HCB Chapter 257 Low-cost policing
Chapter 257 Low-cost policing
"You mean to say that the Lana army not only occupied all the strongholds in the Piri Mountains, but also dispersed Earl Hoss's standing army, and then looted all the towns along the mountains and retreated back to the mountains in a swagger?"
Looking at the scout sent by Earl Hawes for help, John shouted angrily:
"Let him figure out how to deal with his own army. My job is to manage the Southwest Governorate. Now I am responsible for the losses caused by Hoss's negligence. Go back and tell Hoss that I will write to His Majesty the King immediately. As for him, he should spend his own money to find someone to buy supplies!"
After driving away the scouts, John sent messengers to inform the villages he had controlled to prepare food for the winter, while also beginning to raise funds for the next step.
"Let me see. The nobles' money cannot be touched. The merchants' money can be touched but not yet. So the only ones left are these few."
John was looking at the spheres of influence of various gangs marked on the map of Mont-de-Marsan and was planning how to get their gold coins when the soldier outside the door handed him another letter. John opened it and found that it was from the White Wolf Knight who controlled a village.
The letter described the situation in his village. The environment here was worse than John had imagined. In addition to the plague that reduced the population of the village, there were also incidents of nobles from next door coming to rob and capture serfs. The White Wolf Knight asked John to send him more soldiers to help him win the lord war with the local nobles.
After seeing this, John immediately wrote to Charles who was stationed in Saint-Remy in the east, asking him to immediately send a thousand mercenaries and a few cannons to suppress the local nobles. Nothing could delay the collection of grain, but in order to maintain the stability of Mont-de-Marsan, the 5,000 people brought from their own territory must not be moved.
John never doubted that he would fail against those country nobles. It was like a match between a player playing Medieval 2 Total War and a player playing Lord of the Manor, each using their full armies without mods. You could tell who would win just by looking at the upper limit of the military cards.
After solving this problem, John continued to plan how to clean up the gangs in Mont-de-Marsan. What happened just now gave John an inspiration: if there are other people doing it for you, it is best not to do it yourself, and it is best to let the locals do the job.
Because if local people do local things, even if some people are unhappy, the biggest pressure is still on the people who do the things, and in order to seek power, the people who do the things will definitely cling to John's thighs. Therefore, it is best for the people who do the things to have local household registration, low initial status, and ability. In total war, this kind of people is generally called vassal.
To be honest, John is not afraid of such a vassal becoming too powerful in the future. Firstly, if he wants to have an army to compete with John, John has the means to deal with him if he lacks people, money, or equipment. What's more, John does not just support one vassal, he can support multiple vassals to make the power map colorful.
"Then let's see which ones to choose."
A few days later, Count Hoss returned to Mont-de-Marsan with some of his men. Due to the failures in the previous two wars, Count Hoss planned to hold an event to expand his influence and prestige, so...
"Because we lost the war, we are organizing a hunting event for nobles and merchants?" Looking at the invitation in his hand, John finally understood why Hoss lost the war. For them, enjoyment always comes first, no matter when and where.
Of course, it is not ruled out that he deepened his exchanges with local nobles and wealthy people during hunting in order to obtain funds or political support for his comeback.
In this case, John would definitely go. In addition to seeing what Hoss was planning, he would also go to see how the local nobles celebrated on a daily basis. Anyway, the event was paid for by Hoss, so John wouldn't have to spend a penny.
Just as John was preparing for the hunt, the city defense bases far away in the civilian areas were also beginning to mobilize for this activity.
As a member of the city defense force, Jacques inevitably had to work overtime. Not only was he responsible for the public security during these days, but he was also responsible for the safety of a noble during hunting. Of course, more often he might just be running errands for the noble, and the safety of the noble was generally left to their guards.
In front of them, the centurion of the city defense army in charge of this stronghold was talking incessantly about various precautions. After an hour-long explanation, the centurion began to arrange the next tasks.
"This time our base needs to be responsible for the safety of ten nobles, so basically one squad leader is responsible for one. To be fair, we will draw lots this time, and whoever draws the lot will be responsible."
The ten squad leaders were called over and drew lots very reluctantly. No one knew what kind of noble they were responsible for. If they were lucky enough to draw a noble with a good temper, they might even get some reward money. If they drew a noble with a bad temper, they might get a slap or a whip.
"Thank God."
"This one is difficult to serve."
……
As a squad leader returned to his team and communicated with his subordinates about the nobles in charge, the squad leader where Jacques was stationed also returned to his team.
"What can I say, except that this is a big job."
As the squad leader spoke, he spread out his palm and showed the team members the noble he had drawn. On the piece of paper it was clearly written: John Hohenzollern.
"We can't afford to offend other nobles, but this one is a ruthless man who can slap noble young masters and take them away. Of course, this is also a good thing, because he is strong, so he doesn't need our protection at all. We just need to do the legwork."
At this moment, Jacques remembered that during the night patrol before, John gave him several money bags looted from corpses. After he sorted out the coins inside, he kept carrying them with him, and he never knew how to spend them.
On the way home, he was always thinking about this hunt, because it might be his chance to get close to John. As long as he could successfully get in touch with John, he would be one step closer to his great ambition.
"How can I attract his attention? If I want to give him a gift, what should I give him?"
As Jacques was walking and thinking, a sharp cry made him turn his head. There was a pet shop across the street. In the window of the store, an eagle with brown and black feathers was standing on the hanging rod in an iron cage. The sound just now might have been made by it.
Jacques moved closer and found that the eagle had black but soft feathers, sharp eyes, a yellow beak, a pair of sharp and hard claws, and scratches near the iron cage.
Thinking of John's family flag, Jacques thought carefully and walked into the store. He pointed at the eagle and said to the store manager:
"How much is this eagle for?"