Lady of the Lord From the East

The temperature in March has risen to more than ten degrees, the winter snow has already melted, the ground is no longer frozen like a lump of ice and it is difficult to excavate. The speed of the road construction team suddenly increased, and there are no workers in the team who do not need to go home There are still quite a few, so even if many of the temporary workers who came to work have gone home to cultivate the land, their progress has not become too slow, although the impact is unavoidable.

But if at such a time, it is necessary to assign manpower to build houses and repair farms, it is really a bit difficult for a strong man.

They originally took over the road construction project in Sardinson County, and they don't need to worry about no work being done for the next year or two or even longer.

But they didn't expect that after the start of construction, the amount of work would continue to expand. With the current trend, if it goes too large, let alone one or two years, they may not even think about finishing it in five years.

When building roads, they also need to build houses. When building houses, factories can’t be left behind. Now they are farms and farms.

Although it is good to have a job all the time, the time for vacation and rest is far away, which is really painful and joyful.

Of course, for the sake of money, the work that should be done still has to be done. Who let the Count here be generous and never owe wages. Naturally, such a big customer must be well served and not lost.

"But we really don't have enough people." Deputy Peter said distressedly: "We have already allocated some people to build factories and houses, and there is no way to allocate more people unless the road construction project is stopped. already."

The long-term members of the original construction team were about 30 people for this reason. In order to take over the road construction project in Sardinson, they recruited a large number of people. Together with the labored residents of Sardinson County, there are several thousand people. Only a large team can repair the main road of Sardinson County all the way through Dingle to Sardinson Castle in winter. According to this progress, it will only take a year or two to build the main route of the whole county.

But that was during the slack season in winter. After spring, most of the serfs and free people went back to farm the land. The manpower of the road construction team was reduced by more than half, and the remaining people were transferred to take over the original service. The territorial residents continued to build houses, and now they are notified to send someone to repair the farm and breeding farm. Where did this person come from?

This question made Nissen, the head of the construction team, silent for a long time. Recruiting people must be recruited, but where to recruit them is a problem.

At present, he has recruited all the people he can recruit. Except for the residents of Sardinson County and several surrounding noble territories, the rest are people he brought from his hometown. These people have been selected and can work. He won't steal and play tricks, and he doesn't despise the rest.

Apart from these places, recruiting in places they are not familiar with is not an appropriate choice. People in every region are exclusive, let alone whether they believe in their recruitment or not, it is only the nobles of those territories who find that they are in If you kidnap people, it is very likely that knights will be sent to expel them, and if they are bad, they will even be arrested.

For the nobles, population is their wealth.

Nissen pondered for a long time and couldn't think of a way, and finally he could only say: "I'll go talk to Abel and the others."

Nissen can form a construction team, so can others, Abel is one of them, and because the two construction teams belong to two adjacent noble fiefs, they usually compete a lot, and their relationship is not a good one. Cynical sarcasm is inevitable.

If possible, Nissen certainly doesn't want to go to Abel to discuss cooperation matters, but unfortunately, he is the only one of the peers he knows of a certain scale. Bourdeau is not as professional as him.

As soon as he said it, Peter also reacted, worried: "Do you want to cooperate with Abel? Will he agree?"

Their relationship is really bad, and they almost got into a fight last time.

Nissen asked back, "A business that can make money takes the initiative to switch to you, would you disagree?"

Of course I wouldn't disagree. The salary given by Earl Williams is really high, and it is very difficult to find an employer who is more generous than him.

"But he... we might be able to switch?"

Peter didn't like Abel very much either. After all, the other party had robbed them of many engineering orders, and the two construction teams could be said to be deadly enemies.

"Although that guy has a terrible personality, his skills are still not small. I heard that old Pierre recently took over a new job from the Count. When he draws the blueprint and officially starts work, he may go to Abel. Now, instead of being recommended by Pierre at that time, let's sell our favor now."

What new job Pierre has taken, Nissen has not yet figured out, the old man seems to have received the earl's advice and refused to tell the public, but this is a big project, although Nissen really wants to eat it, but they Now the clone is lacking, and there is no manpower at all.

