"Have a seat. Is it raining hard outside?" Loriste sat comfortably on the armchair and said to Fatty Shi, who had just walked into the study. After a busy winter, all the refugees had been forcibly moved to the temporary settlement and returned to the southern capital of the Northern Lands, Wildbear City, before the rainy season arrived. After a few days of entanglement with Princess Silvia, Lollister finally remembered that he should take care of business.
"What do you think? What I hated the most was the rainy season. Even if I didn't get soaked in the rain, I would still feel wet and moldy. When I thought about how I would have to endure for another twenty days, I felt like I was going to go crazy. Fatso Shi grumbled as he walked to the roaring fireplace, as if he wanted to dry himself.
When Fatso Shi felt warm all over and sat on the sofa, he ordered Genolio to bring him a bottle of fruit wine. Then, he thought of Schwald and asked Lollister, "Hey, how's Schwald doing? He's not doing too bad, is he? " “
Buckingham nodded: "Yes, Redi has already gone to the Monolith Castle to see him. He should be able to come out in half a year. Before Bofinger returned to the southern province, he told me that once Schwald comes out, he'll marry Count Phelim's precious daughter immediately. Seeing that only the Handa Duchy was left of the four central duchies, and that Count Phelim would become the Grand Duke of the southern province as soon as they conquered it, Bofinger began to worry. He was worried that Count Phelim would look down on a small baron like him after he became a duke, and that would cause Schwald's marriage to change. “
"Hehe, has Bodfinger become muddle-headed with age? What's there to worry about? " Fatso Shi unscrupulously criticized behind his back, "Even if Count Phelim becomes a duke, he still has to rely on the Norton family. Without our support and material aid, can he develop his family's territory and defend the southern province? If we really withdraw the Monolith Army, I guarantee that he'll sleep with one eye open. Does he really think that the truce he signed with the Fisablun family is a guarantee of peace? Once the Ranger troops arrive at the city, he'll be done for. “
What Fatty Shi said was the truth, and it was indeed so. Even if Count Filim was promoted to a Duke after the destruction of the four central duchies, he still had to follow the lead of the Norton Family. If he really abandoned the alliance of the four northern families, it was guaranteed that he would be swallowed up by the covetous Fisablon Family.
"Still, it's about time for Shihuard to get married. Katerina is a good girl, and she's a good match for Shihuard. The two of them have a good relationship. After Shi Huade came out of seclusion, I decided to let them get married first. Lollister said. He took out the fruit wine that Genolio had served, took a sip, and asked, "Are the new immigrants alright? “
There were 230,000 refugees forcibly migrated from the Falkner Duchy to the north. Including the migrants from the Sabaji Duchy, the total number was over 400,000. In other words, there were more than two million citizens in the north now.
"Fortunately, there were no accidents or riots. Even the last batch of captives from the Pedro Hills behaved themselves and didn't cause any trouble for us. Seeing that Lollister was getting down to business, Fatty Shi hurriedly searched for relevant documents in the folder he carried with him.
At the mention of the hillmen captives from the Pedrona Hills, Laurist snorted in displeasure, "These hillmen captives must be watched closely." They're really unruly and unruly. Do you know, when we surrounded the Hot Springs Valley and forced them into a corner, they still dared to raise their weapons and continue to resist, causing over a thousand family soldiers to die. I had no choice but to call in Malek's Steel Crossbow Unit to fire from afar, and only after wiping out more than half of their young men did they put down their weapons and surrender to us.
Just like the Foldo Duchy's Mountain Army, even though they were surrounded by us, and even their commander, the Golden Knight Nokri, died under Bofinger's sword, these mountain soldiers still refused to surrender. In the end, we had no choice but to set fire to chase them out of the camp and kill them. Just like the Foldo Duchy's Mountain Army, even though they were surrounded by us, and even their commander, the Golden Knight Nokri, died under Bofinger's sword, these mountain soldiers still refused to surrender. In the end, we had no choice but to set fire to chase them out of the camp and kill them. So, I've already ordered that the soldiers of this Mountain Army and the mountain people captives will be sentenced to eight years of hard labor. After eight years, they will be free … "
"Eight years? Hm, Your Highness, aren't you going to recruit these mountain people captives into the family's armed forces? Logically speaking, mountain people with such personalities are good targets for recruitment, right? "Fatty Shi was a little puzzled.
