Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 317 Economic Principles of Human Heads

  In the dark virgin forest, two Teldun people fled together.

   They dared not make a fire or rest. The canopy that covered the sky made it impossible for them to identify the direction - the direction is not important, the survival is important.

   Yet they were overtaken, the hounds followed the smell, and a dozen farmers surrounded them.

   At dusk, the peasants returned to the village, carrying the two heads and other things plucked from the barbarians on branches.

   They did not go straight home, but went to the village hall first.

  The firewood crackled in the hearth, and it was a freezing winter outside one wall, but it was warm in the village hall.

  A middle-aged man who was obviously not a farmer examined the two heads, frowned, and asked, "Are there no helmets, armor, or something?"

The peasant headed by    had his cheeks red and bloodshot, and replied awkwardly: "No, is a hat okay? And earrings?"

  The middle-aged man smacked his lips, turned around and continued to cook the fire, only giving the farmers a side face: "That's not good, there is no evidence, who knows if this is the head of the barbarian, or did you steal it from somewhere?"

   Another tall farmer was instantly furious: "What are you talking about? How could this be stolen by us? How can our people look like this!"

   The middle-aged man sneered, didn't talk to him, didn't even look directly at him.

   The two heavily armed men sitting in the corner of the room stood up, their hands on the hilt of their swords.

   The tall farmer was silent.

The farmer headed by    was silent for a long time, then said with difficulty: "Then what do you say?"

   "This kind of head that I don't know if it's true or false..." The middle-aged man paused for a moment and spat out a number.

   "How much?" The tall farmer suddenly became anxious: "A barbarian head is worth a lot of land! How much do you give?"

   "You heard it clearly, you don't need me to repeat it." The middle-aged man spread his hands and had a clear attitude - whether he likes to sell or not.

  The farmers were so angry that they didn’t want to agree and couldn’t leave.

   Until a sturdy farmer who was usually taciturn said abruptly: "That's it, the family is still waiting for me to bring the flour back."

  The sturdy farmer asked calmly: "What more can we ask for?"

   The deal is made, and the money is paid in the form of flour.

After all, the middle-aged man was unable to press his inner complacency. Looking at the farmer taking the flour, he couldn't help laughing: "Hey, don't think that [head] is [land], who knew that the rebels would still be in Tiefeng. How long will the county stand? If the rebels collapse tomorrow, won't you blow your head in your hands? Are you right?"

   These words seem to be consolation, but in fact they are showing off in the way of rubbing salt in the wound.

  The farmers silently took the flour and left the town hall without a word.

   Right outside the door, they separated the flour from the barbarian's clothes and boots. The clothes were given to the farmer who was still at home, and the farmer with the hound got an extra share.

   "Mesa has won the prize." The sturdy farmer asked softly, "Give him an extra share too."

  There was no objection to this, and the tall farmer asked, "What do you want, Dad?"

  The sturdy farmer took half a bag of flour and a machete.

  [Note: Dad here is a kind of nickname for older men]

   So they all went home - all of which happened to be watched by a few passing riders.

   pushed open the door, and a smile appeared on the face of the sturdy farmer.

   He rubbed the fine hair of his son and daughter, gave the flour to his wife, found a whetstone, and sharpened the knife in the backyard.

   "Whatever you want to do." A young man stood outside the courtyard gate: "Please don't go."

  The sturdy farmer was startled at first, then he calmly held the machete and asked, "How do you know what I'm going to do?"

   The young man did not answer directly, but explained patiently: "The two of them are good players, you can't rely on you alone... weapons alone can't do it."

"Who are you?"

   This time it was the young man's turn to fall silent.

  The daughter ran out of the house and threw herself into the sturdy farmer's arms. The sturdy farmer hugged his daughter, and after a little distraction, the young man was nowhere to be seen.

   "What's the matter?" the sturdy farmer asked his daughter.

   "Mom said someone left two bags outside the door." The girl replied in a milky voice: "Mom asked me to find Dad to have a look."

  …

  The middle-aged man answers all questions and is respectful, and he doesn't even need Winters to reveal his identity.

  The matter is very simple, the middle-aged man is from Gervodin, and he is here to acquire the first grade.

   In Ironpeak, barbarian heads have become a tradable commodity.

  The middle-aged man couldn't compete with his peers in the town, so he rushed to the rural area where no one was paying attention - obviously, he was not the only speculator who smelled the smell of gold coins.

   Small players buy heads from militiamen and farmers, but they don’t keep them for cash, but sell them to big players.

  The big players are making big bets, betting that the Montagne tribune will not break their promises and betting on the future fate of Iron Peak County.

