The first thousand two hundred and sixty-four chapters of the plague 2.0
Imperial calendar year 2524, autumn.
In the Principality of Montfort, the mountain road leading to the Axbite Pass is full of refugees fleeing from the empire. They form a long queue of nearly one kilometer. The Montfort Castle is lush and green, and its dozens of meters high walls are surrounded by
dwarfed by mountains hundreds of meters high, Axbite was the most important trade route between the empire and Britannia.
Although the pass has been managed for thousands of years, it is wishful thinking to accept so many refugees at once. Duke Ford of Montfort does not like so many imperial people pouring into his territory. As we all know, the Principality of Montfort is not a land with fertile land and wealth.
In the Principality, Duke Ford is very dissatisfied with why so many refugees are coming to the Empire.
The fortress, which is tens of meters high, is covered with Brittanian troops. In addition to the defenders of the Principality of Montfort, the royal flag of Britannia is also erected, and the sharp sword iris flag in Ryan's book is also erected.
Standing on the castle of Montfort, there is also the tricolor flag of the Old Guard.
With the advent of Imperial Calendar 2524, the situation in the old world has become critical. The Chaos army in the north, led by Archaon's adjutant Kron-the Conqueror, continues to attack the Golden Fortress.
Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, the empire was able to barely resist the attacks of the Chaos army due to the solidity of the Golden Fortress and the occasional assistance from Vlad's undead army.
But the real problem appeared behind the empire. With the food production reduced again this year and the beastmen and greenskins continuing to wreak havoc, with the chaos in the empire and many Chaos warbands inexplicably appearing from the forest, the empire's logistics and
Public security has suffered the most severe challenges, and most of the energy of the imperial army has been placed in the north. The emperor has been unable to solve the problems in the rear.
The supply of food and military pay made the empire financially stretched. Emperor Karl-Franz had no choice but to announce the levy of new taxes. The taxes include the following:
New head tax: levied once every six months, mainly targeting urban residents. The tax rate for men is two silver coins, and the tax rate for women is one silver coin.
Cow tax: levied once every three months. The tax is mainly targeted at farmers. For every cow owned by a farmer, he must pay a tax of six copper coins.
Dinner tax: It is levied once a day. It is levied on small vendors, pubs and restaurants in towns. As long as there is a place to sell food, the tax must be levied. The tax is 3% of the price of the food.
Window tax: A tax is levied on every building in the city. The taxation logic is that one window is taxed once.
Belt tax: A tax on fat people. When entering the city, soldiers will measure the waist circumference of the citizens. The thicker the waist circumference, the heavier the tax, ranging from 1 copper coin to 2 silver coins.
Liquor tax: Additional taxes on various wineries and taverns within the empire, even on wine buyers and drinkers.
These types of taxes are relatively typical. These taxes are collectively referred to as the "Three Northern Funds" or the "Three Northern Rates", which are respectively "New Gold (anti-chaos funds)", "Suppression Gold (domestic security funds)" and "Lianjin (
Used for training and forming new troops)",
The new taxes placed a very serious burden on the common people of the empire, especially as the food harvest continued to fail, but everyone tolerated it silently.
At the same time, the Imperial Court formulated a new "Conscription Code", and 68,000 soldiers were sent to the northern front again, 20,000 of whom were drawn from the provincial armies on the border between the Empire and Britannia, the southern border of the Empire, and the Blackfire Pass in the Ivey Territory.
Come, 8,000 Braunschweig, Reich
Leading the city defense army and patrols, there are 40,000 recruits. Two-thirds of these recruits are under the age of 18. There is a serious lack of experienced veterans and military commanders. There is also a lack of weapons and equipment. Nur is unable to serve such a large army.
Providing new equipment, in addition to limited production capacity.
And the most troublesome thing is not just this, the empire has also begun to have a serious shortage of war horses. There are many signs that the empire has begun to be unable to support its northern defense line, and the war will quickly spread to the entire empire.
Unstoppable panic.
So where else in the old world was safe?
There is no doubt that there is only Britannia. A large number of imperial civilians and many imperial nobles came from the Axbite Pass with their families, trying to enter Britannia to seek asylum.
This makes Britannia feel very embarrassed. Chivalry and chivalry are the national policy and national image of Britannia. The Kingdom of Knights has no reason to reject the asylum requests of refugees, but from the King of Knights down to
The serfs have settled their accounts very clearly. We fought bloody battles against the Skaven before. You didn't come when Prince Sigvald came. Now that it's safe, you come?
Duke Ford of Montfort and Duke Casson of Palaon established new customs clearance standards. All imperial people who want to enter Britannia must pay a "head tax", "lijin" and "passing customs duties". However, if the imperial refugees can
If you prove that you have a skill, such as being a priest, a veteran, a miner, a hunter, a doctor, or a scholar, the country of Britannia will still be open.
