Chapter 13

(long chapter)

The ancestral home of the Rowling family is located in the southwest of the Rowling plain, where a tributary of the Rowling river passes through. The land on the bank is fertile, with several farms and towns around. Down this tributary, you will pass through a beautiful valley.

This is where the great Rowling family originated. Hundreds of years ago, when the ancestors of the Rowling family were just a low-level aristocrat with a small village territory, the blood of the Rowling family began to spread in this land.

The carriage passed through a black forest with lush green trees and fresh air on both sides. Along a flat path, you can see the small valley on the left from the carriage. On the right, you can see a tower in the distance, which is the ancestral home of the Rowling family.

After hundreds of years of glory of the family, the small village of hundreds of years ago no longer exists, and the original ancestral house has a considerable scale after countless renovations and reconstruction in hundreds of years of history!

A crimson stone wall surrounds a castle. The castle is made of huge white stones mined from the nearby valley. It is said that it was originally a hill, but it took hundreds of years to turn it into a valley.

The arrival of the eldest son of the head of the clan naturally attracted special attention. The 300 territory private soldiers who stayed in the castle wore the brightest equipment very early and lined up to wait under the red wall outside the castle. The arched gate made duvet feel very powerful in the carriage. In his eyes, this thick stone wall can be used as a strong defensive circle if necessary!

It is worthy of being the Wuxun family of the Empire. The 300 private soldiers in the castle are obviously well trained. They are upright on horseback, and they are skilled in horse control and equipment. Later Du Wei learned that the 300 soldiers left behind in the castle of the ancestral home of the Rawlings were the best selected from the private armies of the whole Rawlings plain territory. Their training was quite good, even no less than that of the local armies of the Empire.

The black forest outside the castle is also a natural hunting ground, where some hunting activities are held every year, which is also a disguised exercise for these soldiers.

The main building of the castle has two towers, one of which is particularly tall, even higher than the hill in the distance. Du Wei, who has studied family history, knows that this is because the Rowling family once had a strange owner in a previous generation. Although the master was a military general, he was particularly interested in astrology. He even married a female astrologer. The tower was built to make it easier for his wife to observe the stars in the sky at night.

The red carpet had been spread from the gate of the castle to the stop of Dewey's carriage. As soon as Du Wei stooped to get out of the car, an old man with silver hair who had been waiting for a long time came up. The old man was tall and thin, with a scrupulous gray dress. His old-fashioned and serious manner, conservative and respectful manner were also well measured.

As soon as Du Wei got out of the carriage and stepped on the ground, the old man bent down and saluted deeply. Then he said in a low and slow voice, "young master, I'm hill, the housekeeper here# 8226； Rowling. I heard about your coming three days ago. Now everyone in the castle is ready for your parallax. Please follow me

With that, the old housekeeper turned and carefully led Duwei up the steps. He had no fastidious manners at all. He behaved respectfully and courteously, humbly but not coquettishly. He led Dewey to the red carpet on the steps, while he was very careful to walk outside the carpet and let Dewey enjoy the honor alone.

There is no time to carefully observe the interior decoration of the castle. The only impressive thing is that after entering the gate of the castle, there is a huge flag like a flame on the wall!

This flag is seven or eight meters high and six meters wide, occupying the whole wall facing us! This is the family's badge flag, with two sharp swords crossed, iris wrapped around the blade, red flame burning, and a crown on it!

Walking into the hall on the first floor of the castle, you are faced with such a magnificent flag, which immediately spreads a solemn and solemn atmosphere here!

Then all the servants in the castle, dressed in neat uniforms, stood on both sides of the hall to welcome Dewey. Dewey didn't take much interest in this strange "review". He nodded casually, and then whispered, "my housekeeper, please take me to my study now... As for you, please leave and go back to your work."

The old housekeeper Hill carried out Dewey's orders meticulously, and soon Dewey was taken to a study

Well, Dewey would rather call this place "library" if he could!

Because it's so big here!

In the round room, the top of the head is also a high round vault, decorated with some simple plaster patterns, and there are some plaster statues on both sides - many of them are outstanding figures in the history of the family.

This room is surrounded by tall bookshelves... Hell! These bookshelves are two stories high! It's full of all kinds of books. Dewey calculated roughly that there are at least tens of thousands of books here! There are also many iron cabinets to store some important things, such as family maps, or some ancient and important documents, etc.

Of course, as a Wu Xun family, even in the study, also reveals a trace of martial arts atmosphere! On the wall just opposite the door of the study, there is a huge sword with two hands and a huge chopping axe hanging! These two weapons are hanging across the wall! From the flashing cold light on the blade, it is obvious that servants often scrub and maintain them carefully.

There is also a wall of bookshelves, deliberately rattan out of a few huge cabinets, cabinets placed in a variety of weapons, but from the style point of view, these are antiques.

There are short bows made by the imperial army a hundred years ago, old-fashioned Knights chopping swords, long sabres, and black iron and wood bows

Du Wei was attracted by these weapons in the past. He can see that these antiques are well maintained. Although they have passed the baptism of years, some of them can still emit a sharp cold light!

