Chapter 69: Preparations for Leaving Dale (Part II)

Allen stayed in Dale for nearly ten days; meanwhile, the armies gathered at the Lonely Mountain, led by their respective lords, gradually dispersed.

The Orcish corpses that had filled the pits and valleys on the mountain were cleared away through the efforts of many soldiers, and subsequently burned in a hidden canyon by a great fire.

Even in winter, one could not allow the corpses of tens of thousands of Orcish to slowly rot; Middle-earth was not unfamiliar with the ravages of plague.

The temperature of winter quietly dropped amidst everyone's busyness; fortunately, the first snow of the year had not yet arrived.

Unlike the weather, the scene in Dale became increasingly lively; large amounts of personnel and supplies frequently entered the city, and the work of urban reconstruction had already begun.

On the second day after the meeting concluded, Allen handed over the one-fifteenth share of the treasure belonging to Bilbo Baggins to Bard.

And on the very day Bard swore allegiance to Allen, he had entrusted his good friend to spread the news of Dale's reconstruction; a large number of merchants and related personnel were already stirring.

When the result of the Battle of the Five Armies spread throughout the North via the mouths of birds, the Running River became bustling in a short time, as if time had flowed back two hundred years.

This could be considered Allen fulfilling his promise; the young Ruler of Rhovanion City-States did not like to go back on his word.

Moreover, it would not be long before Artimenner arrived in Dale, and under Allen's instructions, he would cooperate with Bard to complete this project.

Allen had consulted with the Dwarf master engineer in charge of the reconstruction work and learned that one-fifteenth of the Lonely Mountain's wealth was more than enough to restore Dale; it was an inexhaustible sum.

The time required to restore Dale was also quite long; in the original trajectory, Bard spent at least three or four years to complete the restoration and officially declare himself King of Dale.

Of course, he could still declare himself Lord of Dale now, while also announcing himself as Allen's Vassal; at that time, besides Allen, kings from other powers would come to observe the ceremony.

Considering the urgency of time, Allen naturally hoped that this matter would start as early as possible, and it was also a way to find something for the more than two thousand people of Long Lake Town to do.

Even though the relationship between Allen and the King of the Woodland Realm was very good, the Elves could not keep supporting their neighbors forever, could they?

Although the King of the Woodland Realm had not mentioned this, Allen could imagine how great that burden would be.

For this reason, Bard even gifted the "Girion's Necklace" that Allen had bestowed upon him to the King of the Woodland Realm, to thank the Woodland Elves for their care of the residents of Long Lake Town during this period.

After all, in the short term, these residents of Long Lake Town would be living in Dale with Bard, and thanking the King of the Woodland Realm on behalf of these residents was his duty.

Allen had never thought about forcibly taking those two thousand-plus residents of Long Lake Town back to Wilderness Town; there was no need for that, as on one hand, he had to give Bard some foundation for development.

On the other hand, among these people, many were descendants of the residents of Dale, and they naturally held a favorable impression of Bard.

After the reconstruction of Dale was completed, Allen also planned to use the remaining money to rebuild Long Lake Town at the confluence of the Mirkwood River and Long Lake.

Allen felt that the previous Long Lake Town was not suitable for this world full of crises, especially after it came under Allen's rule.

Connecting it with wooden piles and building the town in the middle of the lake seemed very distinctive and safe, but in reality, it was isolated and helpless—a self-dug grave.

Once they encountered a large-scale siege by enemy forces, the residents in the town could only hold their ground; they would either die in battle or surrender, without even the option to flee.

And the supporting armies could not enter the town, nor could they even coordinate an inside-and-outside attack against the enemy; that narrow wooden passage was a double-edged sword.

Therefore, Allen did not intend to rebuild Long Lake Town in the way it was before; he planned to build a port town.

In Allen's vision, the main body of this city must be on the shore, with most residents living by the water, which would also allow for more agriculture and animal husbandry; furthermore, this town would certainly need a city wall to protect the safety of the residents.

