Time flies quickly. With the arrival of summer, the climate begins to get hotter. The Northland is still cool now, but the royal capital located on the central plain has already turned on the scorching mode.
royal palace
King Renn and several of his trusted ministers were discussing matters in a pavilion.
The pavilion is located in the shade, and its unique design allows water to circulate continuously on the eaves and corners, which plays a cooling role. It is much cooler to discuss matters here than in the palace.
"Your Majesty, Longxiguan has gathered more than 5 million troops, and the number of people recruited has exceeded 10 million. Even if it is located next to the Central Plains and the cost of transporting food is low, it cannot withstand such consumption.
"
"Yes, our grain storage is somewhat insufficient, and the grain storage at Longxing Pass continues to increase. In fact, we can completely suspend the progress of the grain storage at Longxing Pass."
In order to support Longxing Pass, food was transported from all over the kingdom to Longxing Pass, not only for the soldiers to eat, but also to continuously increase the storage capacity of the granaries in Longxing Pass. It is also because the foundation of the Golden Dragon Kingdom is strong enough to withstand such consumption.
.
"I also think that we can postpone the transportation of grain to Longxi Pass. Now because of the transportation of grain to Longxi Pass, the price of grain in various places is a little tense. We are sticking to it anyway. We don't need to transport so much grain to Longxi Pass and continue to consume it like this.
If we go down, the kingdom’s granary will be emptied.”
Now Renn's approach can be called a militarism. Because of the threat of orcs, everyone has reached a consensus on this kind of militarism. However, there is one difference. The supplies hoarded at Longxingguan in Renn's order have exceeded the defensive capacity.
It's necessary. Others don't know because of confidentiality, but these ministers sitting here all know it clearly.
It's just that they don't know that Renn and Thor have formulated a very bold plan, which will not be announced until the last moment. Renn's purpose is not to passively defend, he is hoarding supplies, and he is just going east with Thor.
Xiguan made proactive preparations, and now it seems that the confidentiality work has been done well. Even the senior officials in front of him are completely unaware of this plan.
"How's the summer food going this year?"
"We haven't started receiving goods yet, but if nothing else happens, it should be a bumper harvest."
"It just so happens that there is a great harvest in the Central Plains. The harvested grain will be transported directly to Longxi Pass. We will support it for this period of time. I don't think you can even support it for this time."
"this…"
"No problem, Your Majesty."
After a slight hesitation, the minister in charge of money and food gave Ren a positive answer. The Golden Dragon Kingdom has been in a period of peace for many years. Although the local nobles have become corrupt, there is nothing fundamentally bad, whether it is private or official.
They all have a lot of food stored. If Ren can follow Richard's example and find a few of the richest nobles in the central plains to raid their homes, the gold and materials they will get will definitely be richer than Richard's harvest. The kingdom's heritage is still there.
Yes, although it is a bit difficult to raise Dragon Breath Gate with tens of millions of people now, the supplies will eventually be squeezed out.
"Also, for this year's summer grain, all land will be levied an additional 10%. The nobles must pay the tax as a whole. I don't want to hear about where the nobles pay less land tax. Harris will be responsible for this matter. At least the tax on the central plains
It must be collected in full.”
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After hearing Ren's order, Thor stood still. Paying more taxes and less taxes didn't mean much to him. Several ministers were hesitant. Increasing taxes is a very sensitive matter, especially
The ruling class of the Golden Dragon Kingdom, the aristocrats and knights, are basically landowners. Normally, an increase in land tax would definitely cause a fierce backlash, and these ministers might also come out to oppose it.
But now was a special moment, so they had no choice but to hesitate and did not speak immediately. However, Harris, who was in charge of the Black Prison, responded quickly and jumped out to express his position after Renn gave the order.
"Then, when we collect summer grain this year, we will add a layer of collection on top of the original one."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
A general tax increase policy was settled in these few words.
"Is there anything else? If not, please go back first and take care of your subordinates. The Black Prison will not hold back this time."
There was a hint of threat in Renn's words. Everyone present except Sol and Harris were shocked, especially the left and right prime ministers. It felt like Renn's words were specifically addressed to them.
They all said they didn't dare.
