Obviously winter is almost over, but the weather has changed suddenly. A sudden heavy snowfall fell on the northern border of the Byzantine Empire. The heavy snow lasted for three days. crossed the bridge. The lack of circulation of goods has caused prices to skyrocket in some areas. In this cold winter season, the skyrocketing price of food has put a lot of pressure on many poor people.
But these questions seem to be too far away from the nobles. When a heavy snow came, the nobles were busy holding various open-air banquets, riding in the snow to hunt, and enjoying the beautiful snow scenery, while those noble ladies and noble ladies happily took the opportunity to display their latest models. Fur clothing.
Char and the caravan of the Gallens Chamber of Commerce were troubled by the problem of road blockages, and they were forced to stay in Merika, the capital of Armenia County.
Armenia County is very close to Osgilia, the capital of the Empire. Administratively, it does not belong to the central jurisdiction of the Empire, but a Tema Military District. The military district consists of the county capital Merika, six surrounding small cities and dozens of villages and towns, with a population of more than half a million people. Moreover, from a geographical point of view, the Armenian military region is the closest to the capital of the empire, Osgilia, and Merika is also the third largest city in the empire. From the perspective of the strength rankings of the empire’s 46 Tema military regions, the Armenian military region is also stable. Top three.
The Armenian military region is also the first military region since the establishment of the Empire's Tema military region system, and the current Armenian Governor General Hughes is a powerful figure in the imperial military. The Armenian military region fell into the hands of his family more than 70 years ago. , and never gave up again after that, and it has been passed down for three generations.
After 70 years of operation, Armenia, like most other military regions in the Empire, clearly looks more like a country within a country, and the Governor General Hughes not only has more than 50,000 imperial specialties on the book. The peasants and soldiers under the Mara system, more importantly, have developed a standing army belonging to their own jurisdiction, a corps with a strength of 20,000 people - of course, this corps is not in the roster of the empire's military department. Existence, still retains the name of "a certain military region peasants and soldiers" - this is the same as most military regions.
It can be said that if you want to talk about the territory of the empire, which military region is the most worrying for the emperor of the empire, then the Armenia military region can definitely be ranked first!
It's too close to the Capital Territory, the capital of Osgilia! !
The capital territory of the empire is centered on the imperial capital Osgilia, plus six imperial acropolis and a surrounding area of about 1,000 square kilometers. And starting from Merika City, at the speed of the army's rapid march, if everything goes well, it only takes up to three days to form an army under the city of Osgilia! !
In addition, under the Tema military region system, these warlords and the central government of the empire are at odds with each other, so how can the emperors of all dynasties feel at ease in such a situation
The Armenian Military Region has an iron ore area with extremely high mineral quality. This iron ore was discovered 60 years ago. As a result, this discovery directly led to the prosperity of the family where Governor Hughes is located! ! With land, population, and rich iron ore, the strength of the Armenian Military Region has almost doubled! There is even a saying that the infantry of the Armenian military region wears better armor than the standing corps of the empire.
The best armor and weapons in the whole Byzantium are produced here! And the output is amazing. Because of such an advantage, the governor's family of the Armenian military region is regarded as a core figure in the military warlord party of the entire empire. The various armored weapons produced by Armenia are often sold to other military regions and become the warlords of this warlord party. core power.
※※※
The current Governor Hughes, even if he is a top ten person in the imperial military, such a person will naturally not come to flatter a small person like Char.
Even though the day after Char arrived in Merica City, the Hughes family had managed Merica City for three generations, and the pervasive surveillance network had already discovered the arrival of the most powerful new character in the empire. When entering the city, the pass documents presented by Xiaya revealed his identity.
However, after the news was reported to the Governor's Palace, Governor Hughes did not have any intention of meeting this "imperial hero". Only then, the spies from the Governor's Palace in Merika City got an order: Don't provoke that guy, let him cross the border smoothly.
It's a pity that because of heavy snow blocking the road, Xia and others stayed in Merika for several days.
The snow scene in the suburbs makes the nobles flock to it, but the city is a different scene.
After the snow on the road was trampled by the carriages and horses, it turned into black mud and looked dirty. The snow melted everywhere and turned into mud puddles. Occasionally, when a carriage passed by, the dirty water splashed by the wheels would be sprinkled on the road. on passers-by.
