The two thousand Gatu were indeed in the village of Kwyn, and Charles had them hide in the ancient garrison of the Griffin Knights.

Not many people knew about this secret location, and no one thought that Charles would work with Zakar.

However, this settlement was not a good place for the Gatu.

Because if they just plugged the mouth of the valley, they wouldn't have to think of it—there was only one entrance and exit to this place, and it wasn't spacious.

Of course, there is a hidden path in the station that leads to the Goddess Mountain, but that path is known only to Dalion.

Leon had walked the path once, but he didn't know how to do it either, because it would have required a long detour through the fog and the forest.

This misty forest will get lost as soon as you enter, and except for Dalion, who has lived here since childhood, everyone else who walks in will probably never get out again.

Currently, Dalion is blocking the mouth of the valley with the Griffin Knights.

The Gatu in the garrison did not try to rush out - there was only a three-meter-wide road at the mouth of the valley, with a cliff on one side and a deep stream and rapids on the other, and there was nowhere else to stay, and the mouth of the valley was a corner.

But outside the corner of the valley mouth, there is an open space that can lay down dozens of meters of arc-shaped military formation.

As long as the brain is not broken, anyone can see that this will definitely not be able to rush out.

So the Gatu retreated into the garrison as well—they couldn't get out, but Leon's troops didn't want to go in, and the two sides faced each other like this.

Leon didn't care much about this kind of confrontation, anyway, he just had to trap them.

"Dalion, just stay here and keep an eye on these Cato people, and don't let them come out. I've got to go to Fletcher......"

Leon was about to leave after arranging the troops, but after thinking about it, he turned back to Dalion and asked: "You have a good relationship with Charles and spend the most time together, did he have anything unusual when he was with you?" ”

"If I hadn't seen these Cato with my own eyes, I'm afraid it's hard to believe that Charles would have collaborated with the enemy......"

Dalion thought for a moment and stretched out his finger to the station: "Your Majesty, Charles has always worshiped you as a god, and has built a statue for you to worship every day, and sometimes he will talk to himself in front of the statue...... Is this an anomaly? ”

Li Ang was stunned: "The tomb in the station, was built by Charles?" ”

Leon still vividly remembers that there was a very conspicuous tomb in the Griffin Knights' residence - the tombstone reads, "Here rests the brave King of Pande, His Majesty Leon Griffin." ”

In front of the tomb stood a life-size statue of Leon.

It was built for him by Charles and Dalion after his disappearance, and the tomb was actually empty.

At the time, Dalion explained that the tomb was erected because most people thought Leon was dead, and on the other hand, to give the Griffin Knights a name of 'avenging Leon'.

After all, the Griffin Knights were awkward at the time—to others, they were an illegal armed force at the time.

At that time, Amy was the queen of the Lion Kingdom, but due to historical reasons, it was impossible for the Griffin Knights to be loyal to the Lion Kingdom. Therefore, they had to use Leon's name to preserve themselves, that is, to make others see them as Leon's personal army, so as not to have unnecessary conflicts.

Leon thought that Dalion had been instructed by his adoptive father, but he didn't expect it to be Charles's suggestion.

"Your Majesty, Charles's admiration for you has long gone beyond the concept of a monarch...... He sees you as a god. And he's probably the kind of fanatic who he thinks would not hesitate to do even if you sent him to his death. ”

Dalion said, stroking his chest and bowing his head towards Leon: "Judging from the situation here, Charles did collude with the Cato people. But I can also be sure that his loyalty to you is unquestionable. I don't know why he did this, but there is probably a reason for this, Your Majesty, and I hope you will give him a chance to defend himself. ”

"I will."

Leon nodded, thought about it and left.

After returning to the city, Leon received a message from Raphael.

Raphael had arrived at Fort White Hart, and he had locked Charles in the bank of Pande, where hundreds of Noldor elves were guarded, as was Vendatier, who had fought alongside Raphael.

It's a safe thing to do, Raphael has really grown a lot.

However, Leon didn't have time to ask what happened to Charles, because he still had to rush to Fletcher.

He's going to go and make Zakar completely lame before coming back to clean up the portal.

……

Sigismund was indeed a very efficient man, and it took him only three days to set up Fletcher's trade market.

Maybe it's fate, maybe it's a coincidence, the location of the mutual trade market is in the riverside camp where Leon once fought with the Gatus, and it's not bad at all.

The small riverside camp has been expanded several times by Ralph and Charles and is now a medium-sized fortress with enough capacity for thousands of people.

And this fortress spans the long river, like a barbell. At both ends of the river there were military stations and walls, and in the middle was a well-built wooden bridge.

