"I never imagined you'd solve my big problem so easily." Na Melilia Fudeli received Linde, who had just returned from the battlefield, in her tower house, her tone filled with disbelief.
Linde said in a deep voice, "It was just good luck; they never expected a force like mine. They thought Tengshi Town was all they had to deal with."
"What will you do next?" Nameria asked again.
"Build a stronghold, and first rebuild the dock. Transporting supplies by road is too troublesome. There are too many mountains, valleys, and hills here, making it difficult for wagons to travel. Also, the old roads have been abandoned for too long, many places are damaged, and without repairs, they are not suitable for wagons at all." Linde briefly explained his thoughts, then asked, "You don't mind if I dismantle some ruins and use the stone, do you?"
"I don't mind. If this place wasn't so sparsely populated, not needing many houses, those ruins would have been dismantled long ago," Nameria said, pointing to the current tower house. "This was built with stone from the old council hall. It's very good, it has stood for over a hundred years."
"Thank you, Lord Linde," Linde said.
"No, it should be me saying thank you." Nameria bowed to Linde, then said, "I imagine Lord Linde, you still have many things to do, so I won't waste your time. I hope you can tell me about the battle when you have time."
"Countess, are you eager for battle?" Linde did not leave immediately, but asked with interest.
Nameria turned to look at a double-bladed Greatsword hanging on the wall nearby and admitted directly, "Yes, I am very eager for battle, but unfortunately, my status dictates that I cannot fight freely."
Linde looked at the double-bladed Greatsword. It was clear that the weapon was made from substantial materials, and the steel chosen was not much inferior to Garlan's two knight's swords. From the weapon's condition, it was not hard to see that it was regularly maintained, with the most recent maintenance being within the last two days.
"May I?" Linde asked, pointing to the double-bladed Greatsword.
"Of course." Nameria nodded.
Linde walked over, took down the double-bladed Greatsword, and swung it a few times casually.
Although Linde swung it easily, in terms of weight, this double-bladed Greatsword was much heavier than his knight's Greatsword, almost matching the combined weight of two knight's Greatswords.
"I can tell you don't know how to use an axe." Nameria watched Linde swing the axe easily but with very clumsy movements, so she smiled and stood up, took the Greatsword from Linde's hand, and then, as if demonstrating, began to wield it inside the tower house.
It must be said that Nameria's double-bladed axe technique was extremely skillful, perfectly tailored to her physique and strength, making it very suitable for battle formations, especially in situations involving multiple enemies. Her axe could easily sweep through and wound a large area, but because the movements were too large, it was not conducive to individual duels.
"Who taught you to fight?" Linde asked curiously as Nameria stopped.
Nameria calmed her somewhat erratic breathing, placed the Greatsword back on its rack, and said, "An arena champion from Meereen. Someone paid a high price to teach me how to fight." Saying this, she seemed unwilling to continue the topic and turned to Linde, saying, "I watched your fight with Red Viper last night. You defeated him very easily."
"Do you think Red Viper is weak?" Linde retorted.
"No, if Red Viper is considered weak, then what am I, who is like a child in front of him?" Nameria shook her head and said, "I hope you can train me, teach me how to fight?"
"Your combat skills are already very mature and perfectly suited for you. You don't need anyone else to teach you. The only thing you lack is actual combat," Linde shook his head, and as Nameria showed disappointment, he changed the subject and added, "If you don't mind, I can be your sparring partner."
Nameria smiled and said, "Thank you, Lord Linde! In that case, I won't delay you from your duties, Lord Linde."
Linde did not stay there any longer, turning to leave the tower house. As he passed through the village, the villagers looked at him curiously, apparently the news of his bandit extermination had already spread in Tengshi Town.
Linde also observed the people of Tengshi Town. He found that the people of Tengshi Town were all strong and robust, more like soldiers than farmers. Judging by the way some of them walked, they should have received some military training. These people were undoubtedly suitable recruits, the only drawback being that they had masters.
Returning to the ruins, Linde ordered Jon to write down everything that had happened in the past few days, specifically including Duke Tywin's schemes, the remnants of House Tyrell hidden in the valley, and the attitude of Countess Na Melilia Fudeli.
