The small square facing the main building in Slov Manor was full of people. This was the third morning after Lorist and the others occupied the Slove Manor.
In the middle are more than 700 slave soldiers holding spears, the group on the left is their family members, the one on the right is the slaves rescued from the camp of the slave catchers, and the thousand people crowded into a group at the end are the manor responsible for the grapes. Plantation and daily labor slaves and their families.
Lorist appeared on the balcony on the second floor of the main building, holding a horn rolled up in his hand. It has been two days since the Slov manor was occupied, the weapons and equipment and goods have been delivered, all the chores have come to an end, and the next step is to reorganize the army. Today, Lorist wants to speak to all slave soldiers and slaves, to give them hope, and to give everyone a strong confidence in embarking on the road to the north.
"I think I should introduce myself. I am Baron Norton Lorist, the head of the Roaring Bear family in the Northland." Lorist shamelessly crowned himself the title of baron that has not yet been officially inherited.
"The purpose of my knights spending a lot of money to rescue you from those despicable slave traders in Nubit Port, I believe you are also clear, is to form our own army of the Norton family, and return to the territory with your family members. And promised to give you freedom when you arrive in the North. But what we didn't expect was that we were attacked by these despicable slave catchers before we took the first step to the north, and they wanted to turn you into slaves , into goods, into bloody gold coins in their hands."
"Before the family's support arrived, you relied on sticks and spears to repel the attack of the slave hunters, and held the camp until reinforcements came. Then you captured the enemy's camp and captured the enemy's manor. In the process During the period, you stuck to your responsibilities, observed discipline, and perfectly completed the tasks assigned to you. Your performance has won our respect and brought you freedom."
"As the head of the Norton family, I, Baron Norton, hereby solemnly declare that from today onwards, you are no longer slaves, you are soldiers of the Norton family, a glorious warrior..."
"Oh!..." The more than 700 slave soldiers below boiled, and the cheers were deafening...
Lorist waited for a while, pressed his hands down, and signaled the crowd below to be quiet: "Your family members, after arriving in the Northland, will be given the status of civilians and enjoy the preferential treatment of relatives of soldiers of the family. You will be allocated fields and houses. , live a peaceful and happy life in the family territory... "
Not only the more than 700 family soldiers, but even their relatives cheered...
"In this battle against the slave hunters, seventeen brave soldiers gave their lives, and four soldiers were disabled, but the Norton family will never forget these dedication and dedication to the family. Contributors. The relatives of the sacrificed soldiers can also receive the same treatment as the relatives of the soldiers, and they can also receive a pension of one big silver coin every month. The period of this pension is 20 years. The same is true for disabled soldiers. But their pension is for life. This is my promise, Baron Norton, and as long as the Norton family still exists, this promise will never change."
The family soldiers below were all moved, and the relatives of those sacrificed soldiers wept with joy. What they fear most is that after losing their relatives, their family members will be regarded as burdens by the lord and will be ruthlessly abandoned. In this war-torn era, as a soldier at the bottom, he is precarious, and what worries him most is the fate of his family after he dies in battle. When I met a reasonable and kind lord, he said that he would get a few silver coins as a pension. If the lords were more vicious, they would even blame the dead soldiers for the failure of the battle, complaining that they did not fight hard, and then blamed the soldiers' families, and there were cases where the families of the dead soldiers were arrested and sold to slave traders.
What Lorist promised was unique in the history of Galintia. Everyone knows that once the number of casualties of soldiers reaches tens of thousands, the pension alone is a huge amount of expenses, and it will become a huge burden that a family cannot bear. In troubled times, human lives are worthless, and no lord dares to make such a promise to the soldiers who serve under him like Lorist.
In fact, for this promise, Lorist and Fatty Shi had a terrible quarrel, and even Bodfinger disagreed with Lorist's decision. He cited the example of the White Lion Legion in the past. The legionnaires who died in battle also just paid a pension equivalent to one year's salary of the soldiers who died in battle, instead of the 20-year deadline promised by Lorist.
Regardless of Fatty Shi and Bodfinger's firm opposition, Lorist forcibly passed the decision on the pension. He thinks that a soldier's life is not worth a gold coin's pension for one year, which is too cheap. If the Norton family had to pay pensions for 10,000 soldiers a year, then the Norton family would not be trapped in the Northland. They would have established a large territory long ago, and they might be able to establish a kingdom.
Lorist took the slave hunting group as an example. A few days ago, Lorist went out and killed more than 30 people, which was less than half of the total number of the slave hunting group. Manel and the others chased and killed more than half of them, but they didn't cause any harm to the pursuers. Only two unlucky guys injured themselves.