The price of grain has risen a lot. Although the Governor has ordered the release of the grain reserves and ordered the prohibition of those grain merchants from hoarding goods, the price of bread has risen by 40%, and the price of meat has also doubled - Armenia Although it is rich in iron ore, it is not the main grain-producing area of the empire itself, and the animal husbandry is not developed. Part of the food in the military region is usually trafficked from other places.
In general, the Governor's family has been successful in the three-generation operation of Merika City. At least there are not many beggars in the city who freeze to death and starve to death.
However, due to the heavy snow blocking the road, the people who were trapped in the Armenian city were not only Xia Ya and others, but also many other caravans from south to north trapped here—that’s all. After all, people who go out to do business are often quite safe.
But this time, many mercenaries and samurai teams gathered in Merika City.
Because just after the beginning of spring, in the imperial capital of Osgilia, there will be an annual competition. In the entire Byzantine Empire, as long as you are a member of the Byzantine Empire and have the official title of warrior rank, you can sign up to participate. Such an event.
This is an ancient traditional grand event of the Byzantine Empire for thousands of years. It is said that at the beginning of the empire, such a grand event was held just to promote the military style of the empire. The earliest competition was a grand event, just to let the warriors sign up for the competition. In the end, there will be a group of winners with outstanding achievements, who can be received by His Majesty the Emperor himself and receive some honorary badges, as well as a generous reward. There have even been some who became famous for participating in such a grand event and became a court warrior hired by the palace. example.
After thousands of years of history of the empire, the tradition of this event has been preserved, but the pattern has been renovated a hundred times.
In the arena, the original samurai individual competitions at the beginning of the game have been retained, and group battles have also been developed. The two sides of the competition are no longer individual samurai, but groups are allowed to participate! In the arena, under the watchful eyes of tens of thousands of spectators, among the cheers and shouts of thousands of people, the two groups confronted each other, and various warriors of different professions appeared, melee warriors, swordsmen, axemen, and even archers, assassins … Wait, etc., this kind of competition is no longer a simple competition of individual martial arts, but also must test the team's cooperation and collective combat skills.
Often in a competition, the losing party will suffer heavy casualties or even be wiped out by the massacre on the spot! But the reward for the victorious side is also extremely amazing!
In addition to the confrontation between people, there is a more bloody confrontation between people and beasts!
Crazy bulls, lions, tigers, leopards, hungry wolves... And later, it even developed to throw the captured monsters directly into the arena to fight against the samurai who signed up for the competition!
And the rules of the game are becoming more and more cruel and bloody! Before the game starts, all applicants must sign the contract of life and death, and once they step into the arena, after the game starts, when the gate of the arena falls, it will be an endless situation! Only the victor who survives can ask to open the floodgates and end the game! !
In recent years, the bloody level of the game has even reached an outrageous level.
Some convicted prisoners are also allowed to participate in such competitions, and once enough victories have been won, no matter what major crimes you have committed, you can get a pardon signed by the Chief Justice of the Empire! absolve you of all your crimes!
And there are some slaves, if they can become winners in such a grand competition, they will also be free!
Up to now, there have been many professional samurai teams in the empire who make a living by competing. These teams recruit brave samurai, organize in the city, and train hard on weekdays. Every spring, they will flock to the imperial capital to participate in such competitions. Once they win, It is to gain both fame and fortune, and if it fails... it will just become a corpse in the arena and be dragged down by the soldiers.
There are also some slave traders who sell some strong slaves from all over the world, hire samurai for training, and then sign up for the competition. Once they win, the slave traders can get a lot of money, and the slaves can get free.
At the same time, the gambling industry triggered by this ancient game has also become a source of sin...
※※※
At this time, it is less than a month before the annual Osgilia Athletics Competition, and many warrior teams passing through the border are trapped in the city of Merika because of the heavy snow. These warriors are usually tough by nature. They lived in various hotels in the city, and when they were full of food and drink, they watched the snow block the road, and the day of the game was coming day by day.
There are also some well-known samurai groups who have participated in the competition all the year round. In previous years, they formed a life-and-death hatred in the competition.
There are also some who have no hatred in the first place, but after hearing about the reputation of the other party's samurai team, it is inevitable that some people are ruthless and take advantage of the opportunity to kill potential competitors first...
Therefore, in the past few days, the public security situation in Merika has been almost chaotic. The soldiers patrolling the city have been busy running back and forth all day, fighting and even provoking vendettas one after another.
