At the end of January of the Season of Fire, there were 55 days left before the Legion Tournament held by the House of York, and the whole Centaur Hill was busy.

The pacification of the ant plague, the new farming and animal husbandry, the water conservancy project, and the slaying of the alienated dragon beast Itugos were all brought to the top of the kingdom of mankind through caravans, bards, silver towers, and the mouth of the church, and the prestige of the House of York was brought to the top.

The powerful nobles, including the Sassan Empire, sent envoys to Jinshui City to congratulate the Yorks, observe the construction of water conservancy projects, and find out the secrets of the barbarians.

No matter what the goals of the major forces are, the Legion Tournament in the Centaur Hills is destined to be a grand event that attracts worldwide attention.

So far, Jinshui City has received more than 900 noble children, including 22 knights and 103 probationary knights, some of them are from the Teutonic principality in the far north, some are from the distant Eastern Alliance, most of them are the second sons and daughters of the down-and-out families, the youngest is less than 12 years old, and the oldest is more than 40 years old.

Either alone or with two servants, they traveled thousands of miles to the Centaur Hills just to participate in the Legion Tournament organized by the House of York, where they could demonstrate their skills, talents, and qualities, and gain a future for themselves.

The great aristocracy attaches great importance to fame, and attracting talent is the benefit of fame.

However, it is rare for a legion tournament to affect the entire human world, thanks to Sylvia's unveiling of new farming techniques. In order to recognize the outstanding contribution of the York family, the church ordered the priests stationed in various places to promote the reputation of the York family and the wealth of the Centaur Hills, and the churches along the way also provided the material security needed for the children of the nobles to travel.

The new farming and animal husbandry technology benefits everyone, and the god knight will become extremely powerful, irritable and aggressive when he is about to fall, and there have even been incidents in history where the god knight challenged the pope, and the highness wanted to see how powerful the radiant angel really was, but forced the pope to hide for a while. In short, no one wants to be written down in a small book by Sylvia, if it is other families who announce new farming and animal husbandry technologies...... It doesn't matter who you are, if you learn it, you won't learn it, and you don't have to think about human feelings or anything.

Sylvia is generous when she unveils the new farming techniques, and the lords must respond, others should do so, and to thank the church is to thank them.

In the context of the law of the jungle, you must first have the strength to protect yourself in order to have an environment for development and growth, and it is just a fool's dream for the little lord to rely on one or two new technologies to be proud of the group.

The House of York became famous and prosperous for its new farming and water conservancy projects, attracting many knights' sons to join them. Victor, as the actual enabler of technological change, is not complaining. In fact, he was not interested in the Legion Tournament, and recruiting knights would only upset the existing balance of power in the Randall Domain, returning the family to a traditional and slow development model.

Victor is ready to recruit some down-and-out nobles, and let them serve as liaison attendants of the Randall family, specializing in dealing with nobles. Liaison Officer Alice has told Victor several times that she needs several assistants. This kind of thing is really incompetent for ordinary people.

The selection of the liaison attendant will not be finalized until after the Legion Tournament is over. Now, Victor is focusing on the Barbarian and Sophia.

A convoy of hundreds of wagons left the Pinghu freight yard and headed north for Raven Town, each loaded with a variety of daily necessities, including jaggery, purple cane wine, flour, dried sweet potatoes, cured meat, linen and sheepskin blankets.

This is the third supply convoy sent by the Randall family in the past 40 days.

The Barbarians were about to visit the Centaur Hills, and at Victor's strong request, Sylvia planned to place them in Raven Town in the north, plus Sophia's Sabertooth Tiger Merchant Regiment, 1,000 elite paladins, and 500 fanged soldiers, and the garrison of Raven Town exceeded 2,000 men. According to the agreement, the needs of the barbarians and human soldiers were to be shared by the Church, the royal family of Gambis, the House of York, and the saber-toothed tiger merchants.

Victor sent a supply convoy, mainly to show the identity and attitude of the Lord of Raven, and at the same time sell the supplies to Sophia at a high price to make up for the loss of Raven Town.

Connecting the kingdoms of Dordor to the Centaur Hills, Raventown could have been an excellent trading port with considerable economic prospects. In recent months, Raventown's trade with its neighbors to the north and south has been steadily increasing, and over time, its total trade volume will inevitably surpass that of Willows, and the arrival of the Barbarians has put Victor's plans to build a trading town on hold.

