British hegemon

Chapter 127 The Non-existent Martial Virtue

Kader and Mann went off to busy themselves with preparations, while Roger also planned to visit the brewery in Locklanza Village on the north side of the island.

Last night I drank Gary's newly created ale, which tasted a bit like modern whiskey. Roger thought he had discovered a brand new source of income.

Before Roger could even step out of the Moulin Rouge, a guard in a padded coat rushed in and told him that Lord John of Arlen Island had invited him to his residence for a meeting.

Although the story of the "Feast at Hongmen" did not reach Europe, Roger's men warned him that there might be a trap in the Baron's mansion.

Roger has been going out with at least two bodyguards lately, but nothing has happened. Bald Neil's informants in the Baron's mansion have only said that the new Baroness is making a fuss about ending her marriage with Whiteface John, and there's nothing else unusual.

Based on Roger's understanding of John the White-Faced, it was indeed unlikely that he would plot against him. However, one should always be cautious. Roger put on his weapon, took Marne and Donald into the castle, and instructed Olaf to lead Connor and the others to guard the castle gate and prevent them from closing the castle.

The old castle had a new owner, and the stench had been replaced by a strong fragrance, but this only made Roger feel more disgusted.

Two more guards, clad in chainmail and wielding short spears, appeared at the gates of the Baron's mansion. The guards tried to stop Marne and Donald behind them, but Roger shoved them aside and led his entourage straight inside.

On either side of the long table in the council hall on the first floor sat the knights of the inner court, the one-armed sheriff, the steward of the manor, and the judges of the baron's court. It seemed to be an internal meeting, and everyone had obviously been waiting for a long time, or perhaps they had not originally intended for Roger to participate in this internal meeting.

Roger, exuding a menacing aura, entered the arena with two fully armed attendants. The new baron, seated at the head of the table, appeared visibly uncomfortable. Behind him, four burly men stepped forward, flanking the new baron.

Roger knew that the four burly men were from the old Baroness's family, a gift from John's uncle, who had attended his coronation ceremony. This gift was clearly aimed at vassals like Roger who "might harbor disloyal intentions."

Roger looked around and was surprised to find that John's cousin, "White Face," was sitting in the seat closest to the head of the table.

No wonder I heard the new Baroness has been acting up lately; I guess this is the reason.

Roger's eyebrows furrowed. "Just when we were starting to look like human, we're going to be useless again."

Suppressing his nausea, Roger sat down opposite Chicken-Empty Brother, the closest seat to the new Baron, a privilege he could only claim as a member of the Campbell family.

Roger glared at the gay man with a face full of rouge, then turned to the pale-faced John. "Baron, I hope you didn't call me out of the Moulin Rouge to hear about your new tax laws."

This statement is a satire of the "mourning tax" that Brother Chicken recently introduced, and the gay guy on the other side instantly turned pale, and then black.

John the White-Faced had been a great lord for a while and had obviously developed some composure. He held his breath and gestured to the young gay man not to pay attention to Roger's words, then turned to the young gay man and said slowly, "Sir Roger, you are the lord of Milk House Manor, but don't forget that you are also receiving a salary from the Baron's Mansion."

The pale-faced man felt that Roger, now receiving a weekly salary of two shillings from the Baron's mansion, should fulfill his duties as the first deputy commander of the Arran Island army.

After hearing this, Roger had a general idea of ​​the topic of today's small-scale meeting.

Sure enough, John cleared his throat and got straight to the point, "Some people doubt my military command abilities."

The white-faced man's opening remarks were very direct. If it were in the past, Roger would have said, "No one doubts your military command ability, just as no one doubts a blind man peeping at someone taking a bath or a deaf man eavesdropping on someone talking."

However, today's occasion is really not suitable for embarrassing John in person.

Seeing no one respond, the pale-faced John felt good about himself and continued, "Then I should prove to everyone how the new Baron of Aran Island leads his warriors from one victory to another."

John, the pale-faced man, suddenly became agitated, his pale face instantly turning red.

Roger had a bad feeling.

Roger's eyes nearly popped out when John the White-faced revealed his grand plan to lead the entire army of Arron Island in a surprise attack on Galloway in early June.

"I object!"

A hoarse voice rang out, silencing Roger who was about to voice his objections.

Roger turned his head, and the Inner Court knight in chainmail beside him had already stood up.

"Your Excellency, I believe we should discuss today whether we should suspend our campaigns this year, rather than considering how to launch them."