Although the patrolling soldiers have tried their best to suppress them, these samurai teams and mercenary groups who lick blood on the blade are living by their lives. Facing these soldiers, the deterrent effect is very small, and there are even a few special ones. The sturdy samurai group also fought two battles with the soldiers who maintained the order, and then Shen Ran left Merika City.
Anyway, the outskirts are icy and snowy, and the chasing soldiers in the city will not chase too fiercely, so just find a small village and hide it, and then leave when the weather improves.
※※※
People like Char and Guro have been living in this hotel in the city for two days. In the evening, they were dining and drinking in the lobby downstairs of the hotel. Before they ate, they heard yelling and scolding. Roaring, and then there was the sound of the table and dishes being shattered. The two groups of people sitting in the distance, obviously samurai people, shouted and scolded each other across the table, and quickly stood up with a hula, rushing to draw their swords and weapons. Just jumped up.
"Oh, it's the third time today." Xia sighed. He picked up the bottle and took two sips before sitting there to watch the battle.
The boss and the guys in the hotel were already scared and got behind the counter. The boss was lying under the table, his face full of fat trembling. He heard the sound of the table and chairs smashing, as well as the smashing of dishes, and even more meat. The pain was endless, but I could only lie behind the counter and pray in my heart.
The Lantis people have already gathered together quickly, and surrounded Gu Luo and others in the middle. I don’t know how many times I have seen this scene in the past few days, but everyone is not panicked, just keep a distance to watch.
The first time he encountered such a scene a few days ago, Xiaya was still very curious to watch it, but after watching it for three days, he lost his initial interest, but there was another reason to attract him to watch the battle: among these samurai teams, It is really a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger, and there are quite a few guys with powerful and unique martial skills!
Xia Ya himself is very aware of his abilities. His greatest abilities now are the crimson murderous aura and the dragon thorn. The crimson murderous aura can also be used as a regular combat power, but the dragon thorn can be used once, that is, basically if you do your best, you can't kill the opponent. It's over by itself.
As for the tricks, the only thing he knows is a set of "killing thousands of troops" passed down by the old man! This set of martial skills is naturally extremely powerful, but Dora in the pendant told Xiaya that although this set of killing thousands of troops is powerful, it is obviously a group battle skill! In other words, this set of martial arts is very suitable for group killings on the battlefield. But if it is a one-on-one contest, it is enough to meet ordinary enemies, but when encountering some powerful enemies, the martial arts of this group battle will inevitably be somewhat insufficient.
Among the smashing and killing thousands of troops, the most common move is group killing, that is, a combo that is swung out and the attack area covers an area, but if you encounter a one-on-one situation, such a move is in terms of speed, attack power and defense. There are quite a few shortcomings.
Originally, Xiaya didn't care, but Dora's words convinced Xiaya.
"If you have seriously learned a powerful martial art, then when you meet Hasting again, you can at least support him for a few rounds! Otherwise, with your current ability, even if you have crimson murderous aura, you will only be defeated. His instant kill. Even if the dragon thorn is displayed, it will only hurt him once, and you will surely die."
But martial arts... Where did you learn it
When encountering enemies before, they all relied on Xia Ya's physical strength, and used the body's instinct to react quickly, strength, and speed to counterbalance. When encountering ordinary enemies, he naturally has the upper hand. For this, Dora's evaluation is very harsh. : "You just don't talk about routines at all, you just bully the weak. If you really meet a master, they see your weakness, and a sword can make you lie down!"
But serious martial arts, there is no place to learn... Although Dora seems to be very knowledgeable, she seems to know a lot, but she is a dragon after all, human martial arts, she can't.
As for the other acquaintances, Sharba and other friends, their martial skills are not as good as that of Xiaya! And a powerful person... Hasting is one, but could Hasting come to accept him as his apprentice
General Adrick's martial arts should be quite good, but it may not be feasible for him to teach himself, after all, people have to lead troops to fight. Now watching these samurai groups fight, Xia suddenly had the idea of stealing learning.
I have seen a lot of mercenary fights in Wildfire Town before, but most of the mercenaries are also born in the wild! But these samurai groups in front of them are all serious samurai origins! After years of hard training in martial arts, the biggest goal is to compete! Among these people, most of them are skilled in martial arts. After a few days, there are actually quite a few masters!
