He was rich.

After the dinner the night before, Joanna proposed to play Whist, an era when there were not so many restrictions between the male and female aristocracy, and it was more of a semi-public gamble than a game of cards. Aldridge was not very lucky, played more than 20 games in a row, and finally settled the bill, losing nearly 300 pounds.

Even for a wealthy countess like Joanna, three hundred gold pounds was not a small amount for her.

She watched as Aldrich pulled a checkbook out of his jacket pocket and wrote down a string of numbers fluently.

That was the end of the matter, and the nobles were all about credibility, and Joanna, though she had some faint concerns, would not question the check itself in public. But the money involved another person, who had won more than sixty pounds, and offered to settle the bill in cash.

This is an insult to a nobleman, and in serious cases, it may even lead to a duel on the spot. Aldrich didn't react much, but called his personal servant, gave him a few casual commands, and the man left...... An hour passed, when his servant reappeared, holding a large, heavy leather purse.

In front of everyone, Aldrich opened the purse, counted the glittering gold pounds, and piled them on the table.

No one questioned his credibility anymore, and the atmosphere suddenly became harmonious, with smiles on the faces of the winners and inviting Aldridge to play a few more rounds.

His luck came.

It was nearly early in the morning, and he won 22 games in a row.

Joanna lost four hundred and thirty-seven pounds.

With a gloomy expression, she stood up from the table and declared the end of the hand.

The guests dispersed, and Aldrich stayed until the end.

He put all his winnings on the table, walked up to Joanna, smiled charmingly and modestly, and whispered an apology.

"I didn't expect to win so much, but the money doesn't belong to me."

"I made a mistake to embarrass such a noble and beautiful lady as you at the card table."

"This is my sorry gift, please accept it."

He spoke politely and behaved decently, without the slightest transgression.

No one will have trouble with money, not to mention that after the death of her husband, Joanna can only live on the income from the manor territory. She has no industry, and she doesn't know how to do business, and she belongs to the type where the economic situation is not bad, and she is more than the upper and lower than the bottom.

With the first act of enhancing the friendship between the two parties, the afternoon tea on the second day became a natural one.

Aldrich is twenty-four years old, and Joanna is forty-seven, which is old enough to be his mother.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

He said this sentence many times.

At first, Joanna laughed, believing that this was a common phrase used by young aristocrats in their social behavior. Aldrich is a baron, and it's normal to say that.

He shifted his chair and sat down beside the Countess.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever met." He began to flatter and say all sorts of pretty things, starting with Joanna's shoes on her feet, and commenting on her clothes and skirts in order, as well as hairstyles, skin, eyes, and even blood.

The Countess listened with fascination.

She had seen a lot of young people, and had been like this for many years. Some people fall under their pomegranate skirts, and some seduce themselves in various ways. Joanna knew that she was beautiful, otherwise she would not have been favored by her husband. But that was all in the past, as soon as the fortieth birthday passed, wrinkles appeared at the corners of the eyes and on the face, and there were fewer and fewer men around.

It takes money to raise a little wolf dog, and young handsome men, like beautiful girls, are decorated with ** piled up with gold pounds.

Aldrich was well-informed, and he was very knowledgeable about all kinds of knowledge in aristocratic circles. From heraldry to the beginning of the kingdom, from the successive majesties of the Rhine Kingdom to the nobles...... Joanna felt that a new door had opened in front of her, a man of great learning, young and handsome, rich and rich, sitting close to him, like an angel sent by the Holy Lord.

He moved his chair again, clinging to the countess, gently holding her hand and caressing it slowly, the temperature passed through his skin, his lips were close to her ear, and the slightest heat stimulated the most sensitive nerves: "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." ”

Instead of honorific "you", it is a very fatal "you" that brings each other closer.

Joanna has completely fallen.

Happy times were always short, and for the first time the Countess felt young, full of vitality, a lively and beautiful maiden.

All of this is the credit of the Forget Worry Fans.

If you stay together for a long time, you will always attract the attention of outsiders, and even gossip.

