readx;

In front of him was a river that stretched to the north, and on both sides of the river were dozens of houses, which were built by the villagers here with brick by brick, but now there are no villagers in sight, and there is nothing of value in the houses, and the whole village along the river is left with these quiet houses and the fields that have been cultivated next to them. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Winoki and Luca took a few mercenaries to pick back some of the fruits from the fruit trees, which grew on the highest part of the trees, and the fruits that were easy to hook off had already been picked by the fleeing villagers in a hurry. As for the abandoned fields, there is not much food suitable for harvesting, and there are many footprints in the fields that may not only be visited by the villagers.

Fylde took a bite of the apple that Winotki handed him, more sour than sweet. But for many displaced civilians, they don't even think about the taste of food, they just want to stuff something in their mouths.

"Ludwig asked us to meet here to confess to us by the way?" Squadron Leader Jasmine did not touch the sour apples, she has always been proud of her "pride", "The villagers here are unable to return home because of the war, and the troops who invaded the Duchy of Mageni are the main culprits." ”

Fidel thought for a while, he didn't know how to answer the other party, but Vittorio, who was becoming more and more important to Fidel, gave a different explanation, "Even if there is no invasion from the Cose Kingdom and the Eastern Oguna Empire, the life of the people at the bottom of the Duchy of Magini will not be much better." Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people willing to join the rebels, or give what little strength they have, hoping to overthrow the rule of Black Swamp. ”

Fed recalls that he was born and raised in the Kingdom of Sahlins, a large country in the plains in the southwest of the continent, which had also left countless people cold and starved because of the war, but the people of Sahlins Kingdom did not show serious discontent, and most of the people there lived in peace, even the town that had suffered his father's cruel treatment gradually recovered after a few years, and the blood stains that fell on the ground were completely gone.

However, the Duchy of Magini was clearly different from the other countries to which Feder had visited, and the city-dwellers of this principality always had a calm expression, while the peasants and villagers here were extremely poor. They will be treated with indifference from the city, and they will also be disliked from their origins and will not be treated fairly by the rulers. After Fidel was caught by Mary's design, he noticed all this on that trip - there were many people who lived in good and comfortable places, but there were more poor people at the bottom of the ladder that people could not see, not because they were not industrious enough, but because their voices were not valued by the rulers at all. They are easily swayed by the words of the rebel cadres, and they can easily come up with the idea of changing the status quo.

"Yes, we are really poor," Winotki has been unguarded since she became acquainted with everyone, laughing or crying in front of the other captains, "My family has always lived close to the Duchy of Magini, the Papal States and the Transoxiana, but we are also well aware of the suffering of the people of the Duchy of Magini... Civilians in other countries simply do not know that the gap between rich and poor in this place is huge. ”

Vittorio sighed, "I'm a businessman, but I've never thought of squeezing money out of the poor. It is not for nothing that the rebel organization has developed most smoothly in the Duchy of Magini, and if the ruler of the Kingdom of Cosse can really bring prosperity to the people of this land, it may also be a good thing..."Vittorio's words made Fide can't help but guess what Vittorio is really guarding in his heart, maybe it is not the political symbol of the Duchy of Magini, but the people who grow up here.

While the captains of the Potato Mercenaries were talking about the land and its people, Noor, who was in charge of the sentry, came running to report that Ludwig had appeared in the upper reaches of the river with only a few guards, and was making contact with Patrick. Fid then asked Noor to invite him to one of the houses, which were built by the river, and there was a wooden bridge over the river.

Fei De stood in front of the houses by the river, the small river trickling, the water so clear that it could sweep away people's troubles. Ludwig's appearance with a smile immediately brought Fidel back to his senses, he didn't intend to face the commander-in-chief of the Winter Army alone, Vittorio would be by his side, assisting him in the negotiations.

Ludwig was still wearing a fur coat, but it was a very thin and comfortable leather garment, "Chief Fidel, let's discuss cooperation here." ”

"Yes. ”

Fidel and Ludwig sat on opposite sides of the wooden table, with Ludwig's bodyguards standing at a distance and Vittorio standing beside Fed.

"Who is this?"

"He's Vittorio, a young merchant in the Duchy of Magini and the deputy superintendent of the Potato Mercenary Regiment. ”

"I see... Then the reason why he thought of cooperating with us this time must be this one..."Ludwig was just about to talk politely to Vittorio, Vittorio suddenly waved his hand vigorously, and the guards who were standing ten meters behind Ludwig drew their knives in an instant.

