Chapter 48 Forming the Cavalry

  When Linde left Fotimo's camp, his head was still dizzy. Even his original plan to test Glory's ability was canceled. After returning to his tent, he lay down On the bed, one hand was caressing the glory beside the bed unconsciously, and the other hand was behind his head, while his mind was thinking about what Fotimo just said.

  The reason why Fotimo thought that the countess would fall in love with him was entirely because the countess had once set out a courtship condition. This condition was that only the person who defeated her was qualified to pursue her.

  However, the countess's strength is recognized as strong. Since she was sixteen years old, she has participated in various martial arts competitions as a mysterious knight more than once, and has won many championships. Those failures are also due to Encountered powerful opponents such as Arthur Dayne, the Sword of Dawn, and the fearless Barristan.

  When the countess initially set out the conditions, many knights went to challenge them, but without exception they all ended in failure. Moreover, after these knights failed, the countess would take off an accessory from them and hang it on the sky. At the gate of Stone Town, over time no knight dared to challenge her anymore.

  After all, if you challenge the countess, even if you win, you will only get the qualification to pursue her. If you fail, your face will be disgraced and your reputation will be greatly reduced. Therefore, those knights will know how to choose after a little consideration.

  And the more important point is that at first, the countess still showed her hands to the challengers, but later, maybe she felt a little annoyed, so she stopped holding hands. Almost every challenger died in her hands, and more than a dozen of them died. The deterrent effect of the famous knight's death was enough to scare many people.

  However, in Fertimo's view, although the countess was powerful, she was still much worse than Lind, so challenging the countess should not be a problem for Lind.

  In addition, Fertimo also mentioned that the countess may be related to the bandits composed of the remnants of the Long family entrenched north of Bitter Bridge, because Tengshi Town has less than twenty guards and no city walls to protect it. It has never been attacked by bandits in recent years, so if the countess can be captured, it will be much easier to complete the mission of Duke Tyrell.

  Although Linde has never thought about marriage, he has to say that Fotimo's proposal still makes him feel excited. After all, if he really follows Fotimo's proposal, then his ultimate gain will be more than just a promising man. He is not a knight, but a lord who actually governs a party.

  What's more, he can take advantage of Tengshi Town's special geographical location to control the vast area north of Kuqiao, east of Tengshi Mountains in the west, west of Yulin, and south of Heishui River, turning it into a large and important territory. lord.

  But all this is based on the fact that he does not have a golden finger. Now that he has a golden finger, he does not need to obtain rights and status through marriage so early. He is only fifteen years old and has enough time to obtain what he wants. Want something.

  However, this does not mean that he does not value the countess. In fact, he feels that the countess Nymeria Fudley is the key to whether he can complete the task at the minimum cost.

  Just when Linde was thinking about how to make good use of the countess, Garland opened the curtain and walked in from the outside. Without any nonsense, he asked Linde: "Master Linde, are you paying for military expenses and money?" Do you have a headache in your hands?"

  "Yes, Lord Garland." Linde admitted as he sat up.

  "My father's reward has not been given to you after you won the tournament. Now is the time." Garland said as he handed him a piece of parchment.

  Linde unfolded it and looked at it, and found that in addition to the reward of three thousand golden dragons, the most important thing written on the paper was his official appointment as the captain of the cavalry.

  In this letter of appointment, Duke Tyrell increased the number of the ten-man cavalry team to one hundred, and the commissions of these one hundred people will be fully handled by the Tyrell family in the next two years. As for his duties as the captain of the cavalry team, he also A lot has been added, such as being able to replenish cavalry nearby, being able to independently decide on attack targets, etc. It almost gives him the right to start a war.

  However, these so-called rewards are not unlimited. If he wants to get these rewards, he must take over the task of suppressing bandits in the area north of Kuqiao, and the rights of the captain of the cavalry are also limited to the north of Kuqiao. , the area south of the Blackwater River. Once he leaves that area, he is just an ordinary cavalry captain.

  Although there are many restrictions, I have to say that such conditions are already very good for him.

  Three thousand gold dragons alone are far beyond the rewards that other lords would give. After all, not every lord can be like King Robert who will give out tens of thousands of gold dragons as a championship bonus.

