Heroes of Might and Magic: Knight Chapter 354: Smart man (changed)
"Why don't you sell food when the door is open!"
"Yes! Isn't this a trick on us!"
In the past two days, the rice and grain stores in the city did not close their doors as they did a few days ago. Instead, they were all opened according to the instructions of the city lord's palace. However, the nobles behind them did not supply a single grain of food to the rice and grain stores. This The civilians who had been unable to buy food for a while saw the rice and grain store open and gathered around to try to buy some food.
Although the grain output in the river valley is high, the population is dense and the oppression by the nobles is serious. Many families have less than a week's worth of food in their homes. They usually rely on working in Burai City and getting wages in exchange for it. Food, not to mention the skyrocketing price of food, is still priceless and unmarketable. If this continues, the poorest and most miserable people in the valley will begin to starve.
Other wealthy families who have some food reserves are also frightened. They are not much better than the common people who are in urgent need of food. If it takes another month or two, they will run out of food, and the food on the black market has already been sold to sky-high prices. , it is simply not something common people like them can afford, and now they all have it.
In the past two days, I saw various rice and grain stores in the city open. I thought it was the end of the road. These rice and grain stores have finally returned to normal, but I didn’t expect that these rice and grain stores would open their doors. But there was not a grain of food. Some civilians who wanted to buy food were still unwilling to leave after learning that there was no food in the store, and they stayed in the same place to argue with the people in the rice and grain store.
"Why, this is Duke's store. Do I need to explain to you people when it is open and closed?"
The people in the store are not easy to bully. Most of the rice and grain store staff in the city are the lackeys of the nobles in Burai City. When facing the nobles, they are condescending, but when facing the common people in the river valley, they But with his head looking towards the sky, when he heard that these civilians were dissatisfied, he immediately fought back.
The surrounding civilians did not dare to refute any more. The Duke family is one of the eleven current Burai families. The family also has hundreds of armored guards who are capable of fighting, and they are like thugs in the rice and grain store. There are at least one or two thousand people. These people cannot deal with the Hunter family's army, but they can definitely deal with the troublemaking civilians.
Unless the entire civilian population of Burai City rebels, the rule of the eleven Burai families can be overthrown. But it is difficult for civilians to unite together most of the time. Just like there were so many people surrounding the rice grain store today, but since the people in the rice grain store announced that there was no food for sale in the store for the time being, some food was not urgently needed. The people who lived on food left.
Now that the steward of the Duke family has roared, nearly half of the people have been reduced. In this city of Burai, which commoner who has the courage to do so dares to offend the Duke family.
It is difficult for the common people to unite as one when facing the nobles. They each have their own interests and demands, and are slow to unite. They are also easily divided and disintegrated by the nobles, and may even collapse within themselves.
"Sir, you see, we here don't have much food left, and there are a lot fewer people than before. If you set a high price, let us buy some food."
"That's not possible! How can we set a high price? The price is too high and we can't afford it!"
"That's right, if we had money, we would go to the black market and buy it. Why are we hanging around here?"
"It's great if you are willing to sell it to us. Do you still think it's too expensive?"
"You can afford it, but we can't!"
"Huh, there is no food in the rice and grain store today. No matter who comes, there is no food. Even if you get a gold, you can't get it from this store."
To say jinnar is a bit exaggerated. Even though Richard squandered more than six figures of jinnar at will, the purchasing power of jinnar is still very strong. Most civilians have never come into contact with jinnar in their lives. , the concept of Jinnaer is only very valuable.
"There is no food in this rice and grain store. There should be food in the granary in the city."
"Yes, the weather has been good in our valley over the past few years, and the granaries should have been filled with grain for a long time."
"Why don't you go take a look first? Maybe there's grain in the granary."
"Let's go, let's go and see."
The crowd changed direction again and headed towards the granary in the city. People's herd mentality is very strong, and with the guidance of thoughtful people, people who were waiting in front of various rice and grain stores all joined the group. After a while, there were thousands of people gathered. This was just the lack of people. Food time is short, and widespread famine has not yet broken out. If another week or two passes, this number will probably double again.
A big city like Burai City should have a large official granary according to the rules to store the city's reserve grain. This kind of grain storage rule is very effective at critical times, and the civilians look at the tall and towering granary. There will also be a certain sense of security in the granary.
