After opening up the traffic at the pass and returning the arrested city officials, Scandi Eridri has not acted for the time being, although he has spoken harshly. Gastens was on guard against this on his mind, and he didn't stop the most important work at hand. The production capacity of the factory Elliot rifles increased rapidly, and thanks to the equipment trained by the Garstens, the advanced assembly line production methods, and the great enthusiasm of the ex-serf working class, it took only three days for the factory's output to be pushed to nearly 200 rifles per day. According to Gastens's estimates, as long as the supply of upstream raw materials and spare parts is sufficient, the stable and full-load production capacity of this factory should be about 500, and in two months, it can equip 30,000 troops, which is enough for the current Guards Army, and there is even a surplus. And this is still without a conservative estimate of worker proficiency and the expansion of factory numbers.

Determined that the plant's capacity would be able to meet demand, Gastens turned his attention to something else. His previous announcement that serfs who worked in the factory for a week could get free status, attracted more than 500 serfs to defect, and today is the first batch of 17 serfs to defect to Gastens, and he will personally lead his team to the landlord's house of these serfs to get back the contract.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of his first shot and set an example for the monkeys, Gastens brought four companies, and the company commanders were equipped according to the principle of three old and one new. Four people, including Zink, Bimpo Bobruf, Haba Nye and Ella Langf, will be witnesses to this event. At the same time, there were also twenty representatives of serfs who had fled to the factory, a total of 500 people, and rushed straight to their destination.

Large landowner Theo Matthias.

It is said that it is a big landlord, but in fact it is just the head snake of the small river beach plain of Elena, which has about 200 serfs before the war, and about 50 are lost in the middle of the conscription, and about 150 are the largest landlords in the Elena's plain, owning about 600 acres of land. He had four sons, the most promising of which was Pip Matthias, an official at the City Hall of Moon, who had been blocked by Ivan with the butt of his rifle and had three front teeth knocked off by Ivan.

The actions of the production regiment could not hide from the locals, and all the landlords were waiting for this day to come. They watched from afar, from a close distance, or even directly behind the group as Gastens passed by their respective gates, and everyone waited to see if the man could make good on his promise.

Gastens is not a native and is not a cross-river dragon. However, he knew how to mobilize the power of the people, and relying on the serfs who had fled to his factory, he made contact with the serfs of Theo Matthias, and learned that they had invited an old friend who had met him, Scandi Eriederi, the prefect of the city of Moon, to help him stand on behalf of the Eriedrian family. And Scandi Eredri also did his best, he even brought more than 200 police officers from the Municipal Police Department, just waiting to face Gastens.

"Head, are we really going to fight later?"

Zink walked beside Gastens, a little curious. The council system of the production regiment made all the main cadres aware of the enemy's intelligence. Gastens's own ideas were reserved for the actual implementation of the idea. So, everyone is curious about a question.

Does this self-proclaimed serf chief really dare to openly rob the landlord's serf contract?

Although they were on foot, Gastens marched very fast, and it took them half an hour to reach the gate of Theo Matthias's house, where they also saw the city hall policemen standing in two rows at the door, neatly dressed in police uniforms, and the mayor of the city of Moon, Scandi Eriedery, who sat with Theo Matthias under a parasol at the door.

"I didn't expect to meet so soon, Major Gastens came to my subordinate's house when production was so urgent, but what was the matter?"

When Scandi Eredri saw Gastens coming, he got up from his chair, and greeted him with his well-honed aristocratic etiquette and standard aristocratic accent, and tried to humiliate his opponent in a way that he did not know how to be polite.

Unfortunately, Gastens was never ashamed that he did not understand the manners of these old nobles. Ignoring Scandi Eredri's self-absorption, he went straight to the point.

"Sir Edryri, I have come this time to find the landlord, Mr. Theo Matthias, to get the contract of seventeen serfs, who have made an important contribution to our factory, and we need them."

"That's no problem", Scandi Eredri obviously negotiated with Theo, "according to the current market price, if you want to buy Monsieur Theo's serf, 600 crowns, if it is suitable, you can take it away, if it is not suitable, you can also negotiate the price, I will be a witness, how about it?" ”

The price given by Scandi is actually on the high side. In the current serf market, a serf as strong as the Cheka has risen a lot, but it is only about 500 crowns. Scandi added a premium of 150 crowns in one bite, a price that before the war could buy even two serfs of medium physical fitness!