Before the barbarians crossed south, Raven Town was destined to be a pool of backwater, and Victor's losses were immeasurable. He knocked on his cheap wife's bamboo pole, which could only be regarded as a sulk.

However, with the barbarians as shields, the rock bricks can be made in advance. Randall's development plan for two cities, seven towns, and twenty-one villages will be realized within five years, especially once the Candle Castle to defend the Alchemy Tower is completed, Victor will be able to equip the army with Thur silver, and even publicly display the alchemy dragon lizard, becoming the top powerful lord in one fell swoop.

In contrast, the stagnation of Raventown's development is not unacceptable.

The tail of the convoy disappeared into the mountainous hills, and Victor withdrew his gaze, left the window, and returned to the main seat of the study of Pinghu Fort.

Nelson saw Victor's eyebrows stretched and his expression radiant, and couldn't help but ask, "My lord, what good idea do you have in mind?"

Victor smiled and said, "Nothing good about it, just remembering the past." He picked up the coffee cup, took a sip, and asked leisurely, "Do you remember our neighbor, Baron Escre?"

"Baron Eskerry is a powerful knight and a hospitable lord. Nelson thought for a moment and added, "He's a good guy." ”

Victor shook his head and smiled, "He's a good guy and a poor lord. But he's in a much better position than we are. ”

"Baron Eskerry is a veteran knight, just one step away from the Silver Rank. His wife and two sons are all probationary knights of the Natural Awakening, with 30 elite soldiers, a baronial castle, three villages, and 3,000 square kilometers of territory. ”

"When I opened Randall's territory, there were less than six hundred followers, only forty-two carriages, no castles, no villages...... Except that my territory is larger than his, and there are more outcasts and bandits than him, I am a big difference between Baron Eskerry. ”

"Now, Baron Eskerry has exchanged his domain to the House of York and left the Centaur Hills. And we have a town, 15 villages, 900 soldiers, 80 swift birds, more than 20,000 people working for the Randall family, and arranging more than 100 carriages is a no-brainer for me!" Victor knocked on the table and said, "The Randall family is where they are today, thanks to you!"

Nelson said convincingly, "Your Excellency is wise!"

Victor couldn't help but laugh and joked: "Is it me who is wise, or am I speaking wisely?"

"This ...... The adults are wise, and the words are wise...... All wise, all wise. Nelson scratched his head and grinned.

Victor laughed, as did Hammer and Kidd, who were sitting next to him.

"Alright. I want to tell you that the Randall family is not what it used to be, what does it matter if the Bobcat mercenary group loses some money! Kidd, if you can bring back 88 mountain hunters, I will celebrate your achievement. ”

Hammer, Kidd, and Fermi were once the chief and deputy leaders of the Warhammer Mercenary Regiment, and after their first mission, they brought back more than 70 Mountain Hunters, who Victor divided into three to form the Warhammer, Bobcat, and Kestrel Mercenary Regiment. Kidd served as the leader of the Lynx Mercenary Regiment, leading 20 mountain hunters, 30 alchemy militia and 7 freeman traders to open up smuggling routes in the western provinces of Gambis and the northern counties, and to win over the mountain villages along the way and establish caravan strongholds.

The development route of the Bobcat Mercenary Group is much longer than the eastward route of the Warhammer Mercenary Group, and it is much more complicated, sometimes it is impossible to find a cottage for more than 20 days in a row, and it has experienced more than 100 battles large and small, the most tragic one, they have been wrestling with the Jackals for 11 days, and all the arrows are exhausted, and finally 4 alchemy militia and 3 mountain hunters are sacrificed to get rid of the entanglement of the Jackals.

Along the way, the Lynx mercenary group went through hardships, knocked on the doors of 73 cottages by force and trade, recruited nearly 100 mountain hunters, drew a detailed road map, and exchanged thousands of pounds of mountain goods. However, when they returned to the Pinewood station, Kidd found that he had lost money on his trip.

