() I became a boyar squire and was incorporated into the boyar legion.

The so-called boyar regiment consisted of only two brigades, a boyar infantry archer brigade and a boyar infantry brigade.

Both brigades were not full, the boyar infantry archer brigade had only thirty-four men, while the boyar infantry brigade had more than sixty men. This is the most jīng sharp troops, and almost everyone is equipped with all the heavy infantry equipment. This made me a little strained, because I was not strong enough to withstand the standard equipment, and I was overwhelmed by the thick pieces of iron, and when I wanted to make armor that matched my own, Giovanni said that before a boyar died or was promoted, it was only possible to get one piece of armor, and if I had to have a small piece of armor, then if I happened not to die in the future, and I grew up healthy, I would not be able to wear any armor on my body.

I had to hang the thick chain mail over my shoulders and tuck the grown piece into my pants. I untied eight of the belts, which were made up of twenty-four iron rings, wrapped them in my package, and used the remaining rings to make a belt that was just right for myself. As for the leg armor and shin armor, I couldn't change it too much, and I could only stuff the larger part with rags and leather.

The weapons I brought with me from Valankov were taken away because those Jīng Liang weapons were too wasteful for me alone, and these weapons were given to some of the Valan warriors of the fighting skills Jīng Liang. My current weapons are a spear, six javelins, and a large crescent-shaped axe. This large axe is of the Wiki style, and it looks very terrifying, and it is this weapon that the executioner uses to cut off the heads of criminals. I gasped for breath with this weapon, but when the line was lined up, I could only put it on my shoulders and follow the people around me.

I often disrupt the queue because the Valans around me are always taking big strides, consciously or unconsciously, and I can't keep up. I take three steps, and they can easily do it in two steps. I hated my thin body so much. This makes everything seem very inconvenient. So when I eat, I always eat more bread and meat, which is the benefit of the boyar legion, no matter what food, it is always served first, and I eat until I last.

I was assigned with two boyar soldiers, and I inquired about the origin of these men, and they were not pure boyar children. They were nothing more than boyars' attendants. But even so, I have no reason to look down on these two men, who are mere attendants, but who have both family property: the father of one of them is a village boyar with three mills and nine vineyards, and the father of the other. It was an instructor at the Valankov Gladiatorial Academy, who had the title of village lord ten years ago, and it seems that a certain Valankov lord tried to disintegrate the three major families, and the lord canonized the second sons and attendants of many of the three major families as lords, hoping to sow the seeds of disunity, but this attempt ultimately failed, and the lord was drowned in the Ryazan River with a suspicious cause.

Speaking of my comrades-in-arms, these two people have heard of me and know that I am from the Romanov family. So they deliberately avoid family issues. They thought they were a head shorter than me in this respect. But when I'm training, these two guys always try to get past me. I had to do my best to keep up with them. One of them was twelve years old, and the other was fifteen years old, and they all grew up with their military fathers, and they had almost a natural advantage for horseback riding and shè arrows. So every time they perform better than me, they are extra happy. I am quite unhappy about this, but there is no way to do it, because it is my own problem, lack of training, lack of experience, and it is normal to be looked down upon. This is inside the army, and it is a newly formed army, and bloodline and family background are not the things that determine everything.

My hands were blistered with blood, and every day after training, water poured out of my boots, and the heavy armor was still uncomfortable to wear, but it wasn't unbearable. Although the recruits of the boyar regiment around me were proud to overpower me, after all, they were all about the same age, and after a while, we became close comrades, of course, this friendship was a friendship before the war, and I don't know what was going on on the battlefield.

One day, while I was sharpening the blade of a Valan warrior, a herald appeared behind me.

"Boyar warrior Victor!" The man's voice was like a broken windmill, the hinges were not oiled and were clucking in the wind.

"Yes," I said, as required by the military order, stopping what I was doing, putting my weapons away, and standing up, "Your Excellency." ”

"Prince Valan summons you!"

"Yes, sir."

Except when I'm with my comrades, most of the time I just have to answer 'Yes, my lord'. I wiped my muddy hands and followed the herald to Giovanni.

When I met Giovanni again some time ago, I was disappointed by his appearance. I imagined that Prince Valan should be majestic and impersonal, wearing a crown of iron, holding a scepter from Emperor Chanda, sitting high on a throne, adjudicating all human strife with wisdom and fairness, but Giovanni was gambling with people, and these gamblers were still the leaders of Valan's army.

My eyes were wide and my mouth was open in a circle. The surrounding Valan soldiers seemed to feel ashamed, so they turned their faces away, not wanting to see their prince embarrassed. And Giovanni felt that I was showing up at the wrong time, which embarrassed him a little. I later learned that the reason why the Valan soldiers turned their backs was because they thought Valan's generals were going to beat me up, they had just washed their faces this month and didn't want to be splashed with blood.

