Chapter 225: Although smuggling and loan sharking manipulate the black market, but a good girl
"So you guys didn't go to winter training camp just because you drank too much and forgot the time?"

Sitting cross-legged on the woolen cushions in the country villa, Meliati looked coldly at the knights standing in a row.

In this early winter weather, there are signs of snow in the mountainous counties where the temperature is even lower.

In this cold weather, the knights under Meliati were shirtless, revealing their fat and muscular bodies, and huddled together like a group of quails.

The knights with red faces and thick necks looked at each other, you kicked me, I elbowed you, and kept making small movements with my hands, and finally pushed one person out.

"We were wrong, we are guilty." The square-headed knight didn't dare to look directly at the tall, iron-masked woman in front of him.

"What's wrong?" Meliati asked in a deep voice.

"The problem is that potato root wine is so delicious and cheap."

"Who do you think researched this thing?"

"It is soft and mellow in the mouth, and with a few drops of fruit wine and honey, the Holy Father would dance after drinking it..."

The drunken knights began to discuss the matter.

"boom!"

Meliati's iron gloves slammed heavily on the table, leaving a dent in it.

"Oh, my table--" The yelling knight swallowed his complaint when he saw the red light under the eye sockets of Meliati's iron mask.

"Did I come here to ask you to hold a wine tasting exchange meeting?" Meliati stood up and lowered her head to look at the square-headed knight Steve. "I taught you how to eat potato roots, so that you can use them to make wine?"

These knights are mountain knights that are unique to the Thousand River Valley. Since there are no horse farms in the mountainous area west of the Thousand River Valley, even though they are knights, they still have to fight on foot.

Mountain knights are very different from normal knights. Their farms are not big, and often only one knight can lead six or seven farmers.

During the busy farming season, the knights even had to work in the fields themselves. Sometimes, the knights would even marry the peasant girls in their own territory.

Rather than saying they were knights, it would be more accurate to say that six or seven households supported one household of soldiers.

Due to the lack of arable land in the mountains, Meliati called for an authentic big fat pig campaign when he first took office as Duke.

This sport required the knights to raise pigs and drive them into the woods to eat acorns.

After all, it's a mountainous area, with not much else but lots of forests. People can't defecate if they eat the acorns in the forest, but pigs will be fine if they eat them.

So when Meliadi inherited the title of Duke of Hermash, they were also called Boar Knights.

However, after Meliati led them over the mountains and carried out a large-scale horse-riding robbery in Codburg, no one used that insulting name anymore.

After all, no one had expected that Meliati had created an all-supernatural army. The infantry of the entire Dukedom of Hemashi had at least two and at most four stages of breathing techniques, and each person was a longbowman.

Meliati has as many as 5,000 such mountain infantry.

The Thousand Valley Mountain Infantry were able to do this because the Grand Duchess provided them with an annual pension of 10 gold pounds and one month of free winter training in breathing techniques.

As for where the annual pension of 50000 gold pounds came from, the first was the Fowles family's industries in the Kingdom of France, the second was the rich mines in the Thousand Valleys Mountains, and the third was the money obtained from smuggling, black market trade, slave trade, church robbery, and usury.

Of course, although Meliati was engaged in smuggling, manipulating the black market, trading slaves, robbing churches, and lending money at high interest rates, she was still a good girl.

"Alright, all of you, go to the winter training camp. You are not allowed to drink a drop of alcohol during the training camp. If you drink, you will not only have to do hard labor for ten days, but also be flogged."

The punishment for the late knights was announced, and the knights did not object much, but just left the knight hall of the farm obediently. "It's the drinking problem again." Fili emerged from the darkness.

"Yeah." Meliati rubbed her neck with a headache.

The mountain knights under her command were definitely excellent soldiers, but problems such as rudeness and alcoholism acquired during their childhood training camp remained to this day.

Most of the mountain knights were squeezed out from the plains by the imperial nobles. Many of them even served as wandering knights or even bandit knights for a period of time.

According to the old duke's methods, the first generation of Thousand Valley Knights would not be deployed or sent to the battlefield.

From the second generation onwards, all boys from knight families were sent to Lengquan City to receive three years of rigorous sword-wielding military education.

It will only be put into use from this generation onwards and gradually take its place in the Duke's administrative system.

"What do you want to see me about?"

"The mountain knights over at North County have agreed that they can gather 300 extraordinary knights, of which it is estimated that there are more than 200 with the strength of squires and more than 50 with the strength of square flags."

"Are you here to unite or pledge allegiance? Have you made it clear?"

"The knights of North are willing to pledge allegiance to you. In addition, many knights from the Kush family in Lower River County are also ready to pledge allegiance to you."

"Oh?" Meliati sat up straight. "Aren't they going to nominate someone from the Kush family as their leader?"

Fili, the chief of intelligence, laughed contemptuously: "The one from Joan of Arc has ruined her reputation. That Constance is running around with Joan of Arc's little catamite. Everyone is saying that it's no wonder she's still unmarried at her age..."

"That pedophile, have you confirmed his identity? Is he really the uncle of the Savior leader?"

"No, he should be a scapegoat that the church dragged from somewhere. According to the news from High Castle, Horn's uncle ran away before he left the Black Bone Swamp."

Fili looked up at Meliati who was sitting upright. Although he couldn't see her face, he could still feel that the Duchess seemed a little absent-minded.

"My Lord, are you very concerned about the Savior Army?"

"Yes." Meliati nodded without hesitation. "Pasrick sent a message that the leader of the Savior Army is a witch, but he is a man. This is very rare."

As an orphan adopted by the old duke, Fili knew Meliati's identity: "You want to bring him here..."

"A monster that can stably inherit the characteristics of a witch. Who wouldn't be tempted by such a treasure?"

Fili immediately felt a bit of pity and sympathy for this leader of the peasant uprising whom he had never met before. If he fell into the hands of this cruel and merciless duchess, he would probably have to be locked up in the palace for breeding for the rest of his life.

"That's not good. He is the hero of Qianhe Valley." As a fellow Qianhe Valley native, Fili spoke up for him.

"Giving a prince a title, no one can find fault with it, what else is there?"

Anyway, he had done his best. Fili quickly replied: "The dwarves of the Dragon Worship Cult have arrived at White Fir Castle. They have handed over a letter and look forward to visiting you."

"It came pretty quickly."

Nonsense, you used usury to force a bunch of dwarves from the Wyrmrest Mountains to work as hard laborers in Coldspring Castle, wouldn't the elders be eager to come here?

Of course, Fili didn't dare to say this to their face: "You proposed to allow them to hold public sacrifices and build cities in the five mountain counties, so of course they can't wait."

"Tell them I will meet with them in three days and will notify them in advance."

(End of this chapter)