In the stables of the temporary duke, these guys recruited by Longbottom lined up in a row.

This slightly humble (of course, only relatively) duke leans down, occupies a small area, and in the dìdū, which is full of mansions, such a mansion can only be regarded as below average, which obviously does not match Du Wei's dukedom status.

However, there was no shortage of horses in the duke's chest.

When the original Rollin family withdrew from Dìdū, the house was sold and everyone was dismissed, but in the Count's Mansion of Rollin, who was a martial artist, there were many horses, and all of these horses were asked for by Du Wei.

"You can choose your own mount. Longbottom gave the order, and each of these down-and-out warriors had a look of surprise on their faces.

When you come to this Tulip Duke, everyone has already learned the identity of the master here, and he is actually a young Grand Duke who has recently become famous all over the world! Imagine that he was pitifully looking for food in the slave market the day before, and now he has entered the most powerful wealthy family in the empire at present!

And you can have a horse of your own?!

However, Longbottom looked at these guys struggling to ride horses, shook his head secretly, looked at Du Wei beside him, and said in a low voice: "Hey, these guys are just samurai, but not knights, in the future, when they go to that place in the northwest, how can they not ride horses! In that place in the northwest, even children can ride horses." ”

Basically, the martial artists on the mainland, as long as they have a genuine warrior level, have passed the assessment of the Knight Association. But for most people, they are just "samurai" and cannot be called "knights".

The simplest reason for a knight is that you must at least be able to ride a horse, right?

But for these low-level samurai, they can't even feed themselves, where can they have the money to raise a horse of their own? The cost of raising a horse is far more expensive than feeding a person!

The decline of the warriors. It is the status quo on the continent, and the "Knight Guild", which exists in name only, was once a powerful organization on the continent alongside the Magic Guild, but now it has been reduced to the point of not being able to come to the table. The Knight Guild is responsible for assessing and awarding knightly rank badges.

But most people who practice martial arts can't even afford to raise horses...... They can only do martial arts, but they can't ride horses.

And these guys in front of him, although they are all samurai, not knights......

"Huh?" Longbottom's eyes lit up. He saw the last old smoke to turn over and get on his horse. This is the strongest guy he has recruited today, he can actually ride a horse! And it seems that his riding skills are quite good, and his posture on the horse is very clean and neat, and he looks like he has been strictly trained. And he was in the position of riding a horse...... The upper body is parked straight, and the legs are not desperately sandwiched on the horse's belly like those other rookies, and it looks very relaxed.

"This guy is a 'knight'. Longbottom became more and more curious about this old smoke: "His martial arts skills are good, and his riding skills seem to be good." How could a person with such strength and such riding skills be reduced to the slave market to find food?"

This question is also what Du Wei wants to ask.

This temporary duke is small though. But as a typical aristocratic mansion, some basic facilities are still available, such as ...... A racecourse that is small in scale, but still sufficient for use.

After leaving the rookies to practice riding happily, Longbottom called Lao Yan to the room alone, and Du Wei was also waiting in the room.

The god of old smoke was a little complicated, and he probably thought of what the Duke had called him in.

Really......

"Tell me your service number. Knight!" Longbottom didn't wait for Old Yan to stand still, but suddenly stood up, and then shouted loudly.

Almost like the conditions are reversed, the result of years of training made Lao Yan involuntarily stand up straight, put his legs together, stomped the leather boots under his feet, and then straightened his chest and shouted: "Captain of the sixth squad of the fourth cavalry team of the Royal Guards of the Royal Guards Regiment of the Royal Guards Legion......"

In the end, Lao Yan suddenly reacted that he was not in the Imperial Forest Army now.

However, Longbottom and Dewey were already happy with the result.

Looking at the unnatural expression on the face of this guy named Lao Yan, Du Wei smiled: "You used to be an officer of the Imperial Forest Army?"

“...... Yes. ”

Longbottom smiled relievedly, "No wonder I see that you like to tuck your trousers into your boots...... Only those who like to be beautiful would do that. ”

Lao Yan blushed a little, indeed, the Imperial Forest Army, which attaches great importance to royal prestige, is different from ordinary armies in many details, especially in terms of personal appearance, the Royal Forest Army can be called a model.

Their uniforms are always crisp, there is not a single fold on their trousers, and they like to tuck their trousers into long riding boots, which makes them look extraordinarily straight.

However, the phrase "like to be beautiful" still deeply stung Lao Yan, and he seemed to remember that on the day of the coup d'état, the three thousand most sharp Imperial Forest Army, but still wearing the "beautiful" equipment, were chased and killed by a thousand rebels like rabbits and fled everywhere.

Soldiers should pay attention to appearance, but if they pursue appearance too much...... That's just a guard of honor.

"All right, my general. Du Wei smiled and waved his hand at Longbottom, then looked at the old smoke, and said gently: "I think, you don't need me to ask, you also understand what I want to ask, right?"

Lao Yan nodded, and he sighed: "My lord, are you going to arrest me for desertion?"

Indeed, this is what Lao Yan is most worried about. The punishment of deserters by the Emperor ** team is extremely severe, and there is no room for manoeuvre...... Desertion, kill!

"Tell me about your experience, old smoke. Du Wei laughed.