Lorist told Fatty Shi and Baldfinger that what he wanted was a family army that dared to fight and could fight to the death. Even if they can be eliminated, there will be a heavy price to pay. Only such an army can become an unstoppable hedgehog. Any enemy who wants to deal with the Norton family has to carefully calculate whether it is worthwhile. Only the existence of such a family army will make the enemy have scruples and dare not take risks. Both sides will suffer, and the consequences of provoking the Norton family will outweigh the gains.
To establish such a family army, the first thing to solve is to let the soldiers have no worries, and the pension promise proposed by Lorist is for this purpose. He said to Bodfinger and Fatty Shi, you only considered that the amount of pensions accumulated is a huge number, but you didn't think of the tricks in it. The 20-year pension for a sacrificed soldier is only 240 large silver coins, which is equivalent to 12 Gold Fords.
For a soldier who died heroically, twelve gold coins was not much, but it could keep the family members of the bereaved soldier loyal to the Norton family for twenty years. Only one big silver coin is issued every month, just like borrowing twelve gold coins, the monthly interest is more than one big silver coin. The Norton family can use this fund to open up business routes and develop territories, and the monthly payment of a large silver coin is actually just a small interest.
Only then did Fatty Shi and Bodfinger suddenly realize that they were not as thoughtful as Lorist. Lorist said that this is only the first step, and there is still a lot to do in establishing the family army. Soldiers must observe discipline and obey orders, and more importantly, establish a sense of honor in the family army. To be proud of being a family soldier, to establish the confidence of invincibility and the indomitable belief, but these all take time, and can only be achieved by long-term training and invincible battles.
After the cheers from the family soldiers and their relatives in the square below gradually subsided, Lorist raised the iron horn again: "My soldiers, the Northland is still far away, and the road ahead is long. Before we are about to embark on the journey , you have to reorganize and train. I will protect you with strong armor and arm you with sharp swords. No matter whether there are robbers or bandits in front, or even some greedy lord's army, as long as they stand in front of us, All will be reduced to dust under our chariot, and no one can stop us from going home. I will not abandon, I will not abandon any of you, under the guidance of the angry bear banner. We will definitely return to Beidi, live a happy and peaceful life!"
The soldiers and the crowd in the square burst into cheers again: "Norton! Norton! … "
Lorist raised the tin trumpet again, this time he spoke to the slaves rescued from the slave catcher camp and the slaves in the manor: "The Norton family has no slaves, and they will not exchange the blood and sweat of slaves for gold coins. Therefore, I Hereby declare that all the slaves we freed in the slaver camp and on this estate, you are free..."
Now the slaves in the square are also boiling, cheering and shouting loudly...
"However, you are free, so you can't leave right away. You will stay in this manor temporarily. You can leave when we go north, and we will give you dry food and travel expenses at that time. If you are homeless If you return, we also welcome you to join our army. You and your relatives will receive the same treatment as family soldiers, and the Norton family will treat them equally. Those who are unwilling to stay and plan to go home can stay in the manor during this period. Days work for us, and we will give you corresponding rewards for your work."
Putting down the tin horn, he waved his hand at the crowd in the square again, causing even louder cheers, before Lorist turned around and left the balcony.
"It's the first time I've spoken in front of so many people. I'm nervous enough." Lorist muttered, took the linen towel from Suedkamp, and wiped his face.
The hall on the second floor was already full of people, and Fatty Shi was still leaning on the soft couch, Terman and Yuri sat under him. Opposite them sat Bodfinger and two of his comrades. Sitting behind them on both sides were thirty-eight veteran students of Dawn Academy, and some of them were still wearing bandages.
Al and Pat brought people in charge of guarding the manor and didn't come, Reddy took Alisa to the garden in the manor to play. Little Schwader stood beside the first empty chair in the hall with a serious face. This was Lorist's seat, and he was playing the role of a servant.
In addition to those present, the old man Injerek and his beautiful granddaughter standing against the wall in the hall will also make a decision on their future fate today.
Lorist sat on the empty chair, and Suedkamp consciously stood beside little Schwarder.
"Let's do it as discussed in the past two days." Lorist said, "Borg Knight, I will leave it to you to form the 500 heavy armored corps."
Bodfinger stood up and saluted: "I will definitely live up to my lord's trust."
"Yuri, we must hurry up to form a light cavalry scout team of 60 people. This is the eyes of our team and we cannot relax."
"Yes, please don't worry, my lord." Yuri got up and replied.
"Terman, there are only fourteen members in your knight order, which is too small. How about this, each of your knight order will choose two knight attendants, and when they reach the silver rank, they will be awarded the title of quasi-knight. I will also accept them as family knights when I return to the Northland." Lorist said.