In other words, this medium-sized fortress is equivalent to building a small castle on each side of the river. Even if the castle on the other side of the river is occupied by the enemy, it can be blocked at the other end of the bridgehead, and at the same time, the defenders can cross the river to quickly counterattack, which is a military fortress with both attack and defense.

And now, the northern side of this fortress is designated as a trading ground for the Gatus; The south side serves as a hypermarket for the kingdom of New Pande, with a bridge in between.

Of course, this is a very fair approach, and Leon has always done business on the principle of fairness and voluntariness......

Including the list he made for Zakhar, it seemed extremely fair, and even Zakar felt as if he had taken advantage of it......

For example, a goat over 50 pounds can get five pounds of salt;

Two sheep can be exchanged for one pound of dye;

Six sheep can be exchanged for a pound of bacchus spice, and it is a finished product that has been milled into powder;

The more expensive lead pots and lead cauldrons are only as much as three or five sheep;

Even the incomparably valuable Fortune Balm is on the list - it does cure Zakar's old wounds and constipation, it also refreshes the mind, and it does cure coughs, vomiting and diarrhea - most of the ailments common on the prairie can be cured! The Cato have even called this thing a 'miracle medicine'. But such a precious thing, one pound is only ten sheep!

Of course, the sheep had to be raised to more than fifty pounds, or they would not be harvested—Leon had left many fifty-pound scales for the trading grounds prepared by the Catotes.

This standard is also extremely fair, fifty pound goats are actually not that big, they only need to be raised for a year to have this weight, they are not considered adults, and the average goat can actually grow to more than 100 pounds.

Zakar even wondered if such sheep were a little smaller, but Leon said that sheep in their fifties were best used for roast sheep – and that was true.

"Your Majesty Li Ang, this price is indeed very kind, I have no objection...... If you need a war horse, I'm willing to sell it to you. ”

Zakar felt that Leon was indeed sincere in opening this trading ground, and this kind of pricing seemed to him to be similar to picking up for nothing—sheep were really not worth much in the grassland.

"There is no need for war horses, my troops are currently equipped with horses. Of course, if you're willing to sell stallions, I can buy a few......"

Leon rejected Zakhar's offer: "The people of Gatu are also people, let your people live a little better, everyone can raise sheep, women and children can also herd sheep, and it can also replenish the food reserves of your people." But raising horses takes a lot of energy and young manpower......"

Zakar looked at the compassionate Leon and nodded slowly: "That's right...... Your Majesty, you are indeed a merciful king. ”

"In this way, both of us will be able to reduce the number of troops stationed in the garrison and devote more manpower and material resources to people's lives...... But you've got to take care of the market, I'm afraid that Judah's tribe will come and wreak havoc - I don't want to trade with him, you know, he's not going to trade sheep for it. ”

Leon nodded as well, and held out his hand to Zakar.

Zakar also reached out and grabbed Leon's paw and shook it vigorously: "Please rest assured, Juda will never come again." Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty Leon. ”

The two sides negotiated the price, and the matter was settled.

In order to ensure that the trade with the Gatu people could be sustained for a long time, Li Ang asked An Dongjia, who was temporarily stationed here, to manage the trading area, which he had once managed with the people of the Misty Mountains in the Raven Realm, and was now quite proficient in doing this.

It also seemed fair and reasonable to let the Misty Mountain people maintain the trade between the Gatu and the Pande.

Of course, the most important thing is ...... Leon wasn't going to let decent people like Ralph or Leofrick take care of this.

The person in charge of managing this trading floor is the most suitable person like An Dongjia, who is more 'flexible'.

Because An Dongjia and Anson are in a relationship, she knows what the 'necessities of life in the grassland' that Li Ang got are......

Fushou paste is opium, and the situation of this thing needs no more explanation, anyway, Ramon has now monopolized the opium market in Singar, and the supply is very abundant.

Lead pots and pots aren't just lead, they are also painted with mercury paint on the inside – they do not stick to the pan, they make these utensils look silver and beautiful, and they are easy to clean.

But long-term use of lead products can lead to lead poisoning, and mercury paint can produce a more lethal mercury toxin when heated......

And those so-called Bacchus spices are actually contraband that Bacchus was not allowed to sell in China 20 years ago, and they are also overstocked.

These spices are not natural spices, but were processed by the former Bacchus merchants from waste spices mixed with various toxic additives, and the reason why they had to be powdered was to avoid being seen......

But this second-hand spice does de-greasy meat, and it's excellent – presumably because of the high levels of things like sphoxanthin......