Vittorio did not hesitate to say loudly: "Let's get straight to the point! Governor Ludwig, now you are facing intractable difficulties and need our strength! And of course we also need your help, so our cooperation is the best choice, and you don't need to doubt our motives, because the Duchy of Magini is desperate!"

The smile on Ludwig's face immediately retracted, and he looked at the short merchant carefully, "You say I need your help, what is the reason?"

"Because you don't have enough ability to deal with the situation that arises now," Vittorio was unceremonious, Fidel didn't expect Vittorio to show such an aggressive posture at the beginning of the negotiations, "The reason why you personally searched for the mercenaries who attacked you, and the reason why you came here to negotiate with us, shows that you are not as calm and comfortable as you were at the beginning." ”

"Have you studied my previous strategy?"

"Of course, you used to be slow to march and very patient in attacking the city, but now you are different, you are starting to take risks, you are starting to get anxious, you are starting to sleep unsteadily, and you are also uneasy about some of the intrigues behind you. ”

Ludwig chuckled softly, "I thought that the person who studied the enemy's strategy would only be the commander of the regular army, but I didn't expect that a merchant who was in the mercenary group and was responsible for purchasing supplies could also do this, Captain Feide, there is a group of capable people gathered around you." Ludwig avoided the important, and Fidel noticed that.

Vittorio continued: "We bring sincerity, and we hope that Governor Ludwig, you will bring sincerity, and I believe that with your wisdom, Governor, you will not fail to understand that this is a win-win cooperation, and we will not fail to understand the purpose of our cooperation. "Fidel didn't want to interject at all, and letting someone better suited to negotiate do this kind of thing was what he wanted to see in his heart. And judging by Ludwig's expression, Vittorio's-for-tat words are clearly valid.

Just when Fid thought that the negotiations would go very well, Ludwig suddenly stood up, "I see your sincerity, but it is not enough, you underestimate my loyalty to the kingdom of Cose, but also overestimate my own ambitions, and overestimate my fear of danger. Ludwig turned to leave, but Vittorio immediately stopped him after hesitating for half a second.

"Wait!" Vittorio bit his lip slightly, "what more do you want than land and an army that has become an ally?"

Ludwig stopped, this versatile general was clearly not going to be easily suppressed by a businessman at the negotiating table. He turned around and glanced at Fid and Vittorio before saying, "I still need a 'deposit', and this 'deposit', I hope it is the capital of the Duchy of Magini, Black Swamp City." ”

Vittorio and Feder were stunned, Feder originally thought that "half of the country" was an extremely tempting negotiation price, but he didn't expect the other party to ask for the Black Swamp City to be taken directly. Most of the northern and eastern lands of the Duchy that had been lost were not important to the Duke of Yannis, they were lost anyway, and it was acceptable to promise them to a potential ally. But Ludwig, apparently seeing through the negotiating demagoguery of the merchants, offered a price that seemed excessive, but deserved to be reconsidered by the Duke of Yanis.

"At the beginning, your Duchy of Mageni took advantage of the unpreparedness of our Kingdom of Cosai to attack us, and King Adam and the rest of the people of the Winter Kingdom still remembered this vendetta, so taking your capital is my mission here this time. Even if you don't give it with both hands, I'm confident that I can take it in two months, and it will be faster than the East Oguna Empire. ”

Fei De couldn't help but respond: "The regular army of the principality and the mercenary guard regiment have been transferred around Black Swamp City, where does your confidence come from. ”

"I have a double guarantee, the first is... Do you think the East Oguna Empire and the Duchy of Neo have a private agreement with us?" Ludwig put a smile on his face again, "We are marching on this land at the same time, and there are three mercenary groups of mercenary guilds approaching Black Swamp City, what do you think their purpose is?

That's right, the first guarantee that Ludwig spoke of was indeed the greatest dilemma facing the Duchy of Magini now - the invasion of three neighboring countries. As long as there is a modicum of trust between these three countries, the future of the partition of the Principality of Mageni will come true. Obviously with the weakest prize in front of them, there was no need for them to attack each other, and they could even negotiate the division of interests after completely eliminating the resistance of the Mageni Principality.

The regular army that was mobilized could only deal with one enemy, and there was no guarantee of victory, and without the support of other countries, the Duchy of Mageni could not have a chance of victory. As for the three mercenary groups mentioned by Ludwig... Feder didn't know if they were friend or foe, but how could a mercenary be on the side of the vanquished?

"You are the one who has no choice, so Vittorio, please put away that wolf tooth full of weakness and trembling," Ludwig saw through Vittorio's bluff, "There are no permanent enemies, but before becoming friends, the weaker side must first show enough sincerity, if not all sincerity." ”