  And most of the lords will not even give any rewards to their own family's martial arts champions. In their view, you have already received honors and bonuses in the martial arts contest. Why do you want to get rewards from me? As for the captain of the cavalry team, His duties and rights are even more unthinkable.

  In this comparison, the Tyrell family can be said to be extremely kind.

  "If I take over this task of suppressing bandits, what kind of support will my family give me?" Having already reached this point, Linde was going too far if he continued to hold back, so he asked.

  "Tax-free rights." Garland was obviously prepared and said: "Before you complete the task of suppressing bandits, you can supplement military expenditures through trade. During this period, you have tax-free rights. I believe this is enough to fill the gap in military expenditures. ."

  Linde smiled and said: "If I can never complete the suppression of bandits, will I always have tax-free rights?"

  "Of course not." Garland shook his head and said, "If you don't complete the task within five years, then the task will It will be automatically cancelled, you will be transferred back to the High Court to join the Duke's Guard, and the captain of the cavalry will also be relieved of his duties."

  "Within five years? That's enough." Lind said with great confidence, and then asked curiously : "Is this bandit suppression mission specially prepared for me?"

  "No, it was prepared for Lord Fotimo, but Lord Fotimo refused because he thought you were more suitable." Garland explained: "Later we analyzed After a while, I think you are more suitable. After all, there are no shadows of other noble lords behind you..." Perhaps he felt that this was not appropriate to say in front of Linde, so he immediately changed the subject and said: "It was just a matter of summoning the knights just now. It's just a show, lest anyone think that our Tyrell family is partial after you take over the task."

  Although Garland had already revealed all the hidden conditions, Lind still did not agree immediately, but thought very calmly. stand up.

  Garland did not urge Linde. Instead, he stood aside and looked at Glory, who was lying beside the bed. He wanted to reach out and touch Glory's fur, but he was also a little worried and scared.

  After a while, Linde seemed to have thought it over clearly and said, "Lord Garland, please help me reply to Lord Duke. I have taken over the task of suppressing bandits."

  After hearing Linde's words, Garland's face also showed a smile. He smiled, and did not stay here any longer. He turned around and prepared to leave. But when he reached the entrance of the tent, he suddenly turned back and said to Linde: "Lord Fortimo should have mentioned Nymeria to you. I think this should be a good opportunity for you. "    

  Upon hearing this, Linde raised his eyebrows, looked at Garland, and said in a deep voice: "Could it be that you are worried about marrying this countess..."

  "How is that possible?" A question appeared on Garland's face. There was a trace of embarrassment, then he quickly denied it and said with a serious face: "I just really think you and her are a good match."

  After saying that, without giving Linde a chance to question, he opened the door curtain and ran out.

  With Linde agreeing to Garland, there is no longer any suspense about who will be responsible for the task of suppressing bandits. Many people are laughing at Linde for being dazzled by the title of martial arts champion. They are waiting to see the 20,000 gold dragons that Linde has on hand. It's all in vain.

  Duke Tyrell did not announce the rewards and tax exemptions given by Garland that day. Instead, he wrote a secret order and gave it to Linde. The only thing he announced was the decision to expand the cavalry to a hundred men.

  In fact, it is public news that the cavalry will be expanded, but it has not been officially announced. Therefore, the nobles and knights in the camp are not surprised, and they also believe that even if the cavalry is expanded by a hundred people, the difficulty of the task of suppressing bandits will not be any changes.

  Because he had already received a hint from Fotimo, Linde had already selected the candidates for the expanded cavalry. The scar-eyed Mitte and those who had paid money were all recruited by Linde and formed into a team. , led by Scar-Eyed Mitt.

  Although this was far from the cavalry they wanted to become, they did not dare to question Linde for deceiving them, but honestly followed Linde's arrangements.

  As for the remaining people, Linde all chose scouts, archers and hunters who knew how to ride horses.

  Everyone was puzzled by Linde's choice, because in their opinion, Linde should choose those free riders or mercenary cavalry who were proficient in riding skills and good at various weapons.

