Broad World

Seeing those firm eyes, Henry instantly understood Antleb's thoughts, so he put away his smile and nodded with a serious face: "I accept your allegiance, get up, from today onwards you are a Sir. When you return to the surface, you will be directly responsible for the preparation of the new underground city, and I will give you a high enough position after it is completed."

Offering loyalty is a very serious matter. It means that the oath-taker will lose his personal freedom from now on. Before death or the oath is revoked, he must never violate any order of the object of allegiance. Even suicide can only be paid after permission. Actions.

It can be said that this is a rather harsh verbal contract, which belongs to the most basic universal values ​​of Faerun, and is recognized and protected by all countries, lords, civilians, and even most gods. Once someone betrays, he will instantly become a street mouse that everyone shouts and beats, and even evil organizations may not dare to take him in.

Of course, as much as you pay, you will be rewarded as much as possible. This is also one of the universal values ​​of Faerun Continent. From the moment Henry accepted his allegiance, he had to be responsible for the safety of his asylum Antleb and his family. No matter what kind of enemy he was facing, he could not shrink back, even the church of evil gods was no exception. In addition, if Antleb is murdered, he will also be responsible for revenge.

The two are closely connected through an oath, and then a solid trust is gradually established. This is a typical approach in Faerun. Most lords, nobles, and large chambers of commerce established a solid team through similar forms, and some even passed on to future generations, becoming real retainers and servants.

Been an aristocrat for so many years. Henry had already received quite a few similar allegiances. So it doesn't feel strange at all. Although he doubts the binding force of this empty oath. But I chose to accept it as I did in the Romans. After all, after dedicating their loyalty, both Corey and Hawke performed very satisfactorily. Even though they let go, they still managed the territory and the army in an orderly manner.

Perhaps this is the so-called power of tradition, which represents the cornerstone of the order of the entire Faerun continent. The people of the upper class ensured social stability by accepting the devolution of power to loyal servants, who were then used to manage the common people in their territories, forming a stable structural system to ensure social stability.

Know that in a world where most people can't even read. The so-called appointment of talents is a joke, especially in remote and backward villages, I am afraid that even a learned person cannot be found. Coupled with the pervasiveness of various evil forces, the first consideration of many rulers when appointing important officials is often not ability, but loyalty.

Nepotism is a matter of course here, and it is very... very common. Some nobles even simply let their illegitimate sons take up a series of important positions such as housekeepers, coachmen, personal servants, and civil servants. way to prevent the leakage of rights.

Now that Antleb has offered his loyalty, it means that he can be placed in a relatively high position with confidence, and there is no need to worry about being bought by other forces in a short time. just. Henry also needed someone to take charge of the construction of the underground city, so he agreed without hesitation.

Anyway, he is now torn apart from Spider Goddess Rose. Officially entering a hostile state, sheltering some fleeing dark elves is nothing at all. If those lifeless commandos dared to appear near the surface, then he didn't mind grabbing them and using them as coolies.

After getting the promise, Antleb's hanging heart was finally relieved. He raised his head and said excitedly: "Thank you for your kindness, I will definitely get this matter done."

"This underground city is very important. Not only must it be very strong, but it must also be spacious enough inside. It is initially estimated that it can accommodate at least 40,000 to 50,000 people. This is a huge project, and it will be completed within two months. Are you confident in completing the outermost city wall?" After speaking, Henry quietly waited for the other party's answer.

Obviously, this is a test. If it is done well, then Antleb will definitely be entrusted with important tasks in the future. If it is not done well, then it is very likely that he will hang a noble title like this in a not very important position. Work until death, never get promoted again. He would never promote those subordinates with insufficient abilities, no matter how loyal these guys are.

"Excuse me... What are the resources I can control?" Antleb didn't immediately make a promise, but asked the question cautiously.

Seeing that he was so cautious, Henry nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, now I begin to believe that you are capable of doing this well. There are not many resources, except for these soldiers you are controlling now, including hiding in the west The dark elves in the tunnel were defeated, and there are about five to six thousand people in total."

"The defeated army? Will they obey my leadership?" Antleb frowned and asked. He is very clear that it is already very difficult for him to control these hundreds of dark elf soldiers. If there are a few thousand more at once, it will undoubtedly exceed the number of human soldiers. It is not surprising that riots will occur by then.

"Don't worry, I have sent people to kill all the priests and nobles, and the rest are basically civilians, and their current leaders are our people. Besides, I also have a relationship with the dancing lady Yili Si Cui has reached an agreement, and she will soon send a priest to preach."

