Since Xiaolu City was not captured, Ryman no longer recognizes the covenant between Ursula and Lionheart Kingdom - this is Ryman received the order before leaving Seven Forks Fortress. King Ulrich did not want to be used as a sword for nothing. If Xiaolu City cannot be taken, this covenant will not take effect.
In addition, Lionheart Kingdom and Raven Kingdom have ceased fighting, and the soldiers of Lion Territory have no reason to stay in Raven Territory, so Ryman took the troops back to Lion Territory, leaving Ursula outside Xiaolu City.
As a result, Ursula went through a lot of trouble and got almost nothing.
Fortunately, Sir Rayman helped her, and she returned to Dark Falcon Fortress safely. But she would definitely be unable to do anything else in a short period of time, and could only show her favor to Roland.
Sir Roland did not refuse Ursula to undergo repairs on Dark Falcon Fortress. This is what Li Ang has deliberately explained. All forces that can be united must be united. In the short term, Dark Falcon Fortress's only enemy can only be Gatu people.
All the surrounding forces did not have any intentions against Dark Falcon Fortress, but instead showed a certain degree of goodwill. This is inevitable - Dark Falcon Fortress is the front line of Raven Territory's resistance to Gatu people.
Therefore, whether it is Xiaolu City or Odenburg, they are basically willing to sell some necessary supplies, such as food and daily necessities, to Sir Roland.
Even Misty Mountain people is showing favor to Dark Falcon Fortress, but they are not trying to deal with Gatu people.
Andongjia successfully contacted her tribe and repaid the previous blood debt with 1,800 dinars.
To be honest, this money is really nothing to the lord. Misty Mountain people's life is really not worth much...
However, for Misty Mountain people, not many people can pay off their blood debt these days, and Andongjia is even regarded as the leader of a new tribe because of this.
This itself is also their tradition. Being able to repay the blood debt is equivalent to bringing back a large amount of supplies to the Misty Mountains, which qualifies them to form a new tribe.
Then, Andongjia followed the Lord's instructions and built a camp in a wilderness to the north of Dark Falcon Fortress.
That camp is an outdoor trade market.
Andongjia will lead Misty Mountain people and Pande soldiers to jointly maintain the security and order of this camp and let Misty Mountain people conduct material transactions here.
For example, food and daily necessities - in fact, they are all bought locally from Raven Territory and directly resold as a middleman.
Although Misty Mountain people robbed everywhere, they did not rob Andongjia. Moreover, in order to conduct normal transactions, they would protect this small camp.
Although the current trading scale is very small, this kind of place where peer-to-peer transactions and food can be traded is indeed too rare for Misty Mountain people.
In addition, the merchants in this camp allow barter - this is very suitable for Misty Mountain people's needs. They really don't have dinars, but they have a lot of local specialties such as deerskin and bear skin.
Misty Mountain people are just barbaric. They are not stupid. They all know that this kind of camp must not be robbed, so most Misty Mountain people will also show favor to Dark Falcon Fortress.
Therefore, all parties now maintain good relations with Dark Falcon Fortress from Li Ang, except Gatu people.
However, Gatu people didn't come to harass them for a while, and they probably had some internal problems - this is actually obvious. Zhuda's tribe suffered extremely heavy losses, and Zakar will definitely seize this opportunity to unify the grassland.
Everything went smoothly, and Andongjia had also begun to recruit Misty Mountain people. However, she did not understand a little bit about the lord's request.
Li Ang asked her to only recruit Misty Mountain people who can speak Pendor, and they cannot be shamans.
It's okay not to be a shaman. Andongjia was cheated by the Bear Claw Tribe's shaman, and he doesn't have a good impression of shamans himself.
But you have to be able to speak Pendor, which is a bit difficult.
Ordinary Misty Mountain people has little chance of learning a foreign language...
The only people in the Misty Mountains who say that Pan De speaks fluently are people from relatively good backgrounds in each tribe, such as the clan leader's family or the shaman's family.
These people are not easy to recruit.
So Andongjia asked Sir Roland what to do - but Sir Roland didn't know either.
However, Roland also felt that this request was right. After all, if he could not speak human language, he would not be able to train these people, so he asked Andongjia to think of a way on his own, and he must resolutely implement this request anyway.
So Andongjia learned from Wheat Fragrance Territory and White Deer Fortress, and also held a training class at the trading market outside Dark Falcon Fortress to teach Misty Mountain people how to speak.
Anyway, the lord's request is just to be able to speak, so it's okay to teach them.
It's just that the teaching progress was quite slow at the beginning - it's not easy to teach by speaking alone without relying on words, and Andongjia herself is semi-literate, and she doesn't know many words...
In fact, Andongjia just wants to build a team as soon as possible. After all, in her concept, only those with soldiers have status.
She wants to get a higher status.
But she became a teacher, which changed Sir Roland's attitude towards Andongjia a lot - originally Andongjia's impression of Roland was that of a rogue robber who came down from the Misty Mountains. In addition, she did have a lot of hooligan habits, so she was often criticized by Roland.
Now this gangster is actually teaching Misty Mountains robbers to learn culture. This is of course a good sign.
