Two years later.
At the junction of the Barony of Gelden and the Barony of Esbai, on the main road between the hills and the small plain, a small outpost stood somewhat abruptly between the stream and the grassland.
A small group of strangers on horseback with weapons on their belts were stopped by soldiers at the sentry post.
Seeing the solid stone base of the guard tower and the archers on the top of the tower who were always staring at him, a young man among the strangers who was dressed in rich clothes and looked like he had some identity opened his mouth in surprise.
This person is none other than Julian, who used to be the most loyal attendant around Lange, or to put it more unpleasantly, a follower who was inseparable from Lange.
Judging from Julian's clothes, it is not difficult to guess that Lange must have given him land and title after becoming an earl.
Julian was seen wearing a leather turban polished with oil that shone in the sun, an armor printed with bright red dye, riding a lively traveling horse, and a handful of weapons in his belt. A one-handed sword in an ornate scabbard.
The snot-nosed knight's squire two years ago has now become a small lord who leads a party.
"So, this Lord Julian from the Kenton Valley Territory is here to bring important news to Sir Simon?" The sentry in leather armor confirmed to the leading cavalry behind the horse.
"Yes," the leading cavalryman's reply was short and cold, revealing a hint of impatience, "We are in a hurry."
After the sentry confirmed it, he asked no more questions. He called another soldier and lifted the horse away with him. After a while, the figures of Julian and his group on horseback disappeared into the distant woods.
"Simon will definitely be a difficult enemy," Julian turned his head and said to his attendants. "He actually has spare money to build sentry towers on the border of his territory. These sentry towers without doors on the bottom are easy to defend and difficult to attack, just like nails. Being planted on the border is enough to give any intruder a headache."
"That's right. I have to say that the design of the sentry tower is really clever. As long as the enemy comes and retracts the ladder connecting the sentry tower to the ground, the enemy will have nothing to do. If our territory also has such a sentry tower, it will not only have advantages in war It will be much bigger, and there will be much fewer bandits and bandits evading taxes and smuggling." The attendant nodded and said in agreement.
"Unfortunately, Lord Lange's money bank is almost at the bottom," Julian sighed. "With that little money, let alone building a border guard tower, it is not easy to even open an additional crop field."
"I really don't know where this Baron Simon got so much money," the attendant curled his lips, "Did he master the secret of making money and secretly mint counterfeit coins without telling the king?"
"Cathbet, don't talk nonsense," Julian rolled his eyes, "If you can't control your mouth, I can't guarantee that you will be thrown into the dungeon by a certain lord one day."
"It's okay, there are only five of us here. I'm not stupid enough to say these words in front of strangers." The attendant Cuthbet touched his big, red nose.
"Speaking of which, I heard that Simon built ferry terminals on both sides of the Rhine River between Esbaiburg and Fuldeburg to connect his territories."
"Yes, he now has a ferry and a stable river crossing fee. I also heard from some businessmen that he implemented preferential policies for businessmen in his territory and encouraged commercial development, attracting many people to his territory. Settle the territory.”
"Simon actually hangs out with those lowly pigs," Julian frowned and curled his lips, looking very disdainful of this behavior. "When one day those businessmen betray him like the cunning Judas, everything will change." It’s too late, but this is what I like to hear.”
"I have to mention that although merchants are a very unstable factor in the territory, they also bring him a lot of additional tax revenue. Otherwise, he would not have so much spare money to consolidate the border area."
"It makes sense," Julian pondered for a while, and suddenly laughed sinisterly, "Actually, we have nothing to worry about. On the contrary, the richer this place is, the better. As long as Sir Simon goes to Lord Lange's If something unexpected happens during the wedding trip, this territory will be inherited by Mr. Lange, which is really a double happiness."
Cuthbert also laughed, and his ugly laughter was like a dying crow, making people shudder.
After Julian and the attendant cavalry passed through a small forest on the border of the Barony of Esbai, they came to an open plain.
This is the meadows of Merlingen, the fiefdom of Sir Gabriel.
Under the blue sky, on the gentle slopes of the wilderness covered with large areas of high-quality pasture, a group of fine horses were grazing leisurely in the sunshine.
There was the sound of intensive horse hoofbeats not far away, and Julian turned his head to look. On the grass next to a small village in the distance, a man dressed as an aristocrat was training several light cavalry on how to use lances on horseback.
"We will do some repairs in this small village at noon." Julian waved his hand, and everyone rode towards the village in the middle of the wilderness.
The center of the entire Meiringen meadow is undoubtedly this small village. At the same time, this is also where Gabriel's lord's house is located.
