Lorist held several discussion meetings with
The Redlis Kingdom had been founded by the eldest prince of the former Krisen Empire. In the days of the old empire, this eldest prince had been notorious for his cruelty, greed, and treachery, which was why the old emperor had stripped him of his succession rights and banished him to the distant Podoorg Province. Yet this eldest prince had thrived in his new domain, leveraging the distance from the imperial capital to seize military and political control of Podoorg Province, plundering the wealth of the populace, building a private army, and even disguising himself as bandits to rob merchant caravans. The annihilation of a
After the old emperor's death, it was this eldest prince who was the first to raise the banner of rebellion, dragging the entire empire into a devastating civil war. Now, less than a year and a half after the ceasefire agreement had been signed, this eldest prince had once again found an excuse to provoke a war with the Folundo Duchy. In truth, he coveted the central region—the most prosperous part of the old empire. Fortunately, the four Grand Dukes of the Fakel, Folundo, Handra, and Sabaji Duchies in the central region had a clear understanding of this eldest prince's character. The four duchies formed a military alliance and dispatched a joint force to resist his invasion. Currently, the allied armies of the four duchies and the prince's royal forces were locked in a stalemate in the south-central region.
What Lorist and his knights worried about was this: they were currently in the Luerm Duchy, and proceeding northward would take them into Redlis Kingdom territory. Their expedition carried vast quantities of supplies and a large number of camp followers, making them an easy target for the eldest prince. It was said that the eldest prince himself was having a difficult time—though his territory spanned seven provinces, his plundering had driven the people to desperation, and uprisings flared across his domain. Fleeing citizens turned to banditry, and mountain outlaws appeared in endless numbers.
The eldest prince's army was now locked in a grinding war with the four duchies' alliance, caught in a situation from which retreat was impossible. Thanks to the atrocities committed by his forces, everyone in the four duchies—from nobles to commoners—hated the eldest prince to the bone. Even if he wanted to withdraw, the armies of the four duchies would surely counterattack into the Redlis Kingdom. It was said that the eldest prince could now only sustain his war effort through loans, just to keep the front lines from collapsing.
Fatty Shi believed that if they traveled along the main road, no matter how strong the family army was, they would inevitably become fat sheep in the eldest prince's eyes. This eldest prince was more than capable of throwing all caution to the wind and sending his garrison corps to besiege Lorist's northern expedition column. After all, he had long-standing enmity with the Norton Family, and given the chance to eliminate them root and branch, he would never let it pass—especially when Lorist's group was carrying such a wealth of supplies.
Both Fatty Shi and Bodelfinger believed the best approach was to take a detour. They selected a westward route for the journey north—a path that would pass through the territories of over a dozen lords, large and small, adding more than three hundred li to the journey compared to the main road. Fatty Shi argued that this route offered many advantages. For one, with the strength of the family army, they could easily overpower these territorial nobles and force their way through without issue. Moreover, these territories suffered from severe banditry, so they could suppress bandits along the way to train their troops while earning the gratitude and cooperation of the local lords.
Bodelfinger believed that to pass through the Redlis Kingdom, they had to maintain a minimum daily march of fifty to sixty li. Once they had covered half the distance, even if the eldest prince received word of them, he would be powerless to stop them, because by then his dispatched forces could not catch up. Once they reached their destination there, they could consider themselves safe.
The location Bodelfinger pointed to on the map was a border fortress called
Bodelfinger said that after that battle, neither side had the strength to continue fighting. A ceasefire agreement was subsequently signed, and the White Lion Corps was disbanded. Since the eldest prince had turned his gaze toward the central region, only a garrison of roughly a thousand troops remained. When Bodelfinger had passed through this area half a year ago with the children en route to
Lorist understood what Bodelfinger meant. If they captured the fortress and handed it over to the Third Prince, they would do him a favor while eliminating any worry about pursuit from the eldest prince. Their column could then proceed northward along the main road in peace.
As for transporting supplies, Fatty Shi eventually discovered that they could not set out without at least six hundred four-wheeled wagons.
Fatty Shi maximized the labor of the camp followers. Those with trade skills were organized into groups according to their expertise, and work proceeded at full speed. But even so, they could only produce roughly two hundred wagons in a month. Combined with the hundred-odd wagons they already had, they were still short by half. The horses to pull the wagons were also a problem. Each four-wheeled wagon required two horses, meaning six hundred wagons needed twelve hundred horses. Between what Lorist already had and what they had seized from the slave-hunting camp and the Slav estate, they had no more than six hundred.
Lorist was under tight time pressure. He had to reach the Northland before March of the new year in order to inherit his title and family lands. It was already late November—only three months remained, and Ametlin Port was still nearly five thousand li from the Northland.
The decision to remain at the Slav estate for another month had been made out of necessity. During that month, they had to procure enough wagons before they could set out. Once they passed through the Redlis Kingdom, Lorist could safely allow the main column to proceed northward at its own pace while he rode ahead with a small party, pushing his horses to the limit to reach the Northland and inherit his title and fief.
