Later in the evening, in the dining room on the second floor of the mansion, Oryx Rivendell sat at a table where the servant had just served bread, fragrant lamb chops, and pan-fried herring flavored with herbs.

As a person from the big foodie empire, in his opinion, the food in this world is not as bad as he imagined.

Of course, the main reason is that the Rivendell family has a lot of money and can afford to use a wide variety of seasonings.

In this era of relatively backward productivity, spices are not affordable for ordinary people. The black pepper juice made from this onion and a variety of spices alone may not even be able to afford to eat it even for a little bit of aristocrats.

In fact, in the final analysis, for ordinary people, whether the food is delicious or not mainly depends on the seasoning.

If there is no seasoning, then it is just like those top gourmets, who pursue the essence of deliciousness of food. But the difference is that you can't afford it, and people only start to get back to basics after their taste buds are bombarded with seasonings. One thinks the other party is stinky and exquisite, and the other thinks the other party is uninformed......

Fortunately, Oryx comes from a large landowner family, so he doesn't have to make this dilemma. With seasonings, at least for the taste of the underprivileged masses like him, the food is unlikely to be unpalatable.

He scooped a spoonful of black pepper juice and poured it on the roasted lamb chops that were charred on the outside and tender on the inside, the smell of the fish was completely gone, leaving only salty and spicy.

Looking at the gobbling up of his own young master, the servants all felt that after he woke up from a coma, it seemed that he had become different.

In fact, Orix's mind is all about the next plot.

The Stratholme region is an important food producer in East Lordaeron and the most populous city in the country after the Tirisfal Woodland, with 300,000 inhabitants living in the regional capital alone.

In the 20th year of the Black Gate calendar, with the help of local nobles, the Cursed Sect spread the plague in the city. The Prince, who arrives to investigate the plague, makes the decision at the south gate of the city to put together the final piece of the puzzle for the Lich King's plot to lead his own depravity: slaughtering the city.

The prince led thousands of elite soldiers and slaughtered most of the city's inhabitants, but was unable to change the city's fate.

Perhaps Arthas was right, strangling the massive corpse tide in its cradle and delaying the fall of Eastern Lordaeron.

Perhaps he should not have made an arbitrary decision, nor should he have unlogically dismissed Uther, the head of the Silver Hand Knights formed by the Holy Light Church and affiliated with the entire Alliance, as the crown prince of the alliance member countries, and he should not have hoped that Gianna, the daughter of the neighboring king and leader of Dalaran, who was sensitive and had great political influence with him, would do this unpopular thing with him.

However, Oryx understands that changes in the details don't help when it comes to the big picture. Regardless of whether Arthas slaughtered the city or not, and how he saved Stratholme if he did not, it was of no avail.

Even if the Stratholme problem is solved, there will be Gorda Stansomsom, and the Rock Johnsonsom will pop up. Due to the general environment, trying to stop this rolling wheel of history is tantamount to using a mantis arm as a car.

Because before the Third War, Azeroth was far from the "Land of a Million Great Lords" in the later generations, who continued to grow through catastrophes and finally had the strength to bulldoze the lair of the Burning Legion. In the face of the Lich King Naozu, it can be said that he is defenseless.

There are two key points.

First, the alliance is now fragmented, and the blame for who will bear the burden of running the shelter has long since been extinguished.

The High Elves withdrew, Gilneth withdrew, Stormgard withdrew; The kingdom of Stormwind in the south was busy rebuilding and owed a lot of debts, and in recent years, it has been stirred up by Catlana Presto, who has been incarnated by Onexia, and the brotherhood of stonemasons who was owed money for the project has become the Brotherhood of Defia, an important grain producing area in the western wilderness, and the whole country has been overwhelmed, even if they are still members of the alliance, how can they still have the heart to help their allies? The kingdom of Kazmodan controlled by the Copperbeard Dwarves is not much different from it, and it can't finish its own affairs, so it has no spare strength to support the countries. The brute-hammer dwarves of Eagle's Nest Mountain are warm-hearted, but that small dwarf tribe is very limited in size, even if it smashes the pot and sells iron, how much can it help?

For various reasons, the alliance army is no longer as strong as it was in its heyday, and it has reduced military spending and army size due to high debts. It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, and this will never be able to fight against the Scourge Army.

