When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#732 - Check out the Bear Burger

"Loyalty! Devotion!"

On both sides of the red carpet, copper-spurred military boots slammed together.

Intersecting halberds drew silver arcs in the air, and the armor clattered as the formation snapped to attention, startling the crows dozing on the battlements.

Moriah, in a black silk cloak with a red lining, dismounted her horse, a rare smile gracing her face.

She wore a navy blue, knee-length, fitted jacket, her white hair casually arranged, revealing her fair neck.

As time went on, Moriah became less and less concerned about showing her face.

Looking at the two rows of dozens of soldiers in neat armor and uniforms, Moriah smiled with satisfaction.

But when she saw the city gatekeeper in a rabbit-fur coat, fawning as he hurried over, the genuine smile on her face quickly turned into a forced one.

The city gatekeeper, however, felt as if a cold wind had blown over him for no reason, and his heart inexplicably tightened.

"Gatekeeper Makato has been working hard lately," Moriah said, extending her left iron-clad fist.

Makato immediately bent down and kissed the middle finger joint of the iron fist: "In your presence, how dare I claim to have worked hard? Why not enter the castle first and have some lunch?"

"No need." Waving her right hand holding the whip, Moriah's eyes flickered behind her iron mask, "I'll go to the barracks to see the other soldiers first."

"Yes, yes."

Under the guidance of the city gatekeeper, Moriah first inspected the barracks, even sitting on the dirty communal bunk to talk with the soldiers.

Then she gave instructions to replace the straw mattresses with heated brick beds, which she would inspect on her next visit.

Then, Her Excellency the Autocrat also went to various outposts, sending high-quality hams, sausages, and blankets, moving the lower-ranking soldiers to tears.

During her visits to the outposts, Moriah also took the opportunity to survey the surrounding terrain, even wandering around the outskirts of Feldheim.

This was a trick that the Grand Duchess had learned from Hohn; there was no reason why only Hohn should use these inexpensive favors.

This tactic was not only being used by Moriah, but even King Charles VIII of France would occasionally visit military camps and the homes of merchants.

The promised lunch was heated again and again, until it was almost dinner time when Moriah returned.

The famished gatekeeper and others were green with hunger, while Moriah was still radiant.

After having a simple meal with the main officers at Bear啃堡(熊啃堡: Bear Nibble Keep), the Grand Duchess stayed to play a few games of cards.

Despite being a woman, Moriah was no less fierce than a man when banging on the table and slamming down cards.

When she got desperate, she would even point at the officers' noses and curse, but the more she did this, the more popular she became with the officers.

Those officers who were pointed at and cursed would proudly boast to other officers: "I was cursed as a cheap dog by Her Excellency the Autocrat!"

This card game lasted until the moon was high in the sky before Moriah pretended to be tired, yawned, and left.

But as soon as she returned to the heated brick bed that the city gatekeeper had vacated for her, Lannes quietly returned.

"How did it go?" Moriah asked, looking at Lannes as he entered, "I kept them busy all day and most of the night; if you didn't find anything, you know the consequences."

Lannes stood at attention: "Reporting to Your Excellency, I have investigated. The city gatekeeper is fine, just simply derelict in his duties.

He is drunk every day, only cares about training, and leaves the rest to the deputy and quartermaster.

There are rumors in the army that the quartermaster and deputy are resellingsupplies, because their food is getting worse and worse, but I didn't find any evidence.

The few Saintly PathHuannuo faction chaplains and judge advocates are honest and haven't done anything out of line, but they often go to Feldheim to drink together during work hours.

In the chaplains' literacy and prayer meetings, most of the soldiers are sleeping, and the judge advocate and clerk turn a blind eye to some disciplinary issues."

"What about the battle reports from the previous battles?"

"They are genuine. These officers, promoted from the Black Hat Army and your foot knights, are quite fair and rigorous in their merits and warfare.

These are the hopes of those border soldiers; if it's unfair, these soldiers will really rebel."

Moriah nodded, which was consistent with the results she had obtained from the rhetoric and eavesdropping during the card game and meal.

"What about the soldiers, how are they?"

"Generally good, they are quite attentive to training and fighting, but the daily work and such..." Lannes stopped there.

But Moriah knew what he was going to say next, that things were better because of the inspection, and before that, they were just fooling around.

The Grand Duchess had her own channels; she shared some of the resources of the Holy Union Cheka, because Carrie's former position in Gulag was "Chief of Cheka".

According to the intelligence gathered by the Cheka, the soldiers were perfunctory in their daily work, and anyone could pass through at will as long as they were not carrying weapons.

Lower-ranking officers robbed merchants under the pretext of confiscatingcontraband, which was contraband if they said it was, and not contraband if they said it wasn't, with great discretion.

Supreme commanders arbitrarily beat and enslaved soldiers, and even sent garrison soldiers to open shops and do business in the town.

But if you really say they are incompetent, the training results are good, they have repelled several attacks by the Gravel Wasteland army, and they have also caught many mercenaries and spies trying to sneak in.

Sometimes capable and sometimes incompetent, it was really confusing.

Stroking her iron fist, Moriah closed her eyes slightly and thought in her heart.

She could understand that careful inspection would inevitably lead to low efficiency, and the upper levels would reprimand if the trade routes were not smooth.

And if you really get careful, there is no end to it, and there will still be loopholes no matter how careful you are.

If the inspection is not careful, spies will sneak in, and the upper levels will also reprimand.

In that case, it's better to just cut it all off and not inspect carefully, which saves effort.

Bear Nibble Keep is isolated on the border of the Thousand River Valley, and even a fast horse urgent report takes three to five days.

If it weren't for the judge advocate and the chaplains, the rules and regulations would really be pure fart for the border army.

Accurately speaking, this kind of situation is actually daily in this era.

In Langsand County, thanks to economic dividends and political tournaments, it is possible to exercise relatively efficient and responsible border functions.

But if you think that the entire Thousand River Valley border can achieve this level, that is wishful thinking.

After all, the Thousand River Valley has only been three years from uprising to founding to the present, and it is almost impossible to jump from a medieval inefficient and corrupt team to a reliable government.

What Hohn and Moriah have been doing is actually promoting bureaucrats to replace the rule of landed nobles.

It only reduces legal exploitation from the system, and it is better to expect the Holy Father to really descend than to expect the moral level of this group of bureaucrats.

As far as Hohn himself is concerned, not to mention the Council of State and the Autocratic Cabinet, even the Holy Union is a bit of a makeshift team.

The efficiency of the Holy Mechanical Court government is partly based on the system and partly on the personal abilities of the Gulag founding fathers.

Thinking of this, Moriah couldn't help clenching her fists.