"Is there anything else to cost?" Du Wei sighed.

"Yes, of course!" Delong smiled bitterly: "The personnel of the knight associations in various places, many of them are people from the association, those knight officials who are responsible for the assessment, they have to eat, drink, and feed such a large group of people. The Knights' Association on the mainland now has a total of more than 600 knights to support under its name! The armor of these people needs to be repaired? The weapons are still repaired regularly, right? And their war horses -- how can a knight be without a horse? The expenses of more than 600 people a year are almost equal to that of a medium-class knight order! At least more than 30,000 gold coins are barely enough to live! We can only use our limited expenses to feed people...... You are also the one who leads the troops, and you know that the cost of feeding a war horse for a year is more than feeding a person!"

Du Wei nodded involuntarily.

"In addition to the knights in the guild, there are also some handymen who are normal in the guilds in various places -- you can't expect those noble knights to sweep the floor and clean the windows themselves, do you? These people, there are now one thousand and forty people on the roster of the guilds in various parts of the continent, and the annual expenses are about two or three thousand gold coins—of course, these are very few. We try to hire as cheap labor as possible. ”

"I know that I have a bad reputation in Dìdū, and many people say that I am blaspheming the Knight Jīng God by buying and selling knight rank badges, but I can't help it. Delong frowned: "My lord." To maintain such a large shelf, the annual land expenditure is at least 100,000 gold coins! I can only barely make everyone eat enough to barely maintain this shelf! But where do I get 100,000 gold coins? The army only gives 100,000 or 20,000 gold coins a year. Thanks to the regent. Now that the legal xìng of the mercenary group has been opened, there are now more people who apply for the assessment of the knight level every year, but the annual income in this regard is only forty or fifty thousand gold coins. After all, I still lose more than 30,000 gold coins every year! Where can I get these 30,000 gold coins?"

DeLong said in the end. A sincere expression. Looking at Du Wei, he looked at him with sincerity like a child looking up to his parents: "My lord, you say, can I not buy and sell knight badges? I am not a clown, can I get mixed up?"

Du Wei was completely speechless.

When Delong said that he was excited, he suddenly hit the armor on his chest hard, and said with a strange smile: "My lord, just say that I am wearing this armor now...... It still looks like it. But you don't know. In order to save costs and material expenses...... This suit of armor looks magnificent, but it's actually ...... The subway board inside is hollow! Not to mention with weapons. You take a sturdy wooden stick and poke it lightly and it's a hole!"

Du Wei: "............"

The headquarters of the famous Knight Guild is located in the south of the city in Dìdū.

It can be said that in terms of floor space. It is quite in line with the name of "Continental Knight Association", one of the two major organizations in the mainland.

Headquarters of the Knights' Association. The theme building is a square tower with an empty patio in the middle and a row of wide three-story buildings on all sides. The theme building is made of solid granite and looks extremely solid. And if in wartime, it also has a fairly strong defense.

And the area is also quite large, if you ride a horse around the headquarters of the Knights' Association. It also takes about a cup of tea!

For such a large piece of land, in the first male city on the mainland, the price of this land alone is already very valuable.

It's a pity that when Du Wei came to the famous "Headquarters of the Continental Knight Association", he was almost stunned by the scene in front of him!

This...... Is this the sacred place of the solemn knight jīng god?

This...... It's a wet market!!

I saw that in this square building, every wall that had been turned into a street had been opened, and the houses inside had become all kinds of shops! Jewelers, grain sellers. Selling handicrafts...... There are even vegetable sellers!!

Du Wei's eyes widened. Point ahead...... The shouting and selling sound came one after another, and it was very lively.

There was no guilt on Knight Delon on his face. Instead, he smiled proudly: "Look, my lord, we have arrived." ”

"This ...... It's ......"

"This is our knight headquarters!" Delon puffed out his chest.

"I thought I saw a wet market!" Du Wei's voice was a little unpleasant.

"It can't be helped. Delong sighed: "This land and houses cannot be sold according to the law, so after thinking about it for a long time, I can only break through the fence facing the street and turn these houses into shops and rent them out." My lord, don't underestimate these rents, many of us in our headquarters live on these rents!"

