Imperial Crown

Autumn always comes earlier in the north.

It was mid-August. Although it was still hot during the day, the weather would always become cool and pleasant in the morning and evening.

This morning, Raven ran in small steps between the ridges of the fields. The slightly cool air flowed down his throat into his lungs and was exhaled, which made Raven more excited and relaxed.

The wheat planted in spring had already matured, harvested and stored, but the hardworking people did not let the land go to waste, but planted a variety of seasonal vegetables.

Spinach, radish, and chrysanthemum were all crops that could be harvested before winter, but the most common one was lettuce - in fact, cabbage. Now the seedlings have broken through the soil, and dewdrops are hanging on the dark green leaves. I believe that in another month or two, we will be able to see plump cabbages all over the ground.

On a vacant lot next to the farmland, there were more than a dozen carriages gathered together. They were the carriages of the Dark Side of the Moon Traveling Theater. They had just arrived last night and applied to Eagle Castle for the right to use the site. It was estimated that by tomorrow, the stage would be completely set up.

After leaving the farmland, we arrived at the outskirts of Eagle Town. At this moment, the sky had just brightened and the streets were empty.

Raven stepped on the flat street, and his footsteps sounded clearly, hitting the wall of the arena next to him and then echoing back, appearing ethereal and clear.

The streets were built flat and solid, and there were willow trees planted on the side of the road. If it weren't for the lack of street lights, Raven would almost think he had returned to his previous life.

It wasn't long since he started jogging in the morning, but Raven had already developed a habit.

Self-discipline is of course one aspect, but more importantly, Raven likes this feeling.

It's not just running itself, but watching the buildings such as taverns, restaurants, and arenas rise from scratch, watching Eagle Town become prosperous little by little under his own planning, a sense of accomplishment will arise spontaneously.

The facts before him made Raven more pleased than any flattery.

When he went around the arena and came to the other side of Eagle Town, smoke from the houses of the people was already rising.

The women began to prepare breakfast for the whole family, and also fed the chickens and took out a few eggs, then opened the gate and let the ducks go to the Jinsha River to find food.

So Raven's ears began to be filled with the quacking of ducks. Fortunately, there were not many people raising geese, otherwise he would inevitably be chased for a distance.

I don't know whose dog ran out of the door, and when he saw Raven, he followed him all the way. It was a big yellow dog commonly seen in the countryside. Raven couldn't name the species. Its fur was shiny yellow, its tongue was sticking out, and its tail was wagging.

The yellow dog ran straight to the outside of the castle, but he was still reluctant to leave.

Raven stopped, squatted down, and rubbed its head.

The yellow dog also had a very good temper. He didn't hide even when Raven rubbed it until it was deformed.

"Why, do you want to go home with me?" Raven asked with a smile.

Just then, a slightly hurried shout came from the town: "-Bobby! Where are you?"

The yellow dog was stunned for a moment, then turned around and ran away, wagging its tail.

Not paying attention to this little episode, Raven returned to the castle, changed his clothes, and just returned to the study, Xiaobai came over, rubbed Raven's chest with his big head, and then suddenly became alert.

The head swayed left and right beside Raven, sniffed his hands, and then stared into his eyes, as if to say:

Do you have a pet outside?

Raven didn't know whether to laugh or cry, patted Xiaobai's head gently, and sat back next to the desk, while Xiaobai came over and put his head on Raven's thigh.

Spreading out a blank piece of parchment, Raven picked up the quill pen and dipped it in ink. After a little thought, he wrote without stopping.

Every morning run is not only an exercise, but also a process for Raven to sort out his gains and losses, so that the next goal will be clearer.

Soon, three goals appeared on the parchment:

First, speed up the construction of the forge factory and strive to complete the mass production of weapons and equipment within the year.

Second, plant and cultivate Congyun kumquats, and collect other raw materials for magic potions through Denise.

Third, urge the construction of the new castle, spare no manpower and funds to complete it as soon as possible.

These three things are judged according to the importance of the matter.

