It was the middle of March, the beginning of spring. The harvest of winter wheat had been completed, and it was time for the annual spring plowing season. The scene of spring plowing could be seen everywhere in Count Glamorgan's territory.
In the master bedroom on the third floor of the castle, the count was enjoying a leisurely afternoon tea with his fiancée and his little maid.
Emilia was wearing a black-and-white maid outfit. She had tied up her long blonde hair and wore a black pleated skirt. She wore white stockings and black leather shoes. After following Laing for a few years, she was already in her early twenties. She was as graceful as a lily.
After following Laing, Emilia gradually regained her lively and cheerful personality under Laing's protection. She even studied at Winford Academy, received higher education, and lived the life of a noble.
The girl's face was red as she leaned against Laing to serve him. She even stole glances at Laing from time to time with a blissful look on her face.
Suria saw all of this, but she didn't say anything. She thought that Emilia had been following Laing for a long time and had taken good care of her. After the wedding, she would definitely give Emilia the status of a female court official and her maid.
Today, Sulia was wearing a gray blouse with flower buds and a short skirt. On the outside, she was wrapped in a long trench coat made of white fox fur. Her long and slender legs were stretched out from under the table. She was still wearing her favorite bear slippers on her feet. In her arms, she was holding the teddy bear that Ryan had bought with her at Bordero.
Laing liked the long legs of the female knight. Her thighs were full and her calves were slender. The transparent black stockings were made from unicorn fur from the Fairy Lake. The soft texture could be felt with the naked eye. It was also because of this that the count's hands and eyes were a little naughty.
Suria rolled her eyes at Laing. In fact, she had grown up in the palace and was used to wearing stockings. This was because all the female nobles wore it. It was a symbol of nobility, and Laing liked it very much.
"It seems that the number of escaped slaves has decreased recently." Suria changed the topic. The female knight looked at the envelope on the table. It was sealed with the king's seal and had been opened.
"During this period of time, our Earl's territory has already taken in nearly twenty thousand people." Laing complained. The count himself was only wearing a simple shirt and trousers at home. He looked at the envelope on the table and smiled. "Even if there were 20,000 pigs, even the dumbest nobles would notice if they disappeared for a long time, let alone humans."
"Then … Laing, will you agree to the king's request?" Emilia asked curiously.
Laing stood in front of the table, thinking about the recent situation.
Judging from the news he had received, the serf rebellion had apparently been quelled.
After Duke Berchemund went to the capital to make the arbitration, the nobles of the kingdom finally shifted their attention away from the negotiations. Faced with the serfs fleeing and rioting in their own territories, the knights and nobles hurried back home and saw their houses and warehouses destroyed in anger.
The rioting serfs were quickly suppressed. The serfs were hanged and executed, and many villages lost half their population.
The knights' forceful suppression caused an even greater wave of serfs fleeing and rioting, but the rioting serfs were no match for the knights. It took almost a month for the rebellion to be quelled.
What was left were countless destroyed villages and abandoned farmlands. The power of the northern part of the kingdom was severely affected. After the rebellion was quelled, the nobles found that they couldn't find enough people to harvest the winter wheat. They had no choice but to order the escaped serfs to come back and harvest the wheat. They even asked the merchants of Marlinburg to hire people to harvest the wheat.
At the same time, for the remaining serfs who didn't escape, the knights considered the situation and gave them a certain amount of tax relief to ensure that they wouldn't starve to death.
This couldn't be helped. There were very few idiots among the knights and nobles. Brittany knights had to learn the ways of the knights from a young age. Few were so stupid that they didn't know the relationship between the serfs and the nobles. The serfs were the foundation of the nobles, and the land of the nobles needed people to cultivate it.
This was different from the Empire. Brittany nobles owned land and gave it to the serfs to cultivate. As the owners of the land, they had the responsibility to protect the serfs.
In the Empire, the peasants didn't have to pay such a high tax. This also meant that no nobles would send troops to protect them. The peasants could only arm themselves and fend for themselves. This didn't exist in Brittany.
As for the rebellion of the serfs, the nobles also felt wronged. Their villages and properties were the ones that were damaged, and their guards were the ones who died. They were the ones who suffered losses.
