Chapter 188 Recruiting the Militia
The first thing Adela III did when he returned to the city lord's palace was to throw the commander of the city defense corps, Horn, into prison.
When the exasperated lord was about to play political games and choose an officer who had a grudge against Horn to replace Horn as his father taught him, Butler Gould hurried back to stop him.
The Bartles family's transfer of property and heirs before the war had already made the city defense soldiers uneasy. If the generals were replaced temporarily, the combat effectiveness of this army would be completely destroyed.
Adela III had no choice but to release Horn and let him lead the army. He also humbly listened to the old butler's advice and ordered the city hall to organize people to recruit militia in the city to make up the numbers - the nobles had already turned against him, and he really had no choice but to turn to the city hall.
Recruiting "militia" from the city is not a good idea, as the young and strong people in the city are not as easily intimidated as the farmers in the countryside, but this is indeed the only solution that Butler Gould can think of at the moment: since the change of ownership of Innadeli is inevitable, he can only create more trouble for the illegitimate child to the best of his ability!
Casualties are inevitable when two armies fight. Rex's undead army killed civilians in the city, so he can forget about sitting comfortably on the throne of lord. When the Bartles family "strategically moves" to a safe place to recuperate and fights back again, won't the locals who have a blood feud with Rex have to welcome the royal army with food and drink?
When the Bartles family seized the last opportunity to make trouble for Rex, Viscount Darcy, who had returned to his own mansion, did not even have time to drink water before calling Butler Ford and asked him bluntly, "Why is there no news from China?"
It has been nearly a week since Viscount Darcy sent his third granddaughter, China, who was used as a tool for marriage, to Westham. At this moment, the Viscount is more concerned than ever about the marriage of this granddaughter, whose appearance he hardly remembers.
Butler Ford said awkwardly: "This... Miss China had sent someone back two days ago. Charlie Rex was not interested in her. She wanted to ask if she could come back..."
Viscount Darcy slammed the teacup and angrily cursed the unfilial granddaughter who had never shown any talent since she was a child and brought shame to the Darcy family.
Butler Ford shut up.
Miss China was originally the least attractive among the grandchildren. The Viscount looked down on Charlie Rex from the bottom of his heart and thought that the least attractive granddaughter was good enough to get rid of the illegitimate son... Who could be blamed for this?
Viscount Darcy had actually anticipated this, but having been right all his life, he would never admit his negligence that day and would definitely put the blame on the incompetent China.
The two armies were at war, and if the Darcy family sent their most beautiful granddaughter to meet Rex in the enemy camp, the Darcy family would become a laughing stock in the entire Innadella... Viscount Darcy paced anxiously in the study, unable to think of how to submit this "letter of allegiance".
Butler Ford knew that it was time to help his master solve his problem, so he walked out of the study and asked the butler to bring in the things he had prepared.
A two-piece denim suit, a four-piece bed sheet and quilt set with two pillowcases, a furry scarf that looks like fur, gloves, and a thermos with a plastic shell.
"What is that?" Viscount Darcy frowned and looked at the thermos. He couldn't tell what it was.
"These are the goods that the Westerham people secretly sent to the South City to sell to the civilians during the war." Butler Ford couldn't help but beam with joy. He first picked up the denim jacket to show Viscount Darcy the thick fabric. "This kind of clothes, which are as strong as canvas, only cost twenty copper coins. The civilians in the South City are almost going crazy to buy them. Even our male servants couldn't get them. We spent three times the price to get this set from a drunkard."
Viscount Darcy was stunned at the time: "Twenty copper coins?? A set?!"
Butler Ford put down his clothes and shook out the bed sheet in the four-piece suit like a treasure: "There is also this kind of bedding, a set is also twenty copper coins."
Um… it’s the cheap supermarkets in small cities in the 18th tier that sell for 15 yuan a set, 18 yuan a set for sale, claiming to be pure cotton but actually made of synthetic fiber four-piece sets, 1688 wholesale price around 10 yuan…
Viscount Darcy couldn't help but take two steps forward and reached out to touch the bed sheet. Feeling the soft touch of his fingertips, the Viscount couldn't help but ask the same soul-searching question as the civilians in South City: "Damn it, where did Westram get so many cheap goods?! If he sells them at this price, won't Rex lose all his family assets?"
Butler Ford put down the bed sheet, holding a furry scarf in one hand, a furry scarf in the other, and a pair of furry gloves that made you feel warm just by looking at them, and said excitedly: "These scarves and gloves are also ten copper coins each, and the women in the South City are fighting for them like crazy!"
Well... the fur items are actually scarves and gloves made of synthetic fibers. The minimum purchase price is 6 yuan per piece, and if you buy in large quantities, the price can be reduced to 5 yuan. There are also fur doll bags, fur handbags, fur doll pendants and the like. Yang Qiu felt that the latter were not practical and did not purchase any.
Viscount Darcy grabbed the scarf and felt the texture, his jaw dropping even more.
"Finally, this is it." Butler Ford held up a plastic thermos bottle that was slightly thinner than a large Coke bottle, and his breathing became heavier. "This double-layer thermos bottle only costs twenty copper coins!"
Viscount Darcy's hand trembled and the scarf fell to the ground.
Of course, this world also has insulation technology. The thermos bottles used by most middle-class and aristocratic families use silver-plated glass liner technology. The prices are very high, and the cheapest ones are priced by silver coins.
