Transcendent Noble

After 18 days of traveling, Victor finally arrived at Raven Town, the northern enclave of the Randal Family.

The first thing he did when he entered the Raven Castle was to climb the tower and overlook the whole town.

Three years ago, Raven Town had only a castle and a village surrounded by wooden fences. Today, its area has expanded by at least 7 times, almost reaching the size of Flatlake Town 2/3/2021. The old wooden fence was replaced by a 12-meter-high and 4-meter-wide city wall. Inside the city wall are row upon row of blue brick buildings, and a towering church stands in the center of the town. There is a stream reservoir of 100 acres not far behind the church, which provides plenty of water for the residents of Raven Town. The artificial river channel connecting the reservoir is like a dividing line, dividing Raven Town into a residential area and a goods yard trade area.

It was the first sunny day after the snow, and the bright sunshine poured down, adding a dazzling golden layer to the snow blanket covering the roof. The snow-capped Raven Town is like a fairytale town made of gold and silver, full of magical colors.

Victor exhaled a cloud of white mist, but the beauty of Raven Town made him frowned.

The layout and architectural style of Raven Town is very different from Flatlake Town. The buildings here are scattered in height and have their own characteristics. Shops are located next to each other along the street, and there is no fire barrier. The street is winding. Twisted, sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, not as straight and spacious as the streets of Flatlake Town. On the whole, it gives a sense of urgency to prosperity, crowding, and barbaric growth.

This is not the style advocated by Victor. He saw the traces of Sophia and deeper problems through the building of Raven Town.

The straight-line distance between Raven Town and Flatlake Town is more than 800 kilometers, and the carriage journey is more than 1,100 kilometers. The alienation of space and time weakened the family center's dominance over the enclave.

For the first time in his life, Victor has a profound experience of the practical significance of "will not give orders to foreign monarchs". This is not to say that the Mayor of Butz, the old Hamm garrison of Raven Town, and the town's public security violated Victor's will, but that they compromised and adapted to reality.

Raven Town currently has Barbarian, more than 2,000 Templars, tax officers from Kite Castle, Saber-Toothed Tiger Business Group, Chamber of Commerce, and King Friedrich The caravan, the caravan with the Duke of Nimes, and the secret agents with all influence...These guys are older than the other, and there are many noble Knights and the high-ranking priests of the church. Old Hamm can't hold the scene at all.

If the lord is not by his side, then you have to obey Mistress's arrangement, otherwise it is called betrayal.

Sophia naturally took over Raven Town. Saber-Toothed Tiger Business Group cooperates with the business captain of each family, and there is always human affection. Raven Town is now an important trading port, and businessmen want to have their own shops in the bustling commercial street. They asked Saber-Toothed Tiger Knight to come forward and present their demands to the Government Affairs Office.

Faced with the demands of Saber-Toothed Tiger Knight and the bribery of the merchants, should Old Ham and Boots refuse or agree to it?

Rejecting bribes from merchants may bring all kinds of troubles to the master, and it will also cause suspicion between the master and Mistress. If you agree with the merchant’s request, then you can’t send a letter crow to the owner every time you build a shop, right? As a result, the commercial street of Raven Town had to squeeze out if there was no space, and illegal buildings sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain, and Raven Town finally became like this.

If we say, this is the inevitable result of the Boots people speaking lightly and unable to withstand internal and external pressure. Then replace Raven Town with a noble Knight mayor, and the situation will only get worse. Victor can't control anything except to collect some lords from Raven Town every year.

In fact, Boots and Old Ham did a good job. Raven Town as a whole has not deviated from Victor's original positioning and planning. It has a mature tax and handicraft system, as well as a relatively complete infrastructure. However, Barbarian replaced the homunculus class and continuously sent the resources of the skylark mountain range to Raven Town, processed them into commodities, and sold them. Moreover, the businessman bought bricks to build a house out of his own pocket, but the property rights of the house belonged to Victor. The rents of shops and cargo yards they delivered this year reached 600 jinsore. Raven Town’s commodity transaction tax exceeds 1,600 jinsore, and the profit from the sale of processed goods is 5,800 jinsor.

Raven Town turned over 8,000 goldsall's wealth in one year, equivalent to Flatlake Town's annual income 1/4/2021, and its territory is less than one-eighth of Randal.

