Throne of the North.

Chapter 83: The Struggle for Wealth and the Redivision of Land

This time Ryan did not bring only a hundred people, but brought nearly two hundred of his knight attendants and eight hundred ordinary serfs and civilian soldiers.

He knew very well that this departure was not a small matter, and he would not be able to return in half a month.

The army of the Frozen Territory crossed the mountains and swamps, which put Baron Hatton under great pressure. He sent people to come, and only felt relieved when he learned that they were not coming to attack him.

"Not long ago, I also sent some soldiers and Lian En to Baron Barnes's Borealis Fortress. Lian En, do you think we can be the Viscount's opponent?"

Hutton was still quite afraid of the two Viscounts of Lingdu County.

"Don't worry, Mr. Hatton. No matter what happens, nothing will happen to you as a baron. You can just say it was Lian En's private action."

Ryan said calmly. He knew Hutton's concerns. After all, in Hutton's opinion, both Baron Barnes and Baron Ryan were a little too bold.

Ryan's army crossed Hatton's territory, and the journey became difficult because he could not allow his army to appear in the territories of other nobles. He could only march in the wilderness outside those territories.

The almost undeveloped wilderness is not easy to travel. If it weren't for the fact that discipline is the most important thing in Ryan's army, people would even die along the way.

His thousand troops finally appeared in Baron Barnes' territory. Although eight hundred of them had no combat effectiveness, Baron Barnes didn't know that. He looked at the neatly-lined army and felt a little horrified.

"Baron Ryan, the entire North Wind Province underestimates you."

Baron Barnes, who looked a little vicissitudes of life, said with shock and surprise that many nobles in the empire were of this age, because they had to wait until their fathers died to inherit the title, and at this time they were no longer young.

Even Baron Barnes' eldest son is one year older than Ryan.

"I have marked out a large area of ​​wasteland and built houses where your soldiers can live."

Barnes led Ryan to the military training ground he had specially opened. It was very large and could accommodate two to three thousand people. After all, it was impossible to allow all the soldiers to be stationed in the Castle of the Flower of the Borealis. Only a few knights and attendants could enjoy such treatment.

"This land is a bit too rough."

Looking at the deserted training ground in front of him and the houses that didn't look solid, Ryan frowned.

"My soldiers will rebuild their shelters, and I need you, Baron Barnes, to provide some trees."

"There are mountains not far away. Baron Ryan, just arrange some people to prepare."

After settling the soldiers, Ryan took his knights and attendants to the Castle of the Flower of the North Wind. Located on a hillside not far away, the ancient castle has witnessed the history of the North Wind Province over the past hundreds of years.

There are even rumors that this is one of the top three fortresses in terms of solidity in the North Wind Province, and that a top sanctuary wizard once carved solid magic on it.

If it wasn't big enough, Ryan felt that the earls would have some ideas.

"With this castle, your territory will be completely secure."

Ryan said with some envy. This was indeed true. If his fortress on Rhino Horn Mountain was built, it would be easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, the fortress itself could not compare to the Flower of the North Wind for the time being.

But after helping Luna the Mage complete the construction of the Mage Tower, Ryan can then make his request.

The golem puppet's control and influence over stone is even greater than that of the sanctuary wizard.

Hearing Ryan's words, Barnes' eyes also showed pride. The vision of his ancestors gave him the confidence to fight against other nobles in Lingdu County.

"It's already this time, Baron Barnes, can you tell me how many nobles you have gathered?" At the banquet welcoming Ryan, Ryan already had a guess in his mind, seeing that besides the people of the Barnes family, there were only Liam and himself.

Sure enough, Baron Barnes sighed.

"Baron Ryan, there are still too few nobles supporting us. Except for Baron Hatton and you, the rest of them only expressed their ideas secretly, but in the end, they were still won over by the two viscounts."

"This is normal. One of the two viscounts owns the Lingdu City, which makes him invincible, and the other one is said to have an army of 3,000 soldiers under his command. We can't compare to them."

"I'm just a little curious, Baron Barnes, why are you unwilling to accept their kindness? With your strength, any viscount will give you enough benefits, right?"

"How can what they gave be as much as what we stole ourselves?"

Barnes looked at Ryan and finally told him the interests behind this matter.

"Ryan, do you know that a magic crystal vein was discovered in the Bingfeng Forest across the Kameilan River from Lingdu City in the southwest of Lingdu County?"

"Magic crystal vein?"

Ryan opened his eyes wide at this moment, staring at Baron Barnes, and couldn't help but ask.

"What scale of magic crystal mine?"

“Only small ones.”

Baron Barnes shook his head and laughed. He knew what Ryan was thinking.

"A small magic crystal mine can only dig out 100,000 magic crystals at most, but this is also a huge fortune. Ryan, you know that the value of magic crystals is higher than the same amount of gold coins."

Ryan also felt a little regretful. If it was a medium or large one, he would have to go back to the Frozen Territory and pull out Master Luna.

The Luna Mage would be interested in the small magic crystal mine, but Ryan would not be willing to expose the biggest trump card of the Frozen Territory so easily.

"But in the Ice Peak Forest, around the magic crystal vein, we also found some iron ore and a gold mine."

"The value of the gold mines surveyed so far may be higher than that of the magic crystal mines."

"If we join those two viscounts, it would be good enough if we could get some gold coins in the end, but the magic crystal mine is more important to me."

"Two of my children have been detected to have good magical talents. There is also the Flower of the North Wind. This castle needs a certain amount of magic crystals as a supplement every year. As long as there are enough magic crystals, no one can break into my castle."

Baron Barnes explained half of the reason, and the rest was his own thoughts. But even so, it was enough for him to make up his mind to confront the two viscounts.

"Of course, Ryan, the reason behind this matter is not just about the division of these mineral veins, but more about the territorial division of the entire North Wind Province."

"In Lingdu County, Viscount Dragun is no longer satisfied and wants to ask the old Viscount Miles to leave Lingdu City."

"There are also those knight lords who want to redivide their territories because becoming a lord is too far from being a fifth-class noble."

"Re-divide on your own without the Empire's...interference."

(End of this chapter)