Renn is very clear about the various connections among the nobles and bureaucrats in the kingdom. Those who can sit here are considered to be the bosses of various factions. He can't control the interests of these people in normal times. After five hundred years,
There are always some accumulated things in the dynasty that are difficult to recover. Some interest groups are like parasites on the kingdom, which cannot be touched by just any wise monarch.
But the current situation is special, and these people must know how to cooperate under the general trend. If any company fails to cooperate with the Kingdom's actions at this time, then Renn will have a legitimate reason to take tough measures.
"Your Majesty, recently many nobles from the valley area have come to the royal capital to complain, which has made some people panic."
Just when Ren thought it was time to leave, the left minister in charge of the affairs of the House of Lords suddenly mentioned the matter in the river valley.
"Oh? Is this something caused by our guardian of the North, Grand Duke Hunter again?"
"Your Majesty is wise. After entering the river valley, Lord Richard's army killed more than forty nobles and confiscated the properties of each family. They did not pay attention to the rules of the kingdom at all. Now some nobles have escaped from the river valley.
I have to come to the House of Nobles every day to sue Richard, and many nobles in the royal capital also have serious objections to Sir Richard, do you think your Majesty?"
Hearing the words of the Zuo Xiang, Ren's eyelids twitched. After Richard agreed to send out the dragon to participate in the Eastern Expedition, Renn basically took his eyes away from the Northland. Now, the most important thing for him is to follow
Orc war.
He thought that after the river valley was granted to Richard, he would at most eat a piece of fat meat from the pots of the nobles in the river valley. He didn't expect that this kid looked so ugly, so he took away all the pots and confiscated more than forty people at once.
Nobles, the nobles of the river valley asked him to copy half of it. It's really
I'm jealous!
It's a pity that the throne of the Charlemagne family is based on the existing aristocratic system. Richard can use force to make things happen, but Ren has to maintain the system that binds him.
Of course, it was a pity that it was impossible for Ren to say such words, and he had to look angry and make a gesture of smashing the cup.
"How dare he!"
"Master Richard did go too far in the river valley."
"Then I don't know how the Left Prime Minister thinks it should be handled."
"Someone should be sent to give him a lecture and then order him to return the confiscated noble property."
"Okay, let's do it like this. In two days, we will send someone to the river valley to send a message to Richard."
"Well, then I can give my reply to the group of valley nobles in the House of Lords."
Although the words are beautiful, everyone knows that Ren's attitude is just a gesture. Richard has already confiscated half of the nobles' homes in the valley. How can he respect the rules of the kingdom?
It can be said that if we really want to be serious, why don't we send hundreds of thousands of troops to make Richard compromise? Maybe hundreds of thousands of troops won't work. If each million-strong army plus all the dragon knights are dispatched, there is really no way to defeat Richard now.
Already.
What Zuo Xiang said was actually a gesture. After all, he represented the interests of the nobility. Richard's behavior broke the rules among the nobility and harmed the interests of the nobility. It was inappropriate for him to do nothing, but he
At the same time, it is also clear that the kingdom can't do anything. Renn's attention is not in the North, and Renn has no time to care about the interests of the nobles in the valley. Both parties have a certain tacit understanding, which is why this acting is still online.
The performance is just to appease the nobles' hearts.
After a few people finally discussed some innocuous matters, several ministers left the palace early, leaving only Saul and Harris, two close ministers of the king.
After everyone left, the angry face of Renn instantly returned to calmness, which perfectly reflected the cultivation of a qualified politician. Sol and Harris on the side were not surprised by this, and Renn also
You don't have to pretend in front of everyone, and it's not necessary for Sol and Harris.
"Uncle Saul, what do you think Richard did this time?"
"It's audacious, but Your Majesty can rest assured."
After hearing this, Ren nodded. Some things do not need to be explained clearly. Although Richard's breaking of the rules this time was a bit disrespectful, it was actually a good thing for Ren. Richard's actions in the river valley were regarded as
He has seceded himself from all the nobles, and if he tries to take Ren's chair again, all the nobles will desperately oppose him.
"Where are the troops from the Western Region now?"
"Three hundred thousand Western Realm cavalry have passed Longjiang and may arrive at the royal capital in a few days."
