce Alliance and the Southern Kingdom. As for Knight Lemmond, I think he should be treating the wounded at the frontlines as a pharmacist. It won't be a threat to his life for a while, but it's best if the people you send can find him and protect him. "
"Yes, Your Highness." Tagger turned around and was about to leave, but was stopped by Laurist.
"Wait, Tagger." Laurist furrowed his brows as he walked in circles in the tent. He only stopped when Tagger felt dizzy. "Tagger, the Commerce Alliance and the South Southern Kingdom have been at war for more than a month. Has there been any movement from His Highness? Logically speaking, our king should be very happy and make some noise at the same time, but there's still no movement. But there's still no movement at all. It's so quiet that I find it very strange. This is too abnormal. "
"Your Highness, after receiving news of the war between the Commerce Alliance and the South-Central Kingdom, I've checked on the movements of His Highness the Second Prince. We've arranged for three messenger eagles in the capital of the Andinac Kingdom, but the reports from the three locations indicated that everything was normal. His Highness the Second Prince did not make any moves, nor did he issue any orders for the Royal Guards and the White Lion Legion to attack. I've already sent someone to check if that's the case. I believe there will be news in a few days, "Tagger replied.
"Very good. You're very careful. Go and do your work first. Keep a close eye on His Highness. I'm worried that our king is up to something. "Laurist nodded in approval.
Laurist's itinerary was to first inspect the Hunting Cavalry, then head to the Golden Ridge Stronghold's construction and the mining progress of the gold mines, then head to North Sea City, and finally to the Blade Peak Mountain Range. The first was to visit Miss Tresti and his two precious daughters at Nicole Academy, the second was to visit the gunpowder laboratory, the third was to visit the Darksteel Refinery, and finally the Steel Furnace Castle's weapons production base. He estimated that he would only be able to return to Monolith Castle at the beginning of August.
The Lunar Spring Town leading to the Golden Ridge had already become a large construction site. This was the newly built town beside the small lake where the Mountain Barbarians' army of a hundred thousand was used as the logistics base for the Golden Ridge Stronghold and the gold mines. Because the small lake was round like the moon, Laurist named it Lunar Spring, and the newly built town was naturally called Lunar Spring Town.
The initial construction of the road from Lunar Spring Town to the Golden Ridge had already been completed. It was a road that was half a meter above the Black Forest and could accommodate four freight carriages at the same time. This way, the Golden Ridge Stronghold could be quickly mobilized to provide reinforcements when the Mountain Barbarian army attacked. Currently, they still needed a period of time to tamp down the clay and gravel on the road. Not only did they have to make it flat, they also didn't have to worry about it being washed away by the heavy rains during the rainy season.
It would take less than half a day to reach the Golden Ridge Stronghold along the Black Forest road. Although the road was smooth, it was filled with blood and terror. On both sides of the road in the Black Forest, there were heads stuck in the branches. According to the official in charge of repairing the road, the captured Mountain Barbarians were constantly thinking about escaping during the first month of the road's construction. Every day, more than a hundred Mountain Barbarians would be captured and brought back. Their heads were all chopped off and stuck on the sides of the road as a warning to the Mountain Barbarian laborers who still wanted to escape. Only after killing nearly four thousand Mountain Barbarian laborers did the remaining Mountain Barbarians become a little more obedient.
After being the lord for more than ten years, Laurist's heart had long since become stone. He was indifferent to the heads stuck on the sides of the road, turning a blind eye to them. On the other hand, although Genolio was big, he was only sixteen years old. He had never seen such a terrifying scene before, and his entire body trembled as he rode on his horse. Laurist glanced at him. "Straighten your chest and sit properly. This is just a small scene, there's nothing to be afraid of. If you've seen the mountains of corpses and seas of blood of the elderly, women, and children slaughtered by the slavers on the Sirovas Island, and the pyramids of human heads piled up on the Haneabada Islands under my orders, then you won't care about what you're seeing now. "
"Yes, Your Highness," Genolio replied, straightening his chest. Although he still didn't dare to look at the heads on the side of the road, at least he wasn't trembling anymore.
Beruniak brought a large group of men and horses over to welcome them from afar. The Golden Ridge Stronghold had already begun to take shape, and the construction was in full swing. According to Beruniak, the construction of the stronghold and the long walls had been very smooth over the past three months, and they hadn't been harassed by the Mountain Barbarians. It was very likely that the Mountain Barbarian warriors who had escaped did not dare to offend the Norton Family because they had wiped out more than a hundred thousand Mountain Barbarian soldiers in one battle, so they didn't want to repeat the same mistake.
