On the way back to the warehouse from the guild hall, Art's face was gloomy, and Felix followed Art with five selected caravan guards without saying a word. ∝ 8∝8∝ read ∝ books, .◆.o+

Back at the warehouse, Salter and Ravenkenem were pacing back and forth in the courtyard of the warehouse, when they saw Art come in and gathered around to inquire about the results of the meeting with the head of the guild.

"Failed, the guild still wouldn't allow us to sell southern goods in Lucesin for a long time, but they were willing to buy the fifteen carts of goods we were carrying this time at a price under the pressure of the bishop." Art said to the stewards who had gathered around as he walked into the inn room.

"Is there no other way?" Salter frowned.

"I kind of understand that the root of all this is in the Dean family. Over the years, the Dean family has taken full control of the southern trade and transportation routes of the eastern route of the Count of Burgundy, and their influence has penetrated deeply into every part of the eastern trade. As long as the Dean family says a word, the entire eastern southern goods store will lose a large supply of goods, so no city will dare to offend the Dean family easily. This is also the reason why we are suppressed by the guilds everywhere, and the Dean family has long given orders to the guilds in various places along the way to restrain us. ”

"The Dean family's power is so strong?" After all, Sarter was only a small merchant in southern Provence, and he didn't know much about the situation in the north.

Kennem is a merchant born and raised in Burgundy, and he knows more about the strength of the Dean family than others, "Salter is in charge, the Dean family has been operating the southern goods trade since fifty years ago, and their power is all over the country, even in the western region of the country, they will still be affected by them, over the years, Baron Galvin's southern trade in the western region has often been bullied by the Dean family, but Baron Galwin is a nobleman after all, and the eastern front is the "golden river" of southern goods, That's why the Dean family has never openly encroached on the southern goods store in the West. ”

Saying that, a few people had already entered the guest room, and Art sat on the chair and instructed a few of his relatives and stewards around him: "This trip to the north is a failure. But I have also found the root of the problem and the breakthrough point, and in a few days I will return to the south to start countermeasures. ”

Everyone didn't know what the "countermeasures" in Yat's mouth were doing, but everyone didn't ask in detail.

Art continued, "I'll give you a task for the near future."

The crowd immediately focused on Art.

"Sarter, you have two things to do. First, the guild has promised to let us go to this batch of southern goods, so you immediately go to the southern goods shops in the city to negotiate the sale of southern goods, except for the goods left for our own shops, the rest will be sold to me, and the price will be according to the market price, not a single copper coin is missing. Second, after the southern goods are sold, you personally take the coins of 4,000 pfennig to Besançon to meet the Earl of Balwyn, and send the coins to the Earl's Palace, saying that this is the surplus dividend of my caravan for the first half of the year, and you should tactfully tell the Earl of the caravan's current predicament. In addition, I will write a letter to the Earl, in which I will ask the Earl to find an increase in the number of Patrol Soldiers under the Patrolman's command. ”

"After these two things have been done, you will personally go to a tavern called Beer Castle in the middle of Besançon, by the square of the church, the owner of which is a friend of the sergeant major, and you tell him that we are willing to pay him a monthly salary, and hire him to find out for us the news of the court, especially the reaction of the court to the south for some time to come...... The news he found out was sent to our shop in Lucesin for further delivery. "Eight" "Eight" Reading "Book", .∞.o◎"

"Yes, my lord, I will do these things well." Salter replied.

Art looked at Kenneim, the steward of the shop, and said, "Kenneim, the shops in Lucesen City should not encounter major problems, and since the guild has let us go, you should not be harassed there, but now everything should be low-key, and you should not conflict with the guild people." In addition, the monthly donation to the church cannot be broken. What is your monthly salary today? ”

"Ah, sir?"

"I ask you, how much does Lord Galvin pay you every month?"

"Seventy puffins per month, and all the food and lodging are all expenses in the public account."

This salary is also the salary of most shop stewards.

"From this month onwards, your monthly salary rises to eighty pfennigs, and the rest of your salary remains the same."

"Thank you for your generosity, I will do my best to do things for you." Kenneim didn't expect that he would not only keep his position as shop manager, but also raise his salary, and he was grateful to Art.

