Imperial Crown

The bells echoed over the Eagle Town, bringing a bit of vitality to this lifeless town. The people of the territory came to the Eagle Castle like migrating ants.

Simon was one of these people. He was seventeen years old and had lived in Eagle Town since he could remember.

His father died of an illness five years ago. In order to support his elderly grandmother, mother and sister, he took on the responsibility of the family and became a good farmer.

Today was the first time he heard the bells in his life of more than ten years, and then he heard the order of the guards - the new baron was going to select private soldiers.

This was a great thing!

Simon heard from the old people in the town that if he could become the private soldier of the baron, he would not only be exempted from the hard work of working in the fields, but also have his food, clothing and clothes paid by the lord, and he could also receive thirty kilograms of coarse wheat flour every month!

Thirty kilograms of coarse wheat flour!

It was enough for the remaining three people in the family to eat black bread for every meal instead of drinking porridge!

He was the first to arrive at the castle gate, but as the sun gradually rose, more people came around.

One, two, three...

Simon began to count the heads with his fingers, and soon two hands were not enough, even with two feet.

So many people!

It was the first time he realized that there were so many men in Eagle Town. Even if he used ten people's hands and feet, he probably couldn't count them all, right?

These were all his competitors.

Crack, crack...

The sound of armor colliding sounded, and Simon quickly raised his head and saw the chief guard, Lord Eric, coming out. A young man with black hair and black eyes, wearing a beautiful leather armor, walked in front of him.

There was no doubt that this was the new baron, Lord Raven!

Simon quickly straightened his chest and raised his head high, hoping that Lord Baron would notice him.

But Lord Baron didn't see him, but whispered something to Eric, and soon the latter came forward with Link and Gore, and drove the people out of the team one by one.

Old Huck, Little Velen, Little Wales...

Simon's heart gradually lifted as his acquaintances were driven away one by one, and he secretly prayed to the Lord of Light - please keep me here!

Soon, Eric walked up to Simon, smiled at him as he held his head high, gently patted him on the chest, and then walked towards the next person without saying a word.

Simon let out a long breath, his heart pounding.

He stayed!

Simon, who had relaxed, gradually discovered the selection criteria of the Baron. Those who were driven away either looked too old, too young, or too short, and among the remaining people, although he was not the tallest or the strongest, he could still be ranked at the front.

This discovery gave him a great boost of confidence.

Soon, the originally crowded crowd became a little sparse. Simon counted, and this time he could probably count the heads with the hands and feet of four or five people, right?

Dongdongdong.

Footsteps sounded, Simon looked at them, Lord Raven walked to the temporary wooden platform with his hand on the hilt of the sword, and said loudly: "Congratulations on passing the first round of selection. According to general standards, you are qualified to become my private soldiers."

"But I, Raven, am not an ordinary noble. My standards are more stringent, and correspondingly, the treatment will be more generous!"

"Anyone who can stand here today, regardless of whether they can pass the next round of selection, can get a reward of five kilograms of coarse wheat flour."

"And if you can pass, then I will not only guarantee your food and clothing, but each person can also receive an additional fifty kilograms of coarse wheat flour every month!"

Simon's breathing became heavy at this moment, and his heart was pounding.

Fifty kilograms of coarse wheat flour!

The annual ration for each person in Eagle Town is only 200 kilograms, and he can earn three people's annual rations by himself!

This not only allows the family to be full, but also allows the excess food to be exchanged for many things.

I can buy a blanket for my grandmother who suffers from leg pain every cold weather, a sunshade for my mother, and a new dress for my sister if I save for a few more months. Poor little Nina, she is already ten years old, but she has never worn a new dress!

Simon looked around. Not only him, but everyone was full of fighting spirit at this moment. No one wanted to give up such a superior treatment!

Under the leadership of Eric, Simon followed the crowd into the castle.

The wide courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and various things were placed on a piece of land that was temporarily cleared.

On the westernmost ground, there were large stones cut into shapes, divided into three pieces from small to large. The small one should be 30 kilograms, and the largest one should be 100 kilograms, right?

