Chapter 144 The dust fell to the ground and the road was smooth
Farewell to Duke Dardenne, Horn led the horse and walked forward silently. When he reached the suspension bridge, he turned his head and looked at the castle again.
Surrounded by a moat, between the curtain wall and the towers, and on the turret of the main building of the castle, you can see the flashing figures.
He turned his head again and continued walking forward. The suspension bridge under his feet creaked as Horn stepped forward.
He always felt that the conversation with the Duke today was strange, but he didn't know where it was.
It was obviously a matter of mutual benefit. Horn provided the Duke with the cause of the uprising, and the Duke provided Horn with financial and military support. However, the Duke was really hesitant.
He originally wanted to finalize the matter today, otherwise he didn't know when he would be able to decide if it kept going like this.
Time waits for no one.
"Your Majesty, are we going back now?"
"No." Horn led the horse and walked in the other direction, "We just happened to bring the pharmacist and the mason Let’s take them back to the camp together and go to the nearby guild church.”
The recent period has not been peaceful, and the previous incident of Sissi reminded Horn.
Go forward from Minshi Road and cross the Yator Bridge. The Guild Church is located at a corner of the canal.
The Palladian facade is made of rough stone walls. In the shrine on the second floor, eight marble angels or saints pray devoutly with their hands clasped together.
The people who come and go near the guild church are not priests, but craftsmen, accountants and notaries from all walks of life.
The so-called guild church is not a guild church, but all the churches near Fort Joan of Arc pooled funds to build it.
These include notary guilds, masons' guilds, cobblers' guilds, dye owners' guilds, and so on.
In the beginning, the so-called guilds were mutual aid organizations of craftsmen and craftsmen, a bit like a brotherhood or an alliance.
The essence is to prevent vicious competition, prevent the loss of technical secrets, stipulate the internal standards and business scope of the industry, and ensure the interests of the majority of members by controlling the scope of operations and the number of craftsmen.
When a member breaks the law or becomes seriously ill, other members will contribute money to help and even have the obligation to conceal the crime for him.
After the Hundred Years War, the bilateral economies continued to expand, and the empire's secondary industry developed rapidly.
This results in individual members of the guild having far more power and voice than other members.
As a result, guild oligarchs emerged. They relied on their own industry to monopolize a certain local industry, and suppressed and controlled other craftsmen to obtain huge profits.
Most city councilors and people in power are these guild oligarchs and large workshop owners.
The guild church is the joint headquarters of these oligarchs, and it also assumes the functions of insurance, fund-raising and information storage.
When Horn walked into the church, he could still see new craftsmen swearing to the patron saint under the supervision of the master master.
Originally, outsiders like Horn could not enter, but after all, he was a distinguished guest of the Duke and was allowed to see some unimportant information.
Putting on a jacket commonly worn by ordinary civilians, Horn piled a dozen thick account books on the table.
From time to time, he opened a book, copied some data, and then calculated on the straw paper. He calculated until the sun set in the west, then raised his head from the pile of waste paper.
“There was actually no miscalculation.” Horn looked at the data on the table and fell into deep thought.
According to the account books collected from the ruins earlier, the Boy Army and the Bishop calculated that in 1425 of the Imperial Calendar, the average return on investment of the workshops and chambers of commerce in this trading port was 380%.
Horn thought they had made a mistake, but he recalculated and the result was really 380%.
It is the four leather goods chambers and workshops that increase the overall return on investment.
Horn thought that that year happened to be a period of rapid industrial expansion, and perhaps the return on investment of the entire leather goods industry was high. After all, the extraordinary world cannot be measured by common sense.
He came here just to confirm and to see something new in the guild church.
But what he never expected was that the guild data from that year showed that the average return on investment was similar to normal.
In other words, are the four fur traders really making abnormal profits, or did the four fur traders just make a mistake in their calculations?
After thinking about it, Horn found it a bit funny.
It’s just a few fur traders who miscalculated or made false accounts. Why do you care so much?
It seems that the problem-solving thinking problem has relapsed.
Putting the account books and information back to their original places, Horn looked at the straw paper on the table, hesitated for a while, then put it away and stapled it together.
Walking down the rough stone steps to the dirt road, smoke smelling like firewood was rising from each house. Guards were waiting by the roadside with their horses.
When Horn approached, he saw a familiar Duke's courtier waiting beside the guard.
"What's the matter? Does the Duke have anything to ask me?" Horn stepped forward and asked with a smile.
The courtier took two steps forward and lowered his voice and said: "Master Darnay asked me to bring you a message, saying that he agreed to your conditions and promised to launch as early as November 12th."
"Oh?" Horn was surprised at first, and then laughed.
