On March nights, the cold is still soaking to the bone.

This small town on the southern border of the Count of Burgundy has just finished a gala dinner on a grand scale.

As the lord of the territory, Art emptied almost all of the town's reserves of beer, fruit, wine, bacon and vegetables, and left the two hundreds of soldiers who had been fighting for months on the march to eat and drink heartily for one night.

Art even led several of his commanders to personally hold a private banquet for the knight of Charles and his army commander in the inn in the market town, and the drinks were limited, and Art and Odogus Angus and others did not drink happily, but gave the precious high-end wine to the enjoyment of Charles and others.

After months of wandering, the officers and soldiers were very relaxed when they returned to their homeland, so the banquet lasted until late at night......

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

In the middle of the night, when the town finally quieted down, Simon, the commander of the garrison of the border town, opened the curtain of the tent in the outpost with his foot with a basin of steaming hot water, and said to Art, who was sitting on a wooden bench, as he entered: "My lord, Sir Challus, they have arranged to live in the hotel, and the rest of the soldiers have also lived in the tents set up in the military village. ”

Simon placed the hot water in the copper basin in front of Art, "This is the hot water you wanted." ”

"Why don't you go to the hotel, I'll have the merchants kicked out and make room for you." Simon persuaded.

In order to prioritize the accommodation needs of Sir Charles and several of his commanders, Art did not stay in the inn in the market town, but set up a tent in the outpost next to the storehouse.

"Simon, we are still counting on that inn to make money, in the course of business, the guest is God, if you get rid of this guest, maybe he will not visit our hotel again in the future, then we will lose a way to make money." Art rejects Simon's suggestion.

"Then why don't you live in our barracks, and the soldiers and I will go and squeeze in with the guys in the military village." Simon considered letting Art live in his barracks.

"Come on, I can't live in that nest except for lice and bed bugs. Besides, I can't take over the soldiers' shacks and chill the guys. Art rejected Simon's suggestion again.

"Or not~"

"Stop, stop~ You're not a baggage official, what do you care about my residence, I'll live here, it's good!"

Art interrupted Simon's words, pointed to the steaming white hot water under his feet, and said, "With this thing, I can sleep anywhere." As he spoke, he took off his wet cowhide boots and put his somewhat white and swollen feet into the hot water, enjoying his face.

After closing his eyes and enjoying the comfort of the heat surging for a while, Art opened his eyes and looked at Simon and asked, "Simon, did you hear everyone praise you at today's banquet?"

Simon smiled knowingly and replied modestly, "It's all the chiefs who have won the awards, and I just did what you and the old butler explained."

Art nodded and said with satisfaction: "What I asked you to do is not simple, I am satisfied that you can do so well." This also proves that I didn't choose the wrong person in the first place. ”

"My lord, there is also a credit to Brother Benjamin, now I only have a stump arm, and many things are done by Brother Benjamin himself. No, Benjamin was still busy arranging accommodation for friendly soldiers and the commanders and soldiers of our own army. Simon did not forget to take credit for his brothers.

"You're doing a great job, and I'm very pleased. I'll give you a credit story when I return from the East this time. ”

"Thank you, sir."

After a few words of encouragement, Yate got to the point and said, "It's rare to be quiet, so you can tell me briefly about the situation on this side of the border during this time." With that, Art pushed another wooden stool to Simon and motioned for him to sit down and talk.

Simon pulled over the wooden bench and sat down, and replied slowly, "My lord, you have seen the construction of this side of the outpost, and I will tell you about a few important things that have happened recently."

"Okay, you can tell me."

"Let me give you a report on the transit merchant tax that has been levied at the outpost in recent months. In four months, from October last year to the end of February this year, we collected a total of 13,000 pfennigs in the commercial tax, but in order to build houses, purchase utensils, and recruit vagrants, as well as the food and drink of the outpost garrisons and officials, a total of 7,200 pfennigs were handed over to the civil administration of the valley after removing the branches, and the tax collector had a book of accounts to verify. This is indeed not a lot of money, but it is also caused by the sharp decline in the number of business trips that have passed since the beginning of winter, and the amount of business taxes will definitely surge when spring and summer come. ”

Ya nodded and said, "Although the current amount of commercial taxes at the border is a little less, it is still stable. In the future, when the business road prospers, it will naturally increase. By the way, are there any caravans that refuse to pay taxes or avoid crossing the border? ”

"Yes! Last month, our patrol sentries caught a caravan trying to smuggle across the border from downstream to bypass the outpost. I seized these people and seized their goods directly, and they were also locked up for two days, forcing them to pay ten times the punishment tax before letting them go, and I warned them that if they dared to evade taxes again, what awaited them would be more than just a few days of detention and punishment. ”

"Well, we should be cruel to those who dare to evade taxes, lest they think that we are soft eggs who eat white food. Have you ever encountered a caravan that has broken through the checkpoints? ”

Simon came up, "Yes! In the late autumn of last year, a caravan claiming to be a certain nobleman from the north, relying on the support of someone and the strong guard of the caravan, directly rushed our outpost and slapped me. ”

"How? Did you call back? ”

"There were so many people on the other side that we breathed a sigh of relief, and when the caravan had passed, we made a detour and flew to the Boulder garrison. As a result, the caravan was attacked by a large group of bandits who suddenly appeared at the junction of the wasteland and dense forests north of Boulder Town, killing several guards and robbing a lot of goods. ”

"Want to pass through my territory safely without getting my tax papers? There are no doors. Art said fiercely.

