Iron Powder and Spellcaster

"Follow me, it's urgent." Antonio stopped Winters and added: "Ask the coachman not to unload the horses yet, Winters, you go change your clothes too."

"The dress? But now I only have the military school uniform."

Antonio looked at his wife: "Didn't you make several sets before?"

"Those clothes are all the wrong size, haven't they been changed yet? I just went to get measured today." Kesha replied angrily.

Antonio didn't hesitate: "Well, I'll change into the military uniform, and we'll dress the same."

Winters didn't have to wait long this time. Antonio was a resolute soldier, and he quickly changed into a general's uniform [different from military uniforms] and walked out of the house.

"We're all dressed like this, why do we need a carriage?" Seeing Winters waiting beside the carriage, Antonio's tone was very helpless. He turned to the coachman and said: "There's no need for the carriage. Bus." Thank you for your hard work today."

After saying this, he handed a small bag of reward money to the coachman. The coachman took the money bag and thanked him profusely.

Antonio waved to his nephew and led Winters to the stables on the back side of the house.

There were three horses in the stable. Antonio pointed to one of them, a gray horse with black mane and white spots, and said reluctantly: "It will be yours from now on. Although Aquamarine City is not big, you can't go anywhere without horses." convenient."

Winters was immediately pleasantly surprised. He suppressed his excitement and approached the proud and majestic big animal little by little. The horse did not panic at the approach of a stranger, but just chewed hay calmly. Its chest muscles are strong, its limbs are well-proportioned and powerful, and the lines of its neck, back and buttocks are smooth and graceful. His mane and ponytail were beautifully groomed, and his body was cleanly brushed, with not a single blade of grass in sight.

Winters looked into the horse's eyes, and the horse blinked its moist eyes, looked at Winters with gentle and friendly eyes, and flapped its ears deftly. Winters tentatively rubbed the side of its neck. It felt not only oily and slippery, but also warm. It felt very good, and the horse also let out a series of soft hums from its nasal cavity.

"It's so beautiful."

Antonio, who was feeling heartache, said angrily: "Can it not be beautiful? Those of you who are from the infantry department just don't know the difference. This is the best Lucian horse."

The more heartache Antonio feels, the more it shows that this horse is excellent. It was rare for Winters to see his uncle in such pain. It seemed that he was bleeding profusely. He chuckled and asked, "Is it a monk? [Monk, referring to a horse that has been gelded]"

Antonio was furious: "How is that possible? I have a lot of people who want to hire me to match my horse!"

"But if I don't have that, can I ride it?"

"Of course you can ride it. Why don't you look at who trained it? The Lucia horse has a very gentle temperament."

"What's its name?"

"I called it 'Good Luck', do you want to rename it?"

Winters gently scratched the area between the horse's eyes, and the horse stuck out its tongue slightly. Thinking of the good luck pirate ship: "Who doesn't like luck? But let's call it 'strong luck'. The word good luck seems to have no effect on me."

Seeing how much his nephew liked Good Luck, Antonio hesitated for a long time, but couldn't help but said: "Horses are noble animals, and Good Luck is my treasure. You must take good care of it and don't tire it too much." Don't let it sit too idle..."

Winters kept nodding in agreement. He pointed to the other two horses and asked his uncle: "If you feel sorry for Qiang Luck, why don't you let me ride those two horses?"

There are two horses in the stable, a white horse and a bay horse.

"I really regret sending you to study infantry now." Antonio looked at Winters and said in a serious tone: "Don't you think those two horses are good horses?"

Antonio took out a small bag from his arms and gave each of the three horses a piece of candy. Then Antonio led out the jujube gelding, and Winters led out the strong luck. The two of them put on the harness, mounted the horses and left the mansion.

The sky has darkened and the sun's afterglow is about to dissipate. The heat of the day was gradually replaced by the coolness of the night, and the refreshing sea breeze took away the excess heat from the two riders. At this moment, riding a horse and walking through the streets of Hailan City is refreshing.

The workers on the roadside were filling lamp oil one by one and lighting the street lamps. In Senas Bay, only Aquamarine City is wealthy enough to provide lighting services to the public. The flickering firelight shines through the yellowed glass, illuminating the hurried faces of passers-by, announcing that the nightlife has begun.

On the streets of the city, Qiang Yu couldn't stretch his legs at all, and Winters was eager to take the horse for a fun run outside the city.

But it suddenly occurred to him that he still didn't know where his uncle was taking him, so he accelerated a little and rode side by side with his uncle: "What is the emergency? Where are you taking me, Lieutenant Colonel?"

Antonio looked at Winters, smiled playfully and said, "I'll find you a wife."

"What? Stop joking!" Winters was shocked. He lost his balance and almost fell off the saddle: "I originally wanted to see Benwei tonight. You said it was urgent so I followed you. If there was nothing serious, I would go to Benwei." It’s a powerful family.”

"Benway? Which Benway?" Antonio tried to recall the name in his mind: "Benvenuto?"

Winters didn't expect his uncle to actually call out Benwei's full name: "Do you still remember this person?"

