Chapter 12: When the smoke rises,
at first,
Todd was somewhat dissatisfied with his master's actions.
Although he was recruited under the banner of the Antolia Fire Volunteer Team, as a veteran mercenary who has been on the battlefield for many years, Todd can actually clearly guess Leon's thoughts during daily training.
Fire protection is incidental at best. What my master really wants to do is to personally train a team that is loyal to him.
When he realized this, Todd was actually quite relieved.
As Leon's father, the right-hand man of the late Viscount Arthur, Todd witnessed Leon's growth with his own eyes. When he saw that the young new Viscount had his own ideas, he was naturally very happy.
You know,
for many years,
Todd has almost never been absent from any war in the Kingdom of Andal.
From the Land Reconquista movement twenty years ago to the suppression of peasant uprisings sixteen years ago; from the Andal Kingdom's Throne Succession War eleven years ago to the border conflict seven years ago.
He even killed a Marquis of the Kingdom of Walras during the Reconquista!
Todd has seen countless soldiers. In his memory, there are energetic cavalry and militiamen with low morale.
He has seen guards armed with top-notch weapons who were beaten by bandits and fled, and he has also seen unarmed mountain people fighting with knights.
Todd had seen a lot about the war and had deep feelings about it.
But the only thing he had never seen was his lord's training method.
During this period of time, his lord was like a knife in the ass, opening his eyes wide.
When he saw Leon asking the citizens to stand in a row and stand still, Todd really wanted to shout out: "
Soldiers are not really trained!"
However,
Todd held back.
Because he gradually saw something different in this boring and strange training.
After dozens of days of training, it was difficult for Todd to judge his actual combat ability.
But whether it was obedience or discipline, everyone in front of them had greatly improved.
To put it even more directly,
although they certainly cannot compare with the battle-hardened mercenaries in fighting, they have gradually taken the shape of an elite division.
This is not because the citizens are so talented, but because the judgment of the "elite" in this era has been extremely low.
The army was walking and the soldiers were fleeing. This was incomprehensible to Leon and was a normal phenomenon in this era.
Compared to the militiamen who walked and marched like they were going to the market in villages and towns, and compared to the cavalry who carried colorful flags like they were outing and playing, the Antolia Fire Volunteer Team was at least well-disciplined.
And this is precisely what Leon values most.
Under the simplest temptation of being in charge of food, any of Leon's orders can be executed most effectively.
The people in the territory who couldn't even tell the difference between front and back at the beginning also made great progress during this period of time.
So in Todd's eyes, the evaluation of Antolia's fire volunteers has risen from the initial "I can beat a group of them by myself" to "A mercenary team can beat a group of them."
discipline! obey!
When Todd finally figured out the purpose behind these training programs, he even wanted to bring his mercenaries over to practice together.
However,
the plateau hound from the southwestern highlands did not give him such a chance.
When a column of gray-black smoke soared into the sky in the southwest direction of the Thorn Territory, everyone's hearts were filled with a lingering cloud of sorrow.
They finally came...
Even though they were still far away, the citizens outside the city immediately ran away towards the city gate.
Antolians are brave and brave, but not stupid.
In front of plateau hounds, being alone can really lead to death.
finally.
As the last mercenary still outside the city galloped into the city, the city gate of Thorn Territory slowly closed at this moment.
"Aaron hasn't come back yet!"
Staring at the rising smoke in the distance, Leon felt a little heavy.
Although during this period, carriages and horses escorting grain and grass arrived from time to time, but according to the guards transporting grain, what they escorted was only a small part of the grain.
More food is still on its way to Antolia.
"The hounds migrated ahead of schedule. This is something that rarely happens, and it was something we had not expected before."
Todd felt very sorry for this, but he could only answer truthfully.
"Damn it!"
Leon cursed unhappily.
"Lord Viscount, I apply to dispatch seventy mercenaries to join Butler Aaron. The walls of the Thorn Territory are strong. When there are still prey in the wild, the plateau hounds usually will not attack easily." Todd said solemnly.
If you want to survive the winter, plenty of food is essential.
What is arriving now is only the vanguard of the plateau hounds. If they cannot escort the grain truck to arrive safely before the plateau hounds gather, then this winter will definitely be extremely painful.
"That's right!"
Leon nodded without hesitation.
...
Aaron has lived in Antolia for most of his life.
He could say with certainty that since he was a child, he had never experienced such a cold winter with abundant abundance, and never thought that he could buy so much food in the Year of the Jackdaw.
Behind him, loaded grain trucks were slowly driving towards Antolia.
Antolia's moon velvet was sought after by almost all the nobles in the city of Parma. They caressed the exquisite and gorgeous satin and felt the softness of their fingertips.
This era is an era of aristocracy, but it is also an era of extremely low productivity.
Especially in peaceful times,
how can we show our status and show our nobility?
This is a question that lingers in the minds of almost all nobles.
The emergence of moonlight velvet
just met the needs of the nobles.
Although the clothes worn by nobles are much better than ordinary people, how can they compare with moon velvet?
So...
when Aaron took out the first piece of silk, it triggered a frenzy among the nobles present.
As a result, the price of moonlight velvet, instead of gradually declining after a short period of popularity, has been rising steadily due to the frantic grabbing of nobles.
Even though Aaron had kindly stated that more moonlight velvet would flow into the city of Parma after the cold winter, the nobles turned a deaf ear to it.
As for the reason...
the nobles of Parma City did not seem to believe in the barren Antolia. Being able to weave such gorgeous silk and satin,
they are more willing to believe that
this is the unexpected income obtained by the Antolian people when they were building (blocking) roads and (robbery) as a side business. This is the only time.
Therefore,
Aaron had to temporarily change his strategy.
While he repeatedly reiterated that Antolia can already produce this gorgeous fabric, he quietly revealed the inventory of moon velvet he brought this time - only more than a hundred pieces.
So, when the mad rush was over and the final average transaction price was in front of him, Aaron couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.
The average transaction price of each piece of silk satin is as high as twenty escudos!
More than a hundred pieces of moonlight velvet were sold for a sky-high price of more than two thousand gold coins!
(End of chapter)