Chapter 259 Countermeasures
The Duke of Kent held the report in his hand and felt the urge to tear it into pieces.
Who made Graiman make so much money?
He looked up and saw the porcelain vase on the table. He took it and was about to throw it to the ground.
But the Duke's hand hung in the air for a long time and could not throw it down. Finally, he put the vase back to its original place with an awkward look on his face.
Maltz called the intelligence chief in again and ordered him to go to the hall to call a few of his confidants, and asked others to disperse first.
After a while, the confidants arrived, including Emerson Wilder. As for the Duke's son, he did not come. Recently, there were many things that required his personal intervention, such as organizing the army and recruiting new soldiers. So I was always running around outside.
The Duke told his confidants about his current predicament.
“We must find a weapon that can restrain the Firebolt and Thunder Hammer, and then we can crush them with numerical superiority.”
But is this easier said than done? The existing bows and arrows and ballistae were inferior to the previous two in terms of range and power. Everyone thought hard and never came up with a good plan.
"Uncle Kent, I have an idea. I don't know if it's feasible or not."
Emerson suddenly spoke, and Maltz immediately said as if he saw a light in the dark: "Oh? Let's hear it. Listen!”
“Have you ever heard of a longbow?”
“We have one here too!”
“The longbow I’m talking about is not an ordinary one. A long bow, but a longer and bigger one.”
Emerson gestured with his hands and introduced to everyone in the study.
“This kind of long bow is about 1.5 to 2 meters long and is made of yew. It can also be replaced by elm and oak, but it is best to use yew because yew is strong and durable. It's not easy to break, it's tough, it's flexible, and it can be stretched wider."
"Its range can reach about 200~300 meters, which is comparable to the Arda people's fire crossbow. It is very large. It can penetrate leather, padded armor and fabric at a distance of about 220-260 meters, or penetrate chain mail, plate armor or fish scale armor to resist its penetration; but if it is within 100 meters Even plate armor can't resist being shot from the front; at a range of 50 meters, the longbow and arrows are almost indestructible."
Emerson's description made everyone's eyes light up. This weapon is too powerful. Terrible.
“Really? Emerson, is the ‘longbow’ you mentioned really so powerful?”
Emerson pondered for a moment, "Well... I also heard what others said. It may be bragging, but it is undeniable that the longbow is powerful."
Malz Kent made the final decision: " You have to try it anyway. Do you have a way to make this kind of bow and arrow? Or you can buy it."
"I don't know how to make it, but I know where to buy it. But Uncle Kent, just buy it. No, it is not easy to train soldiers to operate longbows. It takes many years of long-term training to become a qualified longbowman. "
"What is the solution to this problem?"
“Mercenary.”
"Mercenary?"
"Yes, Uncle Kent, spend money to hire longbowmen, preferably longbowmen from a large mercenary group."
Maltz Kent Mi At first glance, he knew about the existence of mercenaries. In some areas with frequent wars, there are a large number of people who work for money. They either work alone or form groups. Some mercenary groups will grow to an astonishing size. , the combat effectiveness can even match that of a powerful lord's army.
However, most mercenaries are extremely morally corrupt and have no sense of honor at all. It is common for them to appear as bandits and robbers. Although the local soldiers recruited in the territory also robbed, they still had some concerns about their fellow countrymen. As mercenaries who were completely outsiders, they did not have such restraints.
Of course, this latter feature is not within the scope of Malz Kent's consideration at all. The only thing that makes him a little worried is the price of the employment fee. The price that can make others sell their lives will definitely not be low.
But if you can defeat the alliance of lords who oppose you and annex their territory and wealth, especially that of Paul Graiman, you will eventually get back exponentially what you have paid.
The Duke slammed the table and shouted: "Great, little Emerson, this is exactly what I need. I have all the weapons and soldiers at once."
Emerson Puffing up his chest: "If Uncle Kent is interested, I am willing to go there and contact various mercenary groups."
Malts agreed: "Okay, I will leave this matter to you, the price is good The main purpose of the discussion is to gather a sufficient number of troops."
Emerson reminded him: "However, this will take time. We still need to find a way to trap Grayman before the mercenary group arrives. Although his army has stopped moving forward, there is no guarantee that they will resume the attack. "The Duke said sadly: "Yes, this is indeed an urgent problem."
The intelligence director who was silent on the side suddenly said: "Your Majesty, please leave this matter to us."
"What good idea do you have?"
The intelligence director smiled slightly: "Count Graiman has made his territory very impressive this year, but he didn't know that there are two volcanoes buried under his butt. Although the volcano is still relatively small, sooner or later it will erupt one day."
The Duke gave him permission to continue.
"The report mentioned that Alda has developed a new salt-making method that can produce salt quickly and in large quantities. On the surface, this is a very good thing, but... ”
“But what?”
“A large number of salt people along the coast rely on boiling salt to make salt. They can’t compete with the new method in terms of cost. Salt law, salt merchants do not buy from them, causing the salt residents to almost lose their livelihood. As long as we..."
Before the intelligence director finished speaking, someone in the room shouted: " I know what you want to say? This is a bad idea! Lord Duke, you must not use this method."
The speaker was a vassal of the Kent family, and he said righteously. We are at war with Graiman, but we are both nobles after all. How is it inappropriate to instigate untouchables against their own lords?”
Other aristocratic confidants also shouted:
"Yes, it is completely ridiculous!"
"Treason!"
The intelligence chief stopped talking and had no title. He couldn't understand what the gentlemen were thinking, and it was obvious that their butts were on fire.
The Duke of Kent waved his hand irritably: "Okay, we will discuss this later. Do you have any other ideas?"
Several methods were proposed one after another, but none of them were feasible in Maltz's mind.
"Emerson will contact the mercenary group who are good at using longbows. We will retrain an army and try to block the Arda people before the mercenaries arrive."
The Duke finally announced this .
Everyone dispersed, except for the intelligence chief.
“You said before that there are two volcanoes under Graiman’s butt, what is the other one?”
The intelligence chief's eyes lit up and he whispered: "The countryside."
"What else did he do in the countryside?"
"After repelling the pirates, Earl Grayman implemented a plan This decree - 'Land Consolidation', aims to consolidate the scattered farmland of various landlords and farmers through replacement, aiming to make better use of the land."
"This decree sounds good."
"Yes, the law is good. But there are many people in the countryside who conceal the area of their farmland in order to evade taxes, and there are also many people who have occupied a large amount of public land due to lax management. Uh... you also know, This phenomenon is always repeated. ”
Maltz smiled bitterly and motioned for the supervisor to continue.
“In the process of replacement and integration of cultivated land, the first thing to do is to inventory each family’s real estate and measure the actual cultivated land area...”
“Also, the quality of the cultivated land There are good things and bad things. No matter how hard you try to maintain fairness during the replacement process, some people will feel that they are at a disadvantage."
"So, we can make a big fuss here."
The intelligence director finished. Afterwards, Malz Kent thought for a long time without saying a word, and finally just said: "You should step back first."
After the director left, the Duke's study fell silent.
(End of this chapter)