  Winters and his party were passing by the small village of Xima when they came across such a scene by accident.

  Ciel gritted his teeth in anger: "The battle isn't over yet! How can there be such people! In the end, they are actually cheap?"

   The others who accompanied him were equally indignant, but Winters remained silent.

   Seeing that Winters did not speak, Ciel thought it was his brother who was inconvenient to speak. He took off his saber and said bitterly, "I'm going to teach that guy a lesson!"

   "Teach them a lesson - for what reason?" Winters stopped Shire: "The county government has not stipulated that the head is not allowed to trade."

  Ciel was startled and replied loudly, "I can't see it!"

Winters slowly sorted out his thoughts: "Kill all the speculators, and the starving people will not continue to starve? No, I am afraid it has cut off their last way of life. The first-class trade has made some people hide the hidden The grain is taken out, so that more grain flows into the market."

   Ciel and the others listened in disbelief.

   Later, Winters and his party camped outside the village.

  Ciel took Winters' secret letter back the same way, and rushed back to the town of Saint Ke overnight.

  …

  …

  Anna found that the town of Sank had completely changed.

  When I passed by the town of Sank the first few times, it was just an ordinary country town: two streets, a few rows of houses, some people, quiet and ordinary.

   Now the town of Sank is a complete military camp: the land is muddy and dirty, full of weary men with weapons, foul language and roosters and dogs.

  Through the car window, Anna saw someone urinating in the alley beside the street, and several men wearing white armbands rushed into the alley to chase and beat the urinating.

  Anna also saw someone whistling at her and stared hard at the car with obscene eyes. If she hadn't been frightened by the accompanying guards, she might have made further moves.

   She hurriedly closed the window.

   The fat Mr. Leo who was riding with him smiled and commented sharply: "The war is over, but many people have not recovered from it yet. It is not so easy to return to a normal life."

  The other passenger nodded and said something to comfort Anna: "Miss Navarre, don't be afraid, they actually have no ill intentions."

   "Thank you." Anna politely thanked: "Colonel Chino."

   Learning that Anna insists on coming to Winters, Mr. Leo asks to accompany him.

   The fat partner kept silent about the purpose of the trip, and to Anna, it seemed that nothing had happened, and only said that he wanted to meet Mr. Winters Montagne.

  Anna also guiltily did not take the initiative to ask her mother's attitude.

   In contrast, the fellow Veneta, [Colonel Bucca Chino] treated Anna more cordially.

  As Colonel Veneta, Chino undoubtedly came to Iron Peak on behalf of [Antonio Seranti].

   In other words, Colonel Chino is considered to be half of Winters' family. Thinking of this, Anna's cheeks are a little hot.

   After all, Anna's fake identity of "Madame Montagne" can deceive others, but it can't deceive Hailan's guests. Elopement without even getting married should not be done by a lady anyway.

  The blockade of Tiefeng County has been temporarily lifted, not only internally, but also externally.

   Here I have to mention [Good Luck Gold], the old pirate actually came back from Hailan long ago.

   It was an unfortunate time to come back, just after the failure of the joint siege of Baishan County and Vigne County. Therefore, as soon as the old pirate entered Baishan County, he was immediately arrested and imprisoned by Colonel Geisa.

  So, Gold stared at the gallows in the courtyard of the prison every day, ate hard and dark bread with his fingers for more than a month, and was suddenly taken out of the cell.

  The old pirate thought his luck had finally run out, but what happened next was very dramatic.

   He was brought in front of a big bald head who told him to bring a letter to Winters and then told him to get out.

  The old pirate found himself not only getting back the confiscated horses and luggage, but also a few more escorts. Although he couldn't figure out what was going on, since the goddess of luck's favor had not disappeared, Lucky Gold had nothing to fear.

   There is no need to repeat what happened next, the story goes back to Anna.

  Anna went to see Father Kaman first when she came to the town of Sank.

  Father Kaman's medical clinic is located next to the church. It is a temporary shack occupying a large open space.

"The believers feel that even if they die, they must die in the church, at least closer to the kingdom of heaven. That's why the medical center is set up here." Father Kaman explained to Anna with a blank expression: "It's convenient, the body can be directly Better to be sent to a churchyard than buried in the wilderness."

  Ana felt that Priest Kaman's mental state was not very good. She thought of what Mr. Leo had said, and she felt sad in her heart.

"Winters? Oh, yes, are you looking for Winters?" Father Kaman sighed: "It's a little dangerous to go any further, just wait for him in Sank Town. Several very devout believers, the conditions are not very good, but they are very safe, you can stay temporarily."

   "Father." Colonel Chino asked politely, "Where did Winters go?"

