Our family is in decline

Walter himself owns real estate here, which is no worse than the mayor's house. It was originally taken over by the farmer, and the land title was transferred to Lance.

But in fact, Lance didn't care if he continued to live there.

The family was connected to it. Under the solid masonry structure, Walter's wife and children breathed a sigh of relief. How could an ordinary person easily accept such a scene of bloody fighting?

Seeing this scene, Walter couldn't help but feel a little angry.

"This Lance is simply too deceptive!"

My wife got married when I was in poverty. Although the relationship between them over the years is not as close as it was when they were young, their relationship is deep in my heart. The baptism of time has only made it brighter~

Therefore, family is Walter's key point and also his negative side.

"Okay, there is no family, and the child and I are not much better now." The woman comforted Walter, then turned to look at the two children beside her, "As long as the family is safe and well."

"Alas~" Walter couldn't help but sigh, "What happened to the business group?"

I only had a rough understanding before, but was interrupted by concerns about the safety of my family before I could finish talking. Now that the whole family is here, I can't help but start telling what happened in the two months apart.

When he heard that his daughter was determined to cut her hair, she couldn't hide her heartache. At the same time, she looked at her son, and it was obvious what the angry look in her eyes meant.

"I was deceived by Bill at that time. Several attempts to rescue my father failed. The business group was severely depleted of funds. Not to mention that the warehouse was empty and was discovered by York. He took refuge in Jean and joined forces with Bill to put pressure on me..."

Walter could feel the pressure his daughter was under when facing those guys from his words. He originally had objections to her operation, but found that she had no choice at all at the time.

The real reason was that all the guards he led were destroyed, and the convoy was robbed by bandits, which was equivalent to having both hands and feet disabled.

Even if he puts himself in that situation, there is no better way. I am afraid that the only way is to sell the Totnes property to raise funds to tide over the difficulties.

"But Mr. Lance suddenly broke in..."

Walter was still thinking about a way to break the situation. Hearing these words, he couldn't help but look up and found that there was light in his daughter's eyes.

Then he heard that Lance had captured all those guys and even ransacked their homes overnight. Any business war was a joke in the face of absolute power.

Walter was also speechless. He was not abiding by the rules at all. Are he really not afraid that the Sheriff will come to his door? What's more, if word gets out, who will dare to mess with him?

But suddenly he thought again, wasn't he the one who was forcibly tied up by him?

I am also a victim...

Walter was quite helpless, but there were some things he couldn't do anything about.

Tiffany continued, but she didn't mention the warehouse, and even skipped what Lance was doing in Totnes, just buying things and selecting refugees.

Knowing too much about some things is useless. On the contrary, it will only increase worries. This is not concealment, but protection. This is what she learned from Lance.

"Alas~ I personally led the team to escort Hamlet when he was trapped..."

Walter talked about his situation, but he mentioned the dangers in one sentence, simply because he didn't want to put any pressure on his family.

"The convoy sets off..." the woman simply said. The convoy was delayed due to the entanglement of refugees. The lord went over to drive those refugees away and came back soon.

Walter raised his head and glanced at his wife. If he had not seen the state of the convoy, he would have believed it. This was not driving away, but killing many people.

But he didn't say much. He knew that his wife didn't want him to worry, and it would be fine now that she was fine.

Tiffany also noticed this. If she couldn't react before, even if she did, she would continue to ask questions, making the atmosphere tense.

But she didn't mean to say anything now. The experience during this period made her grow up quickly, especially when she was with Lance, she learned a lot of things that she hadn't noticed before.

People will grow up, but sometimes the cost is too high.

"I will handle these things. No matter what, our family will be fine. This is the best outcome."

Walt sets the tone, and as the breadwinner of the family, he takes on his responsibilities again.

It's just that Tiffany didn't feel relieved as if she was relieved of her heavy responsibility. On the contrary, she tried to bear that pressure, so she knew that her father needed someone to share this pressure.

After Walter arranged his wife and children, he got up and went, intending to talk to the lord about the business group, and Tiffany also followed.

"Father, I was the one who caused these things. It's better for me to tell him."

"It's a foregone conclusion that the business group does not belong to our family." Walter glanced at his daughter with a meaningful look. "The question now is to see how he reacts, and it is also the future of our family."

Walter is not a fool. When he calmed down, he already understood that it was an established fact that the business group fell into Lance's hands.

What he wants to fight for is not the business group, but the life of his family. He has to find a way to escape from Hamlet. He would rather take his family back to Totnes and open a small shop in peace and stability than live under a domineering power. , because no one knows when one day their home will be ransacked.

Tiffany couldn't help but frown slightly when she heard this, with an uncertain tone in her mouth.

