On the fourth day after leaving Solburg and returning north, heavy snow suddenly fell in the sky that had been clear for many days. The heavy snow fell for a whole day and night, and the whole world was covered with white snow.
In the city of Aosta, Art looked at the unabated flying snow, and praised to the military priest Robert standing beside him: "Father Robert, thank you for your timely advice, otherwise hundreds of us People will be trapped in the deserted wilderness. It is not a big deal to waste time, but it will be troublesome if the rations carried by the army run out and people starve to death." Robert was persuaded by Art and agreed to join Art's team. No one knows how Art persuaded Robert. Anyway, in the days since then, the two have been inseparable.
Att was once again shocked by Robert's profound knowledge. Robert really shouldn't be a clergyman who spends his days in a monastery or church, but he should be a great bachelor who explores the world.
When the two armies returning from the north arrived two days south of Aosta and were about to set up camp for the night, Father Robert suddenly found Art and asked Art to urge the army to set off immediately and rush through the dark night to return to the city of Aosta within a day, because Robert predicted that there would be a heavy snowstorm in the next day. The road would be blocked by heavy snow and the army would be trapped in the wilderness.
Yat persuaded Charis with the mentality of rather trusting him than trusting him, and the two armies ran all night in the dark with torches.
Sure enough, before dawn the next day, a heavy snow suddenly fell. Hundreds of people braved snowflakes and ran tirelessly for half a day on increasingly blurry roads, and finally arrived in Aosta City before heavy snow closed the road... "Lord Art, these are just my accumulation of experience over the years. As long as you are good at observation and understanding, you will find that the world created by God is full of magical power." Robert didn't think it was difficult to predict the weather, but ordinary people simply would not understand the truth of the world like him.
“Yes, people pay too much attention to the church’s annotations on the Bible and ignore the holy will that God really wants to convey to the world. Like where does the snow in the sky come from? Why does the snowflake turn into a rushing stream after it falls to the ground? How does the water in the lake turn into clouds in the sky? All of this is There is a miraculous power behind everything that controls everything. I think this is the true meaning of the Holy Will that we should explore instead of misinterpreting God's will with a Bible all day long." In front of the "enlightened" Robert, Art said the "heresy" that he had not dared to mention to others in the past.
Robert is deeply convinced of these "heresies" of Art. "The people in the church have lost their original and pure faith in God. God wants to shine light on the world, but the church deprives believers of the right to read and understand the Bible. All interpretations of the Bible are tightly controlled by the church. The church that claims to spread the gospel of God has become an insurmountable wall between believers and God. What's more, the greedy leaders of the church actually use the name of God to plunder the property that believers have worked hard to accumulate throughout their lives. I heard that someone in the upper echelons of the church suggested selling absolutism charms to believers. As long as believers pay sufficient money to the church, they can absolve believers of all original sins on behalf of God. "
"Master Art, when did God become a tool for the church to make money?"
“The leaders of the church should really go to hell!!!” Father Robert became more and more excited as he spoke, and he directly targeted the church.
"Shhh!!! Father Robert, keep your voice down! We can just talk about these things in private when no one is around, but we must not spread them around! If people from the Church Inquisition hear it, you can't help but feel the fire under the cross~" Artben just said what he felt, but he didn't expect to ignite the anger in Robert's heart. He looked around nervously and quickly stopped Robert's alarming statement.
Robert also found that he was too emotional and lowered his voice, "Master Art, you are right, I am too excited. It is important to explore the true meaning of God, but saving our lives seems to be more urgent. I am just talking to you about these things and will not mention them in front of other people."
"Father Robert, it's too cold outside, let's go inside and have a glass of wine." The two of them walked side by side into the barracks with a charcoal fire...
.........
Hundreds of people led by Art and Charis stayed in the city of Aosta for three days. During this period, Art did two things.
The first thing was to select and recruit a dozen or so craftsmen and workers of various trades in the city of Aosta. Among these people were old carpenters who had lost their livelihood, blacksmith apprentices who had not yet become apprentices, tailors who had fled, and weavers from bankrupt workshops... These people were among the baggage officers. Under Spencer's eloquent "advocacy" and the former Provence soldiers' confirmation of the superior life in the valley, they all gave up their great ideals of "rebuilding their hometown", rolled up their shabby packages and joined the team heading north. These people who were not bound by the land knew that they had skills and would not be short of food wherever they went.
Yat doesn't care whether these people are useful or not. Anyway, as long as they have some skills, they will all be poached.
The second thing was to visit Count Marcello, the deputy finance minister of the Provence Palace, again with valuable gifts.
