Lady of the Lord From the East

Baird Baritt is a slave trader and a well-connected slave trader. Many nobles like to buy slaves from him, not only because of the variety of slaves in his hands, but also better than those of other merchants. use.

Of course, Baird is not a businessman who likes to persecute slaves. He understands better than other businessmen that in order to sell the goods at a good price, the quality of the goods must be guaranteed. When whipping and other methods to train slaves, the slaves in his hands will not be whipped as long as they are obedient, and they can even eat a bowl of stewed food with wild vegetables and beans every day. To be honest, the taste is very bad, but anyway, people will not starve to death. .

Therefore, although he was rejected by his peers and felt that he was too hypocritical, he would only use this method to gain favor, but Baird did have a better reputation than his peers because of this, and many people who could not survive were more willing to sell themselves to him. , after all, it is sold at the same price to everyone, at least it is better under his hands.

As for what kind of master they will meet in the future, it depends on their own luck.

But what makes Baird hesitate to those who want to sell himself is that he basically does not accept serfs, but only does slave business.

The selling price of slaves is much higher than that of serfs, and most of the nobles of the Prady Empire are old-fashioned nobles. There are as many serfs as there are, and they don’t need more. Compared with slaves, they are different. People who are a little richer, and even commoners will buy one or two slaves to work at home, which is more cost-effective than hiring servants.

But there are very few people who are really willing to sell as slaves. Most of the slaves are either ordinary people caught and sold by robbers or prisoners left over from the war. The Prady Empire has been peaceful for a long time, and the number of the latter is very small, resulting in slaves. Slaves in the market are getting scarcer, so the price of slaves is much higher than before.

But Baird has no shortage of slaves. He is half a Prady man. He has blood from other countries. It comes from his mother, and his mother's former country is now fighting with several other countries. If you win, there will often be nobles who go to the battlefield and their followers and soldiers are captured. The nobles will eventually be ransomed back by the country to which they belong, but ordinary followers and soldiers are not so lucky, and their masters are not willing to spend money for them. If so, these people will eventually be sold into slave markets.

Baird also has connections in his mother's country, so he has channels to buy these slaves first, and he can even get some from other countries, so the goods in his hand have never been out of stock, as long as the buyer expresses the demand, He can find any kind of slave.

Originally, slave merchants like Baird were prosperous in the capital, and the slaves in their hands were not worried about selling at all, and there was no need to work hard to bring a group of slaves to rural places like Sardinson County.

But Baird and Claude Galt are very familiar. The latter, because of the line of Lord Count Williams, not only has to go abroad for business, but also prepares to establish a business, and has become a faint The trend of the first-class merchants of the empire.

Businessmen seek profits, and no one wants to make more money. Although Baird is a slave merchant, he also has some other businesses in his hands. Although he does not expect to be as successful as Claude, it cannot be too bad.

And Claude often runs to Sardinson County now. Knowing that Earl Williams has been lacking people, he thinks that this is an opportunity to sell his favor, so he becomes a lobbyist and persuades Baird to take all the slaves in his hand to Sardinia. Tinson County.

After hesitating for a long time, Baird decided to take a trip to Sardinson County.

Because it was only after the beginning of the spring, Baird chose to travel by sea and land. Although there are regulations that women cannot go to sea these days, female slaves do not belong to this category. They are goods and commodities. If everything goes well at sea, it will be fine. , in the event of a disaster, these female slaves will be the first to be thrown into the sea as sacrifices.

Baird contacted the captain he knew well, packaged a few boats, and brought all the slaves and serfs in his hands. With the accompanying hired guards, the number of the team exceeded a thousand people, of which only serfs and slaves. accounted for ninety percent.

Usually, there are not so many people in his hands. When he set off in April, there are very few slaves who actively sell themselves in the market during this period, but this period is also a time when there is no connection, not to mention that the life of ordinary people is difficult, and some nobles The same is not good, so these nobles will send their subordinates to disguise robbers to rob other nobles' villages, all the food is confiscated, the villagers are either killed or sold, and all the people in his hands are brought back from abroad. , scores of several different countries, but fortunately, although the countries are different, the language around the Prady Empire is the same system, and they can barely communicate.

Slaves from abroad are the favorites of the nobles. Their appearance and language with a strong foreign accent make them isolated and helpless in the country. Even if a slave escapes, they will be caught immediately.