"The Duke of Ross has brought all the family wealth from the Western Region with him this time. If all the nobles in the kingdom were like the Ross family, we wouldn't be in such a difficult situation."
"Please receive the Western Army well. When Duke Ross arrives, we will hold a banquet in the palace to welcome him."
With 300,000 foreign troops approaching the royal capital, it was originally a nerve-wracking thing to do, but seeing that neither Sol nor Ren were alert at all, they obviously had enough trust in the Duke of Ross in the West.
"Harris, what are my precious sons doing lately?"
Renn's conversation turned to several princes. In addition to the supervising officials and nobles in Harris's prison, the princes were obviously also under his supervision.
"The eldest prince is still reorganizing the garrison forces in various places, and currently controls many local garrison forces."
"not bad."
Regarding the eldest prince's involvement in the military power, Renn was not at all shy about it, but gave him a good evaluation.
"The others are all using their own strength, but they are still not as strong as the eldest prince."
The eldest prince was born with an advantage in age and personal resources, so it was normal for him to be ahead of his other brothers.
"However, in addition to running his own business, His Highness Parley in the south has also been building rivers recently."
"River repairman?"
"Yes, His Highness Parley organized manpower in the south to repair the southern section of Longjun, and also built several dams to divert water for irrigation."
"Diversion of water for irrigation? The fourth child is quite ruthless."
Ren commented leisurely about Parley. Neither Sol nor Harris said anything. The three people present knew a lot of things and were not fools. They could guess some of the motives for Parley's actions. They were just guessing.
He didn't say it out loud, and he even vaguely felt in his heart that Parley's move was right.
…
The northern snowfield is in a place that is close to wilderness.
Several snow giants were running very fast on the white land, and more snow giants were chasing after them. The ground was shaking with the huge movement of the snow giants running.
"Don't run! Stop!"
"Hand over the people! Our Xuefeng tribe can let you go!"
"What should we do, patriarch! We still can't get rid of them!"
"Brother, why don't you run away first? I'll cut off your queen?"
"If you cut off your head, we will arrive at the tribe soon. Why are you going back at this time?"
"I can't implicate the people of the tribe!"
"Keep running, there will be humans who will help us block the people from the Xuefeng tribe when we run back!"
The people who were being hunted on the snowfield were Man Gu and other warriors from the Bingyan tribe. Man Gu, who had been cautious all the way, didn't notice his younger brother Xiao Man in the final stage. This impulsive guy actually went out to hunt with Xuefeng.
The tribes competed for prey. Although that place was not technically the Xuefeng Tribe's hunting ground, the Xuefeng Tribe was a large tribe and was used to being domineering. Even if they chased the prey out of the hunting ground, they would take the prey back.
Xiaoman is also a mean-mouthed person, and successfully dragged Mangu, who wanted to calm things down, into the conflict, and seriously injured an important figure in the Xuefeng tribe during the conflict.
Seeing that something was wrong, Mangu and his men began to run away, but a large tribe like the Xuefeng Tribe reacted very quickly. Soon more than fifty Snow Giant warriors began to chase them. The leading Snow Giant was even taller than
Man Gu is still one meter taller. In terms of strength, he is already a half-step sky-level expert. Man Gu and the others are no match for him at all.
Fortunately, they were still able to run. They ran all the way for several days, but today they were finally caught up by the people from the Snow Wind Tribe. If nothing else happened, after their group was caught up by the warriors of this large tribe,
The result was that he and Xiaoman died, and the others were forcibly annexed, but now Mangu still has some hope.
We are about to reach the territory of those humans. They also have powerful giants. They should not just sit idly by.
"boom!"
Suddenly, there was a loud noise behind Mangu and others, and the people of Xuefeng tribe suddenly became quiet, because the leading warrior sat down on the ground with twitching.
At this time, a string of black dots appeared on the horizon, and Elena came with her fanatics and Titans to respond.
As early as more than ten miles away, investigators discovered the huge movement of the snow giant. Elena rushed over with her people immediately and rescued Man Gu and others in a very timely manner.
"Lady Elena, I'm causing trouble for you."
Mangu came to Elena first, and regardless of his tired body, he knelt down and bowed to Elena...