After writing, he stamped it, sealed it with wax, and handed it to Jon, telling him to take a few men and immediately deliver this report letter to Duke Tyrell.
To avoid any accidents, Linde did not have Jon travel by land. Instead, he bought a small fishing boat from the fishermen of Tengshi Town and had him travel downstream on the Mander River. Upon reaching Bitterbridge, he was to switch to horses.
After Jon left, the Official duties were handed over to Bulin. Although Bulin might not be very outstanding in combat, he did very well as an Official, and he also offered many useful suggestions regarding the construction of the stronghold.
Because there were ready-made stone materials and foundations, the camp houses were built very quickly. A prototype camp was set up in just two days, though facilities like barracks and stables still needed some time to be completed.
However, some problems arose in the construction of the dock.
Although the Mander River is a gentle river, even from the mountainous and hilly sections of the upper reaches to the plains of the middle reaches, the river flow is very gentle, almost imperceptible in terms of elevation difference.
However, no matter how gentle a river appears, the riverbed underwater still has varying depths. Therefore, it is very difficult to travel upstream by boat to Tengshi Town.
In the past, a unique method of long-oar boats combined with trackers was used to allow cargo ships from downstream to reach Tengshi Town smoothly. But after Tengshi Town became a ruin, long-oar boats and trackers disappeared from the Mander River. Therefore, supplies from Bitterbridge could not possibly be transported to Tengshi Town via the Mander River as Linde hoped; they could only travel by land. So, some people also felt there was no need to waste time and effort rebuilding the dock.
Bulin and Raul both held this view. They believed Linde should focus more on bandit suppression and army training, seeing the rebuilding of the dock as a waste of valuable manpower with no substantial effect on bandit suppression.
But Bulin, as a half-outsider, believed that rebuilding the dock would be of great help to Linde's cause.
Because once the dock is repaired and the abandoned road connecting Tengshi Town to the Rose Road is cleared, a more convenient one-way trade route can be formed.
Although the taxes generated by this trade route do not belong to Linde, he has tax exemption rights, so he can use this trade route for freight business and earn military funds.
In Bulin's view, the current sum of over twenty thousand gold dragons that Linde possessed seemed like a lot, but if there was no continuous income, it would be impossible to sustain an army for long. Whether it was salaries, post-war bonuses, etc., all represented a considerable burden for Linde. Therefore, Linde's most urgent task now was to ensure his coffers remained full.
Although Bulin made a lot of sense, he actually didn't understand Linde's true situation. He didn't know that this army of two hundred men didn't require Linde to pay their salaries, and even the daily consumption of provisions and other supplies didn't require Linde to pay.
However, Bulin was right about one thing: Linde indeed needed to fill his coffers, because he would inevitably need to expand his forces, and half of the military expenses for the expanded forces would need to come from his own pocket. A portion of the funds for provisions would also need to be self-funded, plus rewards and other miscellaneous expenses, all accumulating into a very large expenditure.
More importantly, he didn't want to simply recruit farmers like other lords' armies, then have the farmers prepare their own weapons for battle and disband them to go home after the war.
He wanted to train a group of professional soldiers who would be completely loyal to him, so that even after this bandit suppression mission was completed, he could still control this army. Only by holding sufficient military power would he have enough say, so he was responsible for weapons, equipment, and so on. Faced with such a large expenditure, twenty thousand gold dragons were indeed a bit stretched.
Despite some issues, the plan to rebuild the dock remained unchanged. Linde still believed the dock should be rebuilt, but he didn't intend to rely solely on himself for the reconstruction.
"You want to repair and rebuild that abandoned dock?" Nameria was stunned after hearing Linde's proposal, and asked in confusion, "No merchant ships have come and gone for over a hundred years. What's the point of rebuilding it now?"
"There are no merchant ships now, but that doesn't mean there won't be in the future." Linde earnestly explained that after rebuilding the dock, he would clear the abandoned road connecting to the Rose Road and also clear out the bandits, mountain dwellers, and Savage Tribes entrenched along both sides of that road. This way, a portion of the southbound merchant caravans could be diverted from the Rose Road.
