You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 130 What's wrong with me punching you?
Roman's 338 days in Sig.

This land received a heavy snowfall this year.

Snowflakes fluttered down, turning the whole world into a white expanse. The withered yellow grass turned into a snow-covered field, like a white velvet blanket, creating a unique sense of pristine simplicity.

Roman was delighted to see this.

Ruixue is a prosperous year.

The thicker the snow layer, the less likely the soil and wheat seedlings are to freeze, resulting in a bountiful harvest the following year.

However, it is undeniable that the heavy snow has impacted development.

Infrastructure construction and iron smelting in Sig Town have stopped.

Fortunately, the houses at the coal and iron plant were completed, so the ironworkers and miners didn't have to brave the heavy snow to return to Sig Town.

They settled down there, and their families moved there as well. They built a large kitchen and stored a lot of food in it.

Of course, the workers at the blacksmith's shed and the woodworking shop were busy.

The food camp and classrooms are also operational.

The winding river flows quietly, but eating and studying are the most important things and cannot be neglected.

The soldiers in the barracks were also trekking through the snow. They had to adapt to all kinds of extreme environments. The arduous training would temper them into the toughest steel, so that they wouldn't panic when they encountered difficulties in the future.

……

Despite the heavy snowfall, the atmosphere in the manor hall was quite pleasant.

The walls were adorned with the menacing heads of wild beasts, and the fireplace roared, warding off the chill brought by the heavy snow.

On the table were hazelnut stewed partridge, roe deer stewed with dried mushrooms, garlic roasted ribs, and thick cream stew—the steaming hot dishes looked quite appetizing.

The town of Sig is not lacking in delicious food, with a wide variety of wild game, but the manor does not offer such a lavish meal every time.

Because the preparation time was too long, Roman preferred to eat some simple dishes to reduce the chef's energy.

He didn't have this habit before. Since arriving in Sige Town, there has been a long-term shortage of labor, and he has been thinking about how to break a person down and use them.

This lavish lunch was a reward for Daken.

Roman had him sit by the fireplace and ladled a bowl of creamy soup over Ducken.

He asked, "Have you found out the situation?"

Daken had just returned from the dock; snow was still falling on his smock, and his face was red from the cold, especially his nose, which was starting to swell.

The small merchant ships in Sig Town have no cabins. The icy air rushes into Silver Dragon Canyon and suddenly accelerates, whipping up strong winds that feel like steel knives slashing your face. No matter how thick your clothes are, you can imagine how unpleasant it is.

His hands and feet were cold, he was tired and hungry, and he was exhausted.

After taking a sip of the hot cream soup, Daken felt a sense of comfort and warmth in his empty stomach, which spread to his limbs and made him feel much better.

"Yes, sir, I have traveled to every village and town in that land, and I am certain that my intelligence is accurate."

Roman asked a maid to bring a pencil and a piece of white paper and place them next to Daken.

"Draw the map and let me see it."

Daken used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of fragrant and tender roe deer meat, put it in his mouth, chewed it, picked up a pencil to draw lines, and attached corresponding messages.

……

The Earl of Conde ruled over 17 villages, each with a population ranging from one to two thousand, totaling thirty to fifty thousand people.

Five barons are stationed in various locations, and the total population of all the baronies exceeds ten thousand. Each of them is comparable to Roman when he first arrived in Sig.

There are also more than twenty knightly territories.

Not all conquering knights can obtain a knighthood.

It's either through connections or force.

Once you have connections, you generally won't lack military force.

Count Conde has at least twenty or thirty knights who are presentable on the surface. Adding the knights who are granted the title of baron and those who belong to the count, it wouldn't be a problem to cobble together fifty or sixty knights.

There is no standing army, but there is certainly no shortage of conscripts; it would be easy to raise a force of a thousand men.

If we recruit with all our might, we could potentially have two thousand soldiers. If we were really determined and given some time, it wouldn't be impossible to produce an army of three, four, or five thousand—even a farmer could go to war with just a pitchfork.