Seeing that the lord had no intention of blaming at all, Kidd secretly breathed a sigh of relief, he was both ashamed and grateful, he stood up and smiled bitterly: "My lord, I still have a face to celebrate, I only hope that you can let Lady Lilia send that batch of equipment down." ”

The Bobcat mercenary group made a profit of almost 2,200 gold soles from the sale of mountain goods, and after paying the dividends of the free folk traders, they also saved 1,300 gold soles. The Mountain Hunters have no concept of money at the moment, and what they have in mind is the full set of equipment of the Bobcat mercenaries. Kidd decides to make good on his promise, and when he approaches Lilia and asks for armaments, Lilia rolls her eyes and asks for 7,000 gold soles with her little hand.

Kidd turned his pocket over, but he couldn't shake out the 7,000 gold soles. Lilia said happily: If you have money, you will take the equipment, and if you don't have money, please return it. Then, she calculated an account for Kidd, 20 gold soles for steel ring chain mail, 15 gold soles for rattan leather armor, 5 gold soles for helmets, combat boots and leather gloves, 10 gold soles for compound hard bows, 20 gold soles for iron short spears and shields, 10 gold soles for fine iron short swords, arrows for free, 80 gold soles for each set of equipment, a total of 7040 gold soles for 88 sets of equipment, and 7000 gold soles for deducting the odds.

The armament produced by the alchemy auxiliaries has almost zero labor cost, and the material cost does not exceed 20 gold soles per set, but Lilia doesn't care about this, what is the market price of the armament, how much it costs. What's more, the armaments produced by the hill camp are finely made, the materials are exquisite, and the quality is high, and the price of each set is definitely more than 80 gold soles.

After settling the account, Kidd realized that he had lost money, but Lilia was unsympathetic, and it was useless for Kidd to ask Nelson and Hammer to come forward. In desperation, they had to bite the bullet and come to Victor to plead their case.

Although the Lynx mercenary group is secretly controlled by Victor, they are strictly independent of the Randall family's military sequence. These mountain mercenaries really want to break away from the mercenary group, and the Randall family has no reason to stop them. Lilia took precautions, and the financial system she formulated was separated from military and government, and independent accounting was used to minimize hidden losses, and was approved and praised by Victor.

The credibility of the mercenary group is related to the strength of the support of the mountain people's villages, and Kidd's promise to the mountain hunters must be kept. The decision to overturn Lilia was simple, but the impact was bad.

After all, this is not a modern society with a high level of information, and the lord conveys his will to his subjects through heralds, and relies on a stable system to maintain order in the territory. If the lord gets used to going back on his word, the vassals will be at a loss, and the family's internal affairs will become chaotic. Someone with a heart can even take advantage of this loophole to issue diametrically opposed instructions to the vassals, causing irreparable consequences.

Once a system is established, it cannot be changed at will. Lilia is Victor's companion and his deputy, and it helps to maintain Lilia's prestige...... A happy family and a happy life.

In short, the lord must be honest internally, and externally, it is not wrong to be improvised.

"Lilia is now in charge of the munitions storeroom, what will I do if I annoy her and she loses the key?" said Victor with a look of embarrassment.

Nelson, Kidd, and Hammer looked at each other with strange expressions. They feel they should be disappointed, but why are they secretly happy?

"Well, I'll secretly mobilize a batch of equipment for you, and don't use the reserves of the quartermaster storehouse. ”

Kidd was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly, and Victor changed his words and said, "Even if it's my investment." ”

"Investment?" Nelson said puzzledly, "My lord, the smuggler group was originally yours!"

"If the smuggler group belongs to me, then I will be miserable!"

Victor explained with a smile: "It's impossible to make a profit without losing money when you open up channels. Kidd, tell me why the Bobcat mercenary group is losing money?"

Kidd said sullenly: "The free folk traders took the mountain goods we collected to the town to sell, but the prices of the shops were ridiculously low, and the prices of the goods we purchased were so high that the money was earned by the shop owners. ”

"Adults have long said that scarcity is expensive. Don't you understand the reason that mountain goods have to be sold in towns far away from the mountains and forests to sell them at a high price?" shouted Hammer.

