Riding and Slashing

Chapter 164 The New Crisis
Islandil frowned: "Are you talking about the kid who ignored the law and let his people die in a duel? Of course I remember him."

"I met Lisa Dilan behind White Hart Castle half a year ago. He seemed to be fighting for a human lord. He was the one blowing the horn in the forest..."

Twilight Knight said hesitantly.

"He is fighting for the human lord? It seems that he has the trust of the human lord... Are you going to ask his lord through Lisa Dilan to see why humans invaded our forest?"

Islanduil's mind is obviously very sharp.

"That's right, Your Highness, he may be the only Noldor trusted by human lords... But, I can also understand your pain of losing a loved one..."

The Twilight Knight hesitated a bit as he spoke—Rissadilan killed Islandil's nephew in the duel.

To be honest, if it was replaced by the violent Aldalian lord of the Aner family, I am afraid that Risadilan would have been torn to pieces. Islandil only exiled him, which is already very kind.

"Hey...then go and try...go and try, we can't start a full-scale war with humans, things have to be resolved."

After sighing deeply, Islanduil nodded in agreement.

"Your Highness, what about this camp?"

The Noldo who spoke first asked with some hesitation.

"You take a patrol to monitor this place. As long as no one enters this camp, you don't need to worry about it. But if there are humans who dare to settle here...then destroy them!"

After Islanduil gave his orders, he led the Twilight Knights into the depths of the forest.

……

Today's Maixiangling is not the same as before.

In the eyes of many people, the current Mai Xiangling is already a part of White Deer Castle, and most people in Changhe Town have already called Mai Xiangling "the Mai Xiangling of White Deer Castle".

Because most of them knew that Master Li Ang had already been stationed in White Hart Castle.

Today, this territory surrounded by wheat fields is also fully connected to White Hart Castle.

Due to the existence of Changhe Express, whether it is by water or land from Changhe Town, you can quickly reach Maixiangling, and the transfer of goods is very convenient. Therefore, the trade between White Deer Fort and Changhe Town has gradually been transferred to Maixiang. leading market.

Maixiangling has become the trade distribution center for the entire Ayrshire.

The market area planned by the lord at the beginning has now become a 'comprehensive wholesale market'.

This made more and more people in White Hart Castle devote themselves to business activities.

The personnel exchanges between Mai Xiangling and White Hart Castle have become very frequent, especially the vendors of White Hart Castle and the logistics followers of the Knights. Now, hundreds of people travel between the two places almost every day.

They will go to the 'Maixiangling Wholesale Market' to buy goods, and then go to various villages in White Hart Castle for retail sales; they will also buy some local products or handicrafts from the villages, and sell them to merchants in Changhe Town at the comprehensive market in Maixiangling.

Many farmers in White Hartburg also opened new shops or engaged in handicraft production, and switched to business.

The increase in the industrial and commercial population is actually a very good phenomenon in this era, which will make this area develop rapidly and continue to attract foreign population to settle in.

Despite the fact that there are only 2000 people in White Hartburg County, there are now about [-] people who are engaged in industry, commerce or tertiary industries. This ratio is actually very suitable for urban development.

This is entirely a behavioral change brought about by the convenience of transportation.

In the past, the traffic was inconvenient, and there was no chance to do some business, but now it is different. The road between Mai Xiangling and White Hart Castle has become quite good.

Those citizens who were divided into "production groups" by Li Ang had their farms scattered on both sides of the road between White Hart Fort and Maixiangling. When they were free, they would consciously maintain the road and ensure road safety.

This is not a request from the lord, it is a spontaneous behavior.

Of course, the citizens were not so noble in the first place, but when they found out that there was a free 'bus' in the territory, they really started to repair the roads consciously.

Since two months ago, that is, at the beginning of June, after the lord returned from the Bacchus Empire, a dedicated bus line has been opened between Maixiangling and White Hart Castle.

That is, the van carriage made by the lord.

But the vans in the territory are completely different from the one sold to Kailos. These buses are quite simple, and the style is extremely simple, without any decorations except for the huge griffin coat of arms on the carriage.