Lollister shook his head, "These mountain people are especially unruly, and they have always been loyal to the Foldo Duchy. They are proud to be citizens of the Foldo Family. And the Foldo Family's policy towards the mountain people for more than a hundred years is to win their hearts. You don't know this, but for more than a hundred years, the mountain people only have to pay one kind of tax, which is the blood tax. In return, the Fulundor Family divided the Pederona Hills into an area for the mountain people to live in, allowing them to develop freely. Therefore, the loyalty of these highlanders to the Flondor Family is engraved in their bones. They are not like the soldiers of other families or forces, who have a hard time changing their allegiance … "
Fatty Shi nodded. Now that he knew the reason, he did not intend to waste any effort on these tens of thousands of mountain captives. After eight years of labor, these mountain people should know the difference between good and bad. At that time, he would naturally arrange for them to integrate into his family's territory. He took out a document and said to Laurist, "Your Highness, the resettlement plan for the newly migrated refugees is out. Would you like to take a look?"
Laurist held his wine glass and said, "You can just say whatever you want. If it's not too far off, I'll just sign it and implement it according to the plan. “
"Alright." Fatty Shi cleared his throat and read from the document, "There are a total of 2,871 families of refugees migrating to the capital of Windbri this time, with a total of 98,236 people. Most of them are craftsmen and small merchants. We have arranged houses and courtyards facing the street for them to set up shops and craft workshops. When they settle down, the economy of the capital of Windbri will have a huge breakthrough in the second half of this year. It is estimated that from next year onwards, the capital of Windbri will once again become the center of livestock trading and leather products processing in the northeast region.
The total number of refugees migrating to the north is more than 360,000 people. They are not going to be settled in the three newly developed plains in the south of the north. Instead, they are going to be settled in the new Xingchang Plains and Kangtai Plains in the east of the north this year. As for the completed Pingfeng Plains, Pingan Plains and Pingkang Plains in the south of the north, because they are located around the capital city of Raging Bear City, the family has decided to choose a portion of the loyal subjects' families from the Fengle Plains, Xingan Plains and Red River Plains to move there. The remaining half will be allocated to the soldiers who are about to retire in the next three years to build families in these three plains.
In addition, a hundred refugee families will be allocated to each of the vassal territories under the family's control, totaling more than 13,000 people. This will be used to develop the economy and villages of the vassal territories. This is the basic distribution plan. After the rainy season, we will send these new immigrants to the places where they are allocated and give them land and houses. We will aim to settle them down before August. Your Highness, do you think there is anything that needs to be changed? "
Laurist thought for a moment and said, "Let's do it this way. This plan is very good and does not need to be changed. Bring it over, I will sign it and let the people below carry it out. "
While Laurist was signing, Fatty Shi took out another document and said, "Your Highness, this is the report that Master Sid submitted at the end of last year. The report says that he has successfully trial-produced a new crossbow for cavalry using spring steel, greatly reducing the cost. According to the report, the cost of a crossbow is currently only seven gold fords and eight large silver coins. I have given him a special fund of three thousand gold fords, requesting that he reduce the cost of the crossbow to less than five gold fords and mass produce it … "
Laurist was very happy. "Now we finally have an idea of how to solve the problem of the hunting cavalry's standard long-range weapons. However, do you know the range, power, firing speed, and number of times the crossbow can be fired? "
Fatty Shi sweated profusely. "Your Highness, I don't know. I was only thinking about the cost … A crossbow costs between two to three gold fords. I believe that the crossbow's range and power need to be at least twice that of a crossbow. Only then can it reach the power of a longbow. If that's the case, then a price of more than twice the cost is still acceptable … "
Laurist waved Sid's report in his hand. "It's not written here. It seems that Master Sid wants to keep this a secret. How about this, send a letter to Josk and have him pick a hundred loyal and reliable elite light cavalry from the hunting cavalry. After the rainy season, they will go to Master Sid's place and test the crossbow's effectiveness in battle. This will facilitate the finalization of the crossbow. After all, this is a weapon used in battle, and these light cavalry have the most say. Also, don't be too demanding on the price, lest it affects the quality. "
"Alright, I understand," Fatty Shi replied.
Then, the two talked about a few more matters. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Genolio came in to report. "Your Highness, Lord Tagger is here."