There were several semi-ground huts in the village that were obviously newly built recently. The owners of those huts had a sense of restraint in their behavior. Julian guessed that they were new residents who had recently moved in.
The hospitable Sir Gabriel suddenly lost half of his interest when he heard that Julian was sent by Count Lange, but out of politeness, he still asked the kitchen to cut some of the pastrami he had stored for soup.
After two glasses of wheat wine, the two started talking.
It turned out that when Gabriel first took over this fief, there were only ten households here, plus an old horse breeder.
Later, the northern Principality of Flanders was invaded by Viking adventurers, and a large number of homeless refugees fled south. During this period, Meiringen Pasture accepted five refugee families with experience in livestock farming, allowing them to open new livestock pastures.
In addition to working, these new residents had to spend extra time to receive cavalry training organized by Sir Gabriel. In this way, when war comes, these people can become trained light cavalry, which can be regarded as fulfilling the promise that Gabriel made to Simon when he was canonized.
"Awesome! I would like to toast you and the hard-working people living on this land!" Julian's cheeks became redder and redder. I really don’t know if in his drunken state, he thought in his heart that all this was making a wedding dress for his dear Lord Lange?
Gabriel's territory was rarely visited by nobles, let alone a guy like Julian who flattered him and rose to power. Gabriel was impressed by Julian's compliments, and he was surprisingly happy with the meal.
After lunch, looking at Julian before leaving, Gabriel asked him to send his greetings to Baron Simon.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Lord of Merlingen Pasture. The wealth here is really eye-opening to me," Julian burped and continued, "You are worthy of being Lord Simon's most capable vassal. I will treat you well." Please convey your greetings to him, don’t worry.”
After leaving Meiringen Pasture, Julian and his party continued to travel north.
The attendants and soldiers were curious about the large pits with crosses inserted in the fields on both sides of the road, but the stench coming from the pits immediately made many people give up the idea of finding out.
"Their fields stink so much," Cuthbert frowned and covered his nose. "My God, are they excreting on the crops that will be put into their mouths in the future?"
"You're half right," Julian had obviously heard of the Pit of Manifestation. "They would pour feces and excrement into the pit, cover it with straw, and then insert a cross and beg God to manifest themselves and turn the feces into fertilizer."
"Disgusting," Cuthbet felt a surge in his throat. "Even if God appears, after all, they still end up eating feces in their stomachs. How disgusting!"
It was obvious that Cuthbet was a stubborn and conservative man. There are farmers like this in Simon's territory, but after a year of hard work and seeing that the harvests of other villagers are several times that of his own, even the most stubborn farmer will feel relieved.
After knowing these secrets, Cuthbert looked at the nearby farmers with a bit of contempt in his eyes, but he had to admit that the farmers here were obviously stronger than those in nearby territories, and most of them had a look on their faces. With a healthy rosy complexion.
When Julian and his party climbed over a hill, the road bifurcated like scissors and extended into the distance.
A road sign made of oak marked where two roads would lead, the left road leading to Esbai Castle and the right road leading to the village of Kooser.
"What kind of place is Keoser Village? Why have I never heard of it?" Julian scratched his head in confusion.
"Sir, the village of Kooser is a newly built village in the past two years. It is located on the Rhine River, across the river from Fordeburg. There is a ferry built by Simon there."
"So that's it," Julian touched his smooth chin, "The village was named Keoser Village. I think he was in memory of his deceased father."
Julian's guess was correct. Simon named the new village Cooser in memory of his father.
Thinking of this, Julian couldn't help but sigh in his heart. Although Simon and Lange were brothers, under the guise of superficial reconciliation, they wished that each other would die immediately, so that they could legitimately obtain a wealthy new collar, and even As for Simon, he can also inherit the title of earl.
Both Simon and Lange knew that the other party had the possibility of assassinating them, so they became more vigilant in the past two years.
They strengthened the guards around themselves and thought twice before doing anything that might involve danger. In this state, after two years, none of them could do anything to anyone.
However, Langer took the lead to break the deadlock.
He married Josephine, the daughter of Count Wolfe in the Duchy of Cologne. It is foreseeable that Lange's heir will be born soon after the wedding. This will make it much more difficult for Simon to obtain Lange's title and territory. .
Even if Simon succeeds in forging claims to the Kenton Valley territory in the future, he will face not only the forces of Earl Lange, but also Count Wolfe, Lange's in-law ally.
This is an impossible battle for Simon to win.
"Ha, once Lord Lange has an heir, he can focus on other things, such as forging the claim of the Barony of Esbaiburg, calling his ally Count Wolfe to launch a war..." Julian He smiled sinisterly, and the wedding invitation he sent to Simon in his pocket was like a sure win.
