I'm not a lord

Chapter 154 Who is Lin En?

As soon as Leon sailed south, Lynn immediately began to build a liftable iron cable device.

Aren’t you from Sanhe City going to blockade me?

I'll block myself first!
Linn blocked the White River mainly for the sake of confidentiality, defense and trade embargo.

The terrain of the Baihe River Basin is simply perfect for a development-oriented player like him.

Thirty or forty kilometers to the west is a continuous mountain range running from north to south. To the east, across the Baihe River, there is also a mountain range. After crossing the river, there is only a very narrow and steep river bank.

This river bank would be flooded during the flood season, making it impossible to live there and difficult to march.

As long as the passage to the south is blocked, Lin En can continue to remain mysterious in front of other forces.

It is expected that other forces will begin to frantically explore his origins in the near future.

Lynn currently lacks surface forces, or perhaps doesn't even have them.

His only surface force was a dozen flat-bottomed boats collected from various territories, plus two small paddle boats purchased from Sanhe City.

These ships can only undertake transportation tasks.

If the armies of Three Rivers City and the Duke of Swamp were to sail north on large galleys, it would be like entering an empty land and they could land anywhere they wanted, making it impossible to defend against them.

Using iron chains across the river can confine the battle to the land on the west bank of the Baihe River, greatly reducing the defensive pressure on the territory.

In fact, Lynn thought it was unlikely that the Duke would return to Sanhe City at this time.

Isn’t the Crown of the North attractive?
How could the Duke give up his crown to attack the remote countryside of White River?
But don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of the eventuality.

In fact, it is not difficult to make this kind of iron chain.

Have the blacksmith forge the thick iron bars into chain links and splice them into chains hundreds of meters long.

Then, sturdy stone towers were built on both sides of the Baihe River, with built-in human-powered winches and gear sets to control the raising and lowering of the iron chains.

When a ship needs to pass, turn the capstan to lower the chain.

When it was necessary to block the river, the chain would be pulled up and kept below the water level to prevent enemy ships from burning the chain with fire.

The local blacksmith shop in Hehuan Territory can complete the production of iron chains.

The tower was managed by local serfs, and a military camp could be built near the tower to accommodate the troops stationed there.

Lynn spent half a day drawing the blueprints and then handed them over to old Albert to coordinate the construction.

The grassroots administrative force in Hezhaoling is still relatively sound, and most of the craftsmen have not run away. The Hengjiang Cableway Project can be completed within a month.

After assigning the task, Lin En immediately went to the military camp.

The third brother Yang and the fourth brother Joseph are now stationed in the temporary military camp in the southern part of Hemarsh Territory. They each lead 300 soldiers. Little Thorward, who leads the archers of the barbarians, is also stationed in Hemarsh Territory.

The main force gathered together with the purpose of keeping possible enemy forces out of the territory and protecting the upcoming spring plowing operations.

The fifth brother, Andre, was stationed in Green Lake Territory, with his 200 soldiers scattered across several territories.

The main ruling classes in these territories were wiped out by Lin En, and only a small number of troops were needed to ensure local security.

As for the remaining knights and servants in each territory, they were taken to the River Marsh Territory by Lin En, and their families were collectively moved to the Shoal Territory as hostages.

These people are all high-quality cavalry candidates, but their loyalty still needs time to mature.

Lynn plans to let his second son, Hugh, lead this group of remnants from the old era in order to carry out the upcoming looting mission.

Harassing and looting behind enemy lines is the second brother's specialty.

But the second one is still far away in the shallows.

When Yagna recovers, he will protect her, Leah and other female relatives and go south.

The Baihe River Basin is good in every way: the terrain is relatively closed and the resources are relatively abundant. The only problem is that it spans more than 400 kilometers from north to south, so communication and transportation are big problems.

In order to live a comfortable life behind closed doors, the barons of the past consciously neglected road construction, and foreign trade was extremely dependent on water transportation.

This resulted in only simple forest dirt roads connecting the territories. The roads were narrow and in poor condition, and would turn into muddy roads in spring and the rainy season.

Thinking of the bad road he had traveled on the way south, Lin En wanted to curse.

If you want to be prosperous and strong, you have to build roads.

This is an irrefutable truth in any era.

Without smooth and solid roads, the transportation of materials and personnel to various regions is a big problem.

Take the military as an example.

It is impossible for soldiers to stay in the depressing military camp for 365 days a year.

They will miss home and women and need regular vacations to relax.

Currently, the main forces under Lin En's command come from the Shoal Territory and the White Bear Territory.

It takes soldiers more than half a month to go home and back for vacation, wasting precious training and combat time on the road. If this continues, how can the army maintain morale and combat effectiveness?
It would be difficult for Lin En to move all their families to Hezhao Territory, at least not this year.

Spring plowing is approaching, and suddenly mobilizing a large number of farmers will seriously affect agricultural production, which is like picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons.

