Before Laurist left for Northern Field Town, he felt that it was very strange. What kind of injury could cause a 3-star Silver ranked Knight of his family to not recover after three years of recuperation?
In Dawn College, Laurist had studied Pharmaceutics, even though he didn't receive a level one Pharmaceutics Master certificate. The main reason was that obtaining a level one pharmacist certificate required a year of medical experience, and Loriste did not have the time to play the role of an angel in white. However, being able to graduate from pharmacy meant that Laurist was already an apprentice pharmacist. Coupled with the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine that was passed down from his ancestors in his previous life, Laurist was no stranger to probing inside a person's body.
While studying Potioneering, Laurist understood that in this world of Dou Qi, no matter what kind of injuries one suffered, the body could recover quickly with the help of potions and Dou Qi. As long as you didn't lose a limb, you would be able to reattach it. Even if all the bones in your body were broken, you would be able to recover. There was once a case of a duel between two Great Swordsmen, and the loser was severely injured. His body was limp like mud, and he was on the verge of death. But after a year and a half of treatment, this loser was alive and kicking again. Even his Dou Qi had recovered to its former level.
When Lollister took Bellunick's pulse, he quickly discovered a fact. Bellunick's injuries had already healed, but his weak and feeble appearance was due to poison, a poison that had been spreading for a long time!
Thinking about the daily diet that Bellunick had mentioned, Loriste didn't even need to pat his head to know that Master Dumbasen was behind this. A level one pharmacist actually had the face to be called a master? Bah, he really didn't know what to do. Making Berunik constantly consume Qi Dispersing Poison, causing him to be unable to gather Dou Qi to restore his body and train. Making him eat two bowls of porridge every day, causing his body to be weak and powerless due to the lack of nutrients. Then, he pushed all the blame to the dislocation of his internal organs and the inability to recover. Just like that, he easily played a 3-star Silver rank Knight in the palm of his hand.
In just three years, an important pillar of the Norton family had been crippled on his sickbed. If he had recovered earlier, perhaps his father wouldn't have left the battlefield with a grudge, and he wouldn't have died from his injuries. If Berrusniak had been in charge of the family, everyone wouldn't have been in such a state of panic and wouldn't have been bullied by Viscount Gomez.
Because they did not have a 3-star Silver ranked Family Knight overseeing them, the families of the guards had the confidence to refuse to obey the orders of the family. They even wanted to obtain the status of a quasi-noble from the Norton Family … At this moment, the more Laurist thought about it, the more furious he became. His entire body turned cold, and killing intent burst forth.
"Damn it …" Laurist said. He wanted nothing more than to exterminate Master Dumbasen's family. He swore in his heart that he would never let a single member of the Dumbasen family go.
Although his body was weak, he had been on the battlefield for a long time and had seen much of the world. His mind was steady, and even though he was startled by Laurist's sudden change, he thought that Laurist was feeling sorry for his current appearance. He smiled and patted the back of Lollister's hand. "Don't be sad, my lord. I'm already used to it. One day, these days will come to an end …"
"Brother Baker, we can't stay here any longer. I'll bring you back to the family's manor. I'll think of a way to treat your injuries, "Laurist said.
Berrusniak froze for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Alright, my lord. I'm tired of staying here. It's been three years, and it's like I've been imprisoned in this small courtyard. Even in my dreams, I want to return to the family's manor … "
"Without my permission, you can't go anywhere …" A croaky voice suddenly sounded from behind the two of them.
"Oh, Master Dumbasen, you've come?" Berrusniak said indifferently.
Laurist slowly turned around. In front of him stood an arrogant and gloomy old man. He wore a long black robe that imitated the style of a noble's robe, with a grey leather vest on the outside.
"You're that apothecary called Dumbasen?" Laurist asked, enunciating each word.
The old man shot Lollister a disdainful glance and ignored him. It was as if he didn't see Lollister at all. He circled around Berhunek and spoke with his unpleasant voice, "Beck, your body is in a terrible state. You insisted on returning to the manor castle yesterday, and because of your agitation, your internal organs have shifted again. It's as if the last few months of treatment have all gone to waste. For the sake of your body, you should stay here and not go anywhere. "
"Bullshit!" Laurist snorted disdainfully. "Old man, why don't you say there's a problem with your treatment? Three years ago, even though Brother Baker was heavily injured from killing the demonic bear, he was still fine after moving from the place where he killed the demonic bear to the family's manor, then from the manor to Beiye Town. Now, after being treated by you for three years, I can't even move a single step. Isn't the treatment getting worse? It seems like this is all you've got as a self-proclaimed apothecary. It's fine if you don't treat me. Brother Baker, I'll take you away. At most, I'll spend some gold coins to find a high-level apothecary to take a look at you. Don't worry, I have plenty of gold coins. "
The old man immediately lost his cool after hearing Laurist's words. "Who are you, and what are you doing here? Who allowed you to enter this courtyard? "
"Haha, who am I? Brother Baker, tell this old man, "Laurist said.
