Imperial Crown

"This request is really..."

Hearing Viscount John's proposal, Raven rubbed his chin: "I know you have obtained a new barony, but the Eagle Territory is the ancestral land of the Griffith family after all, and there is no way I can exchange it for you. "

Viscount John waved his hand: "You misunderstood. I want to use Xuefeng Territory in exchange for your newly acquired territory."

"Oh... ah?" Raven was startled for a moment. He scratched his head, stood up, and then turned around twice more before sitting back in front of Viscount John: "Are you serious?"

It’s not surprising that Raven had such a reaction, it was really that Viscount John’s request was too strange.

Xue Fengling has been in business for many years and its industry is mature, so it has not been directly affected by this war.

On the other hand, the viscounty that Raven acquired has been almost destroyed by the Order of the Hand of Death. To rebuild it, it is not much different from starting from scratch.

It makes absolutely no sense!

Is it possible that at such an old age, Viscount John is still interested in starting a business again?

Viscount John smiled and said: "Back then, I gave Goldshire back to you for your poor acting skills. Now that the old man has made this request, why don't you stop going around the bush?"

When mentioning that incident, Raven's face froze: "I really wanted to thank you for the incident in Goldshire."

Viscount John explained: "Although Goldsmith Town is good, it can neither accumulate enough wealth for me to break through to the fifth level, nor can our Luke family be promoted to a noble title."

"It would be better to just return Goldsmith Town to you as a favor and eliminate possible disputes in the future."

Having said this, Viscount John smiled mischievously like a child: "Now it seems that this decision was not wrong. At least it bought my old man's life back."

Listening to what he said, Raven finally guessed why Viscount John had to exchange the Xuefeng Territory for the territory he had just obtained.

Or for future generations.

Xuefeng Territory is larger in area and has been in business for a longer period of time, but it is indeed a borderland.

The land is still fertile, but after all, it is too far away from the economic center of Men'en City, too far inland, the transportation is blocked, and the economic potential has been fully developed, which is far inferior to Raven's newly acquired viscounty.

On the other hand, the Snow Maple Territory is too close to the Bloody Highlands and is often attacked by horse thieves. This is a headache for Viscount John, let alone his useless son.

Raven's new territory is in Hodges County, just southwest of Munn City. Changing the territory here will provide a stable future for his descendants.

Although the Order of the Death Hand rebelled this time and destroyed half of the Nord province, everyone knew that this was just an accident and could not be used as a reference.

This is also the reason why Raven was not aware of Viscount John's goal at first.

In Lei Wen's view, although the transportation in the border areas is a bit poor, it has fewer constraints, allows for better development, and does not need to deal with too many "disputes" between neighbors.

In the final analysis, it is still the difference in mentality between young people and old people.

"Since Viscount John said so..." Raven also smiled: "I promise to exchange territory with you."

Viscount John's eyes showed a hint of relief: "Thank you, Baron Raven. Let's make a contract now. The Xuefeng Territory and the newly acquired barony territory will be handed over to you!"

"That's not necessary." Raven pondered for a moment and said, "You should keep the newly acquired territory for yourself. In exchange, I have another request."

A standard barony is not small, but it is too far away from the Eagle Territory, and it is a real enclave.

If you didn't get the position of president of Meng'en City Lower City Chamber of Commerce, this would still be a good business springboard and transfer station, but now that you got it, this enclave is a bit useless.

And Raven had no family members to accommodate.

You can't send Vesdon there, right?

It's not that Raven is reluctant to part with it, Raven doesn't really care how the enclave is managed.

I'm afraid that this kid's whims will cause some scandal, and it will really "spread the branches" of the Griffith family, which will be too much fun.

Viscount John nodded slowly and said: "That's okay, but the old man's family is not very rich, and the construction of the territory also requires funds. You must leave some for me."

Raven immediately came up with the conditions he had thought of: "You can keep the gold coins for yourself, but the viscounty I obtained comes with a lot of serfs. I hope you will give me at least 20,000."

"This..." Viscount John inhaled slightly and fell into thinking.

Before the war, giving a few serfs would be nothing. After all, at that time, every noble only thought there were too many people, not too few.

But now they have experienced a great chaos, resulting in serious population losses, and these separated territories are in dire straits.

