MTL - Release that Witch-Chapter 16 Front road
The fire in the fireplace was burning, dispelling the chill from the gap between the door and window. At the top of the fireplace is a deer head with a large horn. Under the illumination of the fire, the projection of the horn on the back wall is like a huge claw.
Opposite is a dark red long wooden table filled with parchment rolls and books, mostly administrative orders waiting to sign names. In peacetime, Roland is here to handle his official duties. After transforming the three-story house into an office, he gradually fell in love with it.
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, he can see the town stretching in front of the horizon, and at the end is the endless mountains. It is a desperate mountain range that almost traverses the mainland, separating the gray castle kingdom and the wild land on both sides. The North Slope Mountain is just a branch of the Desperate Mountain Range.
At the foot, you can see the garden surrounded by wooden fences. The wooden shed for Anna’s training has been dismantled, and the brick pool has become a long table for convenient tableware for afternoon tea. If the weather is good, he will go to the sun below, or lie on a specially-designed rocking chair.
Although the castle is not big, it is a medium-sized villa with a separate garden. In the last life, I want to sit in a real stone castle, it is almost a fantasy, just visit the next have to pay for tickets. But now, he not only owns this castle, but also holds a town.
"His Highness, the recent recruitment of craftsmen and handymen is quite expensive. The money is drawn from your pocket. I am afraid that this will not last until next spring." Barov held a stack of parchment to Roland. Report on recent financial situation.
The original income of Bianbu Town is very simple. One line is the trade of ore and gemstones. This line was monopolized by the Changge Fortress, replacing the output of the northern **** mine with wheat or bread. There was no tax in the middle, and the fortress was sent to preside over resource exchange. In the words of popular points, the North Slope Mine is a joint-stock project of the Changge Fortress. The aristocrats stationed in Bianbu Town can be regarded as the supervisors sent by the shareholders. Most of their seals are east of the fortress. They are only temporarily staying here, and the people coming here are different.
In fact, the history of Bianbu Town is less than 30 years old. It is a newborn baby compared to the long-song fortress that has been nearly two hundred years old. Originally, the Duke of Ryan was only planning to establish an outpost here to make an early warning of the invasion of evil beasts. However, it was not expected that the pioneers had discovered a wealth of mineral resources in the northern slopes, so they simply set up a town here and named it Bianbu Town. In a sense, it is the northern **** of the mine that created the town.
In order to prevent the sneak peek, the Duke did not adopt the advice of the aristocrats to send their own personnel, but instead hired local residents and nearby refugees and even criminals to serve as miners. The ore produced was distributed according to the proportion of resources invested by each family. . The fortress here only needs to provide the employee with food and a small amount of commission for the whole year. These rewards are fixed amounts and will not change due to the output of the mining area. Most of the more than two thousand residents in Bianbu Town serve the mining area.
The other line is the other industries in the town – such as blacksmith shops, pubs, textiles, etc. The meager taxation of Bianbu Town mainly comes from here, and it is difficult to stay in the whole year. The incumbent lord did not take this barren land seriously. After Roland was sent to the land by the king of the Grey Fort, he simply stayed in the fortress.
Therefore, Roland wants to hire someone to repair the city wall and can only save money from his pocket. If it is the former four princes, then it must say that nothing will be willing, but for Roland, as long as you can stand firm in Bianbu Town, it is worthwhile to spend all the property. Anyway, the future ore trade will no longer be settled by grain. If it is settled by currency, this investment is simply drizzling.
The only problem is that Changge Fortress is willing to give up the monopoly and conduct normal trade with Bianbu Town. This is quite a bit like a tiger's mouth, but the data provided by Barov shows that it is limited to inefficient manpower mining and inconvenient transportation. The ore produced by the mining area is worth more than a thousand gold dragons per year, but it is only a fraction of the total revenue of the fortress. The only ones whose interests have been damaged are the aristocrats who have invested in partnerships.
For the long-term development of Bianbu Town, this line must be recovered. Roland knew clearly that even if the investment of the gang was fully recovered as early as a decade ago, they would not let go. Mosquitoes are small and meat, not to mention the good thing that can be used to collect money. He is willing to give previous investors certain discounts and compensation, such as half-price purchases. But dragging a ship of ore back to exchange only half-ship food is not allowed to happen again.
When Roland stared at the list, Barov was watching him.
In the past three months, to be exact, in the most recent month, there have been some unspeakable changes in the four princes. The outsider may not be clear, but he is always with the prince, and this change can't beat him.
As early as the gray castle, he had heard of the notoriety of the four princes Roland Wimbledon. I am doing my own way, being arrogant, no aristocratic style... and so on. In short, big mistakes do not make mistakes, small mistakes continue, compared to his two brothers are far worse.
When he was sent here, he was disappointed. If he was not the promise of the king, he would be appointed as the official finance minister. He really wanted to stop doing it.
In the first two months of the first visit to Bianbu Town, the Four Princes showed their extremely childish behavior as always, and all the local aristocrats who had offended were offended. Fortunately, the town itself is extremely small, and even if the administrative duties are all vacant, he and the dozen or so civilian personnel he brought can be filled.
Later, some things will become different.
When did the change start? He thought, probably...just from saving the witch.
Barov did not doubt that the devil possessed the possibility, or that the prince himself was manipulated by another hidden witch. But this possibility is very small. If the devil and the witch have such ability, do you want to find the four princes? Is it better to directly control your majesty or the pope? Another point that dispels his suspicion is that he saw the prince hold the lock of God's punishment.
This thing is the killer of the church against the witch, and the power of any evil spirit will be broken in front of the lock of God's punishment, and Roland directly held it. In other words, if he is not a four prince, but a demon who does not need to fear even the power of God, is there a need to expose it? Keeping your life is the first.
The prince's style is still a matter of his own way, but the feelings of the two are not the same. No, Barov thought about it, it should be the opposite.
The biggest difference should be purpose. He perceives what Roland is planning, and in order to achieve his goals, he must adopt some means that are difficult for ordinary people to understand. Just as the other side tried to convince himself why he wanted to save a witch, perhaps the plan was not mature and the loopholes were full, but the prince was indeed moving forward to the plan and was convinced of the results.
This is the most confusing place. The throne may be born in any of Roland's brothers and sisters, but it will never be the four princes. This kind of thing himself should be very clear, and talk about development in such a small place in Bianbu Town? Even the gods can't do it! In the end, Roland conceived a crazy plan. It is so crazy that a small town built outside the border defense line will develop better than Jinsui City. Do you have to believe that this plan will succeed?
If it’s just a madman’s delusion, the wall that Roland built strongly suggests that this is not the case. He really intends to stay here and rely on the "cement" alchemy products to build a wall that is almost impossible to accomplish in common sense.
There are alchemists in Barov's family, but he has never heard of the alchemy workshop making such a thing. Building a wall-building program on something that no one has ever seen, is this self-confidence or chaos? Expanded to the entire plan of Roland's plan, how many things the four princes still do not know? He found himself interested in the future.
