Throne of the North.

Chapter 346: Collect money! Give money!
Looking at the news coming back from the far north, the anger on the Holy Mountain lasted for a full half day.

The noble Pope angrily denounced the incompetence of Cardinal Raymond and Reverend Soto, and then began another sharp rhetoric against the Empire.

"And that damn Baron!!!"

"Tell me, why? Why did a baron of the empire destroy everything we had in the Andara Kingdom?"

"why why!"

"We have completely lost the faith and land of that kingdom, all because of a baron, all because of the incompetent Soto and Raymond. On what basis did they become believers of the Dawn?"

After being angry for a long time, the Pope suddenly calmed down, as if his previous anger was all an act.

However, the coldness in his eyes showed that his anger was always there, not only directed at the Empire and Baron Ryan, but also at the people in the Vatican.

Pastor Soto and Cardinal Raymond, but they are already dead, and it is meaningless to hold them accountable. So the people who should bear the blame within the Vatican need to be alive and come forward.

"Imprison the commander of the Eiffel Corps in the Abyss Prison for ten years."

The Pope's voice frightened countless believers on the Holy Mountain.

"Also, that baron from the empire is actually threatening the Holy See. Does he really think that the Holy See dare not abandon the believers of the Andara Kingdom? "

"Chenxi never accepts any coercion or compromise."

This time, someone stood up.

It is Archbishop Adriana. Her status is very high among her peers and she can face the Pope directly.

"Your Holiness, perhaps we have no choice but to do so."

When she spoke, the Pope had to lower his eyes to look at the archbishop who had been blessed by the gods many times.

"In the Andara Kingdom, there are far more believers of the Dawn than the 100,000 believers in that city. Baron Ryan told us that if we don't agree, he will kill hundreds of thousands of believers."

"That's just an exaggeration. There aren't hundreds of thousands of believers in that city. There are only a hundred thousand at most. I know Pastor Soto's ability."

Adriana shook her head.

"Perhaps, he is not exaggerating. He is not just talking about the believers in the city, but also all the Dawn believers in the Andara Kingdom."

"In the territories of those nobles, there are our churches and priests. In the cities of the kingdom, there are our churches and priests. Whether it is the royal city or the villages of the baronies, there are our believers."

"There must be people who serve the Dawn among them."

The Pope clenched his fists. Yes, the Holy See's control over the Andara Kingdom's faith over the years allowed them to proudly say that among five people, they could definitely find a believer who could speak the Doctrine of the Dawn.

But now, this pride has become a means for Ryan to threaten them.

Hundreds of thousands? Less.

“Perhaps, this is him saving more believers.”

The Pope stared at Adriana, a little angry.

"You are actually speaking for him? For a noble of the empire? A baron? The heir of a great noble family?"

Ryan's identity information has naturally been known to the Vatican.

"Do not."

Adriana shook her head and said:

"I believe Baron Ryan is an enemy of the Church because he might really kill those people cruelly. All I'm saying is that under his decision, we will save more people."

The Archbishop looked at the Pope and said in awe:

"Your Majesty, do you really intend to hand over the faith of the Andara Kingdom to the Empire?"

"Of course not possible."

"If that's the case, then the believers of the Dawn in the land of the Andara Kingdom are our chance to regain the faith there."

"If we still have the people in that land, then we have a chance to regain the faith of the Andara Kingdom with their help and let the light of dawn shine there again."

"But...if they're all dead, there's no chance."

"We need a city to ensure that the nobles of the kingdom and the empire will not harm the lives of those who still believe in the Dawn. That is the power that belongs to us in the kingdom."

The Pope nodded. This was indeed the reason. To use a city to tell the world that their faith in the Andara Kingdom had ended, so that more believers could survive.

Those were the nails they left on the kingdom's soil.

He certainly did not think that the Church would not regain the faith of the Andara Kingdom, especially during his tenure, he would make the Church prosperous again.

"Then go ask that damned baron how much he wants."

"Also, let Black Swan take action. When he leaves the kingdom, I will make him die within the Empire's territory."

"Since we have already killed a marquis, then killing a baron won't be a big deal."

The Pope's cold voice echoed on the top of the Holy Mountain, and no one dared to question his decision.

……

"How much do I want?"

Ryan looked at Archbishop Adriana in front of him. She came so quickly. In just one day, she traveled all the way north from the Holy Mountain in the south to the Andara Kingdom. What did she ride?
Ryan didn't see it, he only saw the sincerity of the Holy See.

So he smiled.

"Do you know, Raymond, how many soldiers I lost with that cardinal?"

"Thirty thousand, a full thirty thousand people, were killed by him."

Although Adriana still had big wavy hair, she was not as kind as she was last time when facing Ryan. She looked more cold and noble.

"Baron Ryan, I have learned that you have only lost more than 3,000 soldiers, and the number of soldiers that actually belong to you is less than 500."