Aldrich did not stay overnight at the Countess's Court, and Joanna, desperate to taste the passion again, took the initiative to find him at home.

It's morning, but time is a fart to people who need each other.

Eggs and milk have a lot of meaning, and it's not just a breakfast food.

Half of the world is women.

Getting a woman is equivalent to getting half a world.

This is what Aldrich learned from Tianhao.

The southern continent was vast, and the Saxon kingdom was only a part of it.

It's not safe to have Elizabeth as one spokesperson, that means focusing all your attention on her.

It is easy for a single individual to produce peculiarities, and it becomes normal for the same thing to happen to two or more people.

Only by diverging goods in large quantities in a short period of time can we obtain the maximum profit, and forget worry powder is no exception.

Aldrich is the spokesperson of Tianhao in the Rhine Kingdom. He spent more than a year in the "zoo", successfully switched his mind and underwent a spore transplant. According to Tianhao's order, Elizabeth "washed" all the foundations and arranged a new identity for him in the Rhine Kingdom.

A young, handsome, wealthy, systematically educated, and talkative nobleman.

Such men are very popular with noble ladies.

……

Thunder Bull Territory, Thunder Horn City.

Tianhao made his rounds around the territory quickly, making a circle along the northern route, inspecting all the walled cities under construction.

This work is important to motivate morale and gain buy-in from the people at the bottom.

He made a family trip with the captured deer people, and gave them candy cubes and cured meat with his own hands, which were the best gifts of all.

The Pig people are accustomed to the current life, especially the women, who have a visceral respect for the young acting patriarch. His presence means leading the people out of hunger and embracing the future in a new environment.

At a quarry site in Xinjing, Tianhao wrestles with a strong Tiger Clan. It was an unruly fellow, shouting "If it weren't for the despicable sneak attack of your Niu people, Lao Tzu would not have been caught by you."

There are many ways to tame, Tianhao defeated it with absolute strength, the man was convinced, and then the two of them sat down and had dinner with the other Tiger Clan. All the captives saw that Tianhao's bowl contained the same meat and vegetable stew as his own, and the dry and hard dough cakes, and he ate happily and swallowed it heavily, everything indicated that this was the daily food of the noble lord.

This scene shocked all the Tiger captives.

This was very different from the aristocracy they were familiar with.

Tianhao had only stayed in Xinjing for one day, but according to the subsequent reports, the attitude of those tiger people had obviously changed, and they no longer resisted and began to become cooperative. Many even offer to settle down here, constantly asking what they can do to improve their social status.

The days passed, and before the autumn, Tianhao returned to the royal city.

Many things happened very coincidentally, and perhaps it was already destined to be ———— the day after returning to the city, two groups of guests from different directions gathered in Thunderhorn City.

Tianhao first made an appointment with the Great Master in the reception room.

He was older than the last time we met, his temples were all white, but he looked good and was in good spirits.

"Hehe, you have made a great contribution this time, I don't even know what kind of reward to give you." Wu Peng has been smiling bitterly since he sat down: "There are so many horses, and they are war horses, this is what the ancestors of the past generations dreamed of!" ”

The horses of the Thunderhorn Department are breeding, and the thousands of stallions handed over by Tianhao have shocked the whole clan, and the nearly 200,000 Tiger Clan captives are also a huge wealth, which means that the Thunderhorn Department is stronger than ever, with a larger population and a sharp increase in strength.

A tricky question was in front of Wu Peng, as he himself said: what kind of reward should Tianhao be given?

Population?

Since Tianhao took over the Thunder Cow Tribe, the total number of people in the clan has long exceeded one million, and now there is only a small number from two million.

Territory?

He expanded the newly built area of the village he had previously rewarded to the maximum, along the eastern coastline, all the way to the cold Far North.

Grain?

No kidding, the last thing that the Thunder Cattle Department lacks now is food.

It was precisely because he couldn't find the answer that the Great Master felt the need to go to Thunderhorn City in person and listen to Tianhao's own opinion.

