Lorist felt that he had failed as a lord. He remembered that when he first arrived in Galintia, he had read so many books in order to understand the world, and he didn't even miss the popular knight novels in the world. But in so many knight novels he has read, the lords described are tasting fine wine, surrounded by beauties, and are busy all day holding dances and banquets or having sex with ladies and ladies, or go hunting when they are bored. Participate in a knight meeting or something. Even if a war breaks out, as a lord, most of them are strategizing, sitting in the rear, and some of his men are brave knights to charge for him, and there may even be a very touching romantic love story on the battlefield.
Look at yourself again. After becoming a lord, you are as busy as a dog running around every day, and you have to deal with a lot of trivial things. There are many people under your command, but they are all waiting for you to decide on big and small things. , to decide how to deal with it. In the event of a war, you have to take the lead and rush to the front. This is not a lord, it is clearly a toil.
No, just before returning to Rock Castle, before taking a few breaths, the people who came to see something to report formed a large queue outside the door.
The first person to come in was Miss Tresty's old butler of the black iron class. After saluting respectfully and meticulously, he explained the purpose of coming: Miss Tresty hoped that Lorist would visit her in the next two days to solve the water wells in the residential area. and the water problem of the castle.
What about the well? Lorist asked curiously for a long time before he figured out that there are two plans for water use in the new residential area. One is to build a well for each household, which is a large amount of work, and the other is to have one well for each block, but this may cause water shortage Residents have to line up to fetch water every day. In addition, the castle under construction is built on the mountain, which is much higher than the urban area, so it is not easy to drill wells, so it can only be used from mountain springs. Miss Tresty hoped that Lorist could go over and make a plan.
Alas, it’s a headache to ask me all these things! The second person who came in was Kedan, who took over the prisoners escorted by Josk and the others. He had just completed the prison camp in the past two days, but he had no idea what to do with these prisoners.
Lorist said feebly that if there was any hesitation, let them collect building materials, since they had strength anyway. If you do well, you will eat well, if you are lazy, you will be whipped, and if you escape, you will be hanged. Promote the laborers who used to do these things to supervisors, instruct and monitor their work. Then let Ovikis change the task of the family soldiers sent out to patrol every day to guard these captives and work.
Boris the butler came in next, and he came to report a trivial matter, that is, all kinds of drinks stored in Rock Castle were about to run out. Since the commercial district was built, two taverns have been opened one after the other. The workers have regained their freedom and have wages. prosperous. However, most of the wine on Lorist's side was snatched from the Kenmes family's Red River Valley Manor Castle. Although there are a lot of reserves, it can't be stopped and it can't be stopped. In addition, the wine that Lorist and Viscount Kenmes jointly organized A large amount of alcohol was provided free of charge at the Knights Tournament, and now the remaining alcohol in the warehouse can last for four or five days.
Alas, if there is no wine, brew it. The brewing process of ordinary ale is simple. If you ask immigrants and laborers who can make wine and open a wine shop, the problem will be solved. Lorist said.
"Yes, but last time, my lord, you said that grain is the most important strategic material, and it is managed by Steward Hansk. We are building a city now, and we have not cultivated it. There has been no grain harvest in the past two years. The last time I got it from the Red River Valley Manor Castle The grain is enough for us to eat for one or two years, and now there are more and more people here, and the consumption of grain is increasing, how can we use grain to make wine?" Boris said.
Oh, or what I said. Lorist supported his head: "It's okay, let Manager Hanske take out the wheat to brew barley bars. You have heard this time, Beiye Town was slaughtered by the Duke's army, and we defeated them. We discovered from Beiye Town The stored grain is enough for us to feed for four or five years, so the food problem has been solved, and I will ask Fenglin Villa to deliver a batch after a while."
"Ah? You haven't left yet? Is there anything else?" Lorist asked.
"Uh, that's how it is." Butler Boris said hesitantly, "We caught some women, and they were working as private prostitutes in the big camp..."
"Well..." Lorist cheered up. This kind of topic is of interest to all men: "Where did these women come from? How did they become private prostitutes in the big camp?"
"Two are new immigrants from the Kenmes family. After being moved to the Rock Castle, we couldn't bear the loneliness and hooked up with men. There are four or five female slaves who were disliked by us after they were freed. The work is too tiring, and I have returned to my old job."
But this Lorist heard Boris' housekeeper say that the two hundred female slaves were originally the rewards given to the slave workers by the Kenmes family. If they performed well, they could reward a female slave to sleep with him for one night.
"My lord, according to their confession, there are dozens of women who are the same as them, but they were lucky enough not to be caught by us. How should we punish them? My lord, please show me..." Boris asked the housekeeper.
