Law of the Devil

"Is there any other expenses?" Du Wei sighed.

"Yes! Of course there is!" Delong smiled wryly: "Many of the knights' associations from all over the country are members of the association, and those knight officials who are in charge of the assessment, they have to eat and drink to support such a large group of people. The Knights Association in the mainland now has a total of more than 600 knights under its name! The armor of these people needs to be repaired? The weapons are also regularly repaired? And their horses-how can a knight have no horses? More than 600 a year The expenses of people are almost equivalent to a middle-level knight order! At least 30,000 gold coins are needed to barely survive! We can only spend our limited funds on feeding people now...the horses are really neglected! My lord, You are also the leader of the army, you know, the cost of feeding a war horse for a year is more than feeding a person!"

Du Wei nodded involuntarily.

"In addition to the knights in the association, there are also some normal handymen from various associations-you can't expect those noble knights to sweep the floor and clean the windows in person? These people, there are now a total of One thousand and forty people, and the annual expenses are about two to three thousand gold coins—of course, these are very few. We try to hire some cheap labor."

"I know that I have a bad reputation in the imperial capital. Many people say that I desecrate the spirit of chivalry by buying and selling knight badges, but I can't help it." Land expenses cost at least 100,000 gold coins! It’s just enough to keep everyone fed and keep the shelf alive! But where can I get 100,000 gold coins? The army only gives 10,000 to 20,000 gold coins every year at most Thanks to the King Regent. The legality of the mercenary group is now open, and there are more people who apply for the assessment of the knight level every year, but the annual income in this respect is only 40,000 to 50,000 gold coins. More than 30,000 gold coins in shortfall! Where can I get these 30,000 gold coins?"

Deron said the last. A sincere expression on his face. He looked at Du Wei with sincere eyes like a child looking up at his parents: "Master, tell me, can I do it without buying and selling knight badges? If I don't want to be a clown, can I get along?"

Du Wei was completely speechless.

When Delong was talking about the excitement, he suddenly slapped the armor on his chest hard, with a strange smile on his face: "My lord, let me just say that the armor I'm wearing now... still looks good. But you don't know. In order to save cost and material expenses... This set of armor looks magnificent, but in fact... the iron plate inside is hollow! Let alone using a weapon. You take a stronger wooden stick and lightly poke a hole. !"

Du Wei: "..."

The headquarters of the famous Knights Association is just south of the imperial capital.

It can be said that from the perspective of the occupied area. It is quite in line with the title of "Continental Knights Association", one of the two major organizations in the mainland.

Headquarters of the Knights Association. The theme building is a square tower with an empty patio in the middle and a row of wide three-story buildings on all sides. The theme building is made of solid granite, which looks extremely solid. And if it is in wartime, it is also quite defensive.

And the area is quite large, if you ride a horse around the headquarters of the Knights Association. It also takes about a cup of tea to work!

For such a large piece of land, the price of the land alone is already very valuable in the imperial capital, the most powerful city in the mainland.

Unfortunately, when Du Wei came to the famous "Continental Knights Association Headquarters", he was almost stunned by the scene in front of him!

Is this... is this the sanctuary of majestic chivalry?

This... This is simply a vegetable market! !

I saw that in this square building, every wall facing the street has been opened up, and the houses inside have become various shops! There are those who sell cloth and gestures. Those who sell jewelry, those who sell food. A place selling handicrafts...and even vegetables! !

Du Wei's eyes widened. Pointing to the front... The sound of yelling and selling came one after another, and it was very lively.

There was no guilt on Deron Knight's face. Instead, he smiled triumphantly: "Look, my lord, we are here."

"This... this is..."

"This is our knight headquarters!" Deron puffed up his chest.

"I thought I saw a vegetable market!" Du Wei's voice was a bit harsh.

"There is no other way." Delong sighed: "This land and houses cannot be sold according to the law, so after thinking about it for a long time, I can only open up the wall facing the street and turn these houses into shops for rent out. Sir, don't underestimate these rents, many people in our headquarters in the imperial capital rely on these rents to support themselves!"

With that said, he had dismounted and led his old horse to the front.

