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Early in the morning of the third day, Pero hurriedly brought his list, and Roland received him in the hall as usual.
"Your Highness, I have made my choice."
"Let me see." Roland took the list. It was almost the same as expected. The majority of the items on the list were serfs with a score of 2, about 800 people, 100 cows and 300 sheep, which accounted for a total of 900 points, and the rest were various craftsmen.
"Your Highness, is this okay?"
"Of course, as long as you get 3,000 points." Roland returned the list to Pero, "When can you gather these people and supplies?"
"Today, this is the arrangement I made based on the property and people in the Honeysuckle Territory. But Your Highness, if you want to bring them back to Border Town, it may take about half a month."
"You have to do this yourself," Roland said, tapping the table. "You should have experience in organizing caravans, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Pero hesitated, "Then my father..."
"You can take him back today," the prince smiled and handed him a parchment roll. "If you think there is no problem, sign and stamp it."
"Is this... an agency contract?" Pero glanced at the beginning and his voice became excited. "Do you agree to grant the agency rights to the Honeysuckle Family? Please wait a moment." He flattened the paper roll and began to read the contract carefully.
The other party's prudence made Roland nod with satisfaction - as a partner, respecting the contract is the most basic requirement.
After a moment, Pero looked up. "The content above is basically the same as what you told me yesterday, except for one thing..." He pointed to the end of the contract. "Your Highness, shouldn't my father's name be written here? He is the Earl of Honeysuckle and the representative of the family."
Roland smiled. "Of course not. It was you who discussed the agency with me, not your father. So, naturally, your name is written at the end of this contract."
Pero was stunned for a moment, and asked in disbelief: "Your Highness, do you mean for me to come--"
"Yes, you will replace the Duke and take charge of the Longsong Fortress for me." Roland nodded. "If the contract goes smoothly, you can continue to own the city after I become king." He paused and put away his smile. "But if you violate the contract, your fate will be the same as that of the Duke. I can attack the Longsong Fortress once, and I can do it a second time. Do a good job, Mr. Ambassador."
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The dungeon of the castle is not as damp and dark as the prison in Border Town. Perhaps the Duke does not want his basement to become a haunted house, or to smell a disgusting stench as soon as he walks down the stairs. In general, the dungeon is relatively clean. Different cells have different decoration levels. Some are empty, and some are not only equipped with beds, but also wardrobes, desks and chandeliers. Perhaps the Duke originally regarded this place as a place to imprison some nobles, and basic etiquette must be guaranteed.
Roland also found a special cell in the corner. A large bed took up half of the room. There were chains hanging from the ceiling, but the iron shackles tied to the chain were wrapped in sheepskin. There were all kinds of whips hanging on the wall. It seemed that Duke Ryan also had research in some aspects, he thought, but it was a pity that he would leave here in a few days and could not figure it out.
As the most valuable captive, Xia Lafei Hermon was naturally locked in the best cell. If you didn't look at the iron railings outside, you would think it was a luxurious bedroom. Sharafi Hermon shared the room with the Viscounts of the Maple Leaf Family and the Wolf Family, the eldest son of the Wild Rose Family, and the second son of the Elk Family. These families, together with Lion Ryan, constituted the six major families of the Longsong Fortress. Of course, Ryan's faction had been disintegrated by Roland, and his wife and son were locked up next door.
Seeing His Royal Highness the Prince appear in the dungeon, the nobles stood up one after another. Without waiting for them to ask questions, Roland spoke first, "Count Hermon, you can come out. As for the others, I will let you out after the ransom is delivered."
"Father," Pero was relieved to see the Count's rosy face. He glanced at his friend, then looked at Roland, "Your Highness, I didn't see the name of Count Elk on the list. If he died on the battlefield, the eldest son of their family should still be in the royal capital, and there is no one in the family who can take charge. Can we release Ryan Med first and let him go back to raise the ransom himself? I am willing to guarantee him."
"The eldest son of the Elk family, do you mean Jacquemed?" Roland shook his head, "He's back. Not only that, he also came to the castle yesterday. But I don't think he intends to pay the ransom."
Hearing this, Ryan stuck to the edge of the cage in disbelief, "Why?"
"He said you failed to protect his father on the battlefield. You are the executioner who killed Count Med."
"Why would he say such a thing? It was obviously me who killed my father." Ryan suddenly shut up.
Roland said indifferently, "You want to say that it was obviously me who killed the earl, right?" He walked to the cage, "Your father sent people to sneak into my castle before the Demonic Moon, wanting to burn the food. Now he followed the Duke and led a large group of knights to attack my territory. I just fought back and repelled the invaders. So am I the murderer? Compared with the instigator, Duke Ryan, and the accomplice, Count Med, who should be condemned more? In addition, if it weren't for Hills's confession that you knew nothing about the burning of the food, you would have been dead by now."
