Riding and Slashing

Chapter 267 Friends' Wine
Li Ang finally agreed to Mario's conditions.

All he wanted was the land north of Wolvern Castle and south of Shieldwind Keep.

In the eyes of others, that area is just a lot of wasteland and small villages, and the only densely populated territory is Yimer Village.

But for Li Ang, it was an important depth area, and it was also the only place he could really get with his current status, and it was also the last gap outside the Noldor Forest.

After obtaining this deep belt of hundreds of miles, not only the Noldor elves can appear in all of Leon's territories, but Leon himself will have the confidence to face any force—including the Sarleon Kingdom.

Moreover, Yimer Village has potatoes and corn planted by Dean, plus the surrounding small villages, and has a total population of over [-].

In fact, this deal was quite a bargain for Emperor Marius, he hardly spent any capital, except for a knight order that did not belong to him, it was just an excuse, or in the name of sending troops .

This excuse is Titus.

Speaking of which, Titus is not a member of the Bacchus Empire, he was originally an officer of the Ashborn Empire.

Years ago Titus was sent to Pendor by Emperor Marnius of the Ashborn Empire, and he was one of the first members of the Ashborn to make contact with Emperor Marius.

In fact, he had nothing to do with the Phoenix Knights when he was in the Ashborn Empire. He was originally a fleet officer, and when he was sent to Pendor Continent, he was the fleet escort officer of the escort mission.

At that time, the Bacchus Empire was thriving, but the Ashborn Empire in the Amara Continent was fighting extremely hard against the Snake Cult, so Emperor Manius sent a mission to ask for help from Emperor Marius of the Bacchus Empire.

They are both Bacchus, although they are separated from two continents, but no matter what they are of the same origin, they naturally have to support each other in the face of the Snake Cult.

At that time, Emperor Marius also noticed the threat of the Snake Cult. Although the mission sent by Marnius was poor and empty, and brought almost nothing but sincerity... Emperor Marius still agreed to the covenant, not only providing A lot of material support was provided, and several more advanced warships were sent over.

The continent of Amara was once occupied by the Snake Cult for many years, and the Ashborn Empire was rebuilt on the ruins. The technological development has never improved, and even the missions still use the old ship models from a hundred years ago.

Although the new warships of the Bacchus Empire are not too strong, they are indeed much more advanced than those of the Snake Cult, and the Ashborn Empire can also gain some advantages due to this.

At that time, this matter was criticized by the Senate, saying that Emperor Marius spent the treasury to unilaterally fund other countries, which was a waste of national power.

However, Marius said on the spot that "most of the people who say such things are inseparable from the Snake Worship Cult", and maintained the covenant with a firm attitude.

At the same time, in order to keep in touch with the Ashborn Empire, Emperor Marius kept Titus in the Bacchus Empire and gave him the high position of general.

This appointment was originally a courtesy to the envoys from afar, and it was also for the convenience of continuing cooperation with the Ashborn Empire. No one objected to giving Titus the title of general. After all, he was just an empty general.

And this generous appointment gave Titus the idea of ​​serving in the Bacchus Empire for a long time.

——Even if it is an empty general, he is still a general after all!
Besides, during the time when Titus came to Pendor Continent as an escort officer, he saw what the Bacchus Empire looked like before it was ravaged by the Snake Cult on a large scale.

Prosperous, rich, clean, full of vitality, even the women who stumbled in the alleys of Siyuan City are more beautiful...

Life here is much better than the ruins of the Ashborn Empire.

But as an outsider, he was still an empty-headed general, and the Bacchus actually didn't like him very much. Although they were all polite to his identity, no one would really treat him as their own.

So Titus has been trying to find a way since then.

Soon after, the Bacchus Empire and the Sarleon Kingdom went to war.

During the war, Titus got his chance—at least in name, he was a general, and of course he should participate in the war.

Titus exhausted all his savings, even sold his own sea ship, pulled up a motley crew, and made great contributions to the war against the Sarleon Kingdom.

That battle was not a big victory, the miscellaneous army he had just recruited was almost killed and wounded, and the loss was far greater than that of the Sarleon Kingdom.

But the strategically achieved results were good - he held the Fort of Sava for the Bacchus Empire.

In this battle, Titus took no prisoners.