The nobles in the North soon discovered that Laing was taking in runaway slaves and used them to expand the population. After Laing took the lead, Duke Bodrick of Bordero, Duke François of Vanford, and Duke Berchemund of Bastogne also followed suit and tasted the benefits. Everyone was secretly taking in people.
Under normal circumstances, the nobles would definitely ask for it. The serfs were the property of the nobles.
This was where the problem lay. Laing was currently in the limelight in the kingdom. He was also the champion of the Chosen of Gods. He killed the Red Duke and exiled the Nurgle demon. The nobles didn't dare to provoke him openly.
Richard could only bite the bullet and send an official letter, asking Laing to investigate the population in the territory. Subconsciously, he wanted to repatriate the runaway slaves.
However, Laing wasn't an idiot. The importance of population was needless to say. He definitely wouldn't repatriate the runaway slaves.
"I won't repatriate them. I won't repatriate them for the rest of my life." Laing looked at the king's letter and smiled at Emilia. "Giving birth to children is too slow. Only by taking in runaway slaves can we quickly expand the population."
"Idiot! Why are you suddenly talking about this? Giving birth and whatnot … "Emilia blushed. She obviously thought of something strange." Laing, you're really … We're clearly talking about serious matters! "
What was this little maid thinking? Laing frowned and looked at the female knight.
However, Suria blushed as well. Apparently, she was also thinking the wrong thing.
"Anyway, I definitely won't repatriate these runaway slaves. It wasn't easy to get so many people," Laing quickly added.
"But … What about His Majesty's order?" Suria frowned.
In Brittany, although Richard's royal power was weak, the spirit of chivalry had been deeply rooted in this country. Compared to the Empire, where the powerful Kurfürst could ignore or even reject the emperor's order, Laing, as a vassal of the king, had to at least give a superficial explanation.
"It's actually very simple. Everyone is responsible for this matter," Laing said with a smile.
Yes, it was a bit inappropriate for Laing to take in runaway slaves. But why did the runaway slaves appear? It was because the nobles themselves didn't manage their serfs well, which led to this matter.
You didn't manage your serfs well? Now you're blaming me for taking in runaway slaves? What kind of logic is this?
"That's indeed the case. Therefore, His Majesty didn't mention anything about the runaway slaves in the official letter." Suria picked up the king's letter and read it again. "Look, Laing, His Majesty only asked you to check the population, ensure security, guard against bandits, and pay attention to the movement of refugees. He didn't mention anything about the runaway slaves at all."
"That's true." Laing nodded and began to talk about his speculation with the female knight and the little maid.
Richard's letter revealed a lot of information.
First of all, there was no doubt that the rebellion of the northern serfs had been quelled by the nobles, or at least the situation was basically under control. That was why the nobles had the time to check the population and found a large number of runaway slaves. At the same time, they also found that the southern nobles led by Laing were secretly taking in the runaway slaves.
Secondly, Laing was now very powerful. The northern nobles were obviously afraid of him, so they didn't dare to force him. They just talked to him in a roundabout way.
"I have an ominous feeling. The rebellion of the serfs may only be temporarily suppressed." Laing said to Suria. "The strong suppression and appropriate concessions of the nobles can make the serfs temporarily cease their activities, but the fundamental contradiction hasn't changed or shifted."
The little maid and the female knight nodded silently. They knew very well that as long as the fundamental contradiction of tithes didn't change, then even if the serfs' rebellion was suppressed, it was only temporary. The losses of the nobles had to be compensated, and the situation of the serfs not having enough to eat in the future would continue.
Laing believed that the harvest of winter wheat could temporarily alleviate the contradiction between the nobles and the serfs. But with the spring plowing season and after the spring plowing season, the harvest season would be over. The season of lack of green and yellow in May and June would come, and the serfs would still have a situation of not having enough to eat.
At this time, when the contradiction was triggered again, it would cause a greater riot and commotion. Laing didn't think that Chaos would be indifferent to this matter.
He told his judgment to the female knight and the little maid.
"Laing …" Suria looked at her fiancé a little worriedly.
