After bidding farewell to the Free Company, we marched for another week and finally arrived at the end of the trip - Fort Nolandenburg. Strictly speaking, it cannot be called a "castle". After all, there is only one outpost, which is more than nine feet tall.
A square outpost with a circumference of about a hundred paces surrounded by a high wooden fence has only one gate and four fifteen-foot-high arrow towers at the four corners.
The outpost was quite vigilant. When they saw a team of nearly a hundred people approaching, they quickly closed the gate and quickly blew the warning horn. Soon, more than twenty soldiers stood on the wall with weapons. Balian was afraid
Caused a misunderstanding, Eomer was asked to carry his own flag and go to the outpost with documents to inform him. After meeting with the garrison commander, the alert was lifted. Balian met with the garrison commander at the outpost, the palace knight, and the deputy sheriff of the direct county.
Sir Ping met and handed over the formalities.
After handing over the outpost to Balian, Sir Pippin led the team away. Before leaving, he told Balian: "Sir Balian, after you have settled your subordinates, you must go to the city of Amundine to visit us as soon as possible.
Your immediate superior, Viscount Merri, the salary, food, and approval authority for the soldiers at the outpost are all in the hands of the county governor, you can fight for it."
In response to the kindness conveyed by his predecessor, Balian also reciprocated. He gave Sir Pippin a copper jug given by the Sheriff of Norma County, and made an appointment with him to have a good drink in the city of Amundine.
A drink.
After seeing off Sir Pippin and the others, Balian formally inspected the outpost. He had only inspected the weapons depot and the granary during the delivery, but they were all clean except for a few pieces of mold.
There is nothing but bread.
Nolanden Outpost is a typical wooden castle. Since the land here is all flat, it can only be built on a higher ground. The outer walls are made of wood cut from the forest. Since it is a military outpost, it is not only
It is a double-layer wooden fence with some iron nails, which is relatively strong. There are also aisles on the wall for people to stand and walk on, as well as a tall arrow tower.
The main body of the interior of the outpost is a two-story wooden building, which is the residence of the garrison commander and the kitchen. It will now become the lord's official residence of Balian. In addition, there is a stable, a lumber warehouse, and lumber.
There were elm and oak logs that had been drying for several years in the warehouse. The former person in charge organized soldiers to cut them down but never disposed of them. Sir Pippin felt that it would be a pity to use these good logs as firewood, so he kept them piled there.
.
In addition, there are three wooden houses for soldiers to live in, as well as a granary, a weapons depot and a utility room. Although it is a bit shabby, it is still complete and better than Balian expected. At least there is a place to live and a warehouse.
There is space for storing things, and there are three wooden cabins for people to live in. Although it is a bit cramped to accommodate seventy people, it is cold and freezing, so it is warmer to be crowded.
It was already evening, and Balian asked Mark to arrange for a few women to prepare dinner first, while he led the adult men in the team to unload the supplies from the cart, put weapons and armor into the arsenal, and put food and cloth in.
The granary, and tools such as land clearing and logging were placed in the utility room. The most important money box was placed by Balian in his bedroom on the second floor. It was safer to keep a close eye on him until the wooden outpost was converted into a brick one.
After the stone structure of the castle, there was a special treasury, which was then handed over to Mark for management.
That night, Balian asked the kitchen to make barbecue and broth, and opened several barrels of ale. After all, he had arrived at the place he was going to build. Balian wanted everyone to look forward to the future. In addition to eating and drinking, Balian also gave them a description of the future.
Now that everyone has a house to live in, clothes to wear, food to eat, and good drinks to enjoy, I used all my eloquence in sales in my previous life, which inspired everyone, and my eyes became more radiant.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Balian took Eomer and Tur to the city of Amondin to report to his immediate boss, Viscount Merry. After all, his predecessor had told him to go there as soon as possible and try his best to get there.
Try to get the county to pay more for the salaries of its soldiers.
Fort Nolanden is not very far from the city of Amundine. The three of them rushed there in half a day. The city of Amondine is just a small town. There are nine-foot-tall wooden trees on the short stone walls that are one person tall.
There are only ten arrow towers in the wall. Fortunately, this is a county directly under the duke. It will not be affected by the private wars of the nobles, so it rarely receives attacks. No matter how well the city wall is built, it is meaningless. Although it is
It is a small town that is not very well-defended, but there are still a lot of business travelers coming in and out. It has a somewhat prosperous feel, at least it is much better than the business situation in most of the northern lords' towns that I saw along the way.
