Our family is in decline

At the same time, housing prices in inner cities are very expensive, which is more than an ordinary person can earn without eating or drinking for hundreds of years.

The boundary between the middle city and the outer city is the city wall built in the second expansion. The environment of the middle city is relatively average. It is very prosperous because it is the main area for commercial activities in the city. However, the flow of people is dense and there are a lot of petty thefts in the area, so the security is average.

As for the outer city, it is not actually the real Totnes, it refers to everything outside the city.

Because the prosperous economy attracted too many people looking for a living, but not everyone could live inside. Those who refused to leave and stayed outside the city gathered together and slowly developed into an outer city.

At the same time, the outer city is very chaotic due to disorderly expansion. Most of them are shantytowns built haphazardly, and there are no boundaries at the edges.

Especially those places far away from the city center, which even the so-called empire emperors cannot manage. The real managers are gangsters, and the few who can survive there are good people.

Speaking of this, Barton couldn't help but sigh.

“You could say if you asked anyone in Totnes what their aspirations were, it would definitely be to move into the inner city.

Because I thought the same way at the beginning, but even if I became a sergeant, I still wouldn’t be qualified to stay in the inner city..."

Lance understood what he meant. He was not a noble. No matter how hard he tried, he could not climb into that circle. The class gap was sometimes even wider than the species gap.

"Do you know anyone who makes firearms or even artillery?"

He didn't go to Totnes just for refugees this time. If it were that simple, he could easily find a lot of them. The real key is talents, and these people can only be found in big cities.

Barton was not stupid. Of course he understood what the lord meant, and he acted very surprised for a while.

You must know that I just talked about the failed war not long ago, in which the musketeers and artillery, two armies with huge investments and high hopes, were crushed by monsters without playing their due role.

I'm afraid the Governor will have to consider whether to continue spending money in this direction after hearing this news.

But now the lord actually dares to invest in this direction!

"The future war will be a war with hot weapons. I will rebuild the artillery. You must be prepared for this." Lance looked at Patton and nodded to him to confirm his idea.

"I need you to face those monsters with artillery again. This time I want you to prove to me that it was not the artillery that lost."

These words penetrated into Barton's brain like magic, bringing him a rush of excitement.

"yes!"

Patton was able to climb from a civilian to the rank of captain before relying on the artillery selection system. It can be said that his status as an artilleryman allowed him to prove that he was no worse than those nobles, and he even had to be extremely strong to grab this military rank from those people.

Therefore, he had always had a sense of arrogance, until the failure of that battle directly broke his spirit. The artillery that he was proud of did not play a big role, and it failed to live up to the expectations of the senior officials and implicated a large number of people.

He is eager to prove himself and to clear the name of the artillery.

It’s not like he can’t beat him!

Lance caught his emotion and was willing to give him the opportunity to prove himself again.

Thousand-mile horses often exist, but Bole does not always exist...

It's a pity that Barton knows some craftsmen, but they only communicate with each other about gun maintenance, and he doesn't know the exact situation, but it is certain that these people all work under the name of the academy.

Barton hesitated for a while, and finally said a name.

"My lord, you can try to find my teacher, Dean Stewart."

When Lance heard this name, he felt a little familiar. After thinking about it for a while, he blurted it out quickly.

"Is it that Imperial civilian general Stuart?"

"Yes, Imperial Admiral Stewart is now the dean of the Gunnery Academy. It was only with the help of my teachers that I became a noncommissioned officer."

Lance's expression became interesting. This person was a big shot. Even his predecessor who didn't pay much attention to this aspect had heard of it.

The reason is naturally that Stewart, as a civilian, used military industry on the battlefield to become a general. His deeds inspired all Imperial people.

It's no wonder that Barton, a civilian, could become a captain in his twenties. It wouldn't make sense if he didn't have any background.

"Do you think it's okay for us to contact him?"

Lance is very rational, and if Barton's identity is innocent, this kind of connections will be very crucial.

But the problem is that Barton is rotten now, and it would be risky to contact him rashly.

Barton frowned. He wanted to trust the teacher, but he knew better that once the news that he was alive was exposed, he would definitely be hunted by those nobles, and they would not be able to let him live.

Suddenly, Barton found that his previously seemingly strong connections began to collapse, and no one could be trusted.

"I don't know~"

After hesitating for a long time, Barton spoke with a gloomy expression.

Lance was silent when he heard this. It was unrealistic to rely on his old relationship to break into Totnes. Everything would have to start from scratch.

…………

In this era of difficult transportation, the scope of human activities is also restricted around gathering places. Many people have never left the towns and villages where they were born in their entire lives.

The same lack of means of information exchange has also led to the localization of information and the formation of information cocoons. Many people work day after day without knowing the changes in the outside world.

This results in people's cognition being limited. It is difficult for them to understand things beyond their own cognition, and their ability to accept is naturally much poorer.

Like now~

"Is this really salt?"

A villager looked at the refined salt in the bag and couldn't understand it.

Normal salt is lumpy like gray pebbles, and some merchants also add sediment and impurities into it, but these salts are as delicate as white snow and don't look like salt at all.

"Can our caravan sell you fake salt?"

"Is this salt authentic?"

"Are you deliberately looking for trouble?" Disma also had a bad temper. He immediately glared and said intimidatingly: "You want it or not!"

"If it's true I definitely want it."

Their village is not close to the sea, and salt is a rare commodity. Normally, you have to wait until a caravan passes by to buy it. But I don’t know what happened some time ago. The caravan that you were familiar with before did not come, but instead you waited for this new caravan.

"What's going on?" Lance saw the dispute and looked over.

After knowing the situation, he smiled and grabbed a little salt from the bag and handed it over.

"Don't you know if you try it? It doesn't cost money."

Lance gave everyone onlookers a little salt on their hands. After they tasted it, it was indeed salty, but it didn't taste as bitter and authentic as it was.

Soon those people brought containers from home, and of course coins. Lance, who had no money, was also very apt to collect grain and various interesting things, such as animal skins and linen.

"Get in line and take your time."

Okay, the foreshadowing is over. Next, we will advance a big plot. There will be new heroes, new battles, and new enemies. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment or leave a message, and I will refer to it.