www.biquge.info Although Stormwind City has regained some of its former vitality with the cessation of the war, compared to before, through careful observation in the past few days, Leo can still find that people are still somewhat deeply worried and cautious, and the merchants, who account for the vast majority of taxes, are more careful and cautious about every expense

Walking on the slightly depressed streets, although the punishment knights who followed on both sides did not have any superfluous actions, but the neat and luxurious armor and tall mounts still made the commoners and even the small nobles take the initiative to get out of the way, and salute Leo respectfully from the heart, the hardships and hardships of life may never disappear, but in Stormwind, in this land that is different from most cities, as long as you are willing to put in the effort, at least anyone can still find a job to make ends meet......

"I'm sorry lord, while the war interrupted the trade routes, it also made many people who were not strong in mind choose to wait and see or retreat, this year, only in the Stormwind City business tax, we have lost at least more than 100,000 gold coins, if it weren't for your repeated emphasis at the beginning, I would almost be tempted to use the long sword in my hand, so that those who see the wind and rudder understand the price of disappointing your mercy......"

Anthony couldn't show a trace of disgust and helplessness on his face when he reported here, as a proud and powerful knight, whether it was in Pande or here, they all had a deep contempt for the profession of merchants, of course, there must be a lot of reasons for forcibly robbing profiteers, but the bigger aspect is the deformity and atmosphere of the entire era

The reason why Stormwind City can quickly become the entire Northern Territory of the Empire, so that it surpasses the paradise of merchants within the Northern Territory, is most directly related to Leo's concept of coming from different worlds, a large number of preferential policies, relatively mild attitudes, and even the unprecedented division of the city for trading and chambers of commerce, which has made him famous among merchants to the peak, and similarly, Stormwind City can also make people blush and gather a terrible amount of wealth in a short period of time......

Reining the reins of the horse and letting the unicorn walk slowly and easily, Leo turned his face to look carefully at Anthony, who had almost dropped everything and followed him since returning to the storm, more than a year of hard work had brought some unconcealable exhaustion from the inside to the outside of this once seemingly warm knight, and the rough skin and extra wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seemed to silently tell him of the pressure and responsibility he had silently endured

Silently patting his friend on the shoulder, Leo sighed for a long time but only squeezed out a simple sentence

"Great work......"

A whisper containing countless emotions made Anthony, a knight who was extremely strong, reddened his eyes a little, no one knew how much he had borne this year, and with Leo's trust, although he was as eager for honor and battle as Finn and Case, the man who was nearly thirty years old still resolutely stayed here

He has no elite knights under his command, no veterans who have experienced the flames of war, but he bears all the heavy responsibilities of protecting the storm and the territory, training new troops, maintaining order, and being vigilant against the undercurrents that are secretly surging in the cities during the war, and even shaking the rest of the lords of the northern lord and participating in the people's livelihood work with force from time to time

Perhaps with the exception of Leo and a few other people close to him, most of them had no idea how much the Knights of Punishment had taken on silently and alone beyond his reassuring composure, and even Finn, in one of his leisure moments between wars, jokingly said that the dull work had probably overwhelmed their friends to forget how to wield their swords

"We have plenty of time to prepare this time, sorry my friend, I overlooked a lot of things before, and put all the things that shouldn't belong to you without thinking about it, with the increase of the Cast Family and the sophistication of those students, huh...... Coupled with the arrival of Marshal El, I think you'll be able to get out of those tedious things soon, and I understand that the most important place for a knight to appear is still the battlefield! ”

Quickly putting away his irrelevant look, Anthony smiled gently

"As long as I can help you, it doesn't matter where I am or what I do, but since I have said this, it seems to me that you are still too tolerant and merciful to those merchants, I hate them, I hate them for often hesitating and dodging after enjoying the benevolence you give, maybe there will be no loyalty at all in the blood of these people, my lord!"

Hearing this, he shook his head slightly, and Leo smiled at the merchant who was dressed on the side of the road but did not have a family coat of arms, and bowed his head deeply to say hello, and spoke calmly

"Yes, maybe most of what you said is to my friends, but we can't simply divide the crowd, you know, the instinct or nature of a businessman is to seek advantage and avoid harm, this is not about personality and morality, but the impact of years of operation of this profession, but some ideas I and you are just the opposite......"

Leo raised his hand and pointed with a horsewhip to the commercial area not far away that was gradually starting to get busy again

"Because of this nature of merchants, they hardly owe allegiance to any nobleman or even the royal family, because their ultimate goal is to earn money rather than gambling, and most of them do not have a good background and heritage, which also makes them have a lot less worries than those families who have passed down for hundreds of thousands of years...... As well as responsibility! This leads to a similar perception of yours as most people, which is to drill camps, speculate, and be unfaithful......"

Licking his lips, Leo, who was talking about sex, waved his hand and refused the water bladder handed by the knight next to him, and his voice slowly became louder

"Except for the merchants who are noble, well, like those in the Southern Territories...... A very important part of the reason why most merchants dare not take risks is actually the dominant position of us nobles, because as long as a gambling failure, the eye-catching wealth they have accumulated for generations will be absorbed by the victors, and in the face of swords they are pathetic but have no defense, yes, although most of the merchants will recruit some guards for safety and convenience, but at most those guards who can only deal with bandits and robbers are nothing in front of the nobles, To use Stormwind as an example, now I just have to find an excuse to declare these merchants guilty......"

Speaking of which, Leo's face was full of slaughter

"All it takes is one sentence...... Anthony, in a word! I'm afraid it won't take half a day for the Knight of Punishment and the others to fulfill my will, right? Then in an instant, I will have access to enough wealth to make the emperor greedy, at least millions of gold coins and other goods, and usually the rulers prefer to kill not because they are cruel, but because this method is the simplest and most effective......"