"I ...... Once a Guard. The old eye gritted his teeth: "Just before the Xia rì festival, I have been serving in the Imperial Forest Army for twelve years......"

Subsequently, Lao Yan recounted the encounter of the 3,000 Imperial Forest Army who were about to be inspected on the day of the coup.

“...... I was hit by an arrow, and here I am. Lao Yan pointed to the wound on his chest: "I fainted, but I didn't die, and later when I was cleaning up the battlefield, I was moved out of the city as a dead body." In the middle of the night, I woke up and found myself lying in a pile of dead people, quietly around, and the burning point in the distance was burning corpses in batches, there were rebels and our people, I didn't know whether the rebels won or we won, so I didn't dare to go out, I quietly left there...... They were understaffed and there were too many corpses, there were thousands of corpses there, but there were less than a hundred guards, so I quietly left there, and they had no one to dig up. ”

"And then?" said Du Wei.

"Then I slipped to a nearby town and slept for the night in a shed where a farmer's hay was piled up, and when I woke up at noon the next day, I stole a piece of clothing and went to the river to wash my wounds, and then while I was on the dalu, I was rescued by a group of merchants, and I told them that there had been a coup d'état in dìdū and that I was a civilian...... The rìzi were very chaotic, there were many civilians injured in the dìdū, and my statement did not arouse suspicion among others, and the merchants gave me some medicine and food, and then left. A few days later, I returned to dìdū. ”

"You're back. Du Wei nodded: "Then, at that time, you should already know which side won in the coup d'état, right? Why don't you go back to the Imperial Guards? Someone like you who fought bravely on the day of the coup d'état and was wounded, and in the end, who survived, will be rewarded, why don't you go back?"

Lao Yan was silent, but Du Wei could see that this man in his thirties seemed to have a flame burning in his eyes!

"My lord, there are 3,000 of us, and most of them are dead. Especially the squad I was on, all my brothers were dead. And the squadron I was in, our commander was killed in battle, and I am afraid that I am the only one who survived the whole squadron. Lao Yan's voice was a little excited, and even more dry: "I have been there for twelve years, my team is loyal to the royal family, there are brothers there, a few people who are on duty with me, every time after the shift, we will go together to drink and gamble, and go to find women together, I still remember that when I broke my leg while riding a horse, my commander personally carried me back from the horse farm......! They were all dead. At the end, Lao Yan's voice was a little dry: "They are all dead." ”

Du Wei didn't speak, and Longbottom hesitated, bit his lip, and didn't make a sound.

"I remember their names, they were all my brothers, my commander, Captain Hank, he was a good officer, he was strict with us, and he invited us to his house for a drink when he wasn't on duty, and Lusa, who I owed him sixteen copper horns when I gambled, and Len, a guy in our team, before the coup d'état, we had a fight for robbing a girl, and I want to apologize to him afterwards...... But ......" Lao Yan's voice suddenly trembled, as if he was so clumsy, and he repeated a fact dryly:

But they were all dead. ”

"But their deaths are not your fault. Du Wei looked into the eyes of this old smoke: "They were killed by the rebels." You're lucky you didn't die, so why don't you go back?"

Lao Yan did not answer Du Wei's words, but instead asked Du Wei a question:

"Lord Duke, the events of the day of the coup d'état later spread in dìdū, and everyone knows what it was about. Lao Yan's eyes had a hint of gray sè, his eyes were originally faint gray sè, and at this moment, it seemed like a dying person: "My lord, His Royal Highness Emperor Chen, he has become the regent." On the day of the coup d'état, he had already prepared, he had known that the eldest prince would rebel! He had known for a long time, everything had been known! So he had laid out so many back-ups, and in the end he won easily. Now, he's the regent, and in the future, he'll be the emperor, right?"

Du Wei suddenly felt that he understood the heart of this middle-aged man in front of him!

"Since Prince Chen already knew, why didn't he stop it?"

"Since Prince Chen already knew, why did we three thousand people still die?"

"Since Prince Chen already knew, why didn't he do something before the coup?"

"Prince Chen, since he already knows ,......?"

Du Wei couldn't answer these questions, or rather, he knew the answers, but he couldn't write them.

"Dear Duke, do you think you can't answer?" Lao Yan smiled bitterly: "I myself actually know. ”

He took a deep breath: "Because Prince Chen didn't think about stopping the coup d'état beforehand, he needed to use the coup d'état to get rid of the eldest prince, he needed that coup, so our three thousand people were the chess pieces abandoned by him, and they were the bait that he gave up, and the death of our three thousand people could make the eldest prince mistakenly think that the coup was going well...... The 3,000 of us must die, because we were abandoned in the beginning. ”

In the end, Lao Yan concluded: "I understand all this. ”

Du Wei sighed, and Longbottom, who was beside him, suddenly slammed his fist on the table.

"I'm a Guard. The old voice groaned very heavy: "I used to be extremely loyal to the royal family, as long as the Bauhinia Imperial Flag points to the place, I am willing to fight bloodily, willing to use my statement to fight! to defend the royal family, but that day, I was in great trouble, and then suddenly I found out ridiculously...... The man to whom I was loyal is not worthy of my allegiance at all!"

"I'm a soldier, I'm willing to fight to the death......! I absolutely don't want to be betrayed and give up and die! So, if I survive and refuse to serve the royal family again, I will not go back!"