Twenty miles southeast of Vilno, it was out of the sphere of influence of the Vilno garrison.

After the reconquest of the southern border, Provence was unable to effectively control the entire border due to the prying eyes and confrontation of the Lombards, and in addition to the fortress castles such as Vilno, and the main access roads were patrolled by the army, many villages, settlements and even ruined military forts along the border were very weakly controlled.

So, as the seven heavily armed riders rode through the village settlements, the people closed the gates of the fences made of firewood and wood, as if the "fort walls" that could be kicked through with one foot could really protect their lives.

The seven horsemen were none other than the five Ath and the two Vilno cavalrymen who had been ordered to go out of the city to lead the way, and at this time the five had turned into majestic Provençal horses.

The Viscount of Berrion led the elite frontier army of Provence, so their horses were also carefully selected and excellent Northland steppe horses, compared to most of the mountain horses in his cavalry team, these high-shouldered horses galloped with great speed, which made Art like it very much.

In addition to the war horses, Yat and several people also changed into the standard armor of the Provençal border army, Art wore a full set of exquisite plate chain armor, originally Nadode prepared a full body plate armor for Art, but Art did not go to charge, wearing a full body plate armor is too cumbersome; The four of Ron Matthew wore long shirts, chain mail or half-body plate armor, and their heads were also covered with steel half-helmets.

In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, all five of them also put on the burqa of the Berion army in addition to their armor.

In this way, seven horses galloped on the road into the southeast hills.

As you move further away from the castle and closer to the mountains, the scene changes along the way.

At first, in the villages near Vilno, you could still see farmers working the fields, and there was occasional smoke rising from the villages; Slowly, there were fewer and fewer signs of the farmer's smoke, and only occasionally a few returnees could be seen watching nervously in the dilapidated villages along the way; Once in the hills, there is little to see the atmosphere of peaceful life, and the villages built on the valley basin between the hills are almost still in ruins during the war, and even the villages that have been rebuilt after the war have been destroyed again.

On the evening of their departure from Vilno, they rested in an abandoned village.

The village was small, and even at its most prosperous it seemed to be only about two dozen huts and thatched huts, and the most luxurious building in the village was probably the two-story wooden house on the north side of the village, where you could barely see a few beams, and it was usually the residence of the village elder or squire, and the Yates were in this burned wooden hut that was reduced to a frame.

Art looked around, unlike the villages that had been abandoned for a long time, it was obvious that this place had just been killed, and when he came in, the graves outside the village were all new, and the burned wood in the village still had traces of char.

According to the two horsemen who led the way, the place had been sacked by the remnants of a group of rebels who had become bandits just half a month earlier, and the village was spared by men, women and children.

However, it is also convenient for those who are resting, since there is no bitter master, then you can take down the wood that has not been burned to ashes and chop it a few times at will to make a large pile of firewood, enough for a few people to have a bonfire for a night.

The two Vilno cavalrymen planned to take the initiative to take on the task of guarding the night so that the guests could rest fully, but Ron considered that it was not peaceful here, so he asked Matthew to take two attendants to set up a bright post and a dark sentry to take turns on duty, and also let the two Vilno cavalrymen take turns on duty......

The resting Vilno cavalry also took advantage of the vacancy that had not yet been rotated to take the initiative to fetch water and make a fire, and soon the aroma of wheat paste mixed with bacon and onion appeared from the deep barrel pot hanging on the campfire tripod.

The Vilno cavalry picked up a deep-bottomed wooden tray and scooped a large spoonful of bacon and onion wheat paste from the barrel pot, then cut off half of the brimming pickled fish by the campfire and put it on the wooden plate, and handed it to Art, who was sitting by the campfire and baking boots, "Lord Art, there is no food on the march, you will eat something to satisfy your hunger." ”

Art put down his boots and took them with both hands, and thanked him politely, and then the cavalry filled Ron with a plate full of food.

Yate ate two bites, the taste is not bad, the south of Provence is close to the Primorsky State, naturally there is no shortage of salt, so the pickled fish they make tastes excellent.

After dinner, Ron took the guards to replace Matthew and the others back for dinner.

Art took the wine bag off his waist and threw it to the hard-working Vilno cavalryman, "Man, how long will it be before we can find Lord Berion?" ”

The cavalry took the wine bag, opened it, raised his head and poured the wine into his mouth with half a fist, smashing it, smashing it, "It's really good wine, I always thought that only our Provencal wine was the best, but I didn't expect that the wine in the north tasted very good." ”

Art laughed, and said in his heart that this is a wine from Podol, and of course the quality is excellent.