It is conceivable that the price of serfs will rise sharply in the future, increasing three to five times or ten times, and it is not impossible that there will be a price but no market.

According to the proportion previously allocated, there are approximately more than 50,000 serfs in this viscounty, which is less than half of the number of serfs in the regular viscounty.

Giving Raven more than 20,000 people at this time would seriously delay the development of the new territory.

But just as Raven had guessed before, Viscount John pursues safety and stability and does not have a strong need for development speed.

The shortage of 20,000 people will be made up in another ten to twenty years.

"Hmm... no problem." Viscount John agreed to Raven's request: "However, Xuefeng led me to also take away a group of serfs. The number is not large, only about a thousand, but they all follow our Luke family. "

The people he mentioned were not ordinary serfs, but those with skills and craftsmanship. These people were the seeds for the development of the territory.

Raven began to bargain: "Logically speaking, I should agree to your request, but you can't take away all the essence of the Snow Maple Territory, you have to leave some for me. After all, I gave you an extra barony? "

Xuefengling is famous for its production of dyes and silk fabrics, and Lei Wen has been coveting them for a long time.

"You!" Viscount John shook his head and laughed.

This barony originally belonged to him, Viscount John, and now that it is back in his hands, he has to pay an extra price. This Raven is really...

Qualified noble!

"Okay, I'll leave you four hundred people."

"Then it's settled." Raven also smiled.

The document was drawn up and each of them used the seal of the family head. As long as it was sent to the Council of Nobles for filing, it would take effect immediately.

Both men were very happy with the deal.

Raven got a benefit.

The Xuefeng Territory is not only larger in area, but also adjacent to the Eagle Territory. Now the two territories are connected into one, which solves the original problem of choosing the development focus of the territory. It also gains the Xuefeng Territory’s mature industries, craftsmen, and basically no loss of population. .

With the population of Xuefeng Territory, the population of Eagle Territory, plus the 20,000 serfs promised by Viscount John, and the refugees received during this period, the population of Raven's rule has now exceeded the 100,000 mark.

A population of this size is enough to raise an army of thousands of people. If you follow the common standards of the nobles and grit your teeth, it is not impossible to squeeze out an army!

Viscount John, an old man who had no interest in his career, also got what he wanted.

Although the territory is in ruins and awaits development, it is located in the hinterland of the Nord province, so its security is very guaranteed, and its future development potential exceeds that of the Snow Maple Territory.

What's more, he also retained the barony in his hands, so that even if there were multiple heirs in the family fighting for it in the future, he could still place people there.

The two people who made the contract were in a very good mood. They drank wine together and chatted about their experiences on the battlefield and the latest gossip among the nobles.

Only then did Raven realize that the seemingly old-fashioned Viscount John was also very good at gossiping.

For example, two sons of a certain baron family literally fell out against each other in order to compete for credit; for example, a certain viscount actually kept several male pets around him as soldiers for pleasure, and these male pets were in crisis. He actually came to the rescue and lost an ear, but the person has not been rescued; another example is that a certain nobleman was short-sighted and mistook a stone for a guard. Because he disliked the "guard", he did not salute and pointed at the stone and cursed for half an hour.

"Speaking of which, there is another rumor about you."

"Oh? What rumors do I have?" Raven was stunned for a moment.

Viscount John smiled: "It is rumored that the Fox family supports you so much this time because they want to marry their daughter to you."

"Me?" Raven pointed to his nose: "Forget it, this rumor is really ridiculous."

Shaking his head slightly, Raven was stunned and asked: "By the way, where is Judra? I haven't seen him much in the past few days?"

"You don't know?" Viscount John was a little surprised: "After all, his military exploits are too little, and he will definitely not be able to meet the baron, so he set off back three days ago."

Raven raised his eyebrows slightly.

This guy moved so fast. He left without saying a word, as if he was afraid of interfering.

"What are you thinking about?" Viscount John asked.

"It's nothing, I just thought that I had been away from home for too long and wanted to go back and have a look." Raven sighed.

This sentence is true. Now that all the benefits have been obtained, there is no point in continuing to linger in Meng'en City.

And it’s time to return the land that Judra promised to him!

After seeing John off, Raven immediately stood up and headed towards the headquarters of the Silver Hand Brotherhood without even clearing up the camp.

