Iron Powder and Spellcaster

[Wagne County]

[Oak Town]

[Majia Manor]

In the evening, the "Wolf Cavalry" briefly visited the Madiya Manor.

Before it got dark, another rich man from Oak Town, the potbellied timber merchant Mikhail, held up his belt and ran into the gate of the Matiya Manor, crying and shouting.

"Ouch..." Mikhail, who was already middle-aged, burst into tears and held old Ma Diya's hand without dignity, howling: "What should I do now! Ouch !”

Ma Jiya's family looked at each other, but they didn't know how to comfort each other.

Because as a "free man", old Matiya also encountered everything that Mikhail, as a "free man", encountered.

The wolf cavalry, representing the will of the blood wolf, came and asked Matya Milok to fulfill his honorable obligations as a "free man" - but it was an obligation that he had never fulfilled; at the same time, he would enjoy being a "free man" ” rights—of course, rights that have never been enjoyed.

They asked old Ma Jiya to leave as soon as possible and arrive in Maple Stone City within the first week of July to attend the meeting of all free people.

"What a crime! What a crime I have committed! I'm so obsessed with it!" Mikhail, who was also asked to attend the meeting, cried and regretted: "Why...why did I spend money to buy this free man's hat?" ! Now this broken hat! It’s going to kill me! Ahhh!”

"Uncle Mikhail." Xiao Majiya deliberately pronounced the word "uncle" very hard. Seeing that the usually arrogant and black-hearted timber merchant was so rude, he couldn't help but sarcastically said: "You have just become..." That's not what you said when you were a free man, but you showed it off to my father at the town meeting!"

Mikhail was stunned for a moment when he heard this, then hugged old Matiya's thigh and howled louder.

Old Ma Jiya stopped her younger son from rubbing salt on the lumber dealer's wounds with her eyes, and then waved her hand to signal everyone else to leave the living room.

The old servant Tasso was the first to leave. He gave the lumber merchant one last look of disdain, then spat on the ground and left the room without looking back.

Little Martiya also imitated Old Tasso's actions, clumsily spat out of the carpet and ran out after Old Tasso.

After Mrs. Matiya brought a glass of calming wine to the lumber dealer, she glanced at her husband worriedly, then wrapped her shawl tightly and returned to the second floor.

Mikhail drank all the wine in the glass in one gulp and waited until everyone else had left before telling him his true purpose.

"Brother Matiya...Brother Matiya..." Mikhail sobbed and asked: "You! You are the person I respect the most. You said, what...what meeting, we are going ?Still not going?"

"Free People's Congress." Old Majia paused, his face still as expressionless as granite: "Every 'free person' must go."

Mikhail said with a sad face: "There is always someone who can't go, right?"

"This is a meeting of free people in the newly reclaimed land. I'm afraid all the 'free people' in the entire province have been notified. What needs to be done must be about major events in the entire province." Old Majiya asked: "If you don't want to go, why did you pay for this title?"

In the Republic of Plato, free people do not refer to "free people", but people who have the right to vote and be elected. Free men could hold public office, be the first to speak at town and village meetings, and become members of local or even higher-level parliaments.

But becoming a "free man" is not an easy thing. Unless you have achieved military merit, you can only buy it with money.

Old Madya's free status came from military merit, and the timber merchant Mikhail spent a lot of money to get it.

"How did I know that this would happen today?" Mikhail regretted it and asked tremblingly: "All the 'people' from the new land are going to go? Then... how many people are there?"

"A few hundred people." Old Ma Jiya answered the question unconvincingly: "There will be no more than a thousand people in the newly cultivated land."

Knowing that his title was rarer than he thought, Mikhail felt inexplicably proud and happy.

But when he thought that it was this title that made him want to commit suicide, Mikhail couldn't help but feel sad.

"I won't go." Mikhail asked with tears in his eyes, "Is that okay?"

Old Ma Jiya thought for a while and replied seriously: "This is not what I said."

"That's that... I'm sick!"

Mikhail suddenly became energetic. He pulled up his trousers to expose his short and thick calves. He looked around the living room and finally selected a vase.

He picked up the vase, gestured to his leg, and shouted with a pale face: "I, I, I... my leg is broken! I can't get out! Isn't it okay?"

"Yeah." Old Ma Jiya's response was just a nasal sound.

Mikhail gritted his teeth and made gestures for a long time, but still couldn't make his move. After several repetitions, his full emotions disappeared in an instant. He fell to his knees limply, like a skin that had been emptied out.

"How can we live like this!" The lumber dealer covered his fat face and cried sadly: "I just gave birth to a daughter! How can she live without me!"

Old Ma Jiya silently took back the vase that Madam loved so much from the lumber dealer and carefully put it back in its place.

