Chapter 90: Famine in the North
Half a month later, Rhodes finally saw the first caravan arriving at Hekou Town.

It was Adrich from Jianling Chamber of Commerce. Almost every member of the caravan following him held a shovel.

When they arrived here, they dropped their shovels, panting.

I was exhausted from the work of clearing the snow-covered roads along the way.

"Sir, your previous action of purchasing food in the fortress was really wise!"

Adrich came to Rhodes and shook his head uncontrollably when he recalled the situation at Broken Dragon Fortress when he left.

Rhodes asked curiously, "How bad is the situation there now?"

Although there was a letter to find out, the content of the letter was not sufficient to explain the situation.

Rhodes only knew that the problem was serious, but he had no idea of ​​the specific situation.

Adrich said in a fearful tone: "Half of the cultivated land in the valley plains is destroyed! Not many people froze to death. According to the news circulating in the fortress, less than 10,000 people died."

"What's scary is that food prices have gone crazy, rising three times in just one day!"

"The cheapest potatoes are still 1 copper coin per pound during the day, but they become 3 copper coins per pound at noon, and soar to 6 copper coins per pound at night!"

"It's crazy! This price used to buy the best quality wheat! Now it can only buy a basket of rotten potatoes. Even so, residents are still rushing to buy them."

Adrich said with a sudden regret, "When I left, the price of barley and rye was more than 20 copper coins per pound."

This was the nth time he had sighed in his heart.

If I could run a grain business, the money I earned that day would be enough to last me for several lifetimes!
From Adrich's words, Rhodes could sense the panic of the fortress residents.

Broken Dragon Fortress supports more than half a million residents, and the daily food consumption is an astronomical figure.

The panic caused by the food crisis there is even greater than that caused by the hundreds of thousands of barbarian troops!
After all, the latter has been proven unable to capture a fortress, but the former can easily disintegrate it from within.

In the following days, new caravans continued to arrive at Hekou Town.

This allowed the town's supplies to circulate again and also allowed Rhodes to update the intelligence within the fortress.

Food purchase restrictions are now in place there, and large numbers of troops are patrolling the city streets.

The Duke of Beishuang controls the fortress with an absolute high-pressure policy.

Any noble or merchant is prohibited from hoarding food or maliciously raising prices to create panic.

According to the newly arrived caravan, the Grand Duke chopped off the heads of more than twenty nobles in one day alone, and countless merchants were killed.

The blood from the corpses even dyed the entire market red.

But things are definitely getting better.

According to the explanation from Broken Dragon Fortress City Hall, a large amount of food is on the way from the Great Plains, so all residents don't have to worry.

Rhodes thought that the turmoil would gradually subside.

Until the neighbor, Baron Jeff, the duchy baron next to the river mouth town, suddenly came to visit.

To be honest, Rhodes was quite surprised when he saw Baron Jeff and the ten guards following him.

Although they concealed it well, Rhodes was still able to find the problem.

The cheeks of this group of people had sunken marks and their faces were yellow, and it was obvious that they had been hungry frequently during this period.

Things are not going well at the neighbor's house.

The icebreaker was abducted from the other party's territory. Since the icebreaker came to visit, Rhodes did not refuse.

A small banquet was held in the town's castle to welcome them.

The food was very simple, just a few plates of grilled fish, a whole roasted lamb and enough bread.

By the standards of aristocratic banquets, it was so shabby that it was not even worthy of the word banquet. It was just a gathering of rich peasants.

But we have to consider the overall environment in everything. Nowadays, the price of food has risen ridiculously, and it is good enough to have enough to eat. And if he shows off blindly, what will he do if his neighbors ask him for food?
Whether you agree or not is a question.

As it turned out, Baron Jeff did not dislike the food at all. Instead, he ate it with great pleasure, and he wanted to chew all the bones of the lamb leg into pieces and swallow them into his stomach.

Noticing Rhodes's gaze, Baron Jeff wiped his greasy fingers awkwardly.

"Well, it's tradition in the Principality that you have to swallow meat in big mouthfuls like this."

He explained with gritted teeth, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Rhodes nod in sudden enlightenment.

Rhode didn't care about such a small matter and said, "Enjoy your meal. Do you want me to take you to see the scenery of Hanshui River? The sun will set in two hours, and the road will be difficult to walk on."

His tone was concerned, but the meaning was clear.

The territory does not have much trade with each other.

Rhodes could tell that the other party came for food and just wanted to send them away quickly.

It was a rare occasion for Baron Jeff to have a full stomach, and he couldn't help but burp.

He understood Rhode's intention to send him away, but after standing there for a while, hesitating, he finally asked:
"Knight Rhodes, there is no need for a tour. My territory is currently experiencing some minor food problems. Can I buy some from you?"

Seeing that Rhodes just showed a polite smile, it meant rejection.

Baron Jeff quickly added:
"A little bit is enough, even if it's just a few hundred pounds! I can buy it at a high price! Thank you for your generosity."

Was this neighbor's situation a little too bad? Rhodes looked puzzled.

Just for a few hundred pounds of food, he actually heard a pleading tone from the baron's mouth.

The other party had said so much, it was difficult for Rhode to refuse.

I exchanged two hundred pounds of grain for 50 silver coins from him.

After seeing the baron off, Rhodes sent people to gather information and gradually gained a deeper understanding of the current situation.

Dragon Fortress and the principality's territories to the south are indeed being stabilized.

But the area north of the fortress is different!
In this principality's territory, a large-scale famine broke out due to the cold wave that killed a large number of precious livestock meat and the lack of food supply in the rear.

And it seems that the Northern Frost Principality does not plan to send anyone to manage it in the short term.

“Racial issues are becoming more and more troublesome.”

After getting enough information, Rhodes figured out the reason.

The territorial nobles in the southern part of the fortress are all descendants of the kingdom's pioneering nobles and the ethnic group to which Grand Duke Beishuang belongs.

That is the true Principality of North Frost.

But the northern part of the principality, close to the northern border, is different.

Most of the territorial nobles here are from other ethnic groups in the north, such as the Rorosa people of the Wolf Chief, the Ansaro people of the Tiger Chief, etc.

Only the governor of a region would arrange for the Grand Duke's people, such as Rhodes's aunt Elena.

The main task is to ensure the stability of these foreign nobles.

But even so, the chaos in this area never stopped, and rebellions broke out from time to time.

Baron Jeff is a different case. He is a citizen of the kingdom and his ancestors made great contributions to the development of the country.

But his original identity was a commoner, and without any backing, his family could only be a baron in a dangerous border area.

The Northern Frost Principality is busy dealing with issues in the south and has no time to care about the north.

But they can ignore it, but Rhodes and other pioneering knights further north cannot.

The end of the famine will inevitably lead to larger-scale riots!
(End of this chapter)