"Father-in-law and mother-in-law, Lottie has been wondering why you two haven't come to visit her yet, my territorial doctor said that Lottie will give birth in a few days, and she has been very anxious for the past two days, and I am a little at a loss. I'm relieved that you're here. ”

Northwest of Boulder Town, Art and four retinue guards personally greeted Baron Galvin, who had traveled from Sapburg to the valley to visit and take care of their daughter-to-be.

In order to save time, the Galvin couple did not make a detour to Provence from the south, but they took ten escorts and a few servants, as well as a sturdy peasant woman who had just given birth and had been carefully selected, and pulled two empty carts from Sapbourg to the east, passing through the rugged mountains and taking a shortcut to the northwest of Boulder Town.

The road was not easy to walk, and there was a section of the road that was often blocked by falling rocks and debris that prevented the passage of slightly heavier carriages, so that the caravans of Art almost always took a detour of Provence to Sapbourg with their goods.

"It's all you old guy, I said come early and come over early, you have to go to Flender to discuss something, I don't believe that Flender will really be able to discuss without you!" Madame Galvin sat in a carriage and incessantly rebuked Baron Galwin, who accompanied her on horseback.

"What do you know about a woman~" Galvin muttered a sentence in his mouth, but his tone seemed to be apologetic.

Yat expected that his father-in-law must have been scolded by his mother-in-law all the way, and at this time, he mentioned that Lottie's recent restlessness made his mother-in-law very angry, and the atmosphere was a little unhappy, so Art adjusted his sitting posture and prepared to change the topic.

Art lifted the reins to the left, let the horse under him approach the carriage, and asked his mother-in-law, Mrs. Galvin, "Mother, how is Felix?" I haven't seen him in months. ”

Speaking of his only son, Felix Galvin's expression has obviously softened a lot, and it seems that Felix should be doing well lately.

"Kid, don't you say that Felix has grown up a lot since he returned from a serious injury in the Northlands, and now he no longer drinks and frolicks with the children of the squire lord's family in the territory, and is obsessed with training Sapp's army, this time he is taking his soldiers into the southern mountains to clear out a small group of bandits, so he has to come here in a few days."

"But that guy is just as obsessed with the so-called business as your father-in-law, and spends his days with the soldiers. Last month, a viscount from the province of Kodor came to Sap with his fourteen-year-old daughter, and this fool didn't even see the girl, which made me angry~"

Baron Galvin spoke again, "What do you know? The fellow of Kodor was a wall-rider, and he married his second daughter to the son of a squire, just because the squire was related to the Count of Bernard; He married his third daughter to a knight in the city of Jonah, for it was rumored that the knight's mother might have been in close contact with the Earl of Balwyn; Now that he has pushed his little daughter to Felix, who knows if he wants to catch Flender's line. Such a family is extremely stupid, how could I let Felix have such a wife! ”

Madame Galvin's face instantly sank again, not for anything else, she did not force Felix to marry the Viscount's youngest daughter, but she did not like Galvin's attitude very much.

"I said you old guy, why are you arguing with me everywhere lately, do you dislike me for being old? Did you find the fetters in the middle of summer again? Mrs. Galvin pushed open the window of the carriage and looked desperately trying to fight Galvin.

Galvin waved his hand and shook his head in denial.

Art looked tight for a while, and couldn't help but raise his head and stroke his forehead and sigh softly.

"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law." Art hastened to distract Mrs. Galvin.

"Art called you!"

Mrs. Galvin then closed her mouth and said to Art: "Your father-in-law has changed a lot since he followed Flender, he ......"

"My father-in-law also thinks about it from the perspective of the overall situation." Art immediately interrupted her mother-in-law's rambling.

"Speaking of the army that Felix trained, how's it going?" Art draws the conversation on things outside of the family.