"Lord Art, this is the border area of rebel banditry, and further inside is the place where rebel bandits are rampant. I only know that my family is suppressing bandits in that area, but the specific location has to be found later, but our people are all around to form a circle, as long as we can find our own people, we can ask the location of the adult's Chinese army. ”

"This is already in the war zone, for the sake of caution, we will have people in armor and saddles for a while, maybe those bandits will find the source of the campfire."

The cavalry was not drunk, and after taking another sip of wine, he returned the sac to Art.

Art tied up his wine bag and looked around, "As long as it's not a bandit, I'd like to have my head cut off as a gift to Lord Berion......"

Art's desire to cut off a few bandit heads as a greeting gift was ultimately frustrated, and although he was worried about the rest of the trip, he didn't even see the shadow of the rebels.

At noon the next day, the group met sixty or seventy Vilno soldiers who had surrounded and suppressed the rebel bandits, and learned from them that Viscount Berrion's Chinese army was stationed in a monastery at the foot of Mount Lamel.

So they kicked their horses and galloped away.

At the foot of Mount Lamel, in the valley after passing through the dense forest, an ancient monastery has been in existence for 100 years.

Monasteries are essentially the same as monasteries, but monasteries are usually built in secluded corners of the city or in quiet places on the outskirts of the city, with the aim of providing a place of retreat for the saints who believe in God. Hermitages, on the other hand, focus on "asceticism" outside of puritude, and monasteries, as the name suggests, are usually built in hidden places, and the monks who live there are also monks who are disgusted with the secular world.

The rebels and bandits were only against secular rule, and they categorically did not dare to invade the monastic places that belonged to God, and even the army of Art never took the initiative to attack anything related to the church and God, even in enemy countries.

It is because of the people's religious and devout belief in God that this monastery has been able to remain undefeated for a hundred years.

As soon as they arrived at the outskirts of the valley on horseback, the Ates encountered a patrol post, and after Vilno's cavalry came forward to identify themselves, the patrolling soldiers let them in.

Due to its remote location at the foot of the mountain, although it is also connected by a narrow mountain horse track, it is rarely visited by believers, so the monastery is not large.

A stone castle hall, five or six wooden huts, and a circle of earthen walls less than a man high were the whole monastery, and an abbot, a deacon, and eight or nine monks were all the clergy who were resident here.

However, in the last two days, the monastery has been very lively, with fifteen cavalry and thirty-five infantrymen, as well as adjutants, lieutenant officers, and three or four attendant servants, filling the already small monastery.

At the heart of the battle to eradicate the rebels, Viscount Berrion's Chinese command camp was set up in a wooden house next to the monastery hall.

Berion, who learned from the sentry that his friends from the Northland had visited him for thousands of miles, was stunned at first, but after making sure again, he showed surprise on his face, and hurriedly ran to the gate of the monastery with his adjutant and personal soldiers to greet him.

When people see each other, it is naturally indispensable to hug each other and greet each other, and miss each other.

The friendship between Art and Berion is not pure, and there are some close entanglements of interests between the two, the most direct being the profit sharing of Berion's interests in the European Comptoir.

The reason why Berion helped the Continental comptoir to gain a foothold and expand in Provence was not entirely out of friendship with Arte, and the Continental comptoir had to pay Berrion a profit dividend every year, which was not a small amount.

Even when the Northland War last year was in turmoil and the European Comptoirs were almost unprofitable, Art also instructed Salter to try his best to maintain the profits of the Viscount Berrion, and it was precisely because of this that the Viscount of Berrion was able to spare energy to clear the obstacles for the Continental Comptoirs along the eastern route when he was entangled in military affairs in the south, and it was precisely because of this that the Viscount Berrion would take a busy time to go north to teach the lords and wealthy merchants who were embarrassed by the Continental Comptoirs, and eliminate the stubborn enemies for the Continental Comptoirs, and it was precisely because of this that Berrion was able to resist the pressure from the powerful people of the Provençal court. Vigorously defend the privileges of the European Comptoir under the command of Yater in the southern trade of goods in the eastern region.

Interest is the strongest bulwark of friendship.

After more than two years apart, both of them have endless thrilling stories and legends.