"Ah..." Lorist sighed, and leaned back on the table again: "Punish me! Since they are willing to do this, let them do it. Men need women, and women also need men. Rock Castle now has more men than women, And the men are still young and strong, so they need a place to vent. How about it, Boris, you go build a brothel and let those women go in for our management. We will charge a percentage of their income for protection. Thirty."
"My lord, in such a situation, other lords usually charge 60 to 70%."
"Forget it, it's not easy for them to earn this money. Thirty percent is enough for us. In addition, a notice was issued to tell those women that if they don't enter the brothel and still work as private prostitutes outside, they will have to enter the prostitution if they are caught." The museum gave us a year of work for nothing."
ah ah! What's the matter? My lord is still in charge of private prostitution. It's really a drop in price. After Boris butler left, Lorist lamented. But there is no way, I have to meet the next one.
Not one came in, but two. Lorist looked at it, it looked familiar.
The older one took a step forward, stood at attention and reported: "My lord, the two of us were appointed by Lord Pat to track down the whereabouts of the armed forces of the Kenmes family. We just came back yesterday."
Come to think of it, these two guards were bandits, no wonder they looked familiar, but Lorist could no longer remember their names.
"Sit, sit, sit down, don't stand here stupidly, there are chairs over there. This time you have made a hard trip. You have to be careful to be discovered by them. I am happiest that you can come back safe and sound. thing. Sit down and talk about it, what did you find this trip?"
"Thank you, my lord." After the two guards sat down, Lorist was shocked by the first words: "My lord, the armed forces of the Kenmes family have captured Earl Lopez."
"What? Earl of Lopez? Where is it?" Lorist looked down for the map of the Northland, but unfortunately, the land of Earl Lopez was not marked on the animal skin map he found.
"Bring Steward Boris and Sedkamp, Papa Barek, oh, Papa Barek accompanied Master Sid to explore the iron ore. Forget it, call Steward Boris and Sedkamp over here First."
"I remember that there was a map in the Red River Valley Manor Castle that marked the names and territories of the newly conferred nobles who were conferred by the second prince to the Northland. They should have been brought back and find out where they were placed." The person who was called back again Butler Boris said to Sodkamp, who said he didn't know who Count Lopez was.
Hearing Boris' butler's reminder, Sudkamp remembered that there seemed to be such a map. So after a while of rummaging, I finally found the map.
"Yes, my lord, there is a small hill here, which is the dividing line between the Viscounty of Kenmes and the Earl of Lopez. The hill is only about ten meters high, without water, and it is bare. The Kenmes family entered Earl Lopez's manor with armed forces. After the castle, we also mixed into the immigrant town outside the castle, pretending to be two mercenaries who were commissioned to find a special medicinal material of the Dragon Mountain, and found out that the armed forces of the Kenmas family had indeed accepted the invitation of Count Lopez to come to resist the mountain. The invasion of the barbarians. It seems that Earl Lopez fought a battle with the mountain barbarians a few days ago, and suffered a lot of losses, and the earl was also seriously injured. People in the immigrant town are panicked, for fear that the mountain barbarians will attack." The old guard said .
"Huh? No, didn't you say that the mountain barbarians are celebrating the Kupawisen Festival this year? Where did they find the time to start a war with Earl Lopez?" Lorist felt very strange.
"My lord, it is said that Earl Lopez started the war with the mountain barbarians. The team he led found a large group of mountain barbarian herdsmen driving a lot of livestock, so they took the initiative to attack and snatched all the livestock. As a result, they were attacked on the return journey. Many mountain barbarian cavalry attacked and managed to break out of the siege and escape back. The loss was huge, and everyone who escaped was injured. Those mountain barbarian cavalry did not pursue them, but shouted that they would come to Earl Lopez after the festival Settle accounts. So Earl Lopez was afraid of retaliation, so he invited Viscount Kenmes to send troops to help defend."
Well, that’s not the case for courting death. Doesn’t that Earl Lopez know that this year is the Kupawisen Festival of the mountain barbarians? Those livestock must be sent to Smolmegen Mountain for sacred sacrifices and blood sacrifices. It's terrible to be uneducated. To rob the livestock used for blood sacrifices during the festival of the mountain barbarians is simply... Lorist didn't know whether to praise Earl Lopez's courage or admire his greed.