In the middle was something like a single-plank bridge, about one meter high, but more than 20 meters long.

On the east side was a wooden table, on which were placed three longbows and two tubes of feather arrows.

Eric stood by the stone and shouted: "Follow me, start from here, one by one!"

Among the people present, Eric doubted the reliability of these tests, but chose to carry them out; the people who were brought here were even more confused, and could only follow Eric's orders in a nervous mood.

Only Raven was calm and moved a chair to sit at the door of the hall.

"Sir Raven." Old Gordon came up and said, "Aren't the selection standards you set a little too low? There are ninety-three people here. Each person has fifty kilograms of couscous per month, which is four thousand a month." Six hundred and fifty kilograms, that’s fifty-five thousand kilograms a year..."

Raven interrupted him with a smile: "Mr. Gordon, you are too worried. In my opinion, it is good if one-third of these people can stay."

Gordon frowned: "Sir, I have no intention of questioning your judgment, but based on these few items, I'm afraid..."

He didn't finish his words, but his meaning was clear enough.

"I know what you mean." Raven said: "The three stones are thirty kilograms, sixty kilograms and ninety kilograms respectively. As long as you can pick up the middle one and put it down five times in a row, you will be qualified. It’s true that most people can do it.”

"As for the last bow and arrow, I just wanted to see if anyone has some talent in shooting."

As he spoke, he pointed to the single-plank bridge: "But the hurdle in the middle is not so easy."

Gordon still didn't believe it: "Sir, these people are all serfs. They are good at walking in the fields without stepping on the seedlings. How is it possible..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard an exclamation. Someone had already fallen from the single-plank bridge in the middle and fell firmly to the ground.

Immediately the second one walked up, and not long after, he fell down again.

Then came the third one, this one held on a little longer but still slipped just before reaching the finish line.

"This..." Gordon pushed his monocle: "Sir, what is going on?"

Raven smiled and said, "Secret."

He already had a plan in mind on how to select soldiers.

These subjects have been doing farm work for a long time, and there is absolutely no problem with their physical strength. If according to the standards of ordinary nobles, then these subjects of the right age are all qualified soldiers.

But Raven couldn't support so many people.

Now is the busy time for farming, and these residents are the main force in agricultural activities. If they are all taken away, this year's harvest may be greatly reduced.

Although agriculture is not profitable, it is the true foundation of a country or a territory. It is the instinct of every lord to ensure self-sufficiency in food.

That's why Raven had to choose the best among the best.

There was no physical examination in this era, and the residents' long-term hard life was bound to accumulate various hidden diseases, especially the waist and legs.

The balance beam in the middle is based on this consideration.

After experiencing the strenuous activities in the first level, the second level requires them to calm down and concentrate on maintaining balance. Once their attention is distracted, or they have any diseases in their legs, feet, or waist, they will not be able to persevere.

"Hey——"

"ah--"

People who failed to win the second round came one after another. Although it was soft grass, they still couldn't avoid the pain, so that they screamed one after another.

The sound reached Denise's ears through the window, who was working on paperwork in the castle.

Today she was wearing a very homely plain gauze dress, with her hair hanging loosely on her shoulders. She could not help but frown when she heard the sound outside the window. She shook her hands and threw the quill back into the ink bottle. She leaned back on the chair with her chest white and greasy. A large area of ​​skin was immediately exposed.

She stood up, walked to the window, looked at the people gathered in the castle, raised her eyebrows slightly, and said disdainfully: "One gangster can only bring out a group of gangsters, and the reputation of the Griffith family may be over. "

Closing the window, Denise lay back on the soft bed.

She had a nightmare.

In the dream, Lei Wen successfully trained his troops and led a group of men to bully men and women in Eagle Town, looking for women from house to house.

And she was huddled in the castle, watching Eagle Town becoming increasingly chaotic, but she had no choice but to even want to leave.

Raven's appetite grew bigger and bigger, and he took the priest Lux of Eagle Town as his plaything, and finally led someone to block her in the door.

