Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

The most urgent task was to prepare some living supplies. Nanya was unwilling to settle the refugees, which was just what I wanted, but if she was unwilling to even give out some food, she would be too stingy. So the next morning, I went to the construction site with those furniture drawings. After dealing with the shrill-voiced wood elf for nearly an hour, the steward of Falkreath finally came into my sight.

"Good day, Nanya Manager. I don't know where Eddie is now. I want to talk to him about the wedding banquet."

The High Elf returned the salute gracefully.

"Good day, Baron Locke. The last time I saw Mr. Eddie was ten days ago. He told me that he was going to Whiterun Territory to buy food for your wedding banquet."

"Why would we have to go to Whiterun when there's nothing to gain in Falkreath?"

"It seems to be mutton. We need a lot of it. We don't have pasture here, and there are too few people raising sheep."

"That's true. I think the only suitable place is Granite Village. What a pity, no one lives there now."

Nanya smiled faintly.

"Your Excellency has taken a fancy to that place? I can help you make it your fiefdom, but you must agree to two conditions first."

"Master, please feel free to speak."

"First, you hold the baronial titles of both Falkreath and Whiterun, and Granite Village happens to be at the border of the two territories, but this place is under the jurisdiction of Falkreath. I hope you can guarantee with your noble honor that you will not give it to Whiterun, nor allow Whiterun to station troops here."

"It's natural."

I understand Nanya's concerns. Granite Village is of great strategic value. It is not only the wing protection of Sunny Garden Fortress, but also the only way from the west of Falkreath to the Whiterun Plains. However, such an important stronghold was allowed to be abandoned, which shows the level of governance of Sidgeir and Baron Sengard.

"Secondly, I hope that the wood and bricks for rebuilding Granite Village can be purchased from within the territory, so that you don't have to go through the trouble of building a brick kiln."

This made me laugh out of anger.

"I came up with this method of making bricks. It's not appropriate for you to use my method to make money from me, right?"

Nanya looked calm.

"Your Excellency, you need to build a kiln to make bricks. I see that before, they used to dig holes. The rocks in Granite Village are very hard, not as hard as those near Guanhu Farm."

"I can buy some bricks to build a kiln. Your bricks are too expensive. I can't afford them."

"You are wrong. The terrain near the Rift Valley is complex. Although it is not far from Lake Irinata, it is not easy to build a road. Moreover, you need coal slag, and it will cost a lot to transport it from Falkreath. This raw material is not worth much, and the labor cost of hiring people to transport it is the biggest expense. Therefore, it is definitely not cost-effective for you to open a kiln and burn bricks yourself. Moreover, you still get 20% profit from the kiln, so you should buy more."

When it comes to accounting, I am no match for this high elf. She is eloquent and can easily quote various data. And my money has always been managed by Lund, so I have no idea and cannot refute it. But I know very well that this woman will never do business at a loss, so I can only use the universal bargaining trick: I won't buy it.

"Alas... Mr. Manager should know that I have already spent all my money on this marriage. How can I afford to buy bricks? Anyway, Granite Village is not my business. Just pretend I never mentioned it."

"You are joking, sir. Marriage is a happy event, how can you sigh and groan?"

She leaned down to my ear and lowered her voice.

"If you don't have much money, you can ask your future father-in-law to borrow some. Even if it's not enough, Lord Danger will always be accommodating. I think that since you want to rebuild Granite Village, you must open up wasteland and plant crops. How about I apply for a batch of seeds for you?"

"I'm afraid the seeds will be cooked and eaten before spring comes."

Nanya looked embarrassed.

"If you want food, you have to pay for it. The best I can do is lower the price."

Seeing that I raised my eyebrows, she hesitated for a long time and finally changed her words.

"However, I'll loan you this grain for one year... no, two years... never mind! Pay it back within three years, okay? It's the expenses of nearly five hundred people for half a year, I really can't give it away for free."

"Master Butler, have you even counted the number of people for me?"

"Well... to be honest, Granite Village has been abandoned for many years. Before the lord fell ill, he personally visited it. But Lord Danger told me that only you have the ability to revive this place. Those refugees outside the city are left to you. He didn't allow me to interfere."

As she spoke, she pulled out a letter of authorization from her sleeve.

"After full discussion by the Council of Lords of Falkreath, the following resolution has been reached: Baron Locke is granted the land of Granite Village, as well as the taxes and debts of this place."

