Mercenaries and Adventurers

Kil followed Knight Crow as he swaggered through the unblocked city gate.

It is not accurate to say that no one stopped them. To be precise, the checkpoint even blocked the caravan that wanted to leave the city early in the morning, and also specially sent out several unarmed soldiers with charming looks on their faces. Guide Keir and the others through the checkpoint gate.

Inside the north gate of the checkpoint, many residents and businessmen gathered to watch the excitement.

Those people pointed at Kiel and the others, and compared the Kendall town guards and militia with the soldiers here at Bingshuguan. The results are self-evident. The soldiers at the checkpoint stood crookedly. Starting from the squad leader with a slightly higher status, the stomachs of those people became more rounded, as they had absorbed a lot of business traffic.

And some tax collectors responsible for collecting taxes also despised these soldiers in the checkpoint.

I think it would be better if the auxiliary soldiers collecting taxes were as elite as Knight Crow's men. The checkpoint soldiers under him have long been colluding with various merchants in the checkpoint. In addition to collecting some taxes at the city gate, he cannot collect any taxes in the checkpoint at all.

Every time he went out to collect taxes from a store, he was reminded in advance by his soldiers. As a result, he would either look at an empty warehouse, or look at the fake account books that he knew were all fake, used to fool him.

Don't expect the tax collector to let the soldiers carefully search the warehouses of various merchants. It is impossible to find them. Even if the goods that have not been moved are left there, the soldiers will pretend not to see them.

Riding on his horse, Knight Crow greeted some big businessmen he knew. Thanks to the support of these big businessmen, he was able to send out trained militiamen every year to exterminate the bandits.

Compared to the ordinary people who just watched the excitement or the small caravans who were not well informed, most of these big businessmen had heard about the Kendall County troops sending troops and where they were going to fight.

"Sir Knight, I wonder if the Baron is sending troops this time. Can we also follow the team and give us a ride?" Beside the road, a fat businessman in complicated and gorgeous clothes asked the knight loudly.

Knight Crow did not pretend that he had not heard. He nodded to the man: "Sir Flo, you should discuss this matter with the Baron. He is in the team behind and will be here in a moment."

"Okay, I'll ask him. But I have to quickly arrange the manpower to prepare." After that, he ignored the people around him and directly called his men loudly, asking them to prepare the caravan, intending to follow here. Behind the army, feel the deterrence and sense of security brought by the march of the army.

In the past, when large quantities of goods needed to be transported, a large number of other caravans had to be gathered, and everyone hired mercenaries or thugs to look after them along the way. In addition, more coins had to be provided to various checkpoints on the trade road to pay transit taxes. Or bribe.

It is possible not to pay the transit tax, but then you have to take a detour through safe trade routes and cross the border in less safe places. Whatever happens in the mountains and forests happens.

If we encounter this matter now, if we make an agreement with the owner of the army, Baron Kendall, and spend a small amount of money, or provide supplies for the army along the way, we will definitely be able to leave a lot of expenses.

There is no need to hire so many people. You can also use the logistics status of this army to avoid or significantly reduce the taxes you have to pay.

The big businessman became more and more excited as he thought about it. He felt that if he didn't catch up on this matter and make this money, he would suffer a big loss.

Standing on tiptoes, he looked far away at the north gate of the pass, eager to meet Baron Kendall. He and the baron are also friends in the provincial capital and are very familiar with each other, so there must be no problem with this matter.

-

After the hot spring weather in Bingxunguan, the mud floor that was originally frozen hard in winter has become soft and disgusting.

The continuous drizzle of the past few days was like adding another bowl of water to a pot of soup that was almost drying up. The ground in the level returned to its old appearance.

Of course, those are all matters in remote places within the level. As the main road of the level, the north-south road was organized by the Church of the God of Wealth in conjunction with various big businessmen to donate money and embedded it vertically with expensive long stones from the quarry. On the ground.

In addition to the stone ground on the main road, some places where people often walk also use wood ash and charcoal residue to mix the mud roads of Bingxunguan to create a road that is barely visible and walkable.

In more remote places, there are real bad roads.

The sun has been shining brightly these past two days, but when the sun shines on it, it becomes rotten and smelly. The whole level smells really bad inside.

Fortunately, there is the Kendall River next to it. The cool water vapor brought by the river always takes away the filthy stench in the level. Even though people continue to produce more filth.

Knight Crow sniffed and complained to Kil who was following him: "Look at this smell. This is one of the reasons why I don't like it here."

The same goes for Kiel. He took out a piece of clean soft cloth and wrapped it around his mouth and nose. Then he put on his helmet and put down the visor to lock it.

With this barrier, the smell that made Keir's stomach ache finally faded away a lot. He didn't expect that the Bingxunguan Pass in spring would taste like this. Fortunately, he quite likes it here.

"Those rich people." Geer pointed to the brightly-dressed businessmen on the roadside or in various shop windows: "Don't they think it smells bad here? It's okay in winter, but if it's summer, can people still live there?"