As an architect, Pierre is not the only one who knows the construction team. Before, they were recommended to the Count by him because of their friendship with fellow villagers and many times of cooperation. I can't see the possibility of completion. If Pierre wants to start construction, he will naturally find other teams. Nissen knows that Abel will definitely be the first candidate outside of them. Give Abel what they can't do now, so that Abel can bring in more people, share part of their work, and let their tasks be completed quickly, and the new project on Peel's side may be returned. Have a chance to fight for it.

With this little thought, it is inevitable that it will be difficult to accept the matter of going to the enemy to introduce the project.

As an employer, Felix doesn't care who builds the farm and who builds the road. As long as the project can be completed on time and the quality inspection is passed, whoever pays is not given.

He didn't have time to pay attention to this little thing.

Felix acquired Slootshire and became the new Earl of Sloot. He immediately put the prepared sugar recipe and the newly written letter in a sealed envelope, stamped the family crest, and handed it to the messenger. , After sending the king's messenger away, he began to prepare for taking over Sloter.

Since the original lord was demoted to a baron, most of the land in Slootshire has become a no-man's land, and the free people in it have long run away. All that remained were the serfs who were not free. These people were originally the serfs of the former earl and now the baron, but after the nobles were demoted, the extra fiefs were taken back, and these serfs were taken back along with the fiefs and became the king's serfs.

These people changed from the count's serfs to the king's serfs, but their lives did not get better. On the contrary, because they could not rely on labor to replace taxes, their lives were worse than before. If it wasn't for the sea and the surrounding mountains, they could go out to sea to fish. When they went into the mountains to hunt, their food was simply not enough.

Today, there are less than a thousand serfs left in the whole of Sloot County, and life is very difficult. They cannot leave Sloot without permission, so even if they know the development of the next door in Sardinson County, there are people everywhere. Work, a lot of work not only includes food, accommodation and wages, and they can't cross the border to make a living in Sardinson County.

In the winter that just ended, Sloth's population dwindled again, and even if spring came and the ploughing began, the numb serfs could not see any hope of surviving.

At this time, the king's messenger deliberately passed by Slot on the way back, called everyone together, and informed them that Slot had a new lord.

"The Earl of Williams in Sardinson will be your new owner. He will send someone to take over here soon. You must cooperate with the Earl of Williams, and Slot County will be his territory in the future." The messenger who took the count's return gift announced the news in a happy mood, and by the way, helped Felix to warn these serfs not to cause trouble.

Oh, he had to help him to make a trip to the original Earl of Sloot. The current Baron Sloter told him that not only his original territory, but also the title of Sloot belonged to someone else in the future. Call yourself by your family's surname, or by the name of your current territory.

I don't know if the unfortunate baron will get sick because of it.

The messenger was busy with his errands and returned to the capital. He didn't stay in Slot for long, and left after announcing it in a hurry, leaving only a group of serfs who hadn't figured out the situation yet, standing there at a loss.

When the messenger was far away, the group of people slowly reacted to what he said.

Are they about to have a new lord?

Or the Earl of Williams in Sardinsonshire next door? ?

That young and rich Count who is very kind to the people? ? ?

"I've heard the nobleman say that Lord Count Williams has become our new lord?"

"I think I heard it too?"

"We're not dreaming, are we?"

"Snapped!"

The serf who gave himself a slap hissed, and then shouted in surprise: "God, this is not a dream, we really have a new lord! It's the earl of Sardinson!"

This shout directly penetrated everyone's eardrums, and all the serfs were suddenly shocked, and their brains finally received the news.

Lord Earl of Sardinson! They have a new lord, and they finally don't have to worry about starving to death after paying their taxes! !

The serfs cheered, but soon, the cheers gradually disappeared, tears replaced the smiles, and the wailing passed through the crowd, the wailing was accompanied by grief, and all the bad emotions were vented.

They waited for a new lord, but many ended up not being able to.

When Slot was taken back, there were more than 2,000 serfs and more freedmen on the recovered fief, but now, all the freedmen have left, and there are less than 1,000 serfs left, and the fief was confiscated. for three years.

In just three years, they have lost too much.

This group of serfs who have survived the three spring and autumn seasons are very tough. Although they cried faintly when they first heard the news, on the third day Felix took Wei Wei and led a group of knights and soldiers to Slot. At that time, these people can no longer see the sadness at that time.

Sloot is further south than the southern border of Sardinson County. Unlike the beaches in Sardinson, which are quite rocky, the beach near Sloot is flat, there are no reefs in the sea, and cliff-like walls on both sides of the beach. Extending into the sea, a huge U-shaped bay is formed here.

