Du Wei puts away the booklet and gives his father a grateful look.
"And I would like to remind you one thing!" Earl Raymond speaks in a solemn voice: "The Northwest is completely different from this place! Because of the harsh conditions, those guys over there at the Northwest army will not hesitate in the least to pull their knives at every turn! Remember my words, although you are a Duke in name, but don't get go thinking you can put on the air of a superior in front of those old warlords.….." At this point, Earl Raymond looks straight into Du Wei's eyes: "From the surface, those people may be soldiers, but in truth, they are already bordering on the line of robbers. Just like you, two Earls were also sent out to govern the place in the past decade, but every time they were, humph–hump. You must remember, those two that was assigned the task weren't weaklings in anyway, but still….."
Du Wei pays close attention: "What happen?"
"The first person is someone that relied on his family's commercial success to climb the ladder. Eventually he was granted Desa Province as his territory after achieving some successes. But then after moving to that place, this person started to give off attitude toward the bosses inside the Northwest army. Within half a year, the guy met his end after being played for a fool. From word of mouth, his family was even eradicated by some bandits on the road. As to the truth behind this matter, everyone inside the high command understood it very well. It's just that the backing behind this family wasn't all that strong and the fact that the Northwest Army is heavily armed. In the end, the bosses over at the high command didn't want to offend these people too hard and only penalized a few months' worth of wage." Pausing for a moment, Earl Raymond continues: "As for the second person, he can be considered someone with some background. Hailing from a military family, his distant uncle is even the deputy army chief inside the Southwest Regiment. And because of his relationship, he was eventually granted a hereditary title. Unfortunately for him, his luck wasn't all that good and the land he was bestowed upon was the Desa Province. When he first arrived there, he was also like the first person and showed no signs of giving in to those old warlords. As retaliation, his cargo was continuously robbed while in transit; eventually, forcing him to go begging those assholes in the Northwest army to take pity on him. After two years of struggling to support himself, the second guy gave up and withdrew himself from the place and headed back south….."
Du Wei threw up a breather.
After all, his knowledge is only from those old maps and data in storage, so how can he match up to his old pops? From Du Wei's view, those guys in the Northwest army are the same as bandits by now and particularly xenophobic at that.
IF he wants to take root in the Northwest, Du Wei is afraid it won't be so easy.
Earl Raymond stood up after leaving behind these words: "This is all I can help you with. Although the Northwest is full of lions and wolves, but i still look well upon this situation with you in it. If you are smart and skilled, taking root there wouldn't be too difficult in my view. What is truly hard is how you will build up your influence and power. In this world, those without influence and power will never succeed. Look, the war in the Northwest is already in front of you. Grab onto this opportunity and elevate your power. Consider this your test…. If you can't achieve an ideal outcome in the end, it just means you were never meant to."
The father and son duo gave each other a hug before bidding each other farewell.
Du Wei escorted his father out the door and into the carriage. Then facing his mother, Du Wei smiled and waved his hand: "Mother, I'll come visit you in the Rowling Plains after a period had passed."
With that said, he noticed the unhappy face on Gabri's face through the carriage window. Struck with a thought, Du Wei moved over while letting out a laugh: "Brother, I left behind some fun things in the old castle back at home. Once you are there, you can go to the little manor that I built behind the castle and take a look. All the information and blueprints related to the things I created in the Rowling Plains are kept there. If you think are interested, feel free to have a look."
With another few comforting words, the young Gabri finally loosened up and firmly looked over at Du Wei: "Brother, once I grow up, I will definitely come find you!"
On this day, the once glorious Rowling Household finally took their leave from the imperial capital and headed back to their old home in the Rowling Plains.
However, what is out of Du Wei's expectation is the fact that Alpha did not go with Earl Raymond.
"Lord Earl's order." Alpha watches his master in the front: "From today onward, I am no longer a member of the Rowling family. Duke Rudolph, I will be following you from now on."
After sending off his parent and brother, Du Wei had no time right now to be sad.
In his hand, there are still many things he needs to deal with, including the matters of forming a team to manage his new territory because once the royal decree is handed down, those officials there would be relocated.
No matter how barren or desolate the place is, it is still a province! Whether it is the local officials, or even a little clerk…. All of these positions need to be filled!
