Chapter Fifty Family Foundation

  Under Ye Feng's command, the construction began in the spacious courtyard of the Duke's mansion that day. Without finding slaves and servants to do it, all were done by Ye Feng, Diana, and twelve soldiers who took nearly a whole day to complete. Ora held Ye Feng's drawn blueprint on one side and gave random orders to everyone.

  To learn from the training methods, Leibida led a group of soldiers who were also receiving training in the camp, and brought several elite troops to this place, just in time for the excavation and burial.

  Ye Feng set up a large plum blossom stake, used to train riders to manipulate horses in small ranges of advance and retreat, and also set up ditch obstacles for some basic riding training.

  That night, Ye Feng and Niya Diana went into the study after dinner, the three of them sat around the desk, starting to discuss their next plan.

  Niya took out a piece of paper, spread it on the table, and said to the two people: "Let's discuss the conditions for supplementing the guards first. I think it should be selected from among family members."

  "Ah? Within this dukedom, how many people can be chosen?"

  Nina said with a bit of anger: "Ye Feng, you are Oola's mentor, our strategist, and an important leader in this family." Realizing what she had just said, Nina's face suddenly turned red. She stole a glance at Diana and found that her face was also flushed.

  Nina said calmly: "I told you before, learn more about our... family." Nina paused here.

  "We have estates in Surrentum and many other places, although they are poorly managed and yield little profit. But the people who manage our family's estates are all freedmen of the Julian family, and they are very loyal to us. These are the roots of our family."

  "Diana continued, 'Their loyalty is not in question, we recruit from civilians and it's likely that information will be leaked and others will learn our training methods. After all, in Sinia, we have too many enemies.'"

  Three people simultaneously thought of the list provided by Aphrodite, and their hearts all skipped a beat.

  "It's not just about seizing the opportunity, but also ensuring we don't make mistakes. They're like wolves watching us, and if we show any weakness, they'll tear us apart immediately."

  Yefeng asked: "What about their quality? We don't need those pale and chubby estate owners."

  Nia replied, "You can rest assured on this point, most of their elders are from the family guard."

  Their elders were mostly from the family guard, sent out to manage industries, a very important purpose is to open branches and expand the power of the family. In Normandy, all manors have armed guards. Therefore, if they are gathered together, it will be a considerable force, which was planned by my grandfather. Nia said proudly.

  Ye Feng said: The aristocratic families of royal descent are indeed not simple, it's just a pity that the son of the previous generation's Grand Duke was not taught well. However, a hundred feet of insects die but do not stiffen, and the actual strength under the table is still not comparable to that of Aoxius, a nouveau riche.

  He glanced at the person sitting next to him, Orla, who was picking her nose, and maliciously added in his heart: It seems that this generation of dukes' sons are also hopeless.

  "When pirates attack a city, why are there only five hundred people standing on the city wall?" Ye Feng asked in puzzlement.

  Nia smiled wryly and explained, "Originally, they would only gather after receiving the summons. Because they live so scattered, from the time the summons is issued to the reinforcements arriving, it takes at least half a month. That time we received the news too late, the pirates came too quickly. I didn't even have time to issue the summons before the pirates had already surrounded Sinya. So Dad could only go find help from the nearby naval forces. Since they want to rebuild the family guard, they are the best choice. There are plenty of people here for us to choose from."

  Ye Feng nodded and said: "Very well, I'll mention the requirements for the candidate."

  "First of all, we need well-trained warriors. This is the most basic requirement. We don't have time to train a farmer into a soldier, at least not now."

  Ye Feng said: "Those who have practiced riding skills, the higher the better. The age should be between 18 and 22 years old. People of this age have strong adaptability and qualified physical fitness. Note that slaves and gladiators are not allowed, I don't want any discrimination in the team, which will bring fatal problems."

  Niya put down her pen and said to Ye Feng, "I will start writing letters to the manors in various places now. Tomorrow, I will dispatch people to send out the letters, and at the earliest, they can arrive within ten days."

  Diana continued: "Next we need to discuss horses."

  Nia flipped through an account book, tracing with her finger, mentally calculating, and then said: "We currently have forty war horses in the city of Xiniya and a manor outside the city, which is enough for now, but once training expands, according to Ye Feng's needs, we will need to buy another two hundred horses. This will require an expenditure of about one thousand to two thousand gold coins. Later, every month feeding the horses and paying the military salary of the guards will also be a considerable amount."

  Diana said: "The guard has thirty horses. They now have only twelve masters."

  Ye Feng couldn't help but laugh and said to Nia, "The heavy cavalry is just a fancy name for an army of gold coins. Now that you've spent this much, you'll be heartbroken later on when you have to spend even more on the entire set of knight armor and weapons, not to mention building the cavalry's barracks. Conservatively speaking, it won't be less than 10,000 to 20,000 gold coins."

  "Diana exclaimed: "Ah? So many?"

  Nia smiled wryly and said, "Otherwise we will just build a team of one hundred people."

  Ye Feng tapped his fingers, calculating and saying: "Actually, it's not that much. A large part of this is a one-time investment, such as the cavalry camp and the armor of the cavalrymen. Currently, our tax revenue in Xiniya can easily maintain the normal operation of 100 heavy cavalrymen. Moreover, I have a best way to maintain and expand the cavalry corps later on. Without increasing military spending, we can promote the development of Xiniya and increase our strength."

  Niya and Diana both lit up and asked in unison: "What method?"

  Yefeng smiled and said, "Just like the first generation of Grand Dukes in the Yuliushen family, but this requires a detailed discussion with the Duke, and it will take a long time to implement. Let's solve the problem of the hundred-man cavalry team that we need most urgently."

  Niya thoughtfully said: "You mean..."

  Ye Feng waved his hand and said, "Don't think that far ahead for now, let's solve the current problem first. Next is the issue of armor. Practicing riding skills can be done lightly, but training without armor is not allowed, both humans and horses must be familiar with wearing armor."

  "Diana asked in puzzlement: 'Does it need to be remade completely?'"

  Yue Feng said, "That's natural. The infantry armor is too heavy and consumes a lot of physical strength, but the cavalry doesn't need to bear the weight of the armor themselves when moving, so we can thicken the armor from two-thirds of the infantry armor to three-quarters or even thicker. If I wasn't wearing two sets of infantry armor that day, I wouldn't have dared to fight against the pirates head-on either. The Norman infantry armor design is excellent, which reduces a lot of our workload."