Ryan's smile faded, and his eyes turned cold at this moment, making Adriana feel as if she had looked at the Pope before.

"Only? Less than five hundred?"

Ryan's voice was cold.

"You know that human life cannot be expressed in numbers?"

“Every one of them is priceless.”

Adriana did not answer, but asked:

"How much do you want? If it exceeds the value of the hundreds of thousands of believers in that city, the Church will reject all your requests."

"The faith of Dawn does not accept any oppression."

"This is the first time I've heard the word oppression from the Vatican."

Ryan smiled and no longer concealed it.

"One million gold coins."

"Besides that, I also need a hundred drops of holy water, the same kind you gave me last time. They can save a lot of people."

Ryan recognized the divine powers of the Holy See. In the face of these divine powers, fatigue and illness were nothing.

"Then I also want the city, the Walled City of Dawn, and the land that it encompasses."

Adriana frowned, and Ryan knew what he meant.

"I know what you want to say. Even if I don't want that city, it no longer belongs to the Church. It can belong to me or the kingdom, but everything needs a formal ceremony."

"The Holy See lost that city, but the city was once obtained by the Holy See from the Kingdom in a formal way and with formal means. Now I want this inheritance to belong to me, Ryan."

"has no meaning?"

Adriana asked, but Ryan kept silent. Of course, he didn't want to say anything. He wanted to use the city's deep-rooted influence in the kingdom to attract people who were fond of Dawn.

He doesn't care about light or dawn, he only knows that as long as those people are in his hands, they can create value for him.

What's more, the city itself is of great value and also encompasses the best arable land, rivers, lakes, mountains and forests around it.

These values ​​are huge.

"The Holy See will agree to your request."

"It's not over yet."

Ryan continued:

"You, the people of Dawn, have been eating me for three days and have almost emptied my granary. The food allowance is 50,000 gold coins."

Ryan looked at Adriana and said:

"Archbishop, you should understand what I mean. I helped you save many believers in the kingdom, didn't I?"

"Even the clergy of the Church in the noble territories were only expelled, not killed."

The Archbishop looked at Ryan and asked, "So you really know everything?"

"I'm not as cruel as you think. There are so many people, I don't need to kill them all."

"Even if there are hundreds of thousands of believers in the city, if the Holy See doesn't want them, I will find a way to send them back to the empire and give them to the emperor in exchange for a reward." "Kill them? That's meaningless."

Ryan shook his head. Adriana's perception of him actually improved a lot.

“The Lord will take care of you.”

The archbishop was extremely surprised that Ryan was able to protect the believers of Dawn under the current situation between the Empire and the Church.

"That's not necessary. The Light will take care of me."

Ryan laughed and told Adriana that when the things were delivered to him, he would be able to take away the hundreds of thousands of believers in the Dawn Wall City.

Unexpectedly, the next moment, a mountain of boxes appeared in front of Ryan.

Master Ryan, breathing a little hurriedly, stared at the boxes intently. After making sure that they were all filled with gold coins, he looked up at Adriana.

"If I rob you now, can I get more gold coins?"

The latter shook his head.

“That’s the wealth of the morning sun.”

Ryan resumed his noble demeanor and branded his emblem on the contract, while the Vatican's symbol of the rising dawn was also branded on some formal parchment.

"That city is yours."

"So quickly take your people away and leave my city."

One million and five hundred thousand gold coins would allow Master Ryan to praise Chenxi, plus the wealth he had previously plundered in the city, the profits shared with him by the nobles of the kingdom, and the reward given to him by the Andara Kingdom...

He suddenly understood Adams' reaction when he saw the royal wealth.

The Wall of Dawn, no, now it’s called the City of Dawn.

"Now this city completely belongs to us?"

Bogurd was surprised and ran wildly with Volibear on the empty streets. Except for the churches, the city here was intact and even the city walls were not damaged.

"Not only here, but also the farmland and lakes outside are all ours."

Ryan said with a smile, then spoke seriously.

"Bogard."

"I will grant the Violent War Bear Legion the ownership of five thousand houses in the City of Dawn, as well as two lakes outside the city, one large and one small. All the wealth and food produced in these lakes will be yours."

"Brand."

"The Buck Legion will enjoy ownership of the 7,000 houses here and the 3,000 acres of farmland outside. All the wealth produced will be used to reward the soldiers of the Buck Legion."

The two legion commanders opened their eyes wide and thanked Ryan.

Ryan's decision has elevated the soldiers of the two legions to the upper echelons of the Frozen Territory's high-income group. Even if it is decided on a family basis, it can make a family wealthy.

The flag of the Frozen Territory was hoisted in Dawn City, and this place would undoubtedly belong to Ryan. After leaving two hundred soldiers, Ryan led his army to the royal city.

Outside the city, most of the nobles' troops have returned along the same route, but the Legion of Light Judgment from the Empire is still stationed here and they have not left yet.

The army had 30,000 men when they came, but now only 21,420 men are left.

