Love's mood is not very good, in fact, from the early hours of the morning to now, he has been in a state of trance, until now, he realized that last night his words were a little inappropriate, as a courtier, insulting the monarch, is a capital crime of great disrespect, although he has the Duke of Winton behind him to support him, but so far his immediate boss is still Rand, if he annoys him, Rand has a black hand on himself, will the Duke of Winton give his son to death because of the death of a courtier?

Damn, why did the Duke send me to assist him, why couldn't he let me serve under Ron?Unlike Rand, Ron was not honored, and remained in the military town of Lindong City, a major military town in the Dukedom of Winton, as the commander of the Seventh Legion, and his prestige in the army was extremely high, in Love's opinion, Ron was destined to inherit the Duke's title, and if he could be favored, then he might be able to become an important figure in the family.

Originally, this was a great opportunity, and when Ron came to the Sky Ferry Territory, he would find an opportunity to swear allegiance to him, and Presumably Captain Ron would not refuse.

As a qualified politician, Love knows very well what Ron wants, he is ambitious, capable, and can definitely help Ron.

But all these plans came to naught with the escape of the demon seed, and Captain Ron would not come to the Sky Realm, and Love could only stay here, waiting for the next opportunity.

......

"No doubt, my lord, this old fellow is not as loyal to you as a lowliest fellow!" Penn sat at the same table as Rand, recalling the events of last night, and Penn still had some anger lingering.

"Love is my assistant minister, but he has always looked down on me, I know this very well, and I want to get rid of him," Rand frowned, and said with some distress, "But the problem is that behind Love, standing is my father." ”

"Lord Lord, I don't think it'......" Payne's eyes showed a fierce light, and his palm gestured around his neck, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"No! Love can't die, at least not in my territory, and an assassination plot of this caliber can't hide from my father," Rand shook his head, unable to think of a better way for a moment, so he simply stopped thinking about it and turned his gaze to the map.

"Ron, the tax and trade situation in the airferry territory is a bit unsatisfactory, we need to find some other business to expand our pockets, you can take a look at this map. Rand spread the map on the table, beckoned Payne over, pointed to an area and said: "The location of the Empty Ferry Territory is here, the south is a wilderness, which can be reclaimed for farmland, and the north is the Serra River, and the merchant ships going to the imperial capital must spend their time through the Shallow Gate Bay of the Empty Ferry Territory, Payne, this is a godsend opportunity to make money." ”

Payne, a knight who is not good at social and management purposes, was confused, and he patiently looked at the shallows on the map, not seeing any opportunities to make money at all, only that it was a good place for ambush warfare.

When Rand saw Payne's expression, he knew that he still needed to speak a little more, he picked up a quill, drew a big cross in the position of the shallow water, and then said: "This waterway is the main transportation route for freight transport, and a third of the goods of the Imperial Capital are transported through this Serra River, if I close this waterway and let all the passing merchant ships pay taxes to me, then you calculate how amazing the profit in a year will be!"

"But...... "Penn is still an honest man, and he has some difficulty understanding what Rand is saying, isn't this just robbery?

"Attrition, so many merchant ships come and go every year, and the water level is lowered, won't the water in the Serra River spread and erode to the land of the shallow waters? This is all my territory, won't I feel heartache? What is the point of a small compensation from them?"

"To put it more bluntly, I opened this mountain, I planted this tree, and I want to live from now on and leave to buy road money!" Rant's eyes showed a fierce look.

"Isn't this plunder?"

"Payne, be careful with your words!I am an upright lord, and such barbarism as plunder is not allowed in my territory!" Lant rebuked righteously, and then thought of something, and asked, "What do you think of the name of the toll booth?"

"Well, what if they don't pay?"

"Get a few trebuchets to go over, and if you dare to rush through the customs without paying the fee, sink them directly! These profiteers, if there is resistance, immediately pull the corps in the territory over, I don't believe that in my territory, who dares to draw a sword against my troops?" Rand showed a hungry wolf-like smile, his mouth full of white teeth shining in the light, and the feeling of having a father with a heavy army in his hand is cool, and he can really do whatever he wants.

"If they are carrying spices, silk, furs and other goods on the ship, they will be charged at one percent of the market price, if it is wood and stone, it will be reduced by half, and the same will be true for grain; by the way, remember that it must not be empty, even if it is a fishing boat, he must detain a few baskets of salted dried fish from the boat!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"By the way, the funds and income of the treasury in the territory should give priority to the purchase of armaments, food and other necessities, and there is no need to buy luxury goods such as silk and jewelry, and go and help me gather some craftsmen, I am ready to build a new weapon. Rand ordered a series of arrangements.

He was ready to make the Empty Realm an impregnable castle, and the economy would definitely come first, and the Duke of Winton would not support him in any way unless his life was threatened.

In addition, weapons and food are also extremely important, Rand found that the weapons in this world are extremely backward, although there are constant disputes, but the weapons they use are still cumbersome spears and knights' swords, although some troops are equipped with bows and arrows, but the power is too small, even the armor on the cavalry can not penetrate, so Rand felt the need to make some improvements in the ordnance first.

Ballista, as a history buff in his previous life, Rand had a strong interest in this kind of heavy siege equipment recorded in ancient books, and collected a lot of material drawings, and with his own exquisite handwork, he successfully made a miniature repeating ballista, but because of the limitation of materials, it could not withstand the huge force, and it was quickly damaged.

But in this world, Rand can use his resources and power to build a true repeating ballista.

Rand still remembers the power of the ballista recorded in the historical materials at that time, and after many years, it still makes people shudder.

"The arrow is as big as a ballista chisel, one arrow can shoot several people, and three arrows can shoot hundreds of steps!"

This is simply a bazooka in the era of cold weapons!