As a descendant of ashes, he used to fight against the Snake Cultists, and Titus was originally a fleet officer, so he naturally didn't have the habit of keeping prisoners.

At that time, Titus had just arrived in Pendor Continent, and he hadn't understood the rules among the nobles of Pendor. He didn't know that the nobles of the Sarleion Kingdom would spend money to redeem themselves...

Therefore, many noble knights of the Lion Kingdom died in his hands, and those nobles who surrendered were all killed by him--Titus' troops suffered too many casualties, and he was basically bankrupt. The fire could not be contained at all.

As a result, Titus was considered 'cruel' by most of the nobles, making him even more unpopular...

But in any case, Titus did make military exploits for the empire, which is an irrefutable fact.

In addition, it is rare to fight so hard for the Bacchus Empire as an Ashborn.

So Titus became a real imperial general, and got the Sava River Fort as his territory-the area under the jurisdiction of the Sava River Fort is quite large, and most of the Sava River Basin is fertile cultivated land, which is the territory of the Bacchus Empire. Terrific territory.

This was originally the place Governor Levius had been envious of. As a large border county, Sava River Fort can get a lot of autonomy and control the border guards...

Emperor Marius allowed Titus to be the lord of Sava Castle, but he did not treat him as an outsider.

So this outsider became the real general who controlled the army, and he barely integrated into the Bacchus Empire.

But Titus killed the nobles who surrendered before, which itself is a never-ending excuse—from then on, the Sarleon Kingdom declared war on the Bacchus Empire without any excuses, or attacked in the name of 'recovering the homeland' Karen Deer Castle, or attack Sava River Fort in the name of 'revenge'.

In fact, when Emperor Marius made Titus the lord of the Sava River Castle, he had such an intention in the first place—he was taking the initiative to create a name for the Sarleon Kingdom.

The Bacchus Empire must always face the enemy, so that the country can be united;
At the same time, when the old fellows in the Senate are always facing the threat of the Lion Kingdom, they will not propose anything like dismissing Marius - they need Emperor Marius to block the enemy who may attack at any time.

Only when these laggards in the country do not mess around can Mario carry out his reforms.

And Titus himself knew that many nobles in the Sarleion Kingdom had enmity against him. Once defeated, he might not even have the chance to surrender.

So he must guard the Sava River Fort well and must not be captured.

Besides, he didn't want to lose the territory he acquired after paying the price of bankruptcy.

Most of the Bacchus also regarded Titus as an outsider, and he didn't get much help—he had no other way out except to try his best to defend the Sava River Fort and serve Emperor Marius wholeheartedly.

In fact, Titus has been doing this all these years. He is another form of lonely minister.

This is the logic of an emperor like Marius enfeoffing territories, and there are many more things to consider than most people imagine.

The same is true of the logic of business negotiations between Emperor Marius and Leon.

A country, or a great power, actually needs enemies, and sometimes they even have to personally send the enemies an excuse to declare war—Mario knows this, and so does Li Ang.

Li Ang took the initiative to give Mario an excuse before. He occupied Kalunbuck Castle and Shieldwind Fortress in the name of "capturing", so his territory belongs to "always facing the counterattack of the Bacchus Empire". Other lords will not hold him back;
At the same time, Emperor Marius also needed to 'face the attack that Li Ang might launch at any time', so that the country could be united.

As opponents of enemy countries, there can actually be a tacit understanding with each other.

The excuse provided by Emperor Marius to Li Ang was still the 'cruel' General Titus.

The two reached an agreement at Leyla Fortress, agreeing to attack Eichcoman together, but they will not act together. Li Ang will lead the army to attack from land, while Emperor Marius' fleet will attack from the sea-two sides attack, and Li Ang It will not be regarded as collaborating with the enemy without permission, which is the best choice.

Emperor Marius really needed to start a war against Dexia. He needed horses, and he also needed to solve the domestic difficulties. He also needed to find a channel for the domestic maritime merchants who were unable to do business for half a year due to the influence of the rebels and the Snake Cult.

Occupying Eichcomman will indeed restore the economy of the Bacchus Empire.

"Have a drink with me, I hope we can successfully conquer Ashkoman... But after this, we probably won't be able to work together peacefully again..."

After the negotiation, Emperor Marius kindly invited Li Ang to drink.