Putting aside the actual combat, if you just look at the skills, I am afraid that if you just pull out one, it will be much stronger than yourself.
At this moment, seeing the two gangs fighting together, suddenly a roar was heard, and a warrior in black leather armor jumped up, flipped his hand, and a sword light shot out, and the enemy in front of him immediately covered his throat. Blood poured out of the crevices of his fingers and fell.
The sword edge of this black armored warrior shone with vindictive radiance, obviously reaching the level of an intermediate warrior, but his swordsmanship was ruthless and sinister, the sword shadows were repeated, and with a flick of his wrist, he could shake out When the sword flower comes, people can't see what is true and false. Every sword is pierced, and it can always target the enemy's vital points and weak points. In a moment, five or six opponents fell in front of him.
Such ingenious sword skills made Xia Ya's heart move. He couldn't help but pick up a dining fork in front of him and gestured back and forth, but it was obvious that the fictitious ability to shake out the shadow of the sword required wrist skills. Where did I learn it for a while, I just stared at the man with wide eyes.
Seeing an axe-wielding enemy slashed down with an axe, the black armored warrior used a sword blade to hold up the opponent's slash, and the sword blade slid down against the side of the axe blade. The opponent's three fingers! Then a sword went up and stabbed the man with the axe!
Seeing this, Xia Ya couldn't help but blurted out: "Okay!!!"
This shout is broken. Originally, the group of black armored warriors had already won a steady victory, and more than ten opponents had already been beaten to the ground. When they heard the applause, the black armored warrior suddenly turned his head and stared at him with a hostile expression on his face. shaya.
Xia Ya's behavior at the moment is really not outrageous. Others were beating to death, but Char was surrounded by a group of Lantis warriors carrying bows and arrows. His uncle was sitting there, stable, with a wine bottle in his hand...
The black-armored warrior snorted heavily and walked over slowly with his sword in hand. There was still blood dripping from the tip of the sword. It took about seven or eight steps to stand in front of Xia Ya. At this moment, his companions gathered around him. When they came over, they all glared at Xia Ya, and some of them were gearing up, and they were ready to continue fighting without a word.
"Your Excellency, it seems that he is also a samurai." The black armored samurai sneered and glanced at the Lantis people: "I just didn't hear that this year's competition allows samurai from other countries to participate, right? Which samurai group are you from? , It looks very good-looking."
Xia Ya put down the wine bottle in his hand, sighed, and said with a smile, "I've watched it for three days, and today was the best fight! Your sword skills are really amazing!"
The black armored warrior's face sank, and he shouted with anger: "Wonderful? It turns out that we fought to the death, and in your eyes, it is like watching a play?!"
Xia Ya scratched his head: "This... I'm having a good meal, and you guys are going to fight, can't I just watch by the side? You can't just let Lao Tzu cover your eyes when you fight, right? It's not a woman's bare buttocks. , what is there to see?"
As soon as he said this, the other party was at a loss for words. Although the turtle's words were rude, it was impossible for people to answer: In a large audience, it's you who are going to fight, why don't you allow others to watch
The black armored warrior is obviously not a person who is good at words. He simply slashed with a sharp sword in his hand, and said coldly: "My name is Afre Carter, the head of the wolf-toothed warrior group! You look like a samurai too. , I want to come to the imperial capital to participate in the competition. If you have not heard my name, then I don't mind making a good impression on you today! Say your name, samurai! Let me learn, you Does the arrogant face have matching skills!"
Before Xia Ya could speak, Dotolo jumped up beside him—it was the time to show his loyalty, how could Dotolo let go of this opportunity? And although the other party is fierce, the magician knows his master's ability! There is no fear, fox and tiger power, and there is no danger. At this moment, as a competent bastard, it is really a godsend opportunity!
"Blind your dog's eyes!" The magician stood up, but shrank beside Xia and dared not move forward, pointing at the black armored warrior Alfre Carter and shouting, "How could our adults be the same as you? Joke! Our adults are strong generals in the army, how can you samurai groups be qualified to challenge? Humph! Challenge our adults? I think you are impatient! Do you know who our adults are! Do you think Can you be defiant if you know how to fight with both hands? How is your swordsmanship better than Odin Hastings! Humph, Hastings fled with serious injuries in front of our family! Are you more powerful than Hastings? How dare you dare Challenge our family!!"