“Father-in-law and mother-in-law, Lottie has been wondering for a long time why you two haven’t come to visit her yet. My territorial doctor said that Lottie will give birth in a few days. She has been extremely anxious in the past two days, and I am a little at a loss. You two "I feel relieved now that I'm here."
To the northwest of Boulder Town, Art and his four accompanying guards personally greeted the Baron and his wife Galvin who came to the valley from Fort Sap to take care of their expectant daughter.
In order to save time, the Galvins did not go south and eastward and detoured through Provence. They took ten guards, a few servants and a carefully selected strong peasant woman who had just given birth to pull two empty carriages and headed directly eastward from Fort Sap. They passed through rugged and difficult mountainous areas and took a shortcut to the northwest of Boulder Town.
That road is not easy to walk on. One section of the road is often blocked by falling rocks and debris, making it impassable for heavier carriages. Therefore, Art's caravans almost always take their goods and take a detour through Provence to reach Sap Castle.
"It's you old guy. I told you to come here earlier, come here earlier, but you have to go to Flanders to discuss something. I don't believe you can't discuss anything without Flanders!" Mrs. Galvin was sitting in the carriage and kept scolding Baron Galvin who was accompanying him on horseback.
"What do you know about a woman~" Galvin muttered, but his tone sounded like he was apologizing.
Matt expected that his father-in-law would have been scolded by his mother-in-law all the way here. At this time, he mentioned Lottie's recent restlessness, which made his mother-in-law very angry. The atmosphere was a bit unhappy. Art adjusted his sitting posture and prepared to change the topic.
Matt lifted the reins to the left, let the horse under him approach the carriage, and asked his mother-in-law, Mrs. Galvin, in the carriage: "Mother, how is Felix doing? I haven't seen him for several months."
Speaking of his only son, Felix, Mrs. Galvin's expression has obviously softened a lot. It seems that Felix has been doing well recently.
"Child, don't tell me that Felix has grown up a lot since he returned from serious injuries in the North. Now he no longer drinks and plays with the children of the squire lords in the territory, and is obsessed with training Sapp's army. This time he is leading soldiers into the southern mountains to eliminate a small group of bandits, so he will have to arrive in a few days."
"But that guy is just as obsessed with the so-called career as your father-in-law, and hangs out with soldiers all day long. Last month, a viscount from the Côte d'Or province came to Sapp with his fourteen-year-old daughter as a guest. This fool actually didn't even see the girl, which made me angry~" Baron Galvin spoke up again, "What do you know? That guy from Côte d'Or is a fence-sitter. He married his second daughter to He is the son of a squire, because the squire has some blood relationship with Count Bernard; he also married his third daughter to a knight in the city of Yona, because there are rumors that the knight’s mother may have a close relationship with Count Baldwin; now he has pushed his youngest daughter to Felix, who knows if he also wants to get involved with Flanders. Such a family is extremely stupid, how could I let Felix have such a wife? "
Mrs. Galvin's face suddenly darkened again, not for anything else. She did not force Felix to marry the viscount's youngest daughter, but she didn't like Galvin's attitude very much.
"I said, you old guy, why have you been quarreling with me lately? Do you think I am old? Have you found a bond (mistress) in Longxia again?" Mrs. Galvin opened the window of the carriage and looked like she was going to fight Galvin.
Galvin waved his hands and shook his head in denial.
At seeing this, his flesh tightened for a while, and he couldn't help but raise his head and touch his forehead, sighing softly.
"Mother-in-law, mother-in-law." Art quickly distracted Mrs. Galvin's attention.
"Art is calling you!"
Mrs. Galvin just stopped talking and said to Art: "Your father-in-law has changed a lot since he followed Flanders. He..."
"My father-in-law also thinks about the overall situation." Art immediately interrupted his mother-in-law's ramblings.
"Speaking of the army that Felix trained, how's it going?" Art brought the topic to things outside the family.
"I have put all the armies in the barony of Sarp under Felix's command. He established Sarp's standing soldiers and levied peasant soldiers based on your military structure."