"Yes, my lord, few caravans have dared to ignore our presence since. However, it seems that some people have complained to the county about our secret bandits, and the county has also sent people to investigate~"

"Ignore them." Art said.

Speaking of the county of Tignats, Simon added, "My lord, speaking of the county, I still think of one more thing. ”

"Huh?"

"The county town of Tignets has twice sent men to the border post to collect taxes, but I have refused, and they have threatened to come again until we pay the taxes, and these people are not easy to deal with the warrants of Viscount Pierre."

The court only agreed not to collect land taxes from the two estates of Yat, but the issue of commercial taxes on the free land was not clear, so the red-eyed county of Tiniets sent people to collect taxes from the outposts.

"If there are any more people in the county next time, you don't have to deal with them, you just let them come to me in person!"

"Yes, sir."

"Then I'll tell you about the trade goods at the outpost. After the operation of the two caravans, Salter and Lawrence, and the two caravans of the north and south, there were already a number of caravans that regularly traded goods to and from the border, and many of them were more or less directly trading with the outposts, and bought a certain share of the goods they carried with us. ”

"However, last month Baron Antaas sent Sir Druid to the outpost to conduct a trade in southern goods, and Steward Salter personally negotiated with Sir Druid, and Baron Antaas's caravan bought 18,000 pfennids worth of southern goods on credit from our stockpile, so there is very little stock of goods in the storehouse now. Steward Salter said that after the beginning of spring this year, we will have more business travel and goods here. ”

"As for the rest, it's nothing particularly important, anyway, everything is going well on the border outpost."

Art kept rubbing his feet in the hot tub, very satisfied.

"Very well, you will maintain the current stable momentum for the next period of time, if you continue to build new houses in the future, you must not build them everywhere at will, you must build houses according to the area I have demarcated for you before, I don't want this place to become a mess in the future, if you have any difficulties, report to the valley in time, I will tell Cooper to help you." In addition, I also looked at the military village next to the outpost today, last year in order to deal with the attack of the Dean family, the military village was built in a bit hastily, although you squeezed out again later, but it is not very complete. Next, you should spend more thought on the military wall, not only to increase the height and thickness of the outer wall, but also to continue to dig deep pits and ditches around the outer wall, set traps to resist horses, the military village is the fortress of the border outpost, we must prepare in advance. ”

"I made a note of it! But this thing has to cost a lot of money, food and materials~"

"You don't have to worry too much about money, food and materials, we have gained a lot of war profits from this war in the south to Provence, you can do it freely, the border can be self-sufficient, if it is not enough, apply to the valley."

Simon was relieved, and his heart was even more energetic.

Art closed his eyes for a while, then opened his eyes and smiled at Simon, "I heard that you recently became obsessed with a girl in the civilian area near the outpost?" ”

Simon's face flushed.

Art looked at the one-armed man's shy appearance, and couldn't help laughing: "As long as it's a man, there's no one who doesn't have a crush on women, what's there to blush about?" ”

"Where did that girl come from? How did you meet? Art asked with interest.

"She is a peasant girl from my hometown of Linjun, her parents died in the war, and she went north to escape the war in early winter last year, and she was almost frozen to death when she walked to the outpost~ I think she is pitiful——"

???“ You see that she is pitiful, so you will lead her to your bed and warm her up~" Art interrupted Simon with a smile.

???? Simon's face turned even redder.

Art no longer teased Simon, and said solemnly: "Since you have gotten out of bed with other girls, then let her be your wife in a clear and straightforward manner, and I will personally handle this matter for you after I return from the East." But you'll have to send her to live in the valley, and I'll make sure you'll have time to reunite. ”

"Thank you, sir!!" To be able to reasonably and legally own a woman, Simon is certainly happy.

"Okay, if you really want to thank me, just have a few more sons with your woman, we will need more pillars to support a world in the future......"

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

"If you really want to trap a man's heart, you have to give him a few more children, and with the bond of children, men can always worry about this family. You see that guy from Art has been gone for months, and it's really reassuring to leave you alone at home. ”

"When he comes back from Provence, you will have to bear me a grandson." In the bedroom on the second floor of the mansion of the lord of the valley, Lottie's mother, Baroness Galvin, and Mother-in-law of Art had just come from Sapp to visit her daughter in the valley.