Knight Crow laughed: "Young man, you still underestimate people's ability to endure wealth. If you do business in this messy and dirty place, you can make twice as much money as in a clean place. You What do you think? How do you do it?”

Seeing the hesitation on Kil's face, he chuckled.

"I thought about it, but I still can't stand it." Kil replied after thinking about it.

"Oh, it's beyond my expectation. So Kil, what do you think is the most important thing in this world?"

"Status? Wealth? Power? Desire? Family?" Knight Crow asked Kil as he walked straight along the main road of the level.

He actually doesn't care much about this. After all, he has seen too many people pursue power for these things. Power is just a tool. Maybe it is the purpose of very few people, but as far as he has seen in his life, the vast majority of people pursue power. People just use this power as a tool to achieve their goals.

But unexpectedly, Kil shook his head: "No, I think this world is so big, it will definitely be interesting. Without enough power, it is probably difficult to go very far."

Looking at Kil steadily, Knight Crow was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "Maybe, but you are still young. After a few years, if you ask yourself again, I believe you will have a different answer. .”

Kil slowly took the reins of the horse, glanced at the tall Knight Crow, and pursed his lips. He is not a real person from another world. Although land, wealth, and power are wonderful things everywhere, they are not what a visitor from another world cares about most.

He seems to have integrated into this backward and incredible world, but in fact, from the source, he has never regarded himself as a person here.

His name was Zhao Ji, and he always remembered this.

-

When the forward team passed by the center of the level, some of the main managers of the level gathered here and invited Knight Crow to sit in the best hotel here from a distance. They had already booked a restaurant in this luxurious hotel. Waiting to entertain lords such as Knight Crow and Baron Kendall.

But Knight Crow didn't even get off his horse. He just raised his hands at them, ignored their attempts to stay, and left with his men.

"Those guys really think of themselves as the masters of this place. Kil, what do you think I should do to them one day in the future?"

Knight Crowe spoke sarcastically to Kil in a low voice.

Kil, who had felt that they were not dealing with each other since yesterday, thought for a moment: "Well, if there is such a day, why not put them in a cage and hang them high on the main road?"

"Haha, then should I give them something to eat?"

Knight Crow found it funny, so he continued.

"Of course, we must not only give them food, but also provide them with good food and drink. However, we cannot give them clothes. Just hang them high. They can see the people below, and the people below can also see them clearly. Seeing them locked up. I thought it would be interesting to do this."

Keir shrugged and said these words indiscriminately.

Little did he know that these words would later harm this group of people. After a long time, these people became the jokes that enlivened the atmosphere at the dinner tables of the people of Bingshuguan.

Knight Crow also found it funny after hearing what Kil said. Although it seemed like nothing, the idea stayed in his memory for a long time.

It will come in handy one day in the future.

When the team passed by the Church of the God of Wealth on the side of the road, Knight Crow solemnly saluted the church on his horse. Because he knew that the really useful people in Bingxun Pass were not the lazy soldiers on the north and south walls of the pass, nor the big businessmen in fine clothes inside the pass, nor the henchmen of the great nobles who just regarded themselves as their masters.

Instead, it is the Church of the God of Wealth, which has dozens of official priests and has extensive influence throughout Bingxun Pass and the entire trade route to the south.

At the same time, in the church's contiguous buildings, on the side facing the main road, some old priests were also looking at Kiel and his party.

"Very elite."

"Let's look at the large army behind. If this is the case, then we have to keep in touch with the baron to the north in the future."

“There will still be competition for this place in the future.”

Several old priests sat by the window, waiting for the large militia troops passing by later.

-

After passing through the south gate of Bingxuan Pass without any danger, Kil looked at the relatively tall stone wall and city gate behind him and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He took off his helmet and relaxed.

After Knight Crow led the team for a while outside the city gate, he found a place to stop near the Kendal River.

He looked at Keir and said with a smile, "Why, look at how nervous you were just now."

Kil scratched his hair, he did look nervous just now. Knight Crow's disrespectful behavior probably stimulated the managers of Bingxun Pass. They asked the soldiers guarding the south gate of the pass to give the dozens of them some good looks.

It was just for good looks, but obviously those people overestimated the strength of the personnel they had. The checkpoint soldiers neither dared to take action nor disobey the administrator's orders, so they had to gather at the city gate with spears and swords in hand, making a threatening appearance.

The caravans and people blocked at the south gate were frightened, but the guards and militiamen under Knight Crow dismissed it.

After all, the town guards under Knight Crow have undergone years of training and are far stronger than ordinary soldiers. Some of them, even Kiel, didn't think they would be opponents, if you didn't look at the difference in weapons and equipment.

The militiamen have basically killed one or two bandits themselves during the operations to clear out bandits in previous years. The probability of killing someone with his own hands is far higher than that of bandits.

After all, most bandits have never killed anyone, and they are far inferior to the militiamen who specialize in killing them.

The militiamen, who had killed everyone, didn't take those checkpoint soldiers seriously.

Knight Crow didn't need to say anything, but when the militiamen saw the checkpoint soldiers showing off their weapons, they immediately unloaded the crossbows hanging on the leather and wood breastplates, cocked the strings, and loaded the crossbow arrows.

