In the days following the hanging execution, Simon moved the various reward and punishment systems of Verde to Esbai. At the same time, "monstrance pits" that received God's favor quietly began to bloom in the fields around the village of Esbai.
Watching the oak trees in the territory being chopped down to make crosses, and then inserted in front of the pits filled with dung and hay, Simon felt that this was a waste of wood.
But there is no way. The villagers of Esbai Village have a strong ideological imprint on their belief in God that is incompatible with the villagers of Verde Village across the river.
In order to make the stubborn medieval farmers in Esbai Village accept the use of excrement to water their crops, Simon specially invited Father James to come over to explain and perform exorcism rituals for the villagers.
After the work in Esbay Village was finished, Father James had to travel non-stop to various knights in the barony, spreading the manure fertilizer with the aura of God to every field.
However, Father James, who was panting from exhaustion, seemed to enjoy it. After he witnessed the miraculous increase in production of the "Halloween Pit" in the spring of this year, he became convinced of the story compiled by Simon. In his opinion, promoting the "Halloween Pit" is tantamount to spreading the gospel of God.
Agricultural reforms have left farmers overwhelmed and uneasy. The priest's explanation made their anxiety sink to the bottom of their hearts. In addition, they were surprised to find that after cleaning up the feces that could be seen everywhere outside the house, the air was actually much cleaner.
As for when their attitude towards manure fertilizers will change from being acceptable to extremely enthusiastic, then everything can only be left to time.
In addition to agricultural reforms, Simon also moved the militia system from Verde village to Esbai village.
A group of strong farmers were selected and led by Han En, who performed well in the last battle, for basic training.
It is worth emphasizing that many of the peasants who joined the Esbai village soldiers were prisoners of the peasant soldiers of Qunir's army who were released by Simon in the previous battle.
They are the group of people who have the most favorable impressions of Simon in the entire new territory. They have seen the impregnability of Fort Verde and the various powerful weapons of Simon's army. When the opportunity to join this powerful army was presented to them, almost no one hesitated - they had no doubt that this would be an opportunity for transformation.
No matter what their moods and thoughts were when they joined the newly formed Esbai Village Soldiers, the first day of formal training gave them a real showdown.
The long-distance running physical training made all the new militiamen complain incessantly, and some even had the idea of quitting, but soon, the sumptuous lunch at noon made them recover quickly.
It was rare for the new militiamen to eat meat and offal. The way they wolfed down the food made Han on the side hide his face and laugh. Smiling, Han En couldn't help but think of how he looked during his first training a year ago and how he had transformed over the past year.
Who would have thought that a young boy who did not even dare to execute a bandit kneeling on the ground a year ago would now become a veteran of the war and be appointed by the lord as an instructor to train new recruits?
Things are so unpredictable.
On the third day of training, a batch of wood arrived from the Dihes lumberyard. Like the soldiers in Verde Village last year, the militiamen in Esbai Village had to take care of the reinforcement work of the wooden fort in addition to training.
With Ryan's help across the river, this time Simon didn't have to go to town to find a mason to help build the wooden castle like last year.
In addition, Ryan brought news about Foldburg to Simon. According to Simon's idea, a small pier will also be built on the Woldeburg side for ships to berth and become the connection point for the new ferry on the other side of the Rhine.
Now, the construction of Fort Verde has begun. Although the relationship between Baron Simon and Count Lange was on fire, from a cost perspective, ordering wood from Lange's lumber yard was the most cost-effective and time-saving.
Fortunately, Earl Lange is currently handling affairs in his new territory of Kempen Valley and has no time to give orders to the lumberyard on the other side of the river, such as paying a premium for Simon's orders. This allows Simon to purchase many raw materials at the original price.
In addition to using wood to strengthen wooden forts and build ferries, Simon also ordered the establishment of outposts at various major passages on the border of the territory to collect tolls and enhance the defense of the territory.
In Simon's vision, these outposts would eventually look something like the towers of a wooden castle.
The first floor of the sentry point tower is made of strips of stone and is fully enclosed with no doors. It is used to store the daily supplies of the soldiers at the sentry point.