Of the thirty-eight veteran students of Dawn Academy, only thirteen of them have received professional knight training like Terman. As the most important assault force on the battlefield, Lorist decided to play tricks and ask each knight to bring two black iron knights. A knight attendant of the highest level, charging like this is more imposing and threatening.
"Okay." Terman replied, standing up.
"Dorles, the twelve crossbow chariots will be handed over to you, and deploy the manpower as soon as possible."
"Yes, my lord." Dolles stood up and saluted.
"Lummerd, how is your pharmacist team going?" Lorist asked.
"My lord, I found a junior pharmacist and two pharmacist apprentices in the camp of the slave hunters. Three of the slaves also know some knowledge of pharmacology. I have recruited them all into the team. It's just that there is a middle-level pharmacist in this manor." The master and his junior pharmacist daughter, they were hired by Slov. Now they have been put in custody, my lord, you see..." Rummard stood up, he is also one of the old students of Dawn Academy, and has been awarded qualified as a junior pharmacist. It’s just that he somehow had conflicts with his pharmacy tutor, Professor Snarder Borg, and was dismissed from the teaching position of pharmacy. Then he was bewitched by Fatty Shi, and he agreed to follow Lorist and the others to the Northland one line.
"Ask those slaves. If the father and daughter of the apothecary have done nothing evil, let them go, return their belongings, and ask them if they are willing to join our team, and if they don't want to wait for us to go north Let them go," Lorist said.
"Okay, my lord, I will do as you wish."
Not enough manpower, Lorist thought of the two comrades sitting beside Bodfinger.
"Ross, and this Mr. Mons, can I ask the two of you for a favor?" Lorist asked very politely.
Ross smiled straightforwardly: "Master Locke, please speak up if you have anything to say, it is our honor to be able to help you."
Mons Malek next to him nodded in agreement.
"It's like this. I also want to form a 360-man crossbowman team and a spearman brigade. Can I invite two guest ministers of our Norton family to take charge of these two troops? Commander? You also know that these comrades of mine are all just out of the academy, and they are not capable enough to become the officers in charge of the army immediately. Both of them are experienced officers, can you give some pointers to my companions?" Lorist asked.
"I'm fine, how about you, Malek?" Rose agreed happily, and then asked his companion.
Mons Malek also nodded.
"How about this, Malek was originally the military judge of our White Lion Legion, let him be in charge of the crossbow squadron. I prefer close combat, and I will lead the spearman brigade. Lord Locke, do you think this will work?" Ross said.
Lorist was overjoyed: "Then please leave it to the two of you."
"At present, our family has only about 700 soldiers, but there are more than 3,000 slaves rescued by us, most of them are young and strong. Most of their homes were destroyed by the slave catchers, and their relatives were also killed. Killing. So, I hope that you will try to mobilize them to join our family army as much as possible in the future. The more the number, the better. If you really don’t want to join, don’t force it, okay?”
"Yes, my lord." Everyone spoke in unison.
"Knight Shredder has the heaviest burden. He is our chief manager, responsible for all matters of the headquarters. I will let Sedkamp be his deputy. In addition, I will ask El Knight to recruit a team of guards to be in charge of the headquarters. Security matters." Lorist said and waved to Ingerek and his granddaughter by the wall, motioning them to come forward.
"You are very lucky." Lorist looked playfully at the grandfather and granddaughter in front of him: "The Norton family has no slaves, which I just promised in public, so you still have your own freedom in life. But Yingerek, you lead the crowd The fact of attacking our Norton family is undeniable. Although I spared your life, you must pay the price for what you did. Here are two contracts, you and your granddaughter should sign both. Don't worry, It's not a slave bond, but a contract to hire you as a servant and your granddaughter as a maid. After ten years, you can leave the Norton family."
Sidekamp next to him took two pieces of animal skin paper, a pen and a stamp box and handed them to the old man and his granddaughter.
Injerek's old face twitched for a long time, finally heaved a long sigh, took the paper and picked up a pen to sign his name, opened the seal box and pressed his fingerprint on the contract with his right index finger dipped in ink. His granddaughter followed his grandfather to sign the contract with a pale face.
"Your name is Jasmine?" Lorist asked the pale girl while looking at the contract.
"Yes, my lord." The girl was a little scared.
"Your handwriting is very good. I asked you to copy the fighting qi cheats. You completed it very well without any omissions or mistakes. I will not let you serve tea and water. Have you seen this fat man? He hurt you Grandpa’s hand made him unable to write. Therefore, from today on, you will become his maid and become his right hand. Assistant and deputy. Do you understand?" Lorist said, pointing at Fatty Shi.
