"Lord, the people of Fesdena have written again, look at it!" Rum handed Witt a roll of parchment with strings tied on the outside. Witt didn't say much, took the parchment roll in Rum's hand, cut the string and read quietly. Witt only swept the words on the vellum slightly, then threw the vellum to Rum, and said, "Burn!" ”

"Yes!" Rum looked at Witt's expression, only to see Witt's brow furrowed, thinking that there must be trouble again. Rum was about to leave when Witt suddenly ordered, "Call Bandney to me." Rum obeyed and disappeared from the summit.

Witt once again stood on the top of the main village and watched the industrious and busy villagers at the bottom of the peak harvesting the newly ripened wheat in the wheat field, which was loaded into wooden carts, and then pushed to the cottage by a cart and stored in their respective houses. From the cottage, to the inclined climb, all the way to the wheat field, the crowd is surging, so lively.

Some time had passed since the flour milling machines had been transferred to the cottage, and the workers had perfected the machines and taught the villagers how to operate them, and when everything was correct, they returned to the Japanese tile cart and returned to Kutchi. The farming season had arrived, and Witt was about to explain the wheat processing to the villagers, but Fesd seemed to be a ferocious wolf, staring at the Twin Peaks, much to Witt's annoyance.

"Why is the owner of the village looking for me? The old man is willing to relieve the worries of the owner of the village. Bandney arrived at the summit with Rum, and when he saw Witt's brows furrowed and his face was different, he was afraid that something was troublesome.

"You're coming," Witt did not turn, but looked at the vista and continued: "Festeda has sent troops!" ”

Banderni's heart tightened, and then he suppressed the panic in his heart, and after pondering for a while, he said slowly: "Paper can't hold the fire, what should come will still come, after all, we have been delaying it for a long time." But after all, the wheat field is ripe, and the wheat harvest can be completed within today. Moreover, except for some details, the construction of the Qianzhai wall has basically been completed, and the relevant defense facilities have also been built, coupled with the long-term training of the guards, I think Shuangfeng Village still has the strength to fight. ”

"How much fighting power is there in the stockade now?" Witt asked.

"Counting the slaves who were dealt with from the slave traders last time and had combat experience, there are now about sixty guards in the stockade, including twenty archers, twenty spearmen, and twenty foot soldiers, most of the spearmen wear caravan guard armor, and the rest of the soldiers are mostly animal skin armor." Bandney truthfully reported the situation of the cottage troops to Witt.

Wei nodded and then said, "How are the preparations I told you to prepare for the battle last time?" ”

"Everything is ready, just waiting for the enemy to attack." Bandney said confidently to Witt.

"I remember a lot of wounded caravan guards recuperating here, how are they doing now?"

"Back to the village master, after we hijacked those caravans, according to your instructions, many injured guards will indeed let them stay in the village to recuperate, and some of the guards will leave the cottage after their injuries are healed, but there are still some guards who are grateful for the kindness of the village owner not to kill, and they have no way out. The old man believed that as long as the owner of the village went to persuade him, those guards would be grateful to serve the owner of the village, and the cottage would receive rare riders, and its strength would be greatly increased, which would also be of great benefit to the Shuangfeng Village's resistance to Fesdena's attack. Bandney has always wanted to inform Witt about this, but he has not been able to find a suitable time, and now Witt has just asked about it, Bandney will not easily let go of this opportunity at hand, and speak out.

After being reminded by Bandeny's reminder, Witt really felt that he should go and persuade the guards in person, and this was a rare opportunity, so he immediately turned to Bandeney and said, "You take me with you." ”

Banderi was overjoyed and led Witt down the summit towards the houses guarded by the caravan in front of the village.

Moments later, Banderney led Witt to his destination. A dozen or so guards were busy assisting the villagers in carrying wheat in carts, when they suddenly saw Witt coming, they all laughed, put down their work, and came forward to surround Witt in the middle.

Witt looked at the smiles on their faces, as if the hijacking of the caravan had never happened. Witt laughed, "How about you guys living here?" ”

"It's good, thank you for the kindness of the owner of the village not to kill that day, and now the living conditions in the cottage are even better than outside the village, we are happy to see this scene." The guards replied, though the words were different, but the meaning was the same.