Mikhail suddenly hugged old Majia's thigh again and asked incoherently: "Xue Lang... Xue Lang, doesn't he want to kidnap us? Call all the wealthy households in the new land over and have a spoonful." Braised! I heard that he was subjected to all kinds of torture! Ahhh! Why is he so cruel! How can I endure it!"

Old Ma Jiya asked in confusion: "How do you know that Mr. Blood Wolf has various torture methods?"

"I... heard what someone said." Mikhail sniffed hard and added: "But the person who told me had seen the blood wolf with his own eyes. He said that the blood wolf had a green face, fangs, and a ferocious look..."

Old Ma Jiya tried hard to remember the young face who sold him the new plow, but she couldn't associate it with the green face, fangs, and ferocious look.

"Your Excellency Blood Wolf." Old Majia instinctively corrected the timber merchant: "It's not what you said."

Mikhail suddenly became energetic: "Brother... you... you have seen the blood wolf."

Old Ma Jiya nodded slowly.

"He, he, he...how is he?" Mikhail asked hurriedly: "Is he fair? Is he merciful? Is he as cruel as they say?"

At the end of the question, the timber merchant was already crying: "He... did he kidnap someone..."

Old Ma Jiya thought for a long time, but couldn't find a suitable word to describe the blood wolf. Although they had only met briefly, what the young leader conveyed to old Matiya could not be explained in just one word or sentence, and old Matiya did not know how to express it to Mikhail. illustrate.

After thinking about it again and again, old Ma Jiya solemnly said: "I will go."

Mikhail howled for a while before he realized what old Madiya said. In an instant, he suppressed all his tears and snot: "What did you say?"

"I will go to the meeting of all free people." Old Madiya paused: "I want to hear what Montagne wants to say."

Mikhail froze on the spot.

At this moment, another voice floated miserably from the direction of the manor gate: "Ah ah! Brother Ma Ji Ya! What should I do! I can't live anymore!..."

…

…

[Maplestone City]

[officers' quarters]

Some people are unwilling to go, but some are willing to come.

After receiving the notice, Gerard Mitchell and Ellen Mitchell, who were far away in Wolf Town, set off immediately and even arrived in Maple Stone City earlier than many "free men" in Wargne County.

Right now, the Mitchells are visiting Pierre's residence.

The officers' apartment of the former headquarters of the New Reclamation Corps is located in the best area of ​​Maple Stone City. Standing at the door, you can see the bell tower of the Maple Stone City Cathedral. When you open the window, you can see the quietly flowing Anya River.

The complex of apartments itself is an independent community, guarded by walls and guards, making it private and quiet. The construction of each apartment building itself is also very costly.

Old Mitchell looked at the entire apartment inside and out, and finally came up with only one word: "Not bad."

Then, he glanced at his son again, hummed softly, and said, "It's better than our house."

"You are joking, Dad." Pierre surrendered quickly. He looked at his mother for help: "Mitchell Manor is always the best."

Mrs. Mitchell, who was holding Pierre on her arm, looked at her husband tenderly and smiled, and Gilad Mitchell stopped playing tricks with her son.

"Thank you for your hard work along the way." Pierre, who briefly escaped his father's attack, opened the cupboard and hurriedly searched for traces of the wine bottle: "It must not have been easy to come here so quickly."

He had just moved into this house not long ago, and because he was always on the go, he had never lived here for a few days, and he lacked the consciousness of being an "owner".

"It's not hard at all. It's easier than when I traveled far away when I was young." Girard sat carefully on the crocheted soft chair and looked at the furnishings in the living room: "We came here in the government's new carriage. , everyone will arrange food and accommodation all the way, and we will be in the same place as if we were traveling.”

Pierre finally found his target. As he walked back, he asked his mother: "Is that so? Mom."

Mrs. Mitchell smiled and nodded.

"That's good." Pierre introduced while pouring wine for his father: "These houses originally belonged to the officers of the New Reclamation Corps. After taking over Maplestone City, Monsignor Montagne redistributed them to us."

Gilad took the glass but did not drink it. He asked with concern: "So, you are finally a real officer?"

"We... we, His Excellency Montagne's subordinates, are in a somewhat special situation right now." Pierre explained patiently and restrainedly: "As far as I know, Your Excellency is discussing with other 'Reconstruction Preparatory Committees' how to transform our Military ranks and positions were merged into the original system."

After saying that, Pierre smiled sheepishly: "But, you know, if we directly follow the old rules, many of us can become 'school officers'. So... this matter is still under negotiation. ."

Hearing his son's words, Gilad let out a long sigh, half relieved and half disappointed: "It seems that it will be my turn to salute you from now on."

Pierre quickly propped up his old father's pride: "How could it be!? Dad, you will always be my 'chief'."

"Let's have a drink." Gilad picked up the bottle and poured some wine for his son: "Pierre."

