Chapter Eighty-Four: The Kenmax Family's Plan

Lorist felt that the wall in front of him was a world of difference compared to the city wall he had captured. The wall he had captured was no more than four meters high, and it was made up of rocks. The city wall in front of him is seven meters high, and it is still a double city wall, and the city wall inside is at least ten meters high. Even the surface of the city wall is plastered with green clay, which is smooth and flat.

When he went up to the city wall, Lorist found that the city wall he thought was more than ten meters high was just a row of houses built on the city wall, but the roof was changed to the zigzag style of the city wall, which was connected to the city wall. Some of these houses were armoured, some were guards' quarters, and one was in front of a torn siege crossbow, which was supposed to be the one that had been shot over by Joske's arrow.

Josk was already waiting on the ramparts, and saw Lorist hurrying to greet him.

Lorist said very unhappily: "This time you are lucky, you meet mercenaries who are greedy for life and afraid of death, if it is a regular garrison guarding the city wall, you will not be so cheap and occupy this city wall without hurting a person." ”

Josk smiled and said, "Your Excellency is talking about ......"

"Also, don't pretend I didn't hear in the future, so I don't have any face......," Lorist continued to complain.

Joske smiled.

"By the way, what important things did you find?" Lorist finally remembered why he had come here.

Josk pointed ahead, "It's in the room ahead, just take a look, sir." ”

Josk was referring to five large houses in the middle of the wall, two meters higher than the next one, and a few guards standing outside the houses, guarding a few prisoners.

The middle of the five houses was the largest, about six meters long and three meters wide, as wide as the houses on the city walls. Upon entering Menlorist, he saw a large row of wooden and brass gears and a large runner filling the opposite wall.

"Is this a device for lifting the iron fence?" asked Lorlist.

Generally, larger cities or some wealthy lords will install a thick and strong iron fence in the gate passage, which can be raised in peacetime, and lowered after the enemy attacks and destroys the city gate in wartime to form a new defensive barrier.

Josk nodded.

"Day, does that Viscount Kenmax show that he has money, and to spend such a great price to build such a luxurious defensive wall in this place where birds do not lay eggs, if he wants to block the Norton family's transportation artery to the outside world, the price is too great, what does he want to do?"

"Your Excellency, you turn around, and the answer is on your right. Joske said.

Lorist turned around, and on the right was a small suite, with large and small maps hanging on the walls of the suite, and a large table in the middle, on which was a large sand table and several models of the castle.

It is clear at a glance on the big sand table, a mountain city by the mountains and rivers, surrounded by a piece of farmland, not far from the mountain city is a mining cave, next to the mine cave is a large workshop. At the end of the mountain ridge is a heavily guarded military castle.

"This sand table is well done, where is this mountain town?" said Lorlist.

Josk shook his head: "My lord, I don't know, I didn't show you the sand table, but the model of the castle next to it." I think there's a castle being built here. ”

Next to the large sand table was a model of the castle that had not yet been assembled, but the two walls, one long and one short, quickly made Lorist realize that he was now standing on the long wall in front of the model.

"Heh, this Viscount Kenmax has really invested a lot of money......" Lorist stomped his feet: "You see, the ground and the outside of the city wall are all green clay, if you really want to build such a castle, this green clay alone will cost at least tens of thousands of gold fords." By the way, where did the bearded man go?"

Green cement is the building material of choice for the construction of palaces and castles on the continent of Gelinthia, and its effect is similar to that of cement from Lorlist's previous life. The composition is also similar, it is all lime, and the clay is roasted into ash and then stirred with fine sand. The difference is that cement is cheap, green cement is expensive, cement mixing adds water, and green cement mixing adds a kind of glue.

Lorist's squire, Reddy, comes from the Romon Empire, where there is a famous mountainous area that is forbidden to the Romon Empire, and trespassers die. Because this mountainous area is a famous rubber rattan production area on the mainland. It is said that the gum vine was not originally a plant of Gelintya, but was transplanted from a subdimensional world by a magician thousands of years ago. These rattans like shade and dampness, thick as large wine barrels, and when you cut a saliva on the surface, a pale cyan juice will flow.

This pale cyan juice looks like clear water, but when heated, it becomes very sticky and hard when it solidifies. People use the juice of this glue vine, add ten times the amount of water, heat it, and then mix it with lime clay spun yarn to become green glue. This is the best bonding material for Gelinthia construction, and it is also the most expensive material. A bucket of 100 catties of gum rattan juice needs a Kingford. And the Romon Empire, the annual sale of gum rattan juice can make hundreds of thousands to millions of gold fords.