   Hearing the speaker's accent, Kaman's brows raised slightly: "Are you a Veneta? A sea blue?"

   "Yes," Colonel Chino admitted generously.

   "Winters went to Lower Tiefeng County." Kaman confessed frankly: "Even if you are a soldier, I don't recommend you to follow. Lower Tiefeng County is very dangerous, and at least a whole team of people is required to **** to ensure safety."

   Colonel Chino smiled and nodded.

Seeing the other party's disapproval attitude, Kaman also became a little cold, and he explained simply: "There are still Heard people in Lower Iron Peak County - a group of Heard cavalry who have not been defeated. The reason why Winters Montagne Going to Lower Tiefeng County is to deal with the Hurds. Winters can go without guards, but you don't have that ability, that's all."

Colonel    Chino didn't get angry, but laughed: "It's better to talk to the Paratus people, it's very refreshing to be straight. Then let's stay here for the time being and wait for Winters to come back."

"I'm not from Paratus." Kaman was obviously not in the mood to speak politely, and turned directly to the topic: "I'll find you accommodation first, and when Lieutenant Bud comes back, he will tell you in detail, he knows more than me. ."

Colonel   Cino thanked him politely, he waved his hand, and the accompanying Veneta cavalry dismounted: "Please arrange accommodation for Miss Navarre. As for us... just designate an open space for us, and we will camp by ourselves."

  Kaman summoned a carer and gave two orders, and the carer left quickly.

  Mr. Leo was more curious about another thing than where Winters Montagne was.

"Father." Mr. Leo's fat face was full of smiles, and he rubbed his hands: "I saw what [tickets], [heads] were posted on the notice board by the roadside, may I ask what's going on? ?"

  Kaman glanced at the fat and kind man, and asked lukewarmly, "What? Does it have anything to do with you?"

   "No, no." Mr. Leo quickly waved his hand and said with a smile, "Curious, I am just curious."

  Kaman led the group into the church for a short rest, and by the way, he talked about the headgong practice in Tiefeng County.

   "Winters Montagne has made a new move. First, he needs to change his head to a registered ticket, and then he will change it to land..."

  Kaman is not very interested in this, and it is very brief. On the contrary, Mr. Leo was in high spirits and kept complimenting the priest to say more.

   In short, the new government issued an announcement again, reaffirming the validity of the first-class merit, and re-assuring that it would be rewarded according to the "decree of cutting the head".

   However, because the distribution of land needs to be measured and liquidated, it is difficult to realize it for a while. Therefore, all heads must be identified, registered and exchanged for registered bills by designated official staff first, and then the land will be granted with the bills in the future.

   As the location of the main camp, the town of Shengke became boiling almost all of a sudden, and every militiaman who had made a profit wanted to exchange his head for a "land grant voucher" as soon as possible.

  Because of the official re-assurance, the price of the first grade is skyrocketing, and even the price of the [land grant voucher] is also skyrocketing-although it is registered, but it is not allowed to trade.

   As he was talking, several hussars happily sang military songs and rode past the church. The head in the saddlebag was dripping blood all the way.

  The hussars as "guests" are happy to see the price of the head rise. After all, no matter how rich the first-level skill is, it has nothing to do with these outsiders.

   Hussars directly exchange their heads for money, and the higher the price, the better.

   Colonel Chino was also interested and asked some technical questions such as "How do two people remember the merits of one head".

   "I don't know." Father Kaman stretched out his hand and gave a salute: "Ask Lieutenant Bud, he should explain it to you carefully, after all, it's all prescribed by him."

   Mr. Leo frowned more and more the more he listened, he fiddled with his fingers for a long time, looked at Anna, then looked at Colonel Kino, and suddenly said:

   "The predicament that Mr. Montagne is facing, in the final analysis, is that there is not enough food, and the means such as coupons are only appearances. How is Mr. Montagne going to solve the problem of food?"

   "Who knows?" Kaman sighed rarely, and his tone became more relaxed: "He just ordered to use military rations to help the refugees."

  Mr. Leo became more and more fascinated by listening. He smacking his lips hard, and said with emotion: "It's too dangerous, it's too dangerous! This is playing with fire... The courage is amazing... Is it intentional? Or unintentional..."

  Ana was a little confused, Father Kaman and Colonel Chino looked at each other.

   Mr. Leo stopped abruptly, looked at Anna, and said with a smile: "Miss, we really need to see Mr. Montagne as soon as possible... No, he actually needs to see me as soon as possible."

   [Thanks to the second leader of the book friend [Little Panda Yaren], thank you very much]

   [Adhering to the two-word naming method for an entire volume, now I can finally let go of myself]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

   (end of this chapter)