"My lord, according to the cavalry's exploration, there are still three of the five local villages that have survived, namely Winter Wolf Village, Licorice Village, and Binghe Village. A rough estimate is that there are still 2,300 people alive in the three villages. ”

At noon the next day, Ronan checked the information from his subordinates in the main hall of the castle, which had been cleaned.

These are all pieces of information that were recorded and sorted out by Lao Motou after the cavalry dictated what he had seen and heard.

In fact, he had already probed the surrounding villages through the crows last night, and was now comparing the two sides.

The ability of his subordinates is not bad, and nothing has been missed that should be noticed.

Ronan knew that this was the credit of Lao Motou, and without his arrangement, the cavalry would know at most which villages had living people, and it was impossible to estimate the population of the villages.

The situation of the Chillwind Collar was much better than Ronan had expected.

There are still more than 2,000 people alive in three villages, and the total population here in the past was just over 5,000.

The Black Death did not completely kill the villagers, but they carried it.

After comparing the three villages that survived and the two that the villagers died.

And after reading the tax records of the previous lord in the castle, Baron Exeter, Ronan had a general idea of why.

The two villages of Death are closer to the castle and occupy almost all of the farmland of the Coldwind Collar.

The other three villages have no fields to grow food and have to hunt in the wild to survive.

But one thing is clear, the laws of this world empire state that all resources within the fiefdom territory are nominally owned by the liege.

In other words, regardless of whether Baron Exeter has the ability to develop the Cold Wind Collar or not, every grass and tree in this land, birds, fish, and beasts are his property, and no one else can touch it without permission.

This law varies from person to person, as in the case of Ronan, who nominally owns the woodland rivers he passes along the way.

But he didn't break the law, he should cut and claw, he should be caught, his own soldiers are strong, and you let those lords who are too busy to take care of themselves come to him to protest?

But the ordinary villagers could not do it, they were powerless to resist the baron's men.

In response to this situation, Baron Exeter deliberately instituted a hunting tax.

That is, he would graciously allow the villagers of the three villages to hunt in the frozen ground and collect furs as a tax.

So the people of the three villages had to hand over their furs to the barons stationed in the two villages near the castle.

They also exchanged animal meat and local villages for a portion of bread, necessary oil and salt, and clothing to protect them from the cold.

Without them, it would be difficult for them to survive in the frozen soil where supplies are scarce.

Since Baron Exeter had the only way to trade with the caravans in Blackstone, the villagers had no choice but to accept the choice he offered.

Ronan guessed that the Black Death had been transmitted to the Coldwind Collar from the caravans in Blackstone City.

The caravan infected the soldiers who were in contact with the trade, and then caused the two nearby villages to fall.

Instead, the three remote villages were spared.

The contagion of the Black Death was not as serious as imagined, and the disease in the kingdom today is mainly bubonic plague.

It is caused by the bite of an infected flea in a black rat, and the plague bacillus carried by the flea enters the body from the bite site, causing the Black Death.

Such patients generally do not infect other people through daily life, and the spread of the disease can be stopped by cutting off the source and disposing of the deceased's body.

Terrible are people infected with pneumonic plague, which can spread the infection to others through droplets.

The good news is that pneumonic plague is more lethal and usually disappears in less than a day.

This is also the reason why so many people in those three villages survived, and as the baron ran away, the caravans of Blackstone City stopped coming, and the source of infection was cut off.

Ronan looked up and turned his gaze to the other side.

The raven under his control was perched on a branch of a village, surveying the crowd below.

This is Licorice Village, and when a troop of cavalry arrives in the morning, all the villagers here know that a new lord has arrived.

"From today onwards, we will be the subjects of Lord Ronan, everyone remembers his name clearly, did you hear it?"

In the center of the village, on the assembly square, the village chief standing on a high platform shouted.

"Got it—"

The crowd around the village chief gave only a few nonchalant responses.

The name of the lord? How many ears of wheat can this thing be worth, and they care more about the market for the next hunt than this, which is related to their survival after the cold winter comes.

Winter is less than a month away, when the rivers will be frozen and the snow will cover all animal tracks.

The village chief also knew what everyone was thinking, and after sighing, he didn't say anything.

He was happy for the new lord, because it meant that the trade route to Blackstone City would be opened again.

And in order to avoid the disease, they have not traded with the outside world for more than half a year.

Hunting weapons need to be bought, torn cotton clothes need to be filled and sewn with materials, and every household has long run out of salt, all relying on mutual support to survive until now.

The village chief only hoped that the new lord would be a little more considerate of them when he came to collect the taxes.

So that they can save enough food to survive this winter.

Through the crows, Ronan looked at the crowd in the village, more than fifty percent of them were tall young men, but their faces were a little lacking.

The rest consisted of children, women, and a few old men, and judging by the wrinkled face of the village chief, he was the oldest in the place.

According to Ronan's records, the village chief is seventy years old this year, which is a long life in this era.

The people of this village are very physically fit, and Ronan thought to himself, too, that he was not fit enough to survive on the frozen ground.

He had learned about the beasts of the permafrost, the winter wolves, the winter wolves, which were more than two meters long, and the giant bears, which could easily shoot dead knights, and the white foxes, who were dexterous and skilled at biting the necks of their prey.

In addition to this, the sturdy reindeer and musk oxen are not easy to mess with, and even the weak snow hare is full of escape and camouflage skills.

The only way for ordinary people to hunt them is to rely on skillful experience and set up various hidden traps in suitable locations.

In other words, with a little training and a variety of trap weapons, the people here can form a formidable field force.

We have to find a way to gather enough food and take all of them under our command.

After knowing the details of these villagers, Ronan has completely different levels of importance towards them.

This is a rare talent, whether it is the formation of an army, or the next development of the frozen soil, they need their participation and assistance, and he will have to be heartbroken for a long time if he dies.

Speaking of which, under the collection of hunting taxes, Baron Exeter can still be poor like that, Ronan suddenly thought.

Due to the difficulty of obtaining raw materials, this white fur is precious.

Ronan had seen in Triumph City, a white fur coat made of winter wolf skin, which could sell for hundreds of gold coins at most.

Although this is due to a number of factors, such as the unique location of Triumph City and the distance it travels, there is no doubt that the fur here is extremely valuable.

It seems that Viscount Pex of Black Rock City is not a good person.

Just like the villagers here can only trade with the baron, and the baron can only trade with Blackstone.

Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp, and in the end, all the benefits are swallowed by the city that is in front of them.