The night was deep, the sky was blue and blue like a bend of the sea, there were slightly thin sandy floating clouds, and the night wind floated, as if touching this bowl of water. The silver moonlight shone softly on the old soil, and a carriage with the logo of the Western Mamo family on the door slowly drove into a small town on the western outskirts of Zhivadin.

More than a dozen horsemen with stern expressions followed the carriage, probably because of the long journey, the faces of these mercenaries showed an unhealthy pale, but their eyes swept around were still full of vigilance, sharp so that all those who tried to spy on this carriage felt worried, the formation of a dozen mercenaries looked loose, but experienced warriors could see that these guys were by no means just ordinary mercenaries,

Their formation, which changed with the direction of the carriage, was an instinct formed by the people who were responsible for guarding the important people all the year round, always blocking the view of anyone who might look directly at the carriage, and if anyone wanted to attack the carriage located inside from a distance, they would inevitably step over the corpse of a person, a group of men who defended the carriage with their lives

The carriage drove through the wooden gate of the town, turned a street corner, and headed for a hotel on the west side of the town.

Torches were lit on the door of the hotel, and the flickering fire illuminated several figures, all of whom had stern faces and stood upright in the bursting night breeze, which was a subconscious act, and if anyone familiar with the military would find that although these people were wearing the clothes of merchants, they had the blood of soldiers in their bones

Standing at the front is a middle-aged man about 30 years old, wearing a simple businessman's clothes, a pair of black eyebrows like white and blue pupils appear deep and resolute, thick eyelashes, making his gaze like a light bulb flickering in the dark, invisibly revealing a faint killing atmosphere,

His face looked a little anxious, pacing back and forth in front of the hotel, and the few people behind him also had some unnatural faces, and under the light of the shaking fire, there was a faint feeling of loss spreading

"My lord, what is wrong with us, we have been transferred from the main flag regiment for no reason, and we have come to this Zhivading to serve as a local commander, what is the matter?"

A merchant dressed in black said with some unwillingness in his mouth, "Speaking of which, we are also the old men of the Grand Duke, this unexplained transfer, if you let the old brothers of other legions know, you won't laugh off your big teeth."

"Yes, last time I showed off to that guy in Tusori, we are the main flag regiment that has been through a hundred battles, how can we become the commander of the reserve army in the blink of an eye, it's really unfortunate to say"

Another merchant chimed in, he had a distinct scar on his right cheek, and his hair stood on end like a hedgehog, his name was Tinresa, a famous general in Caesar's Sauron Legion, who had followed the Grand Duke's cavalry captain since the time of the Falcon, and it was said that the scar on his face was left when he slashed a Kugit thousand horsemen."

"Shut up, look at what you all look like now," the middle-aged man in the lead snorted dissatisfiedly, "What's wrong with Zhivadin? You just changed positions, but I directly changed from the commander of the army to the magistrate, compared to me, what are your grievances?"

The sound of the carriage was very clear in the night, and seeing the outline of the carriage slowly emerging from the darkness in the distance, the anxiety on the face of the middle-aged businessman was swept away, and he hurriedly waved his hand to several subordinates behind him, and several people hurriedly tidied up their clothes, and strode behind the middle-aged nobleman to the carriage in front

"Caesar Sauron and your old brothers?"

Just as he was about to reach the carriage, a solemn voice suddenly came from the cavalry next to the carriage,

The middle-aged businessman who walked in front of him froze, and quickly turned his gaze from the carriage to the mercenaries next to the carriage, and a slightly chubby figure inside made the man, known as one of the three giants of the Vekia military world, tremble slightly, and quickly knelt down on one knee, and said loudly, "Caesar Solon meets the Grand Duke"

Seeing him kneel down on one knee, several people behind him also hurriedly knelt down, and the old brother on the opposite side made their resolute faces flash with a hot and excited look, and a few male tears fell into the soil

"You are all old subordinates who have followed me since the Falcon Territory, and you have followed me in the north and south all these years, and whoever does not have a few old wounds on his body will be exempted from this useless etiquette"...,

The fat man got off the horse with an indifferent face, walked over and cordially helped Caesar Solon and several flag leaders behind him to pick up,

These are the old men who followed him out of the Falcon Territory, seeing them, the fat man couldn't help but think of his difficult years, with his own strength, he fought against the Kugit army to the south alone, and finally unified the southern half of Wikia, now I feel like a dream when I think about it,

As Mao Mona Qing said, that is the place where the dream begins, and behind this dream, there is a pile of white bones, and the real war has been successful for eternity.

