Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 170

The snow stopped two days ago.

But the bleak white that is everywhere is still the master of the color palette of the land of cracked soul.

Under the control of the cold temperature, the traces left by the heavy snow may not dissipate until the spring returns to the earth, and until that day comes, the only creatures that any traveler in the wasteland can see are probably the ones that hurried past with their tails between their legs. Lone wolves, and birds of prey that keep circling in circles high in the sky are nothing more than shrieking.

The last time Xia Houyan visited Huafang Town was last autumn, and the pedestrians in the streets of the town were hurrying to and fro, and there was still a bit of life;

But in this bleak season of sparse stars, cold moon, white snow and vicissitudes, returning to the old place, this border town has completely fallen into dead silence.

The lord of Frost Maple Ridge took Karen Le Pegue, Juan Clement, Master Laurie, and two or three militia followers, and stationed horses outside Huafang Town to watch, but he didn't find a single person active in the field of vision. silhouette.

Only the houses built of bluestone bricks in the snow shadows, the chimneys are still emitting black smoke from burning firewood, which can prove that there are people living in them.

"Most of the residents in Huafang Town are farmers." Karen Leperg, who has lived in the southwest of the wasteland for a long time, has actually never been to Huafang Town a few times, so she took a good look at the town again, "It seems Farming stopped and the weather was cold, so the residents stayed at home and couldn't go out."

"The cultivated area in Huafang Town should be on the other side of the town, near the Lion Heart River where it is easy to get water." Master Laurie stretched out his hand and pointed, "Although they are all soul-breaking lands, this place should be better than our Frost Maple Ridge is more suitable for farming."

The lord smacked his lips:

Including Huafang Town, these wilderness towns are all located in the alluvial plain on the south bank of the Lion Heart River. The agricultural production conditions are more than a little better than the poor and white Shuangfeng Ridge-if there are no bandits and robbers, this place will also be infested. It can be regarded as a rare geomantic treasure in the southern border of the empire, fortified in the south of the Yangtze River;
Of course, the biggest advantage of Shuangfengling is that the geographical conditions of being close to mountains and rivers make raised platforms like Phoenix Terrace extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack. Previously, the "Pride of the South" was defeated in Shuangfengling, and the Igor family The natural location of the new territory is also inseparable.

An inch is long and a ruler is short. A settlement can't have all the benefits in the world.

It seems that according to the temperament of the wasteland bandits, they will definitely not launch an offensive in the cold winter, and even Huafang Town's defense measures have become much more relaxed:
A group of Shuangfengling's royal horses walked slowly to the wooden fence outside the town, and only then did a militiaman from Huafang Town, who was wrapped in cotton clothes and only showed a pair of small eyes, jumped out—seeing that there were not many visitors, this militiaman just After a brief glance at them, he pulled the horse away without saying a word, and let them enter the town.

This somewhat random security measure made Xia Houyan and Master Laurie look at each other, frowning slightly.

Karen Leperg, who is familiar with the conditions of the wilderness, just thought about it for a while, and then realized something:

"Huafang Town is located in the center of the four towns, so whether the bandits attack from the east or west, they will attack the outermost towns first. This is enough for Huafang Town to raise its vigilance by relying on beacons and other signals—if we The ones coming are from other towns, so the defensive measures should be stricter."

The lord could only smile wryly at this.

This shrewd and stingy defensive strategy is really characteristic of the wilderness, full of the cunning temperament of the poor and lower-middle peasants.

"Where is the town hall of your Huafang Town? I want to see your mayor." Xia Houyan asked the gate guard as pleasantly as possible.

The guard obviously didn't expect that someone would look for the mayor in this severe winter.

He froze for a while, then stretched out a finger wordlessly, and pointed towards the center of the town.

Xia Houyan squinted his eyes and looked around, and sure enough, he found a particularly imposing bluestone building over there, with a straight bell tower extending from the building, thrusting into the sky in an extremely indecent posture.

"That's reasonable." The lord muttered, "Government buildings are always the most magnificent."

Everyone came all the way to the gate of the town hall and tied the horses to the hitching posts. A young man who looked like a servant opened the door to welcome them, and looked suspiciously at the strange-looking uninvited guests.

It stands to reason that when a nobleman visits a town, there should be a role like an eunuch announcer to introduce him. However, since the conditions of Frost Maple Ridge do not allow it, the death knight Clement can only hold his nose and bear the burden of reporting his name. duty.

