Throne of the North.

Chapter 420: The Chamber of Commerce collects relatives and observes the future
Outside Lingdu City, the construction of three villages and towns is in full swing.

This enthusiasm was not a real enthusiasm, because as time passed, the people in the three villages and towns could no longer hold back their excitement.

They were all soldiers before, and the soldiers formed the army.

Simply put, they are all men.

Of course they have families, but now the fate of their families is uncertain. Some are clearly gone, while others are still waiting for them to return.

A hot-tempered heart not only makes the body restless, but also makes the mood irritable.

Finding your family, wife, sons, daughters, parents, brothers and sisters, becomes the top priority.

This is also because these people feel that the war is far away and they need to return to a peaceful life.

The original enthusiasm for building the settlement therefore seemed a little dull.

"The war has kept the Chamber of Commerce's caravan here for two months. It's time to go to other noble territories for transportation."

In the Frozen Territory, Steward Beard is arranging a caravan to travel within the North Wind Province. The size of this caravan cannot be too small, and most importantly, it needs soldiers to follow, because the North Wind Province is not peaceful right now.

"All the labor force is made up of those newly arrived peasants. They also need to find their relatives anyway, so let them send representatives out."

"The soldier's words..."

Beard thought about it and decided that he needed to consult Master Ryan about this matter.

Soon, Beard got the answer from the castle.

"Let a few armored bear warriors follow us, and then go to Lingdu City to hire two or three adventure groups."

Having gotten the result, Beard just had to do it, but he still didn't understand why the master wanted to let those mud-legged adventure groups from Lingdu City participate.

Maybe there are not enough people? Beard shook his head. He couldn't think like that. Under the leadership of the master, the frozen land was thriving and becoming stronger and stronger. How could there be a lack of manpower?

If you can't figure it out, just stop thinking about it and do your work humbly and peacefully. This is the truth his deceased father taught him.

……

"You don't want to find your family, bring them here, and end up not having a house, right?!"

Beard looked majestically at the people who were building houses on several construction sites and shouted loudly.

"Master Ryan is kind enough to let you build a village on this land and become its citizens. You must not be ungrateful and complete the task that Master Ryan has given you within the construction period!"

"No one is allowed to be lazy, otherwise if I find your wife, I will give her to someone else!"

When facing these people, Beard appeared extremely cruel and powerful. After inspecting the construction sites in three villages and towns, Beard entered Lingdu City.

"Who are the three most powerful adventuring groups in the guild?"

He went straight to the point. The Northern Brave Guild was originally an industry of the Frozen Territory, and he had previously managed it directly. The managers here were all people who had worked for Beard before, so naturally they didn't dare to do anything to him.

After getting the results, Beard asked someone to call the leaders of the three adventure groups over.

The Northern Brave Guild, after two expansions, now occupies an area of ​​three acres of gray-white stone buildings with many reception rooms. Birki was waiting in one of them. Soon, three adventure leaders appeared in front of him.

"Sack? Well, you have over twenty people under you. I hope your reputation matches your ability."

"Is this the leader of the mountain adventure group?"

Bild nodded and looked at the burly man, who seemed to be a hunter. According to the guild manager, this adventure group came out of the mountains and forests. They seemed to be savages who lived in the northern mountains before.

As for the last one.

Beard was about to scold that someone dared to hide himself in front of him and wear armor.

But the next moment, he broke out in a cold sweat. This was the armor of the Frozen Territory Lord, and it was the work of Master Brock.

He is the steward of the Frozen Territory, so he is very familiar with this thing.

Most importantly, he took it out from the castle's warehouse.

"Master Lian En? Why are you here?"

Lian En took off his mask and said to Beard:
"I am the leader of the Ash Adventure Group."

"What did you ask us for?"

Beard was a little shocked. Baron Hatton's successor was actually the leader of an adventure group? He had previously thought that these were just peasants who huddled together for warmth.

Beard could no longer sit still and stood up. After all, there was a difference in status between the two of them. Although he had obtained the status of lord, Liam was the heir to the baron.

Between the two of them, his status is lower.

"Master Lian En, I'm here to hire an adventure group to follow the Chamber of Commerce's caravan to transport the resources of the nobles in the province in preparation for next spring."

"Your adventure group..."

Beard was in a dilemma. He had never thought that he would encounter such a scene. How could the heir of a noble family become the leader of an adventure group?

Next to them, the two leaders of the adventure groups were also shocked, looking at this Knight of Ashes. He turned out to be a noble?
Not a knight loyal to the nobility?
They were a little excited, but afraid to talk to Liam as they did before. The difference between the circles of nobles and ordinary people was as huge as that between heaven and earth.

"I will not participate in the adventure group's operations. My deputy leader will bring people with you."