Although Roland didn't understand what cultural conquest was, he at least knew that it would make it easier for Misty Mountain people to discipline him, and he could also convey some concepts of goodness and order during class.
But - I'm afraid it's not very appropriate to let Andongjia, a gangster leader, convey the concept...
So Roland sent a group of non-commissioned officers who had learned some culture to Andongjia as teachers.
This was an accident that made many Misty Mountain people have a favorable impression of Dark Falcon Fortress and the Griffin crest in the non-commissioned officers.
Most Misty Mountain people actually want to enter the mainstream society. After seeing the colorful world of Pande, and comparing it to a poor place like Misty Mountains, many people actually want to make a living in Pande.
But language is their biggest obstacle, and the people at the bottom of the Misty Mountains basically do not have the opportunity to receive education.
Now Dark Falcon Fortress is willing to teach them how to speak and read, which is tantamount to giving these people the greatest hope.
Andongjia thus successfully gathered a group of people, and she and the non-commissioned officers also learned a lot about the culture.
Being a teacher usually makes you learn faster than being a student. After all, people have a sense of responsibility and cannot let their students learn wrong grammar.
Therefore, during this period of time, Andongjia, a semi-literate person, actually knew how to write letters - she wrote a letter back, but it was not addressed to the lord, but to Ansen.
I don't know what was written in this letter. Anyway, Ansen was so mysterious that no one knew about it, and he kept giggling all day long. I wasted more than a dozen pieces of parchment just to write a reply. I probably wrote more than a dozen letters but still felt unsatisfied. Anyway, I was busy until midnight before I finished writing the last one.
After that, Ansen seemed to be receiving letters every day and replying to them every day. He had probably become the biggest customer of the parchment merchant White Deer Fortress.
The lord saw everything but did not bother them.
With Ansen and Roland in charge, two people with good character, Andongjia will not mess around.
Similarly, if Andongjia is a rogue in Dark Falcon Fortress, Roland will not suffer any loss because of his kindness.
At the end of October, White Deer Fortress welcomed more Noldo Elves residents one after another.
This is an inevitable effect brought about by continued large volumes of transactions.
Li Ang himself did not make any money from his transaction with Noldo Elves, but he inspired the Noldor's need for a better life.
Noldo Elves people have made money through continuous trading and are living a more convenient life than before.
This convenience quickly produced results in just one month.
Some of the Noldor who were the first to benefit did not have to think about where to find food every day, nor did they need to stay at home and weave cloth with patchwork hemp and silk threads.
After you are freed from the dilemma of food and clothing, you will naturally begin to pursue a better life and find your own value.
They can do what they like more and create wealth in less time.
Those who are good at smelting can produce equipment, and those who are good at crafts can do some handicrafts. These can be completed directly in the forest, and they do not need to go out of the forest.
But those Nodo who are good at combat, or engaged in technical work, have begun to seek their own value in White Deer Fortress.
The long lifespan gives them more self-confidence, and most Noldor believe that the skills they have honed during their long life will enable them to do better than humans in all aspects.
This allows them to get higher rewards and status, and live their lives how they want.
This is very similar to how some remote villages are gradually connected by road networks and supportive trade policies, and some young people with professional skills gradually move from the countryside to the city...
In fact, these Noldo are indeed much better than humans in terms of professional abilities, but they cannot be the boss with only professional skills.
Living in isolation in the forest for a long time puts them at a complete disadvantage in terms of communication skills and flexibility of thinking...
Moreover, the Noldor do not dare to go outside the territory of Li Ang for the time being, which makes it impossible for them to engage in commercial activities alone.
At this time, part of the farm between White Deer Fortress and Wheat Fragrance Territory was converted into a factory after the wheat fields were harvested.
These factory areas are right next to the smooth road, not hidden at all, and don't look special.
Only when you enter the factory area will you know that these factories are all heavily guarded, and most of them are divided into two floors: inner and outer.
Those are some 'enchantment factories', which are actually various raw material processing plants related to gunpowder, but the final assembly of finished products is not carried out in these factories.
Only the magic silver coins are produced in one of the factory areas, which is the place managed by Vendathir personally, and where most Noldo Elves live together.
If it is the production of conventional weapons and equipment, the proud Noldo Elvess will not look down on human blacksmiths at all, but if it is the production of 'magic items', every Noldor is interested...
As a result, many Noldo Elves became workers in the territory of Li Ang.
Oh, it should be called a working elf, the kind that provides food and accommodation.
The boss is naturally Li Ang. There is only one big boss that the Nordos can trust at present, and there is only one boss who can provide these professional and technical positions.
At the same time, the real Noldor mercenaries also appeared.
One hundred and fifty Noldor warriors were organized into three patrol teams, responsible for the security around White Deer Fortress and Wheat Fragrance Territory.
There is another Noldor force of more than a hundred people, which has become the mercenary army of Li Ang.
This is the troop led by Noel.
Look at this, Isildur also plans to let his subordinates earn some money...
After everything went on track, Li Ang finally returned to his new territory Long River Town.
