On a morning so ordinary that it was indistinguishable from a normal day, most of the townspeople of Valuno were still struggling for their lives, but what they didn't know was that a meeting was taking place to decide their fate.

In Hams's meeting room, William, Mitchelson, Montgomery, Amy, and Conan all turned their attention to the map in front of them, and they even tried to hold their breath as they watched the map change.

Hams scribbled black dots and thick gray lines on the parchment map with carbon strips one by one, and his hands trembled slightly as he drew these seemingly ordinary things, as if he wanted to pour all his life's work into them.

Finally, when Hams let go of his grip on the carbon bar, he let it fall to the ground, and then sat down in a seat, and took a sip of the pale beer in front of him, as if he had just been involved in a fierce war.

Mitchelson leaned over and examined the map carefully, as a young man with an art education, Hams's paintings were not exquisite, but they marked the information on the map very clearly. He erased the location of the original villages, and then marked the new villages in several places, as well as some of the buildings to be built, including the roads to be repaired, the location of the flowing water mill, the lumber yard, etc., all of which were marked with complete symbols so that people could see them clearly at a glance.

"I don't quite understand what you mean, Lord Mayor, do you want us to develop the locations you've marked?"

Hams put down his glass, he seemed to have recovered his experience very quickly, I don't know if it was the effect of alcohol, his eyes began to glow with some strange brilliance. He was a merchant, and the table in front of him was his hunting ground, his tongue was a bow and arrow, and his language was an arrow. Now, the biggest prey he'd ever hunted in his merchant days had fallen into a trap, and with the last arrow away, he was able to negotiate the biggest deal ever.

"Yes, but not entirely. Hams was still slowly adjusting his breathing so that he didn't look so impatient. "I've identified some good areas around Valuno, and that's my suggestion as an elder who is familiar with the local situation, and I'd be glad if you were willing to choose one of them, and most of them used to have villages, and some of the farmers in the town might be interested in rebuilding their homes. ”

"Is this the price we're paying?" Mitchellson vaguely sensed that things were definitely not as simple as they seemed, and he continued to ask.

"This is the price I pay for helping you find immigrants. Hams patiently explained. "These places produce great crops, and the farmers will love it. ”

"What about the loan?"

"As for the loan, I don't need you to pay directly or pay for the goods as collateral, I want to get some commercial privileges in the villages of your territory. ”

"Please go on. Mitchelson frowned slightly, although Hams's conditions were tempting, but if he wanted to use these conditions to turn him into a puppet of the land, it would be too much.

"The map shows roads, mills, and lumberyards. What I have just shown you is some simple development plans for the vicinity of town. With that, Hams glanced at the young men with his eyes, and after making sure that most people understood what he meant, he opened his mouth again.

"These buildings, if they are built on your territory or not far from your territory, can provide some manpower support in the future, and if you put in a lot of labor, the city can also pay you some money. When the buildings are completed, the city will need to share in some of the revenue generated by the buildings. ”

Without waiting for a few young men to take a stand, Hams went on to make an additional request.

"In addition, I hope that for a long time, the merchants of Valuno should have the right of first refusal to buy the goods produced on your land, except for the surplus crops that are consumed by your territory, and even if other merchants offer higher prices, they should negotiate with our merchants before trading. On the other hand, I may assure you that the products produced on your land will certainly be exchanged for value, and I would like to tentatively set this period at fifty years. ”

Hams's words calmed several young people, Mitchelson frowned and thought about the gains and losses, Amy was thinking about the intention of Mayor Hams's move, Montgomery scratched his head in confusion, and Conan lowered his head and fiddled with the scabbard in his hand.

Fortunately, Mitchelson and Amy knew that encountering this kind of mental work could not trouble the work of these two masters. Mitchelson exchanged glances with Amy, then lowered his voice and said:

"I beg your pardon, even in the South, such treaties are all too rare. This matter is nothing more than an investment for you, and for a few of us, it is likely to be a lifelong effort and honor, and we have to think carefully. ”

With that, Mitchelson slowly stood up, bowed to Hams, groped with his left hand to find the top hat he had placed on the table, and walked out of the drawing room with his boots on.

Amy did not bow, and the clergy of the church had some special etiquette standards, and it was enough to make a cross with his hand on his chest. Montgomery, taking advantage of Mitchelson's words, finally made up his mind, picked up the tempting glass of liquid in front of him, craned his neck and drank it down.

William saw this in his eyes, but he did not say anything directly, but after sending several nobles out of the gate, he beckoned a few hired men around him, and asked them to send two barrels of such wine to the inn where Montgomery was staying.

After a few pairs of eye-catching leather boots disappeared into the corner with a messy step, Hams walked out of the parlor, turned to his son and asked a few questions.

"What do you think of these guys?"

"Some interesting people, we shouldn't exclude them, Valuno has always been an open city, father. ”

"You think my treaty is rejecting them?"

"That's a little too harsh. ”

"Harsh? Do you know that those nobles eat meat!"

"Father?"

Hams turned and left the compound, leaving William alone.

A few days later, a citizen took a letter and slipped it into Hams's hand, who handed it to William, who punched the envelope and found that there was only one note on it.

"Fifty years is a bit too long, what do you think of forty-nine?

—Michelson Lorraine"

William looked at Hams with a somewhat incredulous look, and Hams asked as he took care of the business at hand

"How?"

