Throne of the North.

Chapter 12: Lingdu City and the County Magistrate
"Hahahaha, Ryan, come here. This is mare's milk specially shipped from the south. If it wasn't easy to preserve in the North Wind Province, you might not be able to wait until then. Hahaha."

Hatton attentively poured Ryan some snow-white mare's milk, and there were several good-looking maids waiting beside him with iron kettles in their hands.

Ryan was not at all polite to Hatton's hospitality. After all, he hadn't eaten such food for a long time.

What's more, after becoming a knight, his appetite increased greatly, almost three to five times that of an ordinary person.

Not only the food, but even the bed in Baron Hatton's territory was countless times softer than the hard bed board in the Frozen Territory. Ryan felt that he had never slept on such a comfortable bed since he traveled through time.

"Soon, I'll have it, too."

Without any attachment to the soft bed, Ryan opened the door and headed for the soldiers' training camp.

Here, Ryan saw the only knight in the Barony of Hatton, White Bryn.

A knight with a surname, yes, his ancestor was once a noble, but he fell into decline. White became the Knight Commander of the Barony of Hatton, perhaps with the intention of Baron Hatton granting him a territory in the future so that he could restore the glory of the Brin family.

But Ryan felt that White's generation had no chance, because with Baron Hutton in this condition, being able to keep his barony was already a honor to leave a name in the family tree.

Want him to work harder?
Ryan glanced at the maids coming in and out in the distance and shook his head.

"Knight White, do you know how many soldiers Knight Water has?"

"Greetings, Baron Ryan." Knight White respectfully performed a standard knight's salute, as if he was a little flattered by Ryan's gentle appearance.

White glanced at Brand, who was standing closely behind Ryan, and said:
"Knight Watt has a total of one hundred soldiers, of which only twenty are trainee knights, and the rest are just trained militiamen."

Ryan nodded, and then asked:

"What about the slaves?"

He knew very well that the number of soldiers these lords could mobilize was not as large as it seemed.

Every time there was a war, the lord would drag the slaves to the battlefield, and when the war was over, the surviving slaves would return to the mines or farmland.

In short, the main focus is on a fight between two noobs.

Ryan could guess the one hundred people White mentioned. Except for the twenty apprentice knights, the remaining eighty militiamen were only half-time.

"One hundred capable soldiers." Ryan looked here. The situation in Baron Hatton's territory was much better than that in Knight Water's territory. This was thanks to the fact that Baron Hatton had a good father.

"Baron Hutton has a total of 120 soldiers, all of whom are armored, and 30 of them are apprentice knights." White said this with a bit of pride in his tone, because this was all his credit.

Ryan didn't know why he was so proud. Although he was stronger, Knight Water always had the upper hand.

"Go and wake up Baron Hatton. It's time for us to set off."

After a long time, Baron Hatton finally appeared in front of Ryan, yawning.

The two barons walked in the front, and soon, a mighty group of five or six hundred people marched towards the center of the conflict between Baron Hatton and Knight Water.

Although it was a small iron mine, it made the Baron and the Knights earn a lot of money.

……

Riding on a Highland warhorse from the south, Ryan couldn't help but touch the horse's mane with envy.

Can a knight without a mount be called a knight? Can a noble without a mount be called a noble?

Baron Hatton had nothing else, but he had the ability to read people's expressions, which was a basic skill for every noble. He patted the brown warhorse under him with some pride and said:
"Lian, the city of Lingdu where Viscount Miles is located sends hundreds of highland war horses from the south every spring. If you are interested, you can ask your servants to wait for you."

"But each Highland Warhorse is worth a lot. Hundreds of gold coins are not enough."

To put it bluntly, Hatton couldn't help but show off his wealth, and Ryan couldn't help but be amazed when he heard these words.

A warhorse can be sold for hundreds of gold coins in the North Wind Province. It seems that distance can really create wealth.

According to his memory, the price of an adult warhorse in the southern part of the empire should be between dozens and a hundred gold coins, but when it comes to the border of the empire, the price can increase tenfold.

However, as far as he knew, there was indeed no place in the North Wind Province where horses were produced, even though there was a plain here.

Still the same problem, it’s too cold.

The distance and cold made war horses expensive.

Because they are so expensive, even the Barony of Hatton only has five.

It is naturally impossible for Barons Ryan and Hutton to walk on their own legs. Apart from them, there are Knight White and Baron Hutton's eldest son, Lane Hutton.

Liam Hutton was only one or two years younger than Ryan, but his aristocratic education still made him look mature, so there was envy in his eyes when he looked at Ryan.

There is still a gap between the heir to a barony and the baron, especially since they both look like teenagers.

The last warhorse was under Brand. This guardian knight was the one who loved the warhorse the most among the few people. What was even more magical was that the warhorse under him seemed to particularly enjoy Brand's touch.

Hatton couldn't help laughing when he saw this scene. "Lian, it seems you need to prepare a good mount for your knight!"

Ryan did not refute, but began to ask about the situation in Lingdu City.

As for that city, he only knew that it was the closest city to the Frozen Territory and the Barony of Hatton.

Viscount Miles is the owner of the city and also the governor of Lingdu County, one of the seven governors of North Wind Province.

The viscounty of Viscount Miles spreads out with that city as its center. In the entire Lingdu County, in addition to Viscount Miles, there is another viscount, big and small, as well as seventeen or eighteen baronies, and a similar number of knight territories.

The entire empire has a very simple administrative division from top to bottom, that is, Empire-Province-County-Village and Town. Almost every place in the southern part of the empire, even the villages and towns, are ruled by nobles. In addition to these administrative divisions, there are also some territories that belong exclusively to the nobles.

For example, the four grand dukes of the empire all live in their own grand dukedoms, and the same is true for some earls and even viscounts.

These noble territories do not belong to the administrative divisions of the empire and can be considered as countries within a country. However, without exception, they all have one thing in common.

That is the confidence that comes with strength.

You know, for example, Viscount Miles, if there is a county-level city like Lingdu City in his territory, he can collect taxes from the city every year.

This is also an important source of income for the Miles family. The viscount attaches great importance to this city.

Some nobles wanted to occupy such a city so that their families would have a sufficient source of income. However, some nobles, because of their own strength, looked down on these cities that belonged to them and the empire.

Thinking of this, Ryan couldn't help but speculate in his heart.

"I wonder if the Viscount Dragun in Lingdu County is the former or the latter?"

(End of this chapter)