"Kenneim, you have a wife and children in Sapbourg, don't you?"

"My lord, my wife and a son and daughter are all left in Sapbburg."

"Well, then I'll give you another secret mission."

Kennem listened.

"I will make Lucesian's shop my eyes and ears in the Northlands, and in the future, while the shops are engaged in normal business and trade and selling goods, they will inquire and collect all kinds of useful information for me, and you have been mainly inquiring about the reaction of the court to the South or all the news related to us for a while. The news from Besançon is also collected by you. ”

"If it's general news, you collect it and record it, and someone will come to pick it up regularly, and if it's urgent news, send someone to an inn in the southern city of Tignets called the Free Bison, and you go to Sir William every month to get a copy of the palace newspaper, and send it to the south along with the news collected in the northland. The cost of delivering the message is spent from the public account in the shop, and you just need to make the account book. ”

"Alright, sir, I'll do my best."

"Laven, how is the caravan escort's inventory doing?" Art asked, looking at the caravan deputy steward and captain of the guard, Laven, who was sitting at the end.

"My lord, all the checks have been completed, and after the checks, there is no problem with the guards transferred by the army, and most of the rest of the caravan guards are innocent, and there is circumstantial evidence and corroboration for this. Two of the newly recruited guards are unidentified, and I've given them a sum of money to dismiss. ”

"Okay, when recruiting guards in the future, you must check it clearly, and the guards must be strictly guarded. I've also given you a task these days. ”

Ravan got up and obeyed.

"In the last two days, you have taken a few clever guards to the mines and construction sites around Lusesen to recruit a group of skilled miners and laborers, in the name of recruiting caravan guards. You came out of the army, and you should be familiar with recruiting new soldiers. ”

"Yes, my lord." Ravan replied aloud.

"Alright, let's go our separate ways. Felix Jafar, you accompany me to Bishop Orlov's, and then go see Ron. ”

In a secluded room at Serankfer Abbey, a pale Ron lay quietly on a wooden bed when a monk who had just come out of the house bumped into Arter.

"Sir Art, you've come to see Brother Ron again?" The monk already knew Art.

"Hello Brother Drake, thank you for taking care of my brother, God commends you for your kindness." Art bowed to the monk who was leaving.

"It is the duty of a monk to save God's people, and Sir Art is a friend of Bishop Orloff."

After a few more pleasantries with the monk, Art turned to Felix and said, "Felix, you follow Brother Derek to the deacon of the monastery and bring our offerings to God." ”

Felix took a Holy Cross pouch containing five hundred pfennifers and followed the monk who cared for Ron to deliver the donation to the Cyrancopho Monastery. After all, Ron was seriously injured and needed to recuperate in the convent for a lot of time, which was also a little reward from Art to the convent for taking care of Ron, and he should have been more attentive to receiving money and doing things.

On the bed in the house, Ron had heard Art's voice, and he opened his eyes and struggled to sit up, but several attempts were unsuccessful.

Art stepped forward quickly and held Ron down to lay him down.

"Ron, you're a big guy, and I was already thinking about how to explain it to your parents that night, and you managed to get through. The deacon of the Holy Physician's House of the Monastery has said that you can't die. ”

A smile erupted on Ron's pale face.

"This time our trip to the north did not achieve the expected goal, we did not open the Northland Market, but we still sold this batch of goods."

"The group of men in black who assassinated us should be the killers sent by the Dean family, and then I will go back to the south to counter the Dean family."

"You can rest assured that you will recuperate in the monastery, Kennem will come to visit you often, and if you need anything, just tell Kenneim directly. Once your injuries are fully healed, Kennem will arrange for you to head south back to the valley. With that, Art gently unwrapped the cotton bandage from Ron's arm and examined Ron's injuries.

Art pointed to Jafar behind him and said to Ron, "This is Brother Jafar, he saved us, and he is also guarding my safety during this time. ”

Jafar stepped forward and nodded slightly to Ron who was lying on the bed, and Ron moved his head in response.

"Okay, I'm going south in a few days, you can recuperate with peace of mind, I'll wait for you to come back in the south."

Ron nodded in agreement, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.