After Eomer showed Balian's title document and appointment certificate to the guards at the city gate, the three of them entered the city of Amondin smoothly. It must be said that the city appearance of this prosperous town in the north
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
, the sanitation management situation is almost as bad as the salted fish market in Wallombre City. The ground is full of mud, and feces can be seen everywhere. If you are not careful, you will step on it. No wonder people in this time and space like to wear high-tops.
Boots, don't be afraid of stepping into dung heaps.
The three of them suppressed their nausea and quickly crossed the street and arrived at the governor's mansion. After giving a tip of 20 soles, the guards led them to the Viscount's study and met Viscount Merri.
"Dear Lord Sheriff, your loyal subordinate, Deputy Sheriff of the County directly under you, Balion Tucker, would like to say hello to you. This is my conferment document and appointment letter." With that, Balian put all the parchment documents on the table.
On his desk.
Viscount Merry raised his head and glanced at Balian, smiled and said: "Please sit down, Sir Balian." As he spoke, he picked up Balian's letter of appointment, looked at it, and put it down again.
"Sir Balian, I received a letter last week that you were appointed as Deputy Sheriff, but this week, I received a letter that you were reassigned as Inspector and a new certificate of appointment." Viscount Merry smiled wryly and held the letter.
Show him the letter and appointment letter.
Balian looked at it and found that it was actually similar to his job as a deputy sheriff, except that the rank was lowered. Usually a trainee would serve as an inspector, but this had no impact on Balian. But Balian also thought of it,
It seems that his position as deputy sheriff must have been passed down by someone who was related to a certain big shot.
Thinking of this, Balian took out the gift he had prepared for Viscount Merry. It was a small wooden box he bought in Norma City. It had exquisite patterns carved on the outside and looked very delicate. Balian held the small box in his hands.
The box was delivered to Viscount Merri, "My dear Lord Sheriff, as long as I serve you, it doesn't matter what position you are in. By the way, this is a small gift I prepared. Please accept it."
Viscount Merry saw that Balian not only did not feel disappointed after hearing the news that his position was being demoted, but also gave him gifts. He couldn't help but become interested in this young man. He opened the box and saw that it was full of silver coins. It should be
There were about a hundred pieces. Viscount Merrill closed the box with a smile and said, "Sir Balian, your gift is very expensive. How can I have the nerve to accept it?"
"Oh, no, my lord, everything in Nolandenburg is in its infancy, and it is also my first time to hold a palace official position. There are many places that require your care, Lord Governor, and I hope you will never give up."
Balian politely said that he needed him to protect him from the wind and rain, and insisted on letting him prepare the gift himself.
Viscount Merri nodded, "Okay, then I'll accept it, thank you."
Next, Balian told Viscount Merry about the idea of letting the county be responsible for supporting some of the patrol soldiers. Viscount Merry readily agreed, but he also made it clear to Balian that according to the rules, the county would, at most, provide for each soldier.
The standard of fifty soles per week provides him with the salary of ten soldiers. The county is not responsible for weapons and armor, but it can provide some food and cloth every month. This is Viscount Merry's special support to Balian on behalf of the county.
And a piece of paperwork was approved for Balian on the spot, allowing him to go to the county financial officer to receive the first month's soldier's salary and the first month's grain and cloth before departure.
Mosquito legs are also meat even when they are small. Balian was already very happy to be able to win these. However, Viscount Merry did not wait for Balian to be happy for long and told him that the palace inspected every official who held a specific position. Balian
As the inspector of the direct county, as long as a caravan was robbed in his jurisdiction, that is, on the trade road in the Stag Woodland on the south bank of the Karl River, he would have to hand over the heads of at least ten bandits that year.
As far as Balian knows, it is impossible for bandits to rob on any road in the principality. This means that Balian must fight with bandits, or kill good people and take advantage of their jobs. When Balian was a trainee knight in the palace,
I heard that some sheriffs and inspectors used the heads of prisoners in prisons and serfs in the territory as bandits to deal with errands. Although Balian had to accept some rules of this era, he did do this kind of dehumanizing thing.
Not coming out. However, fortunately, Balian now has strong men and many weapons. Training and suppressing bandits should not be a problem.
After chatting with Viscount Merri, it was already approaching evening. The Sheriff had no intention of staying for dinner, so Balian left knowingly. After all, with his current status, he was not qualified to let a palace viscount take the initiative to invite you to dinner.
