Seeing that Xiaya's face changed, Green's tone changed, a smile appeared in his eyes, and he smiled softly: "Is that the daughter of the Zaku tribe chief, the situation is very different. You work in the Zaku tribe. I also know some of those things, the Zaku tribe has a relationship with us, and owes you such a big favor - but you have to understand one thing, favor is a thing, use a little less, there is always a point that will be repaid Light. To build a true iron-clad ally with the Zaku tribe, something else is needed..."
Xia Ya's expression was a little gloomy: "Did you just sell me like this?"
Green listened, laughed, and patted Xi Ya's shoulder, the guy's face actually showed a smile similar to Fatty Ruhl: "How can you say it's 'sell'? He is the chief of the tribe. The daughter of Zaku, the Zaku tribe has always been a self-contained body on the mainland. Strictly speaking, this great chief is like a king or an emperor, and his daughter is also a princess. I have seen it a few times from a distance, and it looks beautiful and moving, such a good thing, how can you be a cheap guy."
Xia still has to tell the difference, Green has put away his smile, and said seriously: "It was a joke just now, but I'm proud that you married this 'princess' of the Zaku tribe, which will be of great benefit to us. Yes. Right now we are entrenched in this place in Moore County. Although it is still relatively stable, the rebels can't fight, and the Odins are busy heading south, so we have a chance to breathe and grow up here. But after all, we Now it has become an enclave for the empire. Far away from the imperial capital, it is isolated here, looking horizontally and vertically, up and down, front, back, left and right, all of them are enemies. It is impossible to maintain an isolated place for a long time, and you have to find another way to find foreign aid. "
Xia Ya also recognized his words.
Just listen to Greene continue: "The Zaku tribe is on the wildfire plain, claiming to be unified, and neither Odin nor our Byzantine Empire can control them. They have their own production, gold and tobacco, which make these Zaku people more than rich, And it’s another trade route. To build strong allies with them, and only rely on trading with the Zaku tribe, we don’t have to worry about military expenses in the future. I don’t believe you can’t see this benefit.”
"Not bad." Xia Ya nodded.
"Also, the Zaku tribe has always been entrenched in the deep mountains. I heard that they have many tribes. Seriously, is there a population of hundreds of thousands?"
"...It's about the same." Xia thought for a while and nodded.
"Zaku men are born good hunters, that is to say, almost all Zaku men are excellent and good warriors! For so long, neither we Byzantium nor Odin have taken advantage of the Zaku tribe. They knew that these guys were rich, but they failed to attack them. On the one hand, it was because the mountain road was rough and it was not easy to conquer them. On the other hand, the Zaku people’s own military strength should not be underestimated. It is not a problem to mobilize all tens of thousands of soldiers - this is a strong aid! If it is a last resort, we can also ask the Zaku tribe for help, or even borrow troops! With the Zaku tribe, we can Our tentacles stretched into the wildfire, and we said low... If the Odins send troops to the south again, it is also good for the Zaku tribe to help us make troubles and troubles for the Odins. "
Xia Ya smiled bitterly: "What you said makes sense... Since there are so many benefits, why don't you marry that Suling chick... Yi, by the way, old mad dog, you are still single at such an age. It's strange to have a wife." After a pause, Xi Ya rubbed his chin: "Well, it's not just you, that fat man Ruhr... Ah, and General Adric, you old men of the eagle family, Seems like they're all bachelors."
Green's face shuddered, and then he smiled bitterly: "Me? Humph! If it's for the sake of the country, I, Green, don't mind sacrificing it - but it's you who is crying and wanting to marry, not my old mad dog. If you marry the daughter of the Great Chief, plus your kindness to them before, this kindness plus family affection, and we will maintain this relationship well in the future, then the Zaku tribe will be firmly tied to each other. Our carriage is on! Whether it is the Odins coming, or the rebels heading north, with this relationship, the Zaku tribe will not sit idly by."