"Tell me, what do you want?" Wu Peng smiled kindly: "As long as I can agree to the conditions, there is no problem." ”

The old man's heart was full of pride, just like watching the saplings he planted with his own hands grow into a towering tree, and the sense of accomplishment is simply indescribable.

At the beginning, he was only the head of a village with 200 people.

Now, he is the patriarch of a great clan who is in charge of nearly two million people.

It was I who discovered him, and of course it was inseparable from his own efforts. I gave him a chance, he seized it, and he became what he is today.

Tianhao maintained a humble attitude: "Thank you Great Master, all this is what I should do." ”

Wu Peng was very shrewd, he heard the different meaning of Tianhao's words, and said with a smile: "What, you don't have any other requirements?" ”

Tianhao is very sincere: "From the development of Panshi Village to the present, the ethnic group has given me too much support. You, in particular, have always trusted me and taken a lot of care of me. Giving and giving are not opposites, but complement each other. Now, it's time for me to repay the cattle clan and everyone. ”

This is not self-humility, but the result of Tianhao's careful consideration.

There are too many hole cards in hand, regardless of population, resources or comprehensive strength, all of them are firmly in the upper hand and invincible. Above the ten heads are the heads of a hundred, and above are the heads of a thousand, ten thousand, the lord, the lord, the chiefs of the branches...... At this level, even if you unify the north of the entire continent, break out of the Suolong Pass to pacify the south, kill all the whites, and make great contributions to the world, what you will get in the end is only a reputation recorded in the history books and passed on to future generations.

This is an honor that only the king of the Niu clan is qualified to enjoy, and the patriarch of a branch can only become the great commander if he holds up to the sky, that is, the general of the civilized era.

Of course, Tianhao can't be without desires, there are many things he wants, and the most direct thing that the great master can help give is the position of the patriarch of the Niu clan. However, such a demand can never be put forward on the surface, and once it is involved, it is a malicious attempt to rebel.

Only by making a successful appearance will it not arouse suspicion.

"Return?" The Great Master's eyes narrowed slightly, he pondered this word, and asked seriously: "You mean those war horses that have been handed over to the clan?" ”

"That's only part of the story." Tianhao's smile was as bright as the sun, he stood up from his chair, clasped his hands in front of him, and respectfully saluted Wu Peng: "Great Master Qi, I found sulfur." ”

Wu Peng did not understand the meaning of this sentence at all.

With a smile on his face, his mind was still immersed in the way Tianhao spoke, his eyes only saw Tianhao's salutation to him, and although his ears heard the other party's voice, his brain could not synchronize sound wave perception and active thinking.

The word "sulfur" is so unfamiliar. It is not an everyday object, and it has been painstakingly searched for to no avail. Gradually, it was forgotten by people, and they no longer fantasized about being able to discover its existence in the northern continent.

The Great Master's thinking was delayed for a full five seconds.

The smile froze on his face, his pupils instantly contracted, and his brain seemed to have been hit hard, and then it was pulled up from the bottom of the abyss by a shot of cardiotonic with extraordinary effect.

“…… You...... What did you say? Brimstone? ”

With his mouth open, he got up from his chair, his face full of consternation, then turned to disbelief.

It was only then that Wu Peng finally understood what Tianhao wanted to express.

"Yes, I found sulfur, and in considerable quantities, almost inexhaustible." Tianhao knew what a shocking effect this news would cause, he didn't urge, nor did he make any further moves, just standing still in place, his expression calm.

It's time to show off a little bit of what you're capable of.

The choice to make the sulphur public was due to the upcoming project.

The development and growth of the Lei Niu clan has become an inevitable trend, and no one can stop it. Tianhao went to great lengths to win over the Bull and Bison Clans in order to form an alliance within the Cattle Clan, and then strengthen and stabilize them with complex interests in all aspects.

In this way, it will be able to suppress the Black Bull Tribe, that is, the royal clan, which occupies the dominant position of the Niu Clan, and then surpass it, ranking first in all aspects of financial resources, population, and army. As long as this situation is maintained for three to five years, and the status of the old royal family is suppressed, the Lei Niu Department will have a great opportunity to take the opportunity to jump on, or even replace it.