"Master Dumbasen, this is our new lord. This is his territory. Also, you have to pay your respects to him … "Berrusniak said.
"Greetings, my lord." The old man forced himself to greet Laurist.
"You're tactful, old man. If you continue to be rude, I'll cut you down with my sword. Since you've treated Big Brother Baker for three years, I'll let you off this time. " Now, you don't object to me bringing Brother Baker back to the manor, do you? "Laurist asked as he stroked the hilt of his sword.
The old man's forehead was covered in sweat. He gritted his teeth for a long time before saying, "Since my lord insists, then I have nothing else to say. Allow me to take my leave first and prepare a few vials of medicine for Baker. He can take them back to the manor to prevent his injuries from worsening … "
"Go, I'll wait for you to bring the medicine over in an hour," Laurist said.
Seeing the old man leave the small courtyard in a panic, Laurist looked at Berrusniak, who was staring at him with doubt in his eyes. He bent down slightly and spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Brother Baker, from now on, everything, including water, is not to be eaten without my permission. Do you understand?"
Berrusniak's body trembled. "You mean … I understand."
An hour passed quickly, but old man Dumbasen still hadn't brought his medicine over.
Steward Kedan came in to report, "My lord, the captains and patriarchs of Beiye Town's garrison have come to pay their respects to my lord. My lord, they don't come with good intentions. You have to be careful. "
… …
"This is Captain Molin, this is Patriarch Molin, this is Captain Hassan, this is Patriarch Hassan, this is Captain Cupid, this is Patriarch Cupid, ah, be careful, there's a hole in the ground, don't fall down. This is Captain Dumbasen, and you already know this one, Grandmaster Dumbasen … "Kedan introduced them to Laurist as he welcomed them.
The group entered one by one and saluted Laurist. Laurist nodded reservedly in return.
When he reached the last person, Laurist smiled, "Grandmaster Dumbasen, did you bring the medicine back? Oh, it's in this bag. Sederkamp, take the bag and ask the grandmaster how to take it, then let Brother Baker take it … Now? Haha, there's no rush. Come, come, Grandmaster, sit here. We'll talk after we've finished our discussion. "
When everyone was seated, Laurist looked around and said, "Everyone must have come for something important. I have to go back later, so if there's anything you want to say, please say it."
A fat old man stood up. Laurist had heard Kedan introduce him to be the patriarch of the Morin Family. The fat old man bowed to Laurist first and then explained the purpose of everyone's visit.
Patriarch Morin first apologized for not attending Laurist's inheritance ceremony last night. He said that time was too tight and he didn't have time to prepare a gift, so he didn't want to go empty-handed. Thus, when he heard that the new lord had arrived, he immediately rushed over to greet him and said that he would prepare a gift in a few days and go to the family's manor to congratulate him.
Laurist magnanimously expressed that he didn't mind and understood everyone's respect. As for the gift, he would gladly accept it when the time came.
After some pleasantries, Patriarch Morin represented the garrison of Northfield Town and protested to the Norton Family. First, the Norton Family had ignored the garrison for the past two years and owed them two years' worth of wages. Although the monthly salary of a garrison member was only one imperial silver coin, and the monthly salary of 200 garrison members was only two imperial old man gold coins, it was still a considerable sum of 48 imperial old man gold coins for two years.
Second, when the Norton Family's ancestors recruited the garrison members more than two hundred years ago, they promised that every family member of the garrison would be given ten acres of land. Now that the surroundings of Northfield Town had been turned into farmland, most of the family members of the garrison members still had no land to farm. They hoped that the new patriarch could solve this problem as soon as possible and not let the promise of the ancestors become empty words and lies.
Third, in view of the lack of land and the large number of people, many of the relatives of the garrison members of Northfield Town had nothing to do. As the new lord, could Laurist issue a few caravan permits so that the extra manpower in Northfield Town could organize a few small caravans to go out and trade on their own? Of course, these caravans would have to pay ten percent of their profits to the lord as per usual.
Laurist smiled as he nodded, seemingly in agreement with Patriarch Molin's suggestion. However, he was sneering in his heart. Did these bastards think he was a fool? Did they really think he didn't know the purpose of these bastards' visit? In the end, it was all for the third item. They wanted to haggle with him and get him to give them a few caravan passes so that their smuggling team could openly trade under the name of the Norton Family's caravan. Without a caravan pass, they wouldn't be able to trade with other merchants and wouldn't be able to purchase the goods they needed. They could only sneakily conduct small, underground transactions.
