I'm not a lord

Chapter 224 The Duke of the Valley Also Wants to Be the Ultimate Winner

In response to Count Mirror Iron's rebellion, Duke Herman of the Valley was truly going all out.

Previously, when Lynn negotiated with Caleb, he offered three conditions for a marriage alliance, each more unreasonable than the last.

At the time, Lynn proposed these conditions based on the "open window theory," first removing the roof so that the other party might agree to open the window.

When negotiating, it's usually a safe bet to quote a higher price initially.

The Duke of the Valley was initially unwilling to accept these conditions.

He couldn't bear to part with either the 20,000 Northern Gold Shields or the right to distribute the spoils of war, let alone promise to make his future grandson the heir to the territory.

If they were to agree to these three conditions, it would essentially be tantamount to handing over the entire territory to Lynn.

If they are buried in the family cemetery in the future, their ancestors will surely open their coffins and give them a good scolding.

It's true that Hermann doesn't have a son yet, but he's not old; he's under forty, which is the prime of his life for striving.

If you work hard enough with your wife, there's a chance you'll have a son.

But power is stronger than people.

He wouldn't know how low his bottom line was until he was pushed to the limit by the increasingly worse situation.

Kalebo rushed to the castle study and was immediately shocked to hear that the Duke was going to agree to Lynn's conditions: "My lord, you're not really going to agree to those conditions, are you?"

Two days ago, Kalebo returned to White Eagle Castle with the results of the initial negotiations, and as expected, he was reprimanded by the Duke of the Valley.

But the Duke changed his attitude so quickly.

This was clearly related to urgent military intelligence from the Mirror Iron Territory.

Reliable sources indicate that Earl Mirror Iron is gathering troops on the western border of his territory.

From Kalebo's perspective, however, there was no need to rush things; they could have sat down and talked to Lynn at their own pace.

Count Mirror Iron was indeed ambitious, and he commanded a formidable army that matched his ambition.

However, the Mirror Iron Earl's territory and White Eagle Castle are separated by several territories and hundreds of kilometers. The journey is long and the mountains are continuous. It is not so easy to attack them.
Moreover, none of the lords of those territories were easy to deal with; they were essentially de facto separatist regimes, each maintaining their own armies.

Unless all these lords open their doors and surrender to Earl of Mirror Iron.

Otherwise, with their complex terrain and fortified castle, they could have held off Count Mirror Iron for several years.

"I didn't agree to everything, I only accepted the first two conditions. These two conditions aren't crucial; they're just about the distribution of the Northern Golden Shield and spoils."

Duke Herman of the Valley spoke in a very casual tone, as if twenty thousand gold coins were nothing to him.

Anyone with a little inside knowledge knows that the duchy's total annual income is only seven or eight thousand gold guilders.

It would take three years of no food, no drink, and no salary for the entire palace to barely scrape together this dowry.

Among the three duchies, the Marsh Duke is known for his centralized power and strength, while the Grassland Duke is known as the "Bandit Duke" who can stop children from crying at night.

As for the Duke of the Valley, he has always been synonymous with poverty and weakness. After the death of the previous duke, he was even given the insulting title of 'coward' by historians in Amber Harbor.

But Hermann was helpless.

This is the mess his father left him. If he had a choice, wouldn't he want to be reborn as the eldest son of the former Duke of the Marshland?
Herman knew, of course, that he might be too hasty and could easily be taken advantage of by Lynn during the negotiations.

The question is, does he still have a choice?

The minor nobles in the territory might be able to hold off Earl Mirror Iron for a while, but that would only be a slow death.

Once Count Mirror Iron has conquered and assimilated vast territories, who will be the true Duke of the Valley, him or Herman?

Moreover, Hermann also has his own dreams.

If the bastard King Maurice could defeat the Duke of the Swamp and even wanted to rebuild the glory of the Urenis family, couldn't Herman also harbor the same dream?

Is he worse than that illegitimate child?
nonexistent.

“But, my lord, Lynn’s strength is likely to be even greater than that of Earl Mirror Iron. If he really occupies a large area of ​​land south of Jinghe, it will be difficult for him to get it back in the future.”

Caleb wanted to make one last effort to persuade his own duke.

In terms of personal relationship, he and Lynn do have a certain friendship; he even drank the aged mead Lynn gave him last night.