The city lord's palace is not far from the granary. These people couldn't find food in the rice and grain store, and they didn't dare to go to the noble castle to make trouble. Instead, they thought of the official granary in Burai City.
The granary in Burai City is tall and sturdy, but there is not much food in it. It is not empty enough to allow hungry rats to run away. It is also due to Sol's previous rectification. Otherwise, this official warehouse in Burai City Not a grain of food.
Unfortunately, the influence of the nobles of the River Valley is too great in all aspects. Once Thor left, their true colors were revealed. Dane could only guarantee the military supplies of the Army of the River Valley, and could only say that he could do nothing else. In this short period of time, , the official warehouse in Burai City is almost empty again.
City Lord’s Mansion
Moriel is sitting in the council chamber with Dane and several officials who are ready to participate in the operation.
"It's already afternoon. What are the reactions of the families in the city?"
“We still only open rice and grain stores but do not deliver food, and we are still raising the prices of daily necessities.”
"Haha, these people really don't cry until they see the coffin."
Moriel's tone was a little disdainful, and the people on the field also looked like they didn't care much. From an economic point of view, they were at a disadvantage. Maybe it couldn't be said to be a disadvantage. It was a complete failure, but They didn't care about winning or losing on this battlefield. Except in the complex modern society, how could a person holding a knife handle lose to a group of businessmen.
How joyfully these noble merchants in the river valley are dancing now will be how ruthless they will be with their swords later.
"Everyone, be prepared. As soon as the sun goes down, General Dane will take action with his people. The dragon army will be matched with the valley army to attack all the noble castles in Burai City that do not cooperate with the orders of the city lord. Come down!"
"Yes, sir!"
This time the Dragon Army came with preparations for war. They brought a lot of siege equipment, and the Valley Army was also equipped. It couldn't be easier to knock down the small castles of these nobles.
"Lord Moriel! A crowd is gathering towards the City Lord's Mansion!"
Just as everyone was preparing to go down to arrange operations after sunset, a soldier hurriedly ran in to report to Moriel.
"Are these nobles in Burai City out of their minds?"
This is the first thought of everyone here. There is a flag regiment of 5,000 professional soldiers stationed in the city lord's palace. There are four giant dragons lying in the yard, and there are tens of thousands of troops scattered around. Where did these people come from? Thousands of people wanted to attack the city lord's palace.
"Who is coming?"
Morill was the first to react. The thousands of people who came were definitely not from various armies. If they had the guts, they would have resisted from the beginning. Now both the Dragon Army and Dane's Valley Legion have All the key nodes inside and outside the city are firmly under control. Unless they are a group of congenitally retarded people, they would not be shooting at the gun like this.
"They are all civilians from the river valley. Their goal should be the granary next to the city lord's mansion."
"Here, what's the use of the grain in the granary?"
"It is impossible to put food from the granary even if it is used."
"General Dane!"
"Here!"
"Go and find out who lured these civilians to come to the granary."
"Yes, Lord Moriel!"
You don’t need to guess about this kind of thing. These civilians were incited to come here. If no one leads the way, how can they gather to cause trouble for the city lord’s mansion. Moriel immediately ordered Dane, who was most familiar with all the forces in the river valley, to investigate the matter. Dane did not shirk and immediately agreed. Obviously, he was very confident in finding out the leader of this incident.
When Moriel gave the order to Dane, her whole face turned into frost. Moriel was obviously a little angry. The operation of this group was not a threat to her, but it really disgusted her. .
"Then, Lord Moriel, what should we do with those civilians?"
"Let the Dragon Army set up defenses and send people to persuade them to leave. If anyone doesn't listen and wants to attack the defense line, kill them on the spot!"
"Yes, sir!"
No one present had any problem with Moriel's order. Although these civilians were also pitiful people who were taken advantage of, pity was not the reason why they could attack the granary. Everyone should pay for their actions. cost.
…
Castle of Vicomte Andel
Representatives of various noble families in Burleigh City are still sitting in the meeting hall of Andel's house, discussing matters of unified action.
"Hahahaha, today thousands of untouchables did not buy food at the rice and grain store, but went to the granary of the city lord's palace to ask for food."
"Hey, what's the result?"