This place is indeed very suitable for building a wharf.

In Wei Wei's view, the scenery of this beach is extremely beautiful. If a large number of distinctive buildings are built on those rugged cliffs, the houses are dotted with lush trees, and under the blue sea and blue sky, this place can completely match the Mediterranean Sea of ​​later generations. The city is comparable to a tourist destination.

But the serfs who have lived here for generations have long been unable to appreciate the beauty here. They live in fishing villages near the sea. The simple thatched houses are often blown by the sea breeze and have to be repaired frequently. If they come, they may capsize the fishing boat, and the boat will be destroyed. They are frightened and afraid of the sea. Life is already so hard, what is the meaning of the beautiful scenery?

These serfs didn't originally live together, but as the population was getting smaller and smaller, they had to stick together to survive, and the living people packed up what was left in the houses that were no longer inhabited, and eventually moved to the adjacent in two fishing villages.

Although the original Earl of Sloot was demoted, in addition to the number of territories and people, his castle and other properties still belonged to him. Felix took over Sloter, but they had no place to live here. Yes, and the fishing village full of serfs was dirty and messy. The Earl, who had been trained by Wei Wei for a long time, was very hygienic and had no intention of entering the fishing village, so they stopped directly outside the fishing village and let the serfs speak out.

When Felix and his party arrived, all the serfs, young and old, came out. They were very enthusiastic, and even gave them their only rations to entertain them.

The people of Slot basically live by fishing. Although they can also farm the land, they don’t grow much, especially after the king’s tax officer came to collect the tax, there was hardly much food left for them, so they The food basically comes from the sea.

The fish is fresh sea fish that has just come back. The fish resources in the Mediterranean are not rich, but there are many kinds of delicious sea fish, but the serfs’ cooking method is very simple, either boiled or roasted, and the seasoning is only salt, not even oil. , coupled with general cooking techniques, the taste of the fish made depends on the quality of the fish itself.

However, Felix still accepted the grilled fish handed over by the oldest of the group of serfs, and distributed some of the food the knights brought to the serfs.

Looking at the beans and rye that were brought in front of them, the two big bags made the serfs who had not eaten food other than seafood for a long time couldn't help gulping.

The old man who was chosen to speak in place of the serf couldn't help staring at the two sacks on the ground. The opened pockets revealed plump beans and rye. After a long time, his cloudy eyes moved away reluctantly: "Lord Count, what is this? "

"Thank you for the grilled fish."

Felix raised his hand, the serfs had no extra tableware, and the grilled fish in his hand was directly baked on the branches and delivered.

Not only him, but everyone in the accompanying team got a grilled fish, but compared to the whole fish in his and Wei Wei's hands, everyone else's fish were evenly divided after being cut into pieces, maybe not enough for them. A full meal, but this is the ration the serfs have saved as much as possible. Maybe if they are given to them, the serfs will starve themselves.

He didn't look at those people after he finished speaking, he lowered his head and took a bite of the grilled fish. The fish was a bit old and the salt used was the cheapest coarse salt. The taste was bitter and salty, making people wonder if they directly replaced the salt with seawater .

Of course, there is no shortage of salt in Sloot near the sea. Although the method of drying salt has not yet appeared in Asia and Europe at this time, the salt fields in Africa next door have experienced hundreds of years - although most of the drying is not sea salt. —And the method of drying salt is not not spread from across the sea to this side, but it is not only hard work but also depends on the weather. A little rainy day can make many days of hard work in vain, so the coastal area of ​​the Prady Empire The basic method of boiling salt is still used in the territory.

It's just that what they boil is coarse salt, which tastes bitter and astringent. Such salt nobles do not eat it. They only eat refined salt shipped from other countries. Coarse salt is only eaten by poor commoners, so coarse salt The price has always been low.

People who live by the sea do not need to buy salt. They will boil some sea water when they need it at home. If they boil more, they will sell it, but very few people make a living from it.

For them, when there is time to cook salt, it is better to go out to sea to catch more fish, and cooking salt also requires firewood.

The salt used on the grilled fish prepared for the Count and his party was the coarse salt that the serfs cooked themselves. If they hadn’t been able to cook the salt themselves, under the restriction of not being able to leave the territory, and no merchants came here, I’m afraid the serfs would have come here long ago. Because of the lack of salt, I had to take the risk and ran out.