A large number of ports were to be built in the lake to receive merchants from all over who came via the Running River, and incidentally, to collect various fees to enrich Allen's treasury.

Moreover, in order to cope with the potential attacks from the Easterlings at any time, Allen also planned to build some military ports and purchase or build some warships himself.

On this point, he could find a way to consult Lady Galadriel; the Elves of Lothlorien possessed extremely high craftsmanship in shipbuilding.

Allen heard that the Elves of Lindon had even higher shipbuilding skills, which could be called the pinnacle, but unfortunately, Allen had no friendship with the legendary mariner Cirdan, so he dared not think too much about it.

After the fleet was built and organized, Allen planned to mount Dwarf Repeating Crossbows on the warships and equip them with sailors and archers, thereby establishing a powerful navy.

In this way, when battles occurred in the eastern plains of Rhovanion, Allen could rely on the Running River for defense.

He would let the navy and the army coordinate to block the enemy on the other side of the Running River.

Of course, there was not even a shadow of this yet; Allen was only making a preliminary plan in his mind for now.

However, this did not prevent some people from bringing a little bit of trouble to Allen.

It was Town Mayor Stephen and his deputy, Alfred.

This former mayor of Long Lake Town, who had clearly lost a lot of weight, knelt before Allen as soon as he entered the room, prostrating himself on the ground and wailing loudly.

In his crying, he denounced the atrocities of the dragon Smaug, and after finishing his cursing, he began to praise the great benevolence of Allen's plan to rebuild Long Lake Town, and expressed his willingness to donate his own family property to contribute to the reconstruction of Long Lake Town.

Between the lines, he still hoped to return as the mayor of Long Lake Town.

This... Allen could only say "daydreaming" in his heart; he had already planned to hand over the rebuilt Long Lake Town to Fatis to manage.

Yes, it was management, not a fief; Allen intended to bestow upon Fatis the status of Governor, letting him govern Long Lake Town on his behalf, as well as that fleet which only existed in Allen's plans.

Although it was also a regional official, it was completely different from Bard's situation; to put it another way, Fatis was the superintendent of the royal direct territory of Allen.

If possible, Allen did not want to enfeoff the land; he could hand over the management rights to his subordinates, but he would not hand over the ownership. He did not want to play the "vassal of my vassal is not my vassal" game.

This was also the result of Allen's careful consideration; given the current transportation and information communication methods, the enfeoffment system was actually relatively suitable.

But this would cause Allen some trouble; after all, once enfeoffed, Allen could only make demands on the vassals of the fief and could not directly manage the specific affairs of the fief.

Allen had some ideas about the revenue and future development direction of Long Lake Town; once it was enfeoffed, could he still have the final say?

For Allen, this meant that power would be dispersed; once this kind of power was given away, it would be very difficult to take it back.

Forcibly taking it back might cause a lot of unnecessary trouble, and could even lead to division, which was not what Allen wanted to see.

Therefore, Allen still wanted to implement the prefecture and county system; although the emperor was far away, whether the manager did well or poorly depended entirely on their ability and character.

However, there would be no disputes over the ownership of the town. Under the whole heaven, there is no land that is not the king's; within the borders of the land, there is no one who is not the king's subject. As long as there was a sufficient reason, replacing a manager was just a matter of an order from Allen.

At the same time, Allen trusted Fatis's character and believed he had the ability to manage a city well.

If it really didn't work out, he could just change the Governor in a few years and let Fatis come back to be a military deputy; it wasn't as if he couldn't be replaced.

As for Bard, that was a special case; as a descendant of Girion, he had the natural legal right of inheritance to Dale, and this right of inheritance was universally recognized by Dwarves, Elves, and Humans.

Therefore, Allen could only trade with Bard and make him submit to him; he could not directly seize it or forcibly occupy it, as this would cause dissatisfaction among the Dwarves, Elves, and other Human powers.

But Long Lake Town was different; this town had always been in a state of self-governance, and the mayors were always chosen from among the elderly and wise people in the town.

