Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 356 Warm welcome
The evening sky was bathed in the crimson glow of the flags; the snow had just stopped, but ice shards still swirled in the air.

The heavy sound of iron hooves echoed from the end of the mountain path, rhythmic and orderly, like distant thunder.

Louis's convoy slowly made its way up the hillside.

The vanguard knights, draped in scarlet cloaks, formed an iron torrent with the supply trucks and heavily armored guards behind them, covering the mountain pass.

The city gates were adorned with the double-striped flags of the Red Tide and the Harvey family, symbolizing the fusion of nobility and the new order.

The clock tower had already rung, and the entire Silver Ridge Hill was in an uproar.

Jon had originally ordered a ceremony to be arranged, but it turned out to be unnecessary, as the people had already gathered spontaneously.

Miners put down their hammers, children sang while holding up hand-painted red tide flags, women swept the streets and sprinkled furnace ash to prevent slipping, and old people brought out their homemade wine.

The whole city was buzzing from morning onwards, and no one forced it.

Why are they so excited?
For the past two years, they had listened to the bards sing "The Song of the Red Tide" every day.

At night, I listened to the theater troupe perform "Dawn Harbor" and "Light of the Snowfield" by the campfire, watching the actors wearing masks portray how the young lord saved the North.

Children find it amusing, but adults are moved to tears, because they know that without Louis, there would be no Silverridge Hill as it is today, and no stable life for them.

Torches lit up the streets and alleys, illuminating the massive iron-clad carriage, its doors emblazoned with the Red Tide emblem, like a burning sun.

The old men leaned on their canes and bowed their heads, the craftsmen raised their hammers and shouted, the miners lit torches, the students sang loudly, the women stuffed freshly baked bread into the knights' arms, and the children jumped and danced with flags in hand.

The young mother, holding her baby, told him, "Look, that's Lord Louis."

"Long live Lord Louis! Long live the Red Tide!" The shouts echoed like a tidal wave.

The Crimson Tide Knights marched forward amidst cheers, their steps like a torrent merging into the city gate, shaking the accumulated snow and causing it to slide off.

Jon rode at the very front, wearing the most magnificent suit he had specially prepared.

He wore a gold-trimmed knight's armor over an embroidered cloak, and a medal bestowed by the Duke of Edmund was pinned to his chest.

To show his respect for Louis, he even polished his helmet until it shone and replaced the ribbon on his sword.

He looked imposing, but his thick armor made him appear round and somewhat comical as he rode his horse.

As the car slowly approached, Jon's heart pounded with the drumbeats.

After two years of construction, we can finally show our work to the boss.

Jon had been worried that his preparations were not thorough enough, but seeing the jubilation of the people in the streets, which was even greater than he had planned, he could no longer hide his smile.

He smiled so broadly his eyes narrowed into slits, both delighted that Louis had finally arrived and proud of how well his preparations had gone.

The surrounding knights shouted and the miners yelled, and the enthusiastic atmosphere made his chest burn.

As the caravan slowed down, Louis sat in the carriage, tapping his fingers lightly on the armrest, his expression showing a hint of helplessness.

He originally only wanted to quietly observe the governance of Silver Ridge Hill and see if the mines, warehouses, and schools were operating properly, but now it seems that everything will have to be rescheduled.

Through the window, he saw torches, flags, and countless excited faces on both sides of the street. The shouts had merged into one, bringing a wave of intense heat to his face.

He sighed, but the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

Even though he was used to being watched so intently, he couldn't completely refuse that feeling.

Louis leaned forward slightly, snowflakes landing on his shoulders, and waved his gloved hand to the crowd.

It was just a simple action, but it immediately ignited the entire street.

The cheers surged like a tsunami, flags were raised in unison, drums beat again, children screamed, women waved, and men took off their hats in salute.

Even the distant clock tower trembled, and the air was scorching hot from the heat.

Kosa and Gray, who were in the middle of the procession, were also thrilled by the commotion. On horseback, they witnessed for the first time the sights of their lord's arrival.

The countless flags and cheers dazzled them; Louis could make the entire territory boil over with just a wave of his hand.

Grey murmured, "This is the Red Tide...this is the master of the North."

Kosa gripped the reins tightly, his chest burning. He suddenly understood what the instructors in the training camp had said: "Red Tide is a belief."

Looking into the eyes of the people on the street, their fervor and reverence were almost identical to the piety they showed when they prayed.

The difference is that this belief is flesh and blood, and has warmth.

The convoy stopped, the guards opened the car doors, and Louis extended that hand again before stepping onto the ground.

The shouts of the crowd instantly turned into a tidal wave, so loud that even the bronze bell in the clock tower was muffled by the noise.