The first is the forge workshop. Now that the war has just ended, it is the time when the demand for weapons and equipment is the most vigorous. Entering the market now is just right to make a quick buck.

In addition, weapons and equipment are a rigid demand for nobles. The price may fall in the future, but as long as the war is not eliminated, there will never be a worry about sales.

Then there is the magic potion, which can awaken the talent of a magician. This is undoubtedly the sooner the better. With each additional magician under his command, Raven can do more things.

Apart from other things, Raven can't keep an eye on the magic plant part. In addition to the key parts that he has to do himself, such as transplanting, watering, and harvesting, it is better to hand them over as soon as possible.

Finally, there is the construction of the new castle. It is not just a castle, but also the core of the future development of Raven's territory. Only when it is built can Raven's next plan be carried out step by step.

This is undoubtedly a huge waste. The remaining gold coins in hand can't even make up for the fraction. Even with the continuous blood transfusion from the Colosseum and Wallace Hotel, it is still far from enough.

"Then set a small goal for yourself first."

The pen tip fell on the paper, Raven first wrote a 0, then hesitated for a moment, added another 0 in front, and finally wrote a heavy 1.

"One million gold coins!"

People should always have some dreams!

He doesn't even have the guts, and he talks about overthrowing the Mage Guild and knocking down the Deep Blue Platform?

Moreover, to become an earl, you can't even have a family fortune of one million!

However, as a lord, you can't just focus on your own little piece of land, but also pay attention to the surrounding and external situations at all times.

After integrating the Snow Maple Territory, Raven's territory has expanded a lot, shaped like an irregular bean pod, located in the northwest border of Snow Maple County.

With this as the center, in the northwest direction, across the Eagle Mountains, is the Bloody Highlands.

Adjacent to the southwest is the mountain territory of Baron Anderson. The baron is now about 30 years old and doesn't seem to have any ambitions. He didn't even respond to the previous call of the Slater family and stayed at home to concentrate on his life.

The south connects to the Holo Territory, which is ruled by Baron Shufu of the Vernon family. Raven has not met him yet, and has only talked to him a few times through letters.

Shufu's situation is very similar to Raven's. The previous head of the Vernon family died on the battlefield and had no offspring, so Shufu was found as the heir.

This person was born in Hovi City, and he did not shy away from the label of the Fox family. He was also a little proud of being a dog of the Fox family. In the correspondence, he used this to get closer to Raven more than once.

In the southeast of Eke Territory, the previous head of the family died with Viscount Fisher, and his eldest son Moss Tanbeck inherited the title. It is said that he has a deep relationship with the Slater family.

Before that, after Hyde left Eagle Territory, he deliberately took a detour to stay with him for a day.

Finally, there is Iron Furnace Ridge in the east, which is run by our old acquaintance Judra Walton. Oh, now she should be called Judra Ota Walton.

I heard that Judra's life has not been very good recently.

Logically speaking, Ironforge Ridge has a strong forging industry foundation, and its armor and weapons are well-known in the Nord Province. Now is the time when armor and weapons are the most popular, so it should be a big profit.

Unfortunately, although Raven promised him that the ore produced by the Gray Mountain Mine would be supplied at a fair price, and Raven did so, the cost of manufacturing equipment in Ironforge Ridge is also rising, and the production capacity is still declining.

The reason is very simple-lack of fuel.

The Walton family has been rooted here for hundreds of years and has always been engaged in forging. The trees in Ironforge Territory have been almost cut down, and they have always relied on the high-quality firewood provided by the Thousand Needles Jungle.

After Raven took back this land, he immediately banned commercial logging.

It’s not that he deliberately wanted Kajudra’s neck, but in Raven’s territory, all kinds of construction and production activities cannot do without the support of wood. He doesn’t even have enough for himself, so how can he squeeze it out and give it to Judra?

Therefore, Judela had to buy firewood from the outside world at a high price. Even so, it was difficult to sustain, and had to use coal to smelt the ore.

The result was that the smelted products were unusable and required a lot of time to process and refine.

I heard that two large orders had been messed up!