I don't feel any gratitude at all.

As a member of the parliament, I was completely unaware of this appointment. It seemed that the old fox valued me, but in fact he just wanted to make more money. To rebuild a village, wood, bricks, grain, and livestock are all expenses. If we take into account public security and defense, the expenses are even more incalculable. And for this plan, he actually ignored the lives of hundreds of refugees!

But he calculated that I would definitely take this job.

In name, Sunny Garden Fortress is my fiefdom, but it is currently controlled by the Rich Tribe. If I want to take it back, I have to help Moira capture Snake Cliff Ridge. To capture Snake Cliff Ridge, I must form an army of considerable size. To support an army, I must have food.

And food grows from the ground.

Don't say stupid things like "buy with money". The food you can buy comes from the land cultivated by others. Even if you have money, they have to be willing to sell it to you. If your family doesn't have enough food, or if the other party sees that you are in urgent need of food, they will definitely raise the price significantly. By then, no matter how much money you have, it will not be enough.

Don’t say “my neighbor stores food, so I store guns.” The neighbor of Sunshine Garden Fortress is the town of Loristed, which also stores a lot of guns. If a fight breaks out, it’s not certain who will rob whom.

So, in the final analysis, I have to cultivate the land in Granite Village. If I don't accept the appointment, then the reconstruction will be illegal. Not only will the harvested grain go into the lord's warehouse, but even worse, if the land is confiscated by Danger, I will have no place to complain.

I thought I was the one who was scheming against others, but unexpectedly the other party smiled and invited me into the trap.

Hearing that Nanya was willing to allocate food, Lund was overjoyed and was about to leave. I grabbed him and called Nari over as well.

"Leave this matter to Stein and Ariana. The two of you go to Helgen Town and talk to Eric..."

"But, Locke, didn't we agree to wait until Angie gave birth successfully before drinking?"

"We can discuss drinking later, but you two have to tell him about your marriage, so that he has time to prepare the gift money. There is one more thing, I have to apologize to my sister-in-law. You two are newlyweds, but I want to send Lund out. It's because he is the only one who can do this, and I don't trust anyone else."

"Your Excellency is too polite. Since I am Lund's wife, of course I have to follow my husband."

"Tsk tsk tsk, Lund is so lucky to have a good wife like my sister-in-law."

Nari was very perceptive. She saw that I had something to discuss with Lund, so she made an excuse that she was going to resign to Varga and turned to leave the room.

"Lund, do you remember Eric talking about wanting to save money to buy land? Now the opportunity has come. Granite Village has been designated as my fiefdom, and I can run it well. But you know, my biggest difficulty now is that I have no soldiers. So I thought, if Eric can convince the senior leaders of the Comrades to open a hall there, we can have someone to rely on first."

"Can you convince those refugees to go back?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan. Just go find Eric."

Lund went to pack his luggage with Nari, and I found Stein and others to instruct them on the matter of providing relief to the victims.

I don't have any clever tricks, but I can still take advantage of people's misfortunes, coercion and inducement. According to my instructions, they have three days to distribute food, and everyone who receives food must go to Granite Village. Those who leave on the first day will be given one mu of land and exempt from tax for one year; those who leave on the second day will be given half an mu of land and exempt from tax for half a year; those who leave on the third day will be given half an mu of land and not exempt from tax. After three days, no more relief food will be distributed, and there will be no land to distribute.

Lucia is responsible for the registration, while Herata and Ariana are responsible for bringing people there. I borrowed a few tax collectors from Nanya to help with land surveying, household registration, house building and land reclamation. It is only late January now, and there is still more than a month before spring ploughing. If we hurry up, there should be enough time.

After arranging these things, I started to get busy.

Thirty days before the wedding, there must be an engagement ceremony. I will go to the square in front of the town hall and ask Baron Sengard to marry his daughter in the presence of Ilandur. After the Baron's permission, the two families will sign a contract and announce the date of the wedding. Then I will visit each other's relatives and friends to spread the good news. After the new house was delivered, I was busy arranging the interior furnishings. In addition, I had to find time to discuss the wedding banquet with Eddie.

Because I find it troublesome, I have already decided to eat hot pot, which is why Eddie went to Whiterun to buy mutton. Since it is a banquet, not only the ingredients should be considered, but also the tableware and kitchen utensils. The blacksmith shop has received the order for copper pots in advance, and there are special people to monitor the progress and check the quality of the finished products one by one. Coal must also be transported from the Blood Throne Fortress and stored in the cellar.

