The crown prince scooped a bowl of soup, reached out and took a baguette from the basket and broke it, dipped it in the hot soup to soften the bread, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it slowly.

It's rough and doesn't taste bad, but it's definitely not delicious.

Despite seeing countless refugees on the way here and being somewhat prepared for the consequences of the fire, Mokael did not expect the dinner to be so bad.

"How's Brandon County going?" Next to him, Count Banat asked seriously.

"This fire burned everything." Viscount Sosa looked a little tired, more depressed: "It's the driest season, and the time chosen by the northern giants is too good, once the wheat field is on fire, it will be difficult to extinguish, and it will burn bigger and bigger, and eighty percent of the villages in the county will be affected." You should go to the countryside and see, it's black everywhere, it's dead everywhere. ”

"Just yesterday, I sent a letter of help to the capital." The Viscount sat in his chair with a sad look in his eyes: "This year's harvest has been completely ruined, and the inhabitants of villages and towns everywhere can only flock to the city. Since the outbreak of the fire, I have allocated all the food in the county to help the victims, but this has not helped, there are too many of them, and it has directly affected the supply of supplies to the city. ”

Viscount Dai Youta looked at him suspiciously: "According to the law enacted by the Ministry of the Interior, each county has a reserve warehouse, and every year it must replace the old grain with a certain proportion of new grain, and the grain reserve must meet the consumption of the population under its jurisdiction for one to one and a half years. Even if the northern giants burn this year's wheat with fire, Brandon County should have enough ......"

"That's the problem I want to talk about." Viscount Sosa tapped his fingers on the table irritably, and then he put his thumb into his mouth, ignoring the crown prince and the two important ministers, and gnawed on his nails vigorously in trembling and uneasiness, which was his habit of relieving his nervousness: "There was no grain in reserve, and just as the fire began to burn, there were fires in the granaries everywhere, and all the grain reserves in Brandon County were burned, and not a single wheat was left. ”

The Crown Prince, the Earl of Barnett, and the Viscount of Dayuta were instantly stunned, and they were stunned by the terrible news.

“…… There are spies...... Agents have infiltrated our kingdom, and they did it. Viscount Sosa's tone was low, full of pain and hatred: "The northern giant threw a burning jar from the sky, in order to extinguish the fire, I sent all the troops in the county, and also ordered the patrol teams of each city to be sent to various places to maintain order...... This is the conspiracy of the giants of the north, they are too vicious. ”

Count Banat could no longer sit still, he got up from his chair and walked up and down the room with a serious expression. From time to time, he looked at Viscount Sosa with angry eyes, and wanted to open his mouth to scold angrily several times, but when the words came to his mouth, he forced himself to swallow them forcibly.

Viscount Sousa has indeed made many mistakes, and he has an unshirkable responsibility in these matters. But in the final analysis, this is actually the common thinking of most officials in the entire Rhine Kingdom———— there is no border between the Rhine and the northern giants, and no one would have thought that those damned barbarians would attack the kingdom in this way. What is even more terrifying is that instead of striking by military means, they attack from a deeper part of the population.

This year's wheat harvest is a foregone conclusion, and Brandon County has lost all its grain reserves.

Viscount Dayuta had a different idea than Barnet. He frowned and asked, "Even if the wheat is destroyed by fire, what about the other crops?" For potatoes and turnips, for example, according to the relevant regulations issued by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Kingdom, at least one-third of the fields planted in the current year must be used for potato cultivation. ”

"I know." Viscount Sosa nodded slightly: "This is a decree issued more than two hundred years ago. However, the situation was different now, when there was a shortage of food everywhere and potatoes were urgently needed to supplement it. But then things changed, people didn't like the taste of potatoes, and both commoners and nobles liked bread, especially white bread. This directly led to the change in the price of different grains in the market, wheat was always more expensive than potatoes, especially finely ground flour. ”

Prince Mokair couldn't help but open his mouth and ask, "That is, the farmers are not willing to grow potatoes?" ”