"We do ship in plain towns. But it still can't be sold at a high price!" Kidd argued loudly: "Those freeman traders said that the shop owners thought that we were a one-shot deal, and that we could only slaughter if we could, and that only by making a few more trips would we be able to sell the goods at a high price and purchase materials cheaply." ”

"That's right. Victor nodded: "The Warhammer mercenary group received tens of thousands of gold soles on their first trip, and that was because you dug up the white crystal and met a caravan of a small family, and with the help of their connections, the merchants of Waterdeep City will offer you a fair price." ”

"That's the terminal. ”

"There are channels alone, but there are no terminals!"

Victor said slowly: "If there are no merchants to receive the goods, the profit of the smuggling caravan must be very limited! Then have you thought about it, the smuggling caravan of 50 people goes out, more than 100 people come back, one caravan becomes two, two become four, and every war bear mercenary will have to manage three caravans in the future." If every caravan belongs to me and every caravan loses money, then won't we be dragged down alive by the Randall family?"

"Moreover, the mountain mercenaries and traders are free people, they do not belong to the Randall family de jure, and if the smuggling caravan does not make money, they will leave the caravan. If this were to happen, wouldn't all our efforts and efforts be in vain?"

Nelson stammered, "That'...... What to do then? Smuggling caravans...... Aren't you doing it?"

Victor shook his head and said: "To be honest, the strength of the Randall family is not enough to monopolize the profits of the smuggling trade, we need external financial and human support, and we need small lords, vassal village chiefs, mountain mercenaries, free folk merchants, and villain thugs to join in and share this big cake together, what we have to do is to hold the table knife." ”

"Why make the cake alone when we can't eat the whole cake to ourselves?"

Victor took a sip of coffee and continued: "Feeding 30 smuggling caravans is the limit of my ability, I will make up for the loss of elite guards, I will provide the military equipment of the mercenaries, and I will provide the materials for the trade with the cottages, but the Randall family can't lose money endlessly, I will support each smuggling caravan for two years at most, and the smuggling caravan must be independently accounted for and responsible for its own profits and losses, eh...... It means to feed yourself. ”

The three of them looked at each other, and Nelson couldn't help but speak: "My lord, we don't understand, we will do whatever you say." ”

"Okay. Victor rubbed his eyebrows and said, "I allow the smuggling caravan to lose money for two years, and after two years, the armaments and goods needed by the smuggling caravan will be purchased at the price." Similarly, families pay smuggling caravans for goods. In addition, I have invested in caravans, and I will take 50% of the profits of each caravan, and you will divide the rest of the profits. ”

Iron Hammer stood up and said in disbelief: "My lord, do you mean that the remaining fifty percent of the profits belong to me? But you are my lord, I am your vassal, and it is my duty to serve you." You have given me land, cattle and sheep and annual salaries, how can I take the money that belongs to you?"

Victor nodded and smiled: "Vassals can also make money in business, you risk your lives to sell illicit goods, you deserve a share of the profits, as for how much you take, and how much mercenaries under your command share, you are up to you." ”

"By the way, your family's grain, cattle and sheep can also be sold to smuggling caravans, and the price is set by yourself, as long as you can sell it in the end. ”

Both Kidd and Hammer looked excited. The smuggling caravan went out for half a year for almost 2,000 gold soles, and after deducting half, there would be 1,000 gold soles left, which was much stronger than a simple mercenary group.

The mercenary group fights for life and death, and it is already very good to earn 1,000 gold soles a year, and the balance is very limited after deducting the expenses for repairing armaments, purchasing supplies, and compensating the dead and wounded. In fact, most mercenaries live in groups just to have enough to eat and drink, and a little pocket money is also used for fun.

Victor equipped the smuggling caravans, and the mercenary group saved the most money, and the mountain mercenaries were paid up to 15 gold soles a year. Kidd and Hammer can get at least 500 gold soles a year.

No one would be disgusted with too much money, Iron Hammer licked his lips and said, "My lord, I think those freeman traders are useless, we learn how to do business, there is no need to give them any more money." ”

"What do you think?" Victor looked sideways at Nelson.

Nelson cried and said, "I...... I don't even have a smuggling caravan under my command......"