But he was, after all, a subject of the Duke of the Valley, receiving a salary from the Duke.

Having received the king's bounty, one must be loyal to the king. Both morally and logically, Calybo must clearly explain the stakes to the Duke.

It also allows you to shift the blame.

If things go wrong in the future, he, Kalebo, will have something to say: I really tried to persuade him back then, but I couldn't convince him, so I won't take the blame for this!

"How could I not know what you're saying? The condition for Lynn to obtain the claim is that he must marry my daughter. It's better for my son-in-law to take these territories than for the Vasa to take them! Understand?"

The Vasa that Herman mentioned was, of course, that damned Count Mirror Iron.

The reasoning is simple: it's better to give to a foreign power than to a traitor within our own borders.

Vasa was nominally Herman's vassal, but he was actually plotting a rebellion.

How could Hermann possibly stand idly by and watch Vasa continue to grow in power?

Lynn is about to become his son-in-law, so he's practically one of his own.

Even if we take a step back and assume that Hermann really didn't produce a son, his title and territory would indeed fall into the hands of his son-in-law.

And all of this will eventually fall into the hands of his grandson. Although his grandson does not share his surname, the blood flowing in his veins cannot be faked.

Of course, all of this was Herman's way of comforting and convincing himself.

If given a choice, who would willingly hand over their entire fortune to a grandson who doesn't bear their surname?

Herman then instructed, "Kalebo, you will only be the deputy envoy for this negotiation trip to White River Territory. I will send a large delegation and appoint my cousin as the chief envoy."

To avoid any unforeseen complications, Hermann hoped to finalize the marriage agreement through another round of negotiations.

Therefore, he needs to send a high-ranking envoy who can represent his will.

He couldn't wait to see Vasa's head.

Even if Lynn takes over the entire Mirror Iron Territory, Herman would accept it as long as Lynn offers Vasa's head.

"I understand, Your Grace."

What else could Kalebo say? He had said everything he could, both good and bad, but his duke was determined to go his own way, so he could only nod and obey.

"Get ready, we'll leave tomorrow morning."

After saying that, Hermann stood up and looked out the window at the lush green mountains, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

Like other ambitious men, he certainly had his own overall plan.

Count Vasa of Mirror Iron is the most influential and powerful troublemaker in the territory. If they can get rid of him, Herman can try to eliminate some of the weaker, more arrogant nobles.

The situation in the North is becoming increasingly chaotic, and the chaos has only just begun.

If we look at the long history of the Southern Territory, the chaos in a large country can last for decades or even centuries.

It may take several generations of effort to reunite the scattered nations.

What Hermann had to do was expand his direct territories as much as possible and continuously build up his strength.

Only in this way can his descendants possibly become the ultimate victors.

In his view, the unification of the Northern Kingdom was like a 10,000-meter race, and the participants had only just started from the starting line.

It's not that whoever gets an early lead will be the ultimate winner.

Will my family win?

Hermann didn't know, but he had to do his best.

Regardless, he was one of the three dukes of the North, and even in his most destitute state, his starting point was still an unattainable finish line for many contestants.

He was born to be a winner.

While various forces in the North took center stage, Lynn leisurely toured Shallow Beach County.

A few days ago, he inspected the territories of four counties in succession, and also took a stroll around the limonite mine west of Chixi County.

The main purpose was to see the living conditions of the desert dwellers.

These deserters are a valuable and high-quality labor force. If any of them starve to death because they can't fill their stomachs, the sword at Lynn's waist will be stained with the blood of the officials of Chixi County.

Currently, iron ore mining in Chixi County is mainly managed by Hafdan.

He was the son of the chieftain of the High Cliff tribe, and his two sisters were living in the castle in the River Marsh County.

"My lord, please rest assured, I will lead my people to mine the ore with all my might. Now they can fill their stomachs every day and they are all eager to work!"

Hafdan, his face covered in reddish-brown dust, reported the situation to Lynn.

Life at the iron mine was indeed tough. Nearly four thousand people lived in makeshift wooden huts built on the mountain ridge, barely enough to keep out the wind and rain.

Even so, their standard of living is still far better than that of people in the wilderness.