Compared with the truck, it only deliberately increased the wheelbase of the wheels, added a roof to protect it from the rain, and then added a few benches in the carriage, and used two horse-drawn carts.

If the road is smooth, a carriage can hold more than a dozen people.

This kind of carriage only takes half a day to get there for a distance of more than a hundred miles. Counting the time for the horses to rest in the middle, it is more than enough for each carriage to run back and forth every day, so the lord arranged more than [-] vehicles.

In this way, no matter the round trip, you can meet one every half an hour.

The citizens of Mai Xiangling and White Hart Castle don't have to rush to work in the morning rush hour, and an average of one carriage passing by every half hour is enough.

This is the first batch of public transportation that appeared in the Pande Continent. The fare is very cheap. The fare for each person is only five large copper coins for a distance of nearly a hundred miles from Maixiangling Square to the White Hart Castle.

That is 50 fils, equivalent to one-twentieth of a dinar.

The currency of Pande is roughly 1 dinar = 10 dirhams = 1000 fils.

1 dinar can buy nearly a hundred pounds of wheat at the market price—of course, this refers to unprocessed grain.If it is processed into flour or made into finished products such as bread, the price will be different.

Fifty fils, about five pounds of wheat, or two pounds of bread.

The reason for such a price is mainly due to the travel habits of people in this era - a journey of hundreds of miles, whether it is a business trip or a knight's retinue who has to go out to do errands, most of them will be accompanied by two people.

A merchant would bring a mercenary or a hired worker, while a retinue would usually bring an apprentice, because in a sparsely populated place, difficulties would inevitably be encountered on the road, and there must always be someone to take care of them.

Therefore, the fare for two people is exactly one Dirhan silver coin.

In this day and age, the price of this fare is quite cheap.

You must know that in other places in Pendor Continent, if you hire a carriage to travel a hundred miles, you need to pay at least in dinars, and the road is full of dangers.

But don’t think that this price is not profitable. It seems that the carriage can only carry a dozen people, but in fact, there will be at least twenty or thirty passengers paying for the trip. There can be dozens of people - which makes it possible to earn more than 2 dinars per day per car.

Taking into account the salary of the groom and the consumption of the draft horse, each car can make a net profit of at least 1 dinar for Changhe Express every day.

It seems very little, but more than [-] cars will have a net income of seven or eight hundred dinars a month, and almost tens of thousands of dinars a year, which is really a lot.

You must know that this is only the first route. The total investment cost is actually dozens of draft horses, and the cost is only about [-] dinars, but the annual net profit can reach [-] dinars.

Moreover, if you run two hundred miles a day on the main road, you can rest for a few hours in between, and there is not much wear and tear on the horse.

Of course, it's not that profitable right now.

The current cheap ticket price is currently only for outsiders, such as the vendors of White Hart Castle and the logistics staff of the Knights.

Because the residents of Maixiangling don’t need to pay for the bus at all—they have a monthly pass...

The monthly ticket was originally created by the lord to mobilize the citizens to build roads. In fact, it is a piece of parchment stamped with a heraldic seal, and the month is marked on it.

The first batch of monthly tickets are actually free.

The lord issued a monthly pass to every citizen living near the road, and issued one to each of the soldiers, including some soldiers in White Hart Castle—mainly for Amy's guards.

On the one hand, the citizens don't have much money at the moment, so they have to provide some convenience so that they can drive the bus business.

On the other hand, this allows the citizens to consciously maintain the roads, and at the same time it is convenient for the soldiers to take vehicles at any time when they are patrolling.

Since this is a carriage, it is not so convenient to "stop at the beck and call". If the road conditions are bad, the driver will not stop. If the carriage is too heavy, it will be difficult to start and brake. Ask the passenger to go down and give it a push.

And when the two vehicles meet, it is indeed quite difficult if the road is not wide enough.

Besides, these carriages are quite rough, and there is no comfort when sitting on them, and the slightest hole in the ground will cause pain in the buttocks.

Because the lord has not had time to get the shock-absorbing steel plates and springs...

