“…… My lord, at the current rate of development of the caravan, I am afraid that I will have to recruit a group of people from the Ministry of Government Affairs to enrich the caravan. ”

On the first floor of the hall of the lord of the valley wooden castle, after explaining to Yate the situation of the caravan in the past month or so, Salter, the steward of the caravan, asked Yate for instructions on the plan to expand the size of the caravan.

Art took a sip of the wine on the table and asked, "In your opinion, how many people are needed?"

"My lord, I only need fifty people."

Attle thought for a moment, slapped the table and said, "No problem. At present, the construction personnel in the south of the valley are basically sufficient, and you can go directly to Cooper and ask him to select fifty young officials from the various ministries of the government to give you. ”

"Thank you, sir!" Salter's face was full of excitement. I thought that Art would refuse the expansion of fifty people, but I never thought that he would agree so readily.

"Sarth, it's good that the caravan expands, and in the long run, the larger the caravan, the more we trade. In that case, the more the European comptoir will earn. As long as what you do is conducive to the development of the caravan, I will naturally fully support you. ”

"It is a great blessing for the Earl to think like this." Salter was very emotional.

…………

On the construction site south of the valley territory, after receiving the instructions of Cooper, the chief of the Ministry of Administration, the officials of the Ministry of Construction took the roster they had registered before and gathered together some of the young men and those who had worked under the name of the caravan. After everyone arrived, after re-registering and making a book, they followed the officials sent by the caravan to the valley to receive the call.

On the second day, Salter personally went to the temporary hut where the men lived, and began to arrange their posts. Most of them became caravan guards. A few remained in the warehouse of the Continental Comptoir not far from the Wooden Fort in the valley, and assisted the clerks in taking care of some of the goods stored by the firm. The original guards joined the ranks of the caravan guards and were transferred from their original posts.

This is a provision in the personnel arrangement of European commercial banks, and after working in a specific position for a period of time, they will be transferred and replaced. The purpose is mainly aimed at some guys who stay in a post for a long time, and after they will have the idea of self-theft.

This time, among the several men in charge of guarding the valley warehouse were two caravan guards who claimed to be from Provence - Norman the farmer and Joel the skinny.

The two were very happy when they learned that they were about to be transferred from the construction site to join the caravan. In addition to being able to escape the heavy labor, they finally waited for the opportunity to get close to Art.

What's more coincidental is that due to the excellent performance of the two, they were placed together in the position of taking care of the valley warehouse. This is tantamount to creating a perfect opportunity for the two to assassinate Art. The next thing to do is to secretly find an opportunity to get close to Art and wait for an opportunity to kill him.

…………

In the city of Kodor, a small caravan with two wagons of cargo checked into a hotel north of the city before dark.

In a room near the corner on the second floor of the inn, a caravan leader with brown hair and blue eyes and prominent cheekbones was sitting around a table with five caravan guards.

"Listen, now that we've entered the city of Kodor, we must be careful not to reveal our identities."

"Yes, Lord Steward."

"The city of Codor, the richest region of the Princedom of Burgundy outside the province of Saône, was home to a large number of merchants. According to the information I have before, there are still many big merchants in the city who are dissatisfied with Flender's rule, and even hate the European trading houses. One of the main purposes of our mission was to secretly win over these people and become the eyes of the Duke in the Marquis of Burgundy. In addition, it is necessary to secretly investigate who supports Flender and who secretly opposes him. Once it is clarified, those who support it will gradually clean up, and those who oppose it will try to win it over. Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" Several people replied in unison.

"Remember, now we are in enemy territory. Once exposed, life is not guaranteed. Be cautious when going on a mission. ”

"Yes!"

"After dealing with the affairs of Kodor City, our next target is Thorne City. It was the lair of Bernard, Flender's opponent. Bernard has been running the area for decades, and many of his henchmen still live in the city temporarily. These people hate Flender to the core, so Thorne will be the focus of our mission. Once it is done, the Earl will not be able to do your good~"

Several people looked at each other and smiled.