This is the battlefield at this time, and at this time it is wartime, and things like singing and dancing banquets are omitted, and Berion brought out some wine, meat, fruits and vegetables for the Yates to eat, and then the guests and hosts sat around the campfire in the open space of the monastery and had a long talk.

Art told Berion the story of the two years after leaving Provence and returning north, from braving the snow to go north to recover the eastern border town of Valonburg to returning to deal with the assassination of the Dean family, from infiltrating the city of Saône to besiege the heresy of Assasin to setting off the heresy of the Earl of Burgundy, from Bernard's revenge on sending the western army south to fight in the north of the county to the promotion of viscount after half a year of hard fighting in the battle of the successors of the east and west, Art hid all the parts that were inconvenient to show, and launched a difficult promotion journey for Berion as a little knight, which made Berion speechless......

"In that case, I should call you Viscount Art!" Berrion raised his glass, his surprise overflowing, after more than two years of not seeing, the former brave knight has become a viscount.

"The last time I heard that you were promoted to baron, I was amazed at how quickly you were promoted and made me jealous, how long has it been, you have already ascended to the viscount, envy! Admiration! ”

Not long after Arte was promoted to viscount, Berion was in the south, so the news had not yet reached his ears.

"Thank you, Lord Berion, but the journey has been really difficult, and my viscount's crown is made of the bones of many officers and soldiers." Yat-ti cup touches.

Berion was also deeply touched, "To the souls of the dead! ”

"To the souls of the dead!"

The two of them raised their glasses and drank them all.

Neither of them is an idle person without a job, and after a nostalgic narrative, they return to the main topic.

"Tell me, my friend, you came to me in person from a long distance, didn't you just want to have a few drinks with me and show off your promotion to a knighthood by the way?" Barrion grabbed a piece of fresh roast meat from the campfire, tore off a piece and handed it to Art.

Art took it and chewed it twice, it should be a wild thing hunted by the guards in the mountains, and it tasted good.

"Lord Berrion, I've been to Lombardy ...... before I visited you."

Yate introduced Provence's tariff policy with the topic of high entry tariffs on his trip south to Lombardy, and bluntly said that such heavy tariffs only cut off Provence's trade routes.

Berrión explained to Art that the heavy taxes imposed by the south of Provence on the Duchy of Lombardy were only temporary, intended to punish the Lombards for their crimes against Provence, essentially forcing the Duchy of Lombardy to withdraw its troops from the border areas between the two countries with heavy taxes.

Hearing that heavy taxation was only a temporary measure, Art relieved his heart, for the European trading houses, the trade routes in the east of Provence were the basis for survival, and if Provence planned to use heavy taxes to stifle the southern goods from Lombardy north, the European trading houses would also be choked.

Art proposed that Berion send people to smuggle the most valuable spices, raw silk, ceramics and other small quantities of gold-related southern goods from the black market of Bogdan South to the Vilno Comptoir, and promised to give Berion one-fifth of the profits of the southern goods.

Berrion was both the lord of Verno and the keeper of the Provençal border, and he still had something to call the shots on the eastern border, and anyway, there were not many of these southern goods, and avoiding customs duties in the name of military resources would only cost the palace taxes, which was nothing to the huge Provence.

So after a little thought, Berion readily agreed.

Arte also talked to Berrion about the expansion of the Continental Comptoir in Provence, and Berion had another share of the Continental Comptoir, and of course he also hoped that the Continental Comptoir would occupy the entire eastern trade route, and Berion reminded Ate to do more to get the support of the Provençal court and the lords along the way to obtain the full support of Provence from top to bottom, and promised to personally take the head of the Continental Comptoir, Sarthe, around after the south was completely pacified......

Berion still had to command the army to fight, and it was inconvenient for Art to stay and disturb for a long time, and the long talk of the night had been said, and the alliance that should have been reached had been reached, and the people of Art slept peacefully for a night, and then planned to leave and go north at noon the next day.

In order to congratulate Art on his new viscount, Barion intends to give Art a bag of gold coins as a gift, but Art refuses.

Art was not a clear high, because he offered to exchange his five riding horses for five of Barion's war horses, which was more cost-effective for the small bag of gold coins.

Berion was not stingy, and agreed with a wave of his hand.

After a farewell and an unknown date and day, Berion sent Art to a two-mile dense forest prescription in the monastery before he turned away.

Art also reluctantly urged the horse to leave.

However, as soon as they rode out of the dense forest, they noticed a large number of unfamiliar footprints on the road......

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Chapter 393: Friendship Bastion