The fields surrounding Jaffenburg in late autumn are a golden color, contrasting with the clusters of deep green of the neat evergreen needles outside the walls of Jaffenburg. In the field, the farmers who bent over and worked were full of satisfied smiles, they sweated and cut wheat with a sickle, and bundled the rice in the golden field into bundles one after another, and threw the bales of rice on their backs on the ox cart, and they happily used the ox cart to pull these bales of rice back to the granary, this was a year of abundant harvest, and in the fields of hot work, the horn of the harvest sounded loudly in the vast land between the Yafen Mountain and the Red Mountain outside Niermont.

In front of the gates of Jaffel Castle, the merchants gathered here again, and the goods gradually entered the territory of Jaffin, even though the baron of the Diefend Fortress Horton Sandersfiger knew that the omen was not good, and immediately forbade all caravans passing through the Diffender Fortress to enter the territory of Jaffinburg, but the clever Lindisfack and the merchants of Gelder could not be stopped by the small Diffender Fortress at all, and they soon no longer took the route from the lakeside village to the Deefend Fortress, which was bound to be blocked. Instead, directly at the foot of the lakeside village, on the edge of the Desco Terrace, head north to the beautiful Moore Canyon, over the border barony of Whitetown, to Niermont, and from the western foot of the Red Mountains in Nilmont to the north of Lucy's Woodland.

Naturally, Niermont in the White Town was open to these merchants, and since the Earl of Whitetown sent envoys to befriend His Excellency Earl Anderson of the White Town, the White Town has become a spire anchor blocking the road between the King of Parma and the Whitetown. Although the red-eyed King Segal II was furious, he could only breathe anger in one nostril, staring at the eyes on the bridge of his collapsed nose, beating his chest and pounding his royal tentacles, which could not reach the place near the mountain rock pass of the Ain Dynasty.

Only the Earl of Entre is gradually expanding his ambitions, and his ambitions are already like a pig's bladder full of gas, ready to burst at any moment. Even if he had lost the royal power of Prince Lothart, who had supported him, it was obviously nothing to the powerful Entre, and now he was only enjoying and waiting, enjoying the benefits of the new law of Yafen and the heavy taxation of the active merchants who passed through the Entre; Waiting for news from both sides, stability in the rear and the right timing.

Walker, Earl of Jaffenburg, was clearly aware of Hunt, Earl of Entle, and in his castle of Jaffenburg he openly discussed with his courtiers plans for the development of Jaffenburg, and secretly discussed with his treasurer, George Landmark, about making friends with His Majesty Monta XII Estomu of the Aine dynasty.

"George, you see, the fifty gold coins we sent to Monta XII some time ago have been returned in their original condition. Could it be that Segal II befriended the Al Ain dynasty before us? Earl Walker stroked Bai Bo's head and asked the bald minister in front of him.

"This is impossible, Segal II is not good at diplomacy, he is a monarch who thinks very highly of himself, and he does not look down on the short race of the Aine Dynasty at all, let alone put down his shelf and take the initiative to befriend Monta XII." George Landmark closed his eyes and shook his head, and after thinking for a while, he said slowly, "When I was an ordinary nobleman, I remember that the lord used to be in the same tone as Segal II and disdain the dwarven king, maybe His Majesty Estomu is angry with this, but as far as I know, the dwarves never get along with gold, so I speculate that it may be that His Majesty Estom wants to borrow the lord's disrespect for the Al Ain dynasty to increase the price." ”

"Oh, I see what you mean, George. In other words, if I want to bridge the gap between me and the dwarven king Monta XII, 50 gold coins will not be enough. Earl Walker's brown eyes flashed with a hint of unhappiness, but this unhappiness was not directed at George Landmark in front of him, but he was embarrassed by what he had done in the past. ”

"Perland offers the highest vassal tax, and His Excellency Baron Culotsius has provided you with 20 gold coins in a quarter. As for the Baron of the Knight's Valley, your uncle has paid a total of 30 gold coins for 3 quarters of vassal taxes, and as for Houghton Sandersfejer of Diefonde Fortress, I have sent people to demand it many times, but the reply I received is that the economic situation is too poor, and in the end, he has no choice but to take out 5 gold coins and pay it to you. Then there is the local tax, we have a bumper harvest this year, our grain and grass this year collected 280 setirs, according to the calculation that each setil can sell for 2 gold coins, here should be 560 gold coins. By the end of the quarter, we had an unprecedented 150 gold coins in tax revenues and 120 gold coins from Resart Don's family. If you take into account the expenses, the cost of your trip is 5 gold coins, 20 gold coins for the Earl of White Town, 100 gold coins for the war reparation, 10 gold coins for the courtier's salary, 50 gold coins for the pension, and the military expenditure has been reduced from the previous 100 gold coins to 20 gold coins. We still have a net profit of 120 gold coins so far, and if we add the grain income in the granary, the balance is as high as 680 gold coins. This year's income can be equivalent to the past 10 years of Yafen! George Landmark smiled and took out the ledger he had with him from his bosom, the number of which was very detailed and neatly written, and he pointed it out to Earl Walker for reading one by one.