"Mr. Lorraine said he wanted to change the length of his service to forty-nine years, shall we promise him?"

"No, since he is willing to grind, then we will wait, they are not in a hurry, we must not be in a hurry, no matter how long the winter is, there will always be a time to pass, and when they have to look forward, then our opportunity has come. Write him a reply and say, "I think fifty-one years is more appropriate." ”

Hams put down the bill in his hand, and the muscles of his cheeks gently lifted the corners of his mouth into a relaxed smile.

"Interesting young man. ”

Scratching their heads, the citizens sent the wrapped envelope to the other end of the street with some doubts, and the whole process took no more than ten minutes.

"Maybe that's how busy the big guys are?"

Although he was puzzled, he still didn't say anything superfluous, after all, it is not easy to earn a dozen coppers in a few minutes now, and it is better to find a way to earn an extra piece of bread to feed his stomach and intestines when he has this time.

Mitchelson took the letter with greater doubts, he thought that the merchant would agree to his request, after all, a year or two is just a matter of face, everyone laughed and passed, which Cheng thought Hams would be more energetic.

He looked at the words on the envelope, and was a little puzzled by Hams's idea, but now that Amy was not around, Montgomery was still outside practicing swordsmanship with a thick wooden stick, and he couldn't even find a partner who could discuss things for a while.

At this point, Conan happened to be back in the cabin where he was staying, and he ran in like a gust of wind, and just as he was about to go out, Mitchelson called out to him with the mentality of being a dead horse and a live horse doctor

"Conan, come here, I have something to discuss with you. Listen, though you're young, I know you're a very knowledgeable man, do you think Hams's offer is worth agreeing to?"

Conan tilted his head, shook his body, and tried to speak after being convinced that Mitchelson wasn't joking with himself

"I heard an old man tell me a story about a very powerful neighbor to the east of us, whose country was composed of a federation of cities, and the area of the city occupied the main position of the country, and the vast majority of the nobles lived in the cities, and they had wealth, slaves, and land, and they relied on these things to obtain the right to speak in the city, and then to secure their due aristocratic rights. ”

"The Solomon Federation! It was a country from a long time ago, and I only read it in a single book. ”

"I think Hams's offer made it easy for me to think about this country, where the Northlands are now desolate, and maybe he wants to tie us up here in this way. He's not trying to vassal us, he's just trying to make us part of the city. ”

Mitchelson looked at the "little brother" in the caravan with some surprise, and almost stuffed an egg in his mouth.

Conan didn't pay attention to Mitchelson's expression, and he continued, as if he were reciting a manuscript that he had typed in his mind.

"Fifty years is not a long time, but as a stage of urban development, this is just a process, if everything is in an ideal state, fifty years, the wealth accumulated by the city is fully capable of eating all the areas we have developed, and then we can rest assured that a large amount of compensation will go to other lands to be lords, or take root in the city, and then the initiative will fall on us. ”

After listening to Conan's words, Mitchelson fell silent, this is an opportunity to eat money in the long run, and the more money they throw into the land, the faster the development and the speed of return on investment.

"He's raising us like pigs!"

"What about being a pig? It's better to be a pig in your own territory than to be a pig here. ”

A wry smile appeared on Mitchelson's face, which was very different from what he had imagined at first. He thought that this side might be dangerous, and that he would have to suffer, but he never thought that his position had already been clearly arranged.

"If the Emperor is willing to continue to invest north, will our situation be better?"

"That's the Emperor's problem. ”

Montgomery was sweaty from his workout in the courtyard, and he walked into the house and took a sip of a beer.

"It's so refreshing, I can't imagine that the ale here is so good, and next year I will definitely plant wheat on my land that can be used to make wine, and then take it out and drink it." ”

Mitchelson's face was gloomy and he didn't bother to talk to Mongo, but Conan looked as usual.

"Mönggo, pale beer isn't just made from wheat kernels, and if I'm not mistaken, you should at least grow some hops. ”

"This is what your teacher taught you?" Mitchelson had to take a fresh look at Conan, he tried to find out the details of the small transparency in this crowd, and then again, it seems that only Conan has never told everyone about his past, and if there is, it is only a few words in a hurry, and after a few months of getting along, he didn't even know that he had such a great ability.

"This is what I read in a book. ”

Mitchelson stared at Conan's eyes, trying to see him through, time passed quickly, Conan's pupils were still clear, but in Mitchelsen's eyes, there was a bit of strange light flashing in it, as if it could fill people's pupils.

Montgomery saw the unease on Mitchelsen's face, took a white linen cloth from the table, wiped the sweat and beer from his hands, took a few steps forward, and asked with some concern

"What's wrong, what's wrong with you two?"

Mitchelson retracted his gaze, waved his hand, and said in a somewhat depressed tone

"It's nothing, Möngke, please help me get another note, it needs to be clean. Also, if you still haven't had anything to do for the past two days, you can start looking for your beer seeds. ”

Montgomery did so, and he looked at this brother, who had always had a smile on his face, but now was a little gloomy, and he couldn't figure it out. Montgomery drank the rest of the beer from his glass, the aroma of wheat grains echoing in his mouth, and he felt a rush of gas rush up from his abdomen, a puff of gas coming out of his mouth uncontrollably.

"Hiccup~~"