"The recruitment of peasant soldiers was to be organized by the vassals. He ordered that each knight territory must form one heavy, two light, three cavalry and ten light peasant soldiers, including the knights themselves. In addition to the forty-day service period each year, these cavalry peasant soldiers had to go to Sarp Castle for one day of training every month. The other directly-controlled territories without knights also formed light infantry peasant troops ranging from five to ten people according to the number of the people in the territory, and were led by each village chief. The elder or the elder's son is the captain. There are currently 86 registered peasant soldiers in Sapp Castle. Fortunately, the people in Sapp Castle are relatively wealthy, otherwise they really can't afford these peasant soldiers. "
"What about the standing army?" Art is more concerned about the standing army formed by Felix. The peasant soldiers can still fight with the high walls, but it is a bit reluctant to go out to fight. At critical moments, they still have to rely on the standing army.
Speaking of the standing army formed by Felix, Galvin felt a pain in his face. There were about twenty sergeants stationed in Sarp Castle before, but their military pay, weapons and armor were slightly inferior to those of Galvin's caravan guards, so Galvin's expenditure on the standing army was very low.
However, the situation completely changed after Felix took over the army at Fort Sap.
"He almost eliminated all the city guard sergeants I originally formed, and then picked ten of the most elite guards from my caravans as the skeleton. He also recruited more than thirty young men from the Sap area and other places to form an army. This army hollowed out all the armaments of Sap Fort and equipped them with contradictory swords, axes, hammers, bows and crossbows. Even ordinary soldiers are equipped with cotton armor."
"That's not all! He actually gave ordinary soldiers a monthly salary of fifty pfennigs, and officers an even higher salary."
"It's enough to be fully equipped with high military pay. Anyway, it's only forty or fifty people. I can barely afford it, but recently he actually told me that he plans to form a cavalry team of twenty cavalry! That's crazy, a horse How much does a war horse cost? How much does a set of cavalry weapons and armor cost? How much does it cost to raise a war horse? He really thinks that my wallet can give birth to his own cubs." The more Galvin talked, the more excited he became. He was able to invest half of his family property in Flanders, the Count of Longxia, because he knew that if the trade was successful, it would be a huge profit. But Felix now wants to raise a gold-eating beast, and Galvin has a big problem.
Mrs. Galvin didn't think so. "I quite agree with Felix's approach. Since you are willing to give one million pfennig to Flanders as a bet, why don't you want to spend another million pfennig to build a strong army? If you have a strong fist, you will naturally gain a foothold, so why bother to commit yourself to others? Look at this kid Art, what did he rely on to go from a commoner to a baron? It's not the sword in his hand!"
Galvin was unable to refute for the time being, "It's not that I object to Felix forging swords for the Saphugue family. The main reason is that my wallet is really unable to support it now. Since the relationship between the two counts Baldwin and Bernard has deteriorated, my southern goods trade in the Western Region has shrunk time and time again. After selling the shops in the Western Territory, my goods are not easy to sell out. Now it is difficult to maintain the status quo by only relying on the southern goods trade with Codor Province. How can I have enough money for him to form a cavalry?"
“That’s right! Let you be so generous in front of Flanders!” Mrs. Galvin scolded.
Matt knew that his father-in-law was short of money. He kicked the horse's belly lightly and rushed to Galvin's mount. "Father-in-law, the situation in the entire country is delicate now. If you are not careful, the world will be in chaos. It's not too late to sharpen your sword and sharpen your sword while you have some time. As for the money issue, I will find a way."
Galvin raised his head and said, "Art, your army has exceeded six "Hundred, that's not 600 pieces of wood. Your pressure is much greater than mine, so you should take care of yourself. Sap Castle can still support it for a while. I regret that I left you too little of the money, otherwise you can survive for a while." Galvin didn't know what Art had secretly confiscated in the past few months, and he didn't know whether Art had successfully borrowed money from the Holy Order's treasury, so he was worried that Art was also unable to support it now.
"Father-in-law, now that the Wells family and the Saphuge family have been married, they naturally support each other."