Gastens smiled, took his wallet out of his pocket, took out the 170 crowns that had been prepared, counted them in front of Scandi and Theo, and reached out to hand Theo.

"Well, 170 crowns, contract for me."

Theo didn't take the wad of money, he looked sideways at Scandi, got an encouraging look from him, and plucked up the courage to say, "Major Gastens, you can't even take a single person with this money." ”

"Oh?"

Gastens asked rhetorically, and the soldiers behind him stepped forward in unison, muzzle down, and began to pressurize the steam rifle. The rest of the soldiers spread out and surrounded the area in a semicircle. Perhaps thanks to the training that Gastens had been having, these men used their already proficient gun formation when building the encirclement, with two rows in front and back, and it seemed that there was a huge amount of pressure.

The policemen standing in front of the guns moved uneasily. They also brought guns, but how did the weakened police steam rifle stand up to the Eliot-style rifle designed by Gastens himself?

"Smack-smack-"

The mayor of the city of Moon, Scandi Eredri, began to applaud, slowly but steadily. Step by step, he walked across from Gastens, puffed out his chest, and began to speak in a chanting voice.

"Major Gastens, do you know that even in wartime law, troops are not allowed to use coercive means to acquire the property of citizens of the state without authorization, nor are they allowed to enter into direct conflict with local governments. If you shoot today, if there are no dead people, it will be you and your factory who are unlucky. If it's dead, it's unlucky, but there are many more, you know? ”

Speaking of "more people," Scandi pointed his finger upward. Gastens saw Scandi's movements, he chuckled and pulled a piece of paper from his arms.

A piece of paper stamped with the large seal of the Western Military District.

Seeing the piece of paper, Scandi had an ominous thought. He had seen the paper in the hands of the men who had come to the city of Moon to recruit soldiers, the same format, the same imprint, and in front of that paper, anyone who tried to stop it by regular means could be immediately arrested by those in possession of it, and even sent to court-martial.

It was a conscription order.

"Now, can I get the contract?"

Gastens repeated the question in the same aristocratic tone as Scandi, deliberately mimicking his accent. And, to Scandi's doubly embarrassment, the way Gastens used pronunciation and stress was something that had always been used only by families that had been passed down for hundreds of years.

That's the style of the glorious aristocracy.

"I'm sorry, but now that you got the conscription order, there's no problem on my side."

Although Scandi was secretly ruthless in his heart, he was indeed not qualified to be arrogant in front of the conscription order. According to the wartime laws and the emperor's imperial decree after the defeat of the First Battle of the Green Pines, conscription orders had almost unlimited power at the local level, and the conscripts were eligible for exemptions unless they were themselves nobles. But what Gastens wants are serfs at the bottom of society, whether it is him or Theo behind him, how can he resist?

"My lord? Lord Scandi? Isn't that what we say? ”

Theo Matthias was startled by the sudden turn of events, and he spoke incoherently, trying to reach out and tug at Scandi's sleeve. Scandi took his hand with his backhand and squeezed it hard.

"That's a conscription order! Those who dare to obstruct conscription, unless they are nobles, they can be shot on the spot! ”

Theo's hand retracted like an electric shock. He looked around in a panic and saw his son, who worked in the city government. Pip Matthias smiled and stepped forward, asking with his mouth that had no front teeth and was leaking.

"Major, may I take a look at this conscription order?"

"Of course."

Gastens and Matthias looked at each other and handed him the conscription order. This conscription order was the last time he had asked for the first rifles for Prince Eliot. He told Eliot honestly that he was going to collect some serfs from the local landlords. Prince Elliot didn't bother, and gave it to him without hesitation, giving him the greatest confidence for this trip.

Matthias looked at it twice, and then put the paper in front of his eyes, as if trying to discern the authenticity of the seal on it, and he looked at it so carefully that his whole face was eager to lie on it.