Also, they said that they would pay ten percent of their profits to the lord as per usual. It was normal for a lord to issue a caravan permit for his people to organize their own caravans to go out and trade. However, the lord would take at least fifty to thirty percent of the profits, and it was not uncommon for a greedy lord to take seventy percent of the profits. Did they think this ten percent was the tax that other caravans had to pay when they came to their territory?
Laurist smiled and expressed his apologies to everyone present. Because he had just inherited the territory, he didn't know that the guards were owed their salaries. When he returned, he would definitely investigate this in detail. If it was true, he would definitely compensate the guards. Laurist said that he had brought ten thousand gold coins with him when he came back to inherit the territory. According to the market rate, one gold coin could be exchanged for four Empire Head Gold Coins. Forty-eight Empire Head Gold Coins was only twelve gold coins, which was not worth mentioning. Therefore, everyone could rest assured that money was not a problem.
As for the second problem, Laurist said that it was a problem left behind by history, but he was still confident that he could solve it. Now that he had an idea, everyone could consider it together.
"Steward Cordan, how many acres of land does Northern Field Town have?" Laurist asked.
"Sir, there are twenty-seven thousand acres of land in Northern Field Town," Steward Cordan replied.
"My opinion is like this …" Laurist said, "I plan to expand the garrison of Northern Field Town to four hundred people …"
"Ah!" A few of the family heads and the captain of the garrison cried out in shock. Historically, the leaders of the Norton family had wanted to limit the size of the garrison, or even eliminate it altogether. Why did this person want to expand the garrison?
"Sir, how can we expand without land?" Hassan asked as he stood up.
"Land, there are plenty of land." Laurist smiled and said, "Let's use Northern Field Town as an example. We have twenty-seven thousand mu of land and recruit four hundred guards. Every guard's immediate family, I will count them as parents, two wives, and two children. Each person has ten mu of land, so it will be sixty mu. With four hundred guards, it will be twenty-four thousand mu. Isn't that enough?"
"But, but sir, those guards have other relatives. They have brothers and sisters …" Mullin Family Head began to cry out.
"What are you shouting about? I have other plans. Steward Cordan, bring me a map of the territory, "Laurist ordered.
The map was quickly placed in front of everyone.
"Look here. The terrain here is gentle, and it's not far from Northern Field Town. I plan to build a town here. Once it's built, the surrounding wastelands will be no less than Northern Field Town. When that time comes, I'll build a garrison and distribute the land like Northern Field Town. Won't the problem be solved?" Laurist said casually.
"But, sir, this place will occasionally be attacked by the Mountain Barbarians …"
"So what if they are Mountain Barbarians? This time, I've hired a very famous mercenary group to deal with them. If they don't come, it'll be fine. If they come, they'll be captured and used as slaves. We need labor when building the city, and they'll come to us for free. I'll welcome them very much! And you guys, why don't you go out when there are Mountain Barbarians? Why are you holed up in Northern Field Town like turtles? Look at this for yourselves. This place is only so big. What future does it have? Also, the expansion of the garrison will require them to be stationed at the place where the city is being built. There are still three thousand mu of land in Northern Field Town without an owner. I plan to grant three quasi-knights a thousand mu each. In the future, one of them will be the mayor of Northern Field Town, and the other two will be the deputy mayors. "Laurist threw out a large bait.
"My, my lord, is what you said true?" The few people present were all excited.
"Of course. You guys know that I've been studying in Morent City for ten years. This kind of management method is the most popular there. It's called the most democratic management method. This time, I plan to implement it in the territory. Steward Cordan, you'll stay in Northern Field Town for the next few days. Organize and register the families of the family soldiers and the townspeople who don't have land. I plan to use them as labor for building the city. What do you guys think? "Laurist said.
"This, very good, very good. We agree …"
Of course you guys agree. You might even want them to leave Northern Field Town as soon as possible. Laurist thought in his heart, but his face showed a carefree smile, "That's for the best. I'll leave the expansion of the garrison in Northern Field Town to you guys. It's best to distribute the land for the selected garrison members. Those who don't have land can be sent to work at the construction site. That way, both sides won't be affected. Please, I'll remember your contributions. "
"Sir, sir, about the Merchant Pass?" The duck-like voice clearly belonged to Master Dumbasen.
"About the Merchant Pass. I'm sorry, but we're currently at war with Viscount Gaimes. His territory has sealed off all our external routes. Let's talk about the caravan passes after we've defeated Viscount Gomez and restored traffic, "Lollister said.
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I won't complain about the two hours it took to upload. The Qidian server is like sh * t …
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