After receiving the information sent by little Goodwin, Edward did not get too nervous, nor did he urgently persuade him to send troops as soon as Anson imagined, but repeatedly comforted the little prince to keep calm, and the most important thing was to complete the work in hand one by one.

In the midst of martial law and the hunt for Berion's party, the whole of Hantu City did not make a single wave because of this news, and it was still going on in a step-by-step manner - the royal knights under the command of Green Turn, while taking over the entire army of Hantu City as soon as possible, and raiding all the rich merchants and nobles involved with Berion, while the chief lieutenant was still assisting the little prince and meeting with the army commanders who had come to renew their allegiance.

Edward, on the other hand, continued his duties as chief flag bearer, repeating what he had done in the Vale of the Greens—coaxing and intimidating the representatives and messengers of the towns, and pulling out crystal clear coins from the misers and Grandet's purse bags.

And the envoys of these towns are also crying and sad - when they entered Hantu City, they understood that the current Duke Anson would never show any "mercy", and if he wanted to live, he must be prepared to cut meat, but the problem is that the other party did not intend to cut meat at all, but to loot it completely!

In the past, the Dukedom of Hantu City only needed to feed 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers, and when there were more wars, Berion was more accustomed to recruiting barbarian warriors directly from the tribes that depended on him - the advantage of this was that they no longer had to consume precious labor, and the lives of these barbarian warriors were also very cheap, often with a pot of wine, a dozen excellent and fierce barbarian warriors could be pulled out from the hands of those tribal elders, and an iron sword could buy a warrior.

But now, the number of troops that can be gathered alone has reached 30,000. Not counting the legions stationed in the various castle fortresses, if all of them are counted, there will be at least 50,000 troops in Hantu City at this time, which is almost twice the burden on the various towns in Hantu City!

And not only that, in addition to taxes, the entire Dukedom of Hantu City was also responsible for the corresponding labor and the supply of legions - each town had to send enough young men to serve as auxiliary infantry, and they were needed to build camps or escort supplies, and they had to bear the cost of food for the army.

Light is now. Anson had five legions in his hands, and it was unrealistic to rely on a Hantu City and the aid from the rear, there was no very wide river near Hantu City, and the main drinking water was also counting on wells, lakes and mountain springs, and the cost of collecting food from the rear was too high.

Now that the letter for help has been sent to the city of Turin, according to Edward's estimates, the kingdom can provide only one-third to one-quarter of the aid at most, even with the support of the Mineste family, and the rest of the huge number must be settled in this rather barren dukedom.

One can imagine how the mood of these towns will be broken and hopeless. And their determination - before Edward could speak, he was already on his knees crying poor, all with sad faces, their bodies bent low, no matter what Edward said, they had a poor expression of "we have no money".

"So...... Aren't you going to contribute your strength for His Highness Anson?" Edward looked at them with a smirk, "Be prepared to stand by and watch the soldiers go without food and pay - and in the end, they will have to go hungry and empty their purses." To fight for your protection?!"

"Of course not!" Seeing the chief flag officer's increasingly cold face, several town mayors and village elders who were standing at the front quickly shook their heads. He lowered his head in fear: "But these ...... It's just too much! We can't come up with so much money, and as for food...... This number is too much, if it is really taken out, most of the Hantu City will starve to death!"

"Oh, is it? I think Sir Dukiah must have had some different opinion on the matter. Edward, sneering, snapped his fingers lightly. The fat knight who had always stood outside the door walked in with a gorgeous knight's sword, and his smug eyes made the surrounding elders and mayors shudder, and they stood aside with some weakness.

"Sir Dukia, you have been in charge of taking stock of the property seized from the homes of the rebels. Why don't you let the adults hear about it?"

"Of course, Your Excellency Chief Flag Bearer!" Du Qiya quickly bent down respectfully and bowed his head, more pug than a pug - after the little prince returned to Hantu City, Du Qiya relied entirely on Edward to help him clear his name, and also became an important "financial officer" by Anson's side, responsible for auditing accounts and collecting oil and water from the homes of those nobles of the Berion party.

Of course, Du Qiya, who was "on the verge of defection", was extremely diligent in this kind of thing -- only another mouse knew the most, and although he did not know about the private belongings and secret warehouses of these nobles, he still "knew a little or two" about the approximate property of those nobles. More importantly, he was well aware that the "Chief Flag Officer" was watching him at all times.

Sir Du Qiya, who was proud, took out the parchment scroll in his hand and spread it out, and read out the contents of it word by word--In the case of internal response, the royal knights searched very thoroughly, not only found a large amount of property, but also a large amount of food, just the food hidden in Hantu City, enough to support the consumption of 10,000 people for two months.

Looking at the nobles who were trembling and looking weak, Edward didn't smile much: "I'm sure you've all heard it, these betrayers must have been planning this rebellion a long time ago, otherwise how could they have kept so much food at home?"

"That's right, you're right......" The nobles lowered their heads one by one, and said in a loud voice, "But, we are all loyal ...... of the Duke"

"Loyal courtiers, the most able to understand His Highness's hardships, kind loyal ministers!" Edward immediately took over: "I believe that those who are loyal enough to His Highness will definitely not be stingy with a small donation and give some of their own ...... There is no food to eat, so that the soldiers in the barracks can nibble on dry and hard black bread!"

"When, of course, these are our obligations, we should do it, you are absolutely right!"

"Of course, His Highness will not treat any loyal minister badly, just as he has never spared any traitor!" Looking at the extremely painful face, Edward took the opportunity to speak: "I believe you all know that now the traitors in Hantu City have been adjudicated, but there are still many remaining issues......

"W-What's the problem?"

"Property, houses, manors, shops, mines, mountains, forests, lakes......" Edward smiled, and threw the contracts one by one on the table, and the room that had just been filled with sadness suddenly became hot, and the nobles standing around the table stared at the contracts with the duke's seal, and even their rapid gasping voices could be heard.

"And, of course, their servants, their wives, their daughters...... Now they are all slaves, and they are technically part of the property, but His Highness has pity and can't bear to hurt these poor people, and it is really cruel to sell a group of weak women to the West Coast or other ports!" Edward shook his head with some emotion: "So Your Highness has decided to leave it to me to deal with all this, I think it is more appropriate for them to continue to live in a place they are familiar with, what do you say?"

"Of course!" the nobles at the table quickly nodded their heads and smiled flatteringly, "The Radiant Cross will also be moved by His Highness and your kindness!"

"But the premise of mercy is to be able to settle the salaries and food of the legions - we are all upright Turinese, so let's put together at least fifty thousand Turin gold coins of goods and food within a month, as well as all kinds of supplies, and all towns and villages pay in advance the salt, wine, field, and poll taxes for two years!" With a snap of his fingers, Edward slapped his palm on the pile of contracts, and the corners of his mouth hung with a smug arc.

"What do you think?" (To be continued.) )