Heroes of Might and Magic: Knight Chapter 365: Movement (changed)

Time flies quickly. With the arrival of summer, the climate begins to get hotter. The Northland is still cool now, but the royal capital located on the central plain has already turned on the scorching mode.

Royal Palace

King Ren and several of his trusted ministers were discussing matters in a pavilion.

The pavilion is located in the shade. The unique design allows water to circulate continuously on the corners of the pavilion, which has a cooling effect. It is much cooler to discuss matters here than in the palace.

"Your Majesty, Longxiguan has gathered more than five million troops, and the number of people recruited has exceeded 10 million. Even if it is next to the Central Plains and the cost of transporting food is low, it cannot withstand this. Consumed."

"Yes, our grain storage is somewhat insufficient, and the grain storage at Longxingguan continues to increase. In fact, we can completely suspend the progress of the grain storage at Longxingguan."

In order to support Longxing Pass, food is transported from all over the kingdom to Longxing Pass. It is not only for the soldiers to eat, but also continuously increases the storage capacity of the granaries in Longxing Pass. It is also because the foundation of the Golden Dragon Kingdom is strong enough to be able to withstand it. Such consumption.

"I also think that we can postpone the transportation of grain to Longxi Pass. Now because of the transportation of grain to Longxi Pass, the price of grain in various places is a little tense. We are sticking to it anyway and there is no need to transport so much grain to Longxi Pass. If consumption continues like this, the kingdom’s food bank will be emptied.”

Ren's approach now can be called a militarism. Because of the threat of orcs, everyone has reached a consensus on this kind of militarism. However, there is one difference. The supplies hoarded at Longxing Pass in Renn's order have been It exceeds the need for defense. Others don't know because of confidentiality, but the ministers sitting here all know it clearly.

It’s just that they don’t know that Renn and Thor have formulated a very bold plan, which will not be announced until the last moment. Renn’s purpose is not to passively defend, he is hoarding supplies, and he is doing it with Sol. Dongchu Longxiguan made proactive preparations, and now it seems that the confidentiality work has been done well. Even the senior officials in front of them are completely unaware of this plan.

"How is the summer food this year?"

“We haven’t started receiving goods yet, but if nothing else happens, it should be a bumper harvest.”

"That's just right. There's a great harvest in the Central Plains. The harvested grains will be transported directly to Longxing Pass. We'll hold on to it for this period of time. I don't think you can even hold on to it for a while. ”

"This..."

"No problem, Your Majesty."

After a slight hesitation, the minister in charge of money and food gave Ren a positive answer. The Golden Dragon Kingdom has been in a peaceful period for many years. Although the local nobles have become corrupt, they are not fundamentally bad. There was a lot of food stored by both the private sector and the government. If Ren could follow Richard's example and search the homes of some of the richest nobles in the Central Plains, the gold and supplies he would obtain would definitely be richer than Richard's harvest. The heritage of the kingdom still exists. Although it is a bit difficult to raise tens of millions of people at Dragon Breath Gate now, these supplies can eventually be squeezed out.

"Also, for this year's summer grain, all land will be taxed an additional 10%. The nobles must pay the tax as a whole. I don't want to hear about where the nobles pay less land tax. Harris will be responsible for this matter, at least in the Central Plains. The taxes must be collected in full.”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After hearing Ren's order, Thor stood still. Paying more taxes and less taxes did not mean much to him. Several ministers were hesitant in place. Increasing taxes is a very sensitive matter. , especially in the Golden Dragon Kingdom, where the ruling class, the noble knights, are basically landlords. Normally, increasing land taxes will definitely cause a fierce backlash, and these ministers may also come out to oppose it.

But now was a special moment, so they had no choice but to hesitate and did not speak immediately. However, Harris, who was in charge of the Black Prison, responded quickly and jumped out to express his position after Renn gave the order.

"Then, when we collect summer grain this year, we will add another layer of collection on top of the original one."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A general tax increase policy was settled in these few words.

"Is there anything else? If not, please go back first and take care of your subordinates. The Black Prison will not hold back this time."

There was a hint of threat in Renn's words. Everyone present except Saul and Harris were shocked, especially the left and right ministers. It felt like Renn's words were specifically addressed to them. Most of them are busy saying they don't dare.

