Heart of the Castle

Chapter 570 Undercurrent Under the Ice Floes
It was already the fourth month of 592 in the Dawn calendar when Lucia, the goddess of spring, stepped into the northern border of Arthur's kingdom.Finally, the bitter cold climate in North County has added a little warmth.From the dusk forest in the south, to the natural danger of Heihe in the north, the ice and snow melted on the land in the north, and the rivers thawed. A scene full of vitality.

The political situation and the weather in Northern County are also getting warmer. Regardless of the reality, at least on the surface, since the knight Marquis Osiris recovered from his injury, the nobles in the royal capital have their own backbone, and the relationship with the northern lords is reversed. Some improvement.Many aristocrats from the royal capital have joined in the construction of the Northern Territory, and some of them have even obtained the jurisdiction of the first-level refugee camps in the towns, and they have initially established a firm foothold in the Northern Territory.

However, to the disappointment of some nobles in the royal capital, in their imagination, the power struggle between the green lion and the griffin lord did not take place.On the one hand, the relationship between Li Wei and Marquis Osiris has always been good, and on the other hand, it is also related to the character of the green lion.Although the head of the iron guard knight has the title of Marquis of the Kingdom, he also owns a rich fiefdom in Little Serre County in the east that fully fits his status as a sky knight, but he has never taken good care of it. The second king insisted so hard that he didn't even go there once.

From this incident, it can be seen that the Green Lion hates the upright character of fighting for power. This is probably the reason why Marquis Osiris has served as the leader of King Arthur's Iron Guard knights for nearly 20 years, but his status has never been challenged.

Regardless of whether the actions of the Marquis Osiris meet the expectations of the nobles of the royal capital, they have no way to exert influence on the sky knights.The other two important ministers of the kingdom who were placed high hopes by the nobles of the royal capital were also silent. The Unsullied Bamilian frequently entered and exited the Green Castle, as if he had regarded it as the new royal palace, and he was still serving as the head of the palace; the stars The instructor, Satzienhell, got into the large library in Derk City, and seemed to suddenly have a great interest in religious classics and theology.

The stable political situation has greatly promoted the speed of the development of Beijing County. When the land that has been silent for a hundred years is injected with sufficient manpower and material resources, the explosive force displayed is as unstoppable as a volcanic eruption. Many scholars can't help but Be amazed.

Villages and towns sprung up on the northern frontier, which was originally known for its barrenness and bitter cold. Large tracts of reclaimed land replaced endless forests and wastelands. The oats, wheat, potatoes and other crops blessed by the God of the Earth were growing well, and they were everywhere. Appears vibrant.

At the same time, with the help of the special equipment of the elves and the detection magic of the priest of the Earth Temple, the settlers have also discovered many valuable mineral deposits on the land of North Border County, including gold, silver, iron, and rock salt. Important strategic materials such as anthracite and anthracite, these mineral deposits are not only excellent in quality, but also in huge quantities.The red-robed old scholar Master Sugard once made a rough estimate, and the result left many people speechless. Only in the part of the territory north of the Dusk Forest, the roughly proven mineral deposits exceeded the sum of the mineral deposits in the other territories of the Kingdom of Arthur. What barren and bitterly cold wild land should be said to be a land of treasures covered with ice and snow.

Such a huge benefit made the lords of the northern territories all smiles, and at the same time made the eyes of the nobles in the royal capital red with jealousy, wishing to spit fire.Just when some people with ulterior motives were about to add fuel to the flames and lead this flame of jealousy to Li Weiston, the young Griffin Lord suddenly announced several of the largest gold and silver deposits in his territory, and announced that all of these deposits would be donated. To the Kingdom, for the restoration of Arthur's Kingdom.

Li Wei's approach is undoubtedly a great sacrifice, but those royal nobles who claim to be familiar with the rules of the power game dismiss it. In their minds, the power of the kingdom is originally in the hands of the Griffin Lord. The so-called donation of mines was just a clumsy show to fool the bumpkins.

But the next move of the Griffin Lord made them unable to imagine the intention anyway.

For the second time, Li Wei took out hundreds of small and medium-sized mineral deposits, and divided them into several levels according to the size of the mineral reserves, and then used these mineral deposits to exchange for the real estate of the nobles in the royal capital Fermeyer and its vicinity, estates and estates.

The value of these mineral deposits is absolutely considerable. If the manpower and material resources required to dig the mines are not counted, it can be said to be an equivalent exchange.However, what Li Wei took out was a real mine, but what he got in exchange was occupied by the army of demons. If he wanted to get it, he had to drive the demons out first.

Although there are still people singing conspiracy theories and trying to discredit Li Wei's actions, most of the royal capital's nobles can't sit still. They evacuated the royal capital too hastily, and most of the nobles only brought some gold and silver. Ruan, for ordinary families, it may be a huge fortune that can't be spent in several lifetimes, but for these wealthy families in the royal capital who are greedy for pleasure, even if the level of luxury has been lowered repeatedly, it is still difficult to support them for three to five years. time.