The most important thing is chopsticks. To pick up slices of meat from boiling water, metal products cannot be used for the tender skin and flesh of the nobles, so they have to use the best wood and make and polish them carefully. In addition, Nanya also selected a group of maids with good looks and clever hands to learn how to use chopsticks from me. Their task is to serve at the banquet to prevent guests from starving to death due to their clumsy hands.

Irina was also among them. She was the heroine at the wedding, the center of attention, so she naturally couldn't wait for others to feed her. But she never talked to me alone. After each training session, she would immediately put on her hood and sneak out the back door with a middle-aged woman. People like Danger were also learning to use chopsticks, but these rough men didn't have so many rules and could ask me for advice at any time.

In Falkreath, the skillful and elegant use of this novel tableware has become a symbol of the upper class. It is said that since the New Year, Tagel has refused to eat if he finds only a knife, fork and spoon on the table. Even after the steak is cut, he will put down the knife and fork and eat it with chopsticks.

There was a lot to do and the days passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already the middle of the Chaoyang month and many things happened during this period.

Most of the refugees outside the city had already left, and the remaining hundred or so people, after Lund's earnest persuasion, agreed to follow him to escort the first batch of supplies to Granite Village. They would take the water route, sail along the southern shore of Lake Irinata, dock north of Half Moon Mill, and turn onto the official road. This would save at least two days compared to taking the land route alone.

Lund took away not only wood and bricks, but also various crops that I specifically asked him to collect. Nanya only provided wheat seeds, but I planned to try as many tricks as possible. In addition to the more common onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots and cabbages in Skyrim, there are also yams and mushrooms that I started to plant in the Blood Throne Fortress, as well as black beans and soybeans. Cash crops such as fruit trees will take two or three years to harvest, so I will not consider them for the time being.

Eric also sent someone to deliver a letter, saying that my idea coincided with Yuevaska's. Krako believed that the Silver Hand Mercenaries mainly operated in the north, so the Companions were ready to expand their influence in the south. They paid attention to the situation near the Sunshine Garden Fortress and intended to send a comrade to take charge of the business there. The more popular candidates are Nigada and Tolva.

I know both of them, but we don't have any friendship, and I don't know what kind of team they will bring. I have already told Lund to arrange the land reserved for the Companions to the northernmost part of the village. Make sure they can bear the brunt of the attack if there is an attack.

Since I got engaged, I have been socializing almost every day. Sometimes, Baron Sengard's friends come to visit me, and sometimes I am invited to a party by these people. It is impolite not to attend. If you attend, you must dress up carefully and bring appropriate gifts. I am tired of this. Fortunately, Lai Mei received the wedding invitation and rushed back from Xueman Territory. She is more familiar with the twists and turns here and often advises me.

As the host, Yilan Dur would visit from time to time, mainly to finalize some process details with me. But on this day, the question he raised reminded me of something I had forgotten.

There is a part in the wedding where the host verifies the identities of the bride and groom and confirms that their marriage is in accordance with the law. This is of course just a ritual, but during this process, the host has to sing out the names and surnames of both parties loudly and ask the guests present if there is any impersonation. The embarrassing thing is that as a first-generation noble, I don't have a surname.

Yilan Dur naturally knew about this, so he gave me several options, which were to use the name of my fiefdom or hometown, or to use my own nickname, or to add "song" to the end of my father's name. These methods would undoubtedly expose my origins, so he said that it would be best to find a famous person among my ancestors, even if it was far-fetched, and to use this person's name as my surname, which would be more elegant.

He even mentioned two or three ancient families that were confirmed to have no descendants, and asked me if I would like to pick one of them and acknowledge him as my cheap ancestor.

I had no interest in this, and even began to consider using Luo as my last name. It was my last name in my previous life, and it was the first syllable of Rocker's name. It also represented balance in Dragon Language, which suited my taste.

Seeing that I was silent, Donna became a little anxious.

"Priest, please give me some advice. My mother and I are both farmers, so how can we know the names of our ancestors? I don't even know the real name of Rocker's grandfather. I just know that everyone calls him Inger."

Yilandur didn't swallow a mouthful of tea properly and started coughing, but he still struggled to raise his thumb.

"Ahem... old man... Madam... ahem... this name... ahem... good... good!"