"Reorganize the army. I want to train an elite infantry regiment that can hold the line. It's too late to train more knights now." Laing gently held the female knight's hand. "The rebellion is not a coincidence. The only thing we can do is to be prepared."
"Yes!" Suria nodded firmly. The female knight sneaked a glance at Emilia, who was still in the room, and decided to kiss Laing's cheek. "Let me help you."
"Okay!"
Emilia pulled the hem of her dress, and the girl's expression changed. In the end, she also got up quietly and kissed Laing's cheek. "Laing, don't worry. Sister Suria and I will help you."
After this, Emilia was so embarrassed that she ran to the sofa and covered her head with a pillow like an ostrich.
… …
Laing's reply arrived at the Kurona Palace very quickly.
The count's attitude in his reply was very ambiguous. He first questioned why the nobles in the north didn't manage their own subjects well, causing a large number of them to go south, which affected the security of his territory and caused serious chaos.
Then, Ryan's reply was that he was looking at the bigger picture, and he did not intend to trouble the northern nobles over this matter. He was very "magnanimous" and said that he would not pursue their responsibility, and he would solve the problem of public security himself.
In the end, Laing also "generously" said that the number of escaped slaves in his territory wasn't as many as the nobles thought, but there were still some. He said that he would send about three to five hundred slaves back to their original duchies.
But in fact, the escaped slaves that Leon sent back were all lazy and idle people who were found to be gluttonous and lazy. Leon didn't want these people at all. So what if they were sent back?
Richard was so angry that he couldn't speak. The nobles and dukes in the north didn't have the energy to cause trouble for Laing. Many of the winter wheat in their territories hadn't been harvested yet, and the nobles had sent out a large number of troops to deal with the chaos.
At this time, no nobles dared to cause trouble for Laing.
What no one knew was that while the Brittany was busy dealing with their own internal affairs, in the wastelands in the north across the sea, the Skalins tribe.
The Skalins tribe was known as one of the most cunning and powerful tribes in the north. Since the arrival of Chaos in the north, this tribe had loyally submitted to the God of Darkness and became the followers of the evil god.
This was a barren, frozen land in the north of the old world. According to legend, this was a place where the God of Eternity had once summoned. It was also the eternal home and nest of countless nameless and formless monsters.
The men and women of the northern tribe offered themselves to the God of Chaos. These people were fur-clad warriors and burly men covered in hair. They were all powerful warriors without exception.
Even among the powerful warriors, the King of the Skalins tribe, "Red-eye" Egil Stillbjörn, was one of the greatest warriors. He worshipped the Blood God Khorne and called himself the "Soul Hunter" and the "Slayer of Noska". After he killed his father, he led the tribe for several centuries. Whether it was other Barbarian tribes, the Chaos Champions, the powerful Doomsday Draconic Demons, the terrifying Orcs in the north, or the huge Sea Serpents, the great King slaughtered all of them, adding a new stroke to Khorne's bloody history.
He won the favor of the Blood God Khorne, who made him the Chosen of Gods champion. The blessings of the Blood God gave him extraordinary longevity and immortality.
Khorne's only regret was that he didn't have an heir. Countless female Barbarian warriors were willing to become his concubines and share his bed, but they could only give birth to daughters. Egil hated the fact that none of them could give birth to a true Barbarian warrior for him.
He had killed tens of thousands of enemies for the Blood God, but he still didn't have a son.
And so, Khorne, the Chosen One champion, decided to set off alone. He crossed the Chaos Wasteland and killed countless monsters and a Chaos Demon. Then, he returned to the Skalinth Tribe. He wore red Chaos armor and wielded a Hell Axe. His golden hair and beard were decorated with iron bars, and his pale eyes shone with Khorne's fury. His beautiful armor was decorated with the skulls of his defeated opponents, and he offered them to the Blood God, Khorne.
Then, he prayed to the supreme Blood God on an altar made of countless skulls.
Khorne's Chosen of Gods champion wanted a son.
His prayer was answered by Khorne, and the Blood God's oracle descended upon him.
"The woman who can give birth to your son is in the south, in Brittany."
"Go, destroy the lowly people of the south and bring true civilization to them, my champion."
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