Lian En was helpless, and he didn't want to reveal his identity.

"The Ash Adventure Group now has 120 people, 40 of whom are capable fighters. You can take them all with you."

The North Wind Province is not safe now, and Liam, who followed to participate in the war, is naturally aware of this. However, like Bild, he was also surprised that the Frozen Territory actually wanted to hire an adventure group?
The identity of the Ash Knight caused an uproar in a small circle within Zero Crossing City, but fortunately no one continued to spread the news. However, the fact that the noble was actually an adventurer still made many registered heroes of the Northern Brave Guild excited and encouraged.

Their circle is surprisingly so high-end. It was originally thought that the joining of knights would add countless glories worth showing off to the faces of the Northern adventurers, and now the nobles are also one of them.

Like these civilians?
Many people were very excited, but if they thought about it carefully, they themselves didn't know why they were so excited.

This led to a lot of people's attention when three adventure groups with hundreds of people gathered outside Lingdu City a day later.

A caravan of nearly 500 people, 20 ox carts and 30 horse carts set out from Lingdu County and headed towards the noble territory of Beifeng Province.

One of the purposes was that last quarter, when the war came, many resources in the noble territories were lost, but there were some resources that were not actually within the scope of the orcs' plunder.

The orcs plundered food, tools, warm quilts and clothes, and wooden boards for building houses.

Of course, we will not patronize other resource points that cannot be eaten or worn.

Now all the nobles need to do is to convert these non-satisfying and non-warming resources into money, and then use the money to buy food and other essential supplies.

The arrival of the Chamber of Commerce solved the urgent needs of these nobles.

Then comes the second purpose, finding relatives.

In the end, more than 400 people were selected from the tens of thousands of soldiers, each of whom represented a large group of people.

"Go find them! Don't blame me for not reminding you. Each of you comes from a team in a village or town. Master Ryan said that as long as you can help more than half of the people in your team find their families, you will have priority to become the head of that team and be responsible for managing the others."

“If you can help everyone find their relatives, you will directly get the position of village chief.”

"Do you want to know what a village head is? You manage 20 to 30 households, but that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that you will enter the government office of the Tundra Territory. Your names will be recorded on the list of government office personnel and known to Lord Etria."

"Becoming a village head will give you a better future. You will have the opportunity to become a farmer."

"Farmers are people who can help the lord to manage the land and food on his own. You will become rich!"

Beard’s voice made the caravan people extremely excited. They didn’t quite understand what he said, but they understood the last sentence: make money, make more money, have better houses and land, and be able to burn firewood every day in the winter!!!
So, after the unremitting efforts of these people, they actually found three families from the barony in front of them. The pale and thin women were dragging several children, standing awkwardly on the land, looking at the two parties who were arguing with fear.

"What do you mean? This is a slave from my family, how dare you rob the nobles' wealth!" A young man angrily stopped the soldier and glared at Beard. This was also the reason why Beard, the steward of the Frozen Territory, came in person. Only he had the status to bargain with the nobles. As a steward, he represented Baron Ryan behind the flag.

"Master Lanny, of course we won't steal your slaves, but they are my master's slaves."

Beard said calmly:

"Their men are already slaves of Master Ryan, and of course they are too. I have a list here."

"Impossible! These are slaves captured by my soldiers in the wilderness. They don't belong to you!"

The young man angrily argued that it would be a disgrace for him if his slave was taken away from him.

"Master Lanny, perhaps you can ask your father, Lord Baron Gerard. Although until now, the nobles have not made it clear to whom the refugees in the war belong, there is one thing that all the nobles agree on."

"Those are the soldiers that my master Ryan took away. They and their families will all be Ryan's wealth."

"No noble has any objection to this matter. This is the only reward my master received after leading the Northern Wind Province to fight against the powerful Silver Moon Royal Court orcs. The master did not ask for more, so I absolutely cannot let the master's only wealth become a worthless joke."

Beard's voice got louder. The Lanny in front of him was not Lane, because the other party's father, Baron Gerard, was not a good friend of Master Lane, and did not have a good relationship with the Frozen Territory like Baron Hatton.

"Of course, I would like to personally thank you for your soldiers helping my master recover his wealth."

Beard glanced at the other side, where there were five adults and seven children. He took out nine gold coins and handed them to Lanny.

"This is my personal reward to you. I don't have much gold coins, and this is all I have."

Beard lowered his voice and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear:
"When I was at Rhino Horn Mountain, I heard my master say that among Baron Gerard's descendants, the eldest son Lanny was destined to inherit the baron's title, but after the war, a large amount of land was vacated and would be given to the nobles to choose from. Among Baron Gerard's descendants, the second son Farr had the talent of a magician."

