Lollister and Josk rode atop a small hill, gazing at Northern Field Town in the distance.
The gates of Northern Field Town were wide open, and an endless stream of carriages flowed out of it. Clamors and cries could be heard in the distance.
"My lord, I've never seen such an arrogant and shameless garrison team. They're actually haggling over every ounce with their lord and haggling over the price. No wonder you said that the garrison of our family's territory is a bunch of weirdos. But I don't understand, my lord. Why do you tolerate their existence? In other territories, they would've been declared traitors and punished by the lord, "Josk said.
Lollister laughed, "You've seen it. It's been two hundred years. The ancestors of the Norton Family never dreamed that their goodwill towards their subjects would be exploited by others, and that they would leave such a mess for their descendants to clean up. But our trip this morning wasn't in vain. Look, didn't they send the people out? As for the punishment, we'll have to endure for a while longer. When Shredder and Bodefinger's convoy arrives, we'll have the strength to destroy them. "
Early in the morning, Lollister and Josk escorted five four-wheeled carriages filled with leather armor, spears, and imperial silver coins to Northern Field Town. However, Master Dumbasen was missing from the four great families. According to Patriarch Molin, Master Dumbasen had caught a cold in the past two days and was currently bedridden, so he was sorry to be absent.
But when Patriarch Molin handed over the list of four hundred members of the garrison, Lollister realized that his plan to kill three soldiers with two peaches had failed. The garrison on this list was basically made up of people from the Molin Family, Hassan Family, and Cupid Family. There was no one from the Dumbasen Family, and even Captain Dumbasen, who was originally the vice-captain of the garrison, had withdrawn from the garrison.
Lollister pretended to be curious and asked why Captain Dumbasen had withdrawn from the garrison. Master Morin's reply was that Master Dumbasen had decided to move the entire House of Dumbasen to the new town that Laurist was preparing to build. At that time, Captain Dumbasen would assume the position of the new town's garrison captain.
Laurist praised the Dunbasen Family's forbearance and modesty. After a bit of nonsense, he handed the leather armor and spear to Patriarch Molin, explaining that these were equipment for the newly formed garrison. He then pointed to the chest full of imperial silver coins and said that the salaries of the garrison that the patriarchs had protested the last time had been brought, and not a single coin was missing. However, from now on, the salary of the garrison team would be paid once every three months. Because he was very busy, it was not worth it to go to Beiye Town every month for such a small amount of money, so please understand.
Next, Laurist asked Steward Cordan if the census was done. Steward Cordan reported that the registration of the survivors of the former family soldiers and the people who lost their land had been completed. There were more than one thousand four hundred people, and they could set off at any time. However, due to the adjustment and expansion of the garrison team, the people who had been removed from the garrison team were very emotional. Many of them did not cooperate with the census, and Steward Cordan estimated that there were about two thousand of them.
At this time, Patriarch Molin came up and made a suggestion. He said that because some of the garrison members were not suitable to continue as garrison members due to various reasons, they were removed from the garrison team. It was not right for them to be emotional, but he asked for the family's understanding. If the family decided to build a new town, then they could form a new garrison team and recruit them. At that time, they would definitely cooperate with the family to complete the census.
Laurist laughed coldly. Their idea was not bad. Let the family build a new town, then recruit them to form a new garrison team. They would enjoy the same privileges as the garrison team in Beiye Town, and could continue to be the boss without doing anything. Wishful thinking.
Laurist deliberately shook his head and smiled bitterly. He told the three patriarchs, "The family is currently facing a critical juncture. You all know that the Norton family is in a state of war with Viscount Gammus. The family has decided to build a checkpoint wall in the Morgen Hills to keep Viscount Gammus out of the family's territory." Therefore, the family needed labor. The registered survivors of the former family soldiers and the people who lost their land would be sent to the Morgen Hills to be the main labor force for the construction of the checkpoint wall. As for the construction of the new town, they could only rely on the remaining manpower in Beiye Town, excluding the garrison members and their families.
Laurist said that this time, the family had decided to expand the garrison team in Beiye Town. It was not to hide in Beiye Town like turtles, but there were a few areas that needed the garrison team's help. Of course, the patriarchs could rest assured that the family would not drag the garrison team into the battle against Viscount Gammus. This was because the garrison team did not have the ability to do so, and the family did not trust the combat power of the garrison team.
Laurist's sarcasm made the faces of the three patriarchs turn red. However, Patriarch Molin was cunning and thick-skinned. He pretended not to hear it and asked Laurist where he was going to use the garrison team.
Laurist pointed at the map of the territory on the table and said that the mercenary group hired by the family had already set up camp at Poplar Beach, where the new town was to be built. As long as Beiye Town mobilized extra manpower and sent a garrison team of two hundred people, they could set up a new military stronghold at the intersection of the two mountains about a hundred miles away from Poplar Beach. At that time, the mercenary group would be stationed at the new military stronghold to guard against the mountain barbarians. There were only two tasks left for the Beiye Town garrison team. The first was to transport a batch of supplies to the new military stronghold every ten days to the mercenary group. The second was to take turns to guard Poplar Beach to supervise the construction of the new town.
Of course, the family would not let the garrison team work for nothing. Every time it was their turn to guard Poplar Beach, the salary of the garrison team was ten imperial silver coins per month, which was almost ten times the original salary. In addition, the reward for the mercenary group was also effective for the garrison team. That was one imperial old man's head gold coin for a living barbarian, and fifty imperial silver coins for a dead barbarian.
