At the end of March, spring is just beginning to arrive, but the chill is still there.

In the barracks of the commander of the stone house regiment in the Beiguan Military Fort, the bandit leader Lei Duoan, who officially led his bandits to join him, was covered with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and the stool under him had no backrest, and there was an empty sense of security behind him.

Redogan quietly raised his head and squinted a little to glance at Art, who was looking through the inventory of personnel and materials, and then immediately lowered his head.

Redogan was really afraid of Art, the scene of the battle in Boulder Town was too terrifying, and until now the white bones of those former bandit brothers are still erected on both sides of the trade road, and pedestrians and caravans dare not stop on that section of the road. Since Art secretly appointed Lei Dogan as his subordinate bandit officer, it has always been Angus who is responsible for conveying secret orders to them, and the mysterious sense of estrangement is very strong, plus in the past two years, Art's reputation has become bigger and bigger day by day, and the title is also being promoted step by step, and now there are hundreds of elite and powerful soldiers in his hands, and the kind of non-anger and self-authority that has been in a high position for a long time makes Lei Dogan feel palpitations.

Feeling that a long time had passed, Art finally finished reading the inventory in his hand, and looking at Lei Doan, who was already restless, Art opened his mouth and said: "The sergeant major told me that the number is 135,800 pfennigs, but you gave me a full 150,000 pfennigs, why is this?"

Lei Duoan thought that Art was disgusted with too few numbers, cold sweat suddenly came out of his pores, and a thin layer of sweat turned into beads, "Big~Lord, this~ This is already all the savings of me and my brothers, since we have followed you, we have never robbed recklessly, and the brothers have to consume food, drink, housing and transportation on weekdays, and there is really no money left~"

Art nodded noncommittal, and then asked, "I heard from the sergeant major that a few months ago you had more than sixty elite men under your command, why did you only bring forty brothers this time?" ”

Speaking of this question, Lei Duoan felt palpitations again, his face turned obviously pale, and he replied tremblingly: "Back ~ My lord, when I announced that I would lead everyone to surrender to the Ming Lord, some fools objected, and I thought that since I wanted to join the adults, I had to ensure that the team was clean and there was no scum, so I let those miscellaneous people who disagreed with me out of my team, and personally sent them away." Redogan said the word "leaving" very seriously, for fear that Art would not understand.

Angus had reported these things to Art a long time ago, and of course he knew.

"This thing is very good, my military law has always been strict, those brothers will definitely not be able to bear it, it is better to leave early than to let them not stand the military law in the future and defect." Art also "left" and bit hard.

Redogan sincerely thanked Angus for his guidance, after announcing that he would give up his free career as a bandit and become a patrol officer, there were indeed many bandits who opposed it, especially those who were later shattered by the black-robed patrol soldiers and had to join Redogan, and even more regarded the patrol soldiers and patrol officers as enemies.

Friendship grows and comes and goes freely. This is the promise made by the bandit leader Redogan to the bandits who raised objections, and after several repeated choices, finally twenty-three guys who are determined to be bandits choose to leave, Redogan has always been known for his kindness and righteousness, so not only did he not feel the slightest embarrassment to these twenty or so fellows, but even took out a lot of money from his small coffer to distribute it to the brothers who were about to leave, and then held a grand banquet for these brothers the night before leaving.

As expected, the twenty brothers left for good early the next morning.

Art tossed the inventory aside, and repeatedly looked at the bandit leader Redogan, who was sitting on a low stool opposite, more like an honest farmer than a fierce and brutal bandit, and if he didn't have his own backer, such a person would not have been able to control a large team of bandits.

"Redogan, since you and your buddies have officially become my team, you should follow my rules."

Lei Doan quickly raised his head and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, what should be given, in the name of God, we will always be loyal to the Lord and willing to sacrifice our lives for you." ”

A smile of approval appeared on Art's face, "Good! I officially appoint you as the bandit suppressor under the command of the Southern Border Patrol Officer of the Imperial Court, and there is also a squadron-level deputy captain position on the patrol team, and that is you. ”

Redogan didn't know much about the military system of the Wells Legion, and he didn't know how big this squadron-level vice-captain was, but now he didn't dare to question Yat's arrangement in the slightest, so he could only go down and ask others later.