Three days later, Salter and Ravin reported on the days in the inn room.

"My lord, with Kenneim's assistance, our goods were sold in only half a day, and now there is a shortage of southern goods everywhere in the Northlands, and as soon as the guild ordered the suppression of us to be lifted, several southern goods shops approached us and asked to buy southern goods. This batch of southern goods earned 43,200 pfennigs, excluding the caravan's own expenses during this period and the points given to the heads of the abbeys, churches and guilds, we earned about 38,000 pfennigs, plus the return trip to buy some grain wool and textiles abundant in the north, especially grain, now the war in the South is in great demand, if we can buy grain to Provence, we can also make a lot of money. ”

After hearing this, Art nodded and replied: "You can decide the purchase of goods for the return journey of the caravan, but don't forget to buy a batch of weapons and armor and fine iron raw materials for forging weapons, and you can take the stables to the mule and horse market to have a look, if you can choose a few military horses suitable for domestication and warfare, it is better." ”

"Well, my lord, I'll take care of these things. I'll talk about going to Besançon. As he spoke, Salter pulled out a lacquered book from his bosom and presented it to Art.

"This is a document issued by Lord Earl Balwyn from the Minister of Justice of the Court to expand the patrol team, and some time ago your exploits in suppressing bandits in the south made the Minister of Justice very happy, so the Minister of Justice allowed you to expand the patrol team to twenty people, but the court {Tinets Acting Agency} is only responsible for the armament and food of ten soldiers, and you will prepare the rest by yourself. In addition, I took it upon myself to bring a gift of 300 pfennig to the Minister of Public Security~ I ask for your pardon. ”

"It's okay, you did the right thing, I was negligent, and the money was credited to the caravan's public account." Art took the paperwork that Salter handed over, looked at it, and put it in his arms.

"Did Earl Balwyn have anything to say about us and the Dean family?"

Salter hesitated.

Art saw Salter's hesitation and said, "It's okay, they are all their own people, and the Jafar brothers are also trustworthy." ”

"The Earl has only asked me to bring you one sentence - the Dean family is from the Count Bernard's side."

Art pondered for a moment, "Earl Balwyn will secretly support us. ”

"That's it, you go to the city today to buy the return goods, and tomorrow at noon we will start the return journey."

"Okay sir, I'll go down and arrange it immediately."

With that, Salter turned and left the room.

With Raven alone in the room, Art asked, "How's the recruitment going?" ”

"My lord, it took us two days to run through several mines around Lucesen and several places where the laborers gathered, and recruited eight miners and twelve laborers, these people are basically alone and young, and there is no drag, and I have asked in detail when recruiting, and they should all be reliable people."

"Why are there only eight miners?"

"My lord, miners are not as good as laborers, most of the miners in the mines are miners, and the mine owners will not let the miners be poached at will, let alone the young and strong. Most of the freelance miners were dragged down by their families, so only eight were recruited. ”

"Okay, twenty is not a few, you pick a few reliable ones to replenish the caravan guard gap, and bring the rest back to the valley for the recruit team to train."

"Yes! My lord, do you want to give these newly recruited young men some sticks and wooden spears as self-defense weapons? ”

"Yes, each person will be given a stick for martial arts training, and then go to the city martial arts arena to buy those eliminated."

"Yes, I'll do it right away."

After Yate finished his order, he walked out of the guest room and went to the courtyard to find Felix and Jafar, "You two accompany me to the church, and I will personally bid farewell to Bishop Orlov." ”

On the twelfth day of arrival in Lucesen, at the southern gates.

"Brother Jafar, thank you for being with me during this time, and if you want to join my army in the future, don't forget to come to me in Tiniets. You can also wait for my squire Ron to recover from his injuries and go south together. Art said to Jafar, who had bid farewell at the gates.

Jafar clutched a bulging purse in his hand and stared at Art, "Art-sir, you-a-nice-lord, I will—go find you." ”

"Okay, this is an agreement between you and me."

With that, Art got on his horse and took Felix, a caravan, and twenty newly recruited young men to escort a dozen wagons full of food supplies and armaments to the south...... 11

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Chapter 154: Countermeasures from the South