Sea and land are much faster than land travel. Although the cost of the boat is higher, it can save a group of people the food they need to travel by land. Baird has nothing to give up. It only took them a few days to travel from the royal seaport in the capital Arrive at Princia's pier.

Arriving at Princia, Baird was taken aback by the prosperity here.

Baird, as a slave trader who travels in various countries all the year round, used to take boats a lot. When his business was not so big at the beginning, he mainly used domestic routes to search for slaves and buyers. Princia He has also been to the pier a few times, but in his impression, the pier in Princia is not lively at all. There are few ships passing by. There is only a dilapidated tavern by the pier where you can eat, drink and stay. There are always a lot of cheap restaurants on the roadside. The labor force is gathered, and with very little compensation, enough people can be hired to help unload the goods.

But now, when the boats he rented arrive at the dock, they even have to wait in line to dock. There are no less than a hundred boats of various sizes by the dock. Porters are going up and down the docked boats, carrying batches of supplies. The tavern I used to go to is still in the old place, but it is no longer the only choice for people. There are several more hotels and hotels next to it. In addition, there are more storefronts being renovated and waiting to open soon.

It's completely gone.

"The changes here are great." Standing on the bow, Baird couldn't help but sigh.

The captain next to him said: "These people are basically heading for Sardinson, look at those, they are bringing goods to Sardinson for exchange, and Princia is a distance from Sardinson. A lot of businessmen are willing to take this road to the nearest pier, and the place naturally prospered.”

After all, time is money. Compared with the cumbersome land route, people are naturally more willing to travel by land and sea. Especially, most businessmen are developing in China, and the land and sea are close to the coastline. Moreover, the rainy season in the Mediterranean is in winter, and other seasons, especially in summer, have less rainfall. The probability of encountering a storm is low, and the possibility of encountering a shipwreck on the road is low. Although the boat fare is relatively expensive, if you travel by land, you will have to pay taxes every time you pass through a lord’s territory, even if you don’t stop there to sell goods, the entry tax and The tolls are all to be paid, and the sum of zero and zero is not cheaper than the boat fare, so the cost-effectiveness of traveling by sea and land is definitely higher than that of traveling by land.

Baird's goods were all people, and he didn't need to hire someone to unload the goods, but when he arrived at the Princia Pier, seeing the different prosperity here, he wanted to arrive in Sardinson County earlier, so he gave up his original plan to let the slaves walk. , decided to rent some carriages to transport them and increase the speed.

In addition, he brought slaves over this time and did not prepare much rations to reduce the number of ships. In addition, the price of food in the capital was definitely higher than here. Baird, who was thinking about saving expenses, originally planned to replenish some food in Princia.

As a result, when he arrived in Princia, he realized that the price of food here is not low. Although the price of food was not as high as that in the capital, it was still much higher than what he had imagined, and it was extremely difficult to buy food such as wheat. arrive.

"They were all bought by Satinson. The earl has a good relationship with our future lord, and the extra wheat has been sold to him. If you want to eat wheat, why not try pasta?"

The owner of the grain store recommended pasta and the matching meat sauce to Baird. The dried pasta can be stored for a long time. Although it is not as durable as the pasta of later generations, it is more suitable for eating on the go.

"Just put it in water, add a little salt, cook it, add a spoonful of meat sauce, and it's a very delicious food."

The pasta and meat sauce produced by Sardinson are very popular now. Even in the capital, they are favored by the nobles. They even developed a variety of different combinations, such as using other ingredients and spices to match the pasta, or mix the meat sauce. Spread it in bread and eat it together. I heard that even the king eats this kind of food several times a week, and people other than nobles often can’t buy these delicious and not too expensive food, because the yield that can be sent to the capital It is only enough for the nobles to divide it up.

Baird has eaten pasta. It was at Claude's place. The latter even gave him some. This is indeed very delicious food. Even people who don't know how to cook can cook it well, and it is very suitable for home travel. .

And the price of these two commodities in Princia is much lower than that of Wangdu.

So without waiting for the grain store owner to say more, Baird bought a lot of pasta and meat sauce. Of course, this was what he planned to eat for himself, and maybe he would allow his confidants and guard leaders to taste it. Slaves, of course, can only eat beans and oats.

Fortunately, these two kinds of Sardines are not charged, and the price is still very cheap.