At suddenly leaned closer to Galvin and lowered his voice, "During this period, I obtained nearly one million pfennigs, which is barely enough to cope with the upcoming situation. When you return to Sap this time, I will send someone to escort 200,000 pfennigs to Sap Castle as military expenses for Felix to train his army."
Galvin glanced at Art in surprise, and Art nodded.
"Okay, if you are really rich I won't pretend, but you must leave enough for yourself. In the end, Felix is just making a small fuss, your army really needs bloodthirsty sword drinkers."
"I know my father-in-law." Art replied respectfully.
Galvin suddenly remembered something and said to Art: "Art, you should know about the suspension of the uprising, right?"
"Well, yes."
"Flanders has also suspended the deployment and mobilization of the army, and the Longxia Army is still training secretly in the Longxia area. By the way, Flanders mentioned you specifically last time and said that he hopes you will visit him in Longxia."< br/>
"I am extremely happy!"
Hence, the group of people had arrived at the Boulder Town camp. Obot and Benson had already led the patrols in the camp to greet them outside the fort gate. Art led Sapp's team into the camp, rested for a while, and continued to rush towards the valley...
...
In the early morning of the second Sunday in March, a loud cry of a baby echoed through the silent valley as the sun rose.
This valley has welcomed its first new generation in hundreds of years.
"Baron, congratulations. Madam has given birth to a healthy young master for you." The valley doctor Farnaz personally took Emma and Lawrence's wife to deliver Lottie. She wrapped the newly born baby in a fine cashmere blanket and handed it to Art.
There was a burst of cheers inside and outside the mansion, and the officers, officials and representatives of the people who had been waiting inside and outside the mansion all night rushed to tell each other that a lord has a successor, which is absolutely worthy of celebration for all the people.
Art, a first-time father, was a little confused. He stretched out his hands to carefully hold up the baby wrapped in a fine blanket, and repeatedly looked at the ball of flesh with closed eyes in the swaddling clothes. After a long time, Art held back two words, "It's so ugly!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
Matt couldn't bear to look at her, so he quickly handed his swaddle to Mrs. Galvin, who had already smiled and opened her hands. Then he hurriedly opened the door and walked to Lottie's side, holding Lottie's hand tightly.
Lottie was exhausted and pale. When she saw Art coming over, she forced a smile: "From now on, you will have one more person to worry about."
Ater leaned over and kissed Lottie's haggard cheek gently.
"What will our child be called? Have you decided?"
Matt thought of many meaningful or beautiful names in advance, but after thinking about it, he still felt that it would be simpler to make a living.
In mid-March, there was a more lively scene in the valley wooden castle than the wedding ceremony of the palace guard knight Art. There was an endless stream of guests who came to the valley barony to celebrate the Baron's son.
This time the guests are no longer mainly the lords and squires of Sarpburg. Almost half of the lords, squires and nobles in Tyniec County have rushed to the valley to participate in the naming ceremony of the direct line of barons.
These people are not stupid. Frontier Baron Art Wood Wells has recently become too famous in Tyniec County. They know that if they do not take the opportunity to show their obedience to Art this time, it won't be long before the black-robed patrols and even the Wells Corps will enter the villages and homes with weapons and let them use their property to express their position.
Prosperous village manors sent spices and velvets or directly used gold cakes and silver coins as gifts. Lesser villages sent leather, cloth or honey wine. Those small settlements with only about twenty farmers also sent one or two representatives driving pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks to the valley to express their gratitude.
Of course Art understood what these people meant, but that was fine. It was better to be proactive than passive, so he accepted all the gifts without hesitation and asked the old housekeeper to register the gifts sent by these people one by one.
Baron Antayas, who has become a business ally of Art, will certainly not miss such a grand ceremony.
Tyniec County is considered a relatively poor place in the county, and Andermatt Castle is the poorest place in Tyniec County. It is located on the edge of the southeastern mountainous area with more mountains and less land, rugged terrain, and lack of streams and rivers for irrigation. This makes Baron Antayas even more incapable of eradicating poverty and weakness. However, since joining Yate's commercial trade and sharing a share of the southern goods trade route, the Barony of Antayas has truly found a way to become rich.
