Chapter 8 Make Eagle Town Great Again
The bells echoed over Eagle Town, giving this lifeless town finally a glimmer of vitality. The residents were bustling and swarming in front of Eagle Castle like migrating ants.
Simon is one of these people. He is seventeen years old and has lived in Eagle Town since he can remember.
My father died of an illness five years ago. In order to support his elderly grandmother, mother and sister, he took on the role of the family leader early on and became a master at farm work.
Today was the first time in his more than ten years of life that he heard the bell, and then he heard the order from the guard - the new baron wanted to select private soldiers.
This is a great thing!
Simon heard from the old people in the town that if he could become the baron's private soldier, he would not only be exempted from the hard work in the fields, but also have food, drink and clothing paid for by the lord, and he would also receive three dollars a month. Ten kilograms of couscous!
Thirty kilograms of semolina!
Enough for the remaining three members of the family to eat brown bread for every meal instead of living on wheat porridge!
He was the first to arrive at the gate of the castle, but as the sun gradually rose, there were more people around.
One, two, three...
Simon started to count the heads with his fingers. Soon his two hands were not enough, and even two feet were not enough.
So many people!
This was the first time he realized that there were so many men in Eagle Town. Even with the hands and feet of ten people, he probably couldn't count them all, right?
These are all his competitors.
Click, click...
The sound of armor clashing sounded. Simon quickly raised his head and saw the leader of the guards, Mr. Eric, coming out. A man with black hair and eyes, wearing a beautiful leather armor The young man walked in front of him.
There is no doubt that this is the new Baron, Lord Raven!
Simon quickly puffed up his chest and raised his head high. He hoped that the Baron would notice him.
But the Baron did not see him. Instead, he whispered something to Eric. Soon the latter came forward with Link and Goyle and drove away the people in the territory one by one. Out of the team.
Old Huck, little Velen, little Wales...
Every acquaintance was driven away, which made Simon's heart gradually lift, and he secretly prayed to the Lord of Light - Please keep me!
Soon, Eric walked up to Simon, looked at him with his head held high and showed a smile, lightly beat him on the chest, and then without saying a word, walked to the next person. Go.
Simon let out a long breath, his heart beating loudly.
He stayed!
After relaxing, Simon also gradually discovered the selection criteria of the Baron. The people who were driven away either looked too old, too young, or too short. Among the remaining people, although he was not the tallest or strongest, But you can also be at the front.
This discovery greatly increased his confidence.
Soon, the originally crowded crowd became a little sparse. Simon calculated, this time using the hands and feet of four or five people, he could probably count the heads, right?
Dong-dong-dong.
Footsteps sounded, and Simon looked at him. Lord Raven walked to the temporary wooden platform holding the hilt of his sword, and said loudly: "Congratulations on passing the first round of selection. According to general standards, you already have Qualify to become my private soldier.”
"But I, Raven, am not an ordinary noble. My standards are more stringent, and accordingly, the treatment will be more generous!"
"Those who can stand here today, whether they can pass or not, In one round of selection, everyone will get a prize of five kilograms of couscous. Reward."
"And if you can pass, then I will not only guarantee your food and clothing, but also receive an additional fifty kilograms of couscous per month!"
Simon's Breath! At this moment it became heavier and my heart was beating loudly.
Fifty kilograms of couscous!
The annual rations for each person in Eagle Town are only 200 kilograms. He can earn three people's rations for a year by himself!
Not only can the family be fed, but the extra food can also be exchanged for many things.
You can buy a blanket for your grandma who suffers from leg pain every time it gets cold, buy a sun-shading headscarf for your mother, and save for a few more months. You can also give your sister a new dress - poor little Nina, who is ten years old, has not even worn a new dress!
Simon's eyes swept to both sides. Not only him, but everyone was full of fighting spirit at this moment. No one wanted to give up such superior treatment!
Led by Eric, Simon followed the crowd into the castle.
The wide courtyard is overgrown with weeds, and a piece of land that has been temporarily cleared is filled with various things.
On the ground in the far west, there are large stones that have been cut into shapes. They are divided into three pieces from small to large. The small one should weigh thirty kilograms, and the largest one is probably one hundred kilograms. Bar?