Now the original Long Lake Town had been destroyed, and a large number of the original residents of Long Lake Town might live in Dale in the future.

And the subsequent Long Lake Town would be fully funded and built by Allen; as long as it developed well, it would attract more population from other places, forming a town completely different from the previous one.

In this situation, Allen arranging a Governor of his own would be no problem at all, and the Dwarves and Elves would not have any objections.

Therefore, the plans of this former mayor, Stephen, would certainly come to nothing.

However, this Town Mayor still had some ability; although his management skills were abysmal, he was quite capable when it came to doing business.

Allen somewhat wanted to use him; after all, once trade was opened up, Wilderness Town would need a merchant familiar with the prices of goods from various places to help stabilize the cost of living in Wilderness Town, and also to coordinate with Yamila and merchants from other regions.

This would avoid any commercial issues that might strike at the lives of the residents of Wilderness Town.

Allen did not have any relevant talent on hand, and Stephen was a decent choice, but Allen did not intend to give this former Town Mayor too much power.

This guy simply could not see his own shortcomings, and he was also obsessed with money.

Giving him power would inevitably be accompanied by lining his own pockets, and in that case, Allen would have no choice but to hang him.

Not giving him power now was equivalent to saving his life for the future.

After thinking it over carefully, Allen looked at Stephen and stated his decision.

"Stephen, Long Lake Town has already been destroyed. As for whether to rebuild it, or who will manage it after it is rebuilt, I have my own arrangements. Regarding this, I can only regretfully inform you that I cannot grant your request."

Upon hearing Allen's words, Stephen's face, which still had a bit of an oily sheen, quickly turned dejected.

His lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but he did not speak.

Stephen was very unwilling in his heart; he had a bit of eloquence, and when he came, he had prepared quite a lot of rhetoric.

But the young man before him watched him calmly, and that gaze made him swallow all the words he had prepared.

Stephen dared not speak anymore; by this time he already knew that the Allen sitting before him was already the King of Men of the North recognized by the Dwarf and the Elf.

Although this young man appeared very polite, Stephen, who had been a Town Mayor, knew that angering a king was a very unwise act.

Even if it did not lead to death, he would very likely be expelled from the North, and at that time, his life would surely be incomparably miserable.

Allen looked at Stephen's expression and roughly guessed Stephen's thoughts.

He smiled and threw an olive branch to Stephen: "Stephen, if you are willing, I have a position as a Finance Consultant here that I can give you. If you are willing, there will be a seat for you at my conference table."

After Stephen heard Allen's invitation, his heart, which had sunk to the bottom, instantly came back to life, and the dejected expression was no longer on his face.

He hurriedly bowed and scraped to pledge his loyalty to Allen, stating that he would definitely serve with heart in the future and would not let down Allen's trust.

Allen waved his hand and let Stephen stand to the side; Allen certainly did not have much trust in him, as long as he did not stir up trouble and did not make Allen want to kill him, that would be fine.

It was just that looking at Alfred standing next to Stephen, Allen felt a bit worried.

Allen did not want to use him; not only that, Allen did not even want to give Alfred the status of a subject.

This guy had some ability: he was literate, clever, and reacted quite quickly.

His shortcomings were also very obvious: he had no sense of responsibility, no sense of awe, no compassion, he abused power for personal gain, sowed discord, was afraid of death, and most importantly, he did not know how to be grateful.

No matter what, Allen did not want to keep such a scourge by his side; in fact, he was already considering whether to hang Alfred.

It was just that Allen thought it over and could not find a suitable reason. At this moment, Alfred had not committed any act that violated the law, and hanging him rashly would only earn Allen the reputation of a tyrant.

For this reason, Allen looked at Alfred and pondered for a long time; in his thoughtful gaze, a trace of killing intent inadvertently radiated out.

Alfred, who was secretly raising his eyes to observe Allen from time to time, instantly felt this trace of killing intent. Although he did not know why Allen wanted to kill him, it did not prevent him from reacting immediately.

