The second lord spoke to him three times, the first time in exchange for a slap in the face, the second time he severed half of his arm, and only this time, but no response was received.

The other party didn't speak, this is what it means to let himself continue, the second lord thinks so, and he can't help but be lifted by the repeated setbacks.

"You think that the people who want to smuggle out of the secret passage are ordinary people? There may be ordinary people, but only very, very few ordinary people will choose to venture into the war zone at this time? There are only three kinds of people who will really venture in and out of the war zone. One is planning to smuggle money back and forth to the war zone, the other is criminals who plan to defect to the Empire, and the other is spies of the Empire or other countries. Only they would be willing to pay a fortune for a relatively safe and fast secret passage. Isn't getting rid of these people equivalent to guarding the Ferran Valley and protecting the country?"

Ao Zongheng really never thought that he would face such an answer, and more importantly, the other party didn't seem to be making it up out of thin air.

"Hehe, strong words, everyone has been killed by him, and those people can't refute what he says." It was the ring spirit who spoke, as a witness, although she did not feel the threat of death, but her resentment towards the Vicelord of Ji Ma Ting was still arrogant.

That being said, he has a point. ”

"What? Did I hear me wrong, you actually spoke for him?" the ring spirit was really surprised, "Uncle, how can you be more prone to hexagrams than women." ”

"I said, what he said is not unreasonable, in order to be able to quietly leave a relatively safe place and enter a dangerous war zone, he is actually willing to take out a few Cui Bai, which is indeed not something ordinary people will do. ”

"What's wrong with not ordinary people, that's why he set up an ambush to kill people?"

The second lord naturally couldn't hear the conversation between the two, but he saw that the other party still didn't speak, for fear that the other party would have doubts, so he continued, "I am a vassal, killing traitors, and spying is the duty of a vassal. As for those who go to the war zone to smuggle and make a fortune, in fact, they are the people who are most hated by the people, and there are many people who want to go to the war zone to do business, but they can't go through the secret road, and these people who want to go through the secret road will pay a lot of price, but how many goods can one person carry? If it is an ordinary business, even if the price in the war zone is a little higher, the goods brought with him are too small. So what they do is not at all the buying and selling of necessities in the war zone such as food and clothing. Some of them used the war as a cover to steal and steal there, bringing back what they had harvested, or selling them locally for money and bringing them back. The other is to help the local wealthy bring some scarce gadgets from here. These people are all money-addicts, and as long as they have money, they will even sell our intelligence to the Empire's army, or even lead the way. Kill them, there are only benefits for the people in the war zone, and there are no losses. ”

The ghost sent the gods, and the second lord's explanation happened to be in response to the question raised by the ring spirit, and the ring spirit snorted to express her disdain.

"Why make a secret passage?" asks a question that seems related, but doesn't actually make sense, and he needs a moment to think about it.

"There are a lot of people who want to go to the war zone, and they are also very careful about secrecy, and it is very troublesome and easy to overlook them to dig them out one by one, or guard the borders of various places to prevent them from escaping. So I thought it would be better to attract them than to be defensive, so I dug this secret path. ”

"How many people have died in the secret passage so far?"

"It's about less than four hundred, and every two or three days it will be organized, a dozen to thirty people each time," the Count, hesitating, and giving the number.

"Are you sure that among these hundreds of people, they are all traitors, spies, and smugglers that you call them?"

It's a straightforward question, but it's often the hardest to answer because you don't have much chance of dodging and playing with words.

The second lord hesitated again, this time for a longer time, because he knew very well that this was the most crucial question that the other party had asked so far. Perhaps, this is also the last question.

"I'm sure there will be other people inside, and I can't avoid that, but this is a war, and I won't shy away from getting hurt in order to protect my territory and my people." Before Arrogant lost his patience, the second lord used his instincts to choose one of the last three candidates.

The second lord felt that a long time had passed, but the other party never spoke.

Just as the second lord was about to be impatient and wanted to ask, the other party's voice finally sounded: "Five thousand Stolins, put it on the roof of the tavern in Zhalang Town before the sun goes down today."

It was only in the moment before the second lord fainted that he noticed that the sky outside the window had completely turned white.

Time: The fourteenth day of the god month, the fifth day of the wind, and the time of the sunset.

On the roof of the tavern in Zhalang Town, there is indeed a large box.

Ao Zongheng doesn't know when this box was delivered, he stayed in the neighboring town all day today, he doesn't care about the process, just come to collect the money on time, have money to withdraw money, no money to take his life, anyway, he gave the opportunity, who is to blame if he doesn't cherish it?

The Ring Spirit was completely incomprehensible that he would choose to collect money and let Vicelord Ji Ma Ting go. Arrogant explained to her rarely: It's not to let him go for the money, but since he wants to let him go, then collect some money as compensation.