Since the effect of relieving oiliness is particularly good, it is indeed a good thing for the grassland people who have eaten meat for a long time, and a small amount of food will not kill people, at most it will make people suffer from liver cancer and reproductive system diseases......

Only the table salt is not added, because it is not made according to the standard of real table salt in the first place - it is a semi-finished product of sea salt without secondary distillation, that is, the first salt made directly from seawater, which looks and tastes fine, but long-term consumption is likely to cause blindness, forgetfulness, hair loss, tinnitus, general weakness and other minor problems......

It's all a minor issue.

You see, Zakar has already expressed his gratitude from the bottom of his heart......

These are the most lacking good things on the grassland, and Li Ang is doing a kind business.

……

Half a month later, the Cato people fully withdrew to the steppe, and indeed sent a large number of sheep.

At this time, the 2,000 Gatu people who were blocked in the old garrison had almost just run out of food and grass, and it seems that Zakar had used the fastest efficiency to raise 20,000 sheep.

These sheep became a benefit for Leon to pay his subordinates for their work in the first place—they had been fighting everywhere before, and the troops were tired and needed to be motivated.

After 20,000 sheep were divided among thousands of troops, it didn't seem to be much, almost every soldier could get two heads, and those who had made war exploits could get a little more.

However, another saying soon spread on the mainland: the soldiers who have made military achievements should use fat sheep as a reward, because the soldiers can return to their hometowns to marry wives - after all, roasting whole sheep is one of the three sets of wedding banquets......

Of course, this statement is also a supporting service for Leon's sheep breeding plan......

After Zakhar's men sent the sheep to Fletcher, Leon also released the Gatu troops in the old garrison as promised, and was very honest.

Shortly after the force was released, news of infighting among the Gatus came from the North, from a Gatu man named 'Szaha', who had been a subordinate of Juda and had now defected to Zakar.

The tribe of Juda the Saboteur was attacked by Zakhar on a large scale, Juda was killed in battle, and the clan was annexed.

The Gatu were fully submissive to Zakhar's leadership and began to trade with Fletcher on a large scale.

Probably because Juda's tribe had been settled by Zakar, and the deal was going well, the Gatu people were basically happily leading the sheep in exchange for the good things they wanted, and there were no unnecessary conflicts.

After all, for the Gatu people, there is no shortage of sheep, especially goats, which are very easy to feed......

Sheep are indeed good livestock, adaptable, easy to feed, docile, calm and easy to manage.

And from goat's milk to wool, to mutton and horns, there are uses all over the body. Even sheep intestines are essential for doctors to suture wounds.

The only downside is that goats consume more grass than horses, and they gnaw grass roots......

Of course, the gnawing of grass roots does not lead to desertification of grasslands, but it does make the recovery period of grasslands longer – several times slower than that of pastures that have been gnawed by cattle and horses.

For the Gatu people, it is their habit to change pastures every season and rotate grazing in different pastures throughout the year.

They used to raise more livestock of horses and cattle.

But Leon's trading market will force them to raise sheep in large quantities - only goats can be exchanged for those good things, which they could not get anywhere before. Salt and metal utensils, in particular, are necessities that are indeed lacking in the grasslands.

And a large number of goats, after about a year or two, when they return to their first pasture, they will find out...... The pasture is not fully grown.

If there isn't enough pasture, they have to reduce the number of livestock they graze – but what type of livestock to reduce?

Horses are picky about their food, and the pastures that have not yet fully grown cannot support too many horses, but they can still feed sheep - goats are indeed better than horses......

Besides, it is nothing to breed one season less horses in a short period of time, and the people of Cato are not short of horses now......

At the same time, Leon's trading market only collects sheep.

Then this choice is easy to make.

After reducing the number of cattle and horses, the Gatu gradually became professional goat farmers - both for trade and to feed more livestock to protect the tribe's food reserves.

So this vicious circle can only continue...... Until everything is irretrievable.

Coupled with the dependence on 'Fushou ointment' and the ingestion of various toxins, after a year or two, the Gatu people will also find that their neonatal mortality and malformation rates will be frightening, and adults will gradually become weak.

A sturdy warrior will be as thin as wood, and the proud riding and archery skills will not be able to be used because of the trembling hands......

But the reason for all this, with the cultural level of the Cato people, I am afraid that the answer will never be found.

They probably only blame the god Indar for giving up on them......

Moreover, no matter how they try to change all this by then, it will be too late, and honestly raising sheep for the kingdom of Neopander will probably become the only reason for their existence.

If nothing else, within a few years, the people of Cato will become gentle, courteous, singing, dancing, and hospitable......

Conquest, in fact, does not necessarily require a sword.

(End of chapter)