In Gelintya, people who don't have money buy a piece of sebum from the earth dragon and turn it into a binder material to build a house, although it is strong, the house has a faint smell of mud, it is easy to attract mosquitoes, and it is necessary to brush lime water and spray insect repellent every once in a while. The second is to use a kind of black glutinous rice, boiled into a thin porridge and then mixed with clay lime spinner, which is also a good building bonding material. It's just that buildings built with this adhesive material are prone to mold during the rainy season and need to be cleaned frequently.

The best building adhesive material is green cement, which is as hard as a rock after solidification, and has a fragrance that can repel insects and ants. Lorist has been in the city of Moriente for a long time, where it is a large consumer of glue rattan juice, and is naturally no stranger to green cement. This would also be a marvel at the Viscount Kenmeth's extravagant use of green clay to build a castle in the Northlands.

"My lord, Ovikis has gone out with half of the guards to arrest people. Joske said.

"Arrest?"

"Well, the slave laborers who built this wall. The leader of the mercenaries who surrendered said that the materials for making green cement were not available during this time, and the steward in charge of building the castle sent nearly a thousand slave laborers to collect lime, dig clay and dig sand. Ovickis led people to arrest these slave laborers. Jost explained.

Lorist then remembered that he hadn't seen the laborers who had built the city when he came, and that they had all gone out to collect building materials.

"The captives outside are mercenaries, call in the leader and ask him something. Lorist said.

The head of the mercenaries who surrendered was soon brought before Lorlist.

What Lorist wanted to ask was about the Norton family.

The mercenary leader thought for a moment and replied, "My lord, I have been hired by Viscount Kenmax for less than two months. However, I heard that about half a year ago, Lord Viscount Kenmeth sent troops to occupy the mine, and then went to attack the Norton family's manor castle, killing dozens of people, and the confrontation lasted for more than half a month in vain. Then the Viscount began to build the walls here, and the walls had just been built when I was hired here, and in more than two months, I had not seen anyone from the Norton family, and I had not met any Norton spies sent out to patrol. However, when I was transporting supplies to the other side of the mine, I heard from the mercenaries who defended there that they had seen the Norton family more than a few months ago, after the Viscount had retired from the army, and they had left when they found out that the mine had been occupied, and they had not heard anything about the Norton family since. ”

"Do you know the whereabouts of the people who used to be in charge of the copper mines in the Norton family?" asked Lorlist.

The mercenary leader shook his head: "I don't know much about this, but I think it should have been thrown into the mine by Lord Viscount to mine, and more than 1,000 catties of copper ingots were transported over there last month, which were stored in the warehouse here." ”

At this moment there was a commotion outside, and one of the guards came in to report that the bearded Ovikis had returned with slave laborers.

Lorist and Joske went up to the rooftop wall to see in the distance a long procession of serpentine laborers approaching the city gate, and beside the team were the bearded Ovikis at the front, riding tall horses and bravado.

It took most of the day to settle the nearly 1,000 slave laborers, thanks to the fact that these laborers had been slaves for a long time and were more obedient, and their original camps were still there when the walls were built.

Lorist summoned Joske, Sedkamp, Pat, Reddy, and Ovikis to discuss what to do next.

When Sedkamp and Pat came over, they saw the big sand table and cried out, this is the family's territory, the terrain of the Morgen hills.

"Look, my lord, that mine is our copper mine, and this is ......," said Sedkamp, pointing to the barracks castle in the lower corner of the sand table, "where this castle is located, where we are now. But there is no mountain town here, there is no such large farmland, there should be forests here, and there is no ...... this river."

Hearing this, Lorist was in high spirits, and ordered the bearded Ovikis to bring with him all the master builders and stewards who had been caught in charge of building the castle.

The so-called master builder, a middle-aged man in his forties, bluntly admitted that the castle model was his handiwork, but he refused to answer some of Lorlist's questions about the details of the castle, and angrily reprimanded Lorist for his despicable act of sneaking up on the castle site and occupying his castle site by surprise, and demanded that Lorist apologize immediately and leave the place, otherwise Lorist would bear all the consequences.

Lorist and the others looked at each other, wondering if the master builder was sick in his head. In the end, Lorist was amused by the middle-aged man's chattering accusations: "You ran to my yard to build a house for yourself, and I, as the master, came out to stop it, but it became mine, didn't I? ”

Next came the chief steward, and Sedcamp and Pat recognized the old man with a goatee, who was the grand butler of Viscount Kenmeth, named Boris. I had met a few times in the past when I was discussing disputes over copper mines, but I didn't expect to be appointed by Lord Viscount as the chief steward of the castle.

The goatee-bearer Boris was a coward, and he stood trembling at the sound of the master builder outside being whipped, answering all questions. Soon confessed the matter of the sand table, the reason why Viscount Kenmax built the castle here, and the family background of the viscount.

