madnovel Chapter 34: Intelligence Deal
Chapter 34: Intelligence Deal
When Bard set foot on Ashwood territory for the third time, he thought he was mentally prepared.
He had been here three days ago. At that time, the city wall was only half-built, with the mud bricks and wooden fortifications uneven, like an unfinished construction site.
He told himself that the most he would get this time was to build a few more sections of the city wall.
Then he saw it.
The earthen city wall is gone.
To be precise, all the wooden fortifications have been replaced with adobe walls, with only one section still being compacted and slowly built.
The east wall, which was still exposed as rammed earth last time, has now been integrated with the barbican, complete with parapets, crenellations, and arrow slits.
Badler stopped his horse and remained outside the city for a long time.
"...It's only been a few days?"
Upon entering the city walls, he was greeted by Old Hall.
Ron did not appear.
Bard couldn't tell whether he felt relieved or disappointed.
Fortunately, he didn't have to be on edge in front of that young man; disappointingly, the young man didn't treat him like a guest who needed to be personally received.
The hunting captain, in Ashwood Territory, is only entitled to see the steward.
He suppressed his displeasure and put on a smile.
"Butler Hall, this is the first batch of grain we've delivered. Please check it."
Old Hall couldn't help but smile after inspecting the grain.
"Is this potato starch? This is the first time I've ever seen it."
Bard bowed and scraped, but his gaze was fixed on the troops training not far away.
Although they were not wearing armor, they were training in formation, holding long spears in unison. Their spear thrusting movements were synchronized and powerful, which was very intimidating.
Bard quickly counted: 50 people per row, 10 rows in total.
Five hundred people.
Bud quickly did the math in his head: Ashwood Territory had a total population of at most 1,200 to 1,500 soldiers, which meant that one in every two and a half people would be armed.
Where did they get so much food?
Old Hall seemed to sense his question and said with a smile, "The lord said that people are more important than food on the wasteland. As long as people are alive, there will always be food."
Bard's smile froze for a moment. After handing over the grain and taking away nine thousand red bricks, he returned to his territory immediately.
This matter must be reported to the lord.
In fact, Bard arrived just in time for the territory's militia training.
Once a week, the men of the territory hold a large-scale training session. Only when a real war breaks out can the entire population truly become soldiers.
Unbeknownst to Bud, on the other side of the camp, many women were training in logistical tasks such as transporting supplies and maintaining weapons.
The Blackthorn Wasteland is too dangerous; all the territory's resources must be utilized to the fullest extent.
Meanwhile, inside the pit courtyard, Ron was receiving Harland.
Ron asked bluntly, "Lord Harland, there's still some time before the grain delivery is due. Is there anything I can do for you?"
Harland was well aware of the recent developments in Ashwood Territory, and shook his head with a smile: "I heard that your territory is selling building materials, so I'm planning to come and buy a batch."
Ron nodded: "Okay, but let me make it clear first, the quantity is not large, and the price is three bricks per pound of potato starch."
Regarding the price.
"There's no room for negotiation. We don't have enough for ourselves either," Ron said without looking up. "If the territory didn't lack a stable food source, I wouldn't want to sell at all. If we run out of food in a while, I'm prepared to go out and rob."
Harland froze on the spot. He hadn't expected that this Lord Ashwood was even more of a rogue than himself, and that he had adapted to Blackthorn Waste so quickly that he was already preparing to become a bandit there.
Harland said, "Given your territory's strength, the territories that come this year are likely to suffer a great loss."
Ron also became interested and asked, "How many territories were reclaimed in Blackthorn Wasteland this year? How many do you expect to survive?"
In terms of intelligence, he is far inferior to Haaland.
Haaland simply held up one finger: "Ten thousand red bricks!"
Without a second thought, Ron said, "Five thousand!"
"Nine thousand!"
"Six thousand!"
"Eight thousand!"
"Six thousand five!"
Haaland thought for a moment and said, "Seven thousand! Any lower and it's off the table."
"Deal!" Ron nodded.
"This year, 36 pioneering lords came to the Blackthorn Wasteland. Some had as many as five or six hundred men, while others had as few as two or three hundred. So far, 21 pioneering lords are still alive. If this trend continues, we should thank God for mercy if 10 of them survive by the end of the year." Harland added, "More than half of the lords who survived in the first year will not be able to hold on in the second year."