What stunned Du Wei and many of the guards under his command was that the Deron knight walked all the way, as if he was like a fish in water, and kept saying hello to the shop owners, looking very warm and familiar.

"Ah! Uncle Anong, the business is good! Haha..."

"Aunt Sophie, this month's rent is about to be due... ok, I'll send someone to collect it tomorrow."

"Boss Dick, this batch of cabbage looks quite fresh...ah, it's for me? Thank you so much, hahahaha..."

Looking at the president of the Continental Knights Association, Du Wei suddenly remembered a professional person he knew in his previous life: farmer's market manager!

While greeting these small vendors, Delong took some things like cabbage and tomatoes in his hand, and waved back to Du Wei: "My lord, we are here, don't stand there, come in quickly."

Walking into the gate of the Knights Association, the voice of shouting and yelling from outside still kept coming, and Du Wei's face was a little ugly. With a calm expression, Delong casually threw the food he picked up just now to a lame old man at the door. He laughed and said, "I cooked it in one pot at night! Haha, I saved another meal today."

After hearing this, Du Wei's face was very strange, and the feeling in his heart was even more complicated.

Walked into the gate of the association. As the thick wooden gate behind him closed, Du Wei carefully surveyed the courtyard.

About the size of two football fields.

Obviously, in the era of knight glory. Such a large open space is used for knights to practice martial arts, and generally it can also be used as a racecourse. It's a pity that now... but simple wooden sheds have been built piece by piece. .

"What are these wooden sheds for?" Du Wei frowned: "Could it be a place for people to live in?"

"Inhabitants? Of course not." Deron smiled wryly: "My lord, there are only six people in the headquarters of the Knights Association in the imperial capital! But you see, such a large Knights Association, such a large building, is more than enough to accommodate at least a thousand people. The six of us can live in any room we want. This piece of wooden shed is not for living, but... a warehouse."

"Warehouse?" Du Wei was speechless again.

"Yes, it's the warehouse." When Delong talked about this matter, he looked joyful: "Thanks to the regent! Since he came to power, the imperial capital has become more and more prosperous. Businessmen from all over the mainland have gathered here The emperor is coming! But after that comes the emperor

House prices and land prices are on the rise! You think, so many merchants came to the imperial capital. There must be a place to pile up the bulk of the goods they bring! But the house prices in the imperial capital are so expensive now! The warehouse rent has also doubled several times! Businessmen complained. Under such circumstances, I had an idea, don't we still have a large open space here? Anyway, being idle is idle, why not build a wooden shed and rent it out as a warehouse! I'm not black at all! The rental price I offered was 30% lower than the market price! "

Looking at Delong's intoxicated look. Du Wei almost vomited blood.

Warehouse... Warehouse! !

"Fortunately, there are these warehouses! You don't know that our current building, the annual repair costs, can be counted on the rental income of these warehouses!" Delong smiled, and tied the old horse to a pillar. beside.

Du Wei sighed: "Your Excellency Delong, these warehouses, starting tomorrow, you will ask them to return the goods one by one. After all, we are going to rebuild here. This...is a little outrageous."

"Retire? This...is not easy to handle." Delong was a little embarrassed, with a smile hidden in his eyes: "You don't know. The goods here belong to the chamber of commerce of some famous and famous noble families in the imperial capital. ! I signed a contract with them. I can't refund... Besides, there are so many big people. I don't dare to offend them."

"You are afraid of offending people, but I am not." Du Wei said lightly, "Who are the local goods?"

"No, these rooms are the arsenal of the Warcraft family in Delan Mountain! The warehouses are full of iron ore! Ah, these rooms are the goods of the Chamber of Commerce of Earl Villa, some timber shipped from the south .”

Du Wei pointed to a piece of wooden shed in front... This piece of wooden shed has the largest area, which is more than the sum of the other pieces!

Du Wei said angrily, "What about these? Which one are they from?"

"This..." Delong smiled wryly, and glanced at Du Wei with a strange look in his eyes: "Grand Duke Tulip... the goods piled up in this wooden shed are all goods from your family... I just did business with your family last month. The manager, Mr. Zack, has signed the contract. Because the rent I paid is cheap, Mr. Zack has rented this place for three years in one go!!"