"Besides, how can we possibly go to war in June? That's the busy farming season on the island. If you send all the able-bodied men off the island to fight, what will happen to the crops? How will the islanders feed their families this year?"

"Besides, Galloway's crops hadn't been harvested by early June, and everyone was penniless. Even if we attacked, how much spoils could we possibly capture?"

Clearly, the new baron's battle plan had never been discussed with him beforehand, so the Inner Court knights were very agitated.

While the knights of the inner court were filled with righteous indignation, the new baron's face was truly grim.

"It seems Sir Liam has been terrified of the English." The "little gay man," who had been eager to speak, stepped forward to speak for the new baron, his tone extremely sarcastic.

The inner court knight, displaying good manners, glared at the young man, spat, and continued to persuade the new baron, "Your Excellency, I believe this year's expedition to Arun Island should be postponed, allowing the islanders a year to recuperate. Even if an expedition is unavoidable, we cannot simply launch a purge as in the past. The old baron planned to select elite troops from among the islanders before his death..."

'

"Enough!" John, his face grim, slammed his hand on the chair. "You keep referring to him as the old Baron, Liam. The Baron of Arran is now John IV, sitting right in front of you."

The knight's words were abruptly cut off. He swallowed hard and reluctantly sat back down.

The pale-faced man's eyes swept over Roger, then he turned to the young gay man on the other side after a moment's thought. He was now the Baron of Arlen's advisor. "You are the Baron of Arlen's advisor. What are your thoughts?"

"The Baron's expedition plan has been carefully considered," the young gay man said, clearly indicating that the expedition plan just mentioned by the pale-faced man had been "carefully considered" together with this young gay man.

"His Excellency has just ascended to the throne and must demonstrate his martial prowess, therefore Arun Island must launch a campaign this year."

"As for setting the expedition in June, it's because we must break free from the previous restriction of launching expeditions after July every year. The enemy will never expect us to launch an expedition in June. At that time, Galloway's defenses will be lax, and we will surely be able to launch a surprise attack and demonstrate the might of our Arun Island army."

The young gay man spoke in such a pedantic way that Roger couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The pale-faced man glanced at Roger, ignored him, and looked past him to the Chief Steward of the Interior, the civil official of Arun Island. "Chief Steward, what do you think of this plan?"

The gaunt steward glanced in Roger's direction and said in a low voice, "The matters of marching and fighting are for the Baron and the other knights to discuss, but I think Sir Liam is not wrong either. We must consider the issue of food supplies before we go on an expedition."

Upon hearing this, Roger couldn't help but look at the lean steward; at least there was someone who understood.

However, what follows is just that—a "but".

"However, Arun Island had a bumper harvest last autumn, and the islanders have a lot of surplus grain. We can consider collecting the summer grain tax ahead of schedule and doubling the war tax. Anyway, the commoners won't die from missing a few meals."

Roger wasn't surprised that the steward could say such a thing. In this era, the lives of commoners were worthless. In the eyes of the lords, these people were just oxen and sheep, inedible food.

"Sir Roger, what do you think?" White-faced John finally asked Roger.

Roger understood immediately. No wonder he had been called over; it was so that Roger wouldn't object to the new baron's tax policies before his campaign.

Roger smiled, staring at the pale-faced man who was looking on expectantly, and said slowly and deliberately, "I don't think much of it."

"My Lord Baron, I have no objection to your battle plan, but I want to make it clear that Milk House Manor will not participate in this year's expedition, and I have no intention of contributing even half a grain of military rations to your war effort."

Roger got up to leave, but the pale-faced man scolded him to sit down. Roger ignored him and turned to leave.

The four burly guards behind Whiteface John tried to step forward to stop them, but they heard two crisp sounds of blades being drawn. Marne and Donald had already pointed their swords at the men.

"What are you doing?" Roger glared fiercely at Marne and Donald. "You two are soldiers, do you intend to fight with a few dogs? Stop!"

Then he turned to look at the pale-faced John, bowed slightly, and said, "Your Excellency, I'm afraid you'll need to chain up your mad dog a few more times to prevent it from jumping out and biting people."

The pale-faced man hadn't expected that Roger's men would actually dare to draw their swords in court. Not wanting to escalate the situation, he waved away several guards.

Roger nodded slightly to the palace knights and the one-armed sheriff, then swaggered away from the baron's mansion with Mardonal.

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