This was why Lorist so desperately needed Count Miranda's help. If the count agreed to mobilize the resources and manpower of his domain to help Lorist build or purchase wagons, one month would be sufficient. Lorist had been pondering how to meet the local lord and request assistance, so when Count Miranda came to him of his own accord, he could hardly contain his joy. The gift of the estate and the relatives of the captured slave-hunters were all aimed at forging a strong friendship with this local lord-count, winning his agreement to the request.
Count Miranda stayed at the Miranda estate for four days. Lorist's gesture of renaming the Slav estate to "Miranda Estate" greatly pleased the count. He agreed to do everything in his power to help Lorist, mobilizing the manpower and material resources of his domain to assist in building four-wheeled wagons, and also scouring up a thousand draft horses to provide to Lorist. Perhaps the count also hoped that Lorist's column would depart northward soon, so that he could become the true master of the Miranda Estate.
The count made no secret of his intentions to Lorist. He planned to relocate his residential castle to the Miranda Estate, for two reasons. First, the terrain was excellent—difficult to attack and easy to defend—with pleasant surroundings, and the estate's defensive facilities far surpassed those of his current castle. Second, the count believed that by moving to the Miranda Estate, he would strengthen his control over Ametlin Port. With continuous investment and development, Ametlin Port would soon become a golden goose in his hands, and the prospect of wealth rolling in was just around the corner.
Lorist naturally expressed his utmost admiration for the count's foresight. As a token of gratitude for the count's willingness to provide wagons and horses free of charge, Lorist offered to gift him the three-masted ocean-going ship he had acquired from the Slav estate, fulfilling the count's desire to own a sea vessel. In truth, three hundred four-wheeled wagons and a thousand draft horses were roughly equivalent in value to the great ship, but nobles could not conduct transactions as bluntly as merchants—that would be far too unbecoming. And so, one offered selfless assistance, and the other presented a gift—all proceeding with mutual understanding, without a word needing to be spoken.
True to his word, Count Miranda dispatched his steward along with nearly a hundred servants and several dozen handmaidens to the Miranda Estate on the third day. He also assigned two young and beautiful handmaidens to attend to Lorist personally, and made a point of having the steward convey the message that these two had consumed the sacred Michila elixir, so Lorist could use them without worry.
Lorist was gracious enough to play along. He immediately ordered all the family knights under his command to move out of the main hall, each finding their own temporary quarters in the residential area of the estate, making way for the steward to gather craftsmen and remodel and decorate the main hall according to Count Miranda's preferences.
Miranda greatly appreciated Lorist's tact and understanding. If not for the fact that Lorist needed to journey north to inherit his family's fief and title, he would have very much liked to recruit Lorist into his service.
Perhaps the seizure of Slav's shops had filled the count's coffers handsomely, for during his four days at the estate, he signed several agreements with Fatty Shi, who lay reclining on a cushioned couch:
First, Count Miranda commissioned Lorist's family army to train a private force of over seven hundred men on his behalf: one hundred and twenty heavy infantry, two hundred and forty crossbowmen, and three hundred and sixty spearmen, for a period of one month.
Second, the seven hundred and twenty men comprising this private force would be assembled within three days and garrisoned at the former slave-hunting camp south of Ametlin Port. All weapons and equipment would be provided by Lorist. The total cost of the training commission and weapons and equipment was set at twenty thousand gold Forde.
Third, Lorist would sell surplus weapons and equipment to Count Miranda at sixty percent of market price, for the count to resell.
Fourth, the count would provide Lorist with three hundred head of cattle and two thousand sheep, the cost to be deducted from the purchase price.
Only after signing the agreements did Count Miranda leave the estate to gather the funds and recruit the personnel. Lorist and Fatty Shi then summoned Elle and
Elle and Terman carried fifty thousand gold Forde with them on this trip, not only to purchase academy weapons and equipment, but also to commission seven hundred wagon axles. For this purpose, Lorist also wrote a letter to Guildmaster Peterson, believing that with the Peterson Trading Company's help, the wagon axles would be completed quickly.
The Miranda Estate was a hive of frenzied activity. Only now did Lorist realize how grueling the logistical preparations were for a six-thousand-person expedition. Considering the four basic needs—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—Fatty Shi had long since prepared the clothing. Between what had been custom-ordered and purchased in Morant City, what had been seized from the Slav estate's residential quarters, and what had been confiscated, there was already enough to supply the entire column.
Food meant preparing rations for the journey. While they were still garrisoned at the estate, the provisions supplied by Count Miranda amounted to ten thousand pounds of grain consumed daily by six thousand people, not counting other foodstuffs such as fresh meat, vegetables, and fruit. Even the count's steward in charge of logistics cried that he could not keep up. In desperation, Count Miranda purchased two large shiploads of grain to resolve the problem.
