Because of the rain, Luo Yi's troops were delayed for two days on the way, which made her feel a little uneasy, but the others tried their best to comfort her, saying that they were not going to attack in the first place, but came to the door to crusade in a dignified manner, so the delay on the road was nothing. They also assured her that the terrain around the area was not high, and that under such a fierce wind and rain, if it did not turn into a land of water, it would not be much, and that if their enemies heard the wind and tried to strike halfway, they would have to abandon their armor and swim by the tail of their horses, and even if they did, their numbers would not pose a threat to them. Moreover, their camp was well erected, for they had both wagons to form a makeshift camp wall, and had enough skilled trenchers and sophisticated tools to dig a trench around their camp almost the same day, sufficient to withstand the onslaught of the average cavalry.

They all made sense, but Luo Yi felt that this time he still exposed weaknesses that he had not discovered in training before. In the diocese of Tournest, probably because of the majestic Ash Mountains and other mountain ranges, there were no such violent storms, and even if there was heavy rain, which was the usual summer rainstorm, which often dispersed after a few hours, and there were storms at sea, but those storms often touched the interior and dispersed, and they had never encountered such continuous heavy rains as they had not encountered in the diocese of Tournest.

Therefore, when they were training in the past, they had studied the situation of rain, but it was only how to set up a temporary camp in the rain to prevent the enemy from a surprise attack, or how to bake the fire and take what medicine to ward off the cold after the rain, and they had not studied such a subject as "being delayed by a storm". It's not their fault. Most of them are native to Turnest, and it is unlikely that a person who has been growing up in an environment that he has been familiar with since childhood will not be able to imagine a climate and other conditions that are completely different from those of his hometown.

If at the time of the gathering of dark clouds. The traveling merchants who followed the group, who were more familiar with the situation than they were, did not immediately warn them to set up camp on the higher ground. The people of Turnest are sure to be in trouble, because the Ning River is ahead.

The name of the river has a connotation of tranquility, but it is more of an expectation than a fact, as travel traders familiar with the area tell them that the river often floods after heavy rains, turning the land along the river into lakes and marshes. If they had not warned the Turnestians in time, they would probably have reached the river and were ready to cross it, and they would probably have lost a large part of their men when the water rose.

When it is true to see the warnings of the merchants. Luo Yi ordered the merchants to be brought, thanked them in person, and presented them with all the specialties of Tournest, such as amulets painted with white porcelain, icons made of maltose, and other things. She also told them that there were not many varieties to be given, because they had come to fight, not to do business, and had brought only some light ones that were useful in the army.

But she warmly welcomed them to Tournest to see and do business. He also granted them habeas corpus and issued them letters of recommendation.

After the merchants thanked her, they went to the town, because they were not under Luo Yi's control. And they were familiar in this area, so they stayed in familiar homes in the town early in the morning. It was also thanks to them that they moved in first, and told the people of the town. This army is not here to fight them, otherwise. I'm afraid the people of the town would have taken refuge in the woods long ago, in such bad weather. Leaving the roof and hiding in the woods is hard and dangerous, because this is an era when a cold can kill a strong man.

But now they are sitting in their homes, waiting for the businessmen they know to bring back the latest news.

The town, located on the high ground beside the Ninh River, was home to the nearby bazaars, and had six or seven hundred inhabitants, unlike modern times, although it was a town, and the inhabitants were mostly peasants, who tended their farmlands, vineyards, and herds nearby, and sold their produce to traveling merchants who transported them to other larger markets, or to larger wholesale merchants. They are not very business-like, and most of their business is in the hands of foreign merchants.

When Luo Yi's army appeared in their field of vision, it really shook them, because an army of this size usually didn't bring anything good, whether it was from the pagans in the north or from their own country. There is enough population in this town that there is no fear of bandits in general, but such an army is something they cannot resist. The men gathered in the elder's house and waited for them to decide whether to surrender or flee, for it was clear that they could not be an enemy of such an army, while the women and children gathered their things in a panic and prepared to hide in the woods.

Then the traveling merchants they knew arrived, but, to their surprise, they told them that the army had come from the blessed city of Turneste, and that they had no idea of the town, but were merely passing by.

"If it is true, it would be great, thanks to Saint-Remblew," said a wealthy vineyard owner, "and what are the terms they offer?" ”

The words were so straightforward that the people of the town held their breath and waited for the merchants from the other side to report the amount they demanded, and looking at the size of the army, they knew that this time they had to "give a lot of blood", which was not something that a few cows or a few hundred loaves of bread could send away, but as long as the army did as they said, not attacking the town, but only "staying for a while", it would be worth starving even for the rest of the day.

It is much more cost-effective than them being dragged around their necks and sold, or being used as serfs in strange land, or having their houses burned.

When the vineyard owner asked this question, he had in mind his possessions, he had kept some of the best wines in his cellar, he had a lot of grain in his storehouse, and he had a few pairs of fat steers. He hoped to send these people away with bread and steers, and if he could, it would be a big deal for him, but. He also felt that it was unlikely. Again, he thought, usually. After taking the initiative to give away the wine, the officer's face will look much better. Besides, a vineyard owner must be the first object of inquiry from the alcoholic officers, so it is better to give it to them first......

The others were of similar intent, they were not the kind of naïve people who lived in peacetime, and they knew that if a soldier broke into a house and ordered his master to offer bread, meat, and wine, that master would be unlucky. But if a hundred soldiers came, then the owner who simply handed over the bread, meat and wine would have been lucky, and now - two thousand men outside the town, two thousand heavily armed soldiers.