"What else can we do? The news just came that the Hunter family's army dispersed those untouchables after killing dozens of people."
"Damn, these untouchables are really useless."
"No, no, no, it is still useful. At least it has put pressure on the Hunter family invisibly, telling them that if Burley City continues like this, this kind of small chaos will turn into a big chaos sooner or later."
"Yes, Viscount Duke is still very powerful. He can lure those untouchables over with just a simple provocation."
"It's not because we are so powerful. Who knew these untouchables could be so stupid that they dared to attack the Hunter family's defense line."
"Hahahaha, if they can break through the Hunter family's defense, then we will have to worry."
Most of the people here did not regard this matter as anything too important. It was just a joke, and only dozens of people were killed or injured.
Only Los Andel, who was sitting aside, twitched his eyes and touched his forehead unnaturally. If he looked carefully, he could even find a trace of sweat. After being pointed out by his old father, Viscount Andel, that night, Los Andel I was a little distracted by this so-called action meeting.
He has been making his own plans while paddling, but what happened today still shocked him. He couldn't help but break into a cold sweat and provoke the civilians to attack the city lord's palace. This is not to put pressure on the Hunter family. This is completely The purpose is to provoke the other party, and most people don't even know it is a deadly move.
"Lord Ross? What's wrong with you?"
Loss's unnatural appearance was still noticed by others. Now Ross was so frightened that his face turned pale, and he seemed to be physically unwell.
"It's okay, let's discuss today's matters here."
"Tonight is the time for the Hunter family to issue an ultimatum. Shouldn't we discuss it again?"
"There's nothing to discuss. You see, the Hunter family is in a hurry by these assholes. What kind of ultimatum is there? I guess they will have to come to us for negotiations tomorrow."
"Well, the plan is all set. Just go back and take action. Let's break up."
At Ross's insistence, the meeting was dismissed early, and everyone was still talking about what the Duke family had done when they left.
"Only a few thousand people came today. If in another two weeks, our family will make an effort and say that all the food is in the city lord's mansion, attracting tens of thousands of people to see what the Hunter family will do."
"Hahaha, good idea!"
…
Andel's Garden
"The Dukes did something stupid."
Loss conveyed the incident exactly to Viscount Andel, who had retreated behind the scenes. The old man also made a very simple and clear evaluation of the matter.
"After tonight, I'm afraid there won't be any Duke family left, and I don't know how many of the twelve Burley families will be left tomorrow."
"No matter what, our Andel family will remain standing."
"No family can survive. I just hope that I will not see the Andel family perish while I am alive."
"Okay, don't worry about other people, and don't hide anymore. Transport food to the rice and grain store openly. Our Andel family's rice and grain store will immediately sell food to the civilians in the city at a fair price."
"Yes, Father, I will make arrangements immediately."
"Go quickly. The Duke family's behavior may have angered the Hunter family. I'm afraid it will be too late."
Loss quickly walked to the hall to gather the stewards and made arrangements. The stewards were extremely puzzled. After all, there was money but no profit, and there was a problem with their attitude. But Los's prestige as the heir to the title was still very high, and these stewards quickly went everywhere to bring orders with confusion.
…
"Hurry, hurry, several rice and grain stores in Andel's family are selling grain!"
Andel's cheap food quickly caused looting. Fortunately, they had anticipated it and arranged manpower in advance to maintain order.
“The Menji family’s grain store also has grain, but it’s a little more expensive than what Andel’s sells. Why don’t we wait in line here?”
"Lu Yin's grain store has also started selling grain!"
The common people who were buying grain suddenly became elated. As the sun set, they who had given up hope suddenly heard a series of good news in succession. It seemed that as the sun set today, the city of Burai suddenly became There is no shortage of food.
"What's going on! What's the Andel family doing! And the Luin family and the Menji family, why are they selling food privately!"
The Duke family, Viscount Duke, who was still proud of today's operation in the castle, suddenly received bad news. Three of the eleven Burley families actually broke their agreement, and even made a mistake at the end of the Hunter family's agreement. The grain sales started before the time, which greatly annoyed him.
Viscount Duke strode out of the room and wanted to send someone to question him. Unexpectedly, he saw the guards outside the castle looking panicked.
"Giant, giant dragon!"
…