The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

This was Jefferson's fourth visit to the gray-white neighborhood this year. Looking at the gray-white buildings, the clean streets, and the busy pedestrians, Jefferson felt somewhat numb.

In reality, although Jefferson was also a viscount, the actual territory of Fassen Town was much larger than that of a viscount's domain. However, compared to the Grey and White Collar, Jefferson still felt somewhat inferior.

Because the territory granted by Duke Lars was very large, but most of it needed to be developed and cultivated, Duke Lars probably did not expect that the reclamation of the Grey and White Clan would be so fast.

The extremely low taxes have led many merchants in the Champagne Market to choose to set up shop in gray and white-collar areas or open branch stores.

Some shops even allowed the use of "work points" earned by gray and white-collar workers as currency, because doing so would earn them special subsidies from the lord.

These measures have transformed the gray and white-collar areas from a barren wasteland in the eyes of businessmen, and even attracted many traveling merchants to detour to these areas.

Unbeknownst to them, the gray-collar workers had taken a huge chunk out of Fasen Town.

But Jefferson didn't care much, because at least for now, the gray-collar workers and Fassen Town still had a mutually beneficial relationship, and their cooperation was a win-win situation.

Jefferson had visited the Gray and White Collar on several occasions before, for matters related to the sugar trade, and last time it was to purchase the Gray and White Collar's large waterwheel.

Jefferson had already taken the dragon-bone waterwheel to be copied when he first came to Gray Collar, but after copying the large waterwheel, Jefferson found that the cost was actually higher than what Gray Collar sold for, so he simply gave up the struggle.

This time, Jefferson not only came himself, but also brought along merchants and nobles who had close ties with Farson Town. This was because Linde had mentioned a huge business deal in his letter that was even more profitable than sugar. Thanks to Linde's consistently good credit, Jefferson dared not be negligent.

"This way, Your Excellency."

As always, Lila wore a maid's outfit and took on the role of greeting guests, leading Jefferson's team toward Lind's lord's tent.

But no one, including Jefferson, dared to underestimate the maid in front of them, and even the usually dishonest merchants obediently put their hands behind their backs to show their gentlemanly manners.

Before coming, Jefferson had repeatedly warned that this head maid was practically the second-in-command of the gray-white office, much like the king's secretary. Although she was rarely seen, the specific implementation of the gray-white office's policies was handled by Lila.

A troop of soldiers marched past the delegation in perfect unison.

The soldiers were all dressed in separate light plate armor, and all of their armor was standardized and almost identical, giving the soldiers a solemn and beautiful appearance when they were lined up. Jefferson even slowed down to observe the soldiers.

"Ms. Lila, may I ask why all your gray-collar soldiers wear the same armor? Don't your soldiers need to bring their own armor?"

Jefferson's question may seem strange today, but it was perfectly normal in the Middle Ages. From knights to serfs, everyone who went to war with the nobles had to provide their own armor and weapons. It was heresy for someone to distribute armor to their own soldiers.

"These soldiers are all professional soldiers, funded and supported by the lord, so their equipment is provided by the lord."

Lila didn't try to hide anything and answered Jefferson directly.

If there were any armies in the Middle Ages with similar equipment across the board, it would be the fully professional soldiers, usually the king's army or legions, and the elite of them.

"Then why not provide actual plate armor? Or is this just for training, and you switch to full plate armor for actual combat?"

It's no wonder Jefferson asked such detailed questions; the upstream territories were training professional soldiers, and even if the downstream territories had the best relationship, tension was inevitable.

"The lord said that the soldiers' main task now is to go into the mountains to suppress bandits. Wearing full armor to climb mountains is inconvenient, so we changed to the current split plate armor to reduce weight."

Lila's answer was very clever, and Jefferson nodded in agreement.

In fact, besides this reason, the main reason is to facilitate maintenance and replacement.

However, as mentioned above, most of the conscription by nobles involved having militia nobles bring their own armor. Therefore, plate armor, which emphasizes personal defense and completely disregards applicability, is the mainstream in the world today.

"They're all enchanted weapons!"

One of the knowledgeable merchants in the group gasped in astonishment. The armor worn by the soldiers in the territory was all enchanted, even if it was only the lowest level of enchantment magic. It was already quite extraordinary that it could be equipped on all the soldiers.

Jefferson was also dumbfounded and subconsciously asked, "Where did you get the money for so many enchantments?"

Although he had heard that the gray-collar workers had made a fortune by digging up a magic stone vein, Jefferson thought that this way of spending money was too wasteful, since they were all low-level enchantments with extremely low cost performance.

But Lila seemed to answer every question confidently, saying, "You'll know when you meet the lord."

Jefferson swallowed hard. Just how many surprises was Lind planning to give him? What kind of business could support such a luxurious army?

Now Jefferson doesn't even like his new wife anymore and just wants to see his brother Lind as soon as possible.

The soldiers left quickly, as if they hadn't seen Jefferson's team at all. After all, their mission was to maintain order in the territory during their training, and they couldn't stay in one place forever.

Then, Jefferson and the others, who had shifted their gaze, saw a large crowd gathered in the central square of the gray-collar workers.

"Ms. Lila, is there some kind of event taking place there?"

Jefferson, a champagne nobleman, was very open-minded and had a keen sense of smell. He could sense that with such a huge flow of people, a shop that opened in this square would definitely make a fortune. But Jefferson's sense of smell was also very keen on the physical. In addition to the hidden business opportunities, Jefferson also smelled a trace of blood.

"Those were bandits that the lord wiped out along the way when he sent people into the mountains to search for savage refugees."

Lila continued her explanation very responsibly.

"Most of the bandits were thrown into the mines to work, but a small number of their leaders were utterly wicked. The lord has decided to read out their crimes in front of all the people and then sentence them according to the laws of the territory."

While Lila was giving her explanation, a clerk on the high platform in the central square began to read aloud the crimes of the bandits who had been brought up.

Jefferson listened to the details, sweating profusely. The bandit's crimes were nothing compared to those of the nobles like himself. If the bandit had fallen into his hands, Jefferson would probably have released him to show his benevolence, and then secretly taken them in as his henchmen.

But Brother Linde was actually prepared to kill him outright?

After the crimes were read aloud, the clerk announced the verdict directly—utterly heinous, death penalty, to be carried out immediately.

"Good! Good!"

"Kill him! He's the one who defiled my sister!"

"Don't let him go!"

The people in the audience who heard about the crimes committed by the bandits were filled with righteous indignation, especially the mountain folk who had been "abducted" by Lin De to work in the gray-white collar, as they were the people most deeply affected by the bandits.

As the butcher's knife fell, many people who had suffered from these bandits were moved to tears and knelt on the ground, shouting "Long live the Gray Collar! Long live the Lord!"

This scene sent chills down Jefferson's spine. He felt that sooner or later he would also kneel on that high platform to be judged, and the surging crowd would engulf him like a tidal wave.

"move."

Jefferson urged.