CHAPTER 123: CHAPTER 121 THE SITUATION OF FEILIU CASTLE

Imperial Calendar 1444, October 26, Feiliu Castle.

Located at the confluence of the Ibe River and Nao’an River, Feiliu Castle is the hub of water and land transportation and the political center of the entire Thousand River Valley.

The Metropolitan Bishop’s Cathedral of the entire Thousand River Valley District is located at Feiliu Castle.

Outside Feiliu Castle, Vallo Port is the most prosperous port in the Thousand River Valley.

Among many trading ports, warehouses, and shops, a merchant hall as large as a castle rises up, overlooking the small houses.

In the spacious merchant hall similar to a lord’s hall on the first floor, merchants from all over the continent are seated.

There are gold-plated flower traders from Norn, dwarf merchants from the northern Furnace Highlands, Xilan merchants in vests despite the cold weather, and even blood slave merchants with pale skin dressed in red.

Most of them come to sell various handicrafts in search of dyes and alcohol.

The merchants who travel widely on the first floor, covered in dust, shout at the top of their lungs, loudly chatting about all sorts of topics.

"I heard there’s a rogue named Thomas emerging over the High Platform Mountains, claiming to be the adopted son of the Saint’s Grandson, a Holy Great-grandson."

"Not to mention, in Southern Mande a while ago, another one popped up, unknown name, claiming to be the sworn brother of the Saint’s Grandson, nicknamed Brother Saint Son."

"Once the Holy Knights arrive, these people will surely be crushed to dust."

Hearing these merchants’ discussions, Catherine couldn’t help but sigh.

Lately, the Church, to cover up failures, claimed that there are over ten thousand Short Hairs.

With intentional or unintentional actions from the Church and Empire, waves of rebels have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain across various regions.

Most of these rebels are Public Register Farmers displaced by floods and famine, along with a large number of refugees, and even quite a few bankrupt Robber Knights.

Since they are accomplices of the Short Hairs, naturally, it is within the doctrine for the Church to send troops to suppress them.

Once these people are killed off and the land is vacated, it would be a perfect time for immigration from Leia and Falan.

The Thousand River Valley isn’t like the coastal areas where manors get bankrupted by cheap smuggled grain, being a landlord is still profitable here.

This has always been the stance of the Empire’s feudal nobles.

Between suppressing instead of appeasing and providing employment as relief, they chose suppression over relief.

Catherine silently took a sip of wine, her thoughts drifting from the cedar pillars in front of her and the discussions around her to the past.

Since the end of the Hundred Years’ War, the surplus of martial virtue couldn’t be directed outward and had to be internally digested, resulting in Count-level annexation wars becoming very common.

Due to the Church’s and Empire’s biased interventions, the Empire’s Celestial Soldiers often fought directly, leaving local Thousand River Valley nobles either bankrupt or exterminated.

The distribution of upper aristocrat clans in the Thousand River Valley changed from originally ninety percent Kush clan to twenty percent Falan clan, forty percent Leia clan, and ten percent Norn clan.

At present, among the upper aristocrats here, aside from Duke Kush Danai being genuinely a Thousand River Valley person, the rest are basically Falan, Leia, and Norn people.

In their eyes, where is the interest of the Thousand River Valley?

"Stable, completely stable! New news! Xiaochi City has been taken over!"

"The temporary City Council disbanded, eight council members were hanged, the interim speaker and three members have fled!"

"Is this for real?"

"Church’s official document notification, it’s absolutely real."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this Xiaochi City is truly suffering now."

"Not necessarily." A portly dye merchant with crossed legs said, "Behind Xiaochi City stands Duchess Hemashi, and there are quite a few industries of the Great Monarch Norn’s within her territory. They can mess around but can’t take too much, only a little."

"Why?"

"Doesn’t this give the Great Monarch Norn an excuse to intervene in the Thousand River Valley? Duchess Hemashi won’t move her troops, so they don’t dare to recklessly enter."

"The negotiation is likely already settled, I know Prince Kongdai, he wouldn’t disregard the overall situation."

These merchants rolled up their sleeves and heavily set their wine glasses on the table, spilling wine everywhere, acting grandiloquent as if discussing astronomical and geographical knowledge.

But Catherine knew that with this bunch, if they even manage to let out a fart in front of Prince Kongdai, it would mean they didn’t hold it in tight enough.

She had someone procure a few reports and began studying them closely.

