Chapter 610 News at Fort Joan of Arc
The cold autumn rain beat randomly on the roof, dripping along the eaves of the chapel, and splashing ripples on the platform.
In this vast windy mountain forest, Ansel could still hear waves of vague "squeaking" sounds.
That was the sound of a hand-cranked spinning wheel, or the sound of dozens of spinning wheels shaking in the autumn rain and mist.
Amidst this neat squeaking sound, Ansel had a leisurely and satisfied smile on his face, reading the new briefing and sharpening his quill.
For writers of this era, sharpening quills is a step that no one can get around.
According to the "Monk's Handbook" edited by Horn and Catherine, what new assistant monks have to do in the first year is to sharpen quills and bind yearbooks.
The so-called yearbook is the paper-based office required by Horn. After each year, the department or religious congregation must copy and bind the report for the year. This is the yearbook.
By reading, binding and copying the yearbook, you will gradually understand the style, authority and tasks of the department.
The next thing to learn is how to execute it.
Even Ansel, who was in the third phase of the Boy Army, first sharpened his quills for half a year in the Hundred Houses District of Langsand County before officially participating in the work.
On his desk, in addition to the new issue of the newsletter, there is also the latest Joan of Arc paper.
The two-dimensional table on the paper contains the directory of the Sickle Brotherhood.
According to the briefing, the first batch of Joan of Arc paper has been put on the market in mid-August, priced at 90 dinars each.
This price and quality quickly became popular in Langsand County. In addition, churches and monasteries "voluntarily" contributed a large number of letterpress plates, causing book prices to plummet.
Ansel is currently considering whether to apply for a literacy reading book from his superiors and let Bryson take care of some students in the winter.
This kind of literacy reading book was also published recently. It is a general reading book compiled by the Court of Truth and printed by Krabby Patty Publishing House.
It is said that there is one for each hundred-household district. His Majesty the Holy Sun forced the major monasteries to take out monks and take these literacy textbooks to the countryside to eliminate illiteracy.
It is not required to be able to write, as long as you can read and master the addition and subtraction of less than twenty.
In this way, even public farmers can understand the announcements and are not afraid of being deceived by businessmen or tax collectors using numerical tricks.
As for the cities, various middle schools and primary schools were gradually established, and these teachers were provided by low-level monks and laid-off priests from the monasteries.
The priests who were dismissed from the Order of Efficient Exorcism finally have a job and will not become "informed social idlers".
The Salvation Army has even developed an incredible 12-year high school affiliated with St. Tangier College, "Zhongsi Middle School", from kindergarten at the age of 4 to graduating from high school at the age of 16.
16 years old, which happens to be the minimum age for the Salvation Army to recruit war monks, and then join the army directly.
But according to Ansel's opinion, although he was born in the Children's Army and was basically in the same system as the Salvation Army, he still felt it was inappropriate.
Because these military schools have tuition exemptions for the children of war monks, and they adopt an application system.
Seven or eight primary and secondary schools have been established in Fort Joan of Arc, Holy Armament Court, and Rapid City, but they have not implemented compulsory education.
Most of the people who actually come to school are children of small bourgeoisie, children of war monks, and villagers who made a fortune during the war.
As a result, there is a high probability that this 12-year military high school will be filled with children of war monks.
If this continues, soldiers or officers will not be allowed to become a semi-hereditary profession.
But this is what His Majesty Sheng Sun should consider, not what Ansel should consider.
He only considered one thing, and that was the members and number of the Sickle Brotherhood.
A month ago, he and Bryson came to Adrian Manor. Not to mention the Brotherhood, there was no one who was even willing to talk to them.
As of seven days ago, his Sickle Brotherhood still had 22 members.
When the wool processing was announced six days ago, only 15 households arrived at the village church.
Four days ago, only 13 households actually came to pay for spinning yarn.
That is to say, 9 households were instigated by Henderson's people to rebel, and 2 households just took advantage of half a pound of wool.
However, these 13 households spent 50 pounds of wool and spun 45 bundles of yarn, with a total profit of 27 dinars, which averaged about 2 dinars per household. Don't look at the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of gold pounds earned by Horn, but the income of a mountain man for a whole year is only 1-2 gold pounds.
In other words, on average, each person has an income of 10-12 dinars per month.
2 dinars is equivalent to one-sixth of a month's income and is created in 3 days.
If it is a month, it is 20 dinars, which is a huge sum of money that can make all villagers suffocate.
This is not ordinary money, this is money to survive. Even the richest public farmers dare not say that they can avoid starving to death every year.
So Brother Ansel’s Golden Fleece became the hottest topic in Adrian Manor.
The intensity of its popularity can be seen from the number of plates, tables, chairs and benches broken by a certain village head.
Even Adrian Knight came directly to the door and asked if he could participate in individual stocks. He also asked Ansel privately where he got the low-priced wool.
As of yesterday's second wool salary payment, there were already 21 households on the Sickle Brotherhood's list, and a salary of 42 dinars was paid.
When the white silver coins fell into the pockets of the brotherhood members, the remaining villagers finally couldn't sit still.
In the past few days, the number of members who have inquired and applied to join the brotherhood has doubled.
From yesterday afternoon to tonight, in a total of one and a half days, more than 30 households of villagers were registered in the Sickle Brotherhood.
There are currently 5 households coming in for consultation, but they have not yet made up their minds to join.
Bryson also specially implemented an invitation system, that is, you cannot join just by saying, but you must be invited to join by members of the meeting.
He said it could prevent Henderson from planting spies, but Ansel didn't think it was necessary.
But in order to avoid dampening the work enthusiasm of the tired priest, he still agreed to his plan.
Next, as long as this wool operation system can continue to roll, all public farmers in the Adrian Manor will join in.
With the number of people exceeding two-thirds of the entire estate, the Sickle Brotherhood has effectively formed a hundred-household district.
Since the Mountain Knights themselves have little management authority, the biggest resistance is only Zhuangtou and other armed farmers.
Based on the research during this period, Ansel has been able to determine the operating core of this manor.
An entire mountain manor is divided into three parties, knights, armed farmers, and public farmers.
As long as any two parties unite, they can suppress and isolate the third party. Adrian Manor is the armed farmer who pulls the public farmer to isolate the knight himself.
That is to say, although he enjoys the most profits, he has no actual power to manage the manor. This is already a certain sense of autonomy.
From another perspective, as long as the alliance between armed farmers and public farmers can be cut off, Ansel can completely control the entire manor.
Unless Zhuangtou Henderson can come up with larger profits to buy off the villagers, internal rupture is only a matter of time.
But when Ansel was about to write in the report, "It is expected to complete the permanent leasehold and 100-household reform in early October," he became distracted again.
Until the ink in the pen tube fell on the paper, he hurriedly wiped the ink spots off the paper with a handkerchief.
Bryson had just received a family who came to inquire about wool. He saw Ansel in a daze and asked curiously: "What are you thinking about?"
Putting down his quill, Ansel Sighing: "I received an order from the superior order to increase my quota of wool by 1 quintal."
"Isn't this good? There just happened to be too many people in Adrian Manor. The original wool was a bit insufficient."
Ansel frowned and shook his head: "With the ability of the gravel smuggler, it is good to be able to transport 1,500 loads of wool a month.
The quota of wool for each region is limited. I added a load here for no reason, indicating that one region does not need wool this month.”
"What do you mean?" Bryson was suddenly surprised.
"Although the briefing did not say anything, I suspect that the chaos in Cosland Manor next door, or in the small parish of Mason, has spread."
(End of Chapter)