Since the count was supplying provisions for this month, all the grain that Fatty Shi had previously ordered and confiscated was to be used entirely for making rations for the northern journey. What Fatty Shi decided to make was military black bread—different from what bakeries sold. Each loaf was half a meter long and thicker than Lorist's arm. Once baked in the oven and cooled, it was incredibly dense; Lorist suspected its hardness could rival a brick.
A single loaf of military black bread could sustain one adult for ten days. The way to eat it was also different from ordinary bread—you could not gnaw on it with your teeth, or you would surely break them. The correct methods were: First, if time permitted, you could roast it over a fire for half a day until it softened, then slice off two pieces with some dried meat or jerky sandwiched between them—extremely filling. Second, if time was short, you could smash off a chunk with a hammer, put it in a basin, add water and boil it—it would quickly become a porridge, and adding some wild vegetables and minced meat would produce a hearty bowlful. Third, if time was extremely tight, you could soak it in water for a while, then break off a small piece and pop it into your mouth to chew slowly—though you had to be careful not to break a tooth.
The ingredients for making military black bread were simple: rye flour, bran, and salt, with any available grain mixed in. As long as the dough was allowed to ferment thoroughly, it could be made into black bread. Bodelfinger said that back when provisions were scarce, the White Lion Corps' military black bread had even included wood shavings and leaves. Military black bread could be preserved for up to half a year. Fatty Shi planned to produce ten thousand loaves—each soldier would carry two, and each camp follower would carry one. Lorist praised the idea enthusiastically, saying it was perfect—in battle, if your weapon broke, you could even use the black bread to bash the enemy to death...
In addition to the military black bread, there were the three hundred cattle and two thousand sheep that Fatty Shi had commissioned Count Miranda to procure. All of these would be slaughtered to make dried smoked meat, jerky, mutton sausages, beef jerky, shredded beef, and other preserved meats to supplement the column's diet on the road. Beyond that, Fatty Shi had also ordered nearly a thousand pounds of dried fruits, preserved plums, and green olives to serve as small snacks for the travelers to vary their tastes on the long journey.
The only solution for shelter was tents—a column of six thousand people could not find inns to stay in. Fatty Shi had planned this out very thoroughly. In addition to the soldiers' military tents, the arrangements for the camp followers mirrored those for the wagons: one tent per wagon. When the time came, the wagons would form an outer perimeter, with the tents pitched inside—a problem solved.
Transportation went without saying—four-wheeled wagons. However, this northern journey was not a peaceful group tour; they would encounter all manner of dangers along the way, requiring a military escort. And with a military escort came even more preparations: wagons to transport logistical supplies, a team of apothecaries, spare weapons and equipment, fine fodder for the riding horses and hay for the draft horses. The convoy only continued to grow.
Elle and Terman returned to Ametlin Port on December twenty-third aboard a large ship belonging to the Peterson Trading Company. They brought back seven hundred wagon axles. According to their report, to procure these seven hundred axles, Guildmaster Peterson had sent men to buy out every wagon-making shop's spare axles in Morant City, and had even dismantled over a hundred of his own company's four-wheeled cargo wagons to make up the numbers.
Beyond the axles, they had spent over twenty thousand gold Forde to strip eight academy armories bare of their so-called decommissioned weapons and equipment. If it had not been for the time pressure forcing them to rush back, they would have liked to leave no academy armory untouched—but they worried that the sheer volume would be impossible to transport, and time was running short, so they hurried back.
As Elle and Terman had described, the quantity of weapons and equipment was truly staggering. When Fatty Shi asked Count Miranda to fulfill the agreement and purchase the surplus equipment, the count was dumbfounded. He realized that even if he emptied every last copper coin from his coffers, he could only afford to buy one-third of what Fatty Shi described as surplus—and that was with Fatty Shi offering a fifty-percent discount from market price, not the sixty percent stipulated in the agreement.
In the end, the count spent sixty thousand gold coins to buy a quarter of the surplus weapons. But by reselling them to his subordinate nobles, large and small, he could pocket a thirty-percent profit, which delighted him immensely.
Fatty Shi discovered that the convoy he had planned had ballooned to over eight hundred wagons, with over a hundred of those carrying the excess weapons and equipment. He decided that as they traveled northward, they would sell off various weapons and equipment to the territorial lords along the route—first serving as an armed trading caravan, then funneling the enormous profits into the development of the Northland.
Time passed quickly, and amid the bustle, the New Year arrived. All preparations for the northern expedition were complete, and the convoy was fully assembled, waiting to depart in three days.
To celebrate the New Year, Lorist announced that each soldier would receive one gold Forde, and every camp follower—regardless of age—would receive one large silver coin. A grand New Year's feast was held, drawing rousing cheers from the soldiers and their families.
Unable to sleep, he stood alone in the courtyard, gazing up at the brilliant stars. The northern journey was about to begin—what would his future path as a lord look like? He found himself lost in reverie...