Jeff benefited from duplicity, sitting in his merchant's house, a newly-built triangular roof three-story house, a symbol of his status and wealth, and even a place in the Mason County Chamber of Commerce, where Brother Robert, who was at the side of Earl Lauz, needed his intelligence and financial support, and Robert fought for Jeff's interests in the court of Earl Lauz.

After Arold conquered Mecklenburg, a fur trading point, Jeff's caravan was able to obtain furs from the town of Vismar tariff-free, and the most popular sewing material for the nobles and the burgher middle class was very popular, which made up for Jeff's loss of iron ore mining rights at the Abbey of St. Fonso, not even more.

"What else is coming from Mecklenburgshire?" Jeff sat on his new chair with a big belly, a comfortable wooden chair with armrests, a living room with a lot of furniture brought from the south, and a wine barrel in the corner containing the wine of the Duchy of Burgundy, which only the royal families and the dukes of the tribes could drink.

"There is no doubt about the military talent of that Lord Earl, and the big-nosed Chad we support is no match at all." Standing in front of Jeff was a large, one-eyed man, who had not taken off his gray cloak in the house, and carefully concealed his figure in the shadows of the candlelight, and what he said would have been shocking if Arold heard it.

"That farmer really let me down, wasting the supplies I had helped him gather his soldiers. A chaotic county is in my best interest, but Arold is really an interesting nobleman, who agreed to give up the toll tax for me, the nobles are all money-hungry beasts, but he actually gave up? It's unpredictable. Jeff sat in his chair with a silver wine glass filled with bright red wine.

"It's not just you, Arold has announced that all toll taxes and duties in Mecklenburg have been abolished." The one-eyed man continued.

"What? Wouldn't my advantage be all gone, damn nobleman? Hearing this, Jeff couldn't sit still any longer, and he stared at the one-eyed man in front of him with wide eyes. If it weren't for the long-term understanding that the one-eyed man is a dedicated person. He must have thought it was a rumor from the stupid peasants in the countryside.

"Yes, many of the other Territorial Chambers of Commerce were overjoyed by the news, and the caravans to Mecklenburg County were in a constant stream, and the price of furs was said to have risen considerably."

"I didn't expect a nobleman to know how to attract merchants. I really underestimated him. Jeff's brow furrowed. He put down his glass and made a slurp. A warlike and bloodthirsty and even brutal nobleman is not necessarily a bad thing for Jeff, but a nobleman who knows how to govern territory and will attract merchants is not what he wants.

"That's right. Since the counterinsurgency, Mecklenburg has prospered under Arold's rule, if you see it with your own eyes. ”

"How about killing him, can you do it again?" Jeff stood up and walked over to the one-eyed man, he looked left and right, it was a completely instinctive reaction, in fact, when the one-eyed man was summoned, the servants in the room were all sent away.

"No, since that failed poisoning merchant Heller's house, Arold has strengthened his own security, and he has slaves by his side." The one-eyed man shook his head, once poisoning failed once, it would be difficult to do it a second time.

"This young earl always makes me care, huh." Jeff also had dealings with the Lomwa priests, and if he killed Arold, it would be very beneficial for him to monopolize the Mecklenburg Fur Trade Point in the next step.

"So do you need to transport slaves this time?" The one-eyed man asked.

"Of course I have to go, this time I will escort it myself, and I will see with my own eyes what is happening in that pagan territory under Arrod's rule." Jeff hugged his arm, his shadow swaying in the flickering candlelight, and his chubby face was full of gloom.

Jeff now had three caravans, one of which was dedicated to the slave trade, and after the third day was fully prepared, a caravan of slaves set out from the towns of Masonshire, and they headed north towards Mecklenburg, and sure enough, as the one-eyed man said, there were many caravans and traveling merchants along the way to Mecklenburgshire, and it seems that after getting the news of the abolition of the toll tax in Mecklenburgshire, the merchants went to trade.

"Hey, it's like a crow that smells carrion." Jeff sat in the swaying carriage, he took off his gorgeous clothes, put on a shirt and trousers made of coarse linen, as a perennial merchant, he knew the truth that wealth should not be exposed, the closer he got to Mecklenburgshire, the more fresh it became, the last time he escorted the slave caravan was a while, it was when Arold had just built the castle of the Angry Lion, but after more than half a year, the young earl had already taken the entire county.

"Jeff, there's the border in Mecklenburg ahead, and they're building a border post." After the caravan had been walking for several days, the one-eyed man pointed to a forest in front of him and said to Jeff.

"Border posts?" Jeff asked curiously.

"Yes, Arold built such border posts on the border, and it is said that he will build a dozen such border posts on the border to facilitate the rest of the soldiers patrolling the border." The One-Eyed Man explained to Jeff.

"Is he crazy to spend money to do such a thing?" Jeff wrapped his cloak around him, he didn't understand Arrod's behavior, didn't the nobles like to use money for fun? Their money was squeezed from merchants and farmers.

"Hey, there's a border post in Mecklenburg County ahead, everyone, work hard." At this time, there were happy smiles on the faces of the merchants who accompanied Jeff, some of whom often traveled between Mecklenburg and other counties to trade furs.

"What's going on? Hey, what's wrong? Jeff asked curiously about the traveling merchants who joined his caravan, and those who traded between the realms were often threatened by thieves and beasts, so they would join the larger caravans, and the merchants who were away would agree to travel with them after verifying their identities.

"At the border post in Mecklenburgshire, we have access to water and food, and we are protected by patrol soldiers, so we are safe from here." The Traveling Merchant waved the wooden stick in his hand, which he used to help him walk, and in special cases he could also move weapons, the Traveling Merchant's backpack contained some goods, and he also had many leather bags around his waist.

Sure enough, Jeff's caravan entered the forest and walked a distance in the trail, he saw a building being built on the mound on the side of the path, the building was built with wooden planks and soil tamping, like a small fortress, but much smaller than the fortress, the base layer is a foundation tamped by the plate construction method, and several layers of arrow towers built of wood on it, the arrow tower can live in dozens of people and store some supplies, but this border post is still under construction, so only the foundation has just been tamped, But beside the foundation, some spear-wielding soldiers were checking on the merchants.

"Look, this is Arrod's soldier." The one-eyed man pointed to a black lion flag placed next to the soldiers, who were exercising the power of inspection on behalf of Arold.

"Damn, prepare some money, these soldiers will definitely extort us." Jeff was not as optimistic as the other merchants, and he knew very well what the soldiers on the border were, patrolling the border was a chore, and extorting some money from the merchants was a common habit of these soldiers.

"Don't worry, Jeff, did you see the teenagers in the black square robes?" But the traveling merchant next to him stopped Jeff with a smile.

"Oh?" Jeff followed the gaze of the traveling merchant and saw a young man in a square robe, standing beside the soldiers, watching their behavior with a serious face, and his square robe looked like a court attendant.

"Yes, those are the palace patrol attendants appointed by Lord Arrod, they are all from the Academy of the Angry Lion Castle, and no soldier dares to blackmail us under their supervision." The traveling merchant who frequented Mecklenburg seemed to be well acquainted with the situation, and without any worry, he placed his bag beside the soldiers at the outpost, and then took the skin of the cool water handed by the soldiers, and took a sip of it. (To be continued......)