"Isn't it your classmate Lu You? You like to go to his house for dinner during the holidays."

"it's him."

Antonio became interested: "How is he now? I don't seem to have seen this name among the trainee officers who came back this year."

"Benwei did not continue to attend the military academy. After Lu You graduated, he went to work to support his family." Winters felt a little sad: "If there is nothing serious, I will leave."

Antonio led the way, and the two of them walked with their backs to the dock. After walking for a while, the number of passers-by gradually became less and less. Benway's family lived in the harbor area, and Winters turned his head when he spoke.

"Wait a minute." Antonio stopped his nephew: "Don't go today. Do you want to go empty-handed? I remember that he has many younger brothers and sisters... In this way, I will ask Aunt Marita to buy some flour and good meat tomorrow. , how about you bring it to Benwei? And I asked you to come here today because I really have something to do."

"What's up?"

"Take you to the widow."

"I'm really leaving!" Winters angrily pulled the reins to the right.

Antonio quickly put away his smile and said seriously: "Okay, let's get down to business. There is a small party at Navarre's house tonight. I called you here just to show your face."

"Navarre? Isn't that a merchant in the woolen business? What does it have to do with me?" Of course Winters has heard of the surname Navarre, and he is a famous merchant family in the city.

Antonio gave Winters a meaningful look: "Money is power, and Mrs. Navarre is perhaps the most powerful woman in the city - and a widow."

"Why don't you say anything about the widow?" Winters was anxious. He couldn't be trying to betray his lust, could he?

Antonio deliberately made a serious face: "What? Do you look down on widows? Let me tell you, widows hold up half the sky of Hailan City. Without these widows, how would the Directory get the money to pay you and me?"

Winters' forehead began to sweat: "When did I look down on the widow... Besides, where is this all from?"

Seeing Winters' childish look, Antonio clasped his hands and laughed: "Okay, no more joking. Actually, it's nothing. It's been six years since you went to the United Provinces, and you haven't participated in any social activities in the city in six years. You don’t know any of your peers except for those who were at the military academy at the same time, right? Now that you have gone home, I want you to show your face in the Navarre family’s social gathering first.”

Winters was about to speak, but was interrupted by Antonio with a wave of his hand. Antonio continued: "I know what you want to say, but even if you don't like to socialize, you have to let everyone know that you are there. Sooner or later, you have to Get married, but do you know any ladies of the right age now? This is the consequence of lack of communication. At your age, I attend dances one after another, and people are vying to invite me to them. In any case, I need to know more girls. , you might as well have a choice."

These words left Winters speechless. He felt that what his uncle said was wrong, but he didn't know how to refute it.

Antonio saw his nephew blushing and teased: "And to be honest, with Mrs. Navarre's family fortune, even if you want to take over this deal, it won't be that easy."

"Lieutenant Colonel!"

The two of them were chatting and walking on horseback, and unknowingly they had reached the city wall.

The rammed-earth city wall built during the Sovereignty War has been damaged by wind and rain for more than 20 years. Grass seeds scattered by the wind have taken root and sprouted on the earthen wall. The walls are covered with lush greenery, like a green tapestry. There is also a sapling growing strongly on it, like an arm sticking out from the wall.

There has been no military disaster in twenty-six years, and the trenches have collapsed due to disrepair. Citizens are now not grateful for the fortifications that once protected them. They only feel that these old buildings make it extremely inconvenient to enter and exit the city.

Guitu City, the capital of the federal province, had already torn down the city walls and filled in the trenches, and Hailan citizens were also ready to take action. Since a new impregnable bastion has been built outside the city, why keep these old fortifications?

Crossing the wooden bridge built over the moat, Antonio and Winters left the city. There are no street lights outside the city, so the rest of the journey will be illuminated by moonlight. The rammed earth pavement reflects more moonlight than the vegetation, stretching into the distance like a silver stream.

Through the hedgerows and mottled tree shadows along the way, one can vaguely see the brightly lit mansions in the distance, guests feasting, and from time to time, the sound of intense music can be heard coming from each mansion.

As the population of Hailan grows, the urban area becomes increasingly crowded. The wealthy businessmen did not want to continue living within the resource-constrained city walls, so they purchased land in the suburbs and built splendid manors one after another.

In the past, merchants would not have had the courage to move outside the city walls.

Citizens in the old days worshiped city walls because only city walls could protect them from external force. New-age citizens despised city walls because they no longer needed this passive protection.

Living in the suburbs, the biggest risk is thugs and thugs. The Alliance Army in the new era can fight against bandits more effectively than the citizen armed forces in the old era. Because although the citizens' armed forces are tenacious when defending the city, their morale will drop sharply once they leave the city, and they usually will not go out to fight.

As for the aristocratic armed forces of the old era? If it wasn't dangerous for just a few greedy farmers to rob the road, the most dangerous ones would be the nobles who owned weapons, armor, and war horses and had received a lifetime of military training.

Bankrupt knights often become the backbone of rogue gangs, and robbing caravans, extorting and even plundering cities have always been important sources of income for unscrupulous nobles.