Of course, this matter will not cause serious impact in the short term.

After all, Lin En's treatment of the army was very high, enough to eliminate most of the soldiers' grievances.

When he arrived at the barracks, the third and fourth brothers were both engaged in daily military drills.

The so-called military camp is actually the manor of the feudal knight. It covers a large enough area, has enough houses, and has supporting facilities such as stables and wells. It is very suitable as a temporary military camp.

The vacancies caused by the deaths of soldiers have been filled, and the soldiers are all from the new recruits under Lao Wu's command.

Today, the total population of the six territories exceeds 35,000. With the expansion of territory and population, the standardized construction of the army also needs to be put on the agenda.

Lin En's plan is to let the third and fourth brothers lead a team of veterans who can fight at any time.

The new recruits will be uniformly trained by Lao Wu in the initial stage and serve as reserve troops.

Lin En has always been fair in rewards and punishments. The families of fallen soldiers will receive pensions for up to fifteen years, including food, cloth and a small amount of currency, and additional gifts during festivals.

When it comes to the treatment of soldiers, Lynn always adheres to one principle: he will never monopolize all the spoils or glory.

Soldiers can share the spoils while they are alive, and their families will receive high compensation if they die. This is the only way to encourage them to die for their country.

After inspecting a round of exercises, Lin En took the third and fourth brothers into the tent to discuss matters, mainly discussing territory defense and trade embargoes.

The fourth brother, Joseph, naturally agreed wholeheartedly with his eldest brother's plan. After all, his eldest brother was always right.

While agreeing, Young Yang also has his own unique understanding:

"The trade embargo is a good move. From what I saw in Sanhe City last year, taverns are everywhere, and most citizens consume alcohol instead of water. Just drinking alone consumes hundreds of kilograms of grain per person each year."

At this time, the city was actually very short of fuel, and it was difficult to get clean drinking water in the filthy city.

People believe that the fermentation of grains can eliminate impurities in water.

City rulers often encourage citizens to drink more alcohol and less water to prevent possible plagues and diseases.

Generally speaking, one kilogram of rye or barley can produce about four liters of beer, which can meet the water needs of an adult for two to three days.

Most of the grain that the city imports from the rural territories is consumed in brewing.

If the city's food supply can be cut off, it may even trigger a drinking water crisis in the city to some extent.

"If everything goes well, I plan to impose an embargo on Sanhe City starting next month. You have two tasks: control the land route to Sanhe City and provide cover for the second brother who goes out to plunder.

I will have the administrators in the territory cooperate with you to build watchtowers and blockhouses in strategic locations. Of course, daily training cannot be neglected."

Lynn marked the two people's areas of responsibility on the map.

There are only two roads from Henumaling to Sanhe City, and each person is responsible for one of them.

In fact, the third and fourth brothers don’t even need to take action to control the roads.

After two rounds of war, the squadron leaders under their command have grown into qualified officers and can lead their soldiers to complete garrison tasks in turns.

While Lynn was inspecting the military camp, Leon had already returned to Trois-Rivières with his letter.

However, Leon did not rush to see the mayor. Instead, he first sent a fleet loaded with iron ingots, cloth and other supplies to the White Bear Territory, and also transported the salt that had been accumulated for more than three months.

He had to get this done before the trade embargo began.

After watching the ship leave the harbor, he walked calmly into the city hall and knocked on the heavy mahogany door of the mayor's office.

Mayor Jurgen took the letter from Leon and glanced at the signature on the envelope. He looked puzzled.

"Lin En, the Lord of the White River? Who is he?"

Leon used his extraordinary acting skills to speak in a rhythmic manner, "Mayor, I'm surprised too. When I first arrived in the River Marsh Territory, the guards at the dock told me that there's no such thing as Baron Roman from the White Bear Territory. Lin is the sole master of the White River Basin."

Jurgen opened the envelope with suspicion, glanced at it, and asked, "So, the one who defeated the White River Alliance wasn't Roman, but Lin? He was just using Roman's name?"

"Maybe." Leon gave an ambiguous answer.

Jurgen's eyes widened. "Didn't you make a deal with him?"

"He used to call himself Roman, but now he calls himself Lin. What can I say? Before I made a deal with him, I didn't know Lin either. I'm just a black market merchant and don't know these nobles." Leon acted as if he was also a victim.

Jurgen ignored Leon and read the letter over and over again to make sure he was not dazzled.

Then he asked again, emphasizing his tone, "Are you absolutely sure that it was this man who calls himself Lin En who occupied the current Hemarsh Territory? And that he was the one who bought the chain mail from you last year?"

Leon folded his hands on his stomach and nodded obediently: "Yes, I'm sure, at least the appearance and accent are the same."

“Oh my god.”

Jurgen leaned back, feeling an unprecedented sense of confusion. "Who is this Lynn? Where is Roman? Where is Roman?"

(End of this chapter)