"" Ryan was speechless.
"Your Highness," Pero asked worriedly, "If no one is willing to pay the ransom, will you execute him?"
"No, I have always been kind," Roland grinned, "I will probably take him back to Border Town and dig for twenty years in the North Slope Mine to atone his sins."
"How much is the ransom?"
"As the second son, he has no chance to inherit the title, so his price is naturally not as high as that of the Count of Honeysuckle. Just one thousand gold dragons is enough." Roland looked at him with interest, "Why, you want to pay the ransom for him?"
"What value, one thousand gold dragons?" The Count, who was released by the guards, interrupted.
"Your son will tell you," the prince made a gesture of invitation, "Let's go, there is nothing good to stay here. As for the matter of the second son of the Med family, you don't have to rush, you can go back and think about it slowly.
When the group left the dungeon and walked to the castle gate, the Count suddenly stopped, "Your Highness, I know that Duke Ryan's behavior is unforgivable, but his wife and son are innocent. "
Perhaps," Roland said undeniably, "I have no intention of sentencing them to exile or hanging. I will only take them back to Border Town and imprison them." Until the day I ascend the throne, he thought. Now is not the time to be soft-hearted. If they are released without charge, there will be no benefit except to make the water in Changsong Fortress more muddy. The eldest son has the legal right of inheritance.
"What did you say?" Xia Lafei Hermon widened his eyes and looked at Pero in disbelief. "Your Highness does not plan to live in Changsong Fortress, and he also wants to hand over the city to you to manage."
Returning to the Earl of Honeysuckle's Mansion, Pero immediately told his father in detail what had happened in the past three days. When he heard the agency contract, the earl could no longer bear it. After getting his son's affirmative answer, he stood up and walked around the study, obviously with mixed feelings.
"Father, are you okay?" Pero asked worriedly.
"It seems that our opponents are mainly the Elk Family. Apart from them, the other three families are far inferior to us in terms of foundation and strength. "
What?" He didn't come back to his senses for a moment.
"Opponents, opponents," the earl yelled, "you disappoint me so much. His Highness has given you such a good opportunity. Haven't you analyzed who your opponents are yet?"
"Uh, don't you feel strange?"
"Strange why His Royal Highness insisted on returning to Border Town. Of course it's strange," the earl stroked his beard, "but what does that have to do with us, as long as this contract is true."
That's right, Pero thought, His Highness went to such great lengths that it couldn't be just to amuse himself, as for the reason why he loved Border Town, he could think about it slowly. But he didn't expect his father's acceptance ability to be so strong.
"I heard that the kid from the Med family is your friend," Xia Lafei suddenly stopped and said, "You go and get him out tomorrow."
"You agree that I will spend a thousand dollars to redeem him," Pero was stunned.
"Think about it, Earl Elk is dead, and the eldest son is unwilling to redeem the second son. In this battle, except for a few knights, there is almost no loss. Once Jacquemed inherits the title, it will inevitably hinder you from taking charge of the Longsong Fortress in the future. "The earl explained, "Why Jacques is unwilling to redeem Ryan is because he is afraid that he will threaten him."
Well, it turned out to be for this reason, Pero smiled bitterly in his heart. But he knew that his father was right. Ryan liked long swords and spears since he was a child, and was very close to the knights in the territory. Unlike the eldest son Jacques, he thought that physical combat was unworthy of the nobility and preferred the romance of the capital. Although Ryan repeatedly showed that he wanted to be a knight, that was without the right of inheritance. Now that there is no restraint from the earl, who knows if he will summon his knights and kill the eldest son with a knife? Spending money to redeem a person who makes him restless, Jacques's decision was very straightforward and ruthless.
"My friend won't do this," he said firmly.
"Maybe, but after you redeem him, whether he intends to do so or not, Jacques will have a headache." Xia Lafei continued, "As for the materials with a value of one thousand, we can choose craftsmen with higher scores. "
I have already transferred some craftsmen to prepare the ransom for you. If I add more, there will not be enough craftsmen in the territory."
"Don't worry. You know the North is in chaos right now?" The Earl said confidently. "The coalition forces of the four kingdoms were all destroyed in Hermes. The lords have forced their subjects to join the army. A large number of refugees have appeared there. We can take this opportunity to eat more, and we can save the monthly supplies in the future."
Only then did Pero realize that his father was also a business expert, at least much better than him in the battlefield.