In Ao Zong's view, as a lord, the behavior of the Vice-Lord Ji Ma Ting is reasonable and qualified, the enemy's soldiers are coming to the city, it is an extraordinary period to use extraordinary means, for fear of accidental injury and accidental killing, so he is not afraid that the city will be destroyed and killed more? As for the other party's behavior to collide with himself, it is a mistake, not a deliberate plan, he also killed seven people on the other side, and also broke half of the second knight's arm, and asked for a sum of money, Ao Zongheng's heart is balanced.

However, the ring spirit did not accept Aoheng's statement at all, accusing him of "no distinction between importance, wealth and righteousness, and no principle", and Aoheng didn't bother to tell her more - even if a woman's family knows a lot of things, it is broad but not deep, and when it comes to the truth of the world, it is too superficial after all.

So all day today, the ring spirit just didn't say a word, this situation hasn't happened for a long time, and even Ao Zongheng suspects that she is leaving to do something again.

Proud has no points, only a little sense, weigh the box, you know that the number inside will not be much worse.

He had already sensed the surroundings, there was no sign of an ambush at all, and the most densely populated place around him was the tavern under his feet, but in addition to the laughter, there was not even the slightest murderous aura in the tavern, it seemed that this second lord was a decisive person who could afford to put it down, and he secretly praised it in his heart, and put all the boxes into the borrowed law, and quickly disappeared into the night.

In the middle of the month, Taiyin is becoming more and more sleek and bright, the water is five o'clock, it is the Taiyin square, most of the people are sleeping soundly at the moment, and the night patrol team between the towns has also stopped patrolling.

At this time, Vice Lord Ji Ma Ting was not in his bedroom, but sat in the office in full armor, it should be said that he was almost fully armed - his severed left hand was not armored. Beside him were three Sleeve Mages with solemn faces. In the corridor outside the office, there were at least fifty more pro-soldiers. There is no need to explain, and you know what the purpose of such fanfare is.

In the early morning, the Vice-Count, who had fainted for only a short moment, woke up—because of the unusually late rising, and the servants did not dare to go in and disturb him, so they had to call the Countess.

As soon as the Vicelord woke up, he didn't even have time to pay attention to the face of a young lady sleeping next to her husband, and immediately called all his henchmen to the office to discuss.

Vice-Lord Ji Ma Ting is definitely a lord above the qualified line, and his subordinates are not of a bad breed, but when this kind of thing happens, his subordinates really don't dare to make random suggestions. Whether to give money obediently or work hard is not an easy choice.

When the second lord wanted to lure Ao Zongheng in the morning, he asked for 3,000 Stolin as soon as he offered it, and Ao Zongheng was not greedy for money, but he didn't want to seem to be too good at talking, so he directly asked for 5,000. Despite the rank of Lieutenant, five thousand Stolin was still a large amount, and the Count's current cash at his disposal was really less than five thousand Stolin - and that was about a thousand Stolin after booby-trapping the smugglers, spies, and traitors, and the money plus the sale of the goods. So he looked righteous and awe-inspiring in front of him this morning, but it was actually hard to charge.

You may say, when a second lord is so poor, why is Senubes so rich? Yes, the value of the goods in the treasury is calculated in 10,000 Loren guilders, but Senubes is the largest county in Loren Magaga, and in terms of wealth, Senubes is the richest among the vassals, compared with it, the fief has no value and the output of the Vicelord Ji Ma Ting is really not worth mentioning.

Fortunately, it was the beginning of the harvest season, and as long as he survived for a while, he could earn a large amount of money, so that he could successfully survive the turnover crisis. And the Vice-Lord of Ji Ma Ting is currently facing the imperial army that may attack at any time, and once there is a turnover crisis, the consequences will be much more terrible than Senubus.

If you don't have enough money, do you have to choose to work hard?

Relying solely on the strong self-confidence of the other party to prepare the money so surely, although he did not fight, the second lord was very sure that his three sleeve mages did not have the ability to fight each other. If you seek external force, a thousand Stolin is enough to bring in blue-collar mages to help, but these temporarily hired mages will not work hard for you, which means that even if you only deal with one blue-collar mage, it is safer to need two or even three blue-collar mages. Let's not talk about the lack of money, how can a mere Ferran Valley County find three blue-collar mages in one day?

The desperate road still can't go, so you can only find a way to find money.

In fact, there is no need to think of any way, there is only one person in the county of Ferran Valley who can provide him with two thousand Storin in a short period of time - his own brother, the Lord of Fellan Valley.

It sounds natural and reasonable for the younger brother to have the help of the elder brother, but in the aristocratic circle, it is really not like this.