After three days of aimless recrimination and bickering, the great gathering of the nobles finally came to an end when the local food stocks were depleted.

The meeting did not make any real progress, but it added another layer of fat to the stomachs of the nobles who had been sitting idle for three days, and the merchants and prostitutes who had been gathered in Dresden were also making a lot of money, and the soldiers who had nowhere to vent their excess energy drank and fought almost every day, and it was about to turn into a farce, and His Majesty the Emperor, tired of the boring conversation with the clay statues, had to declare the end of the lengthy meeting.

Everyone just hastily agreed on an agreement to send troops after the autumn harvest, but smart people know that this general time is just an introduction for Emperor Henry to go down the stairs, and when the particles are really returned to the warehouse, the weather is sunny and suitable for the days of the expedition are only a few days, and the punitive war in the enemy territory is bound to be protracted, and no one wants to drink the northwest wind and crawl in the ice and snow, and His Majesty's expectations are likely to be disappointed again.

The soldiers through the Thorn Gate standing in Magdeburg, is considered to have lifted the war call-up order, everyone waved goodbye to each other and went home, I walked with the Duke of Hanover, as the most closely following the footsteps of Nijmegen now The Lord always pays attention to my every move, and the performance of Nijmegen at the meeting is much more than everyone expected, the Duke of Hanover naturally held back his doubts, and took the opportunity to return to ask carefully, for fear that he would not be able to keep up with my train of thought, and there would be no way to benefit at that time, and I tasted the sweetness of cooperation, Now I can't stop it.

Finally, after the Duke of Hanover, who asked the same question as the baby in Braunschweig, broke up, the warm climate of autumn and the colorful forests of the fallen flowers made me feel good, and the Duke made a special explanation before leaving that the soldiers of Nijmegen could hunt in the woods of all his realms, so we slowed down our march and began a comfortable journey, and the various animals that raised fat in the autumn were delicious and delicious with a little baking, which was very much a gluttonous feast in Nijmegen, as we got closer and closer to home, Everyone started singing excitedly.

Sending away a problematic baby, I almost forgot that there was another hidden next to me, Kohler often followed him when he was in a hurry, and when he found an opportunity, he opened his mouth to ask: "My lord, I still don't understand, didn't you say before the meeting that you thought of an excuse to prevaricate His Majesty, why did you later take the initiative to admit your mistake and hand over the most valuable Figura to Your Majesty, but you were empty-handed?" ”

"People have to learn to be adaptable."

I nodded secretly, and put on the spectrum of the profound and wise man, and the expression of Kohler couldn't help but become serious: "Actually, it's very simple, Henry suddenly targeted me so much, presumably this failure really hurt his face and prestige, and he must find someone with enough weight to be the scapegoat, I didn't expect him to set his eyes on Nijmegen, and blame me for being clever and giving people such a big handle, originally the nobles were deeply dissatisfied with the lightning rise of Nijmegen, and there was an opportunity to knock and knock on unruly newcomers, and no one objected, Nijmegen was pushed to the forefront, at this time I don't take the initiative to stand up and take responsibility, and it will not be so easy to wait until people put a shackle on you, the ancient wise man said: Take a step back and open the sky. ”

Kohler nodded as if he didn't understand, the Duke's thinking sometimes jumps faster than the toads in the ridges, he really can't keep up, he frowned and thought for a moment, and then asked me and said: "Since you took the initiative to admit your mistake, why do you still offer to bear all the war expenses, isn't it cheap Your Majesty the Emperor and those ungrateful nobles who are waiting to see our jokes?" I don't understand......"

"The wise men of ancient times said, 'If you want to take something, you must first give it.'"

I shook my head and chewed on the words, Kohler was entangled in the rambling of this ancient wise man, his face was about to wrinkle into bitter melon, and his embarrassment made me laugh.

"I calculated, probably the total number is within the range of what I can bear, the nobles are white-eyed wolves who can't be fed, and it is impossible to worry about your good when they eat in their mouths, my purpose is not to let them remember the favor of Nijmegen, but to let them understand the wealth of Nijmegen, doesn't it mean that we monopolize the trade route and reap huge profits? Okay, I'm going to show you how much money Nijmegen makes, and how powerful it really is! What they eat now will have to be spit out exponentially when the time comes, and I have been thinking about a bold plan in my mind, which requires the financial strength of Nijmegen to be shown in order to achieve the desired effect. ”

"Plan?" Kohler grossed at the back of his head, his eyes widened in confusion, the Duke's plans had always been imaginative, exciting and steady, and he wanted to get a glimpse of what was going on first.

I naughtily hooked the corners of my mouth and blinked: "Secret." ”

After speaking, the horse ran into the autumn wind of ten thousand kinds of frost and freedom, and the crunching sound of the horse's hooves crushing the fallen leaves made people's hearts itch, and they really wanted to roll in and hold their happy bones twice, just like "In the Norwegian Forest" Midoriko told about her love for Watanabe, and the feeling of rolling down the spring grass slope with a fluffy bear.