  In this regard, they all believed that Linde was a random candidate for the cavalry team because he did not learn relevant military knowledge. Therefore, there were fewer and fewer people in the camp who were optimistic that Linde could complete the task of suppressing bandits. Everyone was waiting to see. After Linde failed, he fled back in embarrassment.

  Fortimo also found him overnight because of this incident and taught him some military knowledge. Although he studied seriously, he did not use it in forming a cavalry team. Instead, he still formed it according to his own method. Cavalry.

  On the contrary, Garland trusted him very much and believed that he must have his own ideas to form the cavalry in this way. He also dissuaded Duke Tyrell and told him not to interfere in this matter, and told the Duke to wait until the results were obtained.

  Although the conditions for the cavalry provided by Linde were very low, they were not full, and were still short of twenty dozen, because not all scouts, archers, and hunters knew how to ride a horse, and most of them had never ridden a horse in their lives. Even if you ride a horse, you can only let it move slowly. Once it starts galloping, its body will sway left and right, and eventually it will fall off the horse.

  For this reason, Lind had to recruit suitable candidates from the outside world. Duke Tyrell did not say anything about this. It seemed that he followed Garland's advice.

  At this time, there were still many mercenaries and free riders who had not left King's Landing. After they learned that the bear hunter Lynd was recruiting cavalry, they rushed to the Tyrell family's camp and soon gathered more than a thousand people. , there are many celebrities among the more than a thousand people, such as Bryn Rivers, the archer champion in this martial arts competition.

  Lind would naturally not refuse an archer of Bryn Rivers level joining the cavalry, but he was curious. Bryn Rivers had just won the archery championship, so he shouldn't be short of money, and he and Rivers Master Heiyu is also a good friend. Going to the Riverland should have more prospects. Why would you choose an ordinary cavalry team like him?

  Bryn Rivers did not give a specific explanation. He just said that he had done something not very honorable and was exiled by Duke Tully. If Lind had not recruited cavalry, he might have left Westeros by boat. On the mainland, go and settle in the city of the Free Cities Alliance on the opposite side.

  Although Bryn Rivers did not explain the situation, from the fact that he had to leave Westeros, it is not difficult to see that the dishonorable thing he committed may be serious, and he joined Lind's cavalry more The purpose is to use the name of the Tyrell family to protect themselves.

  Although Bryn Rivers joined for a purpose, it didn't matter to Linde, as long as he was easy to use.

  Perhaps it was because too many people came to join the Tyrell cavalry. These people had surrounded the Tyrell camp, making Duke Tyrell worried that things would get out of control.

  So, without informing Lind, he directly announced that the number of cavalry would be increased by another hundred people, but secretly he also asked Garland to find Lind and tell Lind about the additional hundred people. The Er family will only provide half of the salary, and Linde will be responsible for the other half.

  Linde would naturally not refuse this. For him now, the more staff the better within the scope of funds.

  Although the cavalry has expanded to 200 people, it does not mean that Linde recruited only 200 people. In fact, Linde also recruited Muss, a bankrupt businessman from across the narrow sea, as the financial officer of the cavalry. In addition, such as grooms, More than 20 cobblers and other logistics personnel were also recruited.

  By the time the Tyrell family officially set off back to Highgarden, his staff had not been fully replenished, so he could only stop and slowly replenish it on the way.

  Because no one was optimistic that Lind could complete the task of suppressing bandits, even though the knights of the Tyrell family admired Lind's personal strength, no one was willing to take the initiative to join his cavalry.

  When Lind left King's Landing with the Tyrell family's large team, he asked Moose, the newly recruited financial officer, to stay in King's Landing and find a horse dealer who could provide a large number of war horses to purchase an additional 300 war horses.

  In addition, Varys also gave Lind a gift before he left King's Landing. This gift was a topographic map of the Tumbleton area, and the drawing also marked the hiding places and members of several large bandit groups. Quantity and other information.

  The importance of this map to Lind is self-evident. Without this map, he might have spent several months collecting local intelligence, but now that these few months have been saved, he can do it faster. Complete the cleanup mission.

  I don't know if it was Varys's bad taste, but he also marked Tumbleton on this drawing, and there was a name Nymeria Footly underneath.

  (End of chapter)