This cowardly guy actually moved his feet slightly in front of Allen, retreating bit by bit toward the door, and while retreating, he checked Allen's reaction from time to time.

Just as Allen raised his hand to summon his personal guards, the stimulated Alfred actually turned and ran, only to be forced back by a sharp Noldor Rune Longsword.

Allen had only waved his hand to have his personal guards go and call Bard to see if Bard was interested in Alfred.

He did not expect that Alfred would have such a huge reaction; not only that, but under the sharp edge of the Rune Sword, Alfred's pants were already wet.

In that flash of sword light that went straight for his throat, he was so scared that he wet his pants.

Allen looked at the Alfred who had wet his pants, as well as the indifferent Stephen standing to the side.

He was quite impressed by their courage in his heart, and he also wondered, how did these two really dare to come and ask him for the position of Town Mayor?

Was it bullying him for being a good person? Or did they think they were really that excellent? That he would look at them with new eyes?

Allen felt it was a bit funny.

The new Lord of Dale, led by a Twilight Knight, hurried to the place where Allen was temporarily staying.

Bard's heart was now filled with gratitude toward Allen; he never expected that Allen would bestow so much wealth to be used for rebuilding Dale and Long Lake Town.

Bard, who had entered middle age, had never seen such a generous person. If someone asked now what Bard's opinion of Allen was, Bard would only want to say: may he live a long life.

After the hurriedly arriving Bard walked in, he bowed and saluted Allen with full respect.

After standing up, he noticed his two old enemies: Town Mayor Stephen standing to the side and Alfred kneeling in the center of the hall.

Bard was a bit puzzled, but he did not ask much. Allen, however, was not very polite and asked directly: "Good afternoon, Bard. I called you over to ask you if you are willing to accept Alfred to serve you? If you are not willing, I am prepared to expel him from my territory."

Alfred, who was kneeling under the threat of a sharp sword, was still thinking about when exactly he had offended this young king.

But at this moment, hearing Allen's words, he could not care about much else; under the sharp sword light, he wept bitterly and begged for Bard's shelter.

At Alfred's plea, Bard did not hesitate too much; he accepted Alfred's allegiance, and after asking Allen for permission, he left directly, taking him out to work.

It had to be said that Bard was indeed a kind lord; if it were an average person, it would be unlikely they would take in this former enemy. Allen himself could not do it.

Allen's original intention was to hand Alfred over to Bard to deal with as he pleased; after all, Bard had suffered many losses at Alfred's hands in the past.

And Bard was now Allen's subordinate; helping one's own subordinate vent their anger was an essential excellent quality for a qualified leader.

It was just that seeing the current situation, Allen knew that Bard would not do anything excessive to Alfred, though manual labor was certainly unavoidable.

Since Bard did not care, Allen did not think about it anymore. From now on, Alfred would be Bard's trouble. If this guy committed a crime outside of Dale, Allen would not be short of a rope.

Moreover, after finishing this matter, Allen was also prepared to leave Dale and return to his own territory.

During this period, Allen had not only fulfilled his promise to Bard but also arranged the follow-up treatment plan for the wounded.

Soldiers with minor injuries would return to Wilderness Town with Allen this time, while soldiers with serious injuries must wait until their injuries had fully recovered before returning.

After all, it was easy to cause jolting on the road, and if the wounds reopened, it would very likely cause them to die on the way, which was something Allen could not accept.

For this matter, Allen ordered Bandak to stay behind and be responsible for the affairs of the wounded here, while Bard would be responsible for taking care of them and purchasing the corresponding supplies and medical items.

Besides this, Allen also found Thorin, who was busy; this Dwarf Prince had a great, great many things to do at this time.

Dain Ironfoot had already planned to take most of the Dwarf from the Iron Hills to migrate to the Lonely Mountain to live; after all, it was more fertile there, and the Iron Hills would be preserved as an iron ore production site.

In addition, Thorin also dispatched a troop to the Blue Mountains to inform the Dwarf of Durin's Folk there that the Lonely Mountain had been reclaimed and they could already come home.

