Prosperity is a fragile light that can be obscured by dark clouds in an instant.

A few decades ago, when the war had just subsided, it was widely predicted that a century of peace and prosperity would be ushered in. Trade routes were reopened, black smoke rose from the workshops, merchants from the East brought in expensive goods by camels and sailboats, rivers were dredged and swamps drained in every territory, and a boat from a city could be replenished with needed supplies at a fair price along the way.

Even when the Berks invaded the Riverlands, the war was only as acceptable as everybody could. Despite the bad news one after another, there was no such turmoil as it had been a few decades ago: at that time, the king's marshal rebelled, the parliament seized the king's power, and those who supported or opposed the marshal were in a mess in East and West Wikia, and there was hardly a single piece of land that could peacefully grow food until the harvest. Later, the Burkes got what they wanted, and although revenge was rife in Vekia, it was thought that the war was over. There is a general optimism among young people who have grown up in an era of peace and prosperity that war will not come again and that all nations have taken their own merits.

When people no longer love war, it is difficult to get out, and war is the hardest guest to send away.

Compared to the city of Little East Lake, the ravaged White Harbor is almost a wasteland. As we went there, we could see newly built graves along the way, stretching along the road, with the occasional old man and orphan wandering around, looking for their family's graves. Some lonely priests, waving bells lit with spices, walked alone among the crosses that dotted the hills, chanting something as they went. While taking out a few pieces of Bo bread from his pocket, he gave them to the hungry residents along the way. The graves are all residents of the vicinity of White Harbor. It had not been long since many people had settled here, and Kalinin knew that he could not defend every village. Therefore, if possible, the remaining residents of the villages whose population has been completely lost will be relocated to the line from Xiaodonghu City to Baigang.

Kalinin guarded against the destruction of the Valans, but did not heed the wrath of the Princes of Denia. The soldiers of the Princes of Denia were like hungry wolves ravaging the new settlements and villages near White Harbor, and for two weeks the area was slaughtered by the soldiers of Denia to the point that the spread of the news was restricted, because no one lived to bring the news. No one knew where the soldiers of the Ducnia Princes were, and they could only tell where the Princes of Denia had been by the corpses on the ground.

Even when the Salanders ruled the southeastern region of Rhodoc. Nothing like this has ever happened either. The soldiers of the Princes of Denia could not defeat the Varan soldiers, and fled when they met the Burke cavalry in the Riverlands, but when they faced the unarmed inhabitants, they immediately became fierce warriors. Their favorite game is to block the village from the intersections and chase the panicked residents of Vekia with their hounds, and when they flee to the exit of the village, the soldiers of Denia will kill all the inhabitants with spears and iron swords, and the women will be taken away and humiliated to death.

The Maharaja of Denia has already said that he kills all the rebels of the Valans. There's nothing wrong with what he says. Because in these new settlements, there are many Valans who have migrated here from Kalinin, and not every Valanan farmer can become a Valan soldier with a sword, and the Denia soldiers have had enough of Valankov's suffering. They have an unquenchable anger against those who speak Valan, and there are not many Varans who can resist him. A village. Once a Varan is discovered, they are slaughtered by the entire village. Only the clergy were spared. The remaining villages, the prince of Denia, will also loot as much as possible. As soon as the inhabitants resisted, an endless stream of soldiers would break through the ridiculous walls of the village, killing the Wikibians who dared to defend their homes, nailing wooden nails to the trees outside the village.

Prosperity is but a sleepy dream, and even the gentleness of dawn can wake it up at once.

When we arrived at White Harbor, only one veteran sounded a trumpet to greet us, and a tattered flag half burned by fire fluttered over his head.

Here, part of the grain was unloaded and loaded into warehouses in White Harbor. Kalinin would never keep all of his food in a town, and even if White Harbor had just been sacked, Kalinin would have stocked up on enough food here. It would be extremely difficult to transport grain directly from the small East Lake City if there was a need, but it would be much easier to transport grain from the granaries built in Kalinin in various regions. After unloading the grain, we made our way through layers of cemeteries and headed west.

It is ironic that as long as there are people, it will look dilapidated, but instead it will be full of wild animals and vigorous in the deserted places.

"The prince of Denia is so cruel." "Animals don't fight where they drink, and every well here is full of dead people." ”

"The nobles are eccentric and violent," Copernicus said to the Kujits, "and almost everywhere they are, and the Kugit Tallinns will slaughter each other's tribes." The nobles loved no one but themselves. ”

"The Kujit slaughtered their tribes only in the most difficult moments of war, and once the war was over, every civilian was a treasure. I really don't understand why this prince of Denia would raise his sword to slaughter his wealth indiscriminately, and take them back to the territory. ”

Copernicus said, "The Maharaja of Denia did not have a good reputation among the nobility. Not to mention the general hatred of Kalinin in the Parliament, which fueled the arrogance of the Princes of Denia. Most people who can make mistakes with impunity will not give up this opportunity. ”

"This council is disgusting," said Iyu, "and the steppe people have a time when the khans are on board. If a Khan in an alliance slaughters other Khan tribes without any reason, then he had better flee to a place where there are no herders, because the newborn calves of his tribe will be poisoned, and his pasture will be thrown into a few hungry wolves, and as soon as he sets up a tent, the enemy will stuff poisonous snakes into it. The kneeling people are much more ruthless than the steppe people. ”