In the middle is something like a single-plank bridge, about one meter high but more than twenty meters long.
There is a wooden table placed on the east side. On the table are three long bows and two tubes of feather arrows.
Eric stood on the edge of the stone and shouted: "Follow me, start from here, one by one!"
Among the people present, Eric doubted the reliability of these tests, but still chose to carry them out; the citizens who were brought here were even more confused and could only act in accordance with Eric's orders in a nervous mood.
Only the old god Lei Wen was there, moving a chair and sitting at the door of the hall.
"Sir Raven." Old Gordon walked up: "Are the selection standards you set a little too low? There are ninety-three people here, and each person has fifty kilograms of couscous per month. , which is 4,650 kilograms a month, and 55,000 kilograms a year..."
Lei Wen interrupted him with a smile: "Mr. Gordon, you are too worried. In my opinion, it is good if one-third of these people can stay."
Ge Deng frowned: "Sir, I have no intention of questioning your judgment, but based on these few items, I'm afraid..."
He didn't finish his words, but his meaning was clear enough.
“I know what you mean.” Raven said: “The three stones are thirty kilograms, sixty kilograms and ninety kilograms respectively. As long as you can pick up the middle piece, you can pick it up and put it down continuously. Five times is enough to pass, and most people can do this level.”
“As for the last bow and arrow, I just want to see if anyone can do it. He has some talent in shooting."
As he spoke, he pointed to the single-plank bridge: "But the middle level is not so easy."
Gordon still didn't believe it. : "Sir, these subjects are all serfs. They are good at walking in the fields without stepping on the seedlings. How is it possible..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard an exclamation. Someone had already fallen from the single-plank bridge in the middle and fell firmly to the ground.
Immediately the second one walked up, and not long after, he fell down again.
Then came the third one. This one held on longer, but still slipped when he was about to reach the finish line.
"This..." Gordon pushed his monocle: "Sir, what is going on?"
Leaven said with a smile: "Secret."< br>
He already had a plan in mind on how to select soldiers.
These subjects have been doing farm work for a long time, and there is absolutely no problem with their physical strength. If according to the standards of ordinary nobles, then these subjects of the right age are all qualified soldiers.
But Raven can't support so many people.
Now is the busy time for farming. These people are the main force in agricultural activities. If they are all taken away, this year's harvest may be greatly reduced.
Although agriculture is not profitable, it is the true foundation of a country and a territory. It is the instinct of every lord to ensure self-sufficiency in food.
That's why Raven had to choose the best among the best.
There was no physical examination in this era, and the long-term poor life of the residents was bound to accumulate various hidden diseases, especially the waist and legs.
The balance beam in the middle is based on this consideration.
After experiencing the strenuous activities in the first level, the second level requires them to sink their minds and concentrate on maintaining balance. Once their attention is distracted, or there are any diseases in their legs, feet, or waist, they will not be able to persevere.
“Hey——”
"Ah——"
The people who failed to win the second round came one after another. Although it was soft grass, they still couldn't avoid the pain, so that they screamed one after another.
The sound reached Denise’s ears through the window, who was working on paperwork in the castle.
Today she was wearing a very homely plain gauze dress, with her hair hanging loosely on her shoulders. She could not help but frown when she heard the sound outside the window. She shook her hands and threw the quill back into the ink bottle. She leaned back and leaned against it. On the chair, the white and greasy skin on her chest was suddenly exposed.
She stood up, walked to the window, looked at the people gathered in the castle, raised her eyebrows slightly, and said disdainfully: "A gangster can only bring out a group of gangsters, the Griffith family The reputation is probably over.”
Closing the window, Denise lay back on the soft bed.
She had a nightmare.
In the dream, Lei Wen successfully trained his troops and led a group of men to bully men and women in Eagle Town, looking for women from house to house.
And she was huddled in the castle, watching Eagle Town becoming increasingly chaotic, but she had no choice but to even want to leave.
Raven's appetite grew bigger and bigger, and he took the priest Lux of Eagle Town as his plaything, and finally led someone to block her in the door.