Of course the most important ones are apothecaries, armorers, bowmakers, brewers, scribes, carpenters, cartographers, gem cutters, musketeers, herbalists, street vendors, shipbuilders, blacksmiths, stonemasons, tailors and weapons
Craftsmen, these craftsmen were considered to be the most valuable assets of the old world. Not only did Brittania not charge them a penny, but they also directly arranged accommodation, work and provided free meals for two months.
Looking at the long list, Duke Ford almost smiled crookedly.
The Axbite Pass has been an ancient plank road operated by the Empire and Britannia for a thousand years. Compared with other old world mountain roads, its route is still easy to walk. Because of this, Montfort Castle and Herm on the other side of the mountain
Gart was attacked by the plague coalition at the same time (Skaven + Nurgle tribe). The Skaven seemed to have somehow teleported an entire Norscan tribe of Yankees to the Gray Mountains.
Montfort immediately asked the Sun King Ryan for help. Ryan didn't say much. He immediately led the reorganized Old Guards, the Coldstream Guards and the 1st Lancers to Montfort. He saw Ryan and the Old Guards.
When the army's tricolor flag appeared on the field, the Skaven and Nurgle followers were so frightened that they fled into the mountains on the spot.
It is said that among the Skaven, Ryan got a new title "仏の戦鬼".
The current situation is that except for the group of green-skinned brawlers, the group of lunatic followers of Khorne, and the group of fun-loving followers of Slaanesh, there are no enemies who want to be hostile to Ryan.
The threat from Montfort was instantly lifted, while Helmgart on the other side of the mountain was under full attack from the Skaven and the Nurgle Rotblood tribe.
However, Helmgart did not fall. At the most critical moment of the city, five heroes stood up and saved the city.
They are Imperial Captain Markus Kruber, Silver Hammer Order Templar Victor Salzpyre, Wood Elf Ranger Kerilian, Dwarf Ranger Badin Gorex and Light.
Fire Witch Sienna-Folgnathas.
These five heroes foiled the Skaven's plan to destroy Helmgart again. They even defeated the Nurgle Wizard, the Nurgle Champion, and the Skaven Warlord, and then in turn traveled to Norsca through the portal to destroy
The Skaven's teleportation device then came back and eliminated the Thirteenth Gray Seer Rasknitt just before the portal collapsed.
This is a miracle. Thanks to the efforts of these five heroes, Helmgart did not fall. They saved more than 50,000 lives. Britannia immediately sent out Sir Amanric, the Great Holy Grail of the Holy Domain.
A legion he led temporarily took over part of Helmgart.
By the way, the first thing Amanric did when he came to Helmgart was to build a chapel for the Lady of the Lake.
All in all, Britannia is now in a very tense and alert calm. Bards hired by the Church of the Lake Fairy and the nobles are going around to preach about how many crises the old world has encountered. You can still be in the tavern now.
When drinking, isn’t it to thank the Lake Fairy for the blessing and the Sun King Ryan and Queen Surya for their unremitting efforts?
In the lobby on the first floor of Montfort's most exclusive "White Castle" hotel, a large number of free Brittanians and refugees from the empire were sitting together, drinking and chatting. The darker the moment,
The more necessary alcohol becomes, the darker the moment, the more fanatical and devout the people's beliefs become, especially when the Fairy of the Lake proves that she is indeed capable of protecting her believers.
There was a lot of noise on the first floor, and the VIP suite on the fourth floor was also noisy.
"The thing... is... like this." The sweet voice of the Lake Fairy came from inside the room, and the goddess's light voice seemed a bit thick at this time: "Malekis became the Phoenix King... He was in Loser
En ascended the throne, and... well, Tyrion also announced that he was the orthodox Phoenix King... He ascended the throne in Koskui."
"Oh, really." Ryan's voice was a little rough. He learned the latest news from the Lake Fairy. The Sun King then asked: "Malekis finally passed the test of Asuryan's Holy Fire?"
"Well... yes." The fairy in the lake panted, and the goddess's voice was half happy and sad: "The outer ring kingdom of Ulthuan... supports Tyrion, and the inner ring kingdom... supports Malekith.
, the followers of Khaine and Grond of the dark elves...support Tyrion, and the rest...well."
The voice of the fairy in the lake gradually became quieter: "In short...the vitality of both sides has been severely damaged...the total number of troops originally exceeded 300,000...now there are only less than...200,000 left...This is the high-jinghe
The last of the Dark Elf army, Orica... and I collected as many souls as we could..."
"Did Malekith's proposal to Alarielle succeed?" Ryan asked casually, breathing loudly.
