In the mountain forest in the early autumn, there was a pleasant fragrance wafting around.
Cong Wuyang strolled with Vigoro in the fields and outskirts of Attila. However, what was on his mind was how to subdue the entire Attila and how to develop it in the future.
Therefore, there were only two paths in front of him.
One way was to fight whenever there was resistance. He could go to various places on this continent, linger in villages, towns, and cities, and continuously recruit peasant or mercenary troops, and forcibly plunder and develop through violence.
But not to mention whether this approach could last long, it was bound to arouse the hostility and attacks of all the nobles on the continent. There would be no time or space for development at all. Moreover, after recruiting a certain scale of troops, the logistics supply would also be a problem.
He would also have to hide everywhere like a a rat crossing the street, loathed by all, without a fixed place to stay. No lord would allow such a large and unstable armed force to wander around in their territory. He would also damage his reputation due to plundering, and no one would be willing to follow him after that.
Besides, in this era, although there were many mercenaries, they were mostly small mercenary groups composed of seven or eight people, or at most a dozen or twenty people. There were simply no large mercenary groups with more than a hundred people.
This was a tacit understanding among all the lords, because only in this way could they ensure that they would always be lords and their descendants would also be lords. After all, a small lord could conscript at most a few hundred soldiers, among whom there were even farmers holding pitchforks.
The other way was to lie low for the time being, first promise benefits, occupy a small piece of territory, and develop secretly. After gaining a certain strength, gradually encroach on the surrounding territories. In this way, he could become stronger with each battle, and there would be a basic base to support himself. At the very least, he wouldn't collapse immediately.
Cong Wuyang had always been very cautious. Even when he played Mount & Blade before time-traveling, he would choose to start with the Sturgians. Later, he would also find a way to obtain Reyvadin. It wasn't for anything else, but just because the terrain there was easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as he could hold the entrance of the peninsula, the villages and cities behind could develop in peace.
So there was only one choice, to lie low first! After all, although he was very strong, he wasn't immortal!
It was a good idea to draw on the strategic policy that the scholar Zhu Sheng gave to Zhu Yuanzhang for unifying the country: build high walls, store abundant grains, and postpone proclaiming oneself king!
After figuring this out, it was time to take action. Cong Wuyang said to Vigoro with great care in his words, "Vigoro, do you think you can help me find a few people and accompany me to Dehar? This way, it will be safer on the road. I can pay you dinars to hire you."
"We can be hired, but you need to pay half of the dinars in advance. And we can only be hired for 7 days. You need to give each of us 30 dinars," Vigoro turned around and looked him up and down. After thinking for a moment, his tone was somewhat doubtful.
After all, when they robbed him on the road, Ergou didn't find anything on him. Could he really have dinars to hire them? And 30 dinars was already a lot. In the current market, 5 dinars could buy a pound of wheat flour, and a pound was almost equal to 1 jin on Blue Star. 30 dinars was enough for a family of five to live on for several months.
"No problem. Then it's 30 dinars. If everything goes well, I want to hire you for a long time in the future. This time, I need at least 6 people to go with me, and you have to be the leader." Cong Wuyang thought for a moment. Although he thought 30 dinars was a bit much, since he was unfamiliar with the place, he needed them to lead the way, and he also needed their help with some work later, so he readily agreed.
After all, he didn't know the price level. And these were real people. It couldn't be like in the game, where you could get someone to work for you with just 10 dinars, right?
This was a world similar to the Middle Ages, and traveling far away was still very dangerous. Maybe they would be killed if they met highway robbers. Besides, for him, 100 dinars per person wasn't much either, and he always needed someone to show him the way.
But he couldn't take out the dinars directly from the system space now. After all, it was a large amount, and it wasn't reasonable to take them out directly. He had to find an opportunity to pretend to go out and find a container to put some in.
And he needed them to be willing to follow him. Only after being marked by the system could their loyalty reach the maximum value, instead of just being hired. This was the difference between an ordinary worker and a a contract of selling oneself into slavery. Could they be the same?