After buying the rations, the rented fleet was ready, and without much stopping, they set off on the road again.

Originally, Baird was going to pass through Princia, enter the official road from the northeast of Princia, and then follow the official road to Sardinson County. There will be several small towns on the way. Another way.

As a result, the team leader told him that there was still a way to enter Tros from the east of Princia through a forest, and across Tros to Sardinson.

The distance between the two is actually similar, that is, Sloth's road was newly built recently, and it was only a simple dirt road, which was more difficult to walk than the official road.

"The advantage is that you don't have to pay tolls and city entry fees."

Slaughter, what is that place? Baird didn't remember the name of the place after thinking for a long time. It was the team leader who told him that the current owner of Slaughter County was Lord Williams, so they didn't need to pay extra tax when they went in.

Neither Sardinson nor Sloot has a large town that can’t charge entry fees, but there are tolls too, but Felix values ​​the trade and trade brought by the merchants more than the tolls. Business tax, so as long as it is a businessman who comes to do business, there is no need to pay tolls. As for the entry fee, we will talk about it after he builds the city.

It's nice to be able to save a fortune, but Baird is also worried about the safety on the road: "Is it dangerous to walk through the forest? Are there many wild beasts in the forest? Are there robbers?"

"It turned out to be quite a lot, but the earl led the team to hunt in person before, and I heard that he also hit a bear. The robbers have never heard of it. There were no people in that place, and there were robbers. So the road is very safe now, and there are a lot of people going there recently, and I haven't heard of anything happening."

The team leader is inclined to take this road. Compared with the official road, although the road of Slaughter is not easy to take Fermat, the safety is much higher. There are robbers on the official road from time to time. The news came back, of course, whether it is a real robber or not, who has no idea.

Baird thought for a while, and finally accepted his proposal and chose the way to Sloot.

The road is exactly as the team leader said, except that the road was built many years ago, no one has maintained it, and it has been bumpy. A convoy would encounter other caravans from time to time, and even if there were real beasts, they would not dare to come out.

On the way, they also saw a castle hidden in the woods in the distance. The road splits here, one leading to the castle and the other continuing to the east.

"There is the original Earl Sloter, the current Baron Baker's territory. I heard that he was demoted because he offended the great nobles, so Sloter will become a land without owners, and everyone who can leave will leave. Now there are only about a thousand serfs left here."

The land size of Prady's county is not too different, but the population of a county is different, but a whole county except the baronies, the remaining population is only a thousand people, which is unbelievably small.

Especially the team leader also introduced that there has been no lord here for three years, only the king sent people to collect taxes on a regular basis, and nothing else mattered, Baird could already think of what kind of life the remaining people lived.

At the same time, it is a pity for him. If he had known such a place earlier, he might have come here to collect some slaves. Although the serfs belonged to the lords, the king did not pay attention to this place. become slaves.

It is a pity that now there is a master here, and he is still a rich and powerful earl, so the serfs naturally cannot move.

The convoy passed through the woodlands in one day and arrived at the seaside fishing village of Throte. Baird thought he would see a group of frail serfs. They were all thin as if they were going to die at any time. There was no light in their eyes, and they were numb. alive, like walking dead.

But he was wrong. The serfs in the fishing village may not be strong enough, but they are in good spirits and full of energy. They have smiles on their faces, bright and energetic eyes, and they can't see how hard life is at all.

There is no extra place to live in the fishing village, and there are no taverns and hotels. There are many caravans that come and go, so they can only make their own camps. However, the serfs in the fishing village can provide fish caught, which is also good food for the caravans.

When the serfs came to sell fresh sea fish, Baird bought a few and asked them about their current situation by the way.

"It's been much better recently." The fish seller was a peasant woman with a child who looked only five years old, but was actually seven years old - this was the only remaining child in their family.

"Since the Count took over Sloth, he not only killed those dangerous beasts for us, but also sent a lot of food. As long as anyone who is willing to work for him can get food, he can also exchange fish for food. Now everyone doesn't have to go hungry anymore."

The mother and son are both thin and badly dressed, but they are in good spirits. Baird only found out after inquiring that there were originally five people in their family. The couple raised three children. The youngest son and daughter are both Starved to death, her husband was unfortunately killed by a wild boar while hunting, and only she and her eldest son survived.