At the same time, he was also preparing for his trip to Lothlorien, but he would not be able to act together with Allen; both were very busy, and their schedules did not align.

Allen's visit to Thorin this time was not to discuss the tripartite alliance between the Elf, Dwarf, and Human factions.

Such a formal alliance would require Thorin to have ascended the throne of the Lonely Mountain and become Thorin II before he could truly give Allen an effective answer; his current status was not quite sufficient.

Besides returning Orcrist to Thorin, Allen was also prepared to discuss a deal with him.

Allen had obtained a great deal of treasure in this battle to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, and hauling it all back was not realistic.

Besides, what would be the point of hauling it back? To build another treasury and lie inside it admiring it every day?

He did not have such perverse tastes; what Allen hoped for was to use a portion of the gold from his spoils as payment to order one thousand sets of full Plate Armor suitable for Humans from the Dwarves, as well as one thousand sets of steel horse armor.

Thorin, who had been lost in thought while holding Orcrist, readily agreed after hearing Allen's request.

He told Allen that these armors would require payment of at least half the gold Allen had obtained; naturally, gems were not included in that calculation.

However, they could not be delivered immediately; Thorin would begin delivering fifty sets to Allen every year starting next year, completing the order within twenty years.

After all, the Dwarves of Durin's Folk had just reclaimed the Lonely Mountain, and they would have a great many things to attend to, while forging Plate Armor itself was extremely troublesome and exorbitantly expensive.

Even with the many top-tier blacksmiths in the Lonely Mountain and the Iron Hills, it would still take twenty years to complete this order.

Allen felt this price was still cheap; it was possible Thorin had given him a good discount.

Regardless, Allen felt it was well worth it, and he planned to order a batch of armor suitable for infantry from Thorin after this order was completed, preferably just breastplates and helmets, as full Plate Armor was still too heavy and unsuitable for infantry.

These full Plate Armors were to be equipped for the Heavy Cavalry; in addition, Allen also planned to use his own Elf Horse and those of the Twilight Knights as breeding stock to cultivate a batch of superior horses with better stamina and faster speed.

In fact, Tuoju had already been doing this back in March of this year, but the foals had not yet been born when Allen last returned.

For this reason, Tuoju had not reported the matter, but since the gestation period for horses is about ten months, the foals should be born after the New Year, at which time Allen would naturally know the results.

Additionally, Allen had considered training methods; he planned to ask Holimion to simplify the Twilight Knights' mounted melee training methods slightly to train his own Cavalry and improve their combat effectiveness.

As for the source of troops, Allen's idea was to mainly recruit the soldiers he summoned, as they had higher survival rates, recovered faster, and possessed higher morale.

By then, the mounts of Allen's Heavy Cavalry would be the descendants of Elf Horses, the soldiers would be summoned troops with higher loyalty, equipped with full sets of Plate Armor forged by Dwarves, and bolstered by the training of the Twilight Knights—that should be extremely powerful.

Most importantly, for an army like this, as long as there were no issues with the horses, Allen could organize over a thousand men within twenty years.

By then, the four hundred tents of Khergit herdsmen would surely be able to scrape together a thousand Cavalry.

As long as the horse herds of Horse Pasture Village could be protected, he could even equip each Heavy Cavalryman with two Light Cavalry Attendants, with the Light Cavalry recruited from the Woodland Residents.

At that point, it would be a mixed Cavalry brigade of three thousand men.

With such an army, Allen would dare to lock horns with the great army of the Easterlings on the plains of Rhovanion in the eastern part of Mirkwood.

In the west, as long as he had the means to deal with the Nazgul, Allen could also utilize the rapid mobility and powerful destructive force of the Cavalry to force the Orcish into Dol Guldur, ensuring they would never dare step out of Mirkwood again.

Of course, for now, Allen could only move and plan in this direction.

To build such an army, besides making extensive preparations, simply feeding these thousands of mouths was a huge problem for Allen at present.

Things always need to be done slowly, bit by bit, and Allen now had enough time.