Not only do they struggle to find enough to eat in the wilderness, but they also have to be constantly on guard against unpredictable weather and sudden attacks from other tribes, especially the most powerful Rift Valley tribe.

In recent years, the Rift Valley tribe has annexed two Wilderness tribes and is poised to unify the Wilderness.

In any tribe that was conquered by the Rift Valley tribe, the women and children were taken away, and the men were enslaved and forced into labor.

Although the Gaoya tribe is now working for others, their treatment is still much better than that of slaves.

Lynn did not force them to work; he simply traded food and other necessities for iron ore.

The more iron ore mined, the better the standard of living, so how could one not be full of enthusiasm?

Lynn greatly admired Hafdan, a conscious wastelander.

He patted Hafdan on the shoulder and encouraged him:

“Work hard, and I will never treat you unfairly. You have all seen the lives of the lowland tribes now. They have all been allocated farmland and houses. Before long, you will be able to support yourselves by farming the land, just like them.”

The more than 3,000 people of the lowland tribes have now all been relocated inland, settling in the northernmost counties of White Bear and Shallow Beach.

These two counties are also where Lynn made his fortune.

When he arrived in Shallow Beach County, County Magistrate Robert and all the officials, big and small, stood at the crossroads to greet him.

These officials were the original estate stewards and village heads.

In Baihe County, county-level administrative units and institutions were indeed established.

The people's production and daily life still revolved around the manor, and they cultivated the land under the guidance of the steward and the manor head.

The estate has small blacksmith shops, carpentry shops and mills, which can meet most of the needs of the people.

This can be considered a continuation of the feudal manor system.

Lynn had no intention of forcibly changing these centuries-old lifestyle habits.

So-called systems and institutions are all for managing the population and collecting taxes. As long as nothing goes wrong, it's fine to continue using them.

Therefore, the more than 1,000 relocated people to Qiantan County also existed in the form of manors.

Robert allocated them a large plot of land and distributed livestock and tools purchased with loans to the wasteland dwellers, allowing them a degree of internal autonomy.

Surrounded by his guards, Lynn entered the Wasteland Manor and carefully examined the village within.

“Robert, you’ve done a great job. They’ve only been in Shallow Territory for a little over three months, and they’ve already learned farming techniques and are able to grow healthy and robust soybeans.”

As Lynn had arranged at the beginning of the year, the newly relocated villagers needed to cultivate the wasteland and plant soybeans.

Originally, he thought it would take the deserters about two years to get used to their new living environment and gradually master farming skills and techniques.

Now it seems that the situation is much better than he had expected.

Lynn strolled into a semi-open village. The farmhouses in front of him were no different from the other farmers' houses on the territory. The roofs were covered with layers of straw, the doors were ajar, and flower vines hung on both sides, swaying in the wind.

Several vegetable plots were cultivated behind the house, planted with common seasonings such as onions and garlic, which added a touch of flavor to ordinary life.

On the village road, several young children of the desolate people were running and laughing, wearing the most common linen clothes, rather than animal skin clothes.

Looking out over the fields, one can see large numbers of adult farmers working diligently in the fields.

Apart from hair color and accent, this manor inhabited by deserters looks almost indistinguishable from the locals.

"Sir, we have to thank the students you sent from the school. They understand the language of the Wilderness People and can help us communicate with them. This will allow us to teach them how to use livestock and tools. Moreover, these Wilderness People themselves know a little about farming. It is said that they also grow oats on the wasteland to obtain a small amount of food."

Robert dared not take credit for himself and attributed the main credit to Lynn.

“From now on, don’t call them barbarians. Since they live on my territory and are under my protection, they are all my subjects,” Lynn said solemnly, turning his head.

His next task was to gradually eliminate the tribal identity of the wilderness people.

At the same time, it is also necessary to eliminate the local people's wariness and prejudice towards the deserters, and gradually promote intermarriage and integration between the two groups.

In the future, once the people of the wilderness have become accustomed to local life, their estates will have to be dismantled and broken up.

We can no longer allow them to live together in one place.

As for the difference in appearance between the two races, the Northern Kingdom is vast enough to accommodate a race with a unique appearance.

Moreover, the number of people in the wilderness is limited. As long as intermarriage is frequent enough, the bloodline of these people will eventually be diluted.

(End of this chapter)