Proof of the Sun King

When Ryan led the army to bid farewell to Francois and returned to the Earl of Glamorgan, it was already winter.

The world began to snow again, Ryan suddenly found that he was almost thirty-two years old, he laughed at himself, time really flies, when he set off from Nord, he was only twenty-four years old, a knight, and now Almost thirty-two years old, is the earl.

After returning to the territory, disband the army, distribute army salaries and pensions, and go home for the Winter Veil. The casualty rate of Ryan's army is about 25% this time, which is barely acceptable, but it needs some time to replenish and rest.

One winter day, Ryan invited Bellegar to the winery as a guest. The two sat drinking in the restaurant and chatted by the way. Bellegar held a beer mug, and there was a plate of roast lamb shanks on the table, and they ate.

"Oh, it's snowing, I like snowy weather, so I can hide in my house and drink hot beer." Bellegar stroked his white beard: "Brother Ryan, your territory is fine wherever you are. , it's just not good enough."

"What's not good enough?" Ryan wondered what day would you stop drinking beer?

Dwarves always drink beer as water, which is similar to the free people in the city. The new free people are no longer satisfied with drinking inferior Breton ale and eating black bread like serfs. The daily food is beer + whole wheat bread + vegetables + fruit.

After some people were promoted to the freedmen, their desire and ambition for further promotion also inflated. Now that Green Arrow Bertrand has been named a lord, the title of knight will make these freedmen fanatical for a long time. , Ryan also has to think about how to properly channel this frenzy.

"It would be nice if there were mountains in your territory, Brother Ryan, you must know that many dwarves can't actually adapt to living under the sky. It was too high and too far that day, and we were all worried about falling into it." Bellegar muttered: "You have to be glad that our Angrond clan is used to wandering outside, so it is still accustomed to living on the plains. Many bearded people in Karak-Iron Peak and Karaz-a-Karak are not used to leaving until now. mountains."

"So that's the case." Ryan nodded, and he said with a smile, "I heard that the dwarves here in the Grey Mountains will be better."

"Indeed, the dwarves of Rorek-Granite Hand and Breeze Castle have been in contact with humans all the year round, but they are very accustomed to going out for trade all day long. In general, there are many clans among dwarves, and there are many differences, such as Stromgarde The Guild of Engineers is the most radical of all the dwarven engineers, for example, Ironpeak and Clarion are still reluctant to popularize firearms." Bellegar continued: "And the old stubborn High King Thorgrim - The Resentful."

"But I remember that the old stubborn stubborn you mentioned helped you with all your strength when you attacked Bafeng Mountain for the second time." Ryan said with a smile.

"...I admit that I did something wrong." Bellegar suddenly blushed, and he said shyly: "At that time, I asked Thorgreen for help, hoping that he would help me recover the Eight Peaks, and Thorgreen agreed at the beginning. At my request, he sent an army of ten thousand dwarves to help me."

"Ten thousand people..." Ryan swallowed.

Don't underestimate the 10,000 dwarves, for the dwarves, 10,000 people are already a real army.

When he was studying in White Wolf City as a White Wolf Knight, he had heard from the dwarves there that the entire dwarven clan now has a population of less than 600,000 people. Lack, when the High King Thorgrim succeeded to the throne, there were about 112,000.

The Great Holy War ended, the previous Dwarf Supreme King abdicated, and the new Supreme King Thorgreen vigorously encouraged fertility after he succeeded to the throne, and established a very good relationship with humans. Eternal Peak trade prospered and recuperated.

One hundred and sixty years have passed. Humans have been able to double their population by six or seven in such a long period of time. What about dwarves?

There are about 150,000 or 60,000 dwarves in the Eternal Peak.

"Ah, 10,000 people, we formed a coalition and attacked Bafeng Mountain for the second time. Originally, Solgreen agreed that he would lure the enemy, and I would attack the main fortress of Bafeng Mountain... In fact, I did that, but the problem is that ... Thorgreen met Skarsnik's main army, and I faced some of Skarsnik's affiliated tribes." Bellegar blushed as he spoke of this incident: "I will take over soon. The call for help from Thorgreen...but I think I can take the main fort..."

Hey Hey hey! In other words, you borrowed a huge reinforcement from the High King, and the High King himself acted as a bait for you. As a result, Belgar sold the High King and his army when he saw the hope of conquering the main castle? !