But although the king was not there and no one restricted their access, the serfs still did not dare to go out, because the former lord next door had been eyeing them all the time. As long as they dared to leave the territory, the current baron would immediately catch them and make them slaves. Bring back the brand of the king, and the king is not there, no one will go to him to ask for someone.

And Slootshire is now divided in two, one-tenth of the land has become a barony, and the rest used to belong to the king. At first, the serfs did not realize that this kind of territory was divided into two pieces. At the time of the restriction, someone broke into Baron Sloter's only territory while hunting, and was taken away in the name of stealing the Baron's game.

"Someone was taken away before, like God promised they just accidentally crossed the border while hunting, and didn't mean to run away, but the baron took everyone away."

The previous lord of Sloth was obviously not a good person. When the serfs mentioned him, they all looked resentful, as if they were talking about their enemy, and they wanted to take a bite.

When Felix was talking to the old serf, Wei Wei kept trying to eat the grilled fish that was given to her, but unfortunately, her enhanced sense of taste did not allow her to eat this unpalatable food. After struggling a few times, Wei Wei silently chose to give up, and put the grilled fish on Felix's plate as if nothing had happened.

Felix glanced back at her, said nothing, and ate the grilled fish with a few bites.

Years of knighthood are not for nothing, although he is now fed up with appetite, but when he needs it, no matter how unpalatable food Felix is, he can eat it.

After getting the most out of the situation, Felix asked the old serf to go back to eat first.

After the people left, Wei Wei said, "The situation here is really bad, what are you going to do?"

"I'm considering whether to bring people back first."

He had seen those serfs, they were all skinny and skinny, some of them were obviously sick, and they might die if they didn't care, but Sloth's conditions were here, and they didn't even have a suitable place to stay. Although they could live for the time being In a carriage, but not suitable for a long stay.

And this time Felix just came to see the situation. He didn't prepare much materials and couldn't give them too much. It can be said that even if they stay, they will not play a big role.

But if you bring people back, it's also a problem where to put them. These serfs are good at fishing, and their ability to farm is very general. When they came here, Felix had seen those fields along the way, because they lacked agricultural tools and had no Livestock, after the spring ploughing in Sardinson County, only a small part of the fields here are still cultivated, and he asked the old serfs, their previous crop yields were very low, even less than 150 per mu. Ten catties, even if they don't pay taxes, they can't support themselves.

"The waters in Sardinson County are not suitable for fishing. If you take them back, you can't continue to do this, and you can't farm the land. What should you do?"

Wei Wei smiled when she heard the words: "You're thinking too far. Even if you bring people back, it's only a temporary resettlement. Sooner or later, they'll have to go back to Sloth. Don't you want to leave such a large space empty?"

That's impossible. He can't wait to build a pier here immediately. Of course, this is not in a hurry. Although Sardinson County has been making money recently, there are many places to spend money. If you add another money-eating pier project, Even he can't afford it.

"So instead of taking people back, it's better to let them stay here. We will send people to send some supplies over here, let these people cultivate for a period of time, take care of their bodies, and then arrange for them to build houses here."

Sloth doesn't even have a suitable place to stay now. If they don't build some houses for them to live in, it will be difficult for them to live in tents next time.

"In addition, they can also be arranged to dry the salt. I think the temperature in Sloth is much higher than that in Sardinson. First, build the salt field, and wait until the weather is suitable to dry the salt. The coarse salt produced can be directly supplied to the lords. It can also be processed into refined salt, so we can save a lot of the cost of buying salt.”

Whether it's bacon or meat sauce, it takes a lot of salt, which has always been a big expense, and now they have the right place to produce salt, even if only one month of the year can produce salt, enough for Sardinson and Slaughter Self-sufficient.

"Salt? Salt fields?"

Wei Wei nodded, repeated the basic method of drying salt, and added: "Compared with boiling salt, drying salt is more productive and does not consume firewood. It only needs a large enough production area and good weather. It's not high enough, and I'm not afraid of being exposed to the sun without salt."

Felix was a little moved. After all, salt is indeed a must. If you don't have to buy it, you can save a lot of money, but he hesitates: "Will this affect the construction of the wharf?"

"The location is farther away, too close to the beach and I'm worried about high tides, and we don't have to build too big a salt field, so it shouldn't affect it anywhere."