Medieval Empire Soldier Chapter 134

"so"

The spacious hotel suite is luxuriously decorated, clean and tidy. Open the window of the hotel and overlook it from the top of the five-story building. A prosperous, dirty, large-scale human city with vitality and chaos appears in front of Lailun. With a wine glass in one hand and his back to the window, there are only two people in the large suite, and the words of another visitor made him very interested: "My award and special award are all because of the wishes of Archbishop Walkma. ?"

"That's right, Your Excellency, maybe I can call you by your name, Lallen." Count Siegfried von Walfen, the intelligence chief of the emperor in black, smiled with standard etiquette and kept his posture low. , his voice is uneven, making people sound unpredictable.

   "Of course, Count Walfin." Lallen smiled back.

"You are so powerful and approachable, and I am sincerely fortunate for the people of the North." Siegfried said with a smile: "His Majesty Archbishop Sigmar has made more demands on the electors, and he emphasized that it must be You are settling in the South, not the North where you believe in Uric, the wolf god, and more arrangements for the Church of Justice"

   "Another point, His Majesty Archbishop Walkma has hinted to the Emperor your true identity, a chosen person chosen by my Lord Sigmar, isn't it?" The intelligence chief asked the last sentence rhetorically.

  Lairn narrowed his eyes, obviously the emperor's intelligence chief in front of him already knew a lot of secrets.

"Actually, you have always chosen not to say it. It is the right way to hide your special abilities and slowly accumulate strength. By the way, Your Excellency Lailen, I will tell you a name. Since then, Emperor Karl Franz Your Majesty has noticed you."

   Siegfried paused and revealed his name: "Lone Wolf" Kordrog. "

"Many people have witnessed the scene where I beheaded Kordrog, and I am afraid there have been many misunderstandings." Laylen looked normal, staring into the eyes of the intelligence chief: "I don't think Your Excellency Count Walfin will choose At noon, threaten a knight with a secret."

"Of course not!" The emperor's intelligence chief smiled and bowed slightly: "His Majesty the emperor hopes that His Excellency Lailun will remember that you will always have Rick Ling as your partner behind you. If necessary, the emperor himself is willing to secretly befriend you."

   said, Siegfried turned around, and the two servants in black robes carried a wooden box and walked into the suite.

   "These will be the emperor's own friendly sincerity, please accept it with a smile."

The towns of the empire are full of features, appearing to be more enlightened and progressive, unlike the towns of the Knight Kingdom opposite the Grey Mountains, which are often built around the noble castle in the center. The styles are quite different. Imperial towns are often developed from villages. The local nobles and gentry prefer to live in villas or mansions in the corners of towns, and choose excellent locations to build castles.

Altdorf is a huge city with a population of more than one million. It is full of merchants from Marienburg, Knight Kingdom, Kislev Kingdom or other provinces. The land is fertile, the commerce is prosperous, and the old world can be harmonious. Only Nunn, Middenheim, Grond and Erlengrad are comparable to giant cities of the size of Altdorf. As the most prosperous, civilized and powerful province of the empire, Rickland has More than three million people, almost four times the total population of Nordland. Under the hard work of several generations of Karl-Franz family and three generations of emperors, Rickland has the most elite army in the empire, war machines, artillery and so much more. This is also a few provinces in the empire that are relatively peaceful and less faced with war.

"The emperor's intelligence chief came to the mansion in secret, just to give you money? I thought it was something important." Nicas-Francis curled his lips: "So it seems that southerners really like to make false heads. Brain thing."

   "Cough cough. Your Excellency Francis." Adrian Gentile coughed twice, and glanced at the kingdom knight beside him.

   "Oh! Adrian, my fault, in my heart you are already a northerner, completely different from those southerners, and more capable of fighting." Francis smiled and waved his hand.

"Gold coins are not important to us personally, Francis, but the development of the territory always requires a lot of expenses. The gold coins given away are also gold coins. As long as they are reasonable, they will not refuse." Lailun took two knights under his command and walked in the Wander the streets of Altdorf.

