I'm not a lord

Chapter 148 Invitation from Sanhe City

After Old Albert's team arrived at the Shoal Territory, they brought with them the joint delegation that had been detained for many days.

Among them were two of the Duchess's maids from the Golden Deer Castle.

According to the plan, the two maids will return to Golden Deer Castle with Lynn's handwritten letter.

Since he couldn't pretend anymore, Lin En naturally stopped pretending.

He wanted to ask the Duke of Swampland for the "special rights" of the White River Basin in his own name.

The so-called special rights are the various privileges enjoyed by feudal lords within their territories.

The lord's exercise of power is not subject to interference from the upper nobles, and the upper nobles have no right to send officials into their territory.

To put it bluntly, this is written proof of being a local tyrant.

More than a hundred years ago, when the three duchies were first established, the three dukes received their respective special rights from the Lord of the North.

Then they decentralized this power and allowed pioneering lords to go to various places to build new territories.

Various earldoms, baronies and knighthoods emerged like mushrooms after rain.

In name, the Duke of the Swamp has sovereignty over all the noble territories within the territory.

But in fact, these territories were built up by the small nobles with great effort.

During this period, the Duke simply gave a written certificate.

This is the situation with the six baronies in the White River Basin.

The ancestors of these barons braved frost and dew, and cut through thorns to gain a piece of land.

He then recruited refugees and purchased serfs, and after going through untold hardships, he managed the territory to its present state.

The Duke did nothing but enjoy the blood tax gold coins paid by the territory by issuing special privileges and charters.

Is this reasonable?

It’s actually quite reasonable.

After all, the Duke has the biggest power and nominal sovereignty.

Since the arms cannot bend the thighs, they naturally have to surrender.

But no matter what, these six baronies never belonged entirely to the Duke from the beginning to the end.

The Duke never sent officials to actually rule these baronies. At most, he sent tax collectors to collect taxes.

These territories also had the legal right to rebel if they were dissatisfied with the amount of taxes.

The various specific tax amounts are the result of years of bargaining.

Right now, Lynn is about to unify the Baihe River Basin through force.

He was merely asking for special privileges from the Duke in accordance with customary practice.

Lynn needed the title of earl to facilitate his rule over the six baronies.

This may sound a bit confusing, but it is undoubtedly in accordance with etiquette.

Whoever he accepted the privilege of, he would nominally become his vassal and would need to fulfill feudal obligations.

However, the shield tax for this year in the Baihe River Basin was paid in advance at the end of last year.

As for next year's shield tax, if the Duke of Swampland really wants to collect it, Lin En doesn't mind going to Golden Deer Castle in person and leading the troops there.

Of course, the premise of all this is that the Duke of Swamp is willing to accept Lynn as a vassal.

If they don't accept it, it doesn't matter to Lin En. He can still ask for special privileges from the other two dukes and the northern royal family.

All he needed was a title of earl.

It doesn't matter who gave it.

When Old Albert left the Shoal Territory with his ever-expanding team, Lynn had already arrived in the Red Creek Territory and stationed himself in the castle in the territory.

After seeing that Baron Bogdan of Green Lake was safe and sound, Baron Chixi's widow simply opened the door and surrendered.

Her husband had died in battle, and all the knights in the territory had been killed or wounded.

To protect her young son, she had no choice.

Of course, she also chose to leave this sad place and hoped to take her son to the Golden Deer Castle for 'refuge'.

Lynn readily agreed.

He did not force any of the former ruling classes in these territories to stay if they were willing to leave voluntarily.

However, before leaving, these people need to leave most of their property behind and can only take away necessary luggage and a small amount of cash.

At the same time, the fourth brother Joseph and his soldiers went south to take over the Heron Territory and the River Swamp Territory.

Lin En estimated that when they arrived, the barons of these two territories would most likely have already absconded with the money.

But it doesn’t matter, as long as the local serfs don’t flee on a large scale.

In just a few days, the serfs would not have enough time to escape.

That's exactly what happened.

The fourth brother's vanguard troops had just entered the Heron Territory, and the two barons in the south had already packed up their belongings and moved to Sanhe City, where they were personally received by Mayor Jurgen.

"You mean to say that the coalition of four baronies lost to the White Bear Baron who just arrived in White River last year?"

Jurgen was about forty years old. He was wearing a black woolen robe with sable fur inlaid on the collar and lapels, and a dark red turban wrapped around his head.

A typical image of a wealthy medieval merchant.