Matt is indeed very loyal to his friends. Not only did he help Baron Antayas start the trade route, but the southern goods supplied to Baron Antayas have always been sufficient, high quality and low price. Now the monthly payment for southern goods supplied to Antayas has reached 15,000 pfennigs. Of course, Art wants to profit from Baron Antayas's trade route, which is understandable.
In recent years, southern goods transported from the rugged roads in the southeastern mountains to various cities and counties in the east and southwest of Yona Province have slowly begun to gain prominence, without the layers of merchants at all levels on the road from Tyniec to Lucese and then from Besançon to the city of Yona. With the price increase, the price of southern goods flowing into Yona Province from the southeastern mountainous area was at least 30% cheaper, so Baron Antayas quickly established a foothold in the southeastern part of Yona Province. Now even the city of Yona has begun to see the southern goods supplied by Baron Antayas.
Another businessman was born. But in front of the golden cakes and silver coins, Baron Antayas no longer cares about the false reputation, he has become addicted to it.
Even more obsessed with trade than Baron Antayas were the citizens of Fort Andermatt who had tasted the sweetness. Not to mention the rugged roads in the southeastern mountainous area, Antayas did not have enough funds to purchase large quantities of carriages and livestock for carrying goods. At this time, the citizens of his territory who had been poor all their lives played the role of carriages and livestock. They carried bulky goods such as salt, dried fruits, raw silk, cotton, dyes, alum, and satin on their shoulders and carried them from the southern border post to various cities and counties in Yona Province.
In addition to providing them with daily food, Baron Antayas, the owner of the goods, will also pay some salary. Although the so-called salary is only ten or twenty pfennigs per month, it is already very good for the people who are poor enough to eat tree bark. Under the convergence of this commercial route, the cohesion of Andermatt Castle became stronger and stronger, and the prestige of Baron Antayas also increased.
The purse became more and more bulging, and the gift that Baron Antayas gave to Art's legitimate son was of course also very valuable - a small belt made of pure gold worth ten thousand pfennigs. In addition to the actual gold, Baron Antayas pre-awarded the infant George Wells as a frontier guard knight in the name of the palace frontier baron, and sealed a mill in the territory of Fort Andermatt and the surrounding half-mile of George Wells as a knight's fief. According to regulations, as long as little George is ten years old, he can formally swear an oath to Baron Antayas and obtain the title of Lord and the territory.
Matt couldn't help but feel envious of the "ugly guy" wrapped in swaddling clothes. He was full of "spirit" and worked hard in this world for several years to achieve what he has achieved now. This guy was already a real knight as soon as he opened his eyes.
Is Antayas's generosity genuine? The answer is yes, he does treat Art as a friend.
Is Antayas’s generosity intentional? The answer is yes, his wallet has not been squeezed out yet.
Matt is also a close person. He understands Antayas's sincerity, so on the day when Baron Antayas pre-awarded little George as a knight, Art announced that he would lend Baron Antayas ten four-wheeled carriages and horses to pull the carriages. At the same time, Baron Antayas could borrow 50,000 pfennigs of southern goods on credit from the border outpost every month, and the goods would be returned within half a year after the goods were sold. Not only that, Art also agreed to ask Count Baldwin to grant Baron Antayas the privilege of selling southern goods throughout the province of Yona.
Such a return far exceeds a gift of ten thousand pfennigs and a mill knight's collar. Of course, Art's business profit share from Baron Antayas has also increased by 20% on the original basis.
The host and the guest each benefit from it, and a mutually beneficial and win-win situation certainly has the best of both worlds.
In addition to relatives and friends from Tyniec County who came to the valley to congratulate, two high-ranking nobles from far away in the North, Count Baldwin and Bishop Orlov, as well as the leading baron Charis, the palace guard knight David and others also sent their troops to the valley to congratulate them. People sent gifts and messages of congratulations. What touched Art the most was that Viscount Bellian, who was leading an army to guard the border far away in Provence, also asked his knights to bring a crossbow specially made by Genoa and a purebred high-quality war horse colt to the Baron of the Valley as a congratulatory gift.