If Servetus had difficulty understanding why the "Baron" always brought the "Madame" with him before, then when he saw Anna with her hair tied up, wearing short coat, breeches and boots, he at least realized the Baron's

The unusual behavior was not some kind of posturing.

In fact, as departure approached, Anna was busier than Winters.

Although Carlo Ed generously lent all his reliable men to Winters, it was still not enough for a huge caravan that was hastily put together.

There are always bills that need to be settled, there are always documents waiting to be filed, there are always trucks that have not been inspected... In the "caravan" where most of the core staff only know how to ride horses, dance swords and fire guns, paperwork, auditing, logistics

Most of the important functions are performed by Anna alone.

While Charles went to invite Anna, Ms. Navarre was still confirming the supply purchase list for the next camp with the employees of the trading company at the front station.

Walking into the tent, Anna curtsied with some embarrassment, because she suddenly didn't know where to put her hands. According to traditional etiquette, she should put her hands on her skirt - of course, according to traditional etiquette, wearing pants is for educated people.

This is an extremely inappropriate behavior for a lady...

Winters walked to Anna's side with a cane, raised Anna's hand calmly, and turned to Servetus: "Your Excellency, Congressman, you can speak now."

Servetus was always straightforward and did not waste time on diplomatic rhetoric. He nodded gently.

He said with a hint of guilt: "Unfortunately, both of you, the vote of all forge masters is...no. Most forge masters do not want to change the precious virtues and way of life that this land has inherited since ancient times. But we are grateful for your vote.

Help and you will always be Steel Castle’s friend.”

"Yeah." Winters nodded.

John Servetus keenly observed the subtle changes in the expressions of the young couple in front of him - the Baron's mood hardly fluctuated, and even seemed cold, with a trace of contempt inadvertently showing in his eyes; the Baroness, who was not much older than his granddaughter, although her expression

A little disappointed, but not surprised at all.

"You already know the result?" Servetus couldn't help but frown, because even he didn't know what answer he would get until the count was over.

Both sides were arguing for and against, and the attitudes of most forge owners were wavering. The incident happened in a hurry, and no one counted the votes outside the venue. Servetus seemed to be taken into the foggy valley by a rushing carriage, which made

Mr. Congressman, who is used to mastering every detail, rarely felt a sense of crisis and fear.

"Of course not, Congressman." There was a touch of touch in Anna's palm. It was obviously Winters drawing circles on her palm to celebrate the victory. She replied politely: "You told us the result."

Servetus asked, "But you don't seem surprised."

Winters glanced at the rack where clothes were hung: "If a profit is divided among ten people, half of the ten people are not satisfied, let alone four hundred people?"

Anna reluctantly walked to the clothes rack, smiled slightly and took out the cashmere robe for Winters.

Servetus still refused to give up: "What do you want to say? There are too many four hundred people to choose the answer that is most beneficial to you?"

"No, on the contrary, they chose the answer that is most beneficial to them." Winters said sincerely while getting dressed: "If all registered blacksmiths vote, I think there will be another result."

Servetus was speechless.

Under Anna's service, Winters put on his last coat, girded his belt, and hung up his silver-sheathed sword.

He stretched out his arm to the tired congressman: "See you later, Lord Servetus."

The two shook hands, and Winters raised the curtain, crossed the thick skin that blocked the cold wind and noise, and stepped into a muddy, cold, noisy but vibrant world:

Forests, snow lines, rolling mountains, and river valleys are full of tents being dismantled, neighing draft animals, carriages covered with raincloths, expressionless men, and hurried teenagers rushing to say goodbye to their families...

…

When Winters first saw the Steel Castle, he was a traveler in the rain and had only gold bars worth 140,000 ducats;

When he takes one last look at the steel castle, he will take away one hundred and seventy-three carts of firearms, swords, armor, iron materials, books, tools and instruments... as well as unspent gold bars and silver coins.

The actual number of carriages controlled by his "caravan" was more than one hundred and seventy-three.

Since the One Hundred and Seventy-Three was just a freight carriage, Winters left the steel castle with sixty-four baggage vehicles, the personnel who could barely keep the team running, and all the draft horses and mules that Solingen could buy.

If so many carriages were to leave on the same day, the last carriage would not be able to leave the steel castle even after dark, so the leading convoy had set off three days ago.

Winters' guards were also assigned to various positions in the convoy, taking on the responsibilities of low-level officers. The military tradition of the Monta people made them naturally organized and knew how to abide by discipline and obey orders, which saved Winters a lot of money.

strength.

"Mr. Neufeld." Winters walked straight to a carriage on the side of the road and asked the white-haired old man holding the reins: "Are they ready?"

"I have tried my best to repair them, sir." The white-haired old man took off his hat, swallowed his saliva, and promised like a vow: "They won't have any problems."

The white-haired old man's carriage contained no goods, only two equally uneasy brown-haired young men and a variety of tools. It was like a mobile carriage shop.

…

There were no registered Steel Castle blacksmiths in Winters' "caravan"—he did not exploit loopholes or play word games in this matter—but there were several who lost everything in the fire and owed money to

Debt to craftsmen in other trades, such as the white-haired old man Neufeld and his two apprentices.

