At the foot of the mountains on the other side of the Lamel mountains, the war between Provence and Lombardy is still in a stalemate.

In the cold winter of last year, the Duke of Vladis took half of the army in the city of Aosta to recover Vilno, but the good times did not last long, just after recovering the city of Vilno, the bad news that Gbul was about to fall came from central Provence, and once Noble, which was the support point of the entire central front, was lost, the entire Provencal front would break the stable situation, and the army of Lombardy would be like a bamboo, and the army would be driven straight in. In an emergency, Duke Vladis had to leave a small number of troops to garrison Vilno, and then rushed to the center with a large army to aid Gbur, and Vilno fell into the hands of the Lombard army again.

Aosta was once again a target for the Lombard army, and the defenders of Aostad, half of their strength were stubbornly resisted three major sieges and numerous raids by the Lombard army, and many believed that it was only a matter of time before Aosta fell.

In the Kalk Fort northeast of Aosta City, Baron Berrion was explaining the defense of the city to his knights of the Inner Palace, "Red, I handed over Kalk Fort to you, the food in the fort is saved, and once the enemy attacks on a large scale, you must quickly ask for help from Aosta." This is the rear supply hub of Aosta, and if Kalk loses Aosta, it will become a dead city. So you must hold on here, I will go to the north this time for twenty days or a month, and I will definitely come back with enough food and soldiers. ”

The knight of the Inner Palace, Red, glanced back at the remaining sixty or so soldiers in the castle and nodded heavily. Baron Berrion mounted his horse and headed for the northern border of Provence with four horsemen and fifty thousand finnies worth of silver, where he hoped to recruit ninety soldiers and buy enough food for six months for one hundred and fifty soldiers......

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

In a boulder pile on a seven-day horseback ride north of Fort Carrk, where a bonfire was blazing with red flames, and four people were sitting around the campfire, Art threw the skin with the ale in his hand to Simon, who had a broken arm, and said, "Take a sip of spirits and make sure you get a good night's sleep." ”

Simon stretched out his right hand and took the leather bag handed by Art, bit the cork with his teeth, raised his head and poured a large sip of wine, then wiped his mouth with his cuffs, returned the skin to Art, and said, "My lord, with our current strength, is it possible to set up a checkpoint on the trade road to collect taxes?" The swords and spears in our hands are not necessarily sharper than those of the caravan guards. ”

Art hung the leather back in the saddle under him, and replied, "Simon, you're right, we don't have the strength to pay the taxes of the big caravans right now, but we can still make some small money from the small traders, and in fact I don't plan to feed my patrol party this year." I'm starting to set up checkpoints at the border now, more so that the past business travelers can get used to this checkpoint, and when we have the strength to let them pay taxes in the future, they won't feel abrupt. Besides, I also plan to take advantage of the fact that the merchants do not dare to trade between the north and the south to open up the trade routes between Provence and Burgundy, otherwise what is the use of me getting so many wagons and wagons, and the border checkpoint is undoubtedly an important link, through which we can intercept the passing caravan convoys......"

Simon vaguely understood Art's plan, and said, "Do you plan to use soldiers to open up trade channels, and then rely on north-south trade to make money to raise soldiers?"

"That's what it means. But there's still a lot to be solved~"

When Arte Simon and the two were discussing the matter of setting up cards to collect taxes, Ron had already led his soldier Jason to patrol around the boulder pile on horseback, Ron led the horse back to the tying horse rope in the boulder pile, unloaded the saddles of the two horses, added some forage, and then went to the fire to return to Art: "Sir, there is no danger within a mile of the surrounding area for the time being. Jason and I took turns guarding the sentry tonight, he kept watch for the first half of the night and I kept watch for the second half of the night. ”

"Okay, then you can go to sleep for a while."

Ron took the order, took the blanket from his mattress cover, spread it by the fire, untied the belt and broadsword from his waist and placed it beside him, and snored from the saddle for a while.

Art and the two stopped talking, and each shrank into the carpet to rest, and did not speak for the rest of the night.

The next morning, before dawn, Jason had already built a bonfire on the embers, and the porridge in the copper pot on the bonfire was bubbling with aroma. Simon had not yet fully adapted to the wearing and hanging sword with one hand, and the belt around his waist could not be buckled; Ron had finished his sentry and returned to the campfire, taking off his boots and baking some stiff toes.

Art returned from the moor outside the boulder pile with a riding bow on his back and threw a fat marmot in his hand to Jason: "I was going to hunt a hare, but I ran into this big guy who got up early. ”

"Ron, we'll go feed the horses in a moment, and we'll head to the border after breakfast."

Putting on his leather boots, Ron got up and walked over to the leash and picked up the bag of hay and black beans and fed the four horses and a green mule carrying food supplies......