When the checkpoint soldiers heard the creaking sound of a crossbow being cocked, the team leaders ran directly towards the city wall.

As soon as the leader ran away, the soldiers below, who were already lacking in confidence, retreated as a whole.

Finally, they did not look like a formal army, and when they retreated, they also knew that the whole group retreated together. No one ran away without a trace.

"It really looked like there was going to be a fight just now."

Kil said sheepishly.

Knight Crow sneered: "It seems? How could it be possible? How could those troops who are similar to the mud on the Bingxuan Pass fight against us when there is a way out?"

"Kiel, you think too highly of those people. You can't just look at things on the surface. You have to look at a person's spirit and soul. Similarly, the spirit and soul of an army commands every soldier among them. What do you think about those people just now? Do soldiers have the courage to fight?”

Kil immediately shook his head. Needless to say, if he really had the courage, the number of gang thugs in Bingxun Pass would probably be reduced to 10% of the original number. And the bandits around are not that serious.

"So, a group of troops who have no courage in their souls. Do you think they dare to fight with us? Impossible. They are skilled in wielding a sword to make money, and the courage to threaten and extort is better than the courage to fight."

The two of them were talking while riding on the horse, and the team rested in place.

After a while, the sound of not too neat footsteps and the cheers of the people came from the level.

The people in Bingxun Pass thought that Baron Kendall's troops were guarding them. After all, a large number of militiamen came every year to clear out the bandits. How did they know that these neatly dressed and impressive teams of hundreds of people were still there? There is a long logistics convoy behind them, all of them are their protectors.

At this time, the soldiers guarding the south gate did not dare to go down to fight. The dozens of troops just retreated in fear. This team of hundreds of people with the same strength frightened the soldiers guarding the checkpoint. Hiding on the city wall, he secretly looked at the neat teams arranged in small groups through the shooting holes on the city wall.

Some soldiers felt that they had made enough money over the years. They had already made more money than when they had spent money to join the count's army and cultivate connections to transfer here. At this time, the barons in the north had such an army. They really felt that it was dangerous, so it was better to retire and go home early.

Not only the soldiers below thought so, but even some squad leaders thought so too.

Compared with making more money, life is more important. Otherwise, if there is a conflict, if you die, your mother-in-law will be slept with by another man, and your child will be beaten by another man, it won't be worth it, right?

The large militia force quickly passed through the unpassed city gate, and soon they all came out.

Behind the logistics carriages and donkey carts, a large number of chaotic caravans followed.

The owners of the caravan enthusiastically gathered around Baron Kendall, constantly complimenting the frontier lord who had just shown his considerable strength at this time.

The baron confiscated the boxes of money that these big businessmen asked his men to carry. Although he was also greedy for the boxes of copper coins, he still used some material supply agreement documents in exchange for the protection of these caravans.

Some small chambers of commerce in the level also want to catch a ride with Baron Kendall, but not everyone has a warehouse of supplies. Only those big businessmen with big businesses can organize a wave of carriages and manpower in a short period of time. , and can also raise a batch of profitable materials from the warehouse to be shipped to the southern region.

In fact, the key products of Kendall County are grain and forged fine iron tools.

Although some other specialties can be sold for money in other places, such as large dried fish from Lake Wumi and animal skins in the mountains and wilderness. But in terms of supply and supply stability, merchants still like these things.

Originating from the increasing grain production year by year due to the fertile and cultivated land in central Kendall County, batches of grain are shipped from the north in greater numbers every year. There is never any worry about finding a place to sell these grains. After all, not everywhere has such a large grain output. Some barren noble lands cannot grow anything, so they have to rely on this grain to make a lot of money. Although several large chambers of commerce in Kendall City can make a lot of money just by transporting this food to Bingshuguan, they can also make a lot of money by transporting this food to farther places that are less food-producing.

And sophisticated iron tools are more profitable in the eyes of merchants. After all, it is not easy to transport food. The farther it is transported, the more losses there are. But the iron tools crafted in Kendall City were quite different. It is not as uniformly priced as food. Ironware is much more expensive in some backward areas than in other places. If you grease it well, you don't have to worry about the iron tools being damaged or kept for a long time.

You sell it for the same price this year, and it will still be the same price next year. It may even be higher due to the shortage of raw materials.

This resulted in the tools produced by craftsmen in Kendall City remaining in Kendall County through relationships with churches or farm owners. More manufactured products were sold to various merchants in Bingshuguan.

These things that can improve the productivity development of urban territories have been played by merchants. Some of their largest merchants have never simply sold these iron tools.

The iron and steel weapons among them can be packaged and sold to a certain local lord, some mercenary group, or even a bandit group that occupies a place.

Then exchange it from the lord for the power of a certain item in the territory. The small lords probably won't use it anyway.

Obtaining secret allegiance from the mercenary group can completely make these people do things that are difficult for them to do.

Exchange the lost goods from some other competitors from the bandit group at a very low price, and resell them ten times as much.

Of course, they won't admit these things.

Even if I beat myself to death, I won't admit it.