More importantly, the number of mines that Li Wei took out was obviously less than the total number of nobles in the royal capital who owned the territory. If they didn't exchange them as soon as possible, they might not have their own share.

The invisible net cleverly woven by Instructor Xingchen among the nobles of the royal capital by means of coercion and lure was torn apart mercilessly. Nobles will naturally think from the standpoint of the North Border County.Although some people still occasionally recall the days of drunkenness and dreaming in the City of Glory, as long as they are still clear-headed, they will all understand that those days are gone forever.

People who are familiar with the rules of the power game are also realists. The mines that Li Wei threw out immediately tied their interests with the Northern Territory. Will not get a response from them anymore.

After hearing the news, the stellar mentor Satzien Hell, who hid in the Great Library of Dirk City to study theology, angrily smashed ink bottles, quills and other things he could grab at hand, if he was not old Frail, I am afraid that even the heavy oak table will be overturned by him.Bachelor Zihe, who took care of the old man's daily life, turned pale with fright, and hid outside the door with Sir Bulwa who brought the sad news, until the sound of banging in the room gradually subsided, and then quietly poked his head in.

Satsienhell sat on the chair with lingering anger, his eyes flickered, and at the same time he was panting heavily—for a frail old man, the rage just now was quite exhausting.Bachelor Qihe walked in lightly, brought a cup of warm milk to Mentor Xingchen, and then lowered his voice to persuade.

"Master Tutor, you don't have to be so angry at all. From my point of view, Li Weiston definitely made a foolish move this time. So many mineral deposits are in the hands of our allies, which will only make our strength stronger. "

"What do you know?" Instructor Star reprimanded hoarsely, the corners of his mouth twitching several times at the same time. "Only the nobles of the royal capital who think they have been excluded and treated unfairly are our most reliable allies. Qihe, those who have already obtained the mines are not reliable. Tell our people not to contact and test them again in the future .”

"Yes, as you ordered." Bachelor Qi He replied with a bow, but he didn't move outside, and there was a hesitant look on his face.

Star Teacher tidied up the scrolls of parchment scattered on the ground. This was not an easy task, because some of the scrolls had passed too long and had become browned and brittle, and the crumbs rustled down his wide sleeves.A look of annoyance appeared on the face of Master Satzienhell, then he stopped his hands and raised his eyes impatiently.

"Qihe, why are you still here? Didn't you hear my order?"

"No, sir, I just want to..." Bachelor Qi He looked a little flustered, bowed repeatedly, and stammered his defense at the same time. "The nobles of the royal capital are... as you said... wolves that can't be fed enough. Even if the Griffin Lord takes out those mines, he may not be able to buy their hearts. And... my lord, if you will get If all the nobles in the mines are removed, the only people we can contact will be some small people."

"Yeah, there are only a few little people left." Star Instructor sneered and threw the irreparable sheepskin scroll aside, "The card played by Lord Griffin is very willing to spend money, I don't know who pointed it out Him? Or did he make his own decision? If it's the latter...then things are really troublesome."

"But don't they even have a little loyalty?" Bachelor Qi He insisted, "Master Tutor, there will always be someone who doesn't care about the Griffin Lord's win over?"

"I thought you knew exactly what we were doing, Bachelor Zihe." Star Instructor said sharply, "Loyalty? Loyalty to whom? Loyalty to Arthur's family or loyalty to the guardians of the kingdom? No matter how loud the slogan is Shout, but you have to figure it out, none of us are man-made for axiom and justice, on the contrary, we are for power and wealth!"

Bachelor Zihe muttered, not knowing what to say, but Satzienhell did not expect his answer, and returned his attention to the religious books spread out on the table, and ordered in a casual tone, " Well, go down and do as I say."

Bachelor Qihe breathed a sigh of relief, his body had just straightened up, and Teacher Xingchen added another sentence. "By the way, I would like to tell Sir Bulwar that I thank his master for the information, but please don't come again. I don't feel worried about letting a weed get involved in the next thing."

Bachelor Qihe's lips twitched twice, but this time he was not stupid enough to blurt out the question, but bowed deeply to Teacher Xing again, and then tiptoed out of the room.

Teacher Xingchen never raised his head to look at him, but his eyes stayed on an unfolded sheepskin scroll, and he used a quill pen to draw on it from time to time, as if the boring religious books in front of him had already attracted the old man's full attention.But just after the door blocked the figure of Bachelor Qi He, Instructor Xingchen immediately raised his head, his expression was calm, but his face was blue and white, and his eyes were full of fear and uneasiness.

Even he himself didn't know what Master Satzienhell had just written on the ancient books spread out on the table. "Damn the gods, what's going on this time?" The old scholar threw the quill in his hand on the table, and cursed in a low voice through gritted teeth.

It was really hard for him to accept such a result.

When the army was integrated, Li Wei gained an advantage through a speech that he had never had before. When the dragon attacked, it was the damn Babrupa who disrupted the situation. Understand how you lost.But this time... this time... he even had a vague idea just now, and the specific steps have not been planned yet!
This time it was ridiculous!