Only when you reach a certain height can you realize how risky it was to make the decision to make temporary cavalry purely to solve the financial embarrassment of the territory, whether it was the battle of Sambuga, which laid the foundation, or the dangerous decisive battle of the Dardanelles family, which determined the southeastern half, the slightest deviation was enough to completely reverse one's fate to the other extreme

At this time, the door of the carriage opened, and the beautiful and elegant Mao Mona Qing got out of the carriage. Dressed in an emerald dress, she bowed to Caesar Solon and said with a smile, "The Grand Duke is so bored that he is in a car, it is better to pretend to be a guard to come freely, I didn't expect to make you frightened."

The fat man walked into the hotel behind him under the leadership of Caesar Sauron, this hotel was originally the mansion of the local manor owner, although it was changed into a hotel, but the decoration inside was almost untouched, and it still exuded a typical aristocratic atmosphere,

Walking into the round tall stone arch, the torches of pine resin oil burned on the walls, the whole front hall was filled with the faint fragrance of high-grade spices, and under the feet were pieces of thick and smooth marble blocks that were tightly put together, and a pair of large-scale pastoral landscape paintings based on the famous poet Callister's famous work "Autumn" hung on the gray walls.

Layers of golden wheat waves surround the beautiful white castle, and this contrast in color, and the real brush, make people who walk in feel bright, as if they are in the beautiful harvest festival of autumn. ．

A few merchants held wine glasses in their hands, whispering to the square table in the corner of the hall, and a luthier in a black dress played the huqin at the front desk of the hotel.

Seeing the fat man coming in through the gate, these people immediately stood up, revealing the perseverance of a soldier, these are the secret sentinels sent by the Duke's Palace in advance, this hotel was originally one of the contact points of the Ministry of Supervision, one of the responsible persons hurriedly stepped forward and whispered in the fat man's ear, "My lord, Lord Lidastov asked his subordinates to speak, the bait has been thrown, and some wind direction needs to be added"

"Well, I know, let's do it according to the plan" The fat man nodded, waved his hand to him, the person in charge turned around and left, the fat man walked up to the second floor, Mao Mona Qing and several flag leaders stopped outside the door, only Caesar Zoro followed him into the room,

"Sit, you and I don't have to see each other like this" The fat man waved his hand, made a gesture to sit down, pushed open the window of the room, turned around and said, "This time I secretly transferred you back to Zhivadin from Alberon because I received a report from the Ministry of Supervision, in your jurisdiction, it was found that someone was wantonly trafficking in obsolete weapons replaced by the army, which involved 500 military infantry crossbows that were prohibited from trading, you should know that this is a very strict matter, your identity is special, the Ministry of Supervision can only report to me secretly"

"Five hundred military crossbows"

Caesar Sauron's ass as soon as he sat down was like being burned by fire, and he stood up, his face pale and dazed...... The subordinates really don't know that there is such a thing, this is definitely hidden from me, and the subordinates will go back immediately to investigate thoroughly, that is, turn the entire legion over, and within ten days, they will definitely give a satisfactory explanation to the adults."