Spear Spear was still at the gold mine, trying to establish a more complete set of supervision rules for gold mining. Master Hiro had already returned two months ago, and the one left was his eldest son, who was in charge of assembling and producing new gold mining equipment and ore transportation systems.
Laurist was very satisfied with everything in front of him, and after staying for two days, he hurriedly left for North Sea City.
In North Sea City, Laurist unexpectedly discovered that Duke Kempis was still there. Duke Kempis excitedly told Laurist that he had just used the name of the Snow Salt Merchant Guild to buy six large long-distance merchant ships and eighteen medium-sized fast armed merchant ships. He had formed a merchant fleet for the Snow Salt Merchant Guild, and was now in North Sea City preparing to set up a shop, warehouse, and office for the Snow Salt Merchant Guild. However, he immediately complained why he only had the right to use the shops, warehouses, and offices, and did not own them. Even if he wanted to modify or build, he needed to get approval, and he also had to pay a large amount of land use tax every year …
Laurist shrugged and replied. There was no helping it, this was the Norton Family's territory, and all the land belonged to the Norton Family. As the heir, he had no right to sell the territory to others, so he could only use this method to achieve the best of both worlds. The family would still own the territory, and the person who bought the land would obtain the right to use it. This would not affect the development of the territory.
However, Duke Kempis reacted quickly, immediately noticing the unfinished meaning in Laurist's words. He then thought of the two special regions in the south of the north that were being sold for nobles to build their manors, and realized that this was another way to make money. Thus, he pulled Laurist aside and prepared to discuss in detail. However, Laurist did not have the time to argue with him, and could only helplessly send him to find Supervisor Cordan, who agreed to inspect the seven towns in Fengle Plains that were currently undergoing real estate development before sending him away.
After inspecting the North Sea Fleet and the Oxhorn Bay shipyard, Laurist went to Nicol Academy. Miss Tracey already knew that Laurist was going to marry Princess Silvia in November. Although she insisted on celibacy and dedicated herself to the God of Knowledge, Siming Ryder, she had already given birth to two adorable daughters with Laurist. The throne of the Norton Family's matriarch had once been so close to her, and within her reach, but she had rejected Laurist's proposal and pushed him to Princess Silvia.
It was unknown whether it was because she was agitated or regretful, but in the five days that Laurist stayed in the academy, Miss Tracey completely changed her cold demeanor and insisted on entangling herself with Laurist every day, refusing to stop until she was completely exhausted. Laurist understood the pain in her heart, and was exceptionally tolerant and gentle towards her. He also promised to build her a manor in a scenic area near Nicol Academy as her private territory.
After leaving Nicole Academy, Laurist went to the Blade Edge Mountain Range. His first stop was the gunpowder laboratory that Professor Bob was in charge of. The most important place here was the artillery testing ground, and the three thousand guards stationed here were all sent by Laurist to carry out a top-secret mission. They were in charge of the Norton family's ultimate weapon, the Bronze Cannon Chariot. Unlike the North Sea Fleet's Bronze Cannons, the Bronze Cannons used for land warfare were lighter and more intricate. The cannons relied on a completely steel chariot frame, and were pulled by two pack horses. These Bronze Cannons could move and carry out firing commands faster than the Thunder Catapults.
The Bronze Cannon Battalion was led by Jim, who had recovered from his injuries after failing to ascend to the Gold rank, and Paul Binns, the former commander of the First Guard Battalion. However, the two of them were very regretful. After spending three years, the Bronze Cannon Battalion had finally completed the upgrade of the cannons, the chariots, and the firing of the cannons in various terrains. They had perfected all sorts of firing commands, and only after everything was ready did they realize that the war was over, and they had no use for it.
Laurist also sighed. The Bronze Cannon Battalion on land had cost the family almost five million gold coins to see initial results. Currently, they had two hundred Bronze Cannons and three thousand guards. It could be said that they were the most powerful armed force that the family had spent the most money on. He believed that once they appeared on the battlefield, no enemy would be able to withstand a single strike from them.
"It's time to go to the Black Iron Refinery. A few days ago, Master Sid sent me a letter saying that he has a surprise for me. I'm looking forward to what this surprise is. Let's go, Genolio. "Laurist said after bidding farewell to Jim and the others.
"Yes, Your Highness."
… …
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