The mayor of Three Rivers is elected by twenty members of the city council for a term of two years and can be re-elected, but in principle he may not serve more than two terms.

During his term of office, the mayor not only has the power to decide the tax rates and policy and diplomatic direction within the city, but also serves as the commander-in-chief of the city defense militia, truly having both military and political control.

This year is the second year of Jurgen's first term, and he certainly hopes to be re-elected.

But the speed with which the situation in the North has changed in the past year has completely exceeded his imagination.

Not only did the Crown Territory undergo drastic changes, but even the nearby White River Basin saw shocking changes.

It’s not that Jurgen didn’t believe the two old acquaintances in front of him, but their words were too bizarre.

Even though Baron Roman of White Bear Territory received support from Shoal Territory, he only had two baronies, and they were the two poorest in the White River Basin.

At best, we could only gather less than fifteen fiefdom knights.

And Jurgen knows the details of the White Bear Territory.

In the autumn of the year before last, the former Baron of White Bear Territory died mysteriously, and all five of his knights absconded with the money.

The five people first arrived in Sanhe City by boat, sold a batch of goods on the spot, and then left Sanhe City and took the water route to the Crown Territory.

Later, the new Baron Roman passed through Trois-Rivières and asked to see Mayor Jurgen.

Although Roman held the title of the earl's second son, he was actually a pauper who could not afford a few gold coins. He was accompanied by only a dozen people.

Jurgen naturally didn't see him and sent him out of the city.

Sanhe City does not recognize the title of Earl of Cold Wind, but only recognizes the shining gold coins.

Such a poor guy Roman, relying on the completely emptied White Bear Territory, first captured the Shoal Territory, and then defeated the coalition forces and swept across the White River Basin. Who would believe this if others told him?
Whether others believe it or not, Jurgen doesn't believe it.

“Your Excellency, Mayor, although we were not present at the battle, according to eyewitnesses, this Roman had an army of over a thousand men, including a large number of longbowmen who could fire a hail of arrows that could obscure the sky.

His infantry was also extremely formidable, easily withstanding the charge launched by Baron Chixi and hundreds of cavalrymen, completely defeating them.” The elderly Baron Canglu vividly described the battle scene.

He stayed in his castle that day, full of joy, thinking that he would soon hear good news.

For this purpose, he opened a bottle of expensive wine that he had collected for many years in advance.

But what he didn't expect was the tragic news that the entire army was annihilated.

In desperation, he had no choice but to abandon his subjects and flee south to Kawanuma Territory with his family and confidants, and then fled to Sanhe City with Baron Kawanuma.

castle?

What can a castle protect without an army?
All the feudal knights of Heron Territory and River Swamp Territory died on the banks of the Green Water River, and none of them returned.

It was impossible to resist that ferocious army relying solely on the conscripted soldiers in the territory and a small number of knights and attendants.

"Wait, longbowmen? How could he have longbowmen?" Mayor Jurgen noticed the highlight.

"They should be mercenaries. Aren't there many longbow mercenaries in the southern border? His father is the earl of the crown territory, so it's normal for him to recruit some mercenaries from the southern border."

Baron Heron nodded as he analyzed, thinking he had grasped the truth.

But he immediately felt something was wrong and asked, "By the way, if he wants to transport the mercenaries to White Bear Territory, he must use water transportation. Why didn't you from Sanhe City remind us?"

Both the Heron Territory and the River Swamp Territory are large baronies with a population of over 7,000. In addition, they are close to each other and have very close economic ties with Sanhe City, and the relationship between them is relatively friendly.

Jurgen just looked at Baron Heron silently, but didn't say anything.

His silence was deafening.

Baron Cang Lu immediately realized something was wrong: "Are you trying to say that you in Sanhe City don't know that he has a longbow unit?"

"I really don't know." Jurgen shook his head slightly, his face looking a little ugly.

Baron Heron was anxious: "Last autumn, weren't there several ships carrying people heading north to White Bear Territory? Weren't those people mercenaries?"

"Those ships were carrying fugitive slaves and refugees. There were indeed about a thousand people in total, but they could not possibly be mercenaries." Jurgen's voice was soft, but it revealed an unquestionable firmness.

As the mayor, he didn't even know that thousands of mercenaries had entered and left the city, so he might as well resign.

The reason is simple. If someone can really get a large number of mercenaries into the city without anyone noticing, it means that this person has already established connections with the city defense forces, without telling him, the commander-in-chief.