"Yes, because no matter how many potatoes they grow, they won't make money." Viscount Sosa confessed: "Even if I am the county guard here, I can't force the civilians to do what they don't want to do. Because there are so many people who refuse this decree, and the situation is now very different, the fields cannot eat all the grain produced every year, and if it were not for the fact that wheat production is not as high as rye, and rye is more adaptable to the soil, I am afraid that everyone would choose to grow wheat...... In fact, since more than a decade ago, many farmers have stopped growing food, choosing to grow flowers, fruit trees, or other valuable ornamental plants. ”

"Their approach is completely understandable. Instead of honestly staying in the field and growing food, which can only earn a dozen gold pounds a year, it is better to plant something more valuable, which can be fifty or even hundreds of pounds a year. Anyone can settle this account. ”

"What do you get by planting potatoes in comparison?" Viscount Sosa's rhetorical question was full of the power of money: "Of course I know the importance of grain reserves, but the peasants below don't think so. All they knew was that potatoes were not as valuable as wheat, and that the price difference between the two was twelve times. ”

Earl Banat subconsciously remembered that many years ago, during the reign of the previous king, the food subsidy bill had been discussed many times in the Kingdom Council. The core content is to provide a certain degree of monetary compensation to potato farmers to ensure that a certain percentage of farmers in the Rhine grow potatoes every year. However, this bill was opposed by many nobles and merchants, who believed that this would lead to an increase in the price of food in the market, especially barley, which would cause many people, including beer merchants, to suffer from the increase in the price of raw materials...... After the meeting, the bill was scrapped and has not been reinstated to this day.

If that bill had been passed at that time, no matter how cunning the northern giants were, no matter how great the damage caused by the fire to Brandon County, there would not have been such a severe food shortage situation as it is today.

Count Barnett couldn't help but think of the young corpse he saw on the wooden cart when he entered the city today.

"Do everything in your power to help the disaster!" He sighed: "Your Majesty asked us to inspect the northern counties with His Highness just to understand the situation and solve the current problem. ”

"We need food." Viscount Sosa put it bluntly: "The entire Brandon County has a grain stock that can only last for two weeks. This is the result of my order to add a lot of sawdust to the bread. To tell you the truth, this is the first time I've eaten this kind of food since the fire burned. My family eats something simpler, usually two pieces of bread with meat and a little veggies. As for the civilians below...... They don't have much to eat, and it's getting less and less. ”

"Two weeks?" Viscount Dai Youta shouted in disbelief: "Is there really only two weeks of food? Holy Lord above, Sosa, are you sure you are not lying? ”

"As I said before, messengers have been sent, and if food cannot be brought in within half a month, many people will die." Viscount Sosa smiled bitterly: "Further north, the situation is worse than my here." The forest is still burning, and many of its inhabitants are suffering from respiratory illness, as at least tens of thousands of people are choked to death because of the smoke and dust everywhere. ”

The crown prince couldn't hold back any longer: "Why hasn't the fire been extinguished until now?" ”

"There's no water and there's not enough people." Viscount Sosa explained: "Forest fires are different from fires in cities, where large areas of high temperature are formed when they burn. Even if an army is sent to spray the outer forest area with water, it will not help, just like a drop of water falling into a furnace, it will only make a "whoosh" sound, and there will be no more movement. ”

Earl Banat was worried: "You mean, you can only stay here and do nothing, and watch the northern forest turn to ashes?" ”

"I know it's a hard choice to take. But I still have to say...... Yes. ”

Viscount Dai Youta immediately thought of another possibility, and he looked a little nervous: "Will the northern giants attack from the sky?" I mean the kind of ball they ride on, able to bring their troops directly from the north? ”

The crown prince was also interested in the matter: "I have heard that they are flying from the north in a kind of ball. So what is it exactly? ”

Viscount Sosa said: "Some of them were knocked down by giant ballistas in the northern counties, and it is said that they were balls sewn from animal skins. Underneath hangs a rattan basket, in which people and all kinds of things can be carried. But how do they fly...... No one knows about this problem and it is not clear what to do. ”

The young man's mind was always full of fantasies, and the crown prince asked, "Could it be magic?" ”

Count Barnut immediately looked at him with stern eyes: "Your Highness, please be careful, this is disrespectful to the Holy Lord. ”

The crown prince shrugged his shoulders: "If the Holy Lord can let us have this kind of flying ball, I will go to the church and confess to the priest." ”

Whether it is confession or the Holy Lord, in short, it is not the focus of attention at the moment. Viscount Sosa thought for a moment and said seriously: "I don't think the northern giants will go south, at least not at this time to take the initiative to attack the Rhine." ”

"Why?" Viscount Daiyuta asked.

