Realm of Power

581 Season of the Witch (2)

Central Salander city, Kuronzeburg

March in Coulonzeburg is the most beautiful season of the year. Crimson trees full of red flowers line the streets. The streets that should have been filled with flower-viewing crowds now seem particularly cold.

The cold benches on the roadside are lonely. There are no shadows of the aristocratic girls who have been watching the flowers and smiling sweetly on them. There are also no shouts of the young people who like to go out to the city to hunt in groups during this season.

This place has become a military camp. All the men, young and old, are holding weapons of varying quality and wearing simple mail armor.

The Salander soldiers patrolling the streets are the only people who can move freely in the city. They range in age, from middle-aged men with serious expressions to young people full of energy and ambition.

Although the kingdom issued several orders prohibiting migration to the north, they obviously had no effect. The Kyoto area, with a population of hundreds of thousands, had become deserted and lonely due to war and food shortages, as if it was on the verge of death. The wind swept across the empty streets, and the smell of dampness seemed to become stronger.

Duke Besa gently opened the curtain of the carriage and looked out the window with complicated eyes. The situation in Kuronze Castle was far more severe than previously expected. The houses outside the tall city wall had been demolished and the trees had been cut down. Lose. Many workers are digging deep into the mud of the moat, and many people are piling logs and boulders on the city wall.

There are overseers with whips everywhere, beating workers who do not perform satisfactorily. Many overseers are wearing the costumes of the Mamunuk knights of the kingdom.

Looking at the workers who were screaming and rolling under the whip, Duke Besa's eyes flashed with anger.

In the Kyoto area where there is a shortage of soldiers, places with such a large number of workers are often where the southern refugees are most concentrated. These poor people who have nothing can only use this kind of work in exchange for a few slices of bread. Extremely difficult jobs, such as repairing warships for the Navy in the freezing cold. I heard that some workers who were paid to soak in the box had white maggots growing on their waists due to being soaked in the cold and dirty water for a long time.

The tree trunks beside the city wall withered in the autumn wind, and the streets were covered with scattered leaves. No one had cleaned them for an unknown period of time. The wind swept across the street, carrying dead branches and leaves flying all over the sky, as if they were intertwined into fragmented patterns in mid-air.

Some people say that this is a bad sign≡ Ever since the Norman army marched with overwhelming momentum from the southern coast to the long wall of Kyoto, this city that could become a battlefield at any time has lost its former tranquility and prosperity. The large influx of refugees from the south caused the originally densely populated Kyoto area to suddenly become overcrowded. Burn Lake, the back garden of Kyoto, directly became the gate for Kyoto's flood discharge.

A large number of residents and businessmen began to move to the northern region, praying to escape the harassment of the war.

Duke Besa stared out the window. What he saw in front of him made him, one of the three southern dukes and a former important minister of the kingdom, now a commoner who had been deprived of everything. His heart was torn.

He wanted to ask what was going on? At this time, why would Kyoto use such a harsh policy to treat its compatriots? The new southern decree that was just promulgated was like a huge shock wave, chilling almost all the southern nobles who had left their hometowns.

This also includes the Duke of Besa, who has been the finance minister of the kingdom for fifteen years.

Because he fiercely opposed this decree and secretly collaborated with the southern nobles to resist collectively, he was ordered to be dismissed from his post on the spot. If it were not for the secret help of some old ministers and the fact that His Majesty the King remembered him for serving for many years, Duke Bessa would also have been dismissed. Like his companions who were convicted in the same name, he may have become a victim of the royal family's prestige.

The bloody guillotine is still flowing with the blood of hundreds of southern nobles. They were once the most wealthy and powerful people in the kingdom, but now their corpses are not even restrained.

The families of these southern nobles are still imprisoned in the heavily fortified Borodi Prison, which is a place where the entire Salander capital trembles. No one has ever been able to come out. Even if they die, no one will know. Because it is a "private prison" directly under the royal family

People had to bow their heads under the eaves, losing their territory and army. The southern nobles who had dominated the direction of Salander for hundreds of years had no choice but to compromise in the face of the strong force of Kyoto. Some southern nobles chose to go north. I heard that there Although it is not as prosperous as Kyoto, it is at least very stable, and I have never heard of any discrimination against the southern nobles.

Some people also choose to end their lives in a Mamunuk-style way. Most of them are Mamunuk knights who have been deprived of their identities. They choose to spend every last penny they have and then wear their beloved wearing white iron armor and riding his ornately decorated war horse to attack the Norman camp outside the city.