"It's an honor." Pierre took the wine glass respectfully.

Gilad and his wife looked at each other and replied seriously: "It's also an honor for me."

At this moment, there was a sound of hurried footsteps on the stairs, and Scarlett with short hair ran into the living room from the second floor like a gust of wind, announcing loudly: "I want to live in the second largest room!"

Little Mrs. Mitchell - Pierre's new wife - followed slowly down the stairs with her daughter in her arms and a smile in her eyes.

On the way here, the Mitchells picked up their daughter-in-law and young daughter who were in Gevaudan.

Pierre replied without mercy: "You live in the smallest room."

"Stingy." Scarlett made a face and said contemptuously: "I knew you would definitely keep the good things for yourself."

"The second bedroom is for my sister and brother-in-law, and the master bedroom is for my father and mother." Pierre glanced at his parents, then at his wife: "Amélie and I will live outside."

"Will Fanny and Alex come too?" Ellen unconsciously covered her chest.

"Yes." Pierre held his mother's hand: "My brother-in-law will be here. I asked someone to send a letter to my brother-in-law, asking him to bring my sister with him."

Gilad was silent for a moment, then quietly wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand: "Then our family will be reunited again."

"Yes," Pierre replied with a smile.

After a brief absence, Ellen became concerned about her son again: "We can squeeze in with Scarlett, and you don't have to find a place to live outside."

Hearing this, Scarlett showed a very reluctant expression.

"Don't worry, Mom." Pierre gently shook his mother's hand, then looked at his wife with a smile: "There are many bachelors here, and the most indispensable thing is empty rooms."

"But there's no ashes in the furnace." Amelie Mitchell held her sleeping daughter and asked timidly: "You didn't eat well either, did you?"

"That's because I spend most of my time outside." Pierre walked to his wife, rubbed his stepdaughter's hair, and explained gently: "Even if I come back to live occasionally, I always go to other people's places to start a business. Don’t worry, I’m eating well.”

Amelie nodded shyly. For this newlywed couple, although the wife is three years older than the husband and is remarried, it is strange that the latter is the dominant one.

"By the way." Pierre turned to look at his parents and pointed in the distance: "Your residence is over there. You can see it after walking a few steps."

Hearing this, both Girard and Scarlett became visibly nervous.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Gilad stood up suddenly, smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes quickly, and taught his son a lesson: "In this case, we should thank you as soon as possible. How can we know that others It's right in front of you but you don't say hello, why have you forgotten the rules of the Tusa people?"

"Don't worry." Pierre pressed his father's shoulders: "Your Excellency is definitely not at your residence now."

"Then...where is your Excellency?"

"Now." Pierre thought for a while and couldn't help but reveal a wry smile: "It should be in the siege camp."

"Siege the camp? Attack something? Maple Leaf Castle?"

Pierre nodded.

"I heard." Gilad slowly sat back down and asked curiously: "I heard that we have been surrounding it for more than a month and haven't taken it down yet."

Pierre didn't know how to explain it to his old father for a while: "The situation here is a bit complicated... Anyway, you don't have to worry about being rude to Your Excellency. Your Excellency also said a few days ago that when you and your mother arrive in Maple Stone City, you will come to visit in person. and you."

Gilad let out a long "Oh."

After a while, Gilad asked thoughtfully: "What are you going to do with such a big battle this time?"

"You don't have to worry about that." Pierre replied without hesitation: "You can do whatever your Excellency asks you to do."

Gilad frowned.

…

At the same time, at the siege camp outside Maple Stone City.

Winters and Mason squatted side by side in the artillery bunker, staring ahead distressedly.

In their field of vision, the behemoth Maple Leaf Castle was quietly entrenched on the hill.

Although the surface has been mottled by cannonballs and the wall fortifications have been knocked to pieces, this giant stone fortress built by the New Reclamation Corps with twenty years of hard work is still standing.

On the triangular fortress facing the siege camp, a military flag belonging to the red rose was swaying feebly in the wind.

[Additional note: The free people’s electoral system is an electoral system that actually existed in British history; in this context, free people do not refer to [free people], but people who have obtained the right to vote and the right to be elected]

[Today, the right to vote and to be elected is a basic right of citizens. But in what was once England and later the Kingdom of Britain, this right was a privilege]

[The conditions for becoming a free person are not consistent in different regions. In some towns, you can become a free person with real estate and cooking utensils; in some towns, you need to pay a large amount of money to buy the status of a free person; in some towns, you need to have enough property and annual income]

[But in England at that time, no matter where you were, freemen were a title belonging to a small number of people. In extreme places, there were only seven freemen in a large town]

[In fact, it was not until 1948 that Britain entered the era of one person, one vote. Until then, voting is a privilege]

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