Chapter 546 Have to be obedient
Frederick once asked a former big thief how they used to block the road and rob merchants.
A former big thief who did not want to be named said that they used to be very friendly to passing businessmen, but a tree fell on the road and blocked the road. He asked the businessman for some hard-earned money and helped to remove the tree. Move away.
If there is a strong person in the caravan who shows his strength and blows up the tree, they probably can't defeat them, so they can only watch the caravan pass by.
It’s just that there are no big trees on the road ahead. There is a guard box on the roadside with a railing blocking the road. The toll charges are written in several languages on the wooden sign next to the guard box.
As for the toll collector, he does seem to have the toughness of a bandit.
Fontana asked the bandit leader curiously: "Half-face, why are you here to collect money?"
Frederick was also curiously looking at the bandit leader, this The right side of the man's face was burned by the fire. He was tall and looked more like a knight than a poor man. He looked a little familiar.
Half of the face said to Fang Tana: "If you have a crooked nose and no eyes, you will be beaten to death, that's it."
"Let me make it clear first, now we don't calculate money according to the number of horses. Yes, based on the number of wheels. ”
Fontana was startled and asked hurriedly: "Why have the rules been changed? How to calculate it?"
Half of his face said helplessly: "Can you not change it? It's not like you don't know whether there are any in the Principality of Wesson. I won’t be able to get paid for the horse-drawn carriage.”
“Do you know how Crooked Nose died? This spring, Archduke Wesson’s fiancée passed by in that kind of car. , he couldn't receive the money and said something mean, but was slapped on the head by Mrs. Wesson's guard and flew up the mountain."
Fontana shook his head and said, "I told you so. , he will die on that broken mouth one day."
"How much does it cost now?"
Frederick curled his lips aside. Maria's escorts were all from the expanded female soldier company of the Guard Regiment. The entry requirements were to be able to hunt back seven wolves in the mountains with cold weapons, and to be guided by a sword master.
Not to mention the bandits, some veterans in Wesson's army suffered a lot at their hands.
The tolls were negotiated quickly over there, and they were almost the same as before.
Half-face waved, and soon a large group of people came over, holding all kinds of things in their hands, selling to the merchants in the convoy.
What they sell are leather goods from the mountains, skewers made of wild beast teeth, and combs made of sheep horns and other gadgets.
Fontana whispered to Frederick: "Sir, you can buy whatever you want. You can't leave without buying it."
Frederick said helplessly: "It seems that they are very nice people. You can obviously use it to rob, but you still give something away."
Half of his face looked a little nervous and he said to Frederick: "Uh... well... we paid the tax to the master, and the money is a lot, and that's not why. Make more money.”
Frederick felt that this man looked more and more familiar, but Fontana didn’t say anything next to him. He bought a comb and put it in his luggage bag after returning to the bus.
When he walked away, he followed him with half his face pretending to be on patrol.
Seeing that there was no one around, Frederick asked in a low voice: "Who are you?"
Half-face replied: "Sir, when you hanged that man, I was the one who delivered the letter to Archduke Byrne. Your face was injured in Hanma City."
"We were ordered to sneak in here and capture the bandits."
Frederick understood that a distant relative of Archduke Byrne was in Wei. Castle Castle killed a girl, and there were letters exchanged about the matter at that time. It seems that the Principality of Byrne attaches great importance to this railway and has already begun its layout.
Frederick nodded, indicating that he understood.
When he opened the curtain of the bus, he saw that the nun who was traveling with him was eating a sausage roll. As soon as he took a bite, he hurriedly hid behind him when he noticed someone coming in, puffing out his cheeks and feeling a little nervous.
Frederick got into the carriage, put the comb into his luggage, and said with a smile: "What are you afraid of? The barbecue buffet restaurant in Oak City was destroyed by your seminary students."
< br>After he finished speaking, he took out a bottle of happy water and placed it next to the nun, and then said: "Be careful not to choke."
After that, he stopped caring about the nun, got out of the car and continued to look for Fontana chat.
As the convoy continued to move forward, Fontana said to Frederick: "In recent years, there have been more merchants on the road. Our union has come out to discuss with the lords along the way, hoping to set rules. We pay taxes. Apart from bandits and roadsiders, they The beasts."
"At first, the lords ignored them. Most of the bandits were their black gloves. They couldn't steal money quickly."
" The situation changed in the past two years. Archduke Wesson fought for the smooth flow of trade routes and killed two principalities.” The messenger is here.”
“The messenger said that this road is an important trade route for Grand Duke Wesson to make money. He is Queen Anna’s lover. If he wants to fight you, Queen Anna will definitely help him.”
"The messenger also said that when Archduke Wesson's demon army kills you all, it will be time to take back all the land to the royal family, and then it can be given to their illegitimate children."
"Not long after, Queen Anna sent another message. The order required all the territories along the way to take care of the safety of merchants on the trade route."
"At this time, there were still some people who didn't take it seriously."
"Later, Duke Mary, the protector of the country, came. On one trip, she hid in a caravan and was robbed by bandits on the way. The bandits and the lords were all hanged for treason. "
"Now all the lords have to be obedient. Come on, let those bandits collect tolls and repair the roads at the same time.”
Frederick realized in his heart that this railway might not be that simple, and the time was much earlier than he expected.
When Ferdinand died, Archduke Byrne attended the funeral and subsequent enthronement ceremony of Anna as the plenipotentiary representative of the Rhine League. I am afraid that at that time, a principled agreement on this railway had been reached.
But this is normal. After all, the Kingdom of Sardinia is rich. If the Principality of Bain has a railway connecting there, it will gain a lot of benefits as a transportation hub.
Frederick asked Fontana again: "If the railway is opened and all the people and goods buy the railway, won't your fleet have no business?"
Fontana is a little helpless. Said: "Then what can I do? I can only think of other ways."
"There is a train station planned for my home. At worst, I will break up the fleet into parts and deliver goods to places in the mountains where trains cannot reach."
"There are still a lot of good things in the mountains. If we transport them It can be sold at a good price.”
Frederick nodded. The forest resources and animal resources in the mountains are quite rich, and stone is a hot commodity. The sculptures of the Germain Cathedral and the Edelweiss Library are also in demand. Most of them are made of stones from there.
“Ah, it looks like it’s going to rain.” Fontana suddenly pointed to the dark clouds appearing in the sky in front of him, “It rains in bursts in the mountains now. If you’re lucky, the clouds will drift away in a few minutes. If you’re not lucky, It’s going to be a day or two and I have to spend the night in the wild.”
(End of this chapter)