"Ahem, this is Sir Elliot Igor, the former Duke of Eagle's Rest, appointed by His Majesty the Emperor himself, and the lord and guardian of the Frost Maple Ridge!" Although his mind was full of 800 The etiquette of years ago, but after Juan Clemente supplemented modern knowledge under the guidance of Master Laurie, there was nothing wrong with the name he reported loudly.

The little attendant at the door was obviously stunned by the words of the big man in heavy armor, and stood there stupidly, at a loss.

This is not because the death knight's size is too oppressive, but because words like "Duke", "Lord", and "His Majesty the Emperor" have not appeared in the Land of Soul Breaker for at least a hundred years.

"Young man, is your mayor here?" Xia Houyan asked kindly, "We have something to discuss with him."

"Oh...oh!" The attendant woke up like a dream, "Wait a moment, I, I will go to Lord Henry Faulkner!"

Soon, Henry Faulkner, the mayor of Huafang Town, rushed over from his office under the leadership of his attendants.

It has to be said that the first impression that the mayor of the wasteland left on Xia Houyan was extremely deep.

In the lord's expectation, the leader of Huafang Town should be a reckless guy who has the temperament of the land of breaking the soul, and looks like an old wastelander, regardless of whether he is wearing a leather jacket full of regional characteristics , at least there should be more than two sabers pinned to the belt, right?
But at the first glance, Mr. Henry Faulkner's whole body does not have even the slightest smell of muddy legs.

This middle-aged man, about 50 to [-] years old, has prematurely pale silver hair combed neatly, and it seems to have been oiled, and his dark and neat sideburns, a very tough facial contour, sharp deep blue Eyes, coupled with an elegant mustache, made the lord mistakenly think that the other party was a male movie star who came out of an old American movie;
And the wrinkle-free black dress worn by Mayor Faulkner made the chief mage Victor Laurie, who used to frequent the banquets of the nobles, feel that even if the mayor resigned to give Luo When Grand Duke Sario is a housekeeper, he will never appear to be disobedient.

All in all, compared with this chic and elegant old man, it seems that the young lord of Shuangfengling seems to be more "land of cracking souls"...

And the first sentence that Mayor Faulkner uttered with a magnetic voice was even more shocking than his appearance:

"Ah, Master Igor, I have been waiting for you!"

Xia Houyan was dazed for half a second before smiling and asking:

"You've been waiting for me?"

"Yes, I've been waiting for you!" Faulkner saluted the lord with a smile on his face, "I received news last fall that for the first time in hundreds of years, His Majesty the Emperor was in the process of breaking the soul." A lord was enfeoffed on the ground—I have been thinking about it since then, when will I see you!"

Xia Houyan looked at Faulkner again in surprise, and then looked at Master Laurie in tacit understanding for a moment.

Vincent Igor is one of the most famous aristocrats in the empire, and of course his case of treason has also attracted widespread attention. It's not confidential information, and it's considered a household name within the empire.

However, the Land of Cracked Soul has never recognized the jurisdiction of the central empire. Rather than saying it is the territory of the empire, it is better to say that it is a land without owner: the vast majority of residents in this wasteland only care about the bread on their plates and Whether the head on the neck is safe or not has always been indifferent to the political situation in the Central Plains.

In addition, apart from the caravans, the direct communication channels between the local residents of the wasteland and the middle land of the empire are also very limited, and the information can be called blocked.

Therefore, the matter of "the imperial emperor canonized a nobleman" is probably not cared about by many people in the wasteland.

And Henry Faulkner in front of him, who lives in a corner of the wasteland, still has the mind to pay attention to the changes in the political situation of the empire. This cannot prevent the two old fritters, Mr. Xiahou and Master Laurie, from the heart of the mayor of Huafang Town. Take a high look.

"It's cold outside, come in quickly!" Mayor Faulkner faced the Lord Lord who was much younger than himself, but his attitude was extremely respectful, "It just so happened that George helped me light the fireplace..."

The other party warmly invited, and everyone in Shuangfengling naturally couldn't refuse, so they followed Faulkner and filed in, and sat in the parlor of the town hall.

Probably due to the lack of supplies, the decoration of the building in the center of Huafang Township is not too luxurious. Although the living room is cleaned very cleanly, there are only ordinary wooden tables and chairs—the overweight Clement Without noticing, a dining chair was smashed into one buttock, and he had to stand aside with his hands down in embarrassment amid Mayor Faulkner's loud laughter.

The official Xiahou was still thinking about how to negotiate with Mayor Faulkner about recruiting soldiers. Unexpectedly, as soon as he was seated, Faulkner asked about the construction of Shuangfengling first.