Not long after leaving the camp, the horse's hooves startled a flock of crows, revealing the body that had been pecked to pieces.

Every time after a war, there are inevitably these birds that peck at the dead bodies.

Now, the sky above Men'en City is full of these unknown black birds.

Various sounds came from the houses on both sides of the street, including women's miserable wails, men's angry roars, as well as shouts of death and hoarse threats.

With a bang, a disheveled woman rushed open the door and fell into the muddy alley before taking two steps.

"You're quite strong, run? Where are you going!?" A man rushed out of the door and went straight to the woman. He grabbed the woman's legs and dragged her into the house.

The woman's hands dug into the ground, leaving deep marks, broken nails, and bloody flesh.

She saw Raven's figure and shouted loudly: "Sir, help me!"

"You're bluffing me? At this time, where did you come from..." Halfway through the words, the man also saw Raven, and his movements suddenly froze: "Um, sir, this is my wife, I..."

Not in the mood to listen to his nonsense, Raven asked: "Whose person are you from, 'Silverhand' Mott, 'Barracuda' Webb, or 'Split Tooth Tiger' Honduras?"

"I am from the 'Random Sword Club'!" the man answered carefully.

"Oh, that's with Old Johnson." Raven nodded: "In the final analysis, we are still from Honduras."

"So you know all the secrets here." The man smiled flatteringly: "Well, do you want to try this woman first? I haven't touched her yet!"

The woman who thought she had met her savior fell into despair, her eyes became empty and lifeless.

"Go away." Raven shook his head and urged the warhorse.

The man smiled and nodded, dragged the woman back to the house, and just as he wanted to close the door and continue the violence, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head, and the next moment, a crossbow arrow flashing with cold light came out of his mouth.

Raven put away his crossbow, ignored the woman who kowtowed to thank him behind him, clamped his legs around the horse's belly, increased his speed, and his face became more gloomy.

Because this kind of thing is not an isolated case.

The streets near the military camp, the thugs still know to restrain themselves. The farther away from the military camp, the more dilapidated the streets are. Looking up, there is no candlelight at all. The only bright thing is the fire after the burning buildings.

Originally, although the public security in the lower city was not good, it was not so bad.

However, as the war ended, in order to announce the arrival of peace, the Slater family transferred all the few remaining defenders to the upper city to clear out the remaining undead creatures and maintain law and order.

The lower city became the price.

The gangs, who had been frustrated by the war for a long time, began to revel.

Whether it was shops or houses along the street, they could not escape the fate of being broken into.

Men were dragged to the streets and hacked to death, children were thrown out of windows, and women suffered a situation worse than death.

The mixture of crying and flames made the streets look like a living hell instead of a human world.

The thugs were demons in hell. Even if they noticed Raven's arrival, they seemed not to see it and would not stop their evil deeds at all.

If it weren't for the badge on Raven's chest that was clear enough, they might have surrounded him.

After passing through hell and returning to the headquarters of the Silver Hand Brotherhood, Raven saw Lux standing by the window, praying to the fire in the night sky.

Hearing Raven's footsteps, she turned back and breathed a sigh of relief: "You're back! I was really afraid that you would encounter some danger."

Raven smiled and walked to her side: "Don't worry, this level of chaos can't hurt me."

He also saw a trace of unresolved worry in Lux's eyes: "Are you worried about the people in the lower city?"

Lux shook her head gently: "... No."

This was a lie, and Raven knew why she said that.

Because although she sympathized with those who suffered, she would not let Raven fall into danger for this reason.

"Don't worry, I am now the president of the Lower City Chamber of Commerce, and this trouble should be solved by me."

"Really?" Lux blinked. Although all the words Raven promised her had been fulfilled so far, she really couldn't think of how to quell this scale of unrest.

Raven only had more than 30 personal soldiers under his command.

"Of course." Raven smiled confidently: "If I can do it, then..."

His eyes fell under the hem of Lux's skirt.

The latter shrank back: "...Okay!"

"It's a deal." Raven turned around and said seriously: "Manse!"

Soon, Manse appeared in front of Raven. She didn't like Raven's attitude of calling a servant, but she could do nothing about it: "... Baron."

Raven went straight to the point: "In my name, contact Weber of the Bloody Harpoon and Honduras of the Cracktooth War Gang."

"Tell them that I have business to discuss."

...