"Mother, Art is also fighting here and for us to live better in the future, he is hard enough to fight on the battlefield, I can't make any more trouble for her." Lottie never forgets to defend her lover.

"I've only been married for a long time, and I've been speaking for him everywhere." The Baroness grumbled.

"Mother, what is my father doing during this time? He wasn't home the last time I was back to Sapp, and he didn't come with you to see me this time. Lottie digressed from her mother's topic.

Thinking of her old man, the baroness complained again. "Your father, that old thing, when he was young, was only concerned with business and making money, and never cared about foreign affairs. Now that I'm old, I'm starting to get obsessed with the world. The last time you were back to Sapp, he was invited to go to midsummer, and has been out a lot ever since, and ten days ago he went to Dijon with the Count of Flanders in midsummer......"

The Baroness realized that she had talked too much and stopped speaking.

"Go on, what did my father do in Dijon? Is the Count of Flanders my cousin? I remember we never had a relationship with this cousin, when did my father become so close to him again? ”

"Maybe it's business dealings, hey, let's ignore this old thing, what's going on with him all day long." The Baroness stopped the topic.

"Are you used to life here now?" The Baroness asked, stroking Lottie's hand.

"Mother, it's not as hard as you think. The valley prospered day by day, and the life of the people was better day by day. Needless to say, you can see the situation on the side of Mubao, even if the farmers on the southern side of the valley have enough food to fill their stomachs, two villages have been built in the valley on that side, and the wasteland has been reclaimed into fertile land. I think in a few years this will be the second Sapbourg. ”

The baroness nodded in approval, now that the valley carriageway has been opened, you can take a comfortable carriage in and out, and the wooden castle is becoming more and more prosperous, from taverns to workshops and schools, and what is even more rare is that the people living here are full of hope and vitality, and the people respect Yate who brings them a good life, and Lottie, as the lord's wife, also enjoys the love of the people in the valley.

"Hmmm! To say that this guy Yat's ability to run the territory is still very good, this is somewhat similar to your father. "The baroness is also a mother-in-law who looks at her son-in-law, and the more she looks at it, the more she likes it.

"Yes, Art not only has the shrewdness and strength of his father, but also the bravery that his father does not have, and such a man is more worthy of trust." Lottie said about her man, the corners of her mouth were slightly hooked, and her face was full of happiness.

"When he comes back, don't praise him so much, scold him first, otherwise he will think that you are easy to deal with." The Baroness taught her daughter the secrets of being a husband.

Lottie pursed her lips and laughed a few times, "By the way, Mother, has Felix written to you recently?" ”

The Baroness's face sank suddenly, and she said in an unkind tone: "Don't tell me about this heartless thing!" He hasn't written to us since he and his brother-in-law went south! ”

In a letter back from Art, Felix was mentioned, saying that he was very good and had made a lot of achievements in the Eastern Legion. Art told us not to worry, he would take care of Felix. Lottie quickly spoke out to comfort her mother.

"A father and son, two men are not good things." The baroness scolded her husband and son together.

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

Chewie!

Felix sneezed heavily.

Art turned his head to look at Felix, who was following him, and found that his right ear was red, and teased, "Felix, what's wrong?" Which girl is missing you? ”

Felix grinned and rubbed his nose, "I don't know, I don't have a beloved girl yet~"

Angus took a step forward and said, "Young Master Felix, then you have to hurry, your Ron brother has a girl who misses him at home."

Art turned to see that Ron wasn't following along, pulled the reins, and moved to Ron's side.

A long scar was forever left on the left side of Ron's cheek, and his handsome face was torn apart by a scar, and it suddenly became a little hideous.

Ron hadn't smiled since he recovered from his injury, and he rarely talked to anyone except for Yate and O'Do-Angus, and his whole body was much more gloomy.

"Master, if I don't go back to the valley this time, I'll go after Chief Odo, and go north with the soldiers, and you can bring peace to my family for me." Ron sat in the saddle and whispered with his head bowed.

"No! Come back to the valley with me, it's a military order! Art said stiffly.

"But I~" Ron looked up, tears glistening in his eyes.

"A scar should not be an obstacle to your return to your loved ones, and the people who love you will not turn you away because of a glorious scar."

Art pointed to the wooden boxes containing the bones of the soldiers who had died in battle hanging from the back of Angus's saddle, and said to Ron, "If you don't go back to see your parents and sister and the good girl waiting for you this time, you may be in a box and go home with me next time." ”

As soon as Art spoke, everyone was silent.

Ron didn't say anything anymore and obediently followed Art's warhorse.

"My lord, we're in Boulder." Angus stood on horseback and pointed to a tall watchtower not far away.

Art raised his hand and raised his eyebrows, got up and looked at the Boulder Town garrison camp where the smoke was rising, "It's just in time for their dinner!" ”

A group of five or six people beat their horses and ran towards Boulder Town......