"Hey! I told you, it can't be fake, are you finding fault? ”

Zink, who was standing behind Gastens, got impatient, stepped forward, and scolded. Matthias glanced at Zink with slanted eyes, and seemed to want to say something, but suddenly stuffed the conscription order into his mouth!

"you! ——”

Zink and Gastens spotted Matthias almost at the same time, and he stepped forward quickly, only to be stopped by Scandi, who had already swallowed the piece of paper by force. Immediately afterward, Zink bypassed Scandi and smashed Matthias to the ground with the butt of his gun, smashing out his last front teeth.

But that was the end of Zinke's anger, and the police swarmed him off from Matthias on either side of the wall. Gastens and Scandi, who had witnessed the whole process, stood outside the police wall, staring at each other coldly.

"You cow! You're awesome! Aren't you awesome? Lao Tzu ate your conscription order, and the knows it's real or fake! Are you still awesome? Do you have what it takes to kill Lao Tzu? Do you have what it takes to kill these cops and rush in and snatch your contract? You can't do it, you don't even have a dick! ”

Behind the human wall, Pip Matthias, who had lost all four of his front teeth, shouted with a windy, bleeding mouth. His voice was hoarse, but it was filled with excitement and pleasure. No one could have thought of him, and no one would have thought that he would use such a scoundrel trick. Without the conscription, Skady would have a reason to stop Gastens, and if he stopped Gastens, he would immediately lose his biggest supporter in the land if he didn't keep his promise.

Those serfs who waited for the result.

"What's the noise? Did you eat it? Go back and be careful with me! ”

Scandi turned around and scolded painlessly, then turned his head, looked at Gastens, and shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"I'm sorry, Major, I still don't know if that piece of paper is real or not, so-"

"You're a!"

Zink was really angry this time, he raised his rifle, raised the muzzle of the gun, put his finger on the trigger, and the soldiers behind him did the same, and two hundred rifles were pointed at the two hundred people in the field.

At swords' points.

"So I can't take the contract with me, can I?"

Gastens didn't have any particular emotion, he glanced at Scandi, then at Matthias, who was looking at him defiantly behind him, took out an envelope from his bosom, untied it slowly, and took out another piece of paper that was exactly the same as before.

"His Royal Highness the Prince is so careful, he even thought of this kind of thing, and I said why he issued me three conscription orders-"

"What?!"

Now Scandi could no longer hold back his surprise, nor could he maintain his aristocratic demeanor. How can there be such a thing as a conscription order that doesn't cost money, take out one, and have another? Isn't it a foul for you to do that?

"It can't be! This must be fake! Mr. Mayor, let me see, let me see, this must be fake!!! ”

Gastens took half a step forward, and the whole person pressed in front of Scandi, keeping an extremely close and subtle distance from him. Scandi's gaze was fixed on Gastens, and the emotion in his eyes rolled.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to get to work."

Scandi hesitated for a few seconds, and the rifles in the hands of the soldiers behind Gastens, who I don't know whose it was, sounded the sound of excessive steam pressure. The sound seemed to shatter the hammer of silence, taking away the last of Scandi's resistance. He looked away and got out of the way.

"Mr. Mayor!"

Pip Matthias stood behind the human wall, looking at the wall that was gradually dispersing, with a look of despair. Scandi glared at him and scolded.

"What the are you yelling about! Go back with Lao Tzu! ”

"Wait."

Gastens called out to Matthias, who was just about to leave, and beside him, heavily armed soldiers rushed into the courtyard of the landlord of Theo, and the landlord's family, who had been prepared, had prepared the contract of the seventeen men in order to prevent these people from further encroaching on the house. The soldiers who rushed in were examining the contracts one by one. And these people standing at the door were stopped by Gastens and froze in place.

"Major Gastens, you've got the contract, what else do you want to do?"

Scandi was already using the last of his sanity to control his emotions. Now that he is defeated, what is this barbarian from a serf-born man going to do?

"Him."

Gastens gestured to Pip Matthias.

"He still has a conscription order in his stomach, and I want you to see if it's true or not."

Hearing this, Pip Matthias, who had just looked resentful, froze in place, and the blood on his face and mouth condensed on his lips, and then dripped to the ground, turning into an irregular dark red.

That's the color of despair.