It was the jug and cup brought by Marius himself, and the jug was placed on a small stove. It seems that Emperor Marius liked to drink the wine that was boiled and placed in the lukewarm.

"Your Majesty, why do you say that?"

Li Ang took the wine glass handed over by Emperor Marius, and took a sip. The wine was full of sweetness and taste, and the taste was indeed quite good.

"I want to regain the lost land, and these lost lands are in your hands. I must get them back as soon as possible... As the emperor, there are many responsibilities that must be fulfilled."

Emperor Marius' attitude was serious.

"There's no need to rush to regain the lost ground... Wait... Your Majesty, are you feeling ill?"

Li Ang's attitude also became serious, and he noticed that there seemed to be a hint of urgency in Mario's words.

Something wrong with him?
Unless he felt that his life was not long, otherwise he wouldn't say these things at this time!

"Heh... I won't sign any agreement with you. Anyway, the Phoenix Knights are stationed in Karen Lulu Castle. Neither you nor I need to worry about being attacked by the other party. This is more effective than any agreement."

Emperor Mario didn't respond to Li Ang's question, but just shook his head and took a big gulp of wine.

Li Ang picked up the glass and looked at it. The flagon and the glass are silver, but the material doesn't seem to be silver.

"Agreement is waste paper, honesty is fundamental. Your Majesty, it's your utensil... Is this a lead jug?"

Li Ang lifted the lid of the jug, and the warm wine inside exuded a rich sweet aroma.

"Lead jugs can sweeten the sour taste of wine, you should try..."

Emperor Marius nodded, trying to pour some more for Li Ang.

But Li Ang shook his head and refused.

"I must advise you to drink less wine, and .

After hesitating for a while, Li Ang decided to try to persuade the emperor.

"That's all I have as a hobby... Is there anything wrong with this jug?"

The emperor Marius does not seem to have known the consequences of heating wine in lead vessels.

The Bacchus have had a long history of mining and smelting lead, so a large number of lead products have poured into the daily life of the Bacchus.The process of lead poisoning is extremely slow, and most people don't realize that this metal that brings them countless conveniences can also bring them countless pains.

There is a reason why the population of the Bacchus Empire has not increased...

"Packing food in materials like lead can cause chronic poisoning... Drinking is better in clay pots, my friend."

Li Ang also knew that the influence of heavy metal compounds on people is difficult to explain in this age, so he directly gave a specific suggestion.

"thank you, friend."

Emperor Marius nodded, apparently listening.

Perhaps this is the only time that the two are considered friends, and they will only be rivals in the future.

The advice from friends was effective, and Emperor Marius replaced the lead pot with a clay pot when he returned.

But just one day later he switched back...

The wines of this era were relatively sour. Mario had long been used to sweet red wine heated in lead pots, and the wine in clay pots made it difficult for him to swallow.

After so many years, the poison that should be poisoned has already been poisoned. Emperor Marius shook his head and smiled bitterly, and then he did it again willfully.

However, on the same day, he ordered the promulgation of a special decree to increase the commercial tax on food utensils such as lead jugs, pots and pans-and directly increased the tax by ten times.

If there is no accident, the price of lead food utensils will increase several times, and people who cannot afford it will naturally find other cheap products instead.

……

Three days later, the kingdom's army gathered under the handsome flag, and the fleet of the Bacchus Empire also began to set off from Siyuan City.

Li Ang led his troops to the vicinity of Turda Fortress and stationed in a valley thirty miles east of the fortress.

Li Ang had been to this valley before—this was the place where he gambled with Ramon.

And this time, Li Ang also met Ramon here again - he took the initiative to ask Ramon to come and meet.

Still at the place where they first met, they were still facing each other on horseback.

"Brother, stay safe? Do you remember what I told you once?"

Seeing Ramon again, Li Ang seemed extremely enthusiastic.

"My lord Li Ang... he is actually a marshal now, and his value has risen really fast... what do you mean?"

Ramon obviously committed some occupational diseases, everyone has to estimate his worth...

"I told you before that I want to jointly auction the seat of the city lord with you...even the throne!"

Li Ang smiled and threw a dice at Ramon: "I'm here to honor this deal."

It was the dice that Ramon had thrust into his hand.

(End of this chapter)