Therefore, the citizens who have a monthly pass in their hands are of course willing to build better roads.

As a result of more than 1000 people working on their own initiative, in just over a month, this road has been built into the highest quality expressway in Pendor Continent, with a width of five meters.

Some of the smarter citizens even deliberately filled the flat roadside with flat stone slabs to act as a 'bus station' to ensure that the carriage would stop at the gate of their farm.

It is the end of July now, and from the beginning of June to the present, this bus line has been running for nearly two months.

The second batch of monthly tickets presented by the citizens is about to expire, and the buses are already operating normally, and are familiar and accepted by the people of the entire Ayrshire.

Especially the small traders who need to travel frequently between the two places and the logistics staff of various knight collars are quite satisfied with this cheap means of transportation.

Originally, they couldn't run between places frequently, unless they bought horses themselves.But the one-time investment cost is too high, and it costs money to raise horses.

The emergence of buses can actually reduce their overall travel costs.

Although they need to pay a little fare, they can improve the efficiency of travel, which can save or make more money for them, because there is no middleman who can earn their difference.

Buses can bring the travel capabilities of ordinary civilians and wealthy businessmen to the same starting line. This essentially equalizes the information gap. Everyone can often go to the wholesale market in Maixiangling, and the number of small retailers doing retail will naturally increase a lot. .

And those who have the skills to engage in handicrafts will also get more sales opportunities for the objects they make.

This has also made the prices of various commodities gradually stable. Big merchants can no longer use the information gap between regions to manipulate the prices of goods. The wholesale and retail prices will always remain within a reasonable range. engaged in retail business.

This can actually greatly prosper the economy of the entire Ayrshire. In fact, people have gradually begun to move to Ayrshire.

The greatest significance of convenient transportation lies in this.

In fact, many small vendors and people in White Hart Castle are very greedy for such things as monthly passes, and there are even reselling behaviors-many residents of Maixiangling really have no travel needs, and besides, they can share a monthly pass with the whole family...

The lord was even a little dazed after knowing this - it seems that the behavior of the whole family using the same old age card will happen in every world...

Therefore, the lord decided not to give away the monthly pass for August - the road has been repaired very well, the freshness of the citizens has passed, and the main group of travel has become traders and civilians of White Hart Castle.

It would be a bit of a loss to issue monthly passes for free. After all, the bus line is profitable, so Li Ang set a standard price for monthly passes, 9 dirhams each.

The reason why the convenient price of one dinar is not used is because the phrase 'less than one dinar' sounds cheaper, and the lord is deliberately collecting dirhan silver coins.

But considering that the citizens of their own family are currently very poor, they have no money, and the people of White Hart Castle are not rich, so it is difficult to afford to buy them with money.

So the lord issued another decree in the past two days, telling everyone in Ayrshire that they can exchange monthly tickets with saltpeter in the future, and two pounds of qualified saltpetre can be exchanged for a monthly ticket.

The purpose of this is naturally obvious-the whole people's nitrate production does not necessarily require a big fight. Sometimes sending dozens of carriages to and fro can solve the problem, and they can also carry soldiers on patrol to ensure the security of the territory.

Of course, this policy has just been issued, and the results have not yet been seen.

And new troubles have arrived.

Now McShane is getting very crowded.

Originally, all the materials and troops of Mai Xiangling were transferred to White Hart Castle, and most of the population was scattered to various farms. There were not many people living in the previously designated residential areas.

But just a few days ago, more than 300 young and strong people were brought in, and this small place was filled to the brim.

Coupled with the constant traffic of vendors and horse-drawn carriages, Maixiangling, which was originally only two streets, can give people the feeling of a big city.

The business of the merchants stationed in the Maixiangling Comprehensive Market has always been very good. Even though White Hart Castle seems to be fighting in the past half month, it has not affected the business of the wholesale market much. The transactions and transshipments of various daily necessities have always been smooth is to be done.

The only impact was the suspension of buses for two days for the surrender plan.

And in the few days after the battle, Mai Xiangling's business became even hotter.