Is it really old... useless?Is my own experience and lessons soaked in blood and tears outdated, and wisdom also dissipated with the passing of youth?Satzienhell dragged his handicapped injured leg to the window, looked up, the night outside the window was vast, the flame on the torch was torn by the strong wind and flew backwards, almost on the verge of extinguishing, and it was pitch black just a few steps away , can't see a ray of light, it's almost similar to his current state of mind...

Instructor Xingchen shook his head violently, shaking out the gloomy sense of fate in his mind. He would never simply admit defeat. After all, it is not yet the most critical time of the power game, and he still holds a card of power in his hand. Big ace.

However, the failure of these several plans also made him vigilant. The rich experience in fighting made the old man very clear that the so-called trump card must be played at the right time and in the right situation in order to achieve the effect of winning the game with one blow, otherwise not only If you can't achieve your goal, you will put yourself in a crisis.

"I have to wait patiently, and I have to be more cautious." Master Satzenhell returned to the table, and while tidying up the messy books and scrolls, he calmed down his uneasy mood, and muttered to himself, "This is the Lord of the Griffin The action completely confused my thoughts, but it doesn't matter, the discovery of a large number of mineral deposits was not part of the whole plan. But what is even more unclear is why he did this? Could it be luck? Or is his eyeliner ambushing by my side? No, it’s impossible, if it’s the failures of the first two times, it may be because of leaking the news, but this time it’s absolutely impossible... because my plan this time is just a hazy one. Thoughts, never told anyone..."

The low-pitched ghostly whisper echoed endlessly in the star teacher's room until the rose-red morning light appeared in the east. It wasn't just the star teacher who was sleepless all night, but these nobles no matter what No one can guess what the Griffin Lord really thinks.

Li Wei didn't have any idea of ​​winning over people's hearts or dividing the nobles of the royal capital. There was only one reason for him to do so. The most lacking thing in the northern border was not mineral deposits or labor force, but the ability to quickly convert mineral deposits into economics. Powerful lord talents.

Northern County has always been far away from the center of power in the Kingdom of Arthur. The nobles here are either losers in the power struggle, or those who are insignificant. In addition, in the past hundreds of years, the products of Northern County have been extremely poor, and there are very few people.Therefore, in terms of the ability to manage the territory, these lords are indeed close to country bumpkins, and they can't think of any effective ideas other than digging out the ore and piling it in the castle warehouse.However, this is not the most critical issue. If there is three to five years, Beijing County can completely cultivate its own economic talents, and quickly transform these mineral deposits and products into economic strength.

The key issue is time. Li Wei doesn't have three to five years, and Li Wei probably doesn't even have a month.

The current situation in Beijing County is like a big river that is frozen on the surface and has a turbulent undercurrent below. The sharp sword above the head may fall down at any time, tearing the illusion of peace in the northern border into pieces.

Therefore, during this period of time, Li Wei and the people around him have been extremely busy. After a series of secret meetings, they determined the initial coping strategy, which is to loosen the outside and tighten the inside, and secretly prepare for the battle.Especially as the current center of power in Northern Territory—Green Castle, although everything looks normal, it has actually become an empty city, and all non-combatants including civil servants and male and female servants have been transferred to other places. Several notable prominent figures such as Bamilian Yang, the head of the palace, and the old scholar Sugad in the red robe stayed to support the scene.

All four sub-groups of the just-established Griffin Knights assembled in secret. Except for Lord Cedric's second sub-group, which was stationed in Dirk City, the other three sub-groups were stationed in Greencastle and two nearby camps. Always be ready for battle.

Two special troops directly under the Griffin Lord also appeared for the first time. One of them was composed of the natives of the Rotten Swamp and the orcs. The leader was a burly werewolf wearing furry animal skin armor and holding a The huge multi-headed flail looks extremely terrifying; the other team is even more mysterious. The members are all burly men whose entire bodies are wrapped in heavy armor. Everyone is as silent as a statue. The leader of this team is tall. Not very tall, compared with those burly members of the team, it is particularly thin and haggard. The only similarity is that it is equally mysterious. Except for the head wearing a white mask, the rest of the leader's body is wrapped in linen strips under.

Among all the people around the Griffin Lord, Mr. Dish is the only one who knows the strength of the emerald dragon. Although Master Sugard has also studied the dragon family, after all, it is only knowledge from classics. Not comprehensive and precise enough.After carefully studying the power balance between the Griffin Knights and the two emerald dragons, Mr. Dish is very happy to announce that if the fortifications of the Green Castle are relied on, the Griffin Knights are sure to be able to strike at a small price. Repel the attack of the emerald dragon.Even in a field battle, as long as they are not suddenly attacked by a giant dragon unprepared, the Griffon Knights can still gain a limited upper hand.

Mr. Dish's judgment undoubtedly made everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The next most critical point is how to obtain the information of the dragon's attack in advance. For this reason, the Black Wing Scouting Team and the Griffin Sky Knights were dispatched and divided into three groups. He patrolled the sky of Beijing County day and night.

In this way, without the knowledge of ordinary people, the atmosphere of war suddenly became intense.

(End of this chapter)