In addition to the income from the territory, the lord hopes that his subordinates can carry out his will. But the lord is not omnipotent, he is obviously impossible to decide everything.

Whether it is a vassal system or a centralized system, the will of the ruling class must be affected by environmental factors. Just like Sasanian can use green wheat to make wine, if the southern lord uses wheat to make wine, the garrison priest will have to scold him with blood.

Different environments result in different lifestyles, and thus different cultures. Even modern countries with highly developed communications and transportation must adapt to changes in the environment, respect local customs, and formulate different local policies and regulations according to different regions.

Earth Modern Western philosophers once said: If you fight the dragon for too long, you will become a dragon; if you stare at the abyss for too long, you will stare back at the abyss. But in ancient China, there is a more profound explanation: those who are close to Zhu are red and close to ink are black, and when the sound is harmonious, the sound is clear, and when the rule is normal, the influence is straight.

The weak are assimilated by the environment, and powerhouse adapts to the environment and transforms the environment. The mystery is not martial power, but thought.

Victor masters Alchemy Tower and has strong war potential. But compared to the church, his martial power is not worth it. Even the Augustus family can easily take him away. If the attack persists for a long time, Alchemy Tower can't even deal with any powerful lord. It takes 12 hours for Alchemy Tower to create a homunculus, and the strength lord can immediately replenish the manpower. The alchemy soldier died in battle and his armaments were gone. How could the newly-built alchemy militia fight with bare hands?

The strength that Great Family has accumulated over thousands of years is definitely not something Victor can easily shake.

Augustus sits on the Dragon Knight of thousands of fasts, and has no way to control the entire Gambis Kingdom. They still have to co-operate with lords everywhere. What's more, Raven Town, which is thousands of kilometers away from Victor, or even a mountain village that is farther away?

Sylvia said: If you stretch your hand too long, you will be chopped off! This statement is aimed at all forces including the church and the king.

Martial power is limited by environment and distance, but thinking is not limited by space.

Victor’s biggest trump card is Alchemy Tower. The biggest advantage is that the Randal Family is as clean and pure as a baby and can be cultivated and transformed by him.

The centralized system is obviously more efficient than the Feudal System, but the Feudal System is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the members of the Randal Family are all affected by it. Fortunately, they have not formed a village clan force that can fight against the power center, and Victor has the opportunity to create a new situation.

The tenant system allows the families of the vassals led by Randal to transform into the landlord class. The gap between High Level people and lower-class people ensures that they will not form a strong clan power by marrying tenants. And the small family with weak power is not enough to fight against the will of the monarch.

The policies and public education of hiding wealth in the people can unite small families under the authority of the monarch, and form the concept of unification of family and country from the ideological level.

Pinch the bud of Sect extermination clan power, hide riches in the people, and public education. As long as Victor does these three things well, he can still accept Knight aristocrats. In another thirty years, the competitive advantage of Randal Family will be unparalleled. Even if other lord families introduce the tenancy system, they cannot turn around unless a bloody revolution breaks out in their territory and the clan power of the village is dispersed.

Compared with the overall development strategy of the Randal Family, the architectural layout of Raven Town and the re-investment of the mountain village into the arms of surrounding lords are all trivial details, not worth mentioning.

Looking at the scenery of Raven Town again, Victor suddenly became clear.

Victor left the tower and returned to the Knight Hall in Ravenhold. Boots and Old Ham have been waiting for a long time.

A fire rose in the fireplace, and the heat wave dispelled the coldness of the stone hall. Swords, shields, battle axes and one-handed halberds hung on the walls, as well as five specimens of white cow skulls. .

"Wild, primordial, and powerful beauty. Very good."

Victor withdrew his gaze, commented, and sat down on the lord's throne.

"My lord, these bull skulls are Barbarian's craftsmanship." Raven Town garrison old Hamm said happily.

Victor moved in his heart and asked: "Barbarian started the crafts business?"

"They don't do the bull skull business." Old Hamm shook the head and explained: " Master Mistress was worried about Barbarian’s troubles and asked them to transport the red bison from the Wharton Prairie to Raven Town to serve as trial prey for those little Barbarians. Barbarian values ​​his prey skulls. Because we taught Barbarian the skills to make wine, they did this The bull skull was given to Raven Town as a symbol of friendship."

