OBS Chapter 242: The New Governor
Chapter 242: The New Governor
"Governor of the Southwest...which territory is this?"
When John heard the name of his new position, he was initially trying to figure out which territory in the southwest of the kingdom he might be assigned to, but he suddenly remembered what Wesker had said to him before: the standing army of the royal territory was concentrated on the southwest border.
"So they want me to go to war again, right?" John thought speechlessly. What? A plague killed all the generals in the kingdom, right? Why did they make me travel thousands of miles from the northeast to the southwest of the kingdom?
After the king gave John the appointment, he waved to the minister beside him and handed John a document.
"Take a good look, Governor John. I really leave it to you this time." The king lowered his head slightly and spoke to John in a gentle and slightly sincere tone.
However, when John browsed through the document, he found that it was a war report from the southwest border. When he read on, he understood why the king summoned him at this time.
"The Kingdom of Lana suddenly launched an attack on the Piri Mountains on the southwestern border. The Kingdom's army suffered heavy losses. Your Majesty, please send troops to support immediately!"
At the end of the letter, John saw the signature of the document - Earl of Hawes. John was very familiar with him, after all, he had extorted five hundred gold coins from him before.
However, he also guessed the general situation: Earl Hoss was a court minister, and combined with the fact that the kingdom's standing army had previously assembled here, it was highly likely that Hoss led the standing army to fight with Rana's army in the mountains on the southwest border, but lost the battle for various reasons and came to the king for help. The king probably thought that he was the only one in the entire kingdom who was capable of fighting, so he wanted to leave this mess to himself.
"If I refuse on the spot, the king will definitely beat me back to my territory. If I lose, the king may even take back some of my fiefdom. Only a fool would choose either of these two options."
John gradually realized that this was an open conspiracy. His current strength was still too weak for the king. In the past few years, he had only managed to keep his territory firmly in his own hands, but his influence in other parts of the kingdom was minimal.
As long as he left the territory, he would still be firmly controlled by the king. Even if he established mercenary companies and chambers of commerce throughout the kingdom, the 20,000 mercenaries scattered across the vast land of the kingdom were like throwing a stone into the sea. They would not be able to help him immediately.
If you want to exert influence on a place in a short period of time, there is nothing better than a war. For anyone, the threat of force and death is always the most unforgettable.
"As you wish, I will leave immediately. Please allow me a month to prepare." John bowed and said. The king entrusted him with such an important task. In addition to the most basic trust in him, the king also wanted him to go there to explore the way for him because he had no control over the local area. John also wanted to expand his influence to other places in Midland, so they hit it off.
Two weeks later, John returned to his territory. He ordered his men to prepare the army to go to the southwest border with him, and at the same time he informed the ministers in the territory about what to do after he left.
"This time I will be away from the territory for as short as half a year or as long as several years. After I leave the territory, all departments will continue to operate as usual. General Hank, you continue to closely observe the actions of the Yoda people on the opposite side. If they start a large-scale attack, you must write to me immediately."
"Okay, Your Majesty."
After explaining all the tasks to the ministers, John returned to his bedroom to visit Matilda and his two children.
John pushed open the bedroom door and found Carl and Catherine touching the two little ducks. The children were having a lot of fun. Looking at Coal's ups and downs of the duck's body, John felt that Coal might not be so happy. This might be because they disturbed the time between Coal and his girlfriend Erya.
Matilda was sitting next to John's desk. Now she also had her own things to deal with, which was to participate in charity activities in various parts of the territory, inspect public facilities on behalf of John, and at the same time improve the people's favorability towards John.
Seeing John push the door open, Matilda put down the quill in her hand, immediately stepped forward to hold John's hand, and said to John in an anxious tone:
"Did the king send you far away again?"
"The king asked me to be the governor of the southwest border. I guess I might be asked to resist the Rana army that is currently on the march." John told her truthfully.
Although Matilda didn't know why this happened, she knew that if she transferred her husband from a relatively safe territory to the battlefield, there would be a risk of him dying in battle, so she asked more anxiously:
"How could the king do this? What if something happened to you..." When she said this, Matilda's eyes began to turn red, as if she might cry at any time.
At this moment, John hugged Matilda, rubbed her back and comforted her:
"Okay, okay, you forgot how I met you. If I hadn't led the troops to capture Nilan Territory at that time, there would be no Karl, Catherine and the others. Don't worry, I will be fine. After I leave, the soldiers and people in the territory will protect you."
"Daddy, hug me!" At this moment, a childish voice sounded in John's ears. He lowered his head and found that Catherine was grabbing his pants with her tender little hands.
"Okay, okay, daddy will hold you." John picked up Catherine, then picked up Carl next to him and kissed them each on the forehead.
"Gah!"
Seeing this, Coal Ball at the side made an inappropriate cry, which made John turn around and ask in a fake tone:
"Why, you want to hug too?"
When John held the coal ball's body with his hands and weighed it, he said to the coal ball:
"You should lose weight. Karl and Catherine are not as heavy as you. You used to be a ball, but now you are just a big ball of dough."
……
Coal Ball remained silent in response to John's words. Perhaps it was because humans and ducks do not speak the same language, or perhaps it was because Coal Ball wanted to express his protest against John's evaluation of his weight through silent silence.
Two weeks later, John led more than 10,000 people including baggage and marched towards the southwest. Before setting out, John had already calculated the expenses of taking office. In addition to military pay, John also needed to pay for various daily expenses. For half a year, John would need at least about 10,000 gold coins to maintain this huge army.
While John was thinking about how to make money in the new territory, a huge fortress appeared on the distant horizon.
"Sir, we will soon pass by the southern army camp. Do we need to notify them in advance?" the White Wolf Knight at the side reminded.
"Well, I haven't seen Laban for a long time. I don't know how he is doing." Thinking of this, John couldn't wait to have a good chat with Laban and take a look at the quality of the Midland army in the south.