The three patriarchs discussed for a long time, but they did not give Laurist an answer. Finally, Laurist became impatient. He said that he could give the three patriarchs a month to consider carefully. If they were not willing to participate in the construction of the new town, the family would not force them. However, after the new town was built, Beiye Town would have nothing to do with it. The family did not care about the thoughts and attitudes of the residents of Beiye Town.
Finally, Laurist asked for a batch of carriages from Beiye Town to transport the registered combs of the former family soldiers and the lost residences to the manor castle. In the end, Laurist did not expect this simple request to be rejected by the three patriarchs. This time, Laurist was furious. He asked the three patriarchs if Beiye Town was preparing to raise a flag of rebellion. If that was the case, it was simple. The Norton family was willing to pay a huge price to invite the surrounding lords to send troops to attack Beiye Town and quell the internal strife.
Laurist's unyielding attitude shocked the three patriarchs. They hurriedly went forward to beg for mercy, and hesitantly explained the reason for the rejection. They were worried that the carriages would be taken by the family without compensation when they arrived at the manor castle, and that they would suffer a great loss.
Laurist did not expect this to be the reason. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. He did not expect the three major families of Beiye Town to be willing to offend him, the lord, for a few dozen carriages. He did not know if they were brave or short-sighted. At this moment, he hated the garrison families of Beiye Town even more.
Alright then, Laurist said, I will not recruit them. I will hire your carriages to transport the people. It will be an hour's journey, and as long as the people are sent to the empty space in front of the manor castle, I will pay one imperial silver coin per carriage. Also, I promise in the name of the Norton family that we will not take your carriages.
Hearing Laurist say this, the three patriarchs began to argue again. However, this time, they were arguing about how many carriages each family should send, afraid that they would lose this opportunity to earn money. After arguing for a long time, they finally agreed on how many carriages each family should send. Then, they ordered people to prepare the carriages to transport the 1400 people.
"Sir, I still do not understand. I feel that with our current strength, we can destroy the garrison of Beiye Town. You do not need to appease them like this. The more you tolerate them, the more they will look down on you. "Josk looked at Beiye Town and said.
Laurist nodded, "You are right, Josk. If it was not for Viscount Gomez causing trouble for us and the construction of the castle in the Morgen Hills, then I might directly attack Beiye Town after I bring you back to the manor castle. But now, we cannot, because if we concentrate our forces to attack Beiye Town, we will definitely suffer heavy losses. Beiye Town is not the garrison of other nobles. They have been running Beiye Town for more than 200 years. Although the garrison only has 200 people, if we attack, there will be no less than 2000 people in Beiye Town. Also, because of the relationship between the garrison family, they will not easily surrender. They will only fight to the death with us. If that happens, even if we defeat the garrison, there will be many casualties. At that time, we will not have the strength to build a castle and defend the Morgen Hills. "
"Our family only has one town in their territory, and the family could only compromise with them in the past. I decided to expand the garrison of Beiye Town to divert the population of Beiye Town and incite conflict between them. I used the excuse of building a new town at Poplar Beach to let the few big families in Beiye Town get rid of the dissidents and monopolize Beiye Town. That way, the population of Beiye Town can be said to be split into two, and the enemies we have to deal with will be reduced by half. "
"I gave them leather armor and spears, and paid them the wages they owed. One is to appease them, and the other is to let them think that I am not going to deal with them. That way, they will not cause trouble in the territory. What we need now is time. We need time to build the castle, time to deal with Viscount Gomez, time to train the family soldiers to build a new garrison, and time to wait for Knight Shredder's convoy to arrive. So, what we need now is stability in the territory. "
"Sir, you are not really going to build a new town at Poplar Beach, are you?" Josk asked.
"Why not?" Laurist smiled, "My father and brother have long planned to build a new town in the territory so that the family can get rid of the burden of Beiye Town and build the foundation to solve the problem of Beiye Town. But they had an accident and could not complete the plan. They chose to build the new town at Poplar Beach. I have seen the map of the family's territory and found that Poplar Beach is indeed the most suitable place to build a new town. Building a new town there is equivalent to doubling the territory controlled by the family. The only threat is whether or not it will be invaded by the Mountain Barbarians. The reason I hired those surrendered mercenaries to set up a new military stronghold at the mountain pass is to eliminate this threat. "
"But this new town is just an idea. You can say that it is an excuse to divert the population of Beiye Town and intensify the conflict. The most important thing for us now is to build the castle on the Morgen Hills. Even if the castle construction is completed, the next thing we need to build is the mountain city on the other side. We need to carry out the development plan of the Morgen Hills according to the Gomez Family. Once the castle construction is completed, I plan to make it the main city and build a new mountain city. Defeating the Gomez Family, finding a new trade route with the outside world, and receiving the arrival of the convoy to the north will be our focus and mission in the future. "
"As for the new town at Poplar Beach, if Beiye Town is willing to provide manpower, then we can first prepare for the early stages. For example, gathering stones, wood, and all kinds of materials to make green clay. It will take at least one or two years to complete. During this period, the people who are separated from Beiye Town will definitely have conflicts with the guards who supervise them in their spare time. By then, Beiye Town will be isolated, and it will be much easier for us to take care of them. "
"Sir, you are so cunning," Josk said.
"You flatter me," Laurist replied.
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