This young man was Ott, the second son of Count Philip, who had never received any knighthood, and was a typical gentleman. However, due to the deep-rooted power of the Fili family, it doesn't matter that he walks almost sideways in Alpine City.

As soon as he saw Ott coming, Abner also knew that this gentleman was not easy to mess with, so he bent down and said respectfully: "See Lord Ott, I am Abner, the potter craftsman of Storm Castle, and I shipped this batch of porcelain from Seris. ”

In the face of Abner's respectful attitude, Ott only snorted contemptuously, did not take a straight look, and then went directly to the carriage and took out a porcelain plate from it.

"This kind of porcelain is simply the lowest grade in the Syris Empire, and you dare to ask for twenty gold coins each, I think it is only worth ten gold coins at most. ”

Hearing this price, Abner was a little anxious, and as an honest pottery craftsman, he immediately explained: "Your Excellency, the worst porcelain in the Ceris Empire is fifty gold coins each, and our asking price of twenty gold coins is already the lowest. ”

"I said that ten gold coins are ten gold coins, are you dissatisfied with my price?"

Ott's words carried a threatening meaning, and when he heard this, Abner understood that Ott wanted to buy and sell by force, but the price was too low, if he pulled it to the royal city to sell, he could sell it for fifty gold coins!

What's more, with Duke's pricing, if it was sold for ten gold coins, Abner didn't know how to go back to pay for it.

So Abner mustered up the courage to reply: "Dear Lord Ott, this price is far lower than the cost price of our acquisition, and there is really no way to sell it!"

"It seems that you are indeed dissatisfied with my price. ”

Ott directly slapped Abner to the ground, and at the same time, his entourage approached Abner viciously as if they had received an order, looking like they were going to do it.

Seeing this situation, Charlie knew Ott's conduct in Alpine City, and in line with decades of friendship, he rushed to Abner's side and persuaded him: "Abner, sell it if you can sell it for ten gold coins, otherwise these ten gold coins will be gone, don't be too stubborn!"

Hearing Charlie's persuasion, Abner also understood that in this case, if he didn't agree, he probably wouldn't get a penny. Moreover, Storm Castle is currently in a difficult situation, and he needs this money very much, even if it is to be punished by Duke, he has no choice.

In this way, the three hundred porcelain plates were sold for three thousand gold coins, and after deducting the tithes and the high mountain city transaction tax paid to the Holy See, Abner only received more than two thousand gold coins, not including labor and transportation costs. Seeing that only half of the gold coins were left, Abner frowned and didn't know how to explain to Duke.

However, Duke of Stormcastle didn't know what was happening in Alpine City, and he was still thinking about the cart of gold that Abner had brought him.

After the Ice Devil's attack was repulsed, the tension in Storm Castle was also eased, and the previous cash-for-work implemented by Duke gave the people's lives a basic guarantee, and this winter was much better than usual.

Taking advantage of the winter break and the heavy casualty figures at Stormfort, Duke finally made up his mind to carry out military reform. So he called Cassel and Alan to the side hall, ready to discuss with them about the professional military system.

"Cassel, Allen, this monster invasion incident has made me feel the weakness of Storm Castle's current defenses, and we must strengthen our own armed forces!"

Hearing Duke's words, Cassel and Alan nodded approvingly, as military commanders, they naturally knew the current situation of Storm Castle very well.

Seeing that these two people agreed, Duke directly said his thoughts: "So I plan to carry out military reform in Storm Castle and completely change the current status quo of Storm Castle!"

"My lord, what do you need us to do?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Cassel and Alan agreed with Duke's idea, and after the Ice Demon attack, Duke had already established his personal prestige in the army.

"I intend for the Frontier Knights to become a permanent knight of Stormcastle, rather than a temporary conscription for collective cavalry training. In addition, the city lord's guard was re-recruited, and a number of indiscriminate ones were brushed off, and the scale was temporarily expanded to 500 people, and then the training method was completely changed. More importantly, the knight retinue will become auxiliaries, receiving at least six months of military training every year, using ploughing and warfare rotations, and when the time comes, they will become professional soldiers completely. ”

This is the military reform that Duke thought of during this period of time, knights, as the main combat force, must become professional soldiers to strengthen training. Because of the defense on the city wall, Duke found that the personal strength of these recruited knights was not bad, but because they had no training and almost no cooperation, the ice demon broke through very easily!

As for the City Lord Guard, not to mention, the frequent change of lords in Storm Castle has led to a significant decline in the level of the City Lord Guard, and there are many people in it who are indiscriminate. Before the city wall was defended, some soldiers cowered, and if it weren't for Allen, a brave and bloody sergeant major, Duke doubted that these guys would have escaped!

Therefore, kicking out the black sheep and veteran oils inside, and then recruiting new blood to retrain is the only way to change the atmosphere of the City Lord's Guard.

But it is very difficult to reform the city lord's guard, not to mention how much financial pressure there is on raising a professional cavalry regiment, just because the knights are also a noble class, and the retinue is also their people and servants, Duke is undoubtedly harming the rights and interests of the knights as a small lord, so this is the most difficult point of military reform.

Sure enough, after listening to Duke's plan, compared to Allen's excitement, Cassel had a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Cassel, I know what you are embarrassed about, this time the reform of the Order will adopt a voluntary system, those who are willing to join are welcome, and those who are unwilling are not reluctant, including you. ”

When Cassel heard Duke's words, as if he had been greatly insulted, he replied in an excited tone: "Lord Lord, do not doubt my loyalty and honor as a knight, I will swear to defend Storm Castle to the death and follow Lord Lord!"

After saying that, Cassel even knelt down on one knee to show his loyalty to Duke. After the Battle of the Ice Demons, Cassel was already convinced that Duke would become a great lord, and he had fully inherited the qualities of Duke Otto, the Imperial Spirit, so he had already made up his mind to follow Duke.

"Very well, I have great faith in your chivalry. From now on, the Frontier Knights will be changed to the Storm Knights, and the City Lord Guard will be renamed the Storm Army, and we will set off a new storm on the continent of Europa!"