Twenty miles southeast of Wilno, this place has been separated from the sphere of influence of the Wilno garrison.
After Provence regained its southern border, due to the prying eyes and confrontations of the Lombards, it was never able to effectively control the entire border area. Except for fortress castles such as the city of Verno and the main access routes where troops were stationed and patrolled, control of many villages, settlements and even ruined military fortresses on the border was very weak.
Hence, when seven well-armed riders rode through those villages and settlements, people all closed the gates of the fences and walls made of firewood and miscellaneous wood, as if those "fortress walls" that could be kicked through with a kick could really protect their lives.
The seven riders were none other than the five Ates and the two Wilno cavalry who were ordered to lead the way out of the city. At this time, the five Ates had turned into majestic Provence war horses.
Viscount Bellian leads the elite frontier army of Provence, so their war horses are all carefully selected high-quality Northland grassland horses. Compared with most of the mountain horses in his cavalry, these shoulder-to-eyebrow war horses run with lightning speed, which Art likes very much.
In addition to the war horses, Art and others also put on the standard armor of the Provence frontier army. Art wore a full set of exquisite plate and chain armor. Originally, Nadoud prepared full-body plate armor for Art, but Art was not going to charge into the battle, and wearing full-body plate armor was too cumbersome. Ron, Matthew, and the four wore long chain mail or half-body plate armor, and their heads were also covered with stainless steel half-helmets.
In order to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, the five of them also put on the robes of Balian's army over their armor.
Just like this, seven war horses galloped on the road into the southeastern hills.
As we get further away from the castle and closer to the mountains, the scenery along the way also changes.
At first, in the villages near Wilno, you could still see farmers going out to cultivate the fields, and smoke occasionally rose from the villages. Gradually, there were fewer and fewer signs of farmers’ cooking smoke, and only occasionally some returning home could be seen in the dilapidated villages along the way. People were watching the group of people nervously; after entering the hills, it was almost impossible to see peaceful life. The villages built in the valley basins between the hills were almost the same ruins as they were during the war. Even the occasional villages that were rebuilt after the war were destroyed again.
The night after leaving Wilno City, everyone rested in an abandoned village.
The village is not big, and it seems that even at its most prosperous, it only has about twenty wooden houses and thatched huts. The most luxurious building in the village is probably the two-story wooden house in the north of the village, which can barely see a few beams. Generally speaking, this kind of building is the residence of the village elder or the squire lord. The Ate family is in this wooden house that was burned down to only the frame.
Yat glanced around twice. Unlike those villages that had been abandoned for a long time, this place was obviously hit by a disaster not long ago. When he came in, the graves outside the village were all new. There were still traces of charcoal on the burned wood in the village.
According to the two cavalrymen who led the way, this place was just ransacked by a group of remnants of the rebels who became bandits half a month ago. No one in the village, including men, women, old and children, was spared.
But this is also convenient for those who are resting. Since there is no one who is suffering, you can take out the wood that has not been burned to ashes and chop it up a few times to create a large pile of firewood, enough for a night's campfire for several people.
As guests from afar, the two Wilno cavalrymen planned to take the initiative to take on the task of guarding the sentry at night so that the guests could have a full rest. However, Ron considered that it was not peaceful here, so he asked Matthew to take two attendants to set up an open post and a secret sentry to take turns on duty, and also asked two The Wilno cavalry can take turns on duty...
The Wilno cavalry who was taking a break also took the initiative to fetch water and light a fire while he was not on duty. After a while, the aroma of wheat paste mixed with the smell of bacon and onions emerged from the deep bucket pot hanging on the campfire tripod.
The Wilno cavalry picked up a deep-bottomed wooden plate and scooped out a large spoonful of bacon, onion and wheat paste from the barrel pot. Then he cut off half of the kippers that were roasted and oily by the campfire with a knife and put them on the wooden plate. He handed them to the boots that were sitting by the campfire for baking. At, "Master At, there is no food during the march, so you will have to eat something to satisfy your hunger."
At put down his boots and took them with both hands, thanked him politely, and then the cavalryman filled Ron with a plate full of food.
Yat took two bites and it tasted pretty good. The south of Provence is close to the coastal countries, so there is naturally no shortage of salt, so the pickled fish they make tastes great.
After dinner, Ron took the guards to replace Matthew and the others came back for dinner.
Matt took off the wine bag from his waist and threw it to the hard-working Wilno cavalry, "Man, how long will it take for us to find Lord Balian?"