None of them fantasized about such a thing as "Qiu did not commit any crimes", they were just waiting for the other party to ask for the amount of offerings. This amount must have made it very difficult for them, for they could see by their eyes that a few hundred loaves of bread and a few cows were not enough for each other's meal. But the other party should allow them to pay for wine, cloth, silver coins, and something of qiē value, admittedly. What little money each family has accumulated will be swept away in this disaster, but as long as the other party keeps its credit, it is better than being attacked by them.

However, the traveling merchants did not speak for a long time, and they seemed to be looking for suitable adjectives. The mood of everyone in the town dropped a little.

"What kind of conditions did they put forward?" In the midst of this silence, a man shouted anxiously, he was the steward sent by the lord here, and the lord had a small group of soldiers stationed here. But he could also see that they were okay with the robbers. It is impossible to repel this army, "Say it quickly!" We'd better send it out sooner. Let's get started early! ”

"They didn't mention conditions, they just passed by." The merchant replied, "They...... There was no request for supplies. ”

This answer was so unexpected that the townspeople would rather think it was a cunning ploy, but no one could tell what the benefit of such deception was. They pretended to believe what the merchants were saying, but everyone was full of doubts.

The army then stationed themselves on the fallow fields and pastures near the town, and even sent a man to ask: "Does the owner of the land allow them to dig trenches and drainage ditches there?" ”

This question made all the people of the town look at the messenger with an idiotic eye, and he was embarrassed to see it, and at last the lord's steward came out and agreed to their request to dig a ditch in place of the landowner. The vineyard owner, who was more clever, asked the messenger if he needed some ditching helpers or tools, but the messenger said they had all of them.

None of the townspeople slept that night, they all waited vigilantly for the night attack, and the parents of some of their young daughters hid them in the cellars, but nothing happened during the night, neither an attack nor a robbery, not even a single soldier who had sneaked out to drink and have fun. There was a faint sound of singing from the barracks, but it was not the rough and inferior song that the townspeople thought they had, but some deep chorus, and those rich baritones and bass sang together beautifully, making people sound refreshed.

"I heard that they came from blessed Turnest." Men in leather coats and knives beside them sat all night by the fire, and listened to the song.

"It was a place under the protection of St. Aubrey, and I heard that their bishop had prayed for the grace of God for them, and there was neither tax nor sickness, and a year's harvest in the field was worth three years for us."

"It's incredible." The third man said that he was a particularly stubborn old man, blind in one eye, and that he had been shot blind by the infantry of the rebellious nobles when he had followed his lord to serve the king against the northerners, "I thought those people were telling lies, how could there be such a blessed place in the world?" ”

"If they really came from there, it's not unusual."

"To-morrow when the messenger returns, I will invite him to drink," said the rich vineyard owner, "who seems to be a good man, and does not tell lies......

"Hey, you could have asked him for a drink today, what are you worried about? That man, who still looks like a child, how can he endanger you? That way, we'll be able to figure everything out and not have to wait here in vain. ”

"Some robbers also have the faces of children." The vineyard owner defended himself, saying, "I catch a lot of them in the garden every summer. ”

His words caused a burst of awkward laughter, which diluted some of the nervousness, and after a while, one of the men asked the question that made them all ponder: "Who are they going to attack?" ”

Of course, without the other party's guarantee, they can see that an army of this size is not here to fight them, but what is the target worthy of them to attack? Was it the Bishop of Tournest and the Bishop of West Klein who were having an unpleasant quarrel? Then they must have fought many verbal battles in court before using their swords, but they did not hear the king's order to recruit soldiers.

They guessed a lot, but no one could convince anyone.

On the second day, when the townsmen had to try to keep their children from looking at the freshness and excitement, the messenger of yesterday came again, and called the merchants to the camp, and he did not drink the wine of the vineyard owner.

"It's coming!" The men of the town thought so, and they stuffed their young daughters into the cellar, gathered together with knives and leather coats, and waited nervously for the merchants to bring them in hand—though their idea of arming them was of no avail. Will the merchants intercede for them based on their past friendships?

Will the other party not make excessive demands because they can't afford it?

However, when the merchants returned, they did not bring the conditions of extortion, but brought gifts and documents of thanks from the baroness, so that they could not at once restrain the curious young men to the barracks to see the excitement, and they all ran to see the strange strange in spite of the heavy rain, and were kept out of the barracks.

When the rain stopped, the whole town came out, even the maidens and children among them, and the hussars of the guards made great efforts to keep them standing outside the circle, so as not to hinder the march of the army, but they themselves were almost immediately the objects of the siege—these hussars, because of the task they were to perform, wore green cloth coats, which were for better concealment, so they were not dressed fancy, and at most they were allowed to pin a bunch of thyme to their necklines, but they rode on horses, They always looked more spirited than the infantry, and their horses were so light and beautiful.

When Luo Yi's army left, fifty young men asked to join their team, and they all believed that joining this team would not only see the world, but also not fall into wine and sin, and also obtain supreme glory by "destroying the old witch Faisal". The army politely refused because they were untrained personnel, but they promised other offers from the locals, such as providing them with boats to cross the river.

"How strange! We didn't say a word to these people, and now they look at us like old friends. Jason looked at the busy townsfolk in amazement, "I almost thought I hadn't left Turnest." ”

"We weren't here to be their enemies." The Baroness said behind his back.

"Well, that's what I said, but ......" Jason didn't mutter, probably agreeing with this fact. (To be continued......)