The second floor of the sentry point serves as a dormitory for soldiers. The door on the second floor is connected to the ground with a retractable ladder, so that the enemy cannot breach the sentry point tower in a short time.
The top floor of the sentry point has a wide view. When encountering an emergency, soldiers can light the prepared firewood. The rising smoke will spread the enemy's information throughout the territory, so that the territory will not be defenseless when it is attacked. .
After making these arrangements, Simon received a reply from Deventer Church.
In fact, in order to prevent this trip from being a waste, Simon wrote a letter a few days ago and sent it to Deventer Church, mainly asking about Brother Linde and whether it would be convenient to visit him in the near future.
Simon knew that in addition to living in the church, saying mass, and copying scriptures, the monks also regularly visited people in the parish and traveled around to preach. He didn't want to miss the mark.
The reply from the Deventer church was written by Fr. He said in the letter that there was indeed a monk named Linde there. His recent job was to copy the Bible in the scriptorium, and Simon could visit him at any time.
So, Simon's journey began.
On a foggy morning, Simon ate a piece of roasted venison with bones, drank a bowl of heated milk, and rode north along the main road with two Foldburg cavalry.
Their first stop was the Earldom of Tossendria, which belonged to the southeastern part of the Principality of Flanders.
When Simon came to the border of Deheis Forest, he saw a dilapidated cabin covered with ivy beside the main road ahead.
Next to the cabin stood a lone soldier with a spear, and in the middle of the road was a moss-covered log blocking the horse.
Simon recognized the soldier. He was from Fort Verde.
When he just took over this territory a while ago, Simon not only left some soldiers to garrison Esbai Village and the surrounding manors, but also sent some soldiers to take over the outposts on the border of the territory.
This dilapidated outpost cabin was left by Baron Quinnier. Simon could foresee that soon, a brand new tower would replace this shabby wooden house, giving the soldiers a stronger sense of security.
When Simon and his party approached, the soldiers saluted Simon and said hello. Another soldier came out of the house, and the two worked together to move Juma to the roadside.
It must be said that the location of this outpost is just right. The dense trees on both sides of the road are enough to make any businessman who wants to find another way completely give up, but the flaws are also obvious, which also provides a natural cover for smugglers and bandits on foot.
Simon thought that he would have to ask Sir Bill of Dihays to form a team of longbowmen. They usually train and hunt in the forest, and at the same time they also act as forest rangers, catching all the poachers, smugglers, and forest heroes.
Simon left the outpost and continued north for some time. The trees on both sides of the road became increasingly sparse, replaced by vast expanses of plains covered with succulent grass.
After lunch, they continued their journey. The outline of the town appeared in the mist in the distance. There were more pastures enclosed by fences on both sides of the main road, and the bleating of cattle and sheep was endless.
"Where is this?" Simon asked the cavalry leading the way.
"My lord, if nothing else happens, this should be the town of Nijmegen, the center of the Barony of Clairvaux."
Simon and his party entered this town with a strong pastoral color. The wooden wall on the outskirts of the town only surrounds half of the houses. Most of the vendors sell dairy products, and some even sell milk and bread.
Two soldiers guarding the wooden fortress in the center of the town stood in front of the gate. They wore iron helmets with pointed nose guards and tough leather armor, and the spears they held in their hands were straight and sharp. It seems that Baron Clairvaux's financial situation is pretty good and he can provide his men with pretty good armor and equipment.
"This is Baron Simon of Foldburg. We are here to visit our neighbor in the northern part of the territory, Baron Clairvaux, with the greatest goodwill. I hope you can tell us." The cavalryman said loudly to the two guards.
"Good day, my distinguished lord. Although I really want to tell you, I have to regret to tell you that Lord Clairvaux went hunting the day before yesterday and may not be able to come back until a few days later." There were freckles on his face. The guard replied.
Simon was not discouraged after all the money was lost. The village of Esbai was not far from the town of Nijmegen, and he could visit again at any time.
"Let's rest here tonight. We will cross the river at the ferry in Nijmegen tomorrow to visit our old friends Baron Arnhem and Baron Iser."