Although he didn't know how the Duke suddenly made up his mind, it would still be in Horn's favor to finalize it as soon as possible. "The Duke asked you when you have time to discuss specific matters and sign a contract, such as when you will leave, how much supplies the Duke will provide for your soldiers, etc."
"The day after tomorrow , I want to discuss this matter with the people in the camp.”
“I know, I will tell the Duke.”
Farewell to the courtier, Horn did not ride. Just step back.
Although the sky was still gloomy, Horn's mood improved a lot. He even sang "Heavenly Dream" which he hadn't sung for a long time.
Life in the old camp is guaranteed, and the future of the new camp is arranged.
When the turmoil here in Qianhe River Valley calms down a little, Horn can take the old camp to Chizhu Town.
The one or two years in Chizuma Town were used to lay the foundation. When these old camps arrive, they will be able to supplement the labor force.
Nearly a thousand alchemists, even in Black Snake Bay, are a force that cannot be ignored, not to mention clockwork technology.
Some time ago, Horn pre-ordered an illustration of the inventory of alchemy products through Sissi's channel.
In his vision, with alchemists as the core, large-scale alchemy factories will be built in Chisuma Town.
After all, aren’t those alchemical processes similar to physical and chemical reactions?
When the time comes, will the industrial strength of Fort Joan of Arc be able to defeat the large alchemy industry?
A street in Chizuma Town is enough to shock the entire empire!
After going to the labor district to find Sisi and his disciples, Horn went to the stonemason's workshop without stopping.
But unfortunately, the gatekeeper told him that there was too much chaos in the city during this time, and the stonemasons had moved to their manors in the countryside.
The gatekeeper will convey the message for Horn, and when the time comes, the mason should go directly to Horn’s camp.
Walking out of the alley of the stonemason's workshop, Horn held on to the saddle and was about to get on the horse when he saw a familiar figure at the corner of the street.
"Halkin?"
Halkin was wearing tattered clothes, with torn strips of cloth hanging on his body, struggling to carry a bucket of swill to feed the pigs.
"Your Excellency Horn." Putting down the swill bucket, Halkin took off his hat and saluted the approaching Horn, "I didn't expect to meet you here."
" How did you end up like this? Didn’t I give you some living expenses before and asked you to find a mechanical engineer for me?” It’s related to machinery, gears, etc.”
“You really found it, are you an engineer?”
"Uh, no, he's a thief who specializes in picking locks, but he's not the kind who picks locks. He uses technology to open locks. He can open any complicated locks. His skills are better than those of a locksmith."
Horn was stunned for a moment. I didn't know what to say, but then I thought about it, anyway, the lock is also a kind of precision machine, and it's better than nothing.
"What about the others? Why didn't you bring them to me to ask for the bounty?"
"Took the deposit and ran away. I'm looking for it. When I find it, I'll send it to you. ." Halkin replied seriously.
Horn couldn't laugh or cry: "Then you come to me. When will you find me alone?"
"Isn't that just a scam? How do you know if I have helped you find someone?" Halkin straightened his back, "Business requires integrity. If you give me money, I will do the work. Where can I go?" I'll smash the one who's looking for you... Just wait, I'll catch that beast and escort it to you."
After saying that, Halkin put his hat back on and bowed to Horn. , he picked up the barrel and left.
"Wait." Horn touched his head.
He suddenly remembered that the group of people who came to Harkin to collect debts seemed to have been beaten to death by him with a clockwork gun.
"Is there anything else? Sir Horn." Halkin turned around and looked at Horn with his head held high.
Horn took out dozens of dinars from his pocket and handed them to him: "I beat your debt collectors to death. It will probably take some time for new debt collectors to take over."
"It is only natural to pay back debts." Without taking the money, Halkin shook his head and said, "I will not repay their usurious loans. I will repay them the principal and interest at the current bank interest rate."< br>
"Judging from the future situation, at least within two or three years, they will not bother to ask you for debts. Just keep this money. When my sword is repaired, you can take your father away quickly." "
"No, I can't take it." The swill in the bucket rippled as Hal Jin shook his head. "The thing has not been done. I have no reason to take the money. I am not a beggar. I don't want charity."
"In the past two days, help me find the old account books of various chambers of commerce around 1425. This is the deposit headquarters, right?" Horn forced the money into Halkin's hands.
Looking at the dinar in his hand, Halkin raised his head and looked at Horn. He silently put the dinar into his purse, and then took out a gold ring.
"Your Excellency, this ring is a token of Earl Frangiba Mountain. Its value is no less than 20 gold pounds. I pledge it to you. Unless I die, I will definitely take it with me. Redeem it for 20 gold pounds.”
Looking at Halkin’s leaving figure, Horn smiled helplessly. Halkin was a stubborn dwarf at heart.
"Let's go, we should go back. After hosting the wedding of Grampwin and Dia, we really have to leave."
(End of this chapter)