In the past, most of the city residents were well-dressed, and the freemen and businessmen were more prosperous in their daily lives. The streets were dirty and chaotic. Both people and houses gave people a feeling of old and dirty. The buildings on the roadside were old and new. One, the same black brick house.

Since the beginning of autumn, there have been a lot of idle people on the streets. Ordinary countrymen are wearing a layer of cloaks, exhaling cold air, doing business and chores, selling their own vegetables or fruits, shouting loudly, and occasionally there will be a The appearance of two noble ladies and several maids on the street can often cause a small commotion. Many petty citizens and idlers whistle inappropriately when they see a slightly beautiful noble lady.

With the fall of autumn, the weather is no longer warm, and there are many more poor people on the streets to beg. Many great swordsmen and groups of knights belonging to the capital garrison are patrolling to maintain law and order. Now that the autumn harvest is over, the emperor The appointed officials were collecting taxes from house to house, and the officials were inherently evil, but in Altdorf they were far less rude and softer than the northerners, and of course, when there was resistance to not paying the tax, The knights who patrol the streets are not idle.

   "I have traveled to many small places. The tax collectors of the vast majority of incompetent lords are rude and arrogant. Those worms of the empire collude with the local soldiers to further oppress the poor ordinary people."

Kingdom Knight Nikas Francis said: "The local soldiers target different groups of people, and they show two extremes. They are humble and flattering to those powerful and prominent nobles or town councillors, and to those civilians, the soldiers are fierce and domineering. Outrageous, they go around looking for justifications and excuses for fines that don't usually leave their pockets easily."

Lailen looked at a few poor beggars in ragged clothes, hungry and skinny in the deep alleys of the street corner: "Human nature also has a dark side, the underground black market in every city perfectly displays human nature, and millions of people in the empire live in pathetic ignorance. Among them, as long as they can barely survive, they are willing to let themselves live hard."

   "But in any case, the cornerstone of the empire is laid on the sacrifice of countless people. Chaos lasts forever. The victory of every battle is just to prolong the survival time for oneself."

In the southern part of the empire, especially in the three richest provinces of Rickland, Wessonland, and Ivyland, peasants cultivate their own land, they only need to pay taxes to the emperor or the elector, and the rest of the grain can be Selling by themselves, in exchange for a lot of extra income, and accumulating wealth, the local lords will only collect a certain commercial tax from their sales. When the emperor or the elector needs soldiers to supplement the provincial army, these farmers are the best. The source of soldiers, they are eager for war, so that they have the opportunity to be promoted and cross the class.

But in the north of the empire, the situation was basically the same as the serf system in the knight kingdom. The peasants were forced to hand over the vast majority of the food, and the taxes on the small merchants and craftsmen were complicated and heavy, so ordinary people also yearned for war. , because this will fill your stomach.

   One satisfies the basic material needs, the other stays at the first level, and the north and south of the empire are two completely different worlds.

   This is also one of the important reasons why the empire has gradually disintegrated since the death of Magnus the Savior.

   "My lord, I can guarantee this is the best fruit you've ever seen, guaranteed in the name of Lady Fortune, absolutely sweet!"

   "Buy mine, my lord! I'm better than his!"

   "Good-hearted aristocrat, look at my radish, it's fresh, just dug out of the ground this morning."

Undoubtedly, Lailun and the others walked to the noisy market, which was full of people and crowds. There were almost a thousand people in this small and crowded area. Considering the price difference and the quality of the touts, pickpockets and thieves are also walking through the crowd, and this is a good time for them to show their skills, so from time to time someone exclaims that they have lost something, and from time to time there are sneaky guys. Arrested by patrolling guards.

"In Altdorf, there are more than 30 medium-sized fairs like this, and there are four largest trade fairs. The things sold there are not limited to grain! Slaves, swords, books, everything!" Adrian Gentry, who lives in Altdorf City, leaned into Leron's ear and said, "It's too noisy here, and it's hard to hear if you don't get close.

  "If I have time, I really want to visit these markets!" Lallen also exclaimed, he enjoyed the crowded place very much, and the downtown area was full of life.