Yang Qiu didn't even go online to buy the batch of thermos bottles (water bottles) that are essential for winter households that were leaked from Westram. Instead, he bought them directly from a local township enterprise in his hometown, Province G. Not only did the shells have beautiful designs with high-end, classy, and fresh paint jobs, the prices were also very reasonable, at a factory price of 10 yuan... and shipping was included.
Viscount Darcy stared up and down at the thermos in Butler Ford's hand. The bottle was light green in color, with fresh flowers printed on it and a handle. He roughly calculated in his mind that he could make several times the difference by loading a carload of thermos bottles and sending them to the royal city via the magic steam train. He couldn't help but be as excited as Butler Ford.
"We need Rex's friendship!" Viscount Darcy said forcefully, "Where are those Westram people? We must protect them and not let the Bartles family harm them!"
Butler Ford knew his master very well. He smiled and took credit for it: "I have asked all the male servants in the house to keep an eye on those Westham people. As long as there is any movement, they will go up to help."
"But what's the use of servants? Send..." Viscount Darcy said this, and suddenly remembered that most of his private soldiers were lost outside the city gate, and only a hundred people were left to escape back in disgrace. He twitched with pain and gritted his teeth, "Send those useless things too!"
Butler Ford knew that this was another sore spot for his master, so he lowered his head and responded compliantly.
Because of the war outside the city, the mobile mill was not in operation, so John couldn't go out to earn errands today.
At noon, he ran to an empty warehouse on the edge of the mule and horse market and peeked at the battle scene for a while. When he returned home for lunch, John was so excited that he kept telling his family how brave and powerful the undead outside were, and how they defeated the armies of the nobles in the city.
John's mother knew that her eldest son was very close to the mill workers from Westham. This woman, who was only in her early forties but looked as old as 50 or 60, did not hate the people of Westham because of the undead. However, her life experience over the years had taught her the importance of being cautious. She tried to remind her son as tactfully as possible: "Speak less, John. Don't make your brother run over to watch the fight. That's too dangerous."
John nodded, and immediately said to his brother with a stern face: "Barry, did you hear what mom said? You are not allowed to go to the mule and horse market these days, otherwise all the candy in the house will belong to Jenny."
The little boy said unconvincedly, "We didn't go there to play in the first place. If you want to favor Jenny, just say so!"
Jenny is the youngest child in their family. Although she is skinny and small and doesn't look cute at all, she is very sensible: "It's okay, Brother Barry. I will give you half of the candy."
The little boy muttered, "I don't want your sympathy, just eat it yourself."
John patted his brother's head and said to his mother, "Mom, I want to go to see if I can find a job."
"It's better not to go. Two days won't make a difference." Mother advised, "Didn't the nobles in the city lose the battle? I heard your grandfather say that when the nobles get angry, the people below will suffer. Who knows if there will be chaos in the city?"
"I know. I won't go to crowded places." John said, "The gang members in the city have disappeared recently. It's easy to find work in the tavern area. I will be back before it gets dark and there are too many people."
The mother hesitated, but finally, considering that her son was already grown up and it was not good to control him too much, she nodded reluctantly: "Then you have to be careful."
John responded with a smile.
After lunch, the little boy Barry ran to find his friends, his mother went to work in the laundry as usual, and John sent Jenny to his uncle's house in the same alley .
Little boys in the slums can play as much as they want, but little girls cannot. When the adults are busy, they have to send the girls to the homes of relatives or friends who are under adult supervision. Otherwise, they may not be able to find their own girls - there are too many men living here who will never find a wife in their entire lives, and these men will do anything when they have evil thoughts.
After settling his sister down, John called Sanji, Tommy and Bobby, and the four young men walked towards the South Gate together, talking and laughing.
Yes, there will be drastic changes in Innadeli, and the lord living in the City Lord’s Mansion in the central city will be replaced, but what does this have to do with them?
They didn't know what the lord looked like, had never been to the gate of City Hall, or even to Midtown - let alone Midtown, they couldn't even enter the better neighborhoods. The burly patrol police on the streets wouldn't allow poor people like them to get close to where good people lived. If they lost something, no one would be responsible.
The South City area was not much different from usual, except that the men who had free time in broad daylight to sit and chat in roadside taverns had changed their topic of conversation from which street's women were promiscuous to the future of Innadeli. They talked loudly about whether the cups the gentlemen drank from would be changed from gold to silver.
John kept his promise with his mother. After explaining the situation to his friends, the four of them did not go to crowded places. Instead, they took a detour through the alleys and headed to the tavern area on St. Joseph Street as they were familiar with the place.
After walking out of the winding and narrow alley and onto the southern section of St. Joseph Street, John and his three companions discovered that something was wrong.
There were a lot of city police officers on the sidewalk!
People looking for work on the streets are most afraid of seeing the city police. The four of them instinctively wanted to retreat back to the alley... but it was too late.
The city police who accidentally discovered these four young men happily surrounded them and arrested them without saying a word.
"Wait a minute sir, we just-Ah!"
This was not the first time that John had been in trouble with the city police. He tried to argue but was grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground.
"Stop talking nonsense!"
The city police knew how to quiet down these people who were obviously begging for food from outside the city. They kicked John's stomach and arms several times with their leather boots, and the dirty young man curled up into a ball.