Viscount Kenmeth came from a merchant family, and his father was the president of the largest building chamber in the former Krisson Empire. During the civil war, his father took refuge in the second prince, donated money and materials, and became one of the second prince's money bags. After the establishment of the Iberian Kingdom, Kenmeth's father and the second prince negotiated to make Viscount Kenmeth a territorial nobleman at a price of 200,000 gold fords and obtain a territory in the Northland.

With the territory, the Kenmath family invested heavily in development, establishing manor castles and settlement towns in the Red River Valley of the territory. As the former president of the largest building guild in the empire, Viscount Kenmeth's father was very discerning, and he believed that there would be a long period of turmoil in the Northland due to the ambitions of the Grand Duke Lukins and the division of the nobility of the new realm. Although the Kenmath family has a territory in the Northland, the Red River Valley Manor Castle in the territory has no danger to rely on, and it is easy to fall when attacked. So the Kenmath family sent a large number of surveyors to conduct a large-scale survey of the territory and the surrounding area, and finally found that the Morgen hilly area in the Norton family's territory connected to the Kenmath Viscount was the best choice to build a castle and lay the foundation of the Kenmath family for a hundred years. In order to seize the Morgen Hills, the Kenmax family paid off the officials in charge of dividing the border and included the Norton family's copper mine in the domain of Viscount Kenmax. This provoked a dispute with the Norton family, intending to take advantage of the Norton family's troubles to seize the Morgen Hills and build a castle.

Boris, who has a goatee, said that although the castle model was not made and assembled, all the designs and renderings were readily available and placed under the table. When the castle is completed, it will hold enough for 10,000 people, and the Kenmath family will move here as their family's base base, as long as there is a garrison of 3,000 people, even more than ten times the enemy will be able to capture the castle.

As for the mountain town on the sand table, it is a town that the Kenmath family plans to build after the construction of the castle here, which can accommodate 50,000 to 60,000 people, and is mainly developed by copper mines, timber fields, quarries and other resources. At that time, farms will be set up and irrigation facilities will be built, and even if the northern land is ploughed once a year, it will be enough to ensure the supply of grain.

In order to realize this ambitious development blueprint, the Kenmasse family plans to invest 300,000 goldfords and spend five years laying the foundation for the family for 100 years. I just didn't expect that less than four months after the plan started, Lorist came.

"Do you know what the Kenmas are going to do against the Nortons?" asked Lorlist.

Butler Boris said: "The old master and the young master have discussed that they are not ready to destroy the Norton family, because with the Norton family in front, it can be used to attract the attention of the mountain barbarians. The family will be able to carry out the development in peace. If necessary, the Lord is also ready to give some support to the Norton family, so that the Norton family can resist the invasion of the mountain barbarians. The lord also said that he admired the Norton family's force, and that he might be able to make the Norton family a vassal of Kenmax in the future. ”

"Why did you send troops to attack the Norton family's manor castle half a year ago?"

"That's because the young master heard that the head of the Norton family, Baron Norton, had been dead for half a year, so he sent someone to discuss with the Norton family whether he could sell the Morgen Hills to the Kenmasse family, so as to end the dispute between the two families. However, the envoy sent by the young master was insulted by the Norton family, and they tore up the young master's letter, saying that the Norton family's territory would not sell an inch, so let the young master not fight this idea, and drove the envoy back. So when the young master was angry, he sent troops to attack Norton's family castle, but he didn't take it down. That's why the young master decided to start implementing the plan immediately, and by the way, the Norton family could be trapped in the north, and when they couldn't stand it anymore, they would naturally beg the young master for mercy. Boris with a goatee replied.

"By the way, what's the matter with that master builder?" Lorist remembered the middle-aged man with a sick brain.

"My lord, Master Siroba is the most famous master of architecture in the Iberian Kingdom! Two years ago, he presided over the design and construction of the Rose Palace for the second prince, but won unanimous praise, and was known as a genius master of building miracles, and was deeply respected by the second prince. This time, the lord spent a lot of money to invite this master of Siroba to come here to design the castle and town for the young master, and now that the design draft has been completed, he will leave here and return to the royal capital when the model is finished. Well, this master of Siroba is more arrogant, and in the royal capital, he doesn't even pay attention to the dukes and marquis who walk in the court. If you treat him like this, and beat him with a leather whip, it will cause a big trouble. Boris said very tactfully.

"Hehe......" Lorist smiled, that master builder really had a brain disease, and he didn't care about those dukes and marquis who walked in the court, because they were all nobles with honors and had no strength. To be so arrogant and rude in front of the nobles of your own territory is purely asking for hardship.