The muscles in Ryan's face twitched.

"After a hard day and night, I finally conquered the main fort on the Eight Peaks, destroying the greenskin offensive and the stone statues, but Thorgreen couldn't hold on, he was forced to retreat, and I realized immediately that my army and I did not The ability to resist Skarsnik's return, so I can only order the corpses of the tribes and warriors to be buried in a hurry and withdraw before the whole army is wiped out." Belgar's face was full of shame: "This is my distance from recovery. The last time on Eight Peaks Mountain, after the withdrawal of the army, Thorgreen, who was extremely angry, cut off the food supply to our clan, and scolded me for treachery and would not support me any more. I screwed up."

"Then I hope you don't sell me too." Ryan joked as he raised his glass.

"I definitely won't, I swear in the name of Eight Peaks!" Bellegar said anxiously after listening to Ryan's words: "Brother Ryan, you can't break your oath!"

"I will not break my oath, and I also hope that my dwarf friends will not break the oath of the alliance." Ryan stretched out his fist: "We need to respect each other."

"Hey, I like you like this." Bellegar stretched out his fist and punched Ryan with some effort. The King of Eight Peaks drank the beer in the cup, and then arrogantly stretched out his hand to signal to the waiter beside him to refill.

The little maid Emilia who was standing behind Bellega immediately stepped forward to help Bellega to refill the beer. The time came to winter, and the little maid also changed into a thick maid dress with a fox fur jacket outside, which was beautiful and moving. Emilia smiled sweetly, and Bellegar also said a rare thank you.

Not far away, Queen Kermanek of Belgar was bringing his son to dinner together under the hospitality of Surya. After living conditions improved, the people of Belgar were no longer hungry, and Surya even entrusted The rune blacksmith Deron Fienson made a set of gold jewelry for Cormanique. The proud Bellegar said nothing, but was very grateful.

Brother Lane and his wife Mrs. Surya are my friends.

"Brother Ryan, we still rely on you for our food, but this is not a long-term solution." Bellegar mentioned his concerns: "The Blackstone stronghold still needs a sufficient and stable food supply, and we can't completely rely on trade and transportation. Bar?"

"This is indeed a problem, but... I already have a solution." Ryan took out a map and said in standard dwarven language: "Come on, King Belgar, look here."

A roll of maps was spread on one side of the table, and Ryan pointed his finger near the Blackrock stronghold: "Actually, near the Blackrock stronghold, at the foot of the Gray Mountains and against the Gresmory River, there is a piece of fertile land. , Unfortunately, it is too close to the Blackstone stronghold, because no one dares to settle there due to security issues, so it is all wasteland."

"Now that we have regained the Blackrock stronghold, we only need a few outposts and we can place this land under the protection of the dwarves, but... Brother Ryan, the dwarves are not a race that is good at planting." Bellegar thought first. He moved, but then he expressed the difficulty: "We don't have enough manpower. It takes a lot of manpower to rebuild a dwarven fortress."

"I know this, this problem is easy to solve, this piece of land is the land of the Duchy of Guisoleaux, but now the Duke of Hagen is devastated, and Kemler and his ancient tomb regiment have razed the entire southern Duchy of Guisoleaux to ruins. , we only need to propose the establishment of a trade post, a trade post that sells goods, communicates between the north and the south, connects the Pale Sisters Mountains in the north, and passes through Montfort in the south. The dwarves are willing to cooperate with humans to establish a trade market, and gradually develop into a trade town, Duke Hagen can't find a reason to refuse." Ryan showed a mean smile: "And this wasteland is located under the Blackrock stronghold. After repairing the mountain road, it only takes less than a day's mountain road to reach the Blackrock stronghold. ."

"Nearby farming, easy to transport, um... good, it's just that you're laughing uncomfortably, Granny is on top, humans are always so unpleasant, cunning like pointy ears." Bellegar had to admit that Ryan was right. The King of the Eight Peaks touched his beard, thought for a while, and continued to ask: "But what about the manpower? After the wars in Brittany over the past few years, the population has also decreased. Right? Where did we get so many people to farm?"