I haven't seen it for half a year, and the murderous aura on the fat man's body has disappeared a lot, but a domineering spirit that dominates the world is undoubtedly revealed, with the Salon Legion becoming famous in the battle to conquer the northern steppes and becoming the main military force to suppress the northern Ryrdians, the position of the Caesar Sauron Legion, which was previously known as the head of the Big Three, is a little embarrassing, and now when he hears that there is such a thing as selling weapons, he is immediately frightened and in a trance

"Don't be so nervous" The fat man looked at Caesar Sauron, whose face was ugly, and suddenly let out a burst of laughter, and said, "What are you excited about, isn't it just 500 infantry crossbows, of course I know that you are not involved in this kind of thing, because this is what I signaled to the people of the Ministry of Supervision to do"...,

"Yes...... It was sent by an adult" Caesar Sauron looked at the fat man with round eyes, his mouth was wide open, this joke was too big, you must know that it involves 500 foot crossbows such a huge private sale of weapons, even in the identity of Caesar Zoro, he is a little afraid and palpitated,

500 is enough to equip a squadron, and if it appears on the battlefield, it will be a heavy blow to the morale of the Wikian army, and no one wants to see that while they are fighting bloody battles in front, the bureaucrats behind sell the most powerful weapons to the enemy

"Hehe," the fat man looked at Caesar Solon with a smile, walked over and patted him on the shoulder, and said in a condensed voice, "I always thought that you Caesar Solon was some kind of stubborn guy who didn't change his face when he died, it turned out that the last knight Caesar Solon was also scared."

"My lord said that he laughed" Caesar Zoro hurriedly lowered his head, his behavior just now was too rude

The fat man's voice paused, and he continued, "This time, I demoted you to Zhivadin as a sheriff, so that you will personally come forward to spread the news that you have lost 500 infantry crossbows."

"Spread out?" Caesar Sauron's face was stunned, and then he suddenly realized, "Do you want to use these five hundred infantry crossbows as bait......

"Hehe, worthy of being a confidant who has followed me for many years" The fat man waved his hand to stop him from continuing, smiled at the corner of his mouth, and sat down opposite Caesar Solon and said" Don't underestimate the sheriff of Zhivadin, this is the largest city in my Vicchia, the political center of the entire kingdom, the center of commerce, the headquarters of the commercial alliance covering the continent here, and the largest trade bazaar is also here, and the breath of flow in this city every day has an intoxicating smell, this position of the sheriff who can control the resources and taxes of the whole city, I don't know how many pairs of eyes are staring at it."

"Yes, it was the subordinates who were reckless" Caesar Sauron's face turned pale when he was said, although he felt aggrieved in his heart, but the position of the magistrate of Zhivading was extraordinary, and it was indeed a crucial and critical position

"Just in case, I have ordered the commanders of the four banners under your command to serve as the commanders of the garrison near Zhivadin," said the fat man

"Even the nearby garrisons have been replaced"

Caesar Sauron's face changed slightly, there are 4 flag regiments stationed outside Zhivadine, which have always been used as a reserve army for the Vikzhian army, and now there is a sudden large-scale change of commanders, could it be that the Grand Duke has any big move against Zhivadin?

This should be a precursor to a big storm, Caesar Sauron is also a little sweaty, the claws of the Vekia Falcon are not only external, I don't know who stabbed the big basket this time, making the Grand Duke murderous

He is an old man who started the army at the beginning, of course, he still remembers what the fat man did when he washed his blood in Zhivadin, this time it was so sudden, it was definitely something wrong with Zhivadin

At this time, the fat man took out a document from his drawer and handed it to him, "This is the report that Ebelon is about to be promoted to the Governor's Palace, after this matter is done, I will promote Alberon to the Governor's Palace, and you will be the Governor of Alberton, I need a trusted person to watch the east gate for Vicchia."

"Yes, the subordinates know what to do" Caesar Solon knelt down on one knee with an excited face, Alberon was promoted to the Governor's Palace, then he Caesar Solon is the third local governor after the southern governor of Vekia, Statunko, and the northwestern governor Crossat, and the Alberon region is the most important barrier in the east of Vekia, which can be described as the eastern gateway of Vekia, which shows the new appointment of the Duke to himself

"In this time, you can learn how to be a governor," the fat man waved his hand meaningfully, "you have to spread the word about the loss of infantry crossbows within three days of your arrival, and as for the rest, you can wait for orders."