Dong, Dong, Dong - the sound of banging on the door kept ringing, which made Denise's heart beat faster. The moment the door opened, Denise screamed and shouted: "Stop dreaming, I would rather die." I won’t go to your bed!”
Denise sat up from the bed, gasping for breath, her clothes were soaked with sweat and became almost transparent, sticking to her body. of.
The knocking on the door keeps ringing.
"Who?" Denise asked impatiently.
"Mom, it's me!" Weston's voice sounded.
"Okay..." Denise sat up, found a dark dress to wrap herself up, and opened the door.
Before she could ask the question, Vesdon burst in and said with a smile: "Mom, what a pity you were not there!"
Denise was stunned and asked : "What's wrong?"
"It's about Raven's training!" Vesdon sat on the chair, his eyes almost invisible because of his fat eyes shining brightly: "I'm still a headache. This is the first time I’ve seen such a stupid person!”
A curiosity arose in Denise's heart: "Has he finished selecting people?"
"It's over, there are more than thirty people in total." Vesdon said: "The selection process is not interesting, but it will be practiced later. , it’s so much fun!”
“Those mud-legged people all look human, but they are just a bunch of brainless animals.”
“Leaven actually thought. Let these beasts be equipped with leather armor! Oh my God! Disaster!" Vesdon danced and said, "This is the first time I've seen people's fingers be so stupid. Not to mention the leather armor on their bodies, some people don't even wear leather helmets and cover their crotch armor to their foreheads. on."
"In Eli. Under the guidance of Ke, everyone finally put on a full set of leather armor. As soon as they started to move, their shoes fell all over the floor, and several people fell down. Some people even stepped on someone's feet because of who they were. The fight started!”
After hearing this, Denise felt very happy and asked: "What happens after that?"
Visidon said that he was thirsty, so he picked up the cup on the table and drank some water for himself:
"Then Eric whipped them until they barked like animals, and had to teach them how to tie their shoelaces. God, it was really hard for Eric. The hands of those animals were as dirty as donkey dung and eggs!"
"Wait until finally something happens "Hey, Raven asked them to stand in three rows, but those stupid pigs couldn't even understand 'sort by height'. The team stood like an eagle mountain range, and Eric had to correct them one by one with a whip."
"'Turn left' and 'Turn right' were two instructions that were not commands at all. They couldn't understand them either. They could turn in any direction, and two people hit their heads on each other. Together, we almost kissed! ”
"If you ask me, the monkeys in the circus are more obedient than them!"
As she listened, Denise's brows gradually became serious. Although she had never heard of this method, she had learned from Vesdon. Judging from the description, Raven was indeed doing this in a certain order.
Did he find a way for the Griffith family to train private soldiers?
Seeing her mother's sad face, Vesdon smiled and said: "Mom, you don't really think Raven can practice anything, do you?"
Denise said worriedly Said: "There are exceptions to everything."
"There are no exceptions to this matter!" Vesdon waved his arms, the fat on his face trembling: "With just a gangster, what real ability can he have?"
"If he can command troops Once I'm done, I'll jump off the top of the castle to cheer him up!"
Of course Raven didn't know about Vesdon's rhetoric, otherwise he would feel better.
It was getting dark, Raven rejected Gordon's proposal, and instead chose to dine with the selected soldiers in the hall.
As he thought, the number of people who could pass the border and become his private soldiers was less than one-third of the total number. In the end, only thirty-four barely passed the border.
So Raven included Goyle and Link, divided them into three squads, and roughly renamed the squad "squad". Goyle, Link, and Simon, who performed best during the selection, were appointed as squad leaders respectively. .
In order to prepare food for more than thirty people, the cook was so tired that of course he couldn't think of any tricks. He just had a big bowl of vegetable soup with bacon and unlimited supply of black pepper for each person. bread.
"Everyone, sit down." Raven asked Eric and the three monitors to sit down, picked up the black bread, broke it, threw it into the soup, and ate it.
To be honest, today's training can't be said to have any results. The quality of these citizens is even lower than Raven's expectations. Most of the thirty-four people are indifferent, and their execution ability is also very poor.