That's why the citizens of the olden days worshiped the city wall enthusiastically, and they donated a lot of property to their city without hesitation. Because they share weal and woe with the city, for them, the city is the only safe island in this dangerous world.

But today is different from the past. As Antonio said, the standing army is mainly used to deal with internal enemies, and they do it very well. Any large-scale gangs within the alliance will be quickly wiped out by the alliance army, and the remaining villains can be dealt with by a few guards.

The Navarre family also followed this trend and moved out of the city, but Winters didn't know the address and just followed his uncle.

"It's your first day as a trainee at the Gendarmerie. What have you been busy with?" Antonio asked casually.

Winters was just about to talk about today's events, but he remembered Lieutenant Colonel Field's admonition to "keep your mouth shut and obey orders." He chewed the words in his mouth for a long time, and finally choked out: "It's quite busy anyway."

"Then what are you busy with?" Antonio asked persistently.

"Don't ask, I can't tell."

Antonio laughed and hit Winters lightly on the shoulder with his riding crop: "Field taught you well. A tight tongue is an advantage. You should see more, listen more, do more, but speak less. Say less, others I don’t know what cards you have.”

Winters blushed and nodded.

"But even if you don't tell me, I still know what cards you have." Antonio's smiling eyes were like a pair of crescent moons: "When the throne voted whether to hand this shit basin to Field, I voted for your sake. The only “no” vote.”

"What?" Winters was so surprised that he tightened the reins involuntarily, and Qiang Yun snorted and stopped: "Were you present when you decided to hand over this matter to the military police?"

"Of course I'm there." Antonio waved: "Don't just stand there, talk as you go."

Winters gently pinched the horse's belly, and patted the horse forward to catch up with his uncle: "Does the throne know that even if I are included, there are only two officers in the military police department now?"

"Of course I know." Antonio nodded.

"Then why should we hand this case over to the Military Police? There are only two officers in total, and there are 80 guards left to stand guard. How can we investigate it with just the two of us?"

"It's quite simple. If Field wants to close the case, he can write a report today and the case will be over tomorrow." Major General Antonio gave an answer easily.

Can the case be closed at any time if you want to? Winters' mind was as fast as lightning, and he instantly understood the deeper meaning of this sentence. He asked his uncle word for word: "Do you mean to say that the throne has already prepared a prisoner for this case?"

"Yes, you can teach me." Antonio praised Winters with a smile on his face. Winters could tell from his tone that he didn't take this case as a big deal: "Isn't it just an assassination? How many times a year does Hailan not go out? If the assassin can't be caught on the spot, how can he find the person? It will definitely become an unsolved case. The person who took this case from the customs didn't care about the truth at all, as long as the last one Just give the blame to the people he wants to give it to."

"You mean this case was taken over by the Army from the Customs?" Winters couldn't believe his ears.

"Otherwise? If the army doesn't want it, can the customs force it over?"

Winters now realized that he had been completely wrong. He had originally thought that Customs and the Army had reached a secret agreement. The customs discovered that the deceased might be a soldier and did not want to get involved in the Army's troubled waters, so they secretly communicated with the Army and handed the case over to the Army for its own investigation.

But according to Antonio, the Army did not know the identity of the deceased at all. It was just someone who wanted to use the case as an excuse and took the initiative to ask for the case.

One dares to ask, the other dares to give. Both parties think that a tacit understanding with each other is enough to make eye contact, but in fact, they are thinking about two different things.

And currently, neither party has as much intelligence as Winters currently has. In Winters' view, both Customs and the Army underestimated the severity of the assassination.

"Who exactly does the throne want to put the blame on?" Winters asked another point of doubt.

Antonio calmly said an answer that Winters didn't expect: "Pirates."

"How could an assassin be a pirate? I have fought against pirates and those assassins. There are no pirates as powerful as those assassins."

"Can the pirate come out and prove that he is not an assassin?" Antonio asked with a half-smile.

"Falled to the pirates..." Lightning flashed in Winters' mind. He thought hard, trying to connect the fragmented information together and grasp the key points from the fog.

Antonio saw him thinking hard and kept silent, so the two of them walked quietly for a while.

Winters suddenly sighed and asked softly: "Is there going to be a war?"

Thanks to book friend 20181013204343295 for the recommendation vote, and thanks to book friend 20170726153222839 for the recommendation vote.

[The stallion has a bad temper and has a desire to attack by nature, but it is easily attracted to the female horse in the X stage. There are many examples in history of using the female horse to win the male horse. The female horse is docile and quiet, and can also be used as a war horse. But sending a mare to war means one less foal for the coming year. So the final solution was to use gelded stallions as war horses, which the Teutonic knights called monk horses [Mnchpferde]. Moreover, another advantage of using geldings is that even if they are captured by the enemy, the enemies cannot use the geldings to improve the bloodlines of their own horses.

Horses also have a lot of emotions, just like cats and dogs. If you say harsh words to it, it will also have a bad temper. And horses can read people’s expressions and look at their eyes]