Boom, boom, boom——

The sound of banging on the door kept making Denise's heart beat faster. The moment the door opened, Denise screamed and shouted: "Stop dreaming, I would rather die than get into your bed!" "

Denise sat up in shock from the bed, gasping for air. Her clothes were soaked with sweat and became almost transparent, sticking to her body and sticking to her body.

The knocking on the door continued.

"Who?" Denise asked impatiently.

"Mom, it's me!" Weston's voice sounded.

"Okay..." Denise sat up, found a dark dress to wrap herself up, and opened the door.

Before she could ask the question, Vesdon burst in and said with a loud smile: "Mom, what a pity you weren't there!"

Denise was stunned and asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's about Raven's military training!" Vesdon sat on a chair, his eyes almost invisible because of his fat eyes shining brightly: "This is the first time I have seen such a stupid person!"

A hint of curiosity arose in Denise's heart: "Has he finished choosing people?"

"The selection is over, there are more than thirty in total." Vesdon said: "The selection process is not interesting, but after practicing, it is great fun!"

"Those mud-legged guys all look human, but they are just a bunch of brainless animals."

"Raven actually wants these animals to be equipped with leather armor! Oh my God! That would be a disaster!" Vesdon said with a dance: "This is the first time I have seen a person's fingers become so stupid, let alone the ones on their bodies. Leather armor, some people don’t even wear leather helmets, they put the crotch armor on their foreheads.”

"Under Eric's guidance, everyone finally put on a full set of leather armor. As soon as they started to move, they dropped their shoes all over the floor and several fell down. Some people even stepped on them because of someone. Whose feet are beating?"

Denise felt very happy after hearing this and asked, "What happens after that?"

Vesdon felt thirsty as he spoke, so he picked up the cup on the table and drank some water for himself:

"After that, Eric whipped them until they barked like animals, and had to teach them how to tie their shoelaces. God, it was really hard for Eric. The hands of those animals were as dirty as donkey dung and eggs!"

"When they finally got something going, Raven asked them to stand in three rows. It turned out that those stupid pigs couldn't even understand 'sort by height'. The team stood like the Eagle Mountains, and Eric had to hold it The whip corrects them one by one.”

"'Turn left' and 'Turn right' are two instructions that are not commands at all. They can't understand them either. They turn in any direction. There are two people who bumped their heads together and almost kissed each other. "

"If you ask me, the monkeys in the circus are more obedient than them!"

Denise's brows gradually became serious as she listened. Although she had never heard of this method, judging from Vesdon's description, Raven was indeed doing it in a certain order.

Could it be that he found a way for the Griffith family to train private soldiers?

Seeing his mother's sad face, Vesdon smiled and said, "Mom, you don't really think Raven can practice anything, do you?"

Denise said worriedly: "There are exceptions to everything."

"This matter is absolutely no exception!" Vesdon waved his arms, the fat on his face trembling: "How can he be so capable as a gangster?"

"If he can train soldiers to perfection, I will jump from the top of the castle to cheer him up!"

Of course Raven didn't know about Vesdon's bold words, otherwise he would feel better.

It was getting dark, and Raven refused Gordon's proposal, choosing instead to dine with the selected soldiers in the hall.

As he thought, the number of people who could pass the border and become his private soldiers was less than one-third of the total number. In the end, only thirty-four barely passed the border.

So Raven included Goyle and Link, divided them into three squads, and roughly renamed the squad "squad". Goyle, Link, and Simon, who performed best during the selection, were appointed as squad leaders respectively. .

The cook was too tired to prepare food for more than thirty people, and of course he couldn't think of any tricks. It was just a big bowl of vegetable soup with bacon and unlimited supply of brown bread for each person.

"Everyone, sit down." Raven asked Eric and the three monitors to sit down, picked up the black bread, broke it, threw it into the soup, and ate it.

To be honest, today's training can't be said to have any results. The quality of these people is even lower than Raven's expectations. Most of the thirty-four people are indifferent, and their execution ability is also very poor.