"We also thought that the Kenmes family armed forces were here to help Earl Lopez, so we planned to come back the next day." The older guard continued: "Because I drank some wine at night, I got up late the next day. We found that the immigrant town was armed by the Kenmas family and put under martial law, no one was allowed to enter, and Earl Lopez's manor castle was flying the three-linked golden ring flag of the Kenmas family... "
"It wasn't until late at night that we got the news in the tavern that Earl Lopez had died of serious injuries. Before he died, because his two daughters were childless and were far away in the capital, he entrusted the Earldom to Viscount Kenmes, and even the Earl The title was also inherited by Viscount Kenmes. The Kenmes family has sent someone to formally apologize to the mountain barbarians. There is a rumor that the gift is the head of Earl Lopez... "
"The immigrant town was under martial law for three days before it was lifted. The Kenmes family issued a notice to reduce taxes and recruit garrison soldiers. They seemed to want to include all the young and old in the immigrant town into the garrison. The two of us were also stopped and questioned. It’s been a long time. But we said that we were mercenaries who came here to find medicinal materials for a mission, and they didn’t do anything to us.”
"When we left the town, we found that the guards in the castle were no longer armed by the Kenmes family. We found it strange. After many investigations, we finally found traces of a large group of people walking in the south direction. We tracked down and took a day to arrive. Here, it seems to be a noble territory, but it has been attacked by the Kenmes family, and the three-linked golden ring flag is planted on the castle."
"Viscount Sartre..." Lorist read while looking at the markings on the map.
"I know Viscount Sartre. He was an old nobleman from the former empire. His family died cleanly during the civil strife in the empire, and his territory was in ruins. After the second prince established his country, he occupied his territory. To avoid being criticized, he put Viscount Sartre was transferred to the Northland. He is just a widowed old nobleman," Boris said.
The older guard continued to report: "We didn't dare to enter the town again, so we just watched in the field. Three days later, the armed forces of the Kenmes family set off again, this time they headed east. We followed them, and they arrived in Anka two days later. The Barony of Porter set up camp outside the town in a very regular manner. The group headed by the group entered Baron Ancapport Castle as if to visit. We stayed in the wild until midnight, and suddenly found that Baron Ancapport Castle erupted. With a sound, the gate of the castle opened, and the drawbridge was lowered. Armed forces of the Kenmes family continued to rush in. In the morning, three consecutive golden ring flags were erected on the castle."
"We stayed in the wild for another five days, and found that the Kenmes family armed forces left a squadron of guards in the castle of Baron Ankaport, and then returned to the Viscounty of Sartre, leaving a squadron, and the rest of the troops returned. Counties of Lopez, we also came back."
Loris opened the drawer and took out two small purses made of gray sheepskin. This was specially prepared by Soderkamp for Lorist to use as a reward, and each purse contained five gold coins of the old man's head from the empire.
Lorist threw the money bag to the two guards: "Thank you for your hard work, take it, go back and relax. This is my reward for you."
"Thank you sir." The two guards retreated.
Today, the Kenmes family made a good move. Now Lorist finally understands why the Kenmes family would rather suffer a big loss than make friends with him. They knew that they had already confronted Duke Lukins, so they took this opportunity to not only get out of the matter and relieve their worries, but also quietly turned their spearhead while Duke Lukins was focusing on the Norton family, Targeting those lords in the eastern part of the Northland is really a good idea...
"My lord, I don't understand why the Kenmes family would do this. Viscount Sartre and Earl Lopez are the newly-appointed lords of the Northland just like them, and Baron Lopez is also the confidant of the second prince. The Kenmes family attacked them , aren’t you afraid of arousing public outrage by annexing their territory?” Boris Butler asked.
"Hehe, the Kenmes family is naturally sure of what they are doing." Lorist sneered, "They have a wonderful idea, knowing that the Duke of Lukins is paying attention to us now, so they want to take this opportunity to annex us." It is the entire eastern region. Look at the map, the Viscount of Kenmes, the Count of Lopez, the Viscount of Sartre, and the Baron of Ankaport are equivalent to separating the eastern part of the Northland. If there is no accident, The remaining dozen or so lords can't escape the palm of the Kenmes family... "
"When the Kenmes family occupies the eastern part of the Northland, they will become a school of their own, and even Duke Lukins can't do anything about them. The Northland will soon be very lively, and troubled times have come."
"My lord, do you want us to add some chaos to the Kenmes family, so that they can't unify the eastern region so quickly?" Sedkamp said.
Lorist lowered his head and turned around twice, and it took a long time: "It's too late, and we can't draw any strength. Don't forget, if the Duke of Lukins knows that their four thousand troops have been wiped out, it will be a big deal." They will be furious and send troops to retaliate again. What we have to do now is to build the Rock Castle as soon as possible, train our family's armed forces, and prepare to resist the Northland Legion."
…