"As for the ownership of several of your leaders and brothers, it will be a while later, and now all you have to do is to take your brothers to the Welsh Legion Recruit Team for a month of recruit training, and I will decide where they go based on their performance in recruit training."

"But don't worry, I won't put you in the air, there will be thirty soldiers under your command, most of them are your old brothers, but I will also send some key soldiers from the legion to your team to help you lead the troops. You are a person who understands and should be able to understand my painstaking efforts. ”

Redogan rubbed his head and stood up straight, "I can understand, I can understand." This is an adult taking care of me. ”

Art was satisfied, this man may be honest, but certainly not stupid.

"Since you are already my Yate's people, I will naturally not treat you badly, and in the future, my brothers' food, clothing, shelter and transportation will be provided by me, and the monthly military salary will not be less than one copper coin for you."

"After the recruit training is over, the bandit officer and the soldiers under his command will be stationed at Lane Manor, specifically responsible for helping me patrol {control} the county territory outside the county town, of course, the duty of clearing bandits cannot be left behind."

Redogan heard that Art was going to give him the duty to patrol the county and let go, this is a real job, and he finally doesn't have to worry about being overhead by Yate crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, but Redogan is also a little worried, now his son is a retinue guard by Art's side, and his wife is also following Emma in the wooden castle to manage the hotel shop, and he is very obedient on weekdays, of course Arte will not let such a person be hollowed out.

Art talked to Redogan for a while, calming his nervous heart, and feeling that it was almost there, Redogan was about to get up and take his leave.

"Redogan!" Art stopped Redogan, who had turned around.

"One hundred and thirty-five thousand eight hundred pfennigh will be handed over to the civil administration, and you will take back the rest of the money."

Redogan turned around and was sincerely afraid, "My lord, this is the intention of his subordinates and brothers~"

"You do things for me, I have no reason to squeeze you! The money belongs to you. ”

The uneasiness on Redogan's face finally turned into emotion, and he repeatedly vowed his allegiance to Art.

Most of the bandits who followed Ledoan to surrender were not criminals, and they were all eager to return to normal life, even if they were soldiers and bloodthirsty swords, they were willing. Especially those bandits and big and small leaders who have families, so these people don't have much resistance after entering the legion recruit team, they are easier to train than those newly recruited soldiers, after all, being a bandit also has to fight.

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

In early April, the wind clears the river, and the early spring breeze greens the valley.

The southern part of the valley was bustling with activity, and nearly 100 war slaves were reclaiming the wasteland under the supervision and command of the construction officer, the cantonment officer, and a team of peasant soldiers, holding a hoe, wielding a shovel, and holding a ploughshare.

This is the fourth large-scale reclamation of the valley land, and this time the civil administration has demarcated more than 6,300 acres of wasteland to be reclaimed under the leadership of the cantonment officer and the construction officer, and this year's reclamation task is 2,000 acres, and the rest of the wasteland will be reclaimed within two years next year.

This land is located between the newly built village and the workshop area, and it is the widest area between the mountains on both sides of the valley, of course, it is also a relatively fertile area, but because the two sides are relatively wide, it is not easy to take the flowing water from the river for irrigation, but fortunately, the overall water level in the valley is low, and only ten feet of digging can produce water, so the civil administration still draws on the previous experience to dig an irrigation well in the middle of every 100 acres of land.

"My lord, according to the calculation of fifteen acres of land allocated to each household under the two-garden system, the land we are about to reclaim is expected to be able to feed the land needs of 450 households, and with the method of manure and deep ploughing that has been promoted, it is definitely more than wrong to feed 500 households." On the hill that extends from the mountain range on the west side of the workshop area, Cantoniner Scott and several cantonment stewards accompany Art to look out at the busy reclamation of the land below the mountain, and the construction officer Lawrence is directing the war slaves to plow and dig in the black land where weeds have been burned.