Provence has won successive victories against the Lombards in the past six months. Seeing that the war that has lasted for several years has hope of being extinguished, this lean old man who was worried about the principal’s finances and taxes during the war rarely showed a smile. After the war, Provence faced the national crisis. There are many problems such as the recovery of family finance and commerce. As the deputy minister of finance, Count Marcello certainly welcomes people like Art who can bring business recovery. Therefore, under the influence of Art's generous gift, Count Marcello took a moment out of his busy schedule to meet Art.
At this meeting with the Deputy Finance Minister, Art did not make any requests, because due to his status, it was not time to chat directly with the Deputy Finance Minister.
On the fourth day after arriving in Aosta, the snow all over the mountains and plains had almost melted. The two armies of Art and Charis purchased enough food and supplies in Aosta to support their journey to Kitzby and then set off again. After all, there were important things waiting for them in the north, so there was no need to delay too much.
· Along the way north, this army never encountered danger again. Firstly, the team with hundreds of fully armed soldiers was already considered "huge" in scale. Not to mention the bandits who survived by robbing homes and houses, they did not dare to approach. Even the Lombard enemy army would not easily provoke them. Second, because the war in northern Provence has basically subsided, Provence garrisons and militia troops are guarding everywhere, and order has been restored.
After the war subsided, the people who benefited the most were the suffering civilians. The villages and settlements that had been trampled and burned by the Lombards on both sides of the road were gradually returned by refugees who began to rebuild their disaster-stricken homes.
After driving non-stop for more than ten days, the team finally arrived at Kitzby, the last important town in the north.
At originally planned to recruit a large number of young refugees from Kitzby to bring them back to the valley to farm, but the result was unsatisfactory. After all, the war in Provence was about to subside. These farmers who owned land in their hometowns all wanted to return to their homes, work on their own land, and return to a peaceful life. Therefore, no matter how the people in charge of recruiting advocated, they were unwilling to abandon their homeland and wander to a foreign country again.
In the end, Yate only recruited about twenty bankrupt farmers without land constraints to go north with the army...
………
Leaving Kitzby, we entered the vast uninhabited wilderness between Provence and the County of Burgundy.
The team went from Sauerbourg in the south to the wilderness in the southern part of Burgundy. This team almost ran through the north and south of Provence, and it was extremely hard.
· By the time hundreds of people arrived at the southern border post of the Count of Burgundy, it was already mid-March.
Half a mile away, Art had already seen the smoke rising from the border post. Simon and Benjamin had received Art's orders, and the outpost was ready to receive the troops.
In just four or five months, the border outpost underwent great changes again. Seven or eight wooden houses and thatched houses were built in the fence of the residential area outlined by Art previously. In the fenced market town in the open space, passing merchants also set up stalls. A large wooden house that also served as a warehouse, hotel, tavern, and grocery store was filled with traveling merchants.
There are horse-repelling roadblocks in front of the gates of the two garrison camps at the border outposts. Sentinels armed with short spears and broad swords at their waists check the passing caravans.
On both sides of the stream south of the outpost, there are more than a dozen farmers and women plowing the land on the flatter and more fertile areas along the banks. They want to take advantage of the loosening of the soil after this round of snow melts to prepare for sowing after the beginning of spring...
...
Reyek, the wandering knight who had just joined Art's team, looked at the strange and popular small market town in front of him in disbelief and asked: "Mr. Art, this is your fief? I remember that when I went south to Provence and passed here three years ago, it was still a wasteland. I didn't expect it to be like this now. It has become a border market town! "
"Yes, it was not so prosperous when I passed by it in late autumn last year. It seems that our Sir Art not only has warriors who are good at fighting, but also has many capable subordinates to build the territory." Charis also praised.
Benjamin, the deputy commander of the border post, stepped forward and replied: "My lords, this area was personally designated by my lords. Your lords have long expected that this place will definitely become a place for business travelers to rest, so they allowed us to start construction in advance to build some houses, thatched sheds and warehouses and hotels. Now the south is now The war has subsided a little, and the merchants and refugees who used to escape the war have begun to travel between the north and the south. In addition, the surrounding area is a wasteland, so more and more people have gathered here. "
"Really? It seems that I have to praise Sir Quayate again." Charis smiled.
At looked at the increasingly prosperous border outpost, he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart. This was his legal fiefdom. Perhaps the border trade town he envisioned would be built in the near future.
“Everyone, please, after crossing the stone bridge, we will return to the County of Burgundy. I have already ordered my men to prepare enough wine, meat and soup, and everyone will rest here comfortably for a day or two~”