After Linde finished explaining, he said, "This will also benefit you. The taxes brought by the caravans will be a considerable income. You can also build warehouses, trade centers, and so on here. I believe it won't be long before Tengshi Town can restore its former prosperity."
After listening to Linde's narration, Nameria looked at Linde with a strange expression and asked, out of the blue, "Lord Linde, you are a knight of House Tyrell, aren't you?"
"Yes." Linde nodded.
Nameria smiled and said, "But I feel like you are a knight of my Fudeli Family?"
"Duke Tyrell has granted me a certain period of tax exemption. If this trade route in Tengshi Town is opened, I can use the tax exemption to gain considerable profit from it," Linde explained with a smile. "I have always believed in win-win situations. Being able to help companions while also profiting oneself is a very gratifying thing."
"In that case, I agree to your rebuilding of the dock at the ruins." Nameria did not try to manipulate Linde's idea and straightforwardly agreed to his request. However, she saw that Linde did not respond, so she asked, "Are there any other issues?"
"There are two issues," Linde said truthfully. "One issue is that I currently don't have enough manpower. Because of the need to suppress bandits, my men need to train and carry out various missions every day, so there's no way to spare enough people to rebuild the dock…"
Hearing Linde's words, Nameria couldn't help but laugh, saying, "So you talked for half an hour, and in the end, you still want me to rebuild the dock."
Linde replied, "I can pay wages to those who participate in rebuilding the dock."
"No need. Since the dock is mine, it's only natural that I provide the people and the money," Nameria shook her head, refusing Linde's offer, then asked, "What's the second issue?"
Linde continued, "The second problem is the issue of boats. Ordinary boats can only go downstream. To go upstream from the middle reaches back to Tengshi Town, we need those special long-oar boats like in the past…"
Before Linde could finish, Nameria interrupted him again, saying, "You don't have to worry about this. Some elders among my people still know how to build this kind of long-oar boat. I heard that as long as this kind of long-oar boat doesn't carry too much cargo, it can even return to Tengshi Town against the current just by rowing."
"In that case, then this matter is settled," Linde promised. "I will also clear that abandoned road as soon as possible."
"Wait, Lord Linde." Just as Linde was about to leave, Nameria called out to him, saying, "Lord Linde, although your matters are finished, I still have something to say."
Linde's expression froze for a moment, then quickly returned to normal, and he said, "Please speak."
Nameria said, "I hope to cooperate with you in suppressing bandits."
"Aren't we already cooperating?" Linde asked, puzzled.
"I mean military cooperation," Nameria said with a serious expression. "The House Tyrell army you lead will eventually leave here and return to Highgarden. If I need to keep the trade route open in the future, I will inevitably need to regularly clear out the bandits who gather. So, I need to prepare in advance." She paused, then said in a deep voice, "I want to personally lead troops to participate in every bandit suppression operation you undertake from now on."
It must be said that Nameria's proposal indeed tempted Linde. After all, two days ago, he was already thinking about how to recruit farmers from Tengshi Town. Now, Nameria was proactively offering, and without requiring extra pay, which seemed like a good thing no matter how you looked at it.
However, he did not agree immediately, but thought for a moment and said, "Although I don't know how many people you have in Tengshi Town, I roughly estimate it's no more than two thousand. More than half of these two thousand are old, weak, sick, or disabled. Among the remaining few hundred, probably fewer than two hundred can immediately pick up weapons and fight. Moreover, these two hundred people are arguably the most important laborers in Tengshi Town; they are needed for land reclamation and planting. If there are heavy casualties, it might affect the stability of Tengshi Town. I don't want Tengshi Town, as the rear, to have any problems while we are fighting at the front."
Nameria smiled and said, "Lord Linde, you've got one thing wrong. Although I currently only control Tengshi Town, my territory includes thirty-seven villages under my jurisdiction, with a total population of over seventy thousand people, from which I can mobilize ten thousand able-bodied fighting men."
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