With such extraordinary abilities, launching a military coup would be a piece of cake for him.

If Jurgen knew about the existence of such a person, he would choose to hand over the golden key representing the mayor's power with both hands, and perhaps even save his life.

Baron Heron wondered, "That's strange! Could it be that the serfs in White Bear Territory and Shoal Territory are all skilled hunters?"

He originally wanted to come to Sanhe City to check accounts with Jurgen and find out the details of Roman, but he didn't expect to find out a confusing account.

Excluding the possibility of mercenaries, the only possible ones are the local forces of White Bear Territory and Shoal Territory.

"Impossible. The number of furs sold in White Bear Territory and Shoal Territory each year is clearly recorded. There have been no abnormalities in the past decade or so. The two territories combined cannot even compare to Heron Territory."

Jurgen flatly refused.

While serving as mayor, he was also the president of the Three Rivers Fur Guild.

In the large municipalities of the North, Fur, Grain, and Brewers are usually the three most influential guilds.

These are also the three main export commodities of the North.

It was thanks to the strong support of the Fur Guild that Jurgen was elected as mayor as he wished.

But now he already sensed a hint of danger.

"If they are neither mercenaries nor hunters, then what are they?" Baron Heron was completely confused.

At this time, Baron Kawanuma, who had been silent all this time, spoke:

"It's also possible that the servants who escaped back were lying. They were afraid of punishment, so they deliberately said that the enemy was very strong."

Baron Hemarsh is older than Baron Heron. He is over sixty years old this year and is considered a centenarian in the North.

"Well, we can't rule out that possibility."

Mayor Jurgen nodded and asked, "What are your plans next?"

Baron Heron said without hesitation, "I plan to take my family to Golden Deer Castle. The Duke has collected taxes from us for so many years, he should give us a reasonable explanation!"

Although Baron Heron had not been to the battlefield in person, he could not tell whether the servants were lying.

But there was one thing he was absolutely certain of, that was that it was impossible for him and his old brother Baron Kawanuma to defend the territory with just their strength.

Although they have a good relationship with Sanhe City, the autonomous city will not easily interfere in the territorial disputes between nobles.

The impact of such behavior could be even worse than territorial disputes.

He could only try his luck at the Golden Deer Castle in the west to see if he could get reinforcements from the Duke, and at the same time spread the word about the shamelessness and ferocity of Roman, the Baron of the White Bear Territory.

"I can't walk anymore, so I'll stay in Sanhe City and see what's going on." Baron Hezumama's face was filled with undisguised fatigue and sadness.

His eldest son had died of illness long ago, and the first heir to the territory should have been his grandson.

But he lost his family's territory and could only hide in Sanhe City like a stray dog. He didn't even have the courage to fight the enemy.

Baron Kawanuma was completely lacking in the optimism of his older brother.

He knew that the Duke was currently busy fighting for the Northern Crown, so how could he have the time to care about these messy affairs in Baihe?
Besides, Roman's father is working for the Duke, and the war in Baihe may really be instigated by the Duke.

"Okay, I'll arrange it for you." Jurgen stood up and gestured to see the guests off.

He saw that the two old barons could no longer provide any more useful information.

After sending the two away, Jurgen immediately sent someone to the black market to bring Leon to the city hall.

Since the mayor invited him, Leon naturally didn't dare to refuse.

He walked along the carpet into the office, slightly bent over, and spoke in a very gentle tone:
"Mr. Mayor."

"Last autumn, did Baron Roman of the White Bear Territory use your connections to acquire a large quantity of armor in Three Rivers City?"

Jurgen leaned back in his chair, supporting his head with his left hand, his gray-black eyes staring straight at Leon.

"Yes, he purchased more than 80 sets of chain mail in total. He went through formal channels and paid all the taxes he should have paid." Leon still lowered his head.

Lin En ordered too much goods last year, and the black market was unable to supply them at the moment, so he could only purchase them from regular protective gear stores.

Leon wasn't sure how much information the mayor had, so he chose to answer truthfully.

Under current laws in Three Rivers, the mayor has the power to shut down his black market at any time and confiscate half of his property.

Jurgen was silent for a moment and continued to ask:

"You have a good relationship with him?"

"It's just ordinary business dealings."

"Have you been to White Bear Territory?"

“Yes, I’ve been there twice.”

"Is he rich?"

"As the second son of the Earl, it's normal for him to be rich."

"Please contact him for me. I need to talk to him about something."

(End of this chapter)