…
After the five people asked all the questions, Roland breathed a sigh of relief.
He leaned back on the chair, and Nightingale took the initiative to step behind him and rubbed his shoulders with both hands.
It only took one day from defeating the duke to entering the city and occupying the lord's castle.
Things went smoother than he had imagined. When the Duke died in battle, most of the people chose to surrender. The mercenaries turned their backs and knelt on the ground one after another, expressing their willingness to serve His Royal Highness.
So the mercenaries guarded the surrendered knights and nobles, and the First Army guarded the mercenaries, and a group of people marched mighty eastward, and arrived at Changsong Fortress at three o'clock in the afternoon. When the guards guarding the city gate saw Duke Ryan's head and a large group of captured nobles, they immediately opened the city gate to welcome the fourth prince into the city.
Roland did not summon all the nobles in the city with great fanfare and announce to them the ownership of the city, but went to the lord castle for the first time.
The castle is at the highest point in the center of the fortress, like a city within a city. When entering the castle area, a small-scale battle broke out. After Nightingale blew open the gate of the garden with an explosive bag, more than 20 guards who did not follow the Duke on the expedition tried to prevent Roland from entering, but were killed by the First Army. Five team members were injured, two of whom were seriously injured. Fortunately, Nana, who was accompanying the army, healed them immediately.
There were also ten guards who wanted to secretly take the Duke's family to escape from the back door of the castle. They were discovered by lightning who was watching from the air, and they were immediately rounded up. The duke's wife and two sons were captured until this time, still in the dark and ignorant of the news of the duke's defeat.
After taking control of the lord's castle, the First Army of Border Town immediately took over the defense of the castle area. I have to say that Duke Ryan's castle is three or four times larger than that of Border Town, and its shape is much grander. Six watchtowers form its regular hexagon outline, and the main tower in the middle is almost five stories high, which is a rare high-rise building in this era. There are residential warehouses and stables in the garden, and there is even a private prison in the basement of the castle.
He stuffed valuable prisoners and the duke's family into the cell, the civilians were all dismissed, and the mercenaries confiscated their weapons and placed them in batches in spare rooms in the garden. At the same time, he selected a few leaders to pay high salaries and let them take care of himself. In Roland's eyes, the North Slope Mine was the best destination for these speculators, but he had more important things to do now.
That is the most important loot link after a battle, commonly known as touching the corpse.
Roland took a bunch of witches to turn the castle up and down, and he didn't even let go of the Stone of God's Punishment placed in the vault and the secret room. The results were simply touching. The two boxes of golden dragons found in the basement warehouse alone are conservatively estimated to have as many as ten thousand. Nightingale found dozens of eyeball-sized gems in the dark compartment of the bedroom, while Echo found a dark room behind the fireplace. After entering the secret room, it is not only full of various gold crafts, such as scepters, crowns, etc., but also many dazzling pieces of jewelry, which are neatly hung on the wooden shelves on the wall.
This is the wealth of a duke!
Roland looked at this huge wealth, and then thought about the ore revenue of less than 500 golden dragons in the autumn and winter of Border Town, and he was filled with emotion. That's the allure of plunder, and if it weren't for a highly developed industrial society, he'd probably be addicted to it too.
However, with emotion, these things still have to be accepted. In the foreseeable future, the working population of Border Town will increase significantly. Before the development of territorial agriculture, he needs a lot of money to import food from other places.
So Hummingbird lightened the boxes of treasures, escorted them by iron axes and the prince's personal guards, and brought the spoils back to their castles through the township for storage. Taking into account the time it takes to enchant large items, it will take about three days for all to be shipped.
This is also the reason why Roland decided not to ask for the golden dragon as a ransom the next day. He had benefited a lot from eating up a duke, and now he needed living people and livestock even more.
"Your Highness, are you really only here for a week?" Nightingale asked.
"What's wrong?" Roland closed his eyes, enjoying the bursts of soreness from his shoulders.
"This is the largest city in the Western Region, right?" she whispered, "Compared to Border Town, don't you want to stay in this more prosperous place?"
"The forces of Changsong Fortress are intricate and complex, and it is not suitable for doing what I want to do. It's okay to maintain the status quo. If you want to make changes, the resistance you will encounter will only increase, and I can't rudely dismiss them now. And eradicate it." Roland smiled, "Of course, the most important thing is that the people here are deeply influenced by the church, and it is difficult to accept you in the short term. I once said that I hope witches can walk freely on the streets. Border town is now It has already been done.”
"Well," Nightingale said softly, "You kept your promise."
*****************
Early on the third day, Peiro brought his list in a hurry, and Roland received him in the hall as usual.
"Your Highness, I have made a choice."
"I'll take a look." Roland took the list. As expected, the bulk of the list was filled with serfs with a score of 2. About 800 people, 100 cattle and 300 sheep accounted for a total of 900 points, and the rest were all kinds of craftsmen.
"Your Highness, is this possible?"
"Of course, as long as you get 3,000 points." Roland returned the list to Pelor, "When can you gather these people and supplies?"
"You can do it today. This is an arrangement I made based on the property and people in the Honeysuckle Territory. But Your Highness, if you want to bring them back to Border Town, it may take about half a month."
"You have to do this yourself," Roland tapped on the table. "You should have experience in organizing caravan transportation, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Pei Luo hesitated, "Then my father..."
"You can take him back today," the prince smiled and handed him a parchment scroll. "If you think there is no problem, sign and fingerprint it."
"This is... an agency contract?" Pei Luo glanced at the beginning, his voice became excited, "Did you promise to grant the agency power to the Honeysuckle family? Please wait a moment." He flattened the scroll and began to carefully contract.
The prudence shown by the other party made Roland nodded with satisfaction. As a collaborator, paying attention to the contract is the most basic requirement.
After a while, Pei Luo raised his head, "The content above is basically the same as what you told me yesterday, except for one thing..." He pointed to the end of the contract, "Your Highness, shouldn't my father's name be written here? He is the Earl of Honeysuckle. , and the representative of the family.”
Roland smiled, "Of course not, it's you, not your father, who discussed the agency with me. So, your name is naturally written at the end of this contract."
Pei Luo was stunned for a moment, and asked in disbelief, "Your Highness, do you mean to let me come?"
"That's right, you will replace the Duke's position and take charge of the Longsong Fortress for me." Roland nodded, "If the contract is executed smoothly, you can continue to own the city after I become king." He paused. Pause, put away the smile, "But if you violate the contract, you will end up like the Duke. If I can break into the Longsong Fortress once, I can do it the second time. Do it well, Mr. Ambassador." (. If you like For this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point to vote, your support is my biggest motivation. Please come.)