"Someone's." Ryan laughed wickedly, and he pointed his finger at some mountainsides and foothills near the Blackstone stronghold: "There are many rebel serfs there! They are all living labor, and these places It is difficult for the knights to attack, and the duke of Hagen needs the help of the dwarves, King Belgar."

"very good!"

…………

After receiving the invitation and proposal from Lane and Bellegar, even though the time was approaching the Winter Veil Festival, Hagen, Duke of Gisolayaux, chose to arrive in the Earl of Glamorgan in a hurry.

The situation is stronger than people. Tens of thousands of people were killed in the Principality of Giso Leaux under Kemmler's attack, dozens of villages were destroyed, and the situation in the entire Principality was in chaos. And the ruins, and the refugees who fled in the wilderness were left to the Duke of Hagen. Although Kemmler was defeated in the end, the scars he left will not disappear for a while.

Due to lack of food, the consequences of the serf riots in the previous years began to show. When Duke Hagen returned to the territory, he found that things had gotten out of control, grabbing food, bandits running rampant, and hungry victims everywhere. The town was like The meat barrels filled with dying refugees, the successive rebellions of the serfs made Duke Hagen anxious, but he himself was not a very capable ruler.

He is a Holy Grail Knight who lives in the capital Curona all the year round and rarely returns to his principality. The entire principality is regented by Count Jean-Harren. The Duke of Hagen himself is more interested in showing his personal virtues and in the church to the lake. The fairy prays and usually manages the affairs of the principality less.

It's just that he doesn't care anymore. The southern part of the duchy needs to be rebuilt, the victims need to be resettled, and the rebellion needs to be quelled. Duke Hagen, who is not good at internal affairs, can be described as one of the first two in the face of a mess, and he has a headache how to deal with those rebellions. serf.

Suppress? Those serfs are his property! In addition, the serfs hid in the mountains, and the cost of suppressing the bandits was astonishingly high, and the knights were not good at fighting in the mountains.

caress? Where does the food come from? How to place it?

After getting the letter from Ryan, he decided to bring Count Jean-Harren to come to Ryan. The dwarves planned to establish a trading post in the duchy of Gisolayaux, which is a brand new trade growth point! No matter how slow the Duke of Hagen was, he knew that this would be an opportunity for the Principality to develop and restore production and resettle the victims.

Outside the castle, in the wind and snow, the Ryan and his wife went out to greet the Duke of Hagen and his entourage in person. The Earl of Glamorgan put his arms around his wife's waist and kissed Surya's delicate and smooth face. He took a sip: "My lady~ I always thought that Duke Hagen was not a Holy Grail Knight..."

"Lion~Duke Hagen just rarely leaves Curona~www.wuxiamtl.com~, so his sense of presence is relatively low." Suria pushed Ryan's hand away with some reproach, the female knight is not used to doing this in public Intimacy, this guy, Ryan, wanted to see her shy expression: "Duke Hagen is upright and powerful, he just doesn't like to manage the affairs of the principality, except for major events, he basically lives in Curona, praying in the Holy Grail Cathedral and penance."

Dark red velvet coat with four mink fur on the hat. There is a gold ring on its crown, and it is decorated with 8 red gold leaves. Before Hagen, Duke of Guisoleaux, hurried to Lane's castle with more than twenty followers, Lane immediately stood up to show respect to the Duke: "His Excellency the Duke of Hagen, welcome to Glamorgan."

"Hello, Your Excellency Earl Lane, Madam Surya, on behalf of the Duchy of Giso Leaux, I would like to thank you for your help to the entire country in the battle of the Blackstone stronghold and the battle of La Maisonnell Abbey, without you and The efforts of François, Kemmler and his Tomb Corps will bring great disaster to this country," Hagen replied politely.

The Duke of Guisoleaux looks like a man in his thirties, with a mustache, a simple face, and a strong figure. He and François are people of the same era. The youngest duke in Brittany is Palaon. Duke Kasvann, in his forties.

After a few simple chats, Ryan had set up a banquet in the winery, but it was obvious that Duke Hagen had no intention of eating and drinking. After filling his stomach a little, Hagen couldn't wait to ask: "The dwarf is going to be in my duchy. Build a trading post? And help me suppress the rebellion?"

"Well, Your Excellency Hagen, you know, the Blackrock stronghold is not far from Gisolayox, and King Belgar needs enough food supplies..."

"Where is King Belgar? I want to meet him!"