The girl bowed halfway: "Yes, my lord, according to your wish, I will be his maid and assistant."
Fatty Shi was dumbfounded: "My lord, my lord, Locke, don't be kidding, I don't need any maid, let her serve you by your side."
Fatty Shi was so anxious that he didn't even call the adults and called Locke directly.
Lorist said with a straight face: "This is my decision and it must be implemented. I don't need to write anything. You need help for many things to come. And your tent is as messy as a pig's nest. You must There is someone to clean up for you. By the way, if you feel comfortable using those few slaves who can write last time, you can stay to help you run errands and be the office staff of the headquarters."
"Well, this Jasmine also has a little maid. I have already learned about it. Her parents were killed by the slaves. It was Jasmine who bought her to be a maid. Now she is free. Shredder You can sign a maid contract with her, and let her and Jasmine take care of you together. Injerek, you follow Knight Shredder these few days and obey his orders."
"Okay, my lord, I would like to help you." Injerek heaved a sigh of relief, as long as he can still be with his granddaughter.
…
Everyone retreated, and even Schwader went to find Alisa. Lorist rubbed his temples, it's really tiring, this patriarch is really hard to be. With so many things, I have to decide by myself. Fortunately, there is Fatty Shi available, otherwise I will find myself for big and small things, and I will drive myself crazy.
"Hey, Locke, I heard that you gave Fatty Shi a dainty beauty?" There was no one else who could speak like that except El.
"Are you here?" Lorist raised his head, watching El rushing in from outside.
"Well, just now Yuri and the others were muttering, envious of Fatty Shi. I happened to hear it when I passed by." El said.
"Let Yuri and the others find it by themselves. Sedkamp told me that among the slaves rescued in the slave catcher's camp, there are more than a dozen beautiful women who are still virgins. They were originally going to be shipped to Nubit Port to be sold at a high price. Now they have been rescued by us. Sedkamp also wanted to arrange some maids to be my maids, but I refused. You will tell Yuri and them later, whoever wants the maids to find them to sign a contract, as long as they are willing, they are not allowed Forced." Lorist said.
"Huh? Something's wrong, why are you uncomfortable, Locke?" El was a little fussed.
"What's wrong with me?" Lorist was baffled by El.
"Let me do the math, the one with Louise and your birthday, and then Nina, you've had five over the years, Sarah and you four, Julie three or four I forget, The new Molly has slept with you the most times, maybe seven times. Basically, all the maids in the old man's tavern have slept with you. You are not a person who can't let go of men and women. Why are you acting hypocritical now? Alright, not to mention sending a beautiful woman to Fatty Shi, and not even letting those rescued women be maids, is there something wrong with his body?" Er pointed his fingers and told about Lorist's dewy love affair, He really remembers it clearly.
"My day..." Lorist didn't know whether to laugh or cry at first, and then became angry. He rushed to grab El and gave him a big beating: "I'm a man, of course I need it. If I don't have a girlfriend, why don't I go to a tavern and find a maid?" , go to those brothels you opened? Tell you to take a peek, tell you to remember these... "
Needless to say, El can remember these things about Lorist so clearly because he must have observed them in secret, otherwise it would be impossible to have such a deep impression, even Lorist himself has forgotten several times, but El still remembers this clear.
After beating El, Lorist felt much more cheerful, sat back on the chair and said, "You know, El, before the north trip started, we first encountered a stumbling block like Slov, and then we went on the road. I don't know how many hardships I will encounter. If I want to accept the maid's greed for the pleasure of men and women, what will you think of me, will you be disappointed in me and leave me? You have also been a superior, and you know the difficulties of taking care of younger brothers. As As the leader of the northbound journey, I must bear hardships first and enjoy later. If my heart is scattered because of my greed for beauty, it will be difficult to lead the team."
El got up and nodded: "That's true, but it's a pity that these beautiful women gave up."
Lorist acted with discretion. Although Al was beaten a bit, he didn't take it seriously because of his thick skin. Besides, he was used to being beaten by Lorist.
"It's nothing to be sorry about. There are many beautiful women in the world. It's a long journey to the north this time. Those veteran students who follow us will also have some benefits. I hope that when they arrive in the Northland, they will all have someone they like, so that they can live in the Northland." The land has settled down. By the way, El, when you say that, I think of one thing, that is, when we occupied this manor, didn't we capture more than a dozen Slov and his cousin Pike the Great Swordsman Concubines, they are all beautiful. You will go to Rose and that Mons Malek later, and say that you will send two maids to each of them, and let them choose two. The rest you ask Ask those old students, if anyone is willing, give them a maid, well, you can also choose one." Lorist said.
"Of order, my lord." Al bowed respectfully.
…