"Victor," said Giovanni, "I'm discussing the military situation with the generals, what are you doing all of a sudden?!" Don't you have your own business to do? ”

"Your Majesty!" I said to him, "I have come to see Prince Valan, not to see a gambler. We've lost four good warriors to deliver the message to you, and your right and left hand, Joey, has now had one of his hands cut off. Are you gambling here? ”

One of the Valan mercenary leaders looked back at Giovanni, "Joey had a hand cut off?" ”

The others were also a little surprised, "Giovanni, aren't you going to marry his sister?" Why don't you care about this kind of thing? ”

Giovanni said, "I just found out today, hell, Victor. Tell me everything you know. ”

I know I've swept away these people. So there was no continuing question about Giovanni's gambling money.

Among the group of Valan warriors in the camp, several of them were generals in the barracks, and they were all excellent soldiers promoted by Giovanni during the battle; The rest were the members of the small family that Valankov had come to swear allegiance to, as well as the leaders of the surrounding clans, as well as the lords of the villages, who were now vassals of Prince Valan.

Prince Valan's court was small, but it was also well-stocked: the Chancellor of the Exchequer was an illegitimate son of the Corwin family, and was kicked out by the family for embezzling more than forty sacks of grain; The Chancellor of War was a Burke mercenary chieftain. This man and Joey are bitter rivals, supposedly because they used to be jealous of the same woman; And the prime minister is a Vechia bankrupt knight, this knight's bloodline comes from Emperor Chanda, and even has a slight relationship with the Lepning family, he does not own property, and he does not have the jīng power to serve in the army and politics. The only thing he is good at is that he is familiar with almost every family and country that has appeared in history, he can draw the coat of arms of every family in the world, and he is familiar with all court etiquette.

In a thatched hut turned into a council hall, the Prime Minister and I discussed the idea of establishing the Principality of Valan.

"Victor," said the Prime Minister, who invited me to drink water, as if I were in my own home. "You know, we're going to build a principality. What are the things you need? ”

"Uh'''Soldier. Food, cities. The village, the recognition of the Berks, the recognition of the Swadiaans, the recognition of the Vykians, everything that "we do not have to build a principality." ”

The Prime Minister gently interrupted me. At this time there was a gust of wind, and grass stalks fell down the hut, and I covered the cup with the Prime Minister to prevent dust from falling into it, "You are not right," said the Prime Minister, "and there are no kingdoms without kings everywhere in this world, so kings are not necessary things for the kingdom; Kingdoms that exist without soldiers also abound, so soldiers are not necessary; The khanate of Kugit was on horseback, here this month and where next month they themselves did not know, so cities and villages were not something that was necessary for a country either. But a country must have its people. ”

The Chancellor stood up, trying to spread his hands and look like a great man, but he was so tall that his head hit the beam, and the cup in his hand was full of ashes, so he sat down and continued to me, "The Chanda Empire has the whole world, but he has no people of his own, she only has a group of well-fed officials and some mercenaries with different intentions, so Calad is finished." ”

Mercenary with a bad heart, I thought so, I wonder if Giovanni would suddenly sneeze or something.

The Svadia Empire had barely inherited the legacy of the Chanda Empire, but the people he had initially hoped for had gradually left her: the generals had lost their fiefdoms and neglected the majesty of the Emperor, treating the Emperor as no different from ordinary kings. The emperor can only defeat one group of people and support another, but this game cannot last long. Without the people to support them, Svadia became what it is now, the mountainous region became a republic, and the north had just stabilized before a civil war broke out. ”

"What about Vicchia?" I asked him, "The king of Sivicchia did not get the crown because the people supported him, he won it by himself with more than 20,000 soldiers." ”

"Well," the Prime Minister was a little embarrassed, he opened one of his notes, which recorded all kinds of situations, "King Sivicchia is a special case."

"And what about the Burkes? They also relied on the army to capture the city, and then gained the recognition of the retreating Zen people. Didn't the Saland, the current sultan also drive out his elder brother and guess the throne? What does this have to do with the people? ”

With that, I left my seat.

The Prime Minister's eyes gleamed with embarrassment, and the room was stained with fire, and the temperature was so high that the poor old fellow's clothes were drenched with sweat, but he could not convince me. Before I left, he only had time to say, "Victor, you're too young."

"I'll grow up."

This is the only conversation I have with the Prime Minister.

That's what I've been through for a while. Now, what is Giovanni looking for me?

I followed the herald to Giovanni's tent.

"Victor," beckoned Giovanni, who was ready to go, when he saw me, "how are you riding a horse?" ”

"It's okay, it's better than in the winter."

"All right," said Giovanni, "you are still my squire, follow me, and we will go hunting!" ”

Hunt? In chūn day?