"Mr. Lance shouldn't do this~"

Seeing this, Walter couldn't help but shook his head slightly, his daughter was still too young.

His family has nothing to do with him. The farmer who is still working on the farm and his daughter who has lost more than ten kilograms illustrate the situation. This guy is very likely to take action against his family in order to completely control the business group.

Now I can only save my family by completely cutting off the business group in front of him, and then find a way to escape...

"You are in charge of the dock now. Can you contact the sailors on the ship?"

Tiffany could naturally understand what her father meant. Was he trying to seize the ship and run away?

"No, no, no! Even if we go to Totnes, there is no way for our family to survive." Tiffany was a little panicked. She had seen Lance's methods and couldn't muster the slightest bit of rebellion. She couldn't imagine what would happen if they broke up. whats the matter.

"Oh, let's go see him first and see what's going on." Walter noticed his daughter's reaction and could only sigh.

How could he not know that Lance's methods were just for his family? He didn't want to sit back and wait for death no matter what, so he had to fight his way out.

When the two arrived, they found that Lance was busy sorting out personnel information so that they could be allocated according to job types.

He planned to organize those craftsmen into different engineering teams to assign different tasks, with carpenters doing carpentry work, masons...

Concentrate your efforts to do big things, and at the same time provide various benefits, promote competition between different teams, and select strong and capable people to become foremen.

But he has never been exposed to these before, so he can only try to improve the relevant systems as much as possible. Everything is crossing the river by feeling the stones.

"Is something wrong?" Lance temporarily put aside his thoughts and looked up at the two people in front of him.

How should I put it? When Walter saw that the blood stains on Lance's clothes had not yet been removed, he understood that he would probably come back to handle government affairs immediately after leading the convoy.

As soon as he thought about the ship, he rushed to meet him. He had to say that this was the first time he had seen such a dedicated lord.

I was still a little emotional at first, but now I am really convinced.

"Sir, I am willing to dedicate myself to the business group and take the initiative to leave Hamlet and no longer have anything to do with it. I just ask you to let our family go."

Lance looked a little weird when he heard this, but he soon guessed what was going on and couldn't help but smile frivolously.

"You can't use other people's things as your own bargaining chips~"

This sentence directly made Walter's face turn pale, and many of the words he had originally planned were blocked in his throat. He had already taken control of the business group, and he indeed had no bargaining chips, so he had no intention of letting him go.

Tiffany noticed her father's appearance and couldn't help but look up at Lance. There were some indescribable emotions in her eyes, and the sadness seemed to tighten her heart.

It turns out you have been lying to me all along...

It hurts~ It hurts too much~

Lance was a little surprised. What kind of look is this, making it seem like I know you very well?

But he was extremely busy and had no intention of continuing to play.

"Okay, okay, no kidding, you two come over and sit down and talk."

Lance put on what he thought was a very friendly attitude and called the two of them over.

Both of them were stunned, a little overwhelmed by the contrast between the people in front of them, but now the situation is stronger than the person, and they just want to survive. Walter can't care about so much anymore, and he has put down all the airs.

"Are you afraid that I will eliminate dissidents in order to control the business group? Do you think I am a narrow-minded person?"

But as soon as the two of them sat down, Lance immediately pointed out the matter as soon as he opened his mouth. For a moment, both Walter and Tiffany felt a little on pins and needles.

"What the Lord said is serious. I simply feel that the business group has regained a new life in your hands. Our family is indeed incapable of managing it, so we plan to quit and find a place to retire."

Walter is indeed a seasoned businessman, and his words are flawless and full of compliments.

But Lance was dissatisfied. He didn't like this kind of convoluted conversation.

"The situation is very simple now. Without me taking action, you would still be humiliating the farmers, and the business group would have been annexed long ago, not to mention the safety of your family.

I consider myself good to your family. I promoted you to a farm manager, helped the business group solve their difficulties, and even sent extra manpower to escort your family back. I don’t owe you anything. "

As he spoke, Lance's tone changed and his attitude became a little more serious. He raised his hand and knocked on the table, his expression revealing an anger.

"But you owe me this. You just turn around and want to get rid of me. Where do you think Hamlet is? Who do you think I am?"

No one in the field could bear Lance's anger. Tiffany followed him all the way. He was always so calm no matter how big things happened. She had never seen him so angry before, and she was at a disadvantage unconsciously.

My family really owes him a lot~

Walter was speechless, because this was the reality. If he had not appeared, let alone being humiliated by the farmer, his family would have been destroyed anyway.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"It's easy for you to get rid of me. Just pay to settle the debt. It has nothing to do with us."