Sure enough, the "Thrown into the Cellar" incident in Xiaochi City had concluded, Prince Kongdai swiftly resolved matters, reaching a negotiation agreement with some merchants and small landowners inside the city.

With inside and outside cooperation, they disarmed the city’s militia; Prince Kongdai led the charge himself, storming into the church, rescuing the old bishop who had been nibbling on carrots in the cellar for a month.

Originally, I thought they could hold on for a few more months.

Even though Catherine still showed no expression, it seemed that Mitney noticed her disappointment, and he softly said: "To withstand Prince Kongdai’s attack for so long is quite impressive."

With a helpless bitter smile, Catherine knew Mitney’s words were true.

Mortals simply don’t have the ability to stand against the Extraordinary, which is why she sought out those two land nobles.

The supernatural powers in their hands were limited, but having some is better than none; between two Extraordinaries, power levels are similar, making a stalemate possible.

But between mortals and the Extraordinary, defeat means loss.

Over the years, Catherine traveled far and wide, witnessing much; she had even personally investigated the combat capabilities of the Imperial Knights on the battlefield.

The conclusion reached was that mortals cannot contend with the Extraordinary, no matter how organized they are.

Aside from the combat strength of the Imperial Knights themselves, the horses they ride are incomparable to normal horses.

Most of their war horses come from the Curly-Eared Highland Horses of Centaur Grass.

These horses are raised with potions from a young age; each one’s shoulder height is no less than 1.7 meters, and their adult weight exceeds 2000 pounds, roughly a ton.

The only potential drawback is low efficiency and slower speed in long-distance maneuvers, but their peak speed in short-distance charges can reach 50 kilometers per hour.

That is with riders fully armed.

Seated on these horses, each Imperial Knight dons absurd steel armor weighing over 100 pounds.

Normally, the weight of a suit of armor should not exceed one-third of the wearer’s weight.

With the breathing technique of knights, an Imperial Knight can wear armor weighing two-thirds of their body weight.

A 180-pound Imperial Knight can wear 120 pounds of plate armor, recite poetry while singing and dancing, and run half a marathon without exhausting their stamina.

This is without potions and monk blessings.

Such a knight could withstand an attack from a hundred old farmers together and not have his armor broken.

Not to mention they ride swiftly moving war horses, leaving the farmers unable to catch up, only to be repeatedly slaughtered.

The Highland Horse weighs 2000 pounds, horse armor 200 pounds, full armor Imperial Knight 300 pounds, plus weapons and other items, totaling up to 1.3 tons.

When ten Imperial Knights charge, it’s akin to a heavy truck with crash beams and a row of bayonets at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour.

Of course, Imperial Knights seldom engage in direct heavy cavalry charges because it’s not cost-effective, not because of human reasons, but mainly due to horse concerns.

A good Highland war horse is too expensive; sometimes, to avoid damaging the horse, Imperial Knights even dismount for battle.

The normal combat mode for Imperial is that cannon fodder infantry holds the line, Squire Knights harass, Square Banner Knights flank, and the Imperial Knights command, oversee the battle, and deliver the decisive blow.

If both sides have the Extraordinary, it’s a different set of tactics.

But regardless, when dealing with mortals, Squire Knights and Square Banner Knights—these Extraordinary knights—are enough.

"Speaking of which, Qianqian hasn’t sent any news for a while. Wasn’t he supposed to contact the Ruo’an Faction over at High Castle?"

"Don’t discuss such matters here." Mitney whispered as he pressed down Carl’s hand.

Indeed, High Castle is Prince Kongdai’s first stop, who knows what happened to Qianqian?

Full of worry, Catherine finished her last sip of wine before receiving the awaited news from the guild main building’s owner.

Upon standing, she didn’t return to the inn but instead entered a meeting room, where a middle-aged monk with a Paul style haircut was anxiously waiting.

"Oh, my dear Lady Catherine, my beloved, my..."

"Alright, alright, save the flattery for later." Despite the unkind words, Catherine’s warm voice carried intellectual jest and a hint of girlish mischief.

"Lady, the item you requested, I have already found for you..."

"Does he know the purpose of my journey?"

"He said he can guess..." The middle-aged monk quickly added as Catherine frowned, "But he’s willing to take the risk, you could write off his debt without selling it to collectors, you are his rebirth parent."

"Alright, I understand."

"Is it trustworthy?" Mitney whispered, "Are we still going?"

Catherine pondered for a long time before making up her mind: "Prepare more, regardless of anything, we must go.

Given the current situation, if the teacher truly falls into Constans’ hands, who knows what he might do."