Secondly, at this point in time, Azeroth knew nothing about the enemy.

It wasn't even until the Scourge broke through Dalaran and used the Curse's soul to control the Guardian Medivan in the Book of Medivan, writing the most exquisite teleportation magic in the universe, opening the portal to the Twisted Void, allowing Akmund and the endless demon army to descend, that the world suddenly woke up to the fact that the Scourge was the pawn of the Burning Legion!

It turns out that the Scourge Plague is not an isolated event, but a means for the Burning Legion to weaken the world before launching a general attack!

If you want to change this history, you can imagine the resistance you will face.

Oryx must make people understand that the Holocaust is coming, and the key is to pay attention to the ways and means, otherwise...... Don't you see that Medivan's warnings and prophecies are ignored? And the scorns were the famously wise king Terenus Minehir, and the wise leader of Dalaran, Antonidas.

So, it's really important to use it in the right way.

But where do you start?

Oryx thought about it and thought it would be better to take advantage of his cheap old man, Baron Rivendell, and the infant Cursed Sect.

……

"How much money do you have at home? I mean, living money, you can use it right away. Oryx asked as he tore the lamb chops.

Langton, the butler, was puzzled, but waved his hand away from the servant, and replied without hesitation:

"There were about 4,000 gold coins in the treasury, and most of last year's surplus was taken out in the form of loans in the middle of the year. If all goes well, at the end of the year, it should be possible to recover some of it, about 2,000 gold coins. At the end of the autumn at the end of the month, the rent of 500 gold coins can also be recovered from various properties in the capital. However, this year's grain sales revenue should not be as good as in the past, and the harvest situation in the Andohar region is much better than ours, and a large number of crops are pouring into the grain market, and we may not earn as much as last year's ...... from selling grain crops."

As a veteran butler who had served in the Rivendell family for decades, Langton knew the family's finances inside out.

"Young Master, do you need money?"

After speaking, the old housekeeper also asked, because in his impression, the young master would never ask about the family's financial situation.

"Nothing, just asking."

Aurex shook his head.

Four thousand gold coins is not a small amount.

The kingdom of Lordaeron is vast, and the actual land area under its control is a few points larger than that of the kingdom of Stormwind in the south, and far more than the rest of the small kingdoms. Even after the Second War, large sums of money were spent to keep the shelters running, resulting in high debts and economic collapse, but the people's living conditions were still relatively optimistic.

Here, one copper coin can buy a large piece of hard bread mixed with wheat bran, and three or five copper coins can meet a person's basic dietary needs for a day. Even the daily consumption of a young master like Oryx Rivendell, who was born in the aristocracy, was only two or three silver coins at best.

Skilled trades in Stratholme, such as blacksmiths who can craft good armor weapons for adventurers, or cobblers and tailors, can earn ten silver coins a month.

In East Lordan, which produces good horses, a good war horse sells for hardware. The most elite cavalry unit in the Kingdom of Lordaeron, a set of equipment costs about two to three gold coins.

In other words, the Rivendell family's liquidity alone, if not counting training expenses, is enough to arm the most expensive cavalry force with a size of about 500 men. Compared to the family's baronial title, this is quite an incredible number.

What's more, this is still a sufficient amount of gold coins minted by the Lordaeron Kingdom in recent times, and the value of one is higher than that of the other six countries.

This money must be exchanged for useful resources as soon as possible, otherwise it will be useless to defend a mountain of gold in the event of a plague outbreak...... Thinking like this, Oryx said to Langton, the butler, "Don't sell the grain crops harvested this year, but hoard them for a while." ”

Food is the foundation of war.

A few months later, the Scourge was truly invincible to the scattered Lordaeron army. In reality, however, the lack of food and grass has exacerbated this phenomenon. During the period when the Cursed Sect was plagued by Lordaeron, most of the food depots and the grain circulating in the market were infected with the plague and became a vector for spreading the disease.

By the time the fallen Arthas led the destruction of the undead, the remnants of Lordaeron's army lacked food and grass, and their combat effectiveness was very worrisome, and many strategies and tactics were hindered by this.