Matt laughed, thinking that this was wine produced in Bordeaux, and of course it was of high quality.
"Sir Art, this is the border area where the rebels and bandits are active. Going further in is the place where the rebels and bandits are rampant. I only know that my family is suppressing bandits in that area, but the specific location must be found later. However, our people are spread all around to form an encirclement. As long as we can find our own people, we can ask for the location of your army."
"We have entered a war zone here. To be cautious, we will have to wear armor, horses and saddles for a while. Maybe the bandits will come looking for the light source of the bonfire."
Art tied the wine bag and looked around, "As long as it is not a group of bandits, I would like to chop off the head immediately as a greeting gift to Lord Balian..."
........................
Art's wish to chop off a few heads of bandits as a greeting gift finally came to nothing. Although he was worried about the next part of the trip, he didn't even see the shadow of the rebels.
At noon the next day, the group met sixty or seventy Wilno soldiers who were encircling and suppressing the rebel bandits, and learned from them that Viscount Balian's army was stationed in a monastery at the foot of Mount Lamel.
Hence, everyone kicked their horses and galloped away.
At the foot of Lameier Mountain, at the mouth of the valley after passing through the dense forest, an ancient monastery has existed here for hundreds of years.
Monasteries are essentially the same as monasteries, but monasteries are usually built in secluded corners of cities or quiet places on the outskirts of cities, aiming to provide a place for saints who believe in God to practice spirituality; while monasteries focus on "asceticism" in addition to spiritual practice. Monasteries, as the name suggests, are usually built in secluded places, and the residents there are monks who hate the secular world.
The rebels and bandits only opposed secular rule, and they categorically did not dare to invade the holy places belonging to God. Even Art's army never took the initiative to attack any place related to the church and God, even if it was in an enemy country.
It is precisely because of people's devout belief in religion and God that this monastery can remain undefeated for hundreds of years.
As soon as they arrived at the outskirts of the valley mouth on horseback, Ate and the others encountered a group of patrol posts. After Wilno's cavalry came forward to identify themselves, the patrolling soldiers let everyone in.
Because it is located in a remote place at the foot of the mountain, although there are narrow mountain carriage roads connecting it, few believers come here, so the monastery is not large.
— A stone castle hall, five or six wooden houses and thatched huts, and a circle of earthen walls less than a person’s height constitute the entire monastery. A dean, a deacon and eight or nine monks are all the permanent clergy here.
However, the monastery has been extremely busy in the past two days. Fifteen cavalry (including messengers) and 35 infantry, as well as adjutants, military officials and three or four accompanying servants have crowded the originally small monastery.
As the core of the battle to suppress the rebels and bandits, Viscount Balian's central army command camp was set up in a wooden house next to the monastery hall.
Balian, who learned from the sentry that his friend from the North was visiting from thousands of miles away, was stunned at first. After confirming again and again, he looked surprised and hurried to the gate of the monastery to greet him with his adjutants and soldiers.
When old friends meet, it is natural to hug and greet each other, and to express their thoughts and feelings to each other.
The relationship between Art and Balian is not pure. There are some close entanglements of interests between the two. The most direct one is Balian's profit sharing in the European trading houses.
The reason why Balian was so supportive of the Continental Trading Company's establishment and expansion in Provence was not entirely due to his friendship with Art. The Continental Trading Company paid Balian profit dividends every year, and this profit was not a small amount.
Even during the war in the North last year, when the European trading companies were almost unprofitable, Art also instructed Salt to try his best to maintain the profits of Viscount Balian. It is precisely because of this that Viscount Balian was able to devote his energy to clearing the obstacles for the European trading companies along the eastern route when the military affairs in the south were entangled. It is also because of this Viscount Balian took time out of his busy schedule to go north to teach the lords and wealthy merchants who were embarrassing the Continental Trading Company, and to eliminate the stubborn enemies of the Continental Trading Company. This is why Balian was able to withstand the pressure from the powerful people in the Provence court and try his best to protect the southern goods trading privileges of the Continental Trading Company under Art's command in the eastern region.
Interests are the strongest fortress of friendship.
They have been separated for more than two years, and both of them have endless thrilling stories and legends to tell.
This is a battlefield, and it is war time. Things like singing and dancing banquets are also omitted. Balian took out some wine, meat, fruits and vegetables for Art and the others to have a meal, and then the two guests sat around the bonfire in the open space of the monastery and had a long talk.