Perhaps the lord is lucky. Although he himself has been away from Long River Town for more than a month, there has been no trouble in this newly acquired territory.
Because Eric is here.
Eric has been with Long River Town during this period. He is the person most familiar with Long River Town, so the lord naturally gave him an important task again.
The lord has been promoted to nobility, and of course a capable subordinate like Eric should follow suit and become rich. Eric is now Long River Town's political officer.
Eric never thought that his life would undergo such a huge change within one year.
A year ago, he was just an ordinary mercenary, tying his head to his belt and living a life of today and no tomorrow, messing around in taverns and on the battlefield.
But today, one year later, I have changed from an unknown person that no one cares about to a political administrator that most nobles in Long River Town are trying to fawn over.
Those nobles with the title of baron or knight were actually smiling at me flatteringly.
None of them seemed to remember, or all pretended not to remember, that they were just the children of the fisherman in the north of Long River Town. They had neither noble blood nor superb martial arts or any outstanding talents.
His fate seemed to have suddenly changed after he was shot with an arrow by Risadiran. The Lord personally saved him and gave him more opportunities one after another.
Not only did he become a knight, he also became the general manager of a big city like Long River Town.
This is probably your luck, right?
Eric thinks.
But in fact, it is never luck that determines all this.
Instead, seize every opportunity you can and keep making the right choices.
But now, as the Chief of Government Affairs, Eric is a little undecided, because the Lord's thoughts are becoming increasingly difficult to understand.
"Sir, are you saying that you want to send money to people Long River Town?"
Eric Looking at the lord now, he looks like he is looking at a pure prodigal.
"No, it's not giving money, it's borrowing money. Lend them money to pay taxes, and they have to pay it back in three months or six months."
The lord spread his hands. "Aren't they crying about being poor? I lend them money. If anyone dares to cry out about being poor, they will not give me any face at all!"
The problem Eric encounters is tax collection.
But when it comes to tax collection, of course people everywhere will cry out for poverty... And Li Ang's subordinates haven't learned how to face this situation, and Li Ang himself has no experience.
Godric gave some suggestions and put Eric in charge, dividing the non-commissioned officers into dozens of groups, dividing each group into an area, such as a street or a small village, and then allocating a quota to each area.
This is actually the traditional collection method, and non-commissioned officers are equal to traditional knights.
However, this traditional method of letting tax collectors collect taxes and knights assist is not very suitable for the territory of Li Ang.
Most of the sergeants under the lord are from Wheat Fragrance Territory and White Deer Fortress, and they are not from Long River Town. In addition, they have never done tax collection...
Therefore, the non-commissioned officers will appear very helpless when they arrive at the place.
The rapid expansion of territory will cause problems of this kind.
In fact, the amount of tax collected by Li Ang is not heavy, the total amount is less than twice the national tax, and it is levied directly in proportion to people's property and house deed registration status at the administrative office.
This is definitely the lightest tax amount in the entire Lion Territory, and it is basically levied in proportion to wealth.
But no matter how light the tax is, no one is willing to pay it...
So the lord planned to do something special.
He directly asked Eric to take people to publicize the new policy door to door.
Families who automatically pay taxes before the end of October, whether they are businessmen or civilians, will keep records and issue tax payment certificates. Wheat Fragrance International will give priority to families with tax payment certificates.
Whether it is recruitment or other business activities, priority will be given to those who have paid the tax.
For those who are not very active and want to cry for poverty, we will provide a loan policy. You can go to the bank for low-interest loans. Before mid-November, the annual interest rate will only be 12% - this interest is less than half of a commercial loan, because compound interest is not included.
After all, many of them may indeed have no cash, but as long as they have assets, whether it is real estate or land, they can always find collateral anyway.
Of course, the extremely poor who really have no assets at all do not have to pay taxes, but they must build roads or be recruited as militiamen. If you have skills, you can do other jobs. Now there are plenty of jobs for Wheat Fragrance Territory and White Deer Fortress.
If the lord doesn't support lazy people, he must either provide money or effort, and call Delia all driven out of the city to fend for themselves.
If you don't think of anything and just keep crying about poverty, then after November 15th, Eric will go door to door with soldiers and force them to 'borrow' money to pay taxes.
And at that time, the monthly interest rate was 2%, and the interest was compounded on a monthly basis.
What? You call this forced loan?
No, no, no, this is good governance in this era, and it is exactly the same as agricultural loans.
Don't you have money to pay taxes? The lord lends you money to pay it. If you don't do it, then you don't take the lord seriously at all...
"Sir, will this... forced borrowing of money force them to leave?"
Eric doesn't quite understand. Hasn't the lord always wanted to increase the population?
"If they are not willing to obey my rule, why should I let them stay here? However, if someone borrows money from me and leaves my territory without repaying it, then there is nothing to say. A wanted order will be issued and the person will be brought back to do hard labor."
The lord looks very much like a tyrant now.
"I understand, sir, but if nothing else happens, you and I will both be scolded..."
Eric nodded and said helplessly.
"It doesn't matter, this will allow us to know who the enemy is... Eric, actually, we need enemies now."
The Lord Lord waved his hand and looked at the map on the table.