"It didn't...succeed, because Alarielle and...Alaire merged into one. She is now...Isa...is Orion...the queen and cannot marry...Mahler..." The Fairy of the Lake
The voice is getting smaller and smaller.
"That's right, Master." Orika's voice rang in the room, and the Pale Queen said: "Because she has become the incarnation of Isa, theoretically Alarielle is already the queen of the wood elves and Orion's wife. She cannot now
Marrying the Phoenix King Malekith, Malekith's proposal failed, but our new Phoenix King had no intention of giving up at all. The high elves became less hostile to Malekith after seeing how good he was.
a lot of."
"Malekis still knows how to play." Ryan sighed. It seems that the Witch King has really changed his gender. It doesn't matter whether he married Alarielle or not. The key is that his attitude makes the entire high elves
They all realized that the Witch King was really willing to integrate into their culture and respect their customs. The first step towards unification was taken, and the effect was good.
"Hmm... um... um." The fairy in the lake groaned a few times, expressing her agreement with Ryan's point of view.
"Malekis has no chance. Isa has returned to heaven after giving her power to Alarielle. Assuming that the reincarnation of the war in heaven continues, there will definitely be a bloody battle between Kane and Kunos, and all the elves and gods will return.
Go to heaven and Hades." Orika said sweetly: "It will not be difficult to marry Alarelle then."
"Returning to heaven and Hades? Including you and Lilith?" Ryan was a little concerned.
"Lilith escaped the last reincarnation, and this time she took out the reincarnation with the help of your power." Orica said with some displeasure: "As for me, I am not Es-Haai at all. Mother He
He has completely perished, and I am not a part of reincarnation, so what does it have to do with me?"
"That's it." Ryan wanted to say something more, but Olica interrupted him: "Okay, Lilith, get out of here, it's my turn."
There were bursts of rustling sounds in the room.
"So what's the situation now?" Ryan's voice changed and he paused.
"Both sides are now in a truce. Malekith needs time to integrate the power of the high elves and dark elves and reorganize his court. Tyrion is seriously injured. Lilith's poison and injuries have made Tyrion...
Ang has to rest." Olika's cheerful voice sounded: "The two sides are expected to have a truce for a while, but they will definitely decide the winner again."
"...Didn't you make a lot of plans before?" Ryan's breathing gradually became heavier.
"Yes... we have made... many... strategies." Olika's voice began to be intermittent, but it was still so sweet: "Unfortunately... the situation changed too quickly... it was useless... Shadow King Aris was very...
Stubbornness... no matter what, you have to... well... kill Malekith first and then... lead to..."
Gradually, Olica could no longer speak.
Lilith's lazy and charming voice sounded: "We originally brought Alisala to Ulthuan because we wanted to finalize the critical moment of the showdown between Malekith and Tyrion, but we didn't expect Morathi to let Tyrion
The time to draw the sword has been greatly advanced, Malekith
Tyrion, who holds the sword of Kane and becomes the incarnation of Kane, is no match for Tyrion. In addition, Aris did not listen to me and insisted on killing Malekith first, so Orika and I decided to give up the action first and wait.
Let’s talk about it later, you don’t want anything to happen to us, right?”
"That's it... ah." Ryan groaned, and his voice stopped.
"Alyssa has returned to Nur, and I have brought Elsharion's nephews and nieces to the old world, along with the remaining 1,000 remnants of Iris's army." The fairy in the lake said a long voice.
Tone: "They are too young, too naive, and too weak. To participate in the Elven Civil War is to seek death. Didn't Beleon suffer huge losses in the Skaven attack? You can give them a seaside barony and resettle them first."
"
"Elsharion is a great hero, give me some face, my dear." Seeing that Ryan could not speak, Lilith continued directly: "His sacrifice inspired me. His nephew and niece are Prince Yris.
The last bloodline."
"Haha... you Assurs are just hypocritical... and you still need... the last bloodline... hum." Olika complained: "You don't have to keep things that are useless..."
The conversation in the room disappeared.
More than two hours later, Ryan's voice sounded again, and the original Gray Knight complained breathlessly: "You... two goddesses... are like this... you have no martial ethics."
"It's not over yet, Master. I've spent a lot on this trip to Ulthuan. Master can't rest until I make up for it!" Orica said without finishing.
"Ryan, your beard has grown again and it makes me uncomfortable. Come on, let me shave it for you today." The lazy voice of the Lake Fairy then sounded.
"I can't do it anymore. My waist is really bad. You can move on your own. I need to rest for a while." Ryan answered the question inappropriately.
"Then, I'm going to start!" Orica was excited.
There are layers of snow on the top of the gray mountain range, solitary peaks, and migratory birds flying over.