Yorn almost ran forward, knelt on one knee, his armor clattering against the snow: "All citizens of Silverridge Hill welcome Lord Crimson Tide!"

Louis bent down to help him up, patting him on the shoulder with a smile: "Yon, let me see the city you've been guarding."

Yorn grinned and nodded repeatedly, speaking so fast he almost stuttered: "Everything is going according to your plan. The mine output has doubled, three schools have been built, and no one is going hungry... You'll be satisfied!"

Louis nodded slightly: "I can see that you did a very good job."

“Boss, you must be tired from your journey.” Yorn walked ahead of him, his eyes crinkling with laughter. “I’ve had a banquet prepared. You’ve been coming from the south for a long time, so you have to drink to your heart’s content tonight.”

Louis chuckled and glanced at him sideways: "You've always been generous with your spending on alcohol."

Yorn laughed heartily, then took the opportunity to lean closer and whispered, "That's not about drinking, it's about showing respect and wanting to have a good chat with you. I've been going crazy waiting for you to come."

Louis shook his head slightly, a smile still playing on his lips: "You're still the same."

“That’s because the boss taught us well.” Jon puffed out his chest, his tone as serious as if he were making an oath.

The two walked side by side, chatting and laughing, their steps as natural as they had been on the training ground in the capital years ago.

The Crimson Tide Knights escorted them from both sides, and the residents of Silver Ridge Hill spontaneously made way for them.

Some offered bread, some offered hot wine, but most simply watched the lord's retreating figure in silence.

…………

The air in the hall was warm and bright, the walls were high, red and blue curtains hung down, and flames danced gently on the metal lamp holders.

The main banquet hall of Silver Ridge Hill was not noisy at the moment, with only a long table and two people sitting opposite each other.

The table was laden with delicacies rarely seen in the North: roasted frost-maned bear, snow lizard soup, rock salt deer steak, and fine wines sent from the South.

A faint aroma of stewed meat wafted in the air, and the firelight melted the shadows on the corner of the table into a soft red glow.

Outside, knights and officials feasted around a campfire in the snow, while inside the hall, only Louis, Jon, and a few servants remained.

“I originally wanted to invite everyone in the city for a big banquet, but you insisted on keeping it low-key.” Yorn shook his head with a smile, picked up his wine glass, “That’s fine, it’s a good opportunity to have a good drink with you, boss.”

As he raised his glass, his tone was filled with pride and gratitude: "Boss, this toast is for that rescue two years ago. If it weren't for you, I would have been meeting the Dragon Ancestor long ago."

Louis smiled and clinked glasses, causing a slight ripple in the wine: "You were crying your eyes out back then."

“That’s called emotional release.” Yorn glared at him, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “When you saved me, even my pants were frozen solid.” The two looked at each other and smiled, their laughter echoing in the empty hall.

After a round of drinks, Yorn beckoned to the servants to remove the cold dishes and personally introduced the food on the table: "This Frostmane Bear was hunted last month, and that pot of Snowfield Lizard Soup..."

Louis scooped up a spoonful of soup and nodded: "I really didn't expect that the food here could be more abundant than Red Tide."

Yorn tapped the table smugly: "This is all thanks to your supply system; I just happened to benefit from it."

The firelight reflected on his round body, his gold-trimmed suit stretched a little too tight, and when he smiled he looked like a cheerful wine barrel.

Louis looked at him, shook his head, and chuckled: "Dressed like that, even a bear wouldn't dare come near you."

"This is a big deal!" Yorn patted his chest. "We need to let the boss know that I've been genuinely waiting for you to come."

The conversation gradually turned to old stories.

Yorn recounted their time in the capital, describing how they were bullied by aristocratic students at the academy, and how they were caught by their tutor after sneaking off to the river to drink at night.

Those past events were told to him like a joke, his voice so loud it could drown out the crackling of the fireplace.

After talking for a long time, the laughter gradually stopped, leaving only the sound of flickering firelight.

Yorn lowered his voice even further: "The messengers from the capital have recently sent word that things are getting increasingly chaotic there. Have you heard?"

Louis nodded, making no attempt to hide his opinion: "The emperor is missing, the princes are fighting amongst themselves, and the Dragon Throne Council has rendered the emperor power ineffective. The backbone of the empire has been broken."

“Those new rich are still pretending to be calm,” Jon sighed. “My father received a letter from them a few days ago, saying something about maintaining loyalty and stabilizing business practices.”

Louis tapped his fingertips lightly on the table, his tone steady: "They want stability, but the world is already unstable. If the North wants to survive, it has to learn to breathe on its own before the capital falls."

Yorn paused for a moment, looking at him with a half-understanding, then raised his glass: "Boss, whatever you do, I'll listen to you."