Xia Ya touched his forehead: "Difficult... That Great Chief, I've only dealt with him two or three times. He's a big fat man who looks simple and honest, but he's actually full of ghost ideas. He's smarter than a monkey and more cunning than a fox. He tied it up, I'm afraid it won't be that easy..."
"But what about military spending?" Green sighed and looked at Xiaya: "You don't know the current difficulties if you're not at home. We started a fire and implemented a scorched earth strategy. Although the urgent need was solved, the land was abandoned for several months. , although we later dispatched the nearby refugees to return to the land to cultivate, but the food harvest this fall must be insufficient... Fortunately, More County has always been a large county that produces grain, and there is a lot of grain in the warehouse. Some of the reserves left before the war, I have calculated for a long time, just enough for our military and civilians to spend the winter until next year! But the military expenses are troublesome! You are not one or two thousand people now, but ten or twenty thousand! Our plan It is to pull up a completed legion, so that we can deal with future changes in the future. Although we have a peasant-military system in Byzantium, I think you are very clear about what the peasant-military system has become now! So for recruits, we these days Since then, I have been adopting a combination of conscription and conscription. Among the old peasants and soldiers, I can only try to select some that can be used, and the others can only be recruited! If you recruit new soldiers, the settlement fee is an expense. , and equipment for recruit training... Weapons and equipment, armor and armor, horses, food, and soldiers' salaries and allowances, this is a sum of money... You know, our warehouse has long been empty. The county of More has already been smashed to pieces! The trade routes have been cut off, and the local agricultural tax has long been unable to collect... Most people have become refugees, where can they receive the tax? A copper plate in the warehouse No more. Now all expenses are supported by the gold you brought back - but we can't give gold to soldiers as military pay, right? I have desperately collected copper plates and silver coins circulating on the market outside, I even sent six people to Mesta City, and several times to Wildfire Town. I sleep now, and all I dream about is money! How much do you think you brought back? It's not gold and silver Mountain, it's just a few cars. If we spend like this, we can support it until the spring of next year at most, and I'm afraid we will run out of money!"
Green said, looking at Xia Ya with a sneer: "And you should also know that even in the spring of next year, we will not receive any taxes, our current county governor has almost become a military camp, Moore County. Most of them are rotten - even if they can collect taxes next year, how much tax can a county in More County have? It used to be only 2,000 soldiers in taxes, but now we have 20,000... and A quarter is the most expensive and most expensive cavalry!! If you don't want to make money, after next spring, I am afraid we will start to issue white bills to soldiers."
Xia Ya was silent and rubbed his eyebrows vigorously—how could he not know what Green said about these situations
It's just... If you want to plan for the future, you have to pull up an army of sufficient size. But to feed an army, a regiment-level army, you have to spend money—a lot of money, a lot of money!
The two of them were originally talking about Xia Ya's marriage, but after talking about official business, they both fell silent, feeling a little speechless at each other.
After a while, Green forced a smile and patted Xiaya: "Anyway, I'm just giving you some advice. You have to make up your own mind about marrying a wife."
Xia Ya thought to himself: If Lao Tzu could make up his own mind, he would have packed his bags and ran away at night. Now where am I making up my mind? Totally the crazy woman in the backyard...
But what about this, I just think about it in my heart, and I don't dare to say it out of my mouth. Otherwise, if Merlin finds out, he will either turn into a frog or a mouse...
Finally, Green stood up and was about to leave, but when he walked to the door, he suddenly stopped again, turned around and smiled, and said, "I almost forgot an important thing... Nene, what are you going to do?"
When Xia Ya heard this, it was another headache for him.
Sometimes, thinking about it carefully is really unreasonable... When I first came out of the mountain, I was a miserable little turtle, and I hadn't even seen a few women in my life. But now, it seems that the women around are crying and shouting to marry themselves.
Uh... Well, strictly speaking, Miss Nene doesn't really look like a woman.
But she was the one who gave him the most headaches.