Matt told Balian the story of the two years since he left Provence and returned north, from heading north in the snow to recapture the eastern border town of Wallonburg to returning to deal with the assassination of the Dean family, from sneaking into Thorne City to siege the Assassin heresy to setting off the heresy incident in the County of Burgundy. , from Bernard sending the Western Army south to fight in the north of the county in revenge, to being promoted to Viscount for his merits after half a year of hard fighting in the East-West Succession War, Art hid the parts that were not convenient for others to show, and unfolded a difficult promotion journey for Balian as a young knight, which made Balian speechless...
"In that case, I should call you Viscount Arter!" Balian raised his wine glass high, his surprise evident. After more than two years of not seeing each other, the brave knight of the past has become a viscount.
"Last time I heard that you were promoted to Baron, I marveled at how quickly you were promoted, which made me jealous. Not long ago, you have already ascended to the rank of Viscount, envy! Envy!"
Not long after Art was promoted to Viscount, Balian was in the south again, so the news had not yet reached his ears.
"Thank you Lord Balian, but this journey has been really difficult. My viscount's crown and uniform were made from the bones of many officers and soldiers." Arte touched the cup lightly.
Balian also felt deeply, "Respect the souls of the dead heroes!"
"Respect the souls of the dead heroes!"
The two drank from their glasses.
Neither of them are idle people with no mundane duties. After a nostalgic narrative, they returned to the topic.
"Tell me, my friend, you traveled thousands of miles to come to me in person, didn't you just want to have a few drinks with me and show off your promotion to a noble title?" Balian grabbed a piece of fresh barbecue on the bonfire, tore off a piece and handed it to Art.
At took it and chewed it twice. It must have been a wild animal hunted by the guards in the mountains. It tasted good.
"Lord Balian, I have already visited Lombardy before visiting you..."
Ate used the topic of the high entry tariffs on the trip south to Lombardy to introduce Provence's tariff policy, and bluntly said that such heavy tariffs only cut off the trade routes in Provence.
Balian explained to Art that the heavy taxes imposed on the Lombardy Principality in the south of Provence were only temporary and were intended to punish the Lombards for their crimes against Provence. In essence, they were using heavy taxes to force the Lombardy Principality to withdraw its troops from the border areas between the two countries.
After hearing that heavy taxes were only a temporary measure, Art was relieved. For European trading companies, the trade routes in eastern Provence were the basis for survival. If Provence planned to use heavy taxes to curb southern goods heading north from Lombardy, the European trading companies would also be choked.
Yate proposed that Balian send people to smuggle the most valuable spices, raw silk, ceramics and other small quantities of southern goods that were cheaper than gold directly from the Bogdan South goods black market to Wilno Trading Company with military funds and civilian support, and promised to give Balian one-fifth of the profit from that batch of southern goods.
Balian is both the lord of Verno and the defender of the Provence border. He can still make decisions on the eastern border. Anyway, the quantity of these southern goods is not large. Avoiding customs duties in the name of military funds will only lose the palace's taxes. This tax is nothing to the huge Provence.
Hence, Balian thought for a moment and then readily agreed.
Art had a lot of conversations with Balian about the expansion of the Continental Trading Company in Provence. Balian had a share in the Continental Trading Company. Of course, he also hoped that the Continental Trading Company could occupy the entire eastern trade route. Balian reminded Art to pay more attention to the Provence court and the lords along the way to obtain the top-down support of Provence, and promised that after the south was completely pacified, he would personally take Salt, the general manager of the Continental Trading Company, around...
Belion still has to command the army in battle, and it is not convenient for Art to stay and disturb him for a long time. What needs to be said in the long night of conversation has been said, and the alliance that needs to be reached has been reached. Art and the others slept peacefully all night and planned to say goodbye at noon the next day and go north.
In order to express his congratulations to Art as the new Viscount, Balian planned to give Art a bag of gold coins as a gift, but Art refused.
Att was not arrogant, because he offered to exchange his five riding horses for Balian's five war horses, which was more cost-effective to buy** the small bag of gold coins.
Balian was not stingy and agreed with a wave of his hand.
Since we parted ways and don’t know when we will see each other again, Balian took Art to a dense forest two miles away from the monastery before turning around.
Att also urged his horse to leave with reluctance.
However, as soon as the few people rode out of the dense forest, they discovered a large number of unfamiliar footprints across the road...