The actual number of casualties is even higher, because a small group of these people are actually reinforcements from the kingdom's territory.

Conscripting young men was not an uncommon thing. After the noble territories were conquered, the displaced population became lambs to be slaughtered.

Therefore, the war in which the Empire supported the Kingdom of Andara was actually more brutal than imagined.

Ryan didn't know what kind of treatment these people would receive if they returned alive, nor did he know what the North Wind Province would become like when thousands of families who had lost their young and strong people were added to the land.

He asked his servants to carry out a dozen boxes.

"Back then, you left behind a silver coin and followed me in the charge. Today I will tell you that what you left behind was a silver coin, but you will receive a higher honor."

"One for each person!"

"This is my personal thanks to you, Ryan."

The soldiers opened their eyes wide. They had never felt the presence of gold coins in their lives. It was not that the gold coins were not good, but that they were not good enough.

But now…gold coins worth twenty silver coins and two thousand copper coins were placed in front of them.

That is a fortune that you may not be able to earn even if you work hard for a whole year.

The soldiers subconsciously lined up in a long queue without crowding. They believed that Lord Baron Ryan would not let any of them be left out.

Even the able-bodied men became much more loyal in the face of gold coins.

The soldiers began to pick up the gold coins one by one. There was a knight watching beside them. Everyone was very conscious and did not dare to be greedy. Some soldiers found that the gold coins in their hands seemed different. There were fingerprints on them.

It seemed as if someone had used great strength to leave fingerprints on the gold coin.

"I said, this gold coin is not just wealth, it is a testimony to your honor on the battlefield."

Some soldiers had red necks because after the war, they picked up the silver coins they had lost.

After all, the value of a silver coin is also very precious to them.

"How about we return the silver coins we got from before?"

A soldier whispered, and the people around him hesitated, but Ryan did not give them a chance at this time.

Hundreds of large boxes were moved out. The wealth that Master Ryan had plundered in the war with the Andara Kingdom could not be measured by gold coins.

The boxes were opened one by one, and inside were piles of silver coins. For ordinary people, this was real wealth.

"I said, the gold coins before are your glory, and they are my, Ryan Clayton's recognition and testimony to each and every one of you."

“That’s not wealth, that’s more than just wealth.”

"And if you follow me, Ryan, to fight, you'll get paid."

"You followed me all the way from the Northern Wind Province of the Empire to the Andara Kingdom and experienced a long period of war. I don't want you to be unable to show anything when you talk to your sons and grandchildren about it and ask them what you gained from the war."

"Fifteen silver coins per person. This is your military pay!"

The soldiers were excited when they heard such a high-sounding term as "military pay" for the first time. When each soldier actually held the fifteen silver coins tightly in his palm, they began to cheer excitedly.

"Long live Master Ryan!"

"Long live Master Ryan!"

The cheers even alarmed the nobles in the royal city, but distributing money was destined to be a long process, and Ryan had no time to pay attention to the nobles in the royal city and King Adams.

Seeing another batch of boxes being moved out, the soldiers began to wonder if they were hallucinating.

"This war is not for the Empire, not for the noble lords you are loyal to, but for the Kingdom of Andara."

"They invited us here, so naturally they have to pay us."

"Ten silver coins per person."

The soldiers were breathing rapidly; they had never imagined they would be so wealthy.

One gold coin, twenty-five silver coins, plus some valuables that some soldiers had picked up during the war...

"Long live Master Ryan!!!"

The peasants had nothing to say. If possible, they would be willing to follow Lord Ryan to fight another war.

The boiling sound continued to attract the attention of the royal city. This time, Ryan was willing to deal with the nobles.

He paid the soldiers on behalf of the kingdom. He paid ordinary soldiers ten silver coins. How about the knights? How about the nobles? How about his own servants? How about Stuart and Rose?

Although Commander Farrell is not a member of his own command or the Legion of Light Judgment, he is the future commander of the Winged Canyon and he has to show goodwill to a legend.

In fact, the amount of silver coins given to these soldiers was the smallest amount.

But he will receive the most steadfast loyalty.

Loyalty is not just allegiance, it can be many things.

But Master Ryan was also heartbroken. He needed to ask the kingdom for the military pay and remuneration. He had given out so much, and the kingdom should pay him back more.

Oh, yes, there are also rewards and remunerations belonging to Baron Ryan personally.

"The dead soldiers will also have a share of the living. I have asked the soldiers to help bring back their families in their respective territories."

When entering the royal city, Ryan was certainly not alone. There were also Lord Hora, Feder, and the nobles who followed the legion.

"I hope that you can all faithfully ensure that this money appears in the families of those fallen soldiers."

Ryan said this, and the nobles complied, but what exactly would happen was not Ryan's business.

He just finished his words, and let the specific results be as they are.

The Legion of Light's Judgment belonged to all the nobles of the Northern Province and to the Empire, and Ryan was only the commander-in-chief.

(End of this chapter)