"Baron Gerard led 500 soldiers to kill more than 300 werewolves during the war. Such merit may be exchanged for a part of the income of the mine. After all, the training of a magician is very expensive."

Lanny's eyes widened.

"Is there such a thing?"

Beard looked dissatisfied.

"Master Lanny, are you questioning my master?"

"Of course not."

Lanny quickly explained that he had great admiration for Baron Ryan, so he couldn't help but say:
"That's the Gerald family's money. It's my money."

Lanny suppressed his anger and pushed the purse away from Beard's hand.

"Thank you. I can't take your gold coins. You can also take these... Baron Ryan's slaves."

When leaving Baron Gerard's territory, Beard took out the note from the seam of his clothes. After thinking about it, he put a cross behind Baron Gerard's name.

This is the third purpose.

What will the coming of war bring? It will bring huge changes, even for the nobles.

War will accelerate the succession of hereditary power!
For example, in a war, some nobles were completely wiped out, but more nobles only suffered heavy losses, and their bloodlines remained. Finally, those nobles who survived might also be injured, which would shorten their lifespan and allow their heirs to inherit the title earlier.

Simply put, the war will determine the emergence of rulers on this land in the next few decades.

Observing the heirs of the nobles is what Ryan's men need to do. Ryan hopes that more talents can emerge in the North Wind Province, but he does not want a second Ryan to appear in the North Wind Province. Therefore, it is very important to observe the future heirs.

This first stop is not so confusing. Beard has clearly told Lanny that he is destined to become a baron in the future. However, Lanny is still angry that his younger brother will occupy the income from the mine and part of the family's wealth to practice magic. He cannot accept it and thinks that it is his own wealth. He is unwilling to share it with a magician brother.

This is not the emotion and jealousy that a good noble should have.

This is the first evaluation, but at least within the next three to five years, this evaluation will not be wrong, and Lanny will not undergo major changes.

In each period of three to five years, Ryan will have a cage structure in his mind about what the nobles of the Northern Wind Province will look like in the future.

This is the process of taking control of the Borean Province.

The destruction caused by the war to human civilization and social order was extreme. A caravan of more than 500 people traveled through various noble territories, but those who came to look for their relatives found very little.

Either those people have died in the war, and some of the tens of thousands of soldiers in Lingdu City have lost their loved ones forever, or they cannot be found. After all, there is only one representative, and this representative cannot move around freely in the territory of the nobles, and may not know those people.

Coupled with the majesty of the nobility, many slaves did not dare to admit their past identities, resulting in the omission of population.

Beard strictly adhered to the goal set by Ryan, which was that even if the noble leader did not have the person he needed to find, he had to bring back a family, preferably women.

Ryan's purpose was simple. He wanted to see which nobles in the North Wind Province would oppose him.

"Yes, that's her. Her name is Sabina and her man is called Bennett, the Bennett on the list."

"They are all slaves of my master Ryan."

Beard said this, and a rough-skinned man next to him nodded violently, somewhat unnaturally.

"Yes, I know her. She used to live on the same street as me. Her man, Bennett, is my good brother. I won't make a mistake."

"That's impossible. She told me before that her name was Yamila."

Inside the noble territory, a knight frowned, looked at the woman, and also looked at Beard.

"She is my slave now."

The knight was dissatisfied; he was not yet disgusted with the woman.

"Knight, you'd better think clearly. This is the slave of my Master Ryan."

Beard snorted angrily, staring at the knight in front of him and the people standing around the knight.

"As a knight, you should be honored to have served as a soldier for my master. What gave you the courage to rob the slaves belonging to Master Lai Ryan?"

"Of course I won't, but her name is not Sabina, and she is not the slave you are looking for."

"Maybe she lied to you before."

"How dare a slave deceive a noble knight!"

Finally, everyone looked at the woman. The woman was trembling with fear. She just held the silver coins under her clothes, her teeth chattering uncontrollably, and she kept telling herself her name in her heart.

"My name is Sabina Bennett."

Her man's name was indeed Bennett, but there were three or five people with this name on Beard's list alone.

"How dare you lie to me!"

The angry knight drew his sword and was about to kill the woman, but was stopped by the soldiers behind Beard.

"This is Master Ryan's wealth. Her life or death is not something you can decide."

"But as a slave, you dare to cheat..."

Beard looked at the woman and then said:
"Five lashes and your whole family will be reduced to slavery."

The team, which initially consisted of more than 500 people, gradually doubled or tripled in size, forcing Beard to set out on his return journey early to send some people back first.

Next time... we'll have to find a different representative.

Allowing these tens of thousands of people to gradually form cliques and factions and divide power is also part of ruling.

A month later, Ryan looked at the growth on his spiritual panel and smiled with satisfaction.

(End of this chapter)