"These are all used by the outstanding ancestors in the past generations." Hill, the old housekeeper behind him, said in an unchanging voice, "these are all records of the glory of our great ancestors of the Rowling family."

Because of the space shape of the room, when speaking here, sound waves will vibrate and echo, which adds a sense of dignity.

He gently stroked the old-fashioned black pear wood desk, and Dewey quietly looked around.

It can be seen that although everything here has been strictly sampled and carefully cleaned, the old traces of that kind of years are also very obvious. Many places on the bookshelf were polished and polished, as well as the huge desk under his hand. Dewey suspected that it was older than the old housekeeper in front of him.

"This used to be the center of power of the Rowling family. It used to be the place where the clan leaders thought and made all kinds of decisions. Everything here has traces of its glory. " The old housekeeper whispered: "although the decision-making center of the family moved to the imperial capital, according to the tradition of the family, every patriarch who comes back to the castle for parallax or a short stay is not allowed to go back to the bedroom to rest on the first night of arrival, and must spend the night in this study. In this way, we can urge ourselves not to forget the glorious history of our family and the heavy responsibilities of ourselves. "

After a pause, the old housekeeper looked at Du Wei and lowered his head: "you are the eldest son of the current patriarch, the count. You came to inspect the castle as his representative. May I ask you this evening..."

Du Wei nodded his head and said with a smile: "tradition is tradition, which must be obeyed. I'm no exception, of course. Although I am not the patriarch, I am the eldest son of my father, and I came here as his representative. I'm going to stay in my study for the night according to tradition. "

The old housekeeper's face softened a lot, and his tone was warm. He said slowly, "yes, I'll make people ready. And... I know that you are here on behalf of the count to inspect the property of the territory. Where will your work start? After getting the news of your return, I have asked people to prepare the income and expenditure accounts and books of this year's family business. When are you going to start looking at these things? Or wait... "

Dewey interrupted with a smile. Naturally, he walked around the desk and sat down behind the wide desk. The sofa was hard, but it was still comfortable. Dewey thought about it and said with a smile, "my housekeeper, I've come after a long journey. Now I feel hungry. Please prepare some food for me first, and then I think I can start to see what you prepare. "

It seems that the efficiency here is good.

Soon, Dewey enjoyed a very typical southern aristocratic afternoon tea in his study. After eating a sweet pumpkin pie, he just wiped his mouth. The old housekeeper Hill had led two strong male servants to the study.

Two servants were pushing a cart, which was loaded with a pile of thick pamphlets like a hill! I'm afraid all these pamphlets are half a head higher than those of Dewey!

"Are these all accounts of this year?" Dewey frowned. He began to wonder if the old housekeeper wanted to punish himself.

"Young master, all these are true." Old hill replied seriously: "the information here includes the land measurement area and cultivated land area of the whole southern Cote Province, the financial revenue and expenditure of six towns, the logistics and supply expenditure of the family private army scattered in three parts of the territory, the military pay, supplies, the consumption of weapons and so on, as well as the grain harvest, And the budget for some new buildings to be built this year. In addition, I have made some budget for next year, but I haven't finished it yet because of the rush. But I don't think you will leave here soon, so we still have enough time. "

Dewey couldn't help feeling his nose and looking at the hill like account in front of him: "is it all here?"

"It's just part of it. As for the rest... "The old housekeeper said something less serious:" I think you may need to watch the rest for a week. "

Dewey began to frown. He looked at the housekeeper in front of him quietly.

The old housekeeper didn't look like he was joking. But... He will not naively think that his 13-year-old can understand these accounts, will he? Not naive to think that a 13-year-old can really shoulder the whole family territory industry!

Then, he should know that his being sent back to his hometown by the owner should be a kind of disguised distribution. In this case, this guy made such a pile of accounts, and asked himself to check it seriously... What's his intention?

Is it because the old housekeeper who stayed behind was dissatisfied with the young master who was sent back, worried that he would disperse the power in his hands after he came back, so he demonstrated to himself first?

The slave deceives the master?

Or, what tricks does he have in his family's business to seek personal gain, and now he uses his own child to muddle through?

Everything seems possible!

However, Dewey didn't say anything. He didn't even ask a question. He picked up the top account, blew the dust on it, sat down calmly, opened the first page and read it quietly.

After a while, Du Wei raised his head, and the old housekeeper stood by.

"Oh, Mr. Butler, is there anything else you want to tell me?" Dewey seems to be casual, tone cold down: "when I read, do not like people around."

"Yes, sir." Hill, the old housekeeper, had a look of surprise in his eyes. Then he seemed to open his mouth and want to say something, but he swallowed it and turned around to take the servants out.

After the heavy study door was closed, Dewey gently put down the account in his hand. He stood up, walked back and forth in the huge study, moved his body, and then said to himself with a smile: "it seems that there is really something to look forward to."

Then, until nightfall, the old housekeeper came to the study twice. One time, he came to pour tea for Duwei, and the other time, when it was dark, he personally brought someone to light the candle for Duwei.

What surprised old housekeeper hill was that the young master was actually looking through those accounts!