As for the various connections among the nobles and bureaucrats in the kingdom, Ren is very clear about it. Those who can sit here are considered to be the bosses of various factions. He can't control these people who usually compete for interests. There are always some things that are hard to recover from the five-hundred-year-old dynasty. Some interest groups are like parasites on the kingdom and cannot be touched by just any wise monarch.

But the current situation is special, and these people must know how to cooperate under the general trend. If any company fails to cooperate with the Kingdom's actions at this time, then Renn will have a legitimate reason to take tough measures.

"Your Majesty, many nobles from the river valley have recently come to the royal capital to complain, which has made some people panic."

Just when Renn thought it was time to leave, the left minister in charge of the affairs of the House of Lords suddenly mentioned the matter in the river valley.

"Oh? Is this something caused by our guardian of the North, Grand Duke Hunter again?"

"Your Majesty is wise. After entering the river valley, Lord Richard's army killed more than forty nobles and confiscated the properties of each family. They did not pay attention to the rules of the kingdom at all. Now some people are fleeing from the river valley. The nobles who came out have to come to the House of Nobles every day to sue Richard. Many nobles in the royal capital also have a lot of objections to Sir Richard. Your Majesty, do you think so?"

His eyelids jumped when he heard the words of the left prime minister. After Richard agreed to send out the dragon to participate in the Eastern Expedition, Renn basically took his eyes away from the Northland. Now, for him, the most important thing is It's the war with the orcs.

He thought that after the river valley was granted to Richard, he would eat at most a piece of fat meat from the pot of the nobles in the river valley. He didn't expect that this kid looked so ugly, so he took away the pot and took four pieces at once. There were more than a dozen nobles, and the nobles in the river valley asked him to copy half of them. It was really

I’m envious!

It's a pity that the throne of the Charman family is based on the existing aristocratic system. Richard can use force to make things happen, but Ren has to maintain the system that binds him.

Of course, it's a pity that Ren couldn't say such words, and he had to look angry and make a gesture of smashing the cup.

"How dare he!"

"Master Richard did go too far in the river valley."

"Then I don't know how the left prime minister thinks it should be handled."

"Someone should be sent to give him a lecture and then order him to return the confiscated noble property."

"Okay, let's do it like this. In two days, we will send someone to the river valley to send a message to Richard."

"Well, then I can give my reply to the group of valley nobles in the House of Lords."

Although the words are beautiful, everyone knows that Ren's attitude is just a gesture. Richard has already confiscated half of the nobles' homes in the valley. What else can he do about the rules of the kingdom? There is a sense of awe at all, but if you are serious about it, why don't you send hundreds of thousands of troops there to make Richard compromise? Maybe hundreds of thousands of troops won't work. If each million-strong army plus all the dragon knights are dispatched, there is really nothing that can be done against the current Richard.

What Zuo Xiang said was actually a gesture. After all, he represents the interests of the nobility. Richard's behavior breaks the rules among the nobility and damages the interests of the nobility. It is inappropriate for him to do nothing. , but he also knew that the kingdom could not do anything. Renn's attention was not on the North, and Renn had no time to care about the interests of the nobles in the valley. Both parties had a certain tacit understanding, and that was why this performance was still possible. It's just an online performance, just used to appease the nobles' hearts.

After a few people finally discussed some innocuous matters, several ministers left the palace early, leaving only Saul and Harris, two close ministers of the king.

After everyone left, the angry face of Ren's face instantly returned to calm, which perfectly reflected the cultivation of a qualified politician. Sol and Harris on the side were not surprised by this. Renne doesn't have to pretend in front of everyone, and there is not much need for Sol and Harris.

"Uncle Saul, what do you think Richard did this time?"

"It's audacious, but your Majesty can rest assured."

After listening, Ren nodded. Some things don’t need to be explained clearly. Although Richard’s breaking of the rules this time seems a bit disrespectful to the world, it is actually a good thing for Ren. Richard is in the river valley. His actions can be regarded as an act of isolation from all nobles. If he tries to take Ren's chair again, all the nobles will desperately oppose him.

"Where are the troops in the Western Region now?"