As he spoke, he dismounted and led his old horse to the front.

What stunned Du Wei and many of the guards under his command was that the Deron knight walked all the way over, as if he was a fish in water, and kept greeting the owners of those shops, looking very warm and familiar.

"Ahh......h

"Aunt Sophie, this month's rent is almost due...... Ah, okay, I'll send someone to collect it tomorrow. ”

"Boss Dick, this batch of cabbage looks quite fresh...... Ah, thank you for that, hahahaha......"

Looking at the president of the Continental Knight Association, Du Wei suddenly remembered a profession he knew in his previous life: a farmer's market administrator!

While greeting these small vendors, Delong also took some cabbage and tomatoes in his hand, and waved back to Du Wei: "My lord, we are here, don't stand, come in." ”

Walking into the door of the Knight Association, the shouting and shouting outside still kept coming, and Du Wei's face was a little ugly. Delong looked calm, and casually threw the food he had just touched to a lame old man who was guarding the door. Smiled: "A pot was cooked in the evening!Haha, I saved another meal today." ”

Hearing this, Du Wei's face was very strange, and the taste in his heart was even more complicated.

Walked through the door of the association. As the thickly planked door behind him closed, Du Wei took a closer look at the patio.

It's about the size of two football fields.

Obviously, in the era of knightly glory. Such a large open space is used for knights to practice martial arts, and some of them can generally be used as a racecourse. It's a pity that now...... But they built simple wooden sheds one by one.

"What are these wooden sheds for?" Du Wei frowned: "Is it a place to live?" ”

"Of course not. DeLong smiled bitterly: "My lord." Now there are only six people in the headquarters of the Knights Guild of Dìdū! With such a large knights' association and such a large building, it is more than enough for at least a thousand people! Six of us can find a room to live in. This wooden shed is not used to live in people, but ...... Warehouse. ”

"Warehouse?" Dewey was speechless again.

"Yes, it's the warehouse. When Delong talked about this, his eyebrows fluttered: "Thanks to the regent! dìdū is getting more and more prosperous. Merchants from all over the continent gathered in dìdū!

Housing prices and land prices are rising! You think, so many merchants are coming to dìdū. The large quantities of goods they brought with them must have a place to be stacked! However, the current housing prices in Dìdūli are so expensive! The rent of the warehouses and land has also increased several times! The merchants complained bitterly. In this case, I have an idea, don't we still have a large area of vacant land here? Anyway, if we are idle, we might as well build a proposed wooden shed and rent it out as a warehouse! I am not black-hearted at all! The rental price I offer is 30% lower than that on the market!"

looked at Delong's intoxicated expression. Du Wei almost vomited blood.

Granary...... Warehouse!!

"Thankfully, there are these warehouses! Don't you know that the annual repair cost of our current building is counting on the rental income of these warehouses!" said Delon, smiling, and tied the old horse to a pillar.

Du Wei sighed: "Your Excellency Delong, these warehouses, starting tomorrow, you can ask them to return all the goods one by one." After all, we're going to rebuild it. This...... But it's not quite like that. ”

"Retreat......? It's not easy, is it? Delong was a little embarrassed, and there was a little smile in his eyes: "You don't know. The goods here belong to the chambers of commerce of some of the big and wealthy nobles in Dìdū! I signed a contract with them. Can I return ...... Moreover, so many big shots. I don't dare to offend. ”

"You are afraid of offending people, but I am not afraid. Du Wei said lightly: "Who are the goods?"

"No, these rooms are the arsenal of the Warcraft family in Mount Teland! The piles are all iron ore!Ah, these rooms are the goods of the Count Villa's family, and they are some timber transported from the south. ”

Du Wei pointed to a wooden shed in front of him...... This one is the largest in area, more than the sum of the others!

Du Wei said angrily: "What about these, which one are they?"

"This ......" Delong smiled bitterly and glanced at Du Wei, his eyes were a little strange: "Grand Duke Tulip...... This piece of wooden shed is stacked with your family's goods...... I signed a contract with your family's head of business, Mr. Zach Jr., just last month. Because the rent price is cheap, Mr. Little Zach has been here for three years in one go!!"