Tagger had come to give Laurist a summary of the battle between the Ford Commercial Alliance and the Southern Kingdom. Although Laurist had been at the frontlines of the four central duchies last year, he still knew bits and pieces about the war in the central and southern part of the continent. However, most of the information was sent by messenger eagles, and the information was extremely simple. Now that he had returned to the Furious Bear City, he ordered Tagger to send over the newspapers and intelligence he had obtained from Morent City.
Tagger carried a pile of newspapers that was half the height of a person into the study. These were basically seven or eight types of newspapers that had been published in Morent City last year. After putting down the pile of newspapers, Tagger handed Laurist a folder. "Your Highness, this is the summary of these newspapers and the summary of the intelligence."
Laurist took the folder, and as soon as he opened it, he jumped in shock. "What? The Storm Swordsaint of the destroyed Kingdom of Kylia has entered Morent City?"
Fatty Shi was startled by Laurist's actions. "What did you say?"
Tagger smiled bitterly. "Your Highness, I have already reported this to you through the messenger eagles …"
Laurist said embarrassedly, "Sorry, Tagger. At that time, I was focused on the intelligence of the four central duchies, so I didn't pay attention to these."
Tagger searched through the pile of newspapers and found more than a dozen of them. "Your Highness, the detailed report on this Storm Swordsaint of the Kingdom of Kylia accepting the invitation of the Ford Commercial Alliance to go to Morent City is in these newspapers. However, this Storm Swordsaint is more low-key. He only accepted an interview at the banquet held by the Commercial Alliance on the first day he arrived, and then went into seclusion. The law enforcement agency of the Commercial Alliance also cooperated and did not let the newspapers continue to follow up on the report. So, other than the ruckus that lasted for more than half a month, there were no other waves. However, the morale of the Commercial Alliance troops at the frontline has risen a lot because of the Sword Swordsaint … "
Fatty Shi was already quickly flipping through the dozen newspapers, but he quickly became dispirited. "The newspapers only recorded the legendary life of this Storm Swordsaint, but did not mention how the Kingdom of Kylia was destroyed, why the Storm Swordsaint left, or how he accepted the Commercial Alliance's invitation. They also did not mention how much the Commercial Alliance paid to let the Storm Swordsaint settle in Morent City. What kind of bullsh * t report is this?"
Laurist pondered for a while. The Storm Swordsaint settling in Morent City meant that the Ford Commercial Alliance had a Sword Swordsaint of the Kingdom. To the second prince, who was determined to take back the few provinces that the Crisen Empire had lost from the Commercial Alliance, this was practically raising the difficulty of the game from Hard to Hell. He believed that the second prince's expression would not be good if he knew about this. However, to the Norton Family, this news did not affect the Norton Family much. After all, it was too far away.
However, what price did the Commercial Alliance pay to hire this Storm Swordsaint? Laurist was very interested. "Say, if the second prince wanted to hire this Storm Swordsaint, what price would he be willing to pay?"
What did this have to do with the second prince? Fatty Shi and Tagger were a little dazed. However, since Laurist had asked, the two of them tried their best to answer carefully.
Tagger said, "At least a hundred thousand gold coins a year. In addition, they would choose a place to build a dojo for him to pass on his swordsmanship …"
Fatty Shi shook his head. "Not only that. Your conditions are no different from the Storm Swordsaint in the Kingdom of Kylia. If the second prince wants to recruit this Sword Swordsaint, he would have to give him a province as his family's territory and make him a duke. "
Laurist laughed. "That shouldn't be too far off. However, it's not good news for His Majesty that the Commerce Alliance was able to recruit this Storm Sword Saint. You all know that he's always talking about unifying the former Empire. I really want to see his face when he finds out about this. Even if the four central duchies are destroyed, he will still have to face the pressure of the gigantic Commercial Alliance. I think that in the next few years, before we can think of a way to deal with this Storm Swordsaint, our king will calm down and not continue to cause trouble.
After the rainy season, I will soon bring the Flying Tiger Army back to the frontlines of the four central duchies. Although there is only the Handa Duchy left, it has gathered the armed forces of the four duchies. In addition to the restrictions of the terrain, this battle will not be easy to fight. It might take another year. I will leave the matters of the family to you. Tagger, pay attention to gathering more information about the battle between the Commercial Alliance and the Southern Kingdom. If there are any major events or changes, immediately send them to me. "
"Understood, Your Highness," Tagger replied with a bow.
…
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
