[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-19":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338482,4572,"Chapter 19: Face-planting and Going All Out?","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-19",19,"\u003Cp>Next, Lu Ka had no reason to hesitate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having been lost about his future, he could not have hoped for better than the protection of a noble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the other party had offered such generous terms without any coercive demands—this alone was enough for Lu Ka to feel profound gratitude.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for his offspring, Lu Ka decided to make him a knight’s squire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had come to a realization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Becoming a blacksmith was inferior to finding a way to become a noble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lord Gervas’s knight captain is a titled knight, possessing aura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If my son could one day learn aura, then the Hammer family would truly bring glory to our name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After settling the blacksmith in the castle’s forge, Gervas planned to let them rest for two days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sai En, being impulsive, insisted on immediately accompanying Lei Meng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, in this medieval era, every boy dreamed of becoming a knight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And for commoners, such a dream was truly unattainable—hence Sai En was eager beyond measure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas naturally had no objection and went to finish his unfinished lunch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No sooner had he finished lunch than trouble arrived again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Old John and Magistrate Thomas returning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a morning of hard work, the two had driven off locusts from the orchards and root fields of the wealthy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remaining ones could be caught by hand without issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet, now that the crisis had passed, several wealthy men began causing trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They planned to shut down the town’s only bread bakery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that bakery belonged to the wealthy man Codo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though black bread was not cheap, it saved serfs the time of traveling to neighboring lands to buy food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, most of the Stormhold farmland was held by these wealthy men; the serfs’ own grain was insufficient to last until the next harvest, so in past years they had always needed to buy black bread to make ends meet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, by closing the bakery, Codo was retaliating against Gervas’s earlier threats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had even fabricated an excuse—that due to this year’s wheat shortage and his limited reserves, he had no choice but to shut down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But could such an excuse hold water?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas had cleared the locusts for them this very morning; even if there was some impact, it was negligible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the contrary, other noble lands, having suffered disasters, would likely restrict wheat sales this year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that point, feeding the people of Stormhold would become a major problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And right now, the people of the domain were already beginning to panic!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, Codo has an uncle who works as a magistrate’s clerk in Iron Wolf City’s civil office—he just deliberately let it slip that he had sent word about the locust plague to his uncle!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“!” Thomas said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Damn, Gervas exclaimed inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What “word about the locust plague”? This was clearly a threat using his uncle to intimidate him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, Alan might have let him stay a few more days, but now that he was so brazen, he could no longer be spared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, perhaps I should immediately lead men to Iron Wolf City to buy wheat? It’s troublesome, but at least it ensures the people won’t starve!” Old John worried Gervas was too young and might act rashly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, Old John. With the locust plague, grain prices will skyrocket this year—even if we go to Iron Wolf City now, it’s probably too late!” Alan directly rejected Old John’s suggestion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Buying wheat now would be pure money handed to merchants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thomas, go to the town and announce that I intend to expand the guard force—recruit at least seventy more guards! Also, during this time, casually let slip that I’m expanding the guard force to deal with the wealthy men, because they’ve challenged my authority as lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas froze. “My lord, if this news spreads, Codo and the others will certainly…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Certainly feel uneasy, right? That’s exactly what I want—to force them to act against me!” Alan sneered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In addition, tell all the people that I will send Knight Lei Meng to Iron Wolf City to buy wheat—assure them there’s no need to fear famine. Understood?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing his lord’s serious expression, Thomas no longer questioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, I will carry out your orders without fail!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good, go then!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Old John!” Alan turned to him. “Go prepare a batch of spears and baskets—get as many as you can!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, my lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Old John left, Gervas turned to Lei Meng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, you’re planning to provoke the wealthy men into attacking you, so you can find an excuse to eliminate them all?” Lei Meng had seen through Alan’s scheme.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as a knight captain from a viscount’s family, it was no surprise he could see it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Correct. So I need to ‘remove’ you, the knight captain, so they’ll dare to act. Later, Lei Meng, pack up and put on a good show for them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, my lord!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Codo, if you do this, won’t you anger the new lord? What if he vents his fury on us—what then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you afraid of? Didn’t I already let it be known that I sent word to my uncle in Iron Wolf City’s civil office? I’m sure the lord understands the implication!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, aren’t you furious that the damned lord took half your farmland?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In a stone courtyard on the town’s edge, since his residence outside the eastern castle was seized, Codo had moved here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the courtyard was smaller than his former home, it was still four or five times larger than a common serf’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the wealthy men had secretly gathered, discussing Codo’s deliberate closure of the bakery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Codo, trouble!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a panicked cry came rushing from outside the courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Codo frowned and stepped out of the stone house. “What’s the matter? Why so frantic?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Codo, just now Thomas announced that the lord will send Knight Captain Lei Meng to Iron Wolf City to buy grain!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, the new lord plans to expand the guard force—recruit at least seventy more men!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Seventy more? That’s a hundred men total! Can he afford them?” Codo frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Codo, that’s not the worst part. I secretly asked Dori, who was with Thomas—he told me the lord is recruiting so many men specifically to target you wealthy men!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What? Target us?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What do we do now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wealthy men panicked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Shut up, don’t panic!” Codo snapped at them, then turned to the messenger. “Are you certain? Could this be false?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Codo, I slipped Dori over twenty copper coins and pressed him—he said Thomas revealed this privately after returning from the castle, and ordered him to keep it secret!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He said your closing of the bakery offended the lord, and since other domains have suffered disasters, the serfs will starve!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the lord intends to kill you and seize your grain!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Codo’s face darkened—he no longer doubted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Codo, what do we do now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, shouldn’t we go apologize to the lord?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Apologize? What do you take nobles for? Do you think he’ll forgive you? You’re ridiculous!” Codo sneered.\u003C\u002Fp>",1182,"2026-06-20T22:44:01.160Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b9ba0c5871bd8f6d793601eadd82c0aeee7b74fc0920723350f88901ef2a1216","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-20","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-18",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]