Victor was silent for a moment, and then asked: "What else did Barbarian learn?"

Mayor Boots replied: "My lord, there is a 300-acre stream reservoir 7 kilometers east of Raven Town, which was dug with the help of Barbarian and Paladin. The wall of the town was also built with the help of Barbarian. The softsilver ore mined by Barbarian was piled up in three warehouses. Helping herding cattle and sheep, gathering medicinal herb, feeding pigs, cutting wood and building houses, forging weapons... As long as they are given food and wine, they are willing to do anything, uh... Except for farming. This is the only thing they don’t want to learn."

"Forging weapons? Who is teaching Barbarian to forge weapons?"

"Paladin."

Victor slightly frowned, Barbarian learns human production and labor technology, which is itself Worthy of vigilance. The most curious thing is, why did the church teach Barbarian the technique of forging iron? Are they not afraid of losing their technical advantage in front of Barbarian?

Controlling the doubts in his heart, Victor turned to teased: "You two are full of red light, life is very moist."

Old Ham and Boots looked at each other and said. with a smile: "You can receive money and receive a soft hand, but you can't pay if you don't receive it..."

"You can receive money, your hands can't be soft, and your heart can't be soft." Victor said with a laugh: "from now on , The bribes that those people gave you don’t have to be turned over to the inspector. I allow you and the town sheriff to keep 30% of them, and the remaining 70% go to the vault of Raven Town, but there must be detailed accounts."

"Many Thanks Master's generosity." Old Hamm and Boots touched their breasts.

Victor waved his hand, said resolutely: "You can accept money or gifts, but you must never accept women or touch the waitresses in the tavern. This is the bottom line I draw for you."

Seeing Victor's cold eyes, Old Ham and Boots heart trembled, and said repeatedly: "Master, we will never go against your will."

Victor calmed down and warned. : "Each family has an iron rule: the village chief and the mayor can only marry the house maids trained by the lord’s wife. The merchants in Raven Town are spies of each family, and there are more spies than merchants. You know only a few things. , But the power in your hands is very useful to them. Except for women and children, these spies cannot control you. Therefore, your children must be sent to Silvermoon Manor to receive attendant education when they are four years old. This is your protection. If you are You provoke the women outside, don't blame me for not talking about the love of the past."

"Master, I will remember your teachings." The two said in unison.

Victor nodded, leaning back in his chair said: "I came here this time mainly to see Harald Elder. I can’t stay in Raven Town for a few days. If you have any difficulties, you can tell me now "

"Raven Town is short of manpower." The old garrison Hamm lifts the head and said: "Currently, the permanent resident population of Raven Town is about 17,000. Among them, the family's registered population is only in their early 5,000s. The following people come from all directions, there are Dodian, Naville, Suse, Borui, and Sasanian... and these guys are not like loose refugees, they have their own power, open strife and veiled struggle... With my 280 soldiers, I can’t take care of it."

"My lord, can you send me another 300 mercenaries?" Old Hamm asked cautiously.

Victor knocked on the handrail, shook his head and said: "Raven Town is a free trade town. I'm impossible to station too many troops here, so as not to cause a backlash from Viscount Negus and Solon... Raven Town has The church’s 2000 Paladin is here, and those people can’t get over the waves. When Barbarian is gone, they will naturally leave."

Old Ham and Boots were worried. They were not Knights after all, facing all influence. The lack of self-protection ability.

Victor thought for a while and said, "Let’s go to Pastor Kent and ask his Paladin to help patrol the territory. You only need to guard the castle and take care of the order in the town. In addition, The Chamber of Commerce is also a strong support for Raven Town. If there is anything, you can discuss with them. The army of Viscount Great Knight Hanas will be stationed in Raven Town immediately."

" Is there any problem?"

"Nothing." Boots shook his head and said.

Victor waved his hand, instructed: "Prepare a car for me, send someone to the Paladin station, contact the Pastor of Kent, and say that Viscount Randal is going to visit him."

"Like you I wish, noble master."

Boots and Old Ham bowed and resigned. Victor looked at their backs and secretly said: "It's time to cultivate the secret Knight of the Randal Family."