"I can't imagine that my teacher's deathbed plan actually pointed out to me an invisible gold mine, and he undoubtedly saved Yafen and saved us Isttam." He looked at the numbers in the ledger, and his face was flushed with excitement, and his face looked a little embarrassed.

"You are the decision-maker, and Lord Lawrence presented his idea to you at the right time, at the last moment of his life, and thanks to your adoption, such a good decree can be implemented. I don't think it's all his work, because he is, after all, your courtier, and it is his duty to give the necessary advice to the Lord, who is the ultimate decision-maker and the one who sorts out the new laws of Yafin. The honor should be yours. So I think we at Yafenburg now have the budget to do whatever you want to do right. George Landmark's rhetoric was not a sloppy statement, but he had always been on the facts, and one thing was the Treasurer's usual style.

"If it weren't for your conscientious management of Yafen's finances over the past year, I'm afraid I'm still deeply worried about the empty coffers after the war. The wrong war I started before cost us too much strength, and if we have that much money now, I'd be happy to spend another 70 gold coins to heal the gap between us and the Al Ain Dynasty, and I think the investment is well worth it. Earl Walker agreed with the Treasurer George's earlier statement, and he put down his good boy 'White Wave', and the snowhound mischievously jumped on Earl Walker's bed, "Hey, my good boy has become a bad boy now, White Wave, get me out the door." ”

"Wouldn't it be too generous, my lord, for the largest gift ever given to Monta X by the House of Easttim of Affenburg was 100 gold coins in exchange for a free trade agreement. And as a result, all the gold coins of our taxes this year will be gone, and now the Braning of Perland is growing rapidly, and if Baron Perland needs money from him, our finances will be very tight. George Landmark waved his hand to Earl Walker, his eyes showing considerable hesitation, "and if we use up all the taxes at once, we will have to wait until next year to collect another batch of taxes." ”

"I've thought about it, George. Although our current Easttim family is not as wealthy as it used to be, it still has some family background. But now we have to pay for it. We will not be held back by the king now, for we are separated from the royal city of Parma by His Excellency Earl Anderson of White Town. But there is no obstacle between us and Entle, and Baron Horton's betrayal is evident, like a dry pyre that only needs a little fire to burn, and this fire is the same red boar that Entle has eyed us. While the red boar is now accumulating and planning, we should do some preparations in advance, just in case. Now that trade has resumed in Affenburg, the garrison is empty, and the newly recruited conscripts are obviously not able to form a truly effective fighting force. Once the Red Boar has put an end to the petty rebellion of Lindisfack and Gaeld and dealt with the Gudebay region controlled by the Centaurs supported by the solidarity of Elvinia, he will tear up the armistice with a big wave of his hand and lead the army from Mount Ella all the way to the east. Earl Walker's brown eyes did not blink, and his face did not show too much expression, he remained calm, and after his experience, he had already seen the position of Yafen clearly, "I only need to achieve my only purpose with this huge amount of money - I must let Monta XII, who is in the Stone Heart Palace, understand that we Yafen is sincerely mending relations this time." ”

"In order to be able to smoothly obtain the support of the dwarves in the event of a war that may break out at any time. I already understand what the lord means, and I will entrust His Excellency Colossius, Baron of Perland, to sell the surplus grain and grass at the best price. George Landmark's puzzled look disappeared, and he smiled understandingly at Earl Walker's decision, "So, who will take on the task of befriending the Al Ain dynasty this time?" With such a large sum of money, we must find someone we trust to deliver it to the Dwarven King, and we must make him understand your intentions. ”

"You don't have to worry about selling excess grain, George. I will personally entrust Cullosius to help me sell the surplus grain to the town of White, which is short of grain. This can also be exchanged for a sizable number of White Prairie horses. So, I think you are the only one who has to do this kind of gifting task. Earl Walker extended his hand to George Landmark, "Your mission is a long and important one. It's about the safety and survival of Yafen. Success, not failure! ”

"As you wish. Sovereign. George Landmark took Earl Walker's outstretched hand, then slowly took a few steps back, smiled and touched his chest with one hand, and bowed in greeting. He turned and closed the ledger and confidently walked out of Earl Walker's private chamber.