However, this level of conflict constitutes a full-scale war, and the quality of the army cannot be guaranteed.

Even so, in this wild and untamed land, that count could be considered a renowned nobleman.

However, although the territory is quite vast, it is also fragmented, mostly consisting of barren mountains and wilderness, with limited military potential and considerable inconvenience in troop deployment.

Roman glanced at the information Daken had given him. He could only describe it as very poor, with few resources, relying entirely on agriculture.

But what he valued was the population of the Kande region.

Kangdeling is located on the upper reaches of the Bro River, while Sige Town is located on the lower reaches of the Bro River.

Roman planned to have his army land downstream, cross the mountains, and launch a surprise attack on Condé, for which he needed to devise a plundering route.

Minimize risks and maximize returns as much as possible.

This requires a vast amount of intelligence to piece together the full picture of Kande Territory.

Daken and the other merchants, posing as independent traders, have been traveling back and forth between Kande Territory and other areas under the pretext of doing business, carrying salt and surveying the terrain.

Even in the most remote and underdeveloped villages, he went to observe and then relayed the information to Roman. What he saw with his own eyes was certainly not distorted.

The barons, nobles, and knights who were on campaign knew they came from Sig Town, so they treated them with great courtesy and hospitality, subtly inquiring about the salt production in Sig Town and the specific situation here.

Daken said some things that were half true and half false, claiming that a mere businessman didn't know much.

In comparison, Roman's question was much more direct.

He kept asking him about the details of those villages, such as the population, stewards, and lords, and received a very comprehensive answer.

Roman pondered for a long time,

Finally, he took a pencil and sketched a marching route on a blank sheet of paper, overlaying it onto the map that Daken had drawn.

Daken was horrified.

The powerful, vigorous line, penetrating the paper, twisted and turned, traversing two baronial castles and five villages, like a sharp scalpel, ripping off a piece of Earl Kant's flesh.

"Sir, isn't this movement a bit too much?"

Roman looked at his masterpiece with great satisfaction.

He said, "Is there?"

Seeing the lord's confident attitude, Daken knew there was no way to persuade him, so he could only silently pray that Roman's plan would come true, otherwise he too would not escape his fate.

After all, he's betting his entire future on this.

“Don’t be afraid, even if the raid fails, my warriors will be able to return safely,” Roman said.

For him, going all in would be too stupid.

Roman thought he had a bright future and would rise to prominence in a few years.

It's just that robbery is more efficient, so they took a different approach.

But there's no need to engage in betting agreements with others.

If the plundering fails and the retreat occurs, the loss of at most one-fifth of the troops is still within his acceptable range. It can only be described as a severe blow to his strength, and it will take half a year to recover.

But if the plunder is successful, it will definitely make you rich overnight and make a fortune.

As for the consequences of the plunder, they were not even within Roman's consideration.

What's wrong with me punching you?
What a disgrace! If you're so capable, call the King of Iron to uphold justice for you!
In the Black Iron Lands, the system of nobility is chaotic, and there is no clear system of nobility.

It can only be roughly divided into four levels.

The King of Black Iron is the greatest.

The three Iron Dukes are in a class of their own.

The middle level is occupied by earls.

At the bottom level are barons and conquering knights.

There's not much to say about the top of the pyramid; the confusion lies in the middle and lower ranks of the nobility, whose names can be used interchangeably.

They all held the status of lords, and unless one was a vassal of another, there was no distinction between superiors and subordinates.

Roman, who was personally appointed by the Grand Duke of the Cracked Armor, was naturally not a true lower-class noble.

The problem is that Roman was only a baron from the start, the lowest rank among the nobility.

Therefore, he was neither a baron nor an earl, but simply the lord of a territory.

This type of nobility did not have clearly defined titles; the upper limit was count, and the lower limit was baron. Power was linked to strength.

Roman's confident and arrogant attitude, as well as his consideration of the consequences of failure, reassured Daken somewhat.

He also pointed out that Roman would provide him with enough funds to buy large ships and a loyal and reliable merchant escort.

(End of this chapter)