"I have placed all the armies of Barony Sapp under Felix's command. He modeled on your military structure to establish the Sapp Standing Soldier and the Peasant Levy. ”

He ordered that each knight must form three cavalry, including the knight himself, and ten lightly armed peasants, who had to rush to Fort Sapu for one day of training each month, in addition to forty days of service each year. The rest of the territories without knights also formed light infantry peasant teams ranging from five to ten according to the number of subjects, led by the village elders or the sons of elders. At present, there are eighty-six registered peasant soldiers in Sapbburg, but fortunately, the people of Sapbburg are relatively wealthy, otherwise they would not be able to afford these peasants. ”

"What about the standing army?" Art is more concerned about the standing army formed by Felix, and the peasants and soldiers can still fight if they defend the land with high walls, but it is a little reluctant to go out of the city to fight, and they still have to rely on the standing army at the critical moment.

Speaking of the standing army formed by Felix, Galvin's face ached, and Fort Sap also had more than twenty sergeants stationed in the fort before, but their salaries and weapons and armor were slightly inferior to Galvin's caravan guards, so Galwin's cost on the standing army was very low.

However, when Felix took over the army of Sapburg, the situation changed completely.

"He cut out almost all the soldiers I had originally formed to defend the city, and then took ten of the most elite guards from my caravans as skeletons, and recruited more than thirty young men from the Sap Territory and various places to form an army, which hollowed out all the armaments of Sappburg, and equipped them with contradictory swords, axes, hammers, gōng nǔ, and even ordinary soldiers were equipped with cotton armor."

"And that's not all! He even gave a monthly salary of fifty pfennigs to ordinary soldiers, and even more so to officers with a high salary. ”

"It's just a full armament and a high salary, anyway, it's only a scale of forty or fifty people, and I can barely afford it, but recently he actually told me that he plans to form a cavalry team with a scale of twenty horsemen! That's just crazy, how much does a war horse cost? How much is a set of cavalry weapon armor? How much does it cost to raise grain forage for war horses? He's really my purse bag and can give birth to cubs of his own. ”

The more Galvin spoke, the more excited he became, for he was able to invest half of his fortune in Flender, Earl of Longsummer, at one time because he knew that the trade would be very profitable if it was successful, and that it would be a one-shot deal. But Felix was now raising a gold-swallowing beast, and Galvin's head was big.

Mrs. Galvin didn't think so, "I quite agree with Felix's approach, why don't you want to spend another million Fennig to build a strong army if you are willing to give a million Fennig to Flender as a bet?" If your fists are hard, you will naturally be able to gain a foothold, so why commit yourself to others everywhere? Look at this kid Art, what did he rely on from a commoner to a baron? It's not a sword in your hand yet! ”

Galvin couldn't refute it for a while, "I'm not against Felix forging a sword for the Sapyug family, the main thing is that now my money bag is really unable to support it, since the relationship between Balwin and Bernard has deteriorated, my southern goods trade in the west has shrunk again and again, and after selling the shops in the west, my goods are even more difficult to sell out, and now it is still difficult to maintain the status quo only by relying on the southern goods trade with Kodor Province, how can I have the spare money for him to form cavalry?" ”

"The! Let you be proud in front of Flender! Mrs. Galvin reproached.

Art knew that his father-in-law was now shy, so he kicked the horse's belly and hurried to Galvin's mount, "Father-in-law, the situation in the entire country is delicate now, and the slightest carelessness will be a chaotic situation, so it's too late to sharpen your sword and sharpen your sword while you have some time." As for money, I'll figure it out. ”

Galvin raised his head, "Art, the army under your command has exceeded six hundred, that's not six hundred woods, your pressure is far greater than mine, you still take care of yourself." Sapsburg can hold out for a while. I regret now that I left you too little money, otherwise you would have survived a little longer. Galvin didn't know what Art had secretly seized in the past few months, and he didn't know if Art had succeeded in borrowing money from the Holy Order's treasury, so he was worried that Art was also weak now.

"Father-in-law, now that the Wells family and the Sapuyug family have married, they naturally support each other."

Art suddenly approached Galvin sideways and lowered his voice, "I've gotten nearly a million Fennig in this time, and it's barely enough to deal with the next situation." This time, when you return to Sap, I will send someone to escort 200,000 Fenni to Fort Sap as military expenses for Felix's army training. ”

Galvin gave Art a startled look, and Art nodded.