But what does Du Wei have right now?
A warrior wielding enough power to stand at the very summit of the continent, but other than that, he has nothing else...
Thinking it over and over, he just can't bring himself to appoint those pirates to govern the province….
In fact, just the image of that happening is enough to send cold sweat down his back.
Lack of manpower!
A serious lack of manpower!
In accordance with regular practices, the date of the territory being handed over to him is three months, but still, where the hell will Du Wei find so many capable people?
The truth is Du Wei really wanted to reappoint the old officials from the Rowling Plains, but it turns out that won't work! After his family was convicted, every single official inside the Rowling Plains was dismissed and relegated to the status of a regular civilian. In addition, these people were hence forth banished from government postings for the rest of their lives!
Du Wei can pull a little weight to preserve his father's life, but if he goes any further than this not even Prince Son would overlook his blatant disregard for authority.
Thinking the matter back and forth, Du Wei caught sight of his old housekeeper in a daze – the former horse groomer Mr. Marde.
"Ahh... Marde." Du Wei blinks a few times as he looked over his faithful servant: "From the looks of it, you won't be able to stay in your chairman position for much longer…. Even so, are you interested in being a governor of a province>"
Governor?
Old Marde was so scared that his legs nearly gave out. Seeing this, Du Wei affectionately came over and lent a helping hand in keeping the old guy up.
Crying out, Marde said: "Young master….. Look at me, do you think I look like someone capable of being a governor?"
Du Wei firmly rubs his temples: "Aigh, what am I going to do? Three months only…. Three months!"
After casually lifting Marde up, Du Wei looks up into the sky before suddenly asking one thing: "Marde, what's the date today?"
"June 15." Marde finally breathes out a sigh of relief after seeing his young master had dropped the topic.
Old Marde is an honest person that draws close to the simple minded thinking of a farmer. In his mind, he is fully aware of his own capabilities and recognized that he is not someone capable of carrying the burden of being a governor!
Don't bite off more than what you can chew, Marde understood this saying very well in his heart.
The 15th of June?
Du Wei eyes lit up when thought came up in his mind. Raiding his voice, he immediately shouted out: "Marde, bring me my horse, I need to go out!"
After a pause, he asked: "Is there a Flying Horse town northwest of the capital city?"
Before the sun had set for the day, Du Wei had already left the capital on horseback and headed straight for the Flying Horse town in the northwest.
Before he made it out of the city gates, some of the soldiers in charge had recognized Du Wei and immediately opened up a path. As the newly appointed Duke, there is no way these people would dare block his path.
Carrying the green magic tool on his body, Du Wei recounted the words left to him by Gandalf: As long as he bring the item with him to the Yamaha Hill next to the Flying House Town and ignite the thing under the moonlight, the person that will be his future teacher will definitely appear!
That Flying Horse town isn't hard to locate, but the Yamaha Hill wasn't so easy. After expending much effort, Du Wei finally figure out the Yamaha Hill is actually the field slope outside the town after having it explained to him by an old local living in town: The name of the two slopes was stemmed from an old tale where horse spirits from the heaven had jumped across these two slopes. But Due to how old this legend was, not many people nowadays would call the slope this name."
"Oh, then what is this place called now?"
"Brokeback Mountain."
Du Wei: "...…..Bloody hell."
(Cowboy movie!!! HEEEE HAAAAA)
Stampeding out of town at the fastest pace he can go, Du Wei finally arrived at his destination just before the sun was down.
Seeing the darkness of night is already upon him, Du Wei slowly rode into the woods. In his heart, he really wanted to go faster, but just the fact that he was going uphill is hard enough, not to mention its night time with lots of shrubbery blocking his sight.
To save the trouble, Du Wei decided to abandon his horse and continue his journey on foot.
After walking through the ravine, Du Wei can finally see from afar the open space indicated on the map left behind by Gandalf.
It's just that Du Wei didn't expect what he was seeing right now. In the middle of the open space, a bonfire was lit and the Silhouette of a lonely looking person was tucked right beside the fire.
As he drew closer, Du Wei can somehow hear the faint sound of sighing coming from this mysterious person.
"Oh God... Please-please, bless this pitifully small little Vivian... Little Vivian is very cold-cold, and very hungry….."