   After walking out of the downtown area, gradually, the flow of people on the street became less dense than before.

There are jobs all over town, manure scavengers, sewers, sewer cleaners, and even the most humble occupations are vying for jobs in Altdorf, and if you go to the port west of Altdorf, you will find every Thousands of boxes of goods are handled every day, and the most common places are sailors and porters. Even if a place is vacated, it can even win the battle. In the city of Altdorf, where there is a job, there is a foothold.

There are also many beggars and homeless people on the streets. The poor people who have suffered disasters want to come to the big city to try their luck. It is better to die than to live. A few copper coins will do, ah no, a copper coin, just one copper coin will buy me a full meal of black bread, all right, gentlemen! Lady Serena will bless the good."

There were also a few noble ladies who showed kindness and took out their purses, and when they were about to give out a few copper coins, the soldiers patrolling the streets unceremoniously drove away beggars and homeless people: "Leave, you pigs. , lazy! Let me see you one more time, just wait for you to go into the dark prison and reflect on yourself!"

  The ladies who couldn't bear it, were annoyed at these inhumane patrolling soldiers, with their pretty eyes, as if they were accusing them of their "shameful behavior".

  Lyren just smiled and didn't take it seriously.

"Your Excellency Lallen, did you have a good time in Altdorf?" At this moment, a mature male voice came from the side, surrounded by a dozen Rick guards, the Emperor Karl Franz in casual clothes smiled. As he approached, the emperor's flag-holder Ludwig followed behind him, with a warm and sincere smile on the emperor's face: "Welcome to Rikland, the most powerful, oldest and richest empire in the world. province, and the hometown of Charlemagne."

   "Your Majesty the Emperor!" Lailun was about to bow down to greet him, but the Emperor took the initiative to support him.

   "Your Majesty!"

   "My Emperor!"

   Francis and Adrian did not have such honors. The two saluted respectfully and attracted a lot of side glances. The emperor smiled and raised his hand: "No salute, two knights, hehe~~"

The   Rick guards were fully armed, and any of them would be a little dissatisfied if they got too close to the emperor, but thinking of the achievements made by the people in front of them, the emperor's guards didn't say anything, they just calmly guarded the emperor in the middle.

Altdorf is full of patrolling imperial knights and great swordsmen, so there is no need to worry about safety issues. Lailen looked at Emperor Karl Franz in casual clothes and a dozen Rick guards covered in robes. Perhaps The emperor, like himself, wanted to go out for a walk.

The Emperor    looked at the former Rick Guard and said with a smile: "Adrian is an excellent knight, but he can follow you under your command, and he can give full play to his due strengths."

  Adrian nodded, and Lailun smiled politely: "Your Majesty is wrong."

"Miao Zan? How can an imperial hero make Miao Zan, haha~~" Sure enough, the emperor took the initiative to reach out and shake hands with Lailun, and he always had a smile on his face: "Suddenly coming from the north to live in the south, it should be a little uncomfortable. Right? I went to Midden Collar for the first time when I was seventeen, and it was a cold spring, and I had the unfortunate wind chill that I fell off my horse and nearly broke my leg."

   "I'm sorry for your experience, my majesty, the accommodation provided by the mansion is very complete and comfortable, and I have to thank you for this."

   "Haha~~ That's good, Lord Lailun is like me, feeling bored and walking on the street?"

   "Yes, what about Your Majesty?"

"Everything is arranged by my subordinates, and it is rare to have some free time in the afternoon, so even though my flag officer Ludwig disagreed, I decided to go out for a walk and see the development of the city under my control." The emperor smiled, he He patted the arm of the Kingdom Knight: "Exactly, are the heroes of the Empire interested in going around the streets with me?"

   Ludwig, who was behind the emperor, coughed lightly. The eyes on the street were no less than twenty, and accidents and dangers could happen at any time.

   "My honor, Your Majesty." A rare invitation, there was no reason for Lallen to refuse.

   Ask for tickets and subscriptions!

Chapter end