A simple "run-stop" command can turn three queues into a mess.
But there is also an advantage, that is, these people have no ideas of their own. As long as they are willing to put in the effort to train them, they can always achieve something.
The atmosphere at the table was a little dull. Raven stuffed a piece of black bread into his mouth and looked at Simon with a smile: "How is it, are you still used to it today?"
I didn't expect Raven to do it. When he asked himself, Simon quickly swallowed the food in his mouth without caring about it being hot, and stammered: "No, no problem, sir!"
"Don't be so nervous." Raven said with a smile: "You are my soldier now, just call me sir."
"I I have just arrived in the territory and don’t know much about it. How is life at home?”
Simon was so nervous that he could hardly even think: "With the fifty kilograms of couscous you give me every month, it will be much better!"
Leaven's heart moved and asked: "My life before Is it difficult?"
Goyle and Link had already started to wink at Simon, but at this moment Raymond's mind was blank and he couldn't pay attention to anything at all: "Yes! Sir!”
“Our family of four only has 200 kilograms of semolina as rations per person every year, and most of it goes into the mouth of a strong laborer like me. My grandmother, mother and sister only have I can live on an empty stomach.”
“My grandfather, just to give me food, died of hunger three years ago!”
After saying this, the entire hall fell silent, and low sobbing could be heard from some tables.
After all, this kind of life is the life they lived every day before.
Lei Wen also felt a little heavy in his heart. In his previous life, he was also born in a rural area. He knew how quickly food was consumed when there was a lack of complementary food. He also knew that a strong laborer must be the first person in the family to have enough food.
But he still underestimated the level of poverty in Eagle Town.
Leaven patted Simon on the shoulder and asked him to sit down, then stood up: "As a lord, I must apologize to you. It is my dereliction of duty to let the people under my rule starve. The Griffith family’s dereliction of duty”
"But! There is a reason for this!"
Leaven lowered his voice and glanced at everyone: "Why are your families hungry? Because our Eagle Town is too poor! Why are we poor? Because we The territory was forcibly occupied!"
He asked and answered himself loudly: " Because we are too weak!”
“If we are strong enough, no one will dare to take away our land, and we will be able to take back the wealth that belongs to us from others!”
"You are my private soldiers, and you are also the soldiers of the Eagle Territory!"
"I train you not only for my personal glory, but also to give Eagle Town enough power to protect itself and make Eagle Town great again!"
"I, Raven Otta· Griffith made a promise here." Raven's voice reached everyone's ears clearly: "As long as you are loyal to me and obey my orders, then I will. Just ensure that each of your families and every household in Eagle Town can have enough to eat and wear new clothes!”
Empty words will not touch these citizens in the slightest! , but Raven’s words were not empty, because as they were officially selected, fifty kilograms of couscous in the first month had been delivered to their respective homes!
At this moment, their bowls are also filled with broth that they would never dare to think of!
Simon stood up first: "We are willing to follow you, Lord Raven!"
Then more private soldiers stood up: "We are willing to follow you!"
"Okay!" Raven shouted: "Serve the wine!"
Pals of wine were brought up , poured it into everyone's bowl, Raven raised the wine bowl: "Everyone, cheers, for our The future!"
More than thirty men shouted in unison: "For our future!"
After taking a sip of wine, Raven suddenly felt that he had been cheated. The taste was sour and astringent. It was like swallowing a big mouthful of raw hawthorn without sugar, and the facial features were almost twisted together.
This isn't wine, it's clearly vinegar!
The cook secretly changed the wine?
He was about to get angry, but he saw that every private soldier, including Simon, had an expression of enjoyment on their faces. Even Eric was very satisfied.
The banquet continued, Raven pulled Eric to his side and asked in a low voice: "This wine...how do you drink it?"
"Excellent, sir!" Eli Ke blushed and said: "A jar of this kind of red wine is worth five silver coins and seventy copper coins!"
Raven was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes suddenly lit up - that was the light of money!
This piece of shit is worth so much money in a jar?
Then I am going to get rich! ?
……
(End of this chapter)