The housekeeper Langton became more and more confused, what was wrong with the young master, he had never cared about these things in the past, and asked hesitantly: "Young master, why don't we ask the master for his opinion?" ”

Oryx snorted darkly.

If only Baron Rivendell were as great as he wrote in the fanfare that most people consider canonical, but the opposite is true. This is a villain who has killed hundreds of thousands of compatriots in order to pursue power, and he is so heinous that it is not a pity to kill a hundred times. I'm afraid I'm now in discussions with Kel'thugad about forming a cult of the Damned, and I'm about to start spreading the plague in the Stratholme region.

He didn't have any family affection with this cheap old man, so he was going to take this villain first and ask for advice?

"No, I'll explain it to my father when I get back. Just do what I say, huh...... This will be of greater good to us. Oryx said, waving his hand.

"Yes." Langton had no choice but to take the order.

Oryx thought of something again, "By the way, this year's autumn tax, don't pay the grain, use gold coins instead." ”

According to the law of Lordaeron, the lords of the various regions were required to pay five percent of the land as a tax each year for the autumn harvest, which could also be replaced by the equivalent of gold coins.

Langton frowned, and hurriedly stopped: "Young master, this is not good, if we hand over the gold coins, we will still calculate the tax amount according to the price of the grain at the time of last autumn's harvest, but the multiplier is this year's bumper grain production, this time it will come and go, we will have to pay several times the tax." It is inevitable that grain prices will drop sharply in bumper harvest years, and handing over grain is the most reasonable choice. ”

What else is gold used for in war?

Instead, Oryx wanted to use the 4,000 gold coins to purchase a batch of armaments, or to purchase metal, recruit a large number of blacksmiths, and build equipment for the upcoming war.

However, this is wishful thinking, not to mention armaments, large transactions of metal minerals will be controlled by the kingdom, what are you doing with a lord buying so many metal minerals when you are idle? Also build armaments? Okay, I think you're going to rebel, so I've got it.

"You don't have to worry about it, just listen to me. When my father comes back, I'll explain it to him. "Orix moved out of the cheap old man again.

Langton, the butler, was in trouble. At this time, it is best to write a letter to the lord to inquire, but who knows where the lord has gone?

In the end, the old butler had no choice but to nod yes on the surface, and was ready to delay it until the master came back to make a decision. It must not be caused by the young master's temperament.

"Langton, don't worry about not being able to give my father an account, this matter is about the fate of the Rivendell family. Do as I say, and don't compromise at all, okay? This is a plea. At this moment, Young Master Oryx, who was nibbling on the third lamb chop, suddenly turned his head with a smile on his lips and looked at Langton sincerely.

Old Langton, whose mind was seen through, sighed: "Young master, I have been serving you and my master for forty-three years. I know you as well as I know my children...... But I've never seen you like this. What the hell is wrong with you? ”

"You wouldn't believe everything I know, even if you say it. Do what I say and trust me. Oryx said.

"Okay, I will." Old Langton let out a long breath and nodded deeply.

……

A thin knight from afar came to the gates of Rivendell Manor.

The knight wears the training soft armor of the Knights of the Silver Hand, a robe with the Silver Hand insignia on the outside, and a face scarf wrapped around his face. Everything is good in the Stratholme area, but the wind is strong, especially around the autumn harvest, the wind blows the little greasy worms into the eyes, and the people who ride horses are more uncomfortable and uncomfortable, so the face scarf and head turban are a must-have for home travel in this area.

Compared to his thin stature, the knight's chest muscles bulged high and were abnormally strong.

It turned out to be a woman.

The female knight untied her scarf, revealing a face that looked like she had been beaten by wind and rain all year round, so that her skin was a little rough, and there were some small freckles on both sides of her nose. But its foundation is very good, and its facial features are appropriate, which can be called the word Peugeot.

The servant who guarded the door looked happy when he saw her face, and hurriedly saluted: "Miss Bridget, you are here!" ”

"Is he getting better? I heard that he woke up yesterday. Bridget Abydis turned over and dismounted, smiling as she asked.

"It's better, it's better, it's like no one, I'm eating in the restaurant!" The servant stepped forward to take the reins from the female knight's hand and said respectfully.

Bridget thanked her and walked into Rivendell Manor.