Serena, as the matriarch of Nijmegen, organized a grand triumphant banquet to entertain every soldier and their family.

After living in Nijmegen for so long, although she was born in an aristocratic family, she was still a little uncomfortable with the relaxed and free master-slave relationship and living atmosphere here when she first arrived, but after a long time, she began to get used to it, especially when she found that everyone's face was full of confident and satisfied smiles all day long, and she understood from the bottom of her heart the reason why Nijmegen was strong.

As a duchess, she consciously chose to side with her husband, and specially invited many representatives of the merchants and the bereaved families of the fallen martyrs to the banquet, so that Leonardo, who was secretly observing, nodded in approval with satisfaction.

It is said that Xiao Bie is newlywed, from the first second I met Serena, I could clearly feel that the ** fire that was burning in the depths of her pupils was so hot that it could burn the two people in love into ashes, and it seemed that there was only one other left in each other's eyes.

Before the banquet was over, I entrusted Leonardo to continue to accompany the group of guests who drank to the excitement, threw off their arms and wrestled and talked nonsense, and I couldn't wait to get into the room upstairs that had been set up for a long time, smelling the green smoke mixed with precious incense and the indescribable body fragrance of Serena's body, and the brain melon was congested and hurriedly removed the clothes from the two of them, trembling and becoming one.

It is said that a long drought and a rain is a great joy in life, the ancients did not deceive me, the two people who fought all night finally fell asleep with a face full of happiness and satisfaction, did not hear the rooster crow of the castle one after another, the sun just showed a shallow red line, and the vigorous day came.

This sleep until the third pole of the day, I was in a daze to stroke the beauty in my arms, through the cover of the quilt along her silky skin all the way down, in Serena's face crimson gasp, Rollo knocked on the door and whispered: "My lord, it has come to the time you agreed to go to survey the autumn harvest, the kitchen has heated the food back and forth three times, the adults are waiting for you in the council room, Lord Leonardo asked me to come and ask, is it ......"

"Let the maids prepare the bath water, and tell the kitchen to bring the food, today's schedule is tight, and we can't delay the business." I was sorry to scratch the bridge of Serena's wrinkled little nose, she was pouting and coquettish with me, not wanting to leave the lingering gentle country so early.

"You rest and sleep well, and when I come back in the evening, I will continue to ride my horse......" Serena looked at my lewd smile and rolled the quilt to the side coquettishly, leaving me with a curvaceous jade back, and hooked me to swallow my saliva again and again, and almost regrouped and went into battle again.

After a beautiful breakfast, I rode my horse, surrounded by the crowds, and walked out of the city along the smooth castle street, where the shops on both sides of the road were crowded with merchants and people from all over the city to do business, and a few peasants from Nijmegen dressed in simple linen clothes, and skillfully bargained with the discerning merchants, and then exchanged my fattened chickens and ducks and the linen cloth that my wife had painstakingly spun for a few coins in my pockets, and when I went home, I went to shop for the people who had worked hard for a year. Tear up a piece of dyed cloth to make a dress, beckon a few old friends who came with him to go into the tavern by the alley, drink a few glasses of inferior mead, and if you can take the opportunity to touch the big white legs of the proprietress twice, you will be as beautiful as the living fairy.

Seeing the Duke go out of the city to inspect the city, people have to give way and retreat to the eaves of the shop and bow respectfully, I smiled and bowed my head, a disabled veteran with a dung basket on his back, on crutches, crooked and unsteady, but still wanted to straighten his chest and salute me, I took the reins of my horse, solemnly pressed my sword on him, pressed the brim of my hat and saluted a warm smile, as a soldier who was born and died with me, he deserved such courtesy.

There are now many such soldiers and widows in Nijmegen, who are disabled or single, and who are unable to cultivate the land themselves, so they are integrated into the same work as the city management today, and are mainly responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the city, as well as the cleaning of livestock manure and the dredging of drainage pipes, so as to receive the corresponding payment, which is also the goal of my own dedication, and never let a single person in my territory die alone because of hunger and cold.

The entire street leading to the city gate was full of vendors, most of whom were farmers from Nijmegen, selling their surplus produce to subsidize their families, and with the subtle guidance of the lord's policy and the central control of the Nijmegen Chamber of Commerce, most of the people in the city have become more and more accustomed to trading with coins instead of the traditional barter.

The prosperity of commerce not only allows them not to worry about the lack of sales for their own output, but also allows them to adjust the crops sown next year according to the market demand, and even some people with bright minds rent the land to outsiders to cultivate, and take their family savings to go to the remote corners of the territory to buy at a low price, and then transfer back to Nijmegen to earn the difference, digging the corners of the merchants everywhere, if it were not for Leonardo's report, I don't know that there was an early germ of market economy in the territory.

(End of chapter)