Unknown Knight

After returning to the territory, Aix handled government affairs for two days. Among the piles of documents, he found some of them with Katia's instructions.

He immediately called Atiman over and gave him a severe scolding, telling him never to bring the territory's documents to Katia under any circumstances, and not to allow this woman to participate in the territory's political affairs.

Atiman was also very depressed. He just put some documents in the lord's office as usual, thinking that it would not matter even if Lady Katia saw it, so he did not think too much about it.

But he didn't expect that the lord's wife in his eyes was a stranger who was sleeping with the lord but had different dreams.

Two days later, after dealing with the territory's political affairs and arranging various matters, Aix decided to send troops to Wocheze City to rescue his wife and father-in-law's family.

However, as soon as this matter was brought up at the leaders' meeting, it was unanimously opposed by all the leaders in the territory for various reasons, the most important of which was that it was already September, and in less than a month, the territory would enter winter again.

This was indeed the biggest factor restricting him from going to Wocheze City. The round trip would take more than half a month. Once the war dragged on, he might be blocked outside the territory by heavy snow.

Not only will there be a lack of food and water, but the army will also have nowhere to keep warm and may be wiped out in the cold wilderness.

Moreover, the territory is now at the most important time of the year. Crops such as soybeans, barley, rye, and peas have matured one after another, and the grass on the meadow also needs to be harvested for winter storage. This is a time when a large amount of labor is needed.

It is better to be safe than sorry. If there is another long winter this year and the crops are not harvested in time, not only will the farmers' year-round hard work be wasted, but they will also likely go hungry in the winter. Lack of food and clothing in the cold weather can be fatal.

In addition, many soldiers have not recovered from the brutal battle in Kudan City some time ago. If another war is started at this time, even if the soldiers do not oppose it, they will resent him as the lord in their hearts. After all, he is making everyone suffer because of his family affairs.

After hearing what everyone said, Aix also hesitated. As a lord, he was responsible for various relationships and could not act arbitrarily. Although he was anxious and worried about Tsunde's family, he also had to consider the actual situation and the overall situation of the territory.

Fortunately, according to the information fed back by the spies, the unfilial son Borba did not do anything to his parents, Iaya and his wife. He also kept his sister, whom he regarded as a rival, under house arrest in the city lord's mansion, and did not carry out any further persecution.

For now, Aix has no choice but to endure it and wait until he gets through this winter.

Currently, the most important thing for the territory is to carry out various winter preparations. While the addition of more than 2,000 people has brought sufficient labor, it has undoubtedly also increased the various burdens.

There are now more than 6,000 people in the whole army. During the nearly half-year winter, there was only expenditure and no income, which is a huge expense. After calculations all day and night by the accounting firm headed by Li Da, a long list was drawn up.

Bandak and Manide split into two groups, and set out by water and land, carrying all the produce of the territory.

This time they also brought with them some of the 200 horses seized from the Kugits, planning to sell them and buy food, salt and other necessities.

Not only that, Aix also stopped the work at the Black Rock Mountain Mine and asked the citizens and prisoners working there to go directly to Sanhu Village on the opposite bank to mine coal and transport it back to the territory by water.

This not only can be used for heating in winter, but also reduces the deforestation around the territory and protects the surrounding fragile ecology.

For a time, the territory was full of busy figures. The people were harvesting crops in the fields, cutting down trees in the forest, cutting grass on the pastures, and transporting back shiploads of black coal from the mines.

Everyone knows how terrible the North Wind is here in winter, but through the harvest brought by collective labor, people no longer have the previous fear and feel at ease and full of hope.

The newly arrived thousand-plus subjects were dispersed by Aix and settled in Hanen, Shules, Aslum and Tangquan Fortresses. The more than five hundred young and strong Kugit were directly imprisoned in Lelag Castle. Through Tojunayan, they were gradually exchanged for more than a thousand Tang slaves.

Now Tojunayan's slave trading team has become the largest one in the country of Kugit Khanate. He has almost monopolized the Tang slave trade and made a huge fortune as a result. This is unexpected.

The food, clothing, housing and other expenses of the more than 2,000 new people had to be considered. Fortunately, after a year of construction, the various facilities in the settlements were almost complete, and the winter protection was well prepared based on last year's experience.

Under the leadership of the old subjects, the new subjects quickly got into the situation. They found that the situation here was better than what Lord Ran Hu had originally told them.

Not only were the meals better than those of Master Kugit, they were also given clothes and arranged to take a bath once a week. During their breaks, there were also wonderful stage performances.

After working for a few days on the tasks assigned by the territory, the men who had some money could go to the pub for a few drinks, and the women could buy the needles and thread they needed in the department store.

Compared with their previous lives, these new subjects feel so happy now that they can't help but talk about the good things about this place to everyone they know in their free time.

The old subjects, as people who had experienced this, told them calmly that the brave, kind and merciful lord was the son of God Odin, and that it was he who led them to fight off the evil northern god and protected them single-handedly. Their current good life was bestowed by the lord, and they should be grateful.

Seeds filled with aspirations were planted in the hearts of the people without them noticing.

In particular, there was a new citizen in the Shules settlement. He used to be a carpenter who specialized in making exquisite wooden utensils for the Kugit Nayan masters in the city.

After listening to the bragging of an old man who had followed the lord since Talboliya, he was in awe of the various so-called "miracles" performed by the lord.

Adhering to the Chinese tradition of worshipping anything useful, this former Tang slave used a piece of carefully selected mahogany and, based on his only one encounter with the lord, carved a statue of Aix and placed it at home for worship, silently praying for blessings every morning and evening.

It was discovered by neighbors who came to visit him in their free time, and they all followed suit and asked him for the statue of Aix.

He was also a man of business acumen. When he had nothing to do, he would carve statues of the god of Aix at home and sell them for money.

In order to sell the statue better and at a higher price, this man exaggerated the various miraculous stories about Aix that he had heard and told them to everyone who came to buy the statue.

He even used himself as bait and fabricated many stories about Aix's miraculous appearances, which he spread and praised widely.

Sometimes, such miraculous things spread faster than gossip, and the more they spread, the more miraculous they became. Later, more and more people followed the carpenter and spontaneously became believers of Aix.

Soon, from the easternmost Fort Lerager and Hanen to Schulers, Aslum, and finally to the Fortress of Tangquan, people everywhere became loyal believers of Aix.

When Aix realized that he was full of energy every day and seemed to have endless energy, he still always felt that he had not done enough and needed to do more for everyone.

One morning, he was too energetic to sleep in, so he just took a walk and strolled around the territory. Surprisingly, a citizen of the territory knelt down to worship him in the street.