By the time the sun had risen, the four had ridden to the trade route, twenty miles southwest of the boulder pile, a flat and barren land at the foot of Mount Lamel, through which a stream flowing down from Mount Lamel flowed eastward, and which was also the eastern border between the Duchy of Provence and the Count of Burgundy.

Perhaps it's still early, there are no pedestrians passing by on this trade road, and there are no populated villages around. On horseback, Atri looked at a small mound by the trade road not far to the south, and said to the people around him, "Let's go to that little mound and have a look." With that, he kicked the horse's belly a few times and ran towards the mound.

The small mound was no more than fifty feet from the trade road, about fifteen feet high, and about seventy feet in circumference, with a few miscellaneous trees and a pile of grass on the mound. This small mound is the only vantage point in this leveled wasteland, and with its proximity to an old stone bridge, it is an excellent sentry position. If it weren't for the fact that the land was too barren to be cultivated, there would have been no settlements around, and this would have become a frontier fortress long ago.

"Simon, what do you think of setting up a checkpoint here?" Art dismounted and came to the top of the mound, his right hand on his forehead and looking at the trade road in the distance.

"My lord, from the topography of course, it is appropriate to set up a sentry post here, but there are no castle fortresses around, and once there are enemies besieging it, this place will become a dead place." Simon, who was following behind Art, looked around.

"I've also thought about this problem, so I plan to build a temporary garrison in the boulder pile where I camped yesterday, and when there are enough soldiers for the patrol team in the future, we can station an army there, and if there is danger on this side of the outpost, we can reinforce it in time."

"My lord, why don't we just use this as a station for the patrol team, at least it's closer to the water source."

"No, we are stationing soldiers on the pretext of setting up cards to collect taxes from inbound merchants, and if there are too many soldiers stationed here, it is easy to cause border disputes. I only plan to station a small team of soldiers at this checkpoint, six soldiers can also deter ordinary small caravans, and there is no need to force a large caravan that refuses to pay taxes, I have other means to make them pay taxes obediently. ”

"Anything else?"

"You don't have to think about this for the time being, you first think about setting up this checkpoint, and then organize people to come and build it after we go back to Mubao next time. The sentry was built on this mound, not too big, with one or two wooden houses, a stable and a sentry tower, surrounded by sharpened timber walls, and in case of alarm, they quickly flew to the boulder pile station to ask for help, and then closed the gate until the reinforcements arrived. As long as the Count of Burgundy and the Duchy of Provence do not declare war, there will be no large-scale armies here, and the usual caravan guards will not dare to openly besiege the posts of the Count of Burgundy. ”

"Your Excellency, you're right, as long as Tignats still admits that our checkpoint is authorized and allowed, we are not in danger, but~"

"Are you worried that Mistress Pierre won't recognize us?"

"Yes, there will definitely be no commercial taxes collected recently, and when the war in the south subsides and commerce flourishes, I am afraid that our checkpoint will also be removed, and Lord Pierre has only promised us to collect a year's commercial tax, and besides, he was offended a lot by the incident at Wincheston Manor last time."

"Simon, your concerns are not unreasonable, but don't forget that I am a patrol officer appointed by the court, as long as the court can approve of me, Tiniez County will not be the master, I firmly grasp the line of Bishop Orlov, in order to open the road to the court."

Art and Simon discussed the details of setting up the checkpoint on the mound for a while, and then went down to the trade road and instructed Ron and Jason, who were unloading the supplies on the back of the mules and horses: "Jason, you go around and get some firewood and water, and we will bury the pot here to cook, and there should be homeless people passing by in a while." ”

........

Sure enough, the wheat porridge on the fire beside the road had not yet boiled, and three or four homeless people with their families began to appear on the southern trade road. They had already seen the smoke rising from the mound, but they were afraid that it would be robbers and robbers, so they stood at a distance and refused to come for a long time.

It wasn't until the faint aroma of the thin wheat porridge in the copper pot drifted down the breeze to their noses that a man in tattered clothes and thin trousers finally had the courage to approach the little mound.

The man stared at the fire at the other end of the rocky bridge in the creek for a long time, and the others continued to sit around the fire and roast the bacon jerky they had brought with them. The man swallowed a lot of saliva before he asked weakly and loudly, "Lords, we are refugees who have taken refuge from Provence, and we have no money on us, can we pass through here?"

"Why can't you pass, we are not mountain bandits and robbers, and we don't plan to tear down your poor bones to make soup." Ron took the big wooden spoon and said indignantly, he had already cooked all the porridge in the copper pot, and the guys couldn't come back.

The man saw that Yate and the others were all wearing armor and hanging swords, but they still refused to come.

Art patted Jason on the head and said, "You go and tell him that we are recruiting homeless people for a lord's estate, and if you want to drink porridge and food, you can come over quickly and choose it." ”

Jason touched his head and got up and walked towards the man, telling the man who they were and what they were for in a pleasant manner.

After confirming that a few of them were not rogues, the man ran back to beckon a few homeless people to come forward......