"It's not long since you came to the wasteland, right? The people have already arrived at Frost Maple Ridge?" Faulkner smiled gently, "Has the camp been built yet? Is there anything missing?"

"It's all okay..." Xia Houyan was a little caught off guard by the enthusiasm of the other party, "It's just that there are not enough people..."

"Cough!" Faulkner clapped his hands loudly, "Let me tell you, this land of broken souls is short of gold coins, food, and women, but there is no shortage of manpower! If you need it, you can come to Huafang Town Feel free to ask to see if there are any good guys who are willing to join your territory!"

Neither Xia Houyan nor Master Laurie knew what to say.

The negotiation request that I originally planned to make was sent over by the other party first?

What's so special about this?
"Thank you for your kindness, then I have no choice but to..." The lord straightened his expression and smiled.

As a result, a cold voice interrupted his polite nonsense.

"My lord... Your lord, don't be fooled by this old fox!" Karen Lepergue, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, her lavender eyes fixed on the smiling Mayor Faulkner, "I I can't believe that the famous Henry Faulkner would be so courteous for nothing! — This old bastard must have some bad idea brewing in his stomach..."

Faulkner turned his head slowly, stared at Karen for a long time, and suddenly realized:
"Oh... who am I talking about? Look at your purple eyes, miss—you must be the half-human-devil village master Karen Lepergue from the Moon God Village, right? Why, miss, you follow Yi Is Lord Gore working?"

Xia Houyan and Master Laurie stared at Faulkner in astonishment, unable to figure out how the mayor could even tell the identity of Karen Lepergue at a glance?

Only Karen snorted coldly:
"My lord, I felt wrong when I heard the name Henry Faulkner just now—this old bastard used to be one of the most famous bandit leaders in the western part of the wilderness, and the owner of Cold Blade Village! When he landed, he once fought with his minions... Faulkner, please explain to my old lady clearly, how did you leave your own cottage and be tricked into becoming the mayor of Huafang Town?"

The former bandit became the mayor?Xia Houyan chewed for a long time, and always felt that this dog-blood plot was filled with a sense of deja vu?

"What kind of cheating and abduction, I just chose the strategy that is most beneficial to me..." Faulkner said indifferently, "Mayor Karen, let me ask you, the most profitable people in the wasteland are bandits or city thieves." town?"

Karen sneered and didn't answer—from her expression, Xia Houyan speculated that Luna Village must have suffered a lot from Faulkner's men back then.

Seeing that Karen had no intention of answering, Faulkner showed regret, and replied himself:

"The most profitable towns in the wasteland are towns protected by bandits! You see, I just led someone to kill the previous mayor of Huafang Town, and promised to use my copycat military force to protect Huafang Town. Let these townspeople willingly elect me as the new mayor... What do you think is the reason why Huafang Town has not been plundered for a whole year? Is it because of the mercy of other bandits? No! It's because of me Elite soldiers from Blade Village are guarding around Huafang Town at all times!"

Xia Houyan was really shocked: I didn't expect there to be such a fierce and fierce man in the wasteland. The mayor and the village owner were shoulder to shoulder, and at the same time they became black and white dignitaries, collecting taxes in the open and murdering in the dark...

"And the reason why I want to show my favor to you, my dear Lord Igor, is also to choose the strategy that is most beneficial to me." Faulkner left Karen with a sullen face, and smiled gently at the lord, "I think that cooperating with you will be of great benefit and harmless to me."

"Why?" Xia Houyan didn't believe that the other party would show kindness for no reason.

Faulkner stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, then got up and took a money bag from the cabinet, and handed it to the lord.

Xia Houyan unwrapped the bag and found that it was full of white coins.

The inscription "Casted by the Grand Duchy of Houston" on the silver coin made him purse his lips.

"You see, this money was donated to me by the Grand Duke of Houston not long ago, and his request is: Let me provide convenience for the Southern Pride Knights passing by Huafang Town to 'suppress bandits' south..." Faulkner Town Chang smiled and said, "Respected Master Ander Spencer, and dear Deputy Knight Commander Garcia, drove into the wilderness right under my nose - and now, they haven't come back, but you are sitting comfortably In front of me..."

Seeing that Xia Houyan was silent, Faulkner leaned forward slightly:

"I believe that it is always a good thing to cooperate with the strong."

"You did choose the most favorable strategy." Xia Houyan stretched out his hand and shook hands with the other party.

(End of this chapter)