Nene had a sincere love for Xia Ya, and followed him all the time, and even took the whole group to flee. He almost bet his entire belongings to Xia Ya. The most important thing is that Nene is a good person and has a good temper - this is really in line with Char's appetite. If she didn't think about marrying herself as a wife, such a person must be a first-class brother.
It’s better now, I’m getting married, and Nei Nei is so angry that she hides out of the city, she doesn’t even see herself, and she takes the cavalry to patrol outside every day—well, of course, well, one of the reasons is that Nei Nei Nei was afraid of Merlin, so he did not dare to enter the city.
But that's not the way to go, is it
"I can't say anything about Nene..." Green smiled bitterly: "To tell the truth, you and I are both men, what does Nene look like... Well, I have wronged you a bit. But after all, our cavalry are all men. It was established by her gang of horse thieves. Even if you don't want to be good with her, you must end things properly. You can't hurt people's hearts, lest there will be any estrangement or bitterness in everyone's hearts in the future. ."
After Green finished speaking, he left.
Leaving Xiaya there for a while, she suddenly slapped her thigh: "I can't help her with other things... But I'll go and beg Merlin to take off the cursed bracelet on Nene's arm, which is considered a treat to her. An apology from the old mad woman for forcing me to marry a wife, such a trivial matter, you are embarrassed to refuse me, right?"
Xiaya did it when she thought of it, and immediately ran to the backyard in a hurry, but when she got to the door, she saw outside the backyard and didn't know who had removed a door panel, and just stuck it on the ground.
Xia Ya took a closer look and saw a line of characters written like a ghost on the door, and the handwriting was strikingly red, with a stench, obviously written with some kind of blood.
"Within three days, the sky will collapse and the earth will not be disturbed, and those who enter rashly will die!"
As soon as he saw this word, he was instantly filled with suffocating energy, and Xia Ya felt a chill in his heart, how dare he take a step inside? Standing at the door, poking his head and looking in, he finally sighed and left. I called a few more personal guards and left people to guard outside the backyard. No one was allowed to go in to disturb them, even if it was three meals a day, there was no need to deliver them.
If some servant in the house accidentally entered, and Merlin turned into a frog or an earthworm, that would be wrong.
As for not delivering meals, will Merlin starve to death...
Oh shit! It's my shit!
Xia Ya thought bitterly in her heart.
It was really boring to stay in this garrison, and Xiaya decided to go back to the military camp outside the city to be more comfortable.
Immediately, he came out of the gate again, and without waiting for his attendants, he rode out of the city alone, but he just walked a street when he heard the hurried sound of horses' hooves behind him, and someone shouted from behind. An officer from the logistics quarters department was rushing towards him, sweating profusely, and when he came to the front, before he could stand still, he panted and said, "Your Excellency the county governor, our Lord Cato, please go immediately, there is an urgent matter! "
Xia Ya sat on the horse and looked at the officer. It was obviously a very young recruit. There were many recruits in the city, and many of them were scolded by the strict selection of Green, but Cato chose a few of them. The guy who is flexible and can write and calculate will fill up the logistics quarters. The young man in front of him obviously still felt a little immature, and the panic on his face was something that only recruits would have.
"Well, what's the matter?" Xia Ya didn't panic - Cato's place was just the logistics quarters, what kind of trouble could happen
"Yes... It's a fight. Master Cato can't hold back, so he sent me to report to you quickly. Please be sure to go immediately. I went to the garrison and said that you just went out... "
Before the other party could finish speaking, Xia Ya frowned: "A fight started?"
Xia snorted. Fighting in the army is too common. Xia Ya didn't care too much, but Cato, as the leader of the logistical quarters entrusted with him, couldn't even control the fights of his subordinates, which was too useless.
He frowned, but heard the officer lowered his voice and said in a low voice: "It's not our people... Yes, people from the 6th and 7th Corps came to us, Lord Cato, to ask for something, but the people on both sides of them were fighting each other. Got up and started fighting in our hall...and saw blood..."
Xia raised her eyebrows immediately!