Lance's words seemed to give him a way to survive, but in Walter's ears, it actually meant a way to death.

Now that he has drained his pockets and doesn't have a few gold coins, how can he pay them back? What to give in return?

"Sir...we..." A troubled look appeared on Walter's face.

Seeing her father's attitude, Tiffany could only stand up and said, "I will take full responsibility for the business group's affairs and it has nothing to do with my father."

Lance looked at Tiffany in surprise. He didn't expect her to be so responsible, and he couldn't help but nod in recognition of her courage.

But just when Tiffany thought things were turning around, Lance dragged her into the abyss with a casual comment.

"When I went to the slave market with you, how much were the merchant's daughters on the third floor worth? Dozens of gold coins, rarely more than a hundred gold coins. Do you think you can pay off this debt?"

Tiffany was stunned when she heard this. Even Walter, who had a low attitude, couldn't help but show anger when he heard the implication of this.

But Lance was not affected and kept talking to himself.

"I am not saying this to humiliate you, but to tell you that there are some things that you cannot bear if you think you can bear them. You must have the corresponding strength, otherwise it will only make a joke."

Lance's words were very direct, but they also gave rise to different reactions from the two of them.

Tiffany realized that she had taken it for granted.

And Walter was more helpless to let his daughter be treated like this.

"Okay, no matter what, Tiffany helped me a lot along the way. For her sake, I am still willing to give you another choice."

Lance said so much, he kept attacking and squeezing their living space just for now.

"Work for me for three years. During this period, I will treat you well. After three years, we will settle everything. At that time, you can leave or leave me alone."

Is this option difficult to accept?

It's really not the case. A three-year contract is a quantifiable condition compared to the money that is impossible to afford.

But three years is neither long nor short, and no one knows what will happen in three years.

"You are not convinced and think I took away your family fortune?"

"No, no! If it weren't for my lord, now..." Walter didn't dare to answer and quickly denied it.

Lance raised his hand to stop Walter from continuing, "You have been locked up in Hamlet for more than two months. Do you know what the environment is like outside now?"

Walter didn't understand why he mentioned this, but he also knew that with so many refugees appearing, it was definitely not a good year outside.

"Natural and man-made disasters have caused constant chaos in various parts of the empire. There are even cities in the central province that have been invaded by refugees. Even Totnes is not immune. There are hundreds of thousands of refugees outside the city, and the number is even increasing. People killed in fights are even infected. The river turned red.

Pirates are rampant at sea, robbing cargo ships wantonly, bandits are rampant on the road, and robberies are crazy. You can ask your daughter and wife if they have seen this kind of thing with their own eyes.

The troubled times have begun. If you can't hold on to this family fortune today, even if I return everything to you, do you think you can hold on to it tomorrow? "

Walter looked a little weird when he heard this, and couldn't help but look at his daughter.

Seeing her nod slightly, the whole person fell into silence.

He had received news two months ago that there was a drought in the central region, and he was sure that the harvest would be poor and food prices would rise. That's why he came to Hamlet despite the risk of bandit attacks, intending to take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, but he didn't expect to fall into it.

But he didn't expect that it would develop to this point in just two months. Wouldn't the empire just ignore it?

Walter knows that he is just a small businessman, so he should take care of himself first~

"Okay, three years."

He had no choice but to spend three years in exchange for the safety of his family.

Anyway, managing a farm is not difficult, and he has more time to spend with his family and teach his children, which makes up for his previous busy schedule and lack of concern for his family.

Of course, Lance noticed his expression and couldn't help but grin.

"I want you to re-manage the business group, control the grain trade in the original territory of Hamlet, and be responsible for the commercial activities of Hamlet and Totnes."

"But..." Walter knew that it wouldn't be that simple in the past three years, but if he wanted to control the grain trade in this area, he couldn't get around the old rival of the Jean Merchant Group. It's not that he hadn't tried before, but the opponent was not simple.

"Jean is dead~"

Lance didn't know what he was thinking, and Youyou's words immediately gave Walter a chill.

Is this a warning to myself? If I hadn't agreed just now, would I have been the next Gene?

"Get ready. If you need any manpower, please bring it up. We'll go to Ovendo tomorrow."

…………

At night, Hamlet is not like Totnes. Without this foundation, no matter how lively it is during the day, it will become silent at night.

But those are ordinary people. Boudica can have a big meal and sleep with a wine barrel, and Leonard can have his wife and children on the kang, but he still has to continue to improve his policies.

And it needs to be implemented within the next few days, otherwise the refugees will stay in the camp, not to mention whether they will be lazy, and the worst fear is that there will be no hope to cause trouble.

He has no experience in governing, but he knows one of the innate abilities of time travellers—[Plagiarism].