It is actually very difficult for a thin and helpless woman to support herself and her child. In the past, Baird might have persuaded the woman to sell him and her child together, so there would be a way to survive.

But now, he looked at the little boy who was slowly licking what looked like a small piece of sugar in the fiery sunset of the evening, and he didn't say anything.

He heard a lot of news about Sardinson County on the way. He knew that the lord here would give out expensive candy bars to the registrants when registering the population of the county. Only he knew it was true, because the countess here thought that the serfs were too thin and needed some nutrition, and ordered them not to sell the candy they got and eat them by themselves, so Baird has seen it here. There are many pictures of serfs eating candy.

And probably seeing that the serfs here are doing better than expected, the slaves brought by Baird seem to have become more peaceful, and they have a little bit of anticipation for the upcoming life in a remote outlying county.

The next day they continued on the road, just in time to see the serfs in the fishing village sealing the sea fish with coarse salt in a large clay pot, sealing it up and sending it to the carriage, which would transport the fish to Sardinson. County, in exchange for the equivalent of food and other daily necessities.

The serfs were also responsible for the transportation.

Seeing this scene, Baird was a little surprised: "Can they leave Slot?" Except for being recruited to serve as soldiers and leave the territory to fight, it is basically a practice that serfs cannot leave their territories, because most people cannot pay high fees. This is also one of the lord's methods to prevent serfs from escaping. After all, they are different from slaves and have no brand on their bodies. If they really want to escape, it is still possible to succeed.

"It's okay to go to Sardinson." The serf who was stopped for questioning answered tremblingly, staring at the slaves they brought, as if he was afraid that he would be caught by Baird and become a slave: "The Earl gives With permission, we can leave Slaughter and go to Sardinson, as long as the reason is valid."

Of course, not all serfs have this privilege, at least not in Sardinsonburg, but Sloth's situation is special now. There are only a thousand serfs in the entire territory. If they can't leave here, Felix will still He had to arrange for another person to deliver the supplies. There was already a shortage of people, so he wouldn't be so wasteful.

So the Baird convoy happened to go with these serfs, and they were a little slower because of the crowd, watching the serfs bring the wagon full of pickled fish to Melk Town, in Melk Town The mayor of the town exchanged food and some daily necessities before leaving for Sloth, and those fish that were only slightly marinated for a day or two would be processed into canned fish with different flavors here, and then sent to Dinge sold to merchants.

There are currently four flavors: fresh-fried, steamed, smoked, and oil-soaked. The recipe and production method naturally come from the magical countess. The cans are glass cans. The food can be stored for a whole year. Although the glass is fragile, the glass jars made in Sardinson are thicker and heavier, but as long as they are transported with care, they can still be safe. Dried salted fish are transported to inland areas that do not rely on the sea. Otherwise, people in those areas and countries are basically not good at eating sea fish. They mainly eat freshwater fish, but the smell of freshwater fish is too heavy. The Shanghai fish is delicious.

So as long as these cans taste good, there is no need to worry about not being able to sell them.

Baird knew that pasta and meat sauce were also made by the countess first, and there was even a rumor in the capital that this noble lady from a foreign country was very good at cooking and could make many delicacies they had never seen before. Curious about the countess' craftsmanship, Baird bought a can of each type of fish to taste when he was in Melk.

Then he was completely overwhelmed by the taste of these sea fish that was different from the way he used to eat. Before leaving Melk Town, he even ordered a batch of goods with the mayor there. Lu's, like going to his mother's motherland, or selling directly in the capital, he doesn't think it's necessary to worry about sales.

Stopping and going all the way, the businessman was almost blinded by the various goods sold by Dingle and was reluctant to leave, but he still remembered his purpose in time, and continued to the castle to meet the Earl of Williams with the motorcade. .

On the way from Slaughter to Sardinson, he had long discovered that the earl was probably a construction madman. There were construction teams building houses and roads everywhere along the way, and there were many workers involved in the construction. However, in addition to this, there are various recruitment announcements posted in the three towns, mainly aimed at various skilled craftsmen, and there are also information about recruiting managers who can read and write.

And some of the slaves he brought were born by craftsmen, and some could read and write. Even those who did not have a skill were mostly strong laborers who had the strength to work. I think they could be sold here for a good price. .

At that time, he doesn't want any money either, and he will replace all of them with goods and bring them back, and he will definitely make a lot of money!