"How pitiful." Raven sighed, but a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

No longer paying attention to Judela, Raven turned his attention back to his territory and wrote two words on the parchment:

Break the situation.

Although he had taken a lot of advantage from the Slater and Fox families before, Raven knew that he was not qualified to challenge them purely based on hard power.

If you really want to jump out of the chessboard and be a chess player rather than a chess piece, you need to not only strengthen the strength of your territory, but also have a larger force.

Only with more people can you have a lot of power.

Only by unifying Xuefeng County can you initially have the qualifications to have an equal dialogue with Slater and Fox.

This is not easy. You must know that Viscount John was previously the county governor, but in the end he could only let three nobles stand by his side.

The simplest way is to lean on one of Slater and Fox and use their power to complete the integration.

But in this way, the integration itself is meaningless.

Raven wants to develop his own power, not to be a dog under someone else's pants!

So how can we win these people over?

Benefits!

In fact, after the battle of the Hand of Death, the problems of many noble families in the Nord Province were exposed. In the Snow Maple County alone, it was not only the Judra family that was troubled by internal and external troubles.

Either lack of money, lack of food, or lack of weapons and armor, or like Ms. Doreen, the territory has output, but lack of sales channels.

And Raven can basically solve these.

In addition to the Eagle Territory and Snow Maple Territory that can provide food on a large scale, don't forget that Denise is a grain merchant!

In addition, Denise is now the president of the Chamber of Commerce in the Lower City of Mon'en City. Through her, it is entirely possible to find suitable channels for the output of each family in Snow Maple County, and there is no worry about not being able to sell it.

This is the biggest card in Raven's hand.

"No hurry, the time is not ripe yet." Raven stroked Xiaobai's head and said to himself: "It must be a legitimate reason."

If the name is not right, the words will not flow smoothly. Raven is waiting for the day when the appointment of the county chief is officially issued.

At that time, it will be the beginning of Raven's formal integration of Xuefeng County into an iron plate!

Time passed little by little. After lunch, Raven began his routine magic practice. After all, he bought six kinds of magic at once, and he couldn't do it without careful study.

At dusk, Raven left the secret room, and while washing, he found that Petty was a little distracted: "What, are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no, Lord Baron." Petty came back to her senses, a little embarrassed: "I just heard that the traveling theater group has opened, and I was thinking about what it would be like!"

"Has the performance started already?" Raven was stunned for a moment: "Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow?"

"That was originally the case, but I heard that the stage was already set up, so they started performing a day early."

"So that's it..." Raven nodded slowly, picked up a towel and wiped the foam off his face: "Then I'll give you a holiday and go have some fun."

Petty's eyes lit up: "Baron, what should I wear?"

"Wear what you like best." Raven responded casually, got dressed and turned to leave: "By the way, you don't have to save supper for me tonight."

A look of loneliness flashed across Patty's face - she still wanted to play with Baron Raven.

Raven was not the first brother, so of course he could hear the hint in Petty's words, but now, what he was thinking about was not Petty, but someone else.

All the way to Eagle Town Church, the evening service had just ended. The setting sun dyed the church orange, but some people still did not leave.

It was a group of seven or eight-year-old children. They gathered around the water basin, holding peanuts, acorns, and wild peaches in their hands. They all approached Capibala who was soaking in the large water basin.

This Capibala named "Little Lazy", under the care of Lux, looks even more shiny and smooth. At this time, half of its body is floating on the water. It is not picky about food and bites whatever food is handed to its mouth. , and then start chewing slowly.

Just watching it eat can calm you down.

"Where did Priest Lux go?" Raven asked.

This question immediately woke the children up. They threw the fruits in their hands into the basin, then stood up and began to salute in a hurry.

There was a clever little girl who saluted and ran directly to the back. As she ran, she shouted: "Sister Lux! The Baron is here for a date with you!"

Not long after, footsteps sounded, and Lux's figure appeared in front of Raven.

"Raven, why are you here?"

Raven smiled and raised his eyebrows: "I came to see you on a date."

…