He has already had ideas about how to place these people in the past few days.

He planned to follow Totnes' example and open more farms on the outskirts of the city, while the center began to urbanize, even urbanize.

There is no plan to concentrate these people entirely in the town, which currently has limited carrying capacity and cannot maximize the use of space.

However, there are also disadvantages, that is, it is more troublesome to manage a stall that is too big. He cannot directly manage those people, but needs to rely on an intermediate level of management, which is equivalent to decentralizing his power.

The advantage of this is that he can manage more people. Anyway, he doesn't have so much energy to manage, so he might as well take this opportunity to train a group of administrative talents to prepare for his future recovery of territory.

At the same time, Hamlet would not be too crowded, and the serfs did not need to spend a lot of time traveling from home to fields.

It’s just that the selection of these collective farms requires a lot of things to happen at the same time.

The first is to break up and mix everyone. In his eyes, there are no locals or outsiders, only Hamlet people. Otherwise, forming gangs and engaging in internal fighting will waste the resources and strength of the territory, which is a stupid behavior.

Then the conscription began. Only more and stronger soldiers could strengthen his control and support him against his ancestor.

Road construction is also a very important job. Fortunately, he now has a large workforce...

Just when he was thinking about it, there was a knock on the door.

"Put the midnight snack aside." Lance responded casually, without even raising his head, still writing furiously.

However, there was no sound after the door was opened for a while, so I had to look up and saw Tiffany standing at the door slightly embarrassed.

"Is something wrong?"

"Didn't you ask me to come here?" Tiffany looked a little awkward and couldn't help but blush on her face.

Lance's senses were astonishing, so of course he noticed this and found that she had actually changed back into women's clothing, a light-colored long skirt.

But when did he call her?

"Come in, you're here to report on what's going on at the dock. By the way, help me sort out Hamlet's field data."

Lance immediately entered the state. He needed to allocate the first batch of fields to appease those people and at the same time give those refugees confidence.

It was Walt who measured the acres. It would be fun if problems were found~

Tiffany looked at Lance who was immersed in work with a strange expression.

Could it be that I had made a mistake?

Didn't he just imply that he was a slave?

Lance suddenly mentioned slaves for no reason before. She knew very well what those thin-skinned and tender slaves on the third floor were doing. She would give her father a chance later, but her attitude changed so much that she...

"Hurry up, you can go home and sleep after this is done." Lance's urging voice came.

Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief and hurried forward to deal with the documents.

She also felt a little pressure in the face of complicated data, but this feeling of needing herself was also good...

It has to be said that it is much more efficient to have someone to help. It is much faster to leave some data-related verification to her than to study it slowly by yourself.

"Okay, it's getting late. You can go back and rest. The remaining old accounts will be checked tomorrow."

Tiffany came back to her senses. She had been doing it for so long without realizing it. She couldn't help but move her neck and her eyes became sore. Working under candles was not a good scene.

Lance looked at her like this, and after thinking for a moment, he took the initiative to speak.

"There are some things I can't tell you clearly, but I don't mean to lie to you. It's too chaotic outside. Only by staying in Hamlet can I protect you. I said I won't give up on you."

"Hmm~"

Lance's sudden words made Tiffany a little unresponsive, and she was stunned for a moment.

By the time she came to her senses, she was already walking home. In fact, it was not far away, not even a hundred meters away.

"What did you do there for so long?"

"Father!" Tiffany listened to the familiar voice and realized that there was a person sitting at the door.

Walter's face was not visible in the darkness, but he could hear the unkind and angry tone.

"Nothing done~"

At this moment, she felt like a mouse caught by a cat. Feeling her father's anger, she unconsciously shrank her neck and added, "I really didn't do much, just reported the situation at the dock and checked the accounts."

"No man is good! Don't believe what they say." Walter was angry and wanted to copy the guy to cause trouble for Lance.

Tiffany was a little speechless, why did he even scold himself~

"Okay, dad, I really have nothing to do with him." After saying that, Tiffany laughed at herself: "They don't look down on me."

"Alas~" Walter's mood suddenly dropped when he heard this. When a father cannot protect his children from wind and rain and cannot be their children's support, then it means his own decline.

He was angry at no one else, but at himself for not being able to protect his family. It was all his fault for failing to live up to expectations. Otherwise, how could his daughter suffer such humiliation!

"Let's go home~"

Walter lowered his head and turned around slowly. At this moment, he didn't know whether it was because he was getting old or because his daughter had grown up...

Thanks to [Sunset Stars] 500; [Weaving Name Shiyin] 100; [Xiao Kong Yo] 100, three rich brothers for the reward.

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