According to the deployment of the Duke of Lombardy, a caravan went to the province of Wales to inquire about the news of Arte, and by the way, look for an opportunity to win him over. I really can't do it, find an opportunity to deal with this stumbling block. Another caravan traveled north through the province of Kodor, secretly gathering intelligence along the way, co-opting opponents of Flender and assassinating those who supported him. Only in this way can the strength of Flanders be weakened step by step and create an opportunity for the Duchy of Lombardy to invade the princedom of Burgundy.

But what the Duke of Lombardy didn't expect was that the caravan sent to Wales Province was all imprisoned by him without even seeing Art, and became a prisoner of the new earl. Another caravan was also discovered by Art during interrogation, and Decent sent people around to find the whereabouts of this caravan. Once locked, the only thing that awaits them is torture, I'm afraid there will be death.

…………

In the afternoon of the same day, eight horsemen in black robes were galloping towards the province of Saône on the trade road west of Besançon.

"Quick, keep up," ordered the man who was at the front on horseback to the cavalry behind him, "make sure to get to the castle in front before dark, and find a place to rest when the time comes." ”

"Yes! Sir! ”

Immediately, the group raised their horsewhips and accelerated the pace of progress~

In the evening, the group finally arrived at a hotel in the castle before it was dark.

"Yo, my lords. Come in, come in. The hotel guy who was wiping the counter saw a guest coming in from outside the door, and hurriedly threw down his work and stepped forward to entertain him.

"Are the adults staying at the hotel, or are they eating?"

"Bring us all the good wine and food in your store first, and then prepare a few rooms."

"Okay, okay, a few adults, wait a minute, I'll arrange it right away."

As soon as he heard that several people were eating and staying in the hotel, the man hurriedly ordered him to go down.

After a while, the table full of good wine and meat had been served, and several people who had been hungry for a day immediately grabbed the stew and mixed fruits on the plate, stuffed them into their mouths, and swallowed the beer.

"Sir, when do you think we'll find those bastards?" A soldier in a burqa asked the man next to him, and poured the beer into his mouth.

"Your Excellency has explained in the letter that the group will definitely advance from the province of Kodor to the province of Thorn. As long as we secretly probe along the way, we are not afraid that we will not find them. Hurry up and eat, rest early after eating, and continue your journey early tomorrow morning. ”

"Yes!"

After that, several people gobbled up the wine and meat into their mouths.

A few days ago, the leader received a secret message from the south. The letter confessed that a group of about 20 Lombard spies dressed as merchants had infiltrated the Burgundian kingdom and tried to rebel against the merchant nobles who were dissatisfied with the marquis. Their task was to find the group before they arrived in the province of Saône, and then report back. Naturally, someone will take over the rest of the matter. Their task is to find the group of people and then closely monitor their every move.

After breakfast early in the morning of the second day, several people rode horses and continued to rush to the city of Thorn~

…………

In the warehouse of the European Merchant House in the south of the wooden fort residential area in the valley, the two guards who had just been assigned to be in charge of guarding here looked around from time to time, observing everything around them.

Since being assigned to the warehouse, the two of them often wander around the surrounding residential areas while the officials are out, trying to figure out the layout of the surrounding area of the wooden fort.

The two of them have been in the valley for more than a month, except for seeing Art when they enter and leave the valley, and the rest of the time they are "building" a trade road on the construction site south of the workshop area. Now I finally seized the opportunity to get close to this earl, and I had to plan well to say anything, take the opportunity to get rid of Art, and then go back to receive the reward.

After many careful investigations, the two finally figured out the layout around the wooden fort in the valley. He also learned about the guards around Art through secret observation. Even trying to find out about Art's itinerary. Helplessly, except for the soldiers in charge of patrolling around the wooden fort in the valley, the other passages in and out of the wooden fort were guarded by soldiers, and they could not get close at all. In addition, the Earl's Guard was almost inseparable. It is almost impossible to assassinate in close quarters.

After careful consideration, the two decided to poison Art's meal. In this way, not only can the earl be eliminated, but perhaps his wife and children can be killed together. It's a lot of work.

Over the next few days, Wade. Burley's healer (alias Joel), who specializes in poisoning, secretly observes the servants and handymen who are responsible for preparing food for Art's family, intending to attack them and wait for an opportunity to poison the food.