"Of course, despite the thousands of merchants here, including their pathetic guards and families, as long as the soldiers can seal the gates, it only takes an hour for the Knights of Punishment to do everything you ask!"

Looking up proudly, Anthony looked at the streets of the shopping street with an intriguing gaze, if Leo really decided, maybe he would be more than happy to do it himself......

"Look, that's why merchants are always cautious, it's not that no one does it, it's something that most nobles think of when they're in financial trouble, and merchants of relatively low status seem to be their livestock, and they can milk and lay eggs on weekdays, and ...... when needed."

Leo made a throat-slitting pose

"Touch, the act of easily obtaining other people's property can be addictive and intoxicating, because it is too simple, I can say very responsibly, the gold coins in the treasury of any big family are stained with blood, stained with the blood of merchants, Anthony, you are the people I trust the most, so you must understand my thoughts, I don't want and can't change these, or elevate the status of merchants, this matter is too small compared to the current crisis, but, In my territory, I was able to give them a relatively fair attitude, and many times, unconsciously, I have actually changed a lot......"

Ignoring Anthony in contemplation for the time being, Leo nodded at Professor Pericles, who had an appreciative face

"Hey, my Chief Advisor, tell Anthony how you feel when you just return to Stormwind!"

Touching the two mustaches that had just been trimmed, the professor's reserved slight forehead, having experienced a series of wars, compared with the time of the imperial capital, this erudite old man was completely reborn, and his wise eyes were more confident

"Lord Anthony, you may not pay too much attention to the details, you must know that even in history there has never been a city, after experiencing the baptism of gambling war, it can still maintain relative prosperity, after returning home, I was surprised to find that although the war blocked the trade routes, but there are still most of the merchants stranded here, many of them may be waiting, or there may be such and such reasons to leave, but it is precisely because of these concerns and reasons that it proves that I am not optimistic about the war against the Empire, These merchants still have faith and expectations for Lord Leo! ”

"But this proves their speculative psychology ......"

Shaking his head, Professor Pericles pointed to the bustling shops and stalls around him, and continued in a tone that could not contain his pride

"Lord Anthony, you may not know very well, but as far as I know, when you were recruiting and training new soldiers for Your Highness, and when you were making and transporting weapons and armor as much as possible for the front line, these merchants, the disloyal merchants in your eyes, gave generously and donated a full thirty percent of the total amount of gold coins, do you think this is right, or is it the case elsewhere?"

Looking at Professor Pericles in confusion, the incomprehension in Anthony's eyes did not seem to be a fake at all

"Isn't it, Mr. Professor, that we protect them while they pay for a safe environment, is there anything wrong with that?"

"Wrong, wrong, wrong~"

Shaking his finger, as if he had returned to the podium of the Imperial Capital Academy again, the professor patiently explained

"Yes, our city and our soldiers provided security for the merchants' trades, but their relatively high commercial taxes have been fully paid for this, Lord Anthony, I can tell you very clearly, in my knowledge of history, except for those merchants who themselves have the status of nobility in the southern territory, even if a country is faced with the destruction of a country, the stingy merchants have never offered to donate even a single copper plate, perhaps they are extremely foolish in this behavior, because the butcher's knife of the ruler will never let them go, But beyond that, we were the first ...... to do that."

"You mean?"

Anthony's calm face at the moment was also a little moved, nothing would not have the deepest feeling without comparison, his eyes softened a little, in his heart, these seemingly stingy, seemingly cunning and changeable businessmen did not seem to be so unbearable existence

"Yes, they are slowly becoming more loyal and confident in us, time will change everything, Anthony!"

Pressing the topic, Leo was not ready to continue the discussion, he knew that for these loyal knights, anything different from their pursuit and carved into the bone marrow tradition would be difficult for them to accept and accommodate, but fortunately, the Knights of Punishment, including the three captains of Finn, were always able to strictly follow Leo's instructions no matter what their thoughts and moods, and that was enough......

Slowly out of the business district, in the heart of several urban districts, a vast construction site with few towering buildings is under construction, and under the lure of full pay and two meals a day, a large number of young and strong laborers are sweating like rain, even in the storm, every job opportunity is still precious

Here, it was the Knight Academy that had only been under construction since half a year ago according to Leo's idea, because the system did not provide similar buildings, which made Leo a little uncomfortable with the convenience, and the slow construction period and the demonic invasion like the sword of Daxmo hanging above his head made him a little impatient

But fortunately, he finally let go of his anxiety when he saw that the final stage of the project was being completed, and then he began to look forward to it, in Leo's mind, maybe in the future, a building comparable to or even surpassing the Imperial Capital Knight Academy could be born here

"Are there any difficulties with the teachers and students?"

Anthony's cold question didn't stunned, and he only thought for a few seconds before replying

"There is not much problem in terms of students, many noble families are not all possible to inherit the family business, being able to obtain the status of a knight is already the best choice for most people, under your prestige, all the families of the principality promise to send a sufficient number of educated family members, as for the teachers, regardless of whether the time is enough, Finn and we are enough to train these fledglings, but in addition to combat skills, every knight also needs to be educated in history, etiquette, morality, etc., in this regard, Professor Pericles alone is certainly not enough......"

Nodding, Leo turned over and dismounted, looked at the magnificent buildings not far away with his hands behind his back, and muttered to himself

"I will communicate with the Duke of Lancaster, every big family with a background will have enough teachers to educate their children, in addition, Anthony, our time is very tight, I ask that when the academy can be put into use, you can start working immediately, manpower, money, everything you want I can meet, I only have one request for this, we need as many knights as possible, knights with strong beliefs, believe me, the devil will not give us too long to prepare!"