"I'm just a small businessman who runs a tavern in Fort Laramie, and I have no way of knowing what the big guys are thinking—"

Armand tossed the gold into his drawer, and continued: "But, as far as I know, there are no newspapers in Fort Laramie, no school, and 'culture' and 'education' are not fat, and not even as profitable as my tavern!" ”

When Armand had said this, he kept his mouth shut.

The turtledove waited for a moment and asked, "Can you say more?" Monsieur Armand! ”

"What do guests want to know?"

"Tell me about the Leon family."

"The story of the Leang family? It is no secret that he was once a legend on the Great Plains, jealous and righteous, and many caravans were once blessed by him......"

"No, no, no, I don't want to know that," Ikaruga said, "What I want to know is, how many people are in the Leang family?" How many troops are there? How many guns are there? How many industries are there? He's stationed in the camp, and if there's a secret base or something! ”

Armand fell silent.

"Is it because you don't have enough money?" Turtledove asked.

Armand shook his head, "It's my life that isn't enough!" ”

Turtledove smiled, "Okay, then it's okay to tell me about the Brown family." For example, how much money does the Brown family have? How many people are there? How many guns are there? Where is the camp......"

Armand shook his head, "Sir, my life is still not enough. ”

Turtledove smiled, "Then tell me about the Davis family, right?" ”

Armand sighed and said, "Speaking of Mr. Peter Davis, 1 gold coin is enough!" ”

"He was 32 years old, lived on an estate in the east of the city, and he married eleven wives, from oldest to youngest: Marie Grant, Anne-Pierre, Romain Christine, Whitney Claire, Jane Croyinwetter, ......"

"His wives bore him six children, three died, and three remained, the oldest was three years old, and the youngest was born last month, named John Davis, Kalmar Davis, Lawrence Brier-Davis!"

"Mr. Davis doesn't come back to his estate very often, 'Christina's House', 'Helen and Victoria' Sisters and 'Lori Island' are his favourite places to go, and occasionally he goes to the Colosseum to make a bet, but not much interest."

He likes to drink wine from Bordeaux, smoke Cuban cigars, and in addition to that, he loves literature and art, and he has a collection of works by the Hudson Bend School, including a painting by Thomas Cole, 'U-shaped Bay', which he says is an unbeatable masterpiece, and although I don't know art, I think it's really good! ’

Armand tilted his head, as if recalling something.

"I'm sorry, guest, but I can't think of anything else worth introducing you. Mr. Davis is said to be able to hold out for two hours at a time, but I'm sure you won't be interested in that. ”

……

What Armand introduced was not much different from what Turtledove had learned.

The two families of Leon and Brown can be said to cover the sky in Fort Laramie, and in previous years, the two families still had open and secret rivalries, but with the arrival of Peter Davis, the two families were faintly united.

Last month, Leang's youngest daughter had just been married to Brown's youngest son, and because of that, even the Colosseum was postponed for two weeks.

"Monsieur Armand, your introduction is very detailed!" Turtledove said.

"Thank you."

"Basically, everything that needs to be said has been said, except that Mr. Peter Davis also has a slave trade outside the city."

Armand opened his mouth, a murky sound of incoherence in his throat, but he didn't even know what he was talking about.

"It's okay, it's okay," said Turtledove, raising his hand, shoving the round bullet on the table into Armand's mouth, and then closing his jaw for him, "but this slave trade is too small to be of any use other than to get him some beautiful women." It's really a bit whimsical to want to rely on such a power to turn the tables! ”

Armand's throat swelled, then he bent down with a 'wow' and vomited.

A bullet erupted from his mouth and fell to the ground with a 'clang'.

Crescent Moon stepped forward, picked up the bullet that was still filthy, and stuffed it back into his mouth. "Your Excellency Baron Armand, I'm sure you won't like me to stuff a bullet in the barrel and put it in your mouth, will you?"

Armand was sweating profusely and grappling to the edge of the counter so that he didn't fall down again.

He closed his mouth tightly, his throat churned back and forth several times, and Tong Kong turned white several times in a row, and finally let out a trembling breath.

He opened his mouth to signal that he had swallowed the bullet.

The turtledove nodded.

"You're not too young, Monsieur Armand!"

"You may not have a chance to return to France in your lifetime!"

"However, if you are willing to cooperate with me, maybe in the future, when the French army regains Louisiana, you will still meet your handsome son in the imperial army!"

……

"What do you need me to do for you, honored guest!" Armand asked, looking exhausted.

……

"As an intelligence dealer in Fort Laramie, you really don't do a very good job of intelligence." Turtledove said. "I always thought that I was already the number one person, but I didn't expect that when I came to Fort Laramie, no one recognized me, not even you! Is this because I'm a poor Indian chief? Or are you, the intelligence chief of the Davis family, just like that Mr. Davis, just a useless idiot? ”

Armand bowed his head.

Intelligence work, the most important thing is money and people, but these two things, he has nothing.

To add insult to injury, he had no idea what the point of his access to information was.

20 years ago, it could be said that it was for the empire and for the emperor.

10 years ago, it could be said that it was for the sake of his son.

One year ago, it could be said that it was for the benefit of the Davis family.

But now? Armand had absolutely no idea what he was for.

It was as if he had been abandoned by the whole world, on the isolated island of Fort Laramie, uncared for, and self-destructed—and he had all but lost the initiative that he should have as an intelligence dealer.

That is, he is rotten!

"I have indeed been derelict in my duty, Mr. Ikarugha!"

Armand sighed, his voice as low as the murmur of a grasshopper in the grass after autumn.

The crescent moon next to him 'snapped', raised the gun, and aimed it at Armand!

Followed by more than a dozen long and short guns of the entourage, there was a 'bang', like the petals of a man-eating flower that suddenly opened, aimed in all directions.

……

"I have indeed been derelict in my duty, Mr. Ikarugha!"

"What do you want to work with me?"

"As you can see, I'm old and don't have any ambitions, and even the hand holding the gun is starting to tremble!"

"I used to think that Mr. Peter Davies would help me take Fort Laramie, but it turned out that he was nothing more than his eloquent brother, and he only wanted to have a few more women while he was still young, and write them down in his diary."

"Mr. Turtledove, the Crimson Chief from the Madre Mountains, the Butcher on the Rio Grande, the Ghost Slayer of the Harrison Valley, the Commander-in-Chief of the Resistance, the Bombardier of Kuauchtmock...... My distinguished guest, what do you need a dying old waste to work with you? ”