Elon said: "Actually, there is nothing difficult to understand. As soon as the siege is over, whether Giovanni Khan wins or loses, the guys in the council will definitely have to fight Kalinin. Face the enemies of the future. Kill one of his residents, and he will have one less soldier in the future. The Maharaja of Denia did not miscalculate the deal. ”

"Come on," I interrupted Iyu. "Wars are not fought by numbers. Denia is an idiot, and he has made Kalinin's once scattered subordinates now tied tightly by a blood feud. In the past, three or four thousand soldiers, each with their own thoughts, were far inferior to the two or three thousand soldiers who shared the same hatred for the enemy today. Kalinin had to thank the Maharaja of Denia if he survived the current battle. ”

"Timmy." Copernicus opened his mouth and asked me, "Kalinin may not agree to peace. ”

"Why?"

Copernicus told me a story.

Emperor Chanda once pursued a steppe khan to the snow-capped mountains, and most of the soldiers froze, starved, and died in battle, and the khan was exhausted. All the nobles persuaded Emperor Chanda to negotiate peace. The most belligerent also felt that the war needed to stop. The Khan sent for his daughter, his son, and his most beautiful concubine, for an oath of eternal submission, and for his right hand, which he had cut off with his own hands. Emperor Chanda finally wavered and agreed to the Khan's covenant. For a moment, everyone felt that Emperor Chanda was incomparably wise and benevolent. This Emperor Chanda was the first to try to incorporate the natives of the Rhodok Mountains into the empire. In his later years, he suffered a small defeat in the steppe, losing a few thousand men, which was hardly a loss for the Chanda Empire. He just had to retreat to the nearest fortress and order a couple of generals to move closer to him, and then everything would be fine. But his backward route would have passed through the edge of the steppe. In any defeat, the winner forgets. And the loser never forgets. In all the encounters, the strong will forget, and the weak will never forget. When the confident Emperor Chanda was only two days away from the fortress, the remnant Khan led his troops to attack the emperor with great speed. The more the emperor fought, the more frightened he became, and the messengers who sued for peace were sent out one after another, and one after another were executed. At last. The Emperor died under the ropes of two herdsmen, one left and one right, who wrapped a rope around the emperor's neck. The two horses gently pulled from side to side, and His Majesty the Emperor died in remorse.

The story is among the aristocracy. It's almost an enlightenment story. When you can kill the enemy, as long as you have a breath left, you should not give up. Copernicus believed that Kalinin had a low reputation and inaction in the first half of his life, and his dream of success had been suppressed, which made it even stronger. Now that he has the opportunity, he will be even more extreme and stubborn, so that he will not think about peace at all.

"But he only has good in this matter."

"It's just your empty promise." Copernicus said, "Just because Kalinin believed in you doesn't mean that Giovanni will do what you want." You're making a loaf of bread out of two stones, and either stone can smash your mill and oven. To put it mildly, you're just a dream. ”

"Whose maester would say that about his lord?"

"You're not a lord yet."

"But aren't you going to serve me?"

"You didn't pay me."

"You''''

"I'm kidding, Timmy." Copernicus looked up at the vultures in the sky, "It's really hard, Timmy. ”

"I have heard the people of Kugit say, 'If you have too much debt, you should not be sorrowful to pay it, but it is better to drink mare's milk wine and sleep with pleasure.'" I said to Copernicus, "It doesn't feel good that you've brought me family hatred. Speaking of which, to kill an emperor, kill an imperial family, and dispose of a group of nobles. Which one is not more difficult than to overcome this siege? Since you are my bachelor, you should help me. If I can bring about peace, I will have the power to take revenge; If you can't do anything about a small siege, you shouldn't follow a useless man like me, you should denounce me early, let me be hanged, let me be pierced through the heart by ten thousand arrows, so that I won't bring shame to my family again. ”

Copernicus's face changed, "Ten thousand arrows pierce the heart, who told you this?" ”

"What did you tell me?"

"This way of dying."

"It's just a stupid dream of mine," I said to Copernicus, "and it's just an occasional dream." What's all the fuss about? ”

Copernicus stopped talking, but his face turned a little pale.

Crucedel noticed something, and he blew a strange whistle, which Iyu and Elon responded to him with.

The three kugits disappeared into the grass in a single breath, and when we reacted, only blades of grass were left to tremble on their own where they had disappeared.

Copernicus's lips trembled, "Master Timmy, you want to live, you want to marry a wife as soon as possible, and you want to have a prosperous heir."

His sudden upsurge of seriousness forced me to be serious, but I really didn't know what to say.

"Okay, Bachelor." I promised him.

He looked slightly relieved.

Where did the three Kugits go?

We continued on for more than a hundred yards when Iyu suddenly sprang out from the left-hand side, followed by Crucedel and Elon, three Kugits swiftly like three bobcats, merging with their mounts.

"How?" I asked them.

"There's a settlement ahead." Cruzedel said. "Much larger than the previous settlement."

"There's weirdness here. The surroundings were burned down by the Princes of Denia, but a wall protected it. Iyu said. In fact, it was unscathed. ”

"In the middle of the settlement," Elon spat out the chewed blade of grass in his mouth, "there is a monastery. ”

"Which lord's monastery is this?"

"Hell knows," Crusedel, "hangs an oak flag, and it's ugly." ”