Throne of the North.

Chapter 71 East
Frozen land, on Rhino Horn Mountain.

Looking at the castle that was becoming more and more spectacular and majestic, Ryan couldn't help but feel satisfied.

"I didn't expect that after only a month and a half, the Crucible City would be colder than the Frozen Territory."

"That world seems to be completely dead. To avoid any accidents, Master Ryan, you should stay in the frozen land."

Next to him, the old butler suggested that he was really afraid that one day Ryan would follow Yongji from the Exnel continent and stay there.

"No, you can't guarantee where the space gate will open when you go there."

Ryan shook his head. The most crucial thing among all this was himself. Every time he went to the continent of Exnel, he would appear near the Crucible City, then open the plane door in the Crucible City and send people and things over.

If you change someone else, it won’t work.

"Where's Beard? How much food did he buy?"

During Ryan's absence, the biggest task of the old housekeeper's son, Little Beard, was to buy food. The demand for food in the Frozen Territory was a bottomless pit.

However, the situation in every territory of the North Wind Province is extremely difficult now, resulting in the fact that the food that can be purchased in the North Wind Province is very limited.

Beard could only go further, not to the Empire's Wing Canyon, but to the east.

The North Wind Province is located in the northeast corner of the empire. The Wing Canyon is the only connection between the empire and the North Wind Province. Looking east of the Wing Canyon on the map, a little south-east of the North Wind Province, there is a kingdom with seven or eight great noble lords.

The kingdom is the Andara Kingdom, one of the eight kingdoms on the Norris continent and the one closest to the North. The other seven kingdoms either have the Empire to defend them or are in the warm south without being invaded by the harsh winter in the North.

In a certain sense, the Andara Kingdom and the Flor Empire were both the first line of defense for mankind against the North. Coupled with the strength of the Empire, the Andara Kingdom was completely a younger brother of the Empire. Over the years, it had never dared to cross the border.

In addition to the Andara Kingdom, there are four duchies and earls, and the combined land area is almost half the size of the Andara Kingdom.

There are many reasons why in the southern lands, in addition to the empire and kingdom, there are also duchies, earls, and even smaller territories.

These territories were not incorporated into the kingdom and the empire, half because of the pride of their own bloodline. They were from the north of the Norris continent and fled to the south because of the cold winter in the north. Their ancestors were also of royal bloodline of the kingdom, and some were even older.

Such bloodline made them unwilling to submit to the kingdom, and they also had troops and people at their disposal when they fled.

The other half of the reason comes from the Holy See. The Holy See does not want to see the empire and kingdom expand further and further, so it supports the independence of those nobles with some noble blood.

It is said that for a period of time after the end of the Pan-Dimensional War of Gods, the struggle between theocracy and royal power was the bloodiest.

Later on, theocracy declined, to the point that now there are few Vatican personnel to be seen within the empire.

However, the empire and several kingdoms still could not swallow up those noble territories. All the noble territories in the south combined were also a very powerful force.

Ryan didn't want to care about the situation in the south, nor could he. The reason why Beard didn't go to the south of the empire, but went to the territory outside the east of the empire to buy food was because of the Flying Wing Canyon.

If the grain passes through the Flying Wing Canyon, at least 30% if not half will be kept. Only those chambers of commerce backed by great nobles can pass through at a slightly painful price. Otherwise, it would be like plucking feathers from a passing goose.

The benefits that the Wing Canyon can bring to certain nobles are enormous. This is why Grand Duke Meyers' proposal to move the guards of the Wing Canyon to the Xiangshan Plain in the North Wind Province failed. There are too many pieces of cake for the nobles there, not only because it is connected to the North Wind Province, but also because it is the most powerful military fortress in the entire east of the empire.

To put it bluntly, the center and focus of the empire are actually in the west coast and the south, which together form the southwest. So to some extent, Wing Canyon can be said to be the most important military force of the empire in the eastern territory.

In fact, it was the only large-scale legion fortress. It not only defended against the foreign tribes in the north, but also the countless possible enemies in the east of the one-third of the southern continent.

The security of half of the empire's territory lies in the Wing Canyon.

In short, Beard's experience in the Flying Wing Canyon made him choose not to carry food across the Flying Wing Canyon even if he went to the more troublesome Eastern Kingdom and the territory of the great nobles.

Ryan supported this and even sent a hundred soldiers and two bronze knights to follow.

As far as he knew, the foreign threats faced by the Andara Kingdom were not that great, so they should be able to purchase food. There shouldn't be any major problems with those noble lords either.

It would be even better if we could take this opportunity to reach some long-term cooperation.

"He hasn't come back yet. According to the plan, he should be back in five days at the latest."

The old butler said truthfully that he did not mind Ryan's decision. After all, the fact that Master Ryan arranged for Beard to do so many important things represented a high level of trust in him.

In the entire territory, no one was more trusted by Ryan than these two father and son.

"Well, what about those orcs? How is the road repair going?"

"It's almost done, but it consumes a lot of energy."

"It doesn't matter if it's a high cost. It's supposed to be a high cost. Use these orcs to complete the most dangerous tasks. Next, I will send a batch of slaves from the Crucible City. It's okay to use orcs to build the road at the beginning, but the delicate work later on will still require slaves."

"But these slaves can't be used the same way as orcs."

"Follow your will."

Ryan thought of the North Wind Province again. It seemed that he had not cared about the situation in the North Wind Province for a long time.

"Wait for Bild to come back... Never mind, let him find a way to buy food, and then let... Never mind, let Yazhe come over tomorrow."

"I heard that the old guy got married again recently?"

The old butler replied respectfully:

"Indeed, Mr. Yazhe married the daughter of the Tyrell family."

"Tyrell? One of the eight barons before? His family does have the largest population."

"But as I recall, his daughter is not much older than the Viscountess, right?"

"Yes."

Ryan thought about it, then said with a smile:

"It seems that Tyrell is no longer able to fight and intends to put the chips for the lordship on the Yazhe family. Moreover, his daughter's child will inherit the lordship in the future. His plan is very clear."

A few months passed, and the results of the two lordship places initially promised by Ryan gradually became clear. Several families had already noticed the gap in capabilities, and no matter how unwilling they were, they had to consider what to do after failure.

(End of this chapter)