Throne of the North

When Ryan returned to the Frozen Territory with food and war horses, Rosen had returned two days earlier, and he also brought back the words of Viscount Dragun.

"Deal."

These two words meant that the Viscount agreed to the war horses and food Ryan wanted in the letter.

"Yes, this war horse will belong to you from now on."

Ryan patted Rosen's shoulder with satisfaction. Rosen represented Baron Ryan to meet a Viscount alone, representing Ryan's face and the Frozen Territory. If he performed too poorly, the Viscount would never fully meet his requirements, but bargained like Miles.

Rosen looked proud. It seemed that Ryan's pat on the shoulder was also a very high reward?

With food, Ryan's hanging heart was at ease, and the Frozen Territory could finally accelerate the drastic development and transformation.

"When we build the road next year, we can transport the swamp soil from the swamp to the fields to increase the vitality of the cultivated land. The mountains and forests in the south can also develop orchards. Since trees can survive in the cold wind, fruit trees should be able to survive."

Standing in the future North Garr Castle, Ryan held a hot water bottle made of birch bark in his hand, looking at his territory with satisfaction, watching Brand at the foot of the mountain training hundreds of soldiers.

He was teaching them the basic skills of combat skills learned from the blessing of the deer spirit, which would be very helpful for those soldiers to break through the bronze knight in the future.

Even if it doesn't work, the agile steps can also increase the combat effectiveness of the soldiers on the battlefield.

In the distant mountains, more than a thousand slaves are working hard to cultivate the fields. After Ryan came back, he announced that the number of slaves who could become civilians would be increased, and the initial ten places would have eighteen months of tax exemption.

As for tax exemption, Ryan didn't care. As the new baron of the North Wind Province, his territory would not have to pay taxes to the empire for ten years.

Of course, this is the territory that belongs to the lord alone, and it does not need to pay taxes. The ones who pay taxes are the civilians and some messy people in the territory.

It's just that the free people pay taxes to the lord, and then the lord pays it to the empire.

But this is also considered a tax on the territory, because the tax exemption policy of the empire does not fall on the civilians. They always have to pay taxes, but the lord directly keeps it for himself during the tax exemption period and does not give it to the empire.

So, whether Ryan wants this little profit depends on his mood. When there are more people in the territory in the future, taxation will be meaningful.

Lords and small nobles really need to give out, in fact, offerings.

The five ranks of dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons, the noble lords below need to offer tributes to the royal family and the great nobles, which can also be regarded as a kind of inheritance of the empire.

Like Ryan, as the lord of the frozen land, a baron, he comes from the Clayton family, and the Clayton family is a count family. He needs to give a portion of money to the Clayton family every year. On the one hand, it is to deepen the relationship between the two sides. Although they have separated, they are still a family and stand on one side in the political disputes of the empire.

You can argue when there is something, and you can pretend when there is nothing.

There is no fixed amount of this offering, which depends on the wealth of the territory.

Some lords can only take out a few hundred gold coins, while some lords can squander tens of thousands of gold coins.

Ryan felt that the Clayton family must not have thought of taking his money, so he did not give it.

What the frozen land was like in the past, Ryan, as the lord, was probably the last to know the situation.

"I also asked Irina to inquire about the news of Earl Clayton, but I am afraid I can only wait until the beginning of spring every year."

The peace of the frozen land became more peaceful after having food.

But after half a month, the atmosphere in the North Wind Province became more and more serious.

Many lords have already known the news that the orcs will go south this year, and the one who leads the invasion of North Wind Province is the notorious Black Goat Man.

North Wind Giant City.

As the only giant city in North Wind Province, there are more than 400,000 civilians living here, and there are thousands of acres of fertile fields outside the city, which can be called the most fertile land in North Wind Province.

The governor of North Wind Province is the family of Earl Winter. This earl was the only earl who won the political struggle and stayed in North Wind Province after following Grand Duke Meyers to occupy North Wind Province. Every year, the tax revenue of North Wind City alone makes the Winter family earn a lot of gold coins.

Not to mention, the Winter family also occupies the largest iron and copper mines in North Wind Province. They even built the Winter family's manor and indestructible fortress deep in the mine.

At this moment, in the Governor's Hall of North Wind City, Earl Winter, who still looked middle-aged, looked at the nobles who sat down one after another and said:

"Okay, be quiet."

Everyone soon quieted down, and the earl spoke again.

"The nobles of the province, have you all arrived here?"

The nobles in the hall looked at each other. The circle of nobles was not large. There were only so many nobles in a province, and everyone knew each other.

They didn't seem to notice that anyone hadn't arrived.

At this time, Viscount Miles stood up with the help of Christian.

He was not only a viscount, but also the governor of Lingdu County, one of the most powerful nobles in North Wind Province.

"Reply to the Governor, the frozen baron Ryan Clayton of Lingdu County has not arrived yet, and maybe he won't come."

When hearing the surname Clayton, many nobles looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes, while some powerful nobles looked at Earl Winter and Viscount Miles, wondering what they were thinking.

"The orcs will starve to death if they go to rob the broken place of the frozen land. What's the point of the frozen land baron coming or not?"

The person who spoke was also sitting in the direction of Lingdu County. He was also a middle-aged man. He was another viscount of Lingdu County, Viscount Dragon.

"Arakel, this military meeting is a military meeting of all nobles in the North Wind Province. No one can stay out of it. The orcs are heading south. As nobles, we should bravely move forward instead of hiding behind others. Otherwise, what is the right of being a noble noble?"

Viscount Miles is old but has a loud voice. His words, which have been passed down for hundreds of years, have indeed been recognized by many people.

Some people do not participate in the military meeting of the entire province. Do they want to be isolated?

"Hide behind? Everyone present, none of your territories are closer to the orcs than the frozen land, right?"

Dragon was not afraid of Viscount Miles at all, and he also had supporters around him.

As the two viscounts continued to fight, this military meeting, which was supposed to discuss how to resist the orcs, soon divided into two factions.

If someone knows history, it is obvious that these two factions are the nobles who once defected to the empire in the North Wind Province, and the nobles who moved north from the south of the empire to take root.

"Okay!"

Finally, seeing that there was no result, Earl Winter looked at Viscount Miles with dissatisfaction, and then his eyes fell on the other two.

There are three earls in the North Wind Province. These two were once earls in this land. It is impossible for Meyers to kill all the nobles in this land. Everyone is more or less related by marriage.