"The giants are indeed very capable of fighting, but they do not have an advantage in numbers." Viscount Sousa had served in the army in his early years, and had also participated in a northern campaign: "The Lock Dragon Pass is too far away from us, and there is a kingdom of the Lord in between. The main force of the giants is attacking the Saxons at the moment, although I don't know how many troops the giants have, but if they want to deal with the Rhine, they must at least deal with other countries first, and we are sure, they must also be behind. ”

Earl Barnut nodded slowly, agreeing with the remarks: "Yes, the problem we urgently need to solve at the moment is disaster relief. ”

"Let's get food from the capital county first! Father will agree. In his own line of thought, the Crown Prince of Morkael said: "At the same time, send people to other countries for help, especially the kingdom of God and the Holy See, and if they refuse, you can buy food from them in another way." ”

"It's worth a try, don't waste time, it's better to send a messenger now. Your Highness, you have full powers to make decisions on Your Majesty's behalf. Earl Barnut nodded frequently.

At this moment, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a servant walked quickly to Viscount Sosa, handed over a secret letter stamped with fire paint in both hands, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, this is an urgent message sent by someone from the Northern County. ”

The viscount stretched out his hand to take it, picked up the table knife on the table, picked up the fire paint seal, took out the letter paper from the envelope, and just read the first two lines, his face suddenly changed.

"Oh my God, the Northern County is under attack!" His eyes widened as he fixed on the letter in his hand, screaming in disbelief.

The crown prince of Mokair suddenly stood up from his chair and asked nervously, "Is it the northern giant?" ”

"No, it's not them." Viscount Sosa raised his head, his eyes filled with horror: "It is the kingdom of the Lord, they have broken their covenant and waged war against us. ”

……

Northern part of the Rhine Kingdom, Loebshire, main city.

Viscount Mahmoud wielded his scimitar, and as the cold light flashed, the neck of the captive kneeling in front of him was cut off, and the head rolled several meters away from the ground.

"It's still convenient to use a knife!" He smiled, skillfully pulled his sword, and stepped forward, walking towards the next captive who was about to be beheaded.

The city of Loeb is the closest city of the Rhine to the kingdom of God. The city is surrounded by fertile soil and abundant water, which supports a large population. Although the Rhine and the Kingdom of God have different beliefs, the two countries are quite consistent in the position of the Northern War, and the Holy See sent people to mediate, since the reign of the previous Rhine king, there has been no large-scale war between the two countries, and the conflict is limited to 100 people. After the current King Henderson ascended the throne, in order to completely resolve the conflict with the northern lord, Henderson held several talks with King Rahman, and the two sides reached an agreement on commercial issues, opened mutual trade ports, and signed a non-aggression pact in the first year of the exchange of caravans between the two sides.

In the eyes of others, Rahman, the king of the Kingdom of God, was still very trustworthy, and in the following decades, there was no large-scale war between him and the Rhine Kingdom, and all conflicts were limited to the "civil" level.

This is actually easy to understand, after all, the Rhine and the Lord's country have different beliefs, and even if the officials want to cooperate, the problems caused by the faith from the people still cannot be solved. Note that this contradiction is limited to the common people, the merchants only have money in their eyes, and the pagans' money is also money, and they never care about this.

As a result of trade between the two countries, the city of Loeb also flourished, and in the past few decades, its population has skyrocketed to more than 3.6 million, making it the largest city in the north of the Rhine.

Rahman has long coveted the rich city.