"It's very good, I have come this time, I don't hide it, I have come to recruit you. Fesdena's army is marching towards Twin Peaks, which is in danger of being in danger, and you need your help in riding. Witt said bluntly, and then added: "Of course, I don't force you, if you don't want to enlist in the army, Shuangfeng Village is also willing to let you stay and become a villager, you can decide for yourself!" ”

The guards looked at each other and discussed for a moment, then said, "I am willing to serve the lord of the village!" Except for two or three who were seriously injured and it was difficult to get on the horse to fight, the rest of the guards basically did not refuse Witt's invitation to enlist, Witt was very happy about this, and laughed and said: "With your help, I believe that Fengzhai will have a better chance of winning this battle, and I Witty will not treat you badly in the future." Well, tell Bandney about your weapons, armor, and horses, and he will give them back to you. Bandni is a veteran of the battlefield and a cavalryman, and he has a lot of experience in cavalry combat, and you will be in his charge in the future. Some of you may have a horse or not, but don't worry, you'll be matched with a horse in the future. ”

When the caravan guards heard that their armor, weapons, and horses had been regained, they were of course excited, and they immediately cheered with excitement, and went away with Banderni.

After the guards had left, Witt said to Rum, "Gather the people who are in the stockade at this time, and I have something to say to them." Rum answered.

Soon after, the villagers who remained in the former village were instructed by the guards of the cottage to go to the place where Witt was. Witt stood at a slightly higher position, looking at the hundreds of people surging below, and the words in his heart had been brewing for a long time, and he said casually: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have summoned you here this time because I have important matters to discuss with you. ”

The villagers looked at Witt with confusion in their eyes, waiting for Witt to continue his explanation. Witt paused and continued: "The cottage is in the busy farming season, the wheat fields are ripe, and the wheat is harvested. Some of the villagers present have heard of the machine for processing wheat into flour in the cottage, and I have called everyone here to collect wheat. ”

As soon as the words came out, the villagers present were in an uproar, and the villagers discussed a lot, and some of the more daring ones bluntly accused Witt of breaking his promise, and promised the villagers not to collect grain taxes, but now they want to collect wheat from the villagers.

Witt listened to the uproar below, and immediately said loudly: "Everyone be quiet! Quietly! Listen to me. As soon as Witt spoke, Rum commanded the cottage guards to stabilize the mood of the villagers, and the crowd gradually quieted down.

The villagers gradually settled down, but the application was not restless, and even a little annoyed, Witt immediately reassured: "I don't want to collect taxes from the villagers, you can rest assured, I will fulfill my original promise and never collect taxes from everyone." ”

"Then why the owner of the village collects wheat from us, this wheat is the result of the hard work of our villagers for half a year, I hope the owner of the village will give us an explanation." A bold villager directly stood up and shouted, which immediately caused a burst of echo from those present. Rum was furious and tried to get out of the bold villager, but was stopped by Witt.

Witt continued: "When I say that I collect wheat from everyone, I don't mean that there is no compensation, but I will explain to you that as long as you pay wheat to the factory, the factory will cash in a relative amount of flour according to the amount of wheat you pay. I believe that flour can be of greater use to everyone, can be made into more food, improve everyone's standard of living, and can be stored. ”

As soon as Witt's words came out, another person immediately said back: "Before we fled from Fesdna, the lord of the territory also used wheat processing as an excuse to extract a large amount of grain tax from it and squeeze us villagers, although the lord of the village treats us well, we also believe that the lord of the village will never exploit us like the lord of the territory of Fesdna, but we hope that the lord of the village will give us a clear exchange ratio, so that we can rest assured." ”

"You can rest assured that the exchange ratio between wheat and flour will definitely give you a satisfactory answer if you ask Bandeni for negotiation later." Witt said directly.

The villagers were very happy to see that the exchange ratio of wheat flour could be negotiated and determined, and immediately agreed that Witt was willing to transfer the wheat on hand to the factory for processing. Witt was very satisfied that the matter had been handled smoothly, and asked the villagers to communicate the incident to each other, to inform the villagers of the wheat field, and then asked Rum to inform Bandeni of the matter, so that he could prepare to discuss the exchange with the villagers.

......