"Haha, I can't talk to Linda. ”

"Head, you can give my bobcat your goods, and I'll give you a good price. ”

Victor smiled and said, "That Fat Wech is a smart man, he expected you to leave him behind, so he proposed chain stores and the preserves industry. He sees himself in a way that coincides with mine. ”

"The caravan's profits are ultimately reflected in the sales, and those freeman traders are the terminals I have prepared for the smuggling caravans, and Fat Wech's candied fruit chain is just a shell, and every candied fruit shop he opens sells private goods. ”

Speaking of this, Victor paused and asked Hammer, "I once said that Fat Wech needs to come up with 7,000 gold soles if he wants to open a candied fruit chain, how much money has he raised now?"

Hammer replied, "Wech has brought in seven more freeman traders, and he has already scraped together enough money." Do you want to see him?"

Victor pondered for a moment, shook his head, and said: "Now is not the time for me to come forward, you tell Witch in the name of Old John that Old John will spend 30,000 gold soles to open a chain trading house, including candied fruit sales." The firm was handed over to Fat Wage, and dividends were paid once a year, and he and the seven freemen merchants shared one percent, and Old John gave ninety percent. If they do a good job, they can still get bonuses from the firm every year, and if they don't do a good job, they can only roll up and leave. Don't want the principal of 7,000 gold soles. ”

Iron Hammer hesitated and said, "My lord, I'm afraid they won't agree. ”

"They'll agree. Victor said confidently.

These businessmen dared to take risks to sell illicit goods and planned a candied fruit industry, so how could they miss this great opportunity if they had the courage and foresight? On the contrary, the war bear mercenaries did not understand what the joint-stock trading house really meant.

Victor sighed secretly and said, "Nelson, you don't have a smuggling caravan, but you can invest in a business house and enjoy dividends every year. Other War Bear mercenaries can also invest in the firm, 44 War Bear members, each family takes out 500 gold soles, accounting for half of the Chamber of Commerce's dividends, Nelson you take out 5000 gold soles, monopolize half of the dividends, and the remaining 8 percent of the dividends belong to me. ”

"Oh. Nelson had always been obedient to Victor's words, and immediately nodded in agreement. Hammer and Kidd didn't have a problem and agreed.

Victor said half-sarcastically and half-seriously: "5,000 gold soles is not a small amount, you go back and tell Linda that after ten years, the big lord will use 500,000 gold soles to buy a 10% dividend of the trading house, it depends on whether I am willing to sell them or not." I don't think Linda will have an awkward relationship with you. ”

"500,000 gold soles to buy a 10% bonus?!" Nelson swallowed hard with round eyes.

"What is 500,000?" Victor muttered, "This firm can expand its territory, and it is not possible to have money to buy shares." ”

Iron Hammer cautiously asked, "My lord, what is the name of the trading house?"

What's the name? East India Company... The pronunciation is too strange. Tothra... No taste. Silver Moon Foundation... Square peg.

Victor struggled for a long time, and finally said: "Golden group...... That's right, it's called the Golden Regiment, what do you think?"

"Good! good name!"

"Well, that's a good name!"

"The golden regiment is loud and easy to remember, which is unforgettable!"

Nelson clapped his hands, Hammer and Kidd nodded their heads, and Victor was triumphant.

Coming up with a name is just a trivial matter, just forget it with pride, Victor returned to the topic, "Hammer, next time you go to Garcy Town, remember to buy more camel gazelles." This kind of draft animal is very useful, and smuggling caravans and Randall collars need large numbers of camele. ”

"I'm going to go. Hammer said, standing up.

"There's no rush. ”

Victor raised his hand and motioned for Hammer to sit down, and said, "On the morning of the end of March in the season of fire, I will hold a military parade in Pinghu Town Square, and in the evening it will be the first carnival of Randall's territory. During this time, you should rest well and wait until the celebration is over before setting off. He touched his chin and said, "The Golden Regiment can start to build." ”

Victor picked up the bell on the table and shook it, and a guard entered the study and listened to the instructions.

"Send someone to Wild Willow City and recall Old John. Then bring Lady Lilia over and tell her I'm going to call for a sum of money. ”

The guard bowed and saluted, "Lady Lilia is not in Pinghu Town, she has gone to Silvermoon Manor." ”

"There are so many things in Pinghu Town, what is she doing in Silver Moon Villa?"

Victor was stunned for a moment, waved his hand and said, "Forget it, I'll go to Silvermoon Manor to find her by myself." ”