"That's okay, if you really have money, I won't pretend, but you must keep enough for yourself, Felix is just a small fight in the end, your army really needs bloodthirsty swords."

"I know my father-in-law." Art replied respectfully.

Galvin suddenly remembered something and said to Art: "Art, you should know about the postponement of the uprising?" ”

"Well, yes."

"Flender's side has also suspended the deployment and movement of the army, and the Longxia Army is still secretly training in the Longxia area. By the way, Flender specifically mentioned you last time, saying that he wanted you to visit him in the middle of summer. ”

"Glad to be!"

While speaking, the group had arrived at the camp of Boulder Town, and the two of Obott and Banson had already been waiting outside the fort gate with the patrol soldiers in the camp, and Art led the team from Sapp into the camp to rest for a while, and continued to rush towards the valley......

............

In the early hours of the second Sunday in March, a loud baby cry accompanied by the rising sun resounded through the silent valley.

The valley welcomed the first generation in hundreds of years.

"Congratulations, Lord Baron, Madame has given birth to a healthy young master for you." The valley healer, Fana, personally took Emma and Lawrence's wife to deliver Lottie's birth, wrapping the newborn baby in a cashmere blanket and handing it to Art.

There was a burst of cheers inside and outside the mansion, and the officers and representatives of the lords who had been waiting all night inside and outside the mansion rushed to tell each other that a lord had a successor, and it was definitely a matter of celebration for all the lords.

However, Arte, who was a first-time father, was a little confused, he stretched out his hands and carefully held up the baby wrapped in a thin blanket, and repeatedly looked at the lump of meat in the swaddling clothes with his eyes closed, and for a long time, Art held back two words, "It's ugly!" ”

The crowd burst into laughter.

Art couldn't bear to look at it, so he quickly handed his swaddling clothes to Mrs. Galvin, who had already opened her hands with a smile on her face, and then hurriedly pushed open the door and walked to Lottie's side and held Lottie's hand tightly.

Lottie was already out of strength and pale, and when she saw Art coming, she barely squeezed out a smile: "In the future, you will have one more person to worry about." ”

Art leaned over and kissed Lottie's haggard cheek gently.

"What is our child's name? Did you decide no? ”

Art had thought of many names that were full of meaning or beautiful in advance, but after thinking about it, it still felt that it was simpler and easier to feed.

"George? Wells ......"

............

In mid-March, the Wooden Castle of the Valley was even more lively than the wedding ceremony of the palace guard knight Arte, and the barons of the Valle were crowded with guests who came to celebrate the baron's son.

This time, the guests were no longer dominated by the lords and squires of Sapsburg, and almost half of the lords, squires and nobles of the Tignats county rushed to the valley to participate in the naming ceremony of the barons' lineage.

These people aren't stupid, Baron Arte, the Frontier? Wood? Wells had been so well-known in Tignats lately that they knew that if they didn't take the opportunity to show their obedience to Art this time, it wouldn't be long before the Black-robed Frontier Rangers and even the Wells Legion would enter the village with weapons and let them use their wealth to make a statement.

Wealthy village estates sent spices, velvet or gold cakes and silver coins as gifts, less fortunate villages brought leather cloth or honey and wine, and small settlements with only about 20 peasant households sent one or two representatives to the valley with pigs, sheep and chickens and ducks to send a heartfelt message.

Of course, Art understood what these people meant, but it was better to be active than passive, so he accepted them all and asked the old butler to register the gifts sent by these people one by one.

Baron Antaas, who has become a commercial ally of Ates, certainly won't miss such a grand ceremony.

Tignets County is considered to be a relatively poor part of the country, and Andermatt Fort is the poorest place in Tignets County, located on the edge of the southeast mountainous area, with mountainous terrain, rugged terrain, and lack of stream and river irrigation, which makes Baron Antayas even less able to cure poverty and weakness. However, since joining the trade of Ate and sharing a piece of the pie from the southern trade routes, the Barony of Antayas has truly found a way to get rich.