It seemed that he had to find a way to trick them into falling for it. After all, people in this era were just ignorant, not stupid. If he directly proposed that they rebel with him, it was definitely impossible.
He continued to walk on the path in the fields with Vigoro, thinking about his own matters. Suddenly,
Vigoro made a dash and then lay down on the ridge of the field three meters away. When Cong Wuyang went closer to take a look, he found that Vigoro was pressing a plump field mouse in his arms.
Cong Wuyang smiled when he saw this. Well, he had just been thinking about how to improve the meal, and here came a mouse offering itself! And this guy had the habit of storing food. As long as they found the mouse's nest, they could get a large amount of food.
Vigoro skillfully grabbed the field mouse, tore off several strip-shaped plants from the ridge, and tied the field mouse up in a very artistic way, even more artistically than how criminals were tied up during executions in the ancient times of the Rabbit Country.
After groping around for a while, he greeted Cong Wuyang, then ran home with the field mouse in his hand. After a while, he came back with a wooden shovel and a hoe, and several linen bags slung over his shoulders.
(PS: Because iron tools were expensive, most of the farming tools used by farmers in the Middle Ages were made of wood. This was probably one of the reasons for the low productivity.)
He raised the hoe and the wooden shovel and started digging the ground. It turned out that he also had the intention of getting the food stored by the field mouse.
In the evening, still in front of that old wooden table.
The dinner was much richer than the lunch. Although it was still cooked by Vina, it felt completely different. There was a bowl of field mouse meat stewed with onions and carrots, a stack of roasted corn cakes, and a wild vegetable salad. With a combination of meat and vegetables, it was quite good.
Our field mouse brother selflessly sacrificed his body and generously took out his stored food to entertain everyone. The corn was the food stored by the field mouse brother.
While Vigoro was digging the mouse hole, Cong Wuyang asked him for a linen bag, saying that he was going to get the dinars buried on the road. Then he walked towards the way he came. To avoid being discovered, he deliberately walked a little further and took more time. He took out 3000 dinars from the system space and put them in the bag.
Now the bag containing the dinars was placed next to the table.
"Here are 200 dinars. This includes half of the hiring fee for the 6 of you. Please help and distribute these dinars to the 6 people you find. With the remaining money, you can go to the village to buy some food and rent two ox carts. If there is any left, consider it as the fee for my staying at your house for the past two days. And tell them to gather under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village tomorrow morning, and then we will set off for Dehar." Cong Wuyang took out 200 dinars from the bag and put them on the table, and said to Vigoro.
Vigoro nodded and said, "Okay. If there's no problem, I, Ergou, and the other four people will accompany you."
After saying that, Vigoro put the dinars in a cloth bag and went outside. Cong Wuyang sat on a stool chatting with Gohn, so as to deepen his understanding of this world. He listened to Gohn talking about how he was in his youth and that he had been to the Snow Country, the Norefen Kingdom, and seen the World Ice Wall.
The Norefen Kingdom was in the north of the continent. Most of its territory was a world of ice and snow, but it was rich in animal resources and forestry. There were vast coniferous forests throughout the country, where various animals lived, and there were also human settlements of different sizes.
One could reach it by going from the south through the entire Jiede Empire all the way to the north. And the World Ice Wall was in the northernmost part of the Norefen Kingdom, standing there. It extended from the west to the east of the continent, thousands of feet high. No one knew what was behind the ice wall.
Although he didn't know if Gohn was boasting. After all, Attila was in the southernmost part of the continent, and the ice wall was in the northernmost part. To cross the entire continent to the north, one needed not only good physical strength but also a large amount of wealth to support the journey, and one had to ensure safety along the way. Although this old man looked quite strong, it was really hard to imagine how he managed to get there when he was young.
After about two hours, Vigoro came back and told Cong Wuyang that everything was ready, and they also agreed on the time.
After learning about the situation, he said goodnight to everyone and then went to sleep in the attic of Vigoro's house.
He also had a dream, dreaming that he led his army to sweep across the entire continent with irresistible force.
On the Journey