"Three hundred thousand Western Territory cavalry have passed Longjiang and may arrive at the royal capital in a few days."

"The Duke of Ross has brought all the family wealth from the Western Region this time. If all the nobles in the kingdom were like the Ross family, we wouldn't be in such a difficult situation."

"Receive the Western Army well. When Duke Ross arrives, we will hold a banquet in the palace to welcome him."

The approach of 300,000 foreign troops to the royal capital was originally a nerve-wracking thing, but seeing that neither Thor nor Ren were alert at all, they obviously had enough trust in the Duke of Ross in the West.

"Harris, what are my precious sons doing lately?"

Ren's conversation turned to several princes. In addition to the supervising officials and nobles in Harris's prison, the princes were obviously also under his supervision.

"The eldest prince is still reorganizing the garrison forces in various places, and currently controls many local garrison forces."

"Not bad."

Ren was not at all shy about the eldest prince's involvement in the military power, but gave him a good evaluation.

"The others are all using their own strength, but they are still not as strong as the eldest prince."

The eldest prince has an inherent age advantage, and he is also highly qualified personally. It is normal for him to be ahead of the other brothers.

"However, in addition to running his own power, His Highness Parley in the south has also been building rivers recently."

"River repairman?"

"Yes, His Highness Parley organized manpower to repair the southern section of the Dragon Army in the south, and also built several dams to divert water for irrigation."

"Diverting water for irrigation? The fourth child is quite ruthless."

Ren commented leisurely about Parley. Neither Sol nor Harris said anything. The three people present knew a lot of things and were not stupid. They could guess some of the motives of Parley's actions. , I just guessed it but didn’t reveal it, and I even vaguely felt in my heart that Parley’s move was right.

…

The northern snowfield is in a place that is close to wilderness.

Several snow giants were running very fast on the vast white land, and more snow giants were chasing after them. The ground was shaking with the huge movement of the snow giants running.

"Don't run! Stop!"

"Hand over the people! Our Xuefeng tribe can let you go!"

"What should the patriarch do! Still can't get rid of them!"

"Brother, why don't you run away first? I'll cut you off?"

"If you cut off your head, we will arrive at the tribe soon. Why are you going back now?"

"I can't implicate the people of the tribe!"

“Keep running, there are humans who will help us block the Xuefeng tribe when we run back!”

The people who were being hunted on the snowfield were Man Gu and other warriors from the Ice Flame Tribe. Man Gu, who had been cautious all the way, didn't notice his younger brother Xiao Man at the last stage. This impulsive guy actually went out to hunt. They competed with the Xuefeng tribe for prey. Although that place was not technically the hunting ground of the Xuefeng tribe, it was just that the Xuefeng tribe was a large tribe and was used to being domineering. Even if they chased the prey out of the hunting ground, they would take it back.

Xiaoman is also a mean-tongued person, and he successfully dragged Mangu, who wanted to settle the matter, into the conflict, and seriously injured an important figure in the Xuefeng tribe during the conflict.

Seeing that something was wrong, Mangu and his men began to run away, but a large tribe like the Xuefeng Tribe also reacted very quickly. Soon more than fifty Snow Giant warriors began to chase them. The leading Snow Giant was taller than It is even one meter taller than Man Gu. In terms of strength, he is already a half-step sky-level expert. Man Gu and others are no match at all.

Fortunately, they were still able to run. They ran all the way for several days, but today they were finally chased by the people from the Snow Wind Tribe. If nothing else, they were chased by the warriors of this large tribe. After that, the result was that he and Xiaoman died, and the others were forcibly annexed, but now Mangu still has some hope.

We are about to reach the territory of those humans. They also have powerful giants. They should not sit idly by.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, there was a loud noise behind Mangu and others, and the people of the Xuefeng tribe suddenly became quiet, because the leading warrior sat down on the ground twitching.

At this time, a string of black dots appeared on the horizon, and Elena came with her fanatics and Titans to respond.

As early as more than ten miles away, investigators discovered the huge movement of the snow giant. Elena rushed over with her people immediately, and rescued Man Gu and others in a timely manner.

"Lady Elena, I'm causing you trouble."

Mangu came to Elena first, and regardless of his tired body, he knelt down and bowed to Elena...