Groups of mercenaries of various kinds came to Mai Xiangling at this time.

Many mercenaries came from the north, that is, the road that the lord first walked, and met Lisa Dilan.

But most of them came by boat from Changhe Town.

There is a constant stream of people coming and going in the general market, and places like 'Gourmet World' are even more crowded, which is not so lively in most big cities.

These consumers are basically adventurers and mercenaries from other places.

During the recent period, many mercenary groups have come to the vicinity of Maixiangling, and their purpose is also obvious - to capture the Noldor elves.

In the Noldor Forest, only this famous native can attract so many mercenaries...

It's just that there are so many mercenaries that have come recently, so many that Mai Xiangling can't hold it.

These are all large and small mercenary groups, led by the Knights of the Ebony Gauntlets, and the current total number has exceeded 3000.

And this is definitely not the final number, because they still haven't fully entered the Noldor Forest and are still waiting, obviously waiting for the follow-up personnel to arrive.

Although these mercenaries can indeed increase the sales of merchants, for today's lords, the troubles they bring may far exceed the economic value they bring.

The lord is currently discussing countermeasures with Amy and his subordinates.

This is the lord's hall of White Hart Castle. Li Ang sat on the main seat, and Amy, Sarah, Roland, Anson and others sat around the round table.

Lisa Dilan did not hide in the dark this time either, but also sat at the round table.

"Everyone, according to the news I got in Sarleon City, those mercenaries should have come to capture the Noldor elves, and probably for the noble girls of the Noldor... Lisa Dilan, tell everyone about the noble girls in your clan What does it mean..."

Li Ang was very anxious now, and motioned to Lisa Diran to explain the internal situation of the Noldor tribe to everyone.

"We have four ethnic groups, that is, four noble families. I belong to the Ainuo family. At present, there are only more than 200 nobles in the Ainuo family, including me. And there should be only two unmarried girls among the nobles. I belong to the Ainuo family. It is estimated that other families are similar-that is to say, if those mercenaries want to complete their ugly mission, they will inevitably start an endless battle with my people...Of course, I think they will get nothing, only All buried in the forest."

Risadilan was also very nervous, but his nervousness didn't seem to be for the safety of the Noldor race—he felt that the mercenary groups would be wiped out on the way.

In fact, Li Ang thought so too.

But both he and Lisa Dilan considered another issue at the same time - the employer of these mercenaries was King Ulrik.

They were hired by the king at a high price, not to capture ordinary elves, but to capture noble maidens of the Noldor.

There are not many Noldo in the first place, and noble girls are not so easy to find.

This means that instead of engaging in small-scale hunting activities on the edge of the forest, they will go deep into the Noldor Forest and invade the core territory of the elves.

The mercenaries may be seeking their own death, and probably no one will sympathize with them.

But they were hired by the king to make a big war with the Noldor, which was actually a disaster for White Hart Castle.

The last time human armed forces invaded the Noldor Forest on a large scale was more than 300 years ago. At the end of that battle, a combined army of [-] human nobles and lords was buried in the forest forever.

Yes, there are very few people who can escape.

Since then, the Long River Forest has been called the Noldor Forest, and the Noldor no longer communicates with humans, and the two races have become sworn enemies.

The number of Noldor elves is probably not many, but no one can ignore the fighting power of Noldor, and no one will easily step into the depths of the Noldor forest.

For hundreds of years, the Noldor elves hid in the forest and watched the human beings conquer each other with cold eyes. When the human beings did not provoke them, they would never leave the forest easily.

But if it is such a large-scale invasion, the reaction of the Noldor is obvious-this is a group with extremely strong combat effectiveness, they have the ability to fight back, and they will definitely make the invading country pay a heavy price!
Whether those mercenary regiments succeed or are destroyed, the anger of the Noldor for revenge against the Sarleon Kingdom will surely burn on White Hartkeep.

Who made White Hart Castle belong to the Kingdom of Sarleon, who made White Hart Keep the closest to the Noldor Forest...

This is a huge crisis.

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(End of this chapter)