It was not possible to go to the financial officer at this time. He must have returned to the mansion early. Balian had no choice but to take Eomer and Tur to find a tavern and stay there, preparing to buy some strong mules and a horse the next day.
A carriage can not only solve the problem of lack of strong livestock in the territory,
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
He can also bring back the grain and cloth given by the governor.
After the three of them settled down in the tavern, they went to the lobby on the first floor of the tavern to order some food and ale. At this time, a bard in the tavern was telling everyone the story of a duel between two knights that he had witnessed.
"Although Sir Balian was ridiculed, he did not choose to have a fit. At this time, Sir Yellen was about to leave. Unexpectedly, one of Sir Balian's subordinates appeared with a poached wild boar. Seeing this scene
Knight Yellen suddenly became angry." The bard was telling the story of the duel between Balian and Sir Yellen.
"It's really unlucky to have such a subordinate. He will only cause trouble for his master."
"Hey, isn't it? He's just like my stupid son. He only goes out to fight and get into trouble and gets me into trouble."
…
Balian and Tuor both laughed when they heard the discussion in the tavern. One of them was a witness and the other was a person who had heard the details of the incident. However, Eomer didn't care at all and continued to eat and drink.
The bard then told the story of the duel. In his wonderful description, Balian, who had obtained the true inheritance of the Dawn Sword, defeated Sir Yellen with just one move. He also vividly added Sir Yellen crying and four of his men.
When a waiter heard the name of the Dawn Sword, he was so frightened that he made up the story. Of course, the tavern listeners liked it.
After telling this story, the bard began to go around the table asking for rewards. Because his performance was so wonderful, many people took out their money bags and threw money into his broken felt hat, but they were all copper coins.
It's just that some people put in one or two coins, and some people put in three or five. When they came to Balian's table, Balian directly threw a silver coin in. This made the bard very happy.
He picked out the dinar from a pile of copper coins in his hat and bowed to Balian excitedly, "My kind lord, the God of Fire will definitely bless your family with so many dinars because of your generosity.
, bless you..."
Seeing that he was about to continue his outrageous flattery, Balian raised his hand to signal him to stop and said: "Sir, your story is very exciting. The reward I gave you just now is not to make you say nice things to me. I
I hope that every time you go to a tavern and meet a group of strange guests, you will tell the story of the kind and brave Sir Balian defeating the evil Sir Yellen."
Having said this, Balian glanced at Eomer and continued to say to the bard: "By the way, I suggest that you change Sir Balian's men's poaching and doing bad things. For example, Sir Yellen looked at Balian.
The knight's squire is too handsome, so he is jealous and other reasons. For this reason, I am willing to pay an extra dinar and you can change the story." As he said this, he threw a silver coin into his old felt hat.
The bard was extremely grateful, said some more polite words and left.
After he left, Eomer glared at him and said, "Should I thank you, or should I resent you?"
Tur laughed twice and said: "Of course I have to thank our lord, my eldest brother Eomer."
Before he could finish speaking, Eomer kicked him, "Even you kid laughs at me, right?"
It turned out that Éomer had been injured on his face when he followed Ser Logan in the battle in his early years, and there was a scar. Although his face was still handsome, it was no longer handsome. Eomer usually made fun of himself like this. The three of them quarreled for a while,
I went upstairs to my room to rest.
Early the next morning, Balian and the others came to the Finance Officer, but the Finance Officer was not there. They went down with the tax collector to collect taxes. Balian and the others missed again, but the Finance Officer's clerk was there. He saw
After Viscount Merry stamped the approval slip with his own coat of arms, he directly handed over one month, which is four weeks, a total of one hundred and twenty dinars of salary to Balian, and asked Balian and the others to find a carriage and come directly to collect food and supplies.
Just cloth.
After thanking the scribe, Balian and the others went to the market in Amundine and bought six strong green mules for three hundred dinars and one for thirty dinars.
A new two-wheeled carriage and hitched to a mule.
Although mules are sterile, they have strong vitality and disease resistance. They are not only resistant to roughage and hard work, but also have a strong constitution, strong limbs and hooves, great endurance, and are easy to control. They can be used for 20 to 30 years, and their service value is very high.
Horses and donkeys are both tall, which is why Balian chose to buy mules instead of horses. In addition to mules, Eomer also bought two hounds. These two hounds are already more than two years old.
It was now possible to look after the home. Balion didn't want it at first, but seeing that both Eomer and Tur liked it, and it wasn't expensive, they bought it.