Relying on the outbreak of "banditry" in the county and the large number of farm tools and livestock looted by leading the army to attack the southwest farm and Wincheston Manor, the Aat treasury is now very full of farming equipment. Land is the foundation of everything, so Yate asked the civil government to reclaim wasteland on a large scale.

In the past six months, the people in Yate's territory have not increased significantly, and the land that has been reclaimed is basically enough for the people to cultivate, but Yate knows that the proportion of farmers in his territory is too small, and without the strong support of agriculture, once the external environment deteriorates, it will be difficult for him to maintain his current strength.

Therefore, after the beginning of spring, while the money allocated to the civil administration of 150,000 fennig, Arte went out to buy grain and hoarded it in several valley warehouses in the center of the outer center of the castle, and at the same time ordered a large-scale reclamation of wasteland for the cultivation of grain. The valley's civil administration system has basically achieved food self-sufficiency, but the supply of huge military consumption is still very tight.

After two or three years of gradual growth, several civil officials have become more and more mature, and they can complete the tasks assigned by themselves under the leadership of old Cooper, and Arte himself only needs to issue orders and supervise and inspect and accept the results.

"Scott, you've done a good job of tuning, and when this land is cleared, I'll go out again to recruit the people, and then the burden on your shoulders will be even heavier."

Scott has now become a pivotal figure in the valley, he is basically the second only person in the civil administration to the civil affairs officer Cooper, so the sense of accomplishment and dedication is very strong, looking at the increasingly prosperous valley, his heart has an irrepressible joy and excitement, especially to be praised by the lord himself.

"My lord, we are just doing our best under the leadership of you and the old butler, and it all depends on you and the old butler."

Art looked back in surprise at the former northbound refugee beside him, the shyness of the past was replaced by the maturity and steadiness of today, "Do things with all your heart, well said!" If everyone can do as you do, then we will make the valley God's most prosperous paradise on earth. ”

Pointing at the hill for a few more moments, Art withdrew his gaze from the barren land below to the surrounding hills.

On the hill, the civil affairs officer Cooper was personally leading several middle-aged men who had worked as builders to point around the hill and write and draw.

That's right, Art is going to make a move on this hill.

Where is the core of the Barony of the Valley? Undoubtedly in the valley wooden fort. However, Art never considered building the Valley Wooden Fort into a strong fortress, and even the Beiguan Military Fort was a hundred times stronger than the outside of the Valley Wooden Fort.

The reason for this is because Art knows that a wooden castle is not suitable for building a castle.

Ever since Art first visited the hills that extend from this mountain range with Ron years ago, he had decided to build a castle here, and even the name "Willsburg" Art had reserved for it, which is why Art moved the workshop area to the bottom of this hill.

Originally, due to the lack of money in the treasury, Art did not put the construction of "Willsburg" on the agenda, but this time Art had some money in his hands, and he began to work on it.

Art didn't know how to build a city, but Cooper, the civil officer, was a real builder, and under Cooper's leadership, the survey and planning of "Willsburg" was underway.

Art didn't plan to build and put it into use as soon as possible for military purposes, as was the case with Beiguan Fort, so he planned to slowly build Fort Wells into the core of the valley over a period of three to six years.

Art walked up to the elder Cooper and watched as Cooper was sketching the castle wài wéi structure of Welsburg on a piece of birch bark with a carbon rod, from which it was already roughly clear that Welsburg would have three tiers, the outermost layer was surrounded by a river on three sides, the middle layer was the flat land and gentle slope under the hill, and the innermost layer was a large open space at the top of the hill......

Art wanted to speak to Cooper, who was concentrating on drawing, but was interrupted by the sound of horses' hooves galloping.

Ron rode a maroon horse to the bottom of the hill, jumped off the horse and ran directly to the top of the hill.

Adjusting his breathing as he walked, he deliberately lowered his voice when he arrived at Yat's side, and said in a deep voice: "Master, there is an urgent battle report from the north." As he spoke, he handed a note to Art.

Art glanced at Ron, took the note and opened it—the Western Frontier Army had moved, and three hundred men rushed to Tinets.

"Bernard is still here after all~"

"Saddle up! Rush to Beiguan Military Fort! ”