Du Wei: "............"

In Du Wei's heart, after all, it was the dignified Continental Knight Association! The two major organizations in the mainland with the same name as the Magic Guild! Even if it declined, Du Wei never thought that it would be decadent to this extent!

Naturally, he had been to the headquarters of the Magic Guild many times, and how magnificent was it, how majestic and magnificent?

But look at this again...... The headquarters of the Continental Knight Association?

Vegetable market?

At this time, Du Wei's heart suddenly moved, and he noticed that Knight Delong seemed to have a strange smile in his eyes.

In an instant, Du Wei seemed to suddenly wake up and understand something.

His face suddenly regained its composure, and with a wave of his hand, he let Lao Yan and the other guards behind him retreat first.

Du Wei walked a few steps slowly, gently touched the simple wooden sheds, and suddenly said: "Knight Delong, I suddenly realized that you are really very talented in business. ”

Delon smiled and didn't speak.

"Actually...... I've heard a lot of stories about you. To be honest, there weren't any good things to say about you in those stories. ”

Delon shook his head and smiled, "I'm used to it. ”

Du Wei lowered his head and thought for a while, then frowned and said: "I think that you are carrying the title of president of this association, which is really a drag and a burden! With your ingenuity, it is really a pity to be tied to death in such a rotten boat! With your wisdom, if you are willing to go to my family to do some business management, it will not take long for you to become a famous big businessman -- it is a hundred times better than supporting such a broken shelf here." ”

Delon stopped talking.

Du Wei slowly continued: "I thought you were a corrupt villain, a moth in the Knight Guild...... But today I saw everything here, and I understood...... You don't hesitate to be a clown, but you're painstakingly maintaining such a mess...... Your Excellency Knight Delon, please accept my sincere apologies!"

As he spoke, Du Wei lowered his head deeply.

The grinning look on Delon's face was gone.

When Du Wei raised his head, he asked, "Knight Delong, I'm curious...... The Knights' Guild has been in decline for hundreds of years! It stands to reason that none of this has become like this in your hands! At least when you were young, it was rotten! But why did you choose to stay on such a sunken wrecked ship when you were young and promising?"

Du Wei's voice was sincere, without the slightest pretense.

Delon finally sighed, and there was no more cynicism in his eyes, but a solemnity.

Slowly, the president of the Knight Guild spoke.

"My teacher, the former president of the Knight Guild, adopted me and trained me in everything...... And the teacher had a total of nine disciples that year. Unfortunately, in the end, the other eight people grew up and almost couldn't wait to escape this hellish place!I must admit...... I wanted to get out of here back then, because it seemed to me that the so-called Knight Guild was already finished! There was no possibility of reviving it! But ......."

Delong suddenly turned sideways, quickly flicked away a tear from the corner of his eye, and then took a deep breath and said slowly: "Before my teacher died, he took my hand, and he begged me to stay. The teacher said to me on his deathbed: Although the knight's spear is gone, he firmly believes that there are still many people, and the knight god jīng is alive in their hearts!"

As he spoke, he seemed to smile again, and his smile was a little frivolous: "To be honest, I don't believe it! I don't believe that there are any knights in this world! But the teacher's dying plea, I can't refuse......! I stayed here, inherited the title of a ninth-level knight, a position of president, and became the head of a bare-pole knight order to this day, and my hair is starting to turn gray...... Because, I promised the teacher! I promised him!"

Hearing this, Du Wei was suddenly shocked!

"You...... It's too hard to support!" Du Wei sighed, and then without hesitation, he suddenly walked over, grabbed Delong's wrists with both hands, and said solemnly: "Knight Delong! I have to say that you are the most respectable 'knight' I have ever seen in my life! Although the world regards you as a clown! But in my eyes, you are a noble knight! At least you have fulfilled your promise!"

Yes, it's a promise!

A promise is a promise, and a lifetime of keeping!

This is the real knight!

Looking at Du Wei's eyes, DeLong finally sighed, and he squeezed Du Wei's hand tightly......