Moreover, he is not pretending, but really reading attentively! There were several books on the desk, all of which were opened. Duwei seemed to be arranging some figures. Just after the old housekeeper brought someone to light all the twenty huge candlesticks in the study, Duwei asked the old housekeeper some questions about the accounts.

He didn't ask casually, every question got to the point! These are enough to prove that the young master seems to be serious! He really read in those boring accounts!

This... This is the news that came back. Is it the young master who is regarded as an "idiot" in the imperial family?

Although he had tried his best to hide it, he was still caught by Dewey's surprised expression of the old housekeeper. Dewey still said something, but when the old housekeeper came out of the room again, he slowly closed the account which had turned to the last page.

Actually... These accounts are really interesting!

Du Wei spent an evening, did not really look at those boring figures, and did not have the heart to check whether the account was falsified. After all, I'm not a genius. It's impossible for a person who doesn't know anything about the industry to see the true and false accounts.

I'm afraid no one will know that Dewey is reading in a different way that no one else can guess!

Who said that the account book must be bookkeeping only?

At least, Dewey learned a lot from these things! And these things are not recorded in those history books and family history files!

Judging from the names and contents of the various items in these accounts, Dewey would immediately have a full understanding of the extent to which the Rowling family controlled the territory.

In the territory, the Rowling family almost has its own system, and even has considerable autonomy. The fiscal and tax power is all family owned, and even the appointment of local officials has the final say. And the tax rate, although it is in accordance with the laws of the Empire. But the family can use some special names to modify, reduce or increase.

As long as a certain proportion of the tax collected is submitted to the imperial central finance every year.

And military power. Basically, from the details of some of these accounts used for military purposes. The imperial government stationed very few troops here, but symbolically stationed two small local second-line reserve infantry regiments on the periphery of the territory. And it is worth noting that the supplies and supplies of the two reserve infantry regiments are provided by the Rowling family every year! The Imperial Army doesn't care!

In most parts of the territory, the maintenance of local public order and order is the private army of the family in the territory.

Almost through these accounts, Dewey easily mastered the current situation of the entire Rowling family in the economic, political, military and other fields! Perhaps, if the old housekeeper knew that he was reading the account book like this, he would stare out his eyes! Judging from these accounts, Dewey has confirmed at least two points: first, in terms of the right to tax, the family can completely control the place! And in the military, even more so! Dewey, who came from another world, has an important common sense in the knowledge learned in that world: the embodiment of a country's territorial sovereignty, two very important points are: Taxation! And the garrison! Now, these two points are almost controlled by the Rowling family! What does that mean? It means that the central government of the Empire has almost lost the territory of the Rowling family: half of the territory of Cote Province, where the central government of the Empire has lost its sovereign control! It's almost an independent kingdom here. Du Wei leaned on the sofa to meditate, which surprised him a little! Because when the central government of a country gradually loses its authority, it is often a sign that the prelude to turmoil is about to be opened. Duvet sat for a moment, and the room was quiet, except for the occasional beep and beep of the candle sparks. At this moment, Dewey suddenly stood up abruptly, turned around and looked at the wall behind him! On the wall is a huge floor type bookshelf, which is full of books, it seems no different. But Dewey's heart was a little strange... Well, it seemed right at that moment! Because the mental power is much stronger than ordinary people, Dewey is more sensitive than ordinary people to some movements around him. Just now, he suddenly felt that he was being peeped! As if behind, a trace of vision from an unknown corner shot, is quietly watching their own! There was nothing unusual on the shelf, and Dewey looked up again. On the bookshelf, on the wall is a row of portraits. These oil painting style portraits are arranged in a row, from far to near. These are the portraits of the successive heads of the Rowling family! The first one on the left, which looks the oldest and the oldest, is a middle-aged man in an imperial uniform. The man on the canvas is the imperial marshal of that year! He won the war and made great contributions to the Empire. At the same time, he won one of the ancestors of the Rowling family in the Rowling plain from the hands of the emperor! This man looked very energetic, and between his eyes there was a cold and tough look like duvet's father, count Raymond! And that bunch of eyes, as if is staring at Du Wei's body! Dewey's mind moved. He tried to step back, then left and right, while his eyes were fixed on the painting. Then he laughed, sighed and whispered, "well, maybe I'm too sensitive... It's just a painting." He turned around and picked up another account... Right behind him, the portrait of the marshal on the wall suddenly blinked! Yes, the characters in the oil painting suddenly came to life. His eyes staring at Dewey's back suddenly blinked! The eyes of the characters in the painting, which were supposed to be rigid, suddenly seemed to be infused with life! The eyes fell on Dewey, and there seemed to be a trace of curiosity in his eyes... At this moment, Dewey, who was reading the account, suddenly turned around without warning, staring at the painting on the wall! A person, a painting, the eyes of both sides suddenly crisscross collision together“ There's no need to pretend. I know you're looking at me. " Dewey slowly raised his hand, holding a silver spoon, which he used to eat pumpkin pie here. The silver spoon is as bright as a mirror“ You're looking at me. I was looking at you with this thing just now. " Dewey is smiling. He stares at the mural on the wall: "you don't have to install it anymore... But don't you know that it's impolite to peep at others behind your back?" "