At this time, Art seems to be unaware of the danger lurking around him~

…………

"Open the gates! Open the gates! ”

In the middle of the night, outside the gates of Sorrenburg in northern Lombardy, a beggar-like man in tattered clothes and covered in mud banged vigorously on the gates.

"Who! The gates are closed, if you want to enter the city, come back tomorrow! The defenders shouted from the upper floor.

"Open the gates at once, and I will see Count Walder. If you delay my business, I'll let your head fall to the ground! ”

When the soldiers defending the city heard this, they were anxious, and when they saw that the person who came was not good, they immediately asked about the identity of this person.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the knight of the inner palace of Lord Earl, open the city gate quickly!" The man downstairs roared loudly.

After a few moments, the gates were opened~

…………

"Why are you dressed like this?" Seeing that the knights of the Inner Mansion who he sent out to inquire about the news were so embarrassed, Wad. Burley's eyes widened, and he looked up and down the beggar-like creature in front of him.

"My lord, it's a long story......

The knights of the Inner House told their stories one by one.

A few days ago, this man and another fat man under the pseudonym Aref had traveled through the dense forests of the mountains, from the northern dense forests to the valley wooden forts. I never thought that I would encounter two fierce hunting dogs on the road, and a human figure faintly appeared behind the hunting dogs.

Seeing that the situation was wrong, the two immediately retreated, but unexpectedly the two beasts chased after them. When the two men ran to an open field, the hound suddenly attacked and pounced on them. The fat man Aref fell in the process of escaping, and was immediately bitten by the hounds that caught up, his skin was opened, his stomach was torn, and his intestines were spilled all over the ground.

Hunter Hunter saw his companion being bitten by the hounds, and the pursuers behind him also appeared, and he rushed up to die, and then fled while the hounds were biting Aref......

.........

"Rubbish! It's all rubbish! I've spent so much money training you, so you're going to show me this! "Wade. When Burley heard this, he couldn't stop shouting.

"How's it going with what I asked you to do?"

"Back to Lord Earl, this person is indeed the one who fled to the Northlands in the first place. That is, the earl of Wales - Art. Wood. Wells. ”

Wade who heard the news. Burley was stunned for a moment, then paced back and forth in the room, his face slightly anxious.

Although he already had the answer in his heart, when he learned that Art was not only not dead, but also became the new earl of the Marquis of Burgundy, a thought flashed in his heart: this person must come to seek revenge.

Just Wade. While Burley pondered how to get rid of Yat, the knight of the Inner House continued: "Lord Earl, there is one more thing that must be of interest to you." The knight pretended to be profound.

"Speak quickly!" Wade. Burley turned abruptly.

"Do you know the borderland between the north of Lombardy and the princedom of Burgundy?"

"Of course I do. Located between Lombardy and the princedoms of Provence and Burgundy, it was uninhabited for decades. What are you mentioning it for? ”

"Lord Count, I fled all the way back from the north side of that valley."

"What?" Wade. Burley was shocked.

"Lord Earl, Art is ordering the construction of a trade road from the north side of the valley to the south side. I'm afraid he already knew that the valley could lead to the north of Lombardy~"

"Say it again, what's that bastard doing?" Wade. Burley couldn't believe it, the intention of that guy at Art was obvious, he wanted to open the road from Wales to Lombardy. And the northernmost part of this road is its own territory. Once he succeeds, the first person to be threatened is himself. If he doesn't get rid of him before he opens up the trade route, then in the end he can only meet each other in battle.

Suddenly, Wade. Burley remembered that in addition to the one who had died, there were two other guys who had not returned.

"What about the other two?"

"Back to Lord Earl, while we fled, the chief was planning how to approach Art and wait for an opportunity to kill him. They are still in the valley. ”

As soon as he heard that his people were still lurking around Art, Wad. Burley breathed a sigh of relief. If these two people can solve him before Yate opens up the trade route, then he will have no worries.

However, it is not necessarily reliable to expect those two guys to assassinate Art. He also had to use the power of the Duke of Lombardy to eradicate this guy in one fell swoop.

Previously, because the Duchy of Lombardy was separated from the princely state of Burgundy by Provence, the Duke of Lombardy could not reach it. Now, now that there is a shortcut to the Princedom of Burgundy, the Duke of Lombardy must send troops to conquer the Princedom of Burgundy............