Ron seemed thoughtful and asked, "What about the population of those whose territories were destroyed?"
Without a second thought, Harland replied, "A small number became bandits! Some were divided up by other territories, and the rest became captives and food for goblins."
Ron then asked, "How many lords does the kingdom have within the Blackthorn Wasteland?"
"Five thousand bricks for a fixed price."
Ron thought for a moment and nodded.
"172nd place!"
"So many!" Ron exclaimed in surprise.
"The area we've expanded is twice the size of the original kingdom's territory. After more than a hundred years of development, 172 lords are distributed across a territory of approximately 100 to 200 million square kilometers. In some areas, you can travel hundreds of miles without seeing a single territory. And how many noble lords does the kingdom have? Including the knightly lords, there must be at least ten or twenty thousand!" Harland said irritably. "If it weren't for the kingdom's explosive population growth, why would the kingdom have even considered developing the cursed Blackthorn Wasteland?"
When Ron heard about the cursed land, he secretly made a mental note of it.
Ron asked, "What should I do if I want to increase the population?"
Harland gave a strange smile: "Every year, the kingdom deliberately sends a group of lords to develop the land, bringing with them a large number of criminals and refugees. However, the number of refugees and criminals in the kingdom has never stopped growing every day. So every now and then, some nobles will keep the refugees in captivity and drive them to the Blackthorn Wasteland to sell."
"As long as you have money, you can buy any kind of slave, and sometimes they're cheaper than you can imagine."
Ron was somewhat surprised: "How cheap?"
Harland said, "Sometimes, a single gold coin can buy ten slaves, but you have to transport them back to your territory yourself."
Ron was genuinely surprised.
After Harland finished speaking, he tossed out a gold coin: "However, few lords buy it. After all, the Blackthorn Wasteland has not yet established a sound financial system. Gold coins have no purchasing power in the Blackthorn Wasteland. Those more remote territories don't even need gold coins all year round."
The gold coin spun on the table, and he quickly pressed it down: "Sword, or head?"
One side of the gold coin from the Kingdom of Auster features Auster I, the founding emperor of the Kingdom of Auster, while the other side displays the kingdom's emblem—a sword and a griffin.
"sword!"
Haaland withdrew his hand, saw the head on it, and laughed, saying, "You guessed wrong, it's a head."
"Boring!" Ron said irritably. "There are so many places, why are there so many lords around us?"
Harland said, "Because this place is closest to the kingdom, if things really can't hold out, we can escape back to the kingdom. Those territories that go deep into the heartland, once they are destroyed, will surely perish."
Ron nodded and said, "Tell me why you came all this way! I don't believe you came here just to buy bricks."
"De Gea territory is dangerous, be careful! In recent years, more than two-thirds of the territories in this area have been destroyed, all of which are related to De Gea territory, and most of those who destroyed them were goblins."
Haaland's statement contains a great deal of information.
………………
Haaland's cavalry disappeared outside the north gate.
Ron stood on the city wall, clutching the gold coin he had guessed wrong. His portrait was a profile of Auster I, with a hooked nose and deep-set eyes, like a dead man staring at him.
"Old Hall."
"exist."
"Have Mad and Thun investigate the matter in Degea. Also, send someone back to the kingdom to see how much manpower and money can be mobilized."
Old Hall hesitated for a moment: "Young Master, I don't think the outlook is too optimistic!"
"Don't worry, as long as we establish commercial channels." Ron tucked the gold coins into his pocket. "We can sell bricks. Bricks are valuable in the wasteland, but grain is worthless in the kingdom."
Old Hall nodded and turned to make the arrangements.
Ron did not return to the pit courtyard; he stood in front of the crenellations, looking at the gray-black horizon to the north.
Haaland said that the loss of two-thirds of the territory was related to De Gea's territory.
Ron's expression grew increasingly serious.
He couldn't wait any longer.
The city walls need to be built faster, the army needs to be stronger, and the intelligence network needs to be built from scratch.
De Gea's territory cannot be held up for long; they will likely send goblins to attack it soon.