Art is indeed righteous enough to his friends, he not only funded Baron Antaas to open up the way of trade, but also supplied to Baron Antaas the southern goods have always been in full quantity, high quality and low price, and now the monthly payment for the southern goods to Antayas has reached 15,000 fennig, of course, Art wants to profit from the trade route of Baron Antaas, which is understandable.

In recent years, the southern goods transported from the rugged roads in the southeast mountains to the cities and counties in the southeast and southwest of Jonah Province have begun to emerge slowly, without the layers of price increases of merchants at all levels on the road from Tignets to Lucesen and then to Besançon to Jonah City, the price of southern goods flowing into Jonah Province from the southeast mountains is at least 30% cheaper, so Baron Antayas quickly gained a firm foothold in the southeast of Jonah Province, and now even Jonah City has begun to appear the southern goods supplied by Baron Antayas.

Another businessman was born. But in front of the golden cakes and silver coins, Baron Antayas no longer cares about those false reputations, he has become addicted to them.

Baron Antaas was more obsessed with commerce and trade than the people of Fort Andermatt, not to mention the rugged roads in the southeast mountains, and Antaas did not have enough funds to buy a large number of wagons and cattle carrying goods, at this time the people of his territory who had been poor all their lives played the role of carriage and livestock. They carried heavy goods such as salt, dried fruits, raw silk, cotton cloth, dye, alum and silk from the southern border posts to the cities and counties of Jonah Province.

In addition to providing them with daily food, Baron Antayas paid some salary, although the so-called salary was only one or twenty pfennig per month, but it was not bad for the poor people who ate the bark. With the convergence of this commercial route, the cohesion of Fort Andermatt has also grown, and the prestige of Baron Antayas has grown.

The waist bag is getting more and more bulging, and the gift that Baron Antayas gave to his sister-in-law is of course very valuable—a small belt made of pure gold worth 10,000 fennigs. In addition to the tangible gold, Baron Antaas pre-awarded the infant George in the name of the Baron of the Frontier of the Court? Wells was a knight of the frontier guard, and a mill in the territory of Fort Andermatt Jr. and half a mile of surrounding land were designated as knightly fiefs, and according to the regulations, George Jr. could officially swear an oath to Baron Antaas and receive the title of Lord and the actual fiefdom as long as he was ten years old.

Art couldn't help but envy the "ugly guy" wrapped in swaddling clothes, he was full of "divine soul" and worked hard in this world for several years to have achieved a little achievement today, this guy was already a knight lord as soon as he opened his eyes.

Is Antayas' generosity genuine? The answer is yes, he does treat Art as a friend.

Does Antayas's generosity mean anything else? The answer is also yes, his money bag has not yet been squeezed.

Yate is also a confidant, he understands the sincerity of Antayas, so on the day that Baron Antayas pre-appointed Little George as a knight, Yate announced that he would seconded ten four-wheeled carriages and horses and livestock for Baron Antayas, and at the same time, Baron Antaas could borrow 50,000 fennigs of southern goods on credit from the border post every month, and the goods would be returned within half a year after the goods were sold. Not only that, but Yat also agreed to ask Count Balwyn to grant Baron Antayas the privilege of selling southern goods throughout the province of Jonah.

Such a return was far more than a gift of 10,000 finneys and a mill knight's domain, and of course, Arte's share of trade with Baron Antayas was also increased by 20% on the original basis.

The guest of honor has his own benefit, and a win-win situation is of course the best of both worlds.

In addition to the relatives and friends of the county of Tignaz who came to the former valley to congratulate, the two high-ranking nobles of Count Balwyn and Bishop Orlof in the far north, as well as the baron Charis and the knight of the palace guard, David and others also sent gifts and congratulatory letters, and the most touching thing for Art was that the Viscount Berion, who led the army to defend the border on the southern border of Provence, also asked his knights to send ten special gōng nǔ and a purebred high-quality war horse foal to the barony of the valley as a congratulatory gift.