Just like they once walked through the streets with extremely gorgeous horse steps amidst the roaring cheers of aristocratic girls, and just like they once rode like a horse, in the retaining gaze of the beautiful lady, swinging the red clothes behind them gracefully. The cloak, like a legendary hero, disappeared over the territory line under the golden sunset,

When the glory and wealth are far away, for these knights who are still in the beautiful scenery of the past, only death can end the pain in their hearts and allow them to keep the best memories in the hearts of their former lovers.

The south has been the center of gravity of the kingdom for hundreds of years because of its developed economy, dense population, and developed aviation. This has always made the Salander royal family based in the center feel uncomfortable. There have been many incidents in history where the southern nobles despised Kyoto. occur,

While formulating the northern plan this time, Kyoto will naturally not let go of this golden opportunity. If the new lords' decree is followed, these southern nobles who have been deprived of their status as Mamunuk knights will have trouble even if they recapture the south in the future. Most people are not eligible to inherit the previous land, which undoubtedly gives Kyoto a big advantage

Duke Besa's carriage was blocked at the city gate, and many refugees were queuing up to leave the city, all with their families and children. There are also many people who are carrying too much luggage, including cups and pans, mosquito nets, and everything else. Some even bring furniture.

These people were ordinary civilians who had fled from the south. They could not bear the ravages of the war, so they fled frantically to the north, which had not yet been affected by the war. Out of human survival instinct, they all naturally flocked to the capital of the kingdom. While a large number of refugees were preparing to pour in, there were also many residents of Kyoto who were preparing to leave the city in large and small bags.

I don't know where to go to escape the flames of war. There was a fierce collision near the city gate. There were noisy sounds, children's cries, women's cries, a mess, and thieves without any moral conscience, crowded in the crowd. The lieutenant general stole the last bit of silver or gold coins from the refugees, which immediately triggered more miserable cries, which was heartbreaking.

Turning his face slightly, Duke Besa couldn't bear to witness such a tragic scene of ruined country and family. The soldiers guarding the city were obviously used to what they saw.

They turned a blind eye to the crying, scolding and stealing, and performed their tasks like robots. They all drove away the refugees who entered the city, and did not hesitate to push them out dozens of meters outside the city gate.

But the refugees were still too crowded to leave, so they set up buckets and poured cold water on the crowded refugees.

The cold water fell on the refugees, immediately making them wet. When the wind blew them, they immediately felt the biting cold, so some people couldn't bear it and had to retreat.

But the vast majority of people still crowded there tenaciously. At a certain moment, these soldiers guarding the city gate could raise their noble hands and let them out of the city. However, how did they know that Kyoto had already issued an order that no refugees were allowed to be let out? north.

The soldiers at the city gate also made things difficult for residents leaving the city. They repeatedly searched their luggage and belongings, and some even searched their bodies. It felt like they were not allowed in or out.

But later, most of the residents were allowed to leave the city. Before being allowed to leave, the residents had to leave small valuable items, such as gold and silver jewelry, etc., which must be turned over to the state. Otherwise, you are not allowed to leave the city. Most residents would rather hand over their gold and silver jewelry and flee out of the city, but a few people refused to accept such conditions and retreated.

This is the secret acquiescence of the lords of the Kuronze Fort area. Not everyone can be as cruel as Kyoto. As long as Kuronze Fort is close to the north, it still understands some forms of the north. As long as you leave Kuronze Fort door, these refugees may find a way to survive.

At least, in the north, refugees can be properly resettled in the Vic territory, instead of being like Kyoto, where more than 70,000 refugees froze to death in just one winter, most of them were frail old people and children.

For this situation, Kyoto, which is short of supplies, has long been numb. The carriages transporting the corpses are driven out of the city by those dirty southerners. Most people in Kyoto are not willing to do such a thing, and they will stand far away. , looking at these numb-faced southerners with a look like a god of plague, loading the frozen corpses into the car.

Occasionally, you can also see some southerners loading cars, lying on one or more corpses in pain, because they saw their parents, children, and lovers. At this time, the equally hungry Kyoto woman with a sallow face and thin muscles would The kid who was standing on the street giggling fiercely pulled him back, spit on the ground, and angrily cursed "Damn Southerners"

This situation is common in Kyoto. Because there are too many people from the south, the supplies that Kyoto can distribute suddenly become extremely tight. In the eyes of Kyoto people, these southerners are almost like bandits who steal their food, because these southerners The existence of cheap workers, their men, the fathers of their children, have been out of work for several months, and it is already difficult to feed the family.

But this is not the most terrifying thing. The shadow of death brought by the plague is hanging over the central area of ​​Salander. ..

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