I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 17 What is a surprise?

……

“You stole my property, you have no right to negotiate with me.”

"If you want forgiveness, come out and surrender now."

Rhodes did not back down because of the other party's retreat, and calmly said, "I can spare no one's life, but you must be punished."

In places like the northern wilderness, compromise often means weakness.

Rhodes can show mercy first and then punish, but he cannot back down just because of a few words from the mob.

As the saying goes, a lord may give you what you want, but you cannot take it from him.

"Alright, we are willing to submit."

As the words fell, seven hunters, including Renn, finally emerged from the innermost wooden cabin.

Rhodes waved his hand, and the soldiers quickly stepped forward to confiscate their weapons.

Durant then entered the cabin to search and indeed found a secret passage leading outside.

This secret passage is located in the cellar beneath the wooden house; passing through the cellar leads directly to the outside of the village.

If it weren't for the fact that some of these hunters' families had been captured, they would have already escaped through the secret passage.

The secret passage is a wonderful thing; Rhodes really likes it.

There should be some in the castle later.

Store items normally; they can save your life in a critical moment.

“We have already surrendered; you don’t need to treat us like this.”

Looking at the soldiers guarding them, Ryan spoke up, "We will not resist anymore."

"This is how you get treated."

Rhodes looked at Raine and said, “As punishment, all your property will be confiscated and you will have to work for me like slaves for five years. During this time, I will provide you with food and shelter.”

Five years from now, I will grant you a certain amount of property based on your performance, and you will regain your freedom and become citizens of Frostleaf Town.

Raine and the others exchanged glances and nodded in response, "We accept, but we only hunt, we don't farm."

"I will make arrangements and will not let your abilities go to waste."

To Rhodes, the way the Wastelanders treated farming as something was the same as whether they knew how to farm or not.

He doesn't have the energy to develop the Blackrock Mountains in depth for the time being; all he wants is the iron ore in the mountains.

A few people can be stationed here, but most people will still settle in Frostleaf Town.

Shuangye Town is surrounded by mountains, rivers, and farmland, and its population is far from reaching its carrying capacity.

As for the others who surrendered first, Rhodes only took 80% of his wealth as punishment.

As night fell, the village gradually returned to peace.

Following Rod's instructions, Durant led his men to bandage the wounded, while the soldiers organized the women to cook food.

Everyone was starving after a long day of running around.

Meanwhile, Rhodes wandered through the village, taking stock of his spoils.

These Blackrock Mountain people were richer than Rod had imagined; their entire wooden hut was filled with cured meat, along with various dried mushrooms, wild vegetables, dried fruits, and nuts.

In addition, Rod found a large jar of honey.

In this era of sugar scarcity, especially in the northern wilderness, honey tastes good with everything.

What pleased Rod even more was the pile of ore under the shack.

Rod estimated that it weighed at least three thousand jin.

In addition, there were more than ninety animal hides of various kinds, mostly wolf and deer hides, some new and some old.

The scarcest grains were rye; after searching most of the village, they found less than 500 jin (250 kg) of them. Even if the villagers ate sparingly, they couldn't last more than ten days.

"My Lord Baron, I trusted you so much, and you actually used me!"

Just as Rod was basking in the joy of his success, Manshu walked up to him, looking indignant.
"You've gone too far!"

"Is your head a candle? Or did it get transplanted onto your butt?"

Rod turned his head unhurriedly, showing no remorse in the face of Manshu's questioning. Instead, he frowned and asked in confusion:

"Don't you understand that these mountain folk are foolish and ignorant?"

"I, what's wrong with me?"

Faced with Rhodes' cold and dissatisfied expression, the angry Manshu instantly became bewildered.

"They illegally occupy my land, mine my ore, hunt wild beasts in the mountains, and constantly seize my property like bandits, forcing me to gather an army to suppress them during the busy farming season." "And you, as my friend, actually trade with these bandits, trampling on the laws of the empire and the dignity of the lord."

"However, I not only did not blame you, but also treated you warmly."

"We are simply using your caravan to wipe out these bandits and reclaim our land."

"You said I was going too far?"

Rhodes looked at Mansh.

"Mr. Manshu, please tell me now, where have I gone too far?"

"From beginning to end, did I ask for a single extra gold coin? Did I take over a single piece of land?"

Rhodes' voice was calm yet powerful, carrying a hint of suppressed grievances. Not only Manshu heard it, but also the busy soldiers and mountain people around him.

They couldn't help but stop what they were doing and look over, and the small mountain village fell into a deathly silence.

Yes, the lord only wants his land back, what did he do wrong?

Despite being born into nobility, he was exiled to the northern wastelands as soon as he came of age, and now he has to go to great lengths to defend his land.

Is this going too far?

In that instant, Durant and the others felt that Rod was the one who had been wronged the most.

He's not wrong.

Manxiu sighed softly.

"I apologize for my words just now. I'm sorry."

Manshu stepped forward and said softly, "I was unaware that they were rebelling against you, their lord, otherwise I would not have traded with them."

"That's why I didn't pursue your crime and am still willing to do business with you."

Rhodes' expression softened somewhat, and he said calmly, "I won't implicate you because of this. Your caravan can continue trading. I can sell you the animal hides and herbs, as well as the cured meat and mushrooms."

Rhodes is not going to sell strategic resources like ore for the time being.

"You are indeed a generous lord, your Excellency,"

Manxiu breathed a sigh of relief and hesitated slightly before saying, "I also request that you... not punish them too harshly."

"Am I an untrustworthy lord?"

Rod said irritably, "I just said that as long as they work for me honestly, I won't make things difficult for them."

"You can also talk to them about this."

"that would be great!"

Manxiu breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "I also hope that today's events will not affect our friendship."

"Of course, we are still friends. I hope you won't forget the slave you promised me."

Rod responded readily without hesitation, and a smile finally appeared on his face.

The importance of merchants to a territory is self-evident.

Rhodes still had a favorable impression of the businessman, Manxiu.

As long as Mansh doesn't mind, Rhodes is willing to maintain a good relationship with him.

"No problem, I'll definitely bring you slaves next time."

Manshu confidently assured Rhodes, then suddenly remembered something, leaned closer to Rhodes, and whispered...

"There's a surprise here that you'll love!"

"surprise?"

Rhodes was somewhat surprised.

What surprises await here?
"Come with me. Although you'll find out in a moment, I'm going to show you now."

Manshu turned and walked toward the wooden hut where the two-legged wyvern eggs were stored, and Rod hurriedly followed.

"Ow!"

Just then, a heart-wrenching roar suddenly came from the mountains behind.

Rod's body immediately stopped, and he instinctively looked in the direction of the sound.

Under the faint moonlight, a huge black shadow flapped its wings and hovered in the air, gradually approaching the village.

"Manxiu, is this the surprise you were talking about?"

(End of this chapter)