Louis clinked glasses with him: "I hope you really understand the weight of those words."

The two of them drank their wine in one gulp.

The firelight reflected on their faces; Louis's gaze was calm as ice, while Jon's expression was passionate and sincere.

Then Yorn suddenly laughed and cursed, "Actually, I should have cursed back for you at that Chongqing meeting a long time ago. What a joke, the Sixth Prince! The meeting should have been held in Crimson Tide City, why was it in Frost Dragon Territory?"

Louis chuckled: "Whether they curse or not, it's all the same. The outcome is already decided. I'll just wait and see what tricks they're up to."

“Then I’ll have to vent my anger too,” Jon said, waving his hand. “His arrogance is nothing compared to ours.”

Louis didn't reply, but just stared at the fire in the fireplace, his mind wandering to the more distant situation.

The map of the empire, the situation in the north, the territory of the Red Tide.

The firelight danced in his eyes, as if reflecting some unspeakable ambition.

He put down his wine glass and spoke a little truthfully: "As long as the northern border can hold its ground, the more chaotic the capital becomes, the better it is not necessarily a bad thing."

Yorn didn't quite understand, but he grinned and poured him another glass: "Cheers!"

"Done."

The two cups clinked together, making a crisp sound.

One person was driven by calculation and clarity, while the other was driven by trust and passion.

Jon made a silent vow: no matter how the empire collapsed, he would follow his friend.

The next morning, as the snow began to melt, the Red Tide banners still fluttered above the Silver Ridge Hill main fortress.

After a night's rest, Louis, accompanied by his officials, Jon, and personal guards, went on an inspection tour of various places.

The workshops on both sides of the street had already opened.

Flames were blazing in the blacksmith's shop as craftsmen hammered away at the Chichao-style farm tools, their sounds ringing out in unison.

The miners are changing shifts, carrying standardized numbered iron buckets in their hands.

The clerk in the accounting office was recording the quantity of ore entering and leaving in front of the snow hut. The ledgers were full of standardized forms printed by the Red Tide Council.

The roads were clean, and the lines were orderly. Even when they saw the lord arrive, no one stopped working. They simply bowed and then continued their work, because someone had informed them beforehand.

Jon beamed and kept pointing around, "Boss, look, these were all built just like you! These past two years of hard work haven't been in vain."

Louis looked at the data briefing that Bradley handed him while he read it.

The accounts were clear, the material allocation was almost synchronized with the Red Tide regime, and the tax records, distribution ratios, and warehousing plans were all replicated from the Red Tide regime.

"Good efficiency," Louis praised.

Jon smiled even more broadly, patting the saddle: "I'm glad you're satisfied. These officials all admire you from the bottom of their hearts. They used to be terrified of the Red Tide Council, but now they're scrambling to enforce the regulations."

Kosa and Gray, riding slightly behind, were quite familiar with the sight, as Red Tide City was a hundred times more magnificent.

When the miners and artisans saw Louis, their eyes were filled with genuine gratitude and awe.

Gray said softly, "They really treat adults like gods."

Kosa nodded: "We've seen this all the time in Red Tide City... They believe it from the bottom of their hearts."

Louis looked ahead at the semi-subterranean communal house.

Warm air wafted from underground pipes, children wrote on the windowsill, and women hung laundry to dry.

On the wall are the "Simplified Civil Regulations" issued by the Red Tide, and the slogan "Everyone has education, and everyone is a child of the Red Tide" is written.

Louis nodded slightly: "It seems that the system replication has indeed worked. The population is stable, production is normal, and the displaced people have begun to settle down."

The accompanying clerk added, "The 30% increase in mining output is mainly due to the red tide-style resource coordination and unified storage. Winter rations still rely on red tides, but the distribution is well-organized."

Louis said softly, "Dependence is also a form of stability."

Jon enthusiastically introduced, "Boss, look, these main roads and this geothermal canal were all built by me based on the red tide model!"
This place used to be all mud pits, but now the snow melts faster than anything else, and the villagers all say it's good.

Louis smiled and glanced at him: "Very good, it seems you have grasped the core of the Red Tide."

Yorn grinned, his tone full of pride: "Yes, with the Red Tide system backing me up, I can even sleep soundly."

Kosa and Gray exchanged a glance, feeling a surge of warmth in their hearts.

Having traveled all the way from Red Tide City, they truly understood for the first time the significance of Red Tide to the North.

That was not just order, but also the hope that allowed people to survive.

Louis withdrew his gaze and silently assessed the situation: the governance of these affiliated territories has proven that the red tide model is entirely feasible, providing confidence for its wider application in the future.

Whether they realize it or not, this model will eventually unite the entire North.

(End of this chapter)