Sending Caesar Sauron away, the fat man pushed open the window of the room and looked out the window with a deep gaze, this is a small but lively trading town, the whole town is in an open field,

In the middle of the square is an old temple built in the Domoron era, as a testimony to its age, with the walls of the old houses along the bank in a long line, covered with large and small pits left by hundreds of years of wind and rain, and beside the rippling river, some new spire houses were built on the other side of the river, making the whole town look luxuriant.

Because it is only 5 miles from Zhivading to the southern direction of Zhiva Cheze, this small town, which used to have a population of less than 1,000 people, has rapidly expanded to more than 4,000 people in just two years, just like a small town of trade and bazaar,...,

But because of the lack of city walls and the establishment of a town hall, it can only be considered a large town.

The fat man knew that there were more than two dozen such towns in the vicinity of Zhivadin, and with the establishment of Zhivadin's dominance in the continental trade, only one Zhivading city could no longer meet the growing demand for trade

In particular, the opening of the golden shipping route between Vikia and Salander in the south has greatly increased the volume of goods transported from the south, and new towns of a commercial nature are popping up in the vicinity of Zhivadin.

The fat man raised his head and looked up at the sky above his head, standing at the edge of the starry sky, his thoughts fluctuating. Every time he saw the starry sky, he was always full of feelings and it was difficult for him. His previous world is like a faded memory, distant and unreal, replaced by a confusion and loss that is difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion. He was a little unsure of his place in the world.

The quiet town in front of you is like a microcosm of Vecchia, a symbol of this prosperous and stable era, with sparkling carriages, travelers weaving, pleasant huqin sounds from roadside taverns, and the voices of singing girls drifting intermittently in the chaotic night.

There were some traces of water on the road, which were traces of washing the streets at night, and although it was already night, there were still many pedestrians on the streets, including merchants from other places who came to buy goods, and mercenaries looking for employers and opportunities, most of them gathered in the streets in twos and threes, talking with their mouths, and bursting with happy laughter from time to time

There is no war here, only a thriving atmosphere, it seems that everyone here has forgotten the blood and suffering of the past, the south of Vekia has been calm for too long, and this flowery small town in front of me,

It's hard to associate the fat man with the edge of the ruined city he entered a few years ago, and when the ruins are replaced by the bustling city, when the corpses are forgotten by the smoke of cooking, the imperceptible ambition is also expanding, like an undercurrent surging under the ice, which, if not controlled, will soon turn into a chaotic turbulence

This is the charm of time, time can smooth out the bloody wounds torn by war, so that it is connected with a thick layer of scars, so thick that people are imperceptible,

"My lord, you seem to be a little confused"

Mao Monaqing's gentle voice came from behind him, I don't know when, the lights in the room were much softer, it should be Mao Mona Qing who extinguished some of the candlelight

"It's nothing, it's been a long time, and I always remember some things from the past, and I don't know if it's old," the fat man joked back, the confusion in his eyes turned into a clear and bright, and he didn't have the slightest fatigue of traveling day and night.

"How can adults be old, if you really count it, you are only over 20 years old, if you are in our west, 20 years old is only just past the completion of the New Year's ceremony" Mao Mona Qing looked at him with fascination in his eyes, and suddenly Ying Ying knelt down in front of the fat man, and whispered "Zhivading is the lifeblood of Vecchia, if you use force, it will definitely affect the country, so that the newly prosperous Vekia will fall into crisis and pause, since this matter only involves the high-level of the business alliance,

Naqing has a reluctant request, and in a month it will be the deacon meeting of the business alliance, and I hope that the adults will not be too involved, just like the Kyoto Chrysdo, and give the wrongdoers a chance to atone for their sins."

"Deacon's Conference...... A chance to atone?"

The fat man looked at her with some astonishment, and the soft light mixed with the moonlight shone on Mao Monaqing's body, showing her bright demeanor.

A pair of bright eyes can compete with the moonlight in the sky under the two curved eyebrows.

An indescribable feeling welled up in the fat man's heart,

It's a bit like going through a lot of hard journeys, returning to the long-lost hometown, seeing the first love, and suddenly finding that she has grown up,

It is more beautiful and charming, and it can touch people's hearts more...... ，