Faced with an advance payment that was enough to pay off debts and buy a workshop, the old man Neufeld signed a "five-year service" contract without hesitation. The same was true for other craftsmen. As long as they were willing to go to new land, Winter

Don't refuse anyone who comes.

Of course, what he wanted most was always a blacksmith. But it was not that he had never tried to bribe the registered blacksmith, but he never got a positive answer.

Maybe everyone has a price, but through hundreds of years of institutional accumulation, the Steel Castle Blacksmith Guild has raised the price of blacksmiths to a level that other buyers cannot afford.

Bloodline, family, status, guarantor, apprenticeship, sense of honor, bounty system, internal relief system... there are too many things that bind Steel Castle blacksmiths, making purchasing them an extremely uneconomical business practice.

After discovering this, Winters re-examined his plan and turned his attention to the group below the guild system that was employed by the blacksmith class - laborers.

After working in the blacksmith workshop for many years, he recruited workers with special skills.

Although there are still very few applicants.

…

The camp was divided into two circles, the inner and outer circles, with baggage carriages inside and freight carriages outside, with guards in the middle.

Ernst Fuller, who was waiting in the outer circle, saw the Baron from a distance and immediately wanted to go to the latter. The guard refused to let him go. Fuller was so anxious that he could only shout loudly: "My lord! My lord! Oh! I know him."

Your Excellency! Let me go!"

Charles waved his hand, and the guard let him go.

Fuller trotted all the way to the Baron and finally caught his breath. He was about to say some beautiful farewell words when he suddenly remembered the ups and downs of these days. He had mixed feelings and his eyes suddenly became moist: "I...you..."

Winters looked at Fuller and felt a little emotional, so he smiled and stretched out his hand.

Fuller said nothing and just held it with both hands.

He was in a good mood again and wanted to speak but was interrupted again. The baron said gently: "Mr. Fuller, do you remember our last conversation at the Lakeside Hotel?"

Fuller nodded desperately.

"In that conversation, you talked about how your father and grandfather accumulated two forges, and how you failed them. You blamed yourself, blamed yourself, and regretted that you should not have borrowed money to do business."

Fuller's cheeks gradually turned red.

"You may have forgotten what you said that day, but I remember it all. Because I think you are right. The business method of accumulating wealth from generation to generation and slowly expanding is too slow! It takes more than ten years or even decades to accumulate wealth.

How can you come up with a family business in time? Your 'loan business' is a genius strategy! It can allow people who start from scratch to overcome the long road to the start-up stage. What a courageous offensive is this? Just..." Winters

For the first time, I confided my true thoughts to the people of Steel Castle: "It's just that I don't think it is suitable for a place like Steel Castle."

With tears in his eyes, Fuller didn't hear clearly what the baron was saying at first. By the time he heard the other person's words through his ears, the young baron had already left.

After the final inspection of the camp, Winters took Changfeng's reins from Charles, nodded, and mounted the horse in the stirrups.

Charles pulled Changfeng's halter, took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and let out a roar that could break through clouds and rocks: "Quiet! Your Excellency, the tribune, has something to say!"

The camp suddenly became solemn, and people scattered throughout the camp quickly gathered in the central open space.

The men and women raised by the mountains stood in silence. While they were looking at the young officer riding a white horse, Winters was also looking at the Monta people in front of him.

Taking families as a unit, there were at least a thousand people standing in the open space in twos and threes.

However, fewer than 500 of them were actually going to leave Solingen with the convoy, and the rest were women and children who came to see them off.

Of the less than five hundred convoy members, half only went to the border city of Lucerne - they were mainly coachmen, and the remaining half were the actual laborers who were going to the new land.

Among the workers who went to the newly cultivated land, the vast majority were adult men who had received resettlement allowances. There were very few Monta people who actually brought their families and planned to "migrate".

More than 200 laborers and a few professional craftsmen, totaling less than half a team, were all Winters could recruit. It was much less than expected, but the result was not surprising.

Because for many Munta people living in the mountains, Xinchengdi is not a real place name, but a concept that only exists in stories and legends.

This understanding magnified the distance between the newly cultivated land and Monta, turning Tiefeng County into an unreachable land.

Therefore, the vast majority of the Munta people who were recruited were men with wives and children or younger brothers in large families. They did not regard themselves as migrants, but with the self-sacrifice determination of the conscripted soldiers in the imperial era.

Winters took the blood reward—the settlement allowance—in his hands.

People who really have nothing are more willing to try their luck in other free states, rather than going to the land where war is rumored to be raging again.

Winters rode Changfeng and slowly passed in front of the crowd, his eyes scanning the crowd.

What did he see?

Uneasy eyes, gloomy faces, farewell husbands and wives, mothers biting their lips not to shed tears...

The hard life and the tradition of blood payment made the Monta people silently bear everything in a habitual attitude. They may be ready to bury their bones in a foreign land, but Winters does not want them to die.

Guiding Changfeng back to the front of the clearing, Winters scanned the crowd again and spoke slowly: "Starting from today, you will embark on a journey to the country of galloping horses. You signed a contract to serve me. In return, I

I promise to always be honest with you. Therefore, I must tell you honestly that you are not the person I originally wanted."
To be continued...