Henry understood the power of faith better than anyone. If you want the new city to be peaceful and stable, then you must sever these dark elves' belief in Rose, even if you use coercive means. Although Eilistraee's teachings are a little problematic, since the church is not well-organized, it does not have much influence on politics and is very conducive to governance.

After hearing this, Antleb was slightly relieved, but his frown did not relax. He racked his brains to calculate for a long time, and finally showed a helpless wry smile: "But 5,000 people is still a bit small, we lack spell casters, and the construction speed will definitely not be fast. Two months is too tight, I don't know if we can extend it." to half a year?"

"You don't have to worry about this. After half a month at most, I will organize a group of mages to come to support. In addition, Waylon will also clean up a little bit. It won't take long for a large number of immigrants to arrive."

It is a very important peninsula for this geographical location. Henry has a whole set of plans. Among them, Velen, which is adjacent to the Nelanthir Islands, is the most important. He plans to transfer some of the pirates and their families to this city first, and then completely control the Essevier Strait through a large fleet, so that this golden waterway connecting the north and the south can play a real role.

You know, there are more than 500 merchant ships going to Waterdeep City and Askatra every year just from Carlin Port in the south, and there are countless other small and medium-sized ports. If a road card can be set up here , that must be making money every day. Definitely more promising than simple robbery.

At that time, the officials of Waylon will come forward to play a few scenes with the pirates, and then they can sway the protection tax. All ships that pay the fee can pass safely, and those who don't pay the fee will be ransacked by the pirates. Through the collusion of officials and bandits, Weilun gradually became a transportation hub connecting the north and the south, and finally achieved the goal of controlling trade.

Controlling the Nelanthir Islands and Velen is equivalent to holding the handle of the iron tongs. As long as a certain number of fleets are maintained, this throat waterway can be tightly strangled. Not much, just cut off the trade for a few months. Whether it is Amn, Tethyr, or Karinshan, they will suffer heavy losses.

It can be said that Henry is starting to infiltrate all the countries on the west coast through a series of layouts. Maybe five years, maybe ten years, by the time the other party reacts, it will be too late. The interruption of trade means that the country will fall into poverty. Without enough taxation, it will not be able to support a large army. At the same time, the reduction of caravans will also lead to famine and riots in densely populated places. It is not surprising even if it eventually evolves into a large-scale uprising.

No way, who made the rulers of Faerun continent not pay attention to economic balance at all, they don't know how to reasonably structure the industrial chain, just like Spain from the 15th to the 16th century on the earth, foolishly mixing gold and silver Shipped back from the Americas, and then bought foreign products wantonly, in the end, except for causing serious inflation in the country, there was no benefit left.

In this world, perhaps only Woking, the goddess of trade and wealth, and her followers can possibly understand how this works. But it's a pity that her influence is pitifully small on the west coast, and she was imprisoned in the palace by Grazte, one of the three giants of the devil. Maybe she even gave birth to several offspring, so how could she have the time to pay attention to these things.

Although Antleb didn't know the complete plan, he also felt Henry's importance to this place from a few words, so he made a very solemn promise: "Understood, please rest assured, I will deal with everything as soon as possible, two months A strong city wall will surely be erected in the end."

"Well, I believe you can do it. Remember, try to be careful when forcing the dark elves to convert, because that angry goddess is likely to send wax melting demons to kill people to vent their anger." Henry finally reminded.

The so-called forced conversion is only useful for those evil gods who are both cruel and vengeful, because once they find that mortals have desecrated their gods, holy emblems or temples, they will immediately do everything possible to get revenge and will never accept it again. The beliefs of these blasphemers, so the forced people have only one way out, and that is to believe in other gods.

As for good gods like Tire, the God of Justice, and Tom, the God of Loyalty and Courage, generally speaking, they will give believers a chance to repent, perhaps a generous donation, or to complete a task in the name of God , in short, they will not take revenge on a mortal easily.

Antleb nodded lightly, then pointed to Aberdell and the others who were having a drink and asked, "Do you want them to stop? If they continue like this for an hour at most, they will all be drunk."

Glancing at the madness of his teammates on the pile of gold coins, Henry showed a smile on his face and waved his hand lightly: "No need, let them relax. Let all the soldiers have a good sleep, twelve hours Let’s start again. Anyway, I still have to explore the deepest part of the tunnel, so don’t worry too much.”

"Yes, I'm going to arrange for the soldiers to rest." After speaking, Antleb bowed, turned around and began to give orders to let the entire army rest in place.

—————————————————————————————————

Bowing to thank Zuiyankanrenjian, Hanba, Yinyangtong, Vardo, great readers and other book friends for their monthly votes. (to be continued..)