A simple "run-stop" command can turn three queues into a mess.

But there is also an advantage, that is, these people have no ideas of their own. As long as they are willing to put in the effort to train them, they can always achieve something.

The atmosphere at the table was a little dull. Raven stuffed a piece of black bread into his mouth and looked at Simon with a smile: "How are you? Are you still used to it today?"

Unexpectedly, Raven would ask him, Simon quickly swallowed the food in his mouth without caring about the heat, and stammered: "No, no problem, sir!"

"Don't be so nervous." Raven said with a smile: "You are my soldier now, just call me sir."

"I just arrived in the territory not long ago and don't know much about it. How is life at your home?"

Simon was so nervous that he could hardly even think: "With the fifty kilograms of couscous you give me every month, things will be much better!"

Raven's heart moved and asked: "Was life difficult before?"

Goyle and Link had already started to wink at Simon, but at this moment Raymond's mind was completely blank and he couldn't pay attention to anything at all: "Yes! Sir!"

"Our family of four only has 200 kilograms of semolina as rations per person every year, and most of it goes into the mouth of me, a strong laborer. My grandmother, mother and sister can only live hungry."

"My grandfather, just to give me food, died of starvation three years ago!"

After saying this, the entire hall fell silent, and low sobbing could be heard from some tables.

After all, this kind of life was the life they lived every day before.

Raven's heart was also a little heavy. In his previous life, he was also born in a rural area. He knew how quickly food was consumed in the absence of supplementary food. He also knew that a strong laborer must be the first person in the family to have enough food.

But he underestimated the extent of poverty in Eagle.

Raven patted Simon on the shoulder and asked him to sit down, then stood up: "As a lord, I must apologize to you. It is my dereliction of duty to let the people under my rule starve. It belongs to the Griffith family." dereliction of duty."

"But! There's a reason for this!"

Raven lowered his voice and glanced at everyone: "Why are your families starving? Because we in Eagle Town are too poor! Why are we poor? Because our territory has been forcibly occupied!"

He asked and answered himself eloquently: "Because we are too weak!"

"If we are strong enough, no one will dare to take away our land, and we can take back the wealth that originally belongs to us from others!"

"You are my private soldiers, and you are also the soldiers of the Eagle Territory!"

"I train you not only for my personal glory, but also to give Eagle Town enough power to protect itself and make Eagle Town great again!"

"I, Raven Ota Griffith, hereby promise." Raven's voice was clearly passed to everyone's ears: "As long as you are loyal to me and obey my orders, then I guarantee that every time you Individual families and every household in Eagle Town can have enough to eat and wear new clothes!”

Empty words will not touch these citizens in the slightest, but Raven's words are not empty, because as they were officially selected, fifty kilograms of couscous have been delivered to their respective homes in the first month!

At this moment, their bowls are also filled with broth that they would never dare to think of!

Simon stood up first: "We are willing to follow you, Lord Raven!"

Then more private soldiers stood up: "We are willing to follow you!"

"Okay!" Raven shouted loudly: "Serve the wine!"

A jar of wine was brought up and poured into everyone's bowls. Raven raised the wine bowl: "Everyone, cheers, for our future!"

More than thirty men shouted in unison: "For our future!"

After a sip of wine entered his throat, Raven immediately felt that he had been fooled. The taste was sour and astringent, as if he had swallowed a large mouthful of unsweetened hawthorn raw, and his facial features were almost twisted together.

This isn't wine, it's clearly vinegar!

Did the cook secretly change the wine?

He was about to get angry, but he saw that every private soldier, including Simon, had expressions of enjoyment on their faces. Even Eric was very satisfied.

As the banquet continued, Raven pulled Eric to his side and asked in a low voice: "This wine...how do you drink it?"

"Excellent, sir!" Eric said with a blushing face: "A jar of this red wine is worth five silver coins and seventy copper coins!"

Raven was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes suddenly lit up - that was the light of money!

Just a jar of this crap is worth so much?

Then I’m going to get rich! ?

…