Du Wei: "..."

In Du Wei's heart, after all, it is the majestic Continental Knights Association! The two major organizations in the mainland that are as famous as the Magic Union! Even if it declined again, Du Wei never thought that it would be so decadent!

Of course, he has been to the headquarters of the Magic Union many times. What kind of grandeur and majesty is it?

But look at this again... the headquarters of the Continental Knights Association?

Vegetable market? Storage in a large warehouse?

At this time, Du Wei's heart suddenly moved. He noticed that there seemed to be a strange smile in the eyes of Deron Knight.

In an instant, Du Wei seemed to wake up suddenly and understood something.

His face returned to calm in an instant, and he waved his hand, making Lao Yan and other guards behind him retreat first.

Du Wei walked up a few steps slowly, touched those simple wooden sheds lightly, and suddenly said: "Knight Deron, I suddenly realized that you are really very talented in business."

Deron smiled and said nothing.

"Actually... I've heard a lot of stories about you. To be honest, there's nothing good about you in those stories."

Deron shook his head and said with a smile, "I'm used to it."

Du Wei lowered his head and thought for a while, then frowned and said, "I think it's really a drag and a burden for you to carry the title of president of this association! With your intelligence, you were tied to death in such a What a pity to be on a rotten ship! With your wisdom, if you are willing to go to my family to do some commercial business management, you will definitely become a famous businessman in a short time-it is better than supporting this here A broken frame is a hundred times stronger."

Deron fell silent.

But Du Wei continued slowly: "I thought you were a corrupt villain, a moth in the Knights Association... But I saw everything here today, and I understood... You don't hesitate to be a clown, But he is painstakingly maintaining such a mess... Your Excellency, Knight Deron, please accept my sincere apology!"

As he spoke, Du Wei lowered his head deeply.

The smirk on Deron's face disappeared.

When Du Wei raised his head, he asked, "Knight Deron, I'm curious... The Knights' Association has been down for hundreds of years! Logically speaking, all this didn't happen in your hands! At least It was rotten when you were young! But when you were young and promising, why did you choose to stay on such a sunken wreck?"

Du Wei's voice was very sincere, without any pretense.

Delong finally sighed, his eyes no longer had that kind of cynicalism, but were dignified.

Slowly, the president of the Knights Association spoke.

"My teacher was the former president of the Knights Association. He adopted me and trained me... and the teacher had a total of nine disciples. Unfortunately, when the other eight grew up, they almost couldn't wait to escape from this ghost. Place! I have to admit that... I also wanted to leave here! Because in my opinion, the so-called Knights Association is already finished! There is no possibility of revitalization at all! But..."

Delong suddenly turned sideways, quickly flicked away a drop of tears from the corner of his eyes, took a deep breath, and said slowly: "Before my teacher died, he held my hand, and he begged me to stay. Begging I inherit his mantle and do my best to maintain this stall! Before he died, the teacher said to me: Although the knight's gun is gone, he firmly believes that there are still many people whose chivalry lives in their hearts! "

As he said that, he seemed to smile again, with a frivolous smile: "To be honest, I don't believe it! I don't believe there is such a thing as chivalry in this world! But I can't refuse the teacher's dying plea! So... That's why I stayed here, inherited the title of a ninth-level knight, the position of a president, and became the head of a bare knight group. Until today, my hair has also started to turn gray... because, I promised the teacher ! I promised him!"

Hearing this, Du Wei was suddenly shocked!

"You... have worked so hard!" Du Wei sighed, and without hesitation, he suddenly walked over, grabbed Delong's wrist with both hands, and solemnly said word by word: "Knight Delong! I I have to say that you are the most respectable knight I have ever seen in my life! Although the world regards you as a clown! But in my eyes, you are a noble knight! At least you kept your promise!"

Yes, it is a promise!

A word is a promise, a lifetime to keep it!

This is the real knight!

Looking into Du Wei's eyes, Delong finally sighed, and he held Du Wei's hand tightly...