Chapter 348 Mormont's Travels (Part 1)
In July, the entire Thousand River Valley is getting hot, especially Langsander County in the south.
But on the outskirts of Heitao Town, there were still four people wearing thick black robes that covered their faces, walking slowly on the rutted dirt road.
"How long will it take to get to Sugua Town?" A hoarse female voice came from under a black robe, "If this continues, I will be suffocated to death."
"All Sent to Heitao Town, why not send us to Sugua Town?”
"As I said, the furthest they can go is to Black Pottery Town. After all, they are still fighting."
The leader of the black-robed man turned his head, and under the hood that covered most of his face, It was Mormont who escaped from the Stormwind Keep camp.
In addition, there are his three companions.
The man in black who took advantage of the chaos to rescue them was the man in black who told Mormont that there was an awakening potion in the warehouse.
Mormont knew that he could not escape from the Black Serpent Bay due to the red copper fortress, so he offered to go to Fort Joan to find Paslik.
Now Paslick heard that he was doing well in the Salvation Army, and the two had some friendship, and he was considered half of Mormont's teacher.
Go and seek refuge with his old man. Maybe he can find a way to rescue his companions.
After hearing about Mormont's destination, the man in black was overjoyed and immediately handed him two letters and asked him to help deliver them.
One letter for Paslik and one for the captured Kush Knight.
If Mormont can agree to his request, then the man in black is willing to send some cavalry to escort them into the territory of the Salvation Army.
However, no matter how powerful the man in black was, he could only send them to Black Pottery Town, and he would not dare to go any further.
Despite his helplessness, Mormont had no choice but to move on.
Beside the road are acres of woods. Behind the fences and fences, domestic dogs barked at the lambs that stuck their heads out of the fences to graze.
In the countryside, groups of farmers line up in long lines, bending over and moving forward step by step, harvesting rice crackers and wheat in the wheat fields.
On the threshing floor between villages, farmers holding flails with sweat on their faces threshed grains from bundles of rice straw and wheat straw and put them into cloth bags or rattan baskets.
In the red brick mill standing in the corner of the village, an old cow is mooing and grinding wheat into flour.
The mills, wells and streams are all common property of the village, so apart from jointly raising money to repair the damage, there is no need to pay an additional mill tax.
Actually, Horn was not idle when Jeanne was fighting on the front line.
In addition to setting up a one-year tax holiday for "no food payment" to allow people to recuperate, a very important point is to abolish old taxes and reorganize new taxes.
For example, some taxes need to be abolished, such as the dead-hand tax. After the death of a public farmer, the land is automatically returned to the lord, and his heirs need to pay a tax to the lord before they can continue to work on the fields.
Is it okay if I don’t pay it?
Of course, you can, you can only starve to death, because the "Fugitive Slave Law" stipulates that public farmers are not allowed to leave the land without permission.
This tax must be abolished.
However, there are still some new taxes that need to be gradually established, such as customs duties and stamp duties.
But at least during this one-year tax holiday and two-year tax reduction period, for three full years, farmers’ lives will be much better than before.
According to Horn's current plan, the main tasks in the four years from 1445 to 1449 are to restore the economy and carry out proto-industrialization.
“Listen.” The sorceress Balinba’s white-spotted fingers pointed at the threshing floor in front of them.
"This is my dream of heaven. It is very small and very ordinary. I don't want to become a bishop or a noble. I just want to live in happiness..."
"The song I sing is also Changed." Mormont held the awning with his hands and looked at the bustling scene over there. Although the scenes of working along the way were similar, the singing was different.
He still remembered that when he set off from Stormwind Castle in a carriage, it happened to be the harvest season.
At first there was no singing in the wheat fields, only the crackling whips of the farmers and butlers, and the shouts of those who failed to pay enough taxes and sold their sons and daughters.
Mormont and the others had seen this kind of scene many times, and although they were chilled, they were not too surprised.
When we arrived at the so-called "rebel zone", the song "No priest, no king, opened the gate to welcome the patriarch, the saint did not pay for the food when she came" began to be heard from the roadside
After entering Black Pottery Town, basically entering the inland edge of the Thousand Valley Papal Kingdom, the songs and customs changed again.
The song changed to "Dream of Heaven", the farmer waving the whip disappeared, but the farmers seemed to be more diligent than before.
Even in the southern province of France, which has the most developed agriculture, they have not seen such a peaceful pastoral scenery.
There are no beggars on the roadside, no hooligans in the fields, only simple farmers working down-to-earth.
Somehow, they suddenly started looking forward to Sugua Town. "Oh."
After a loud whip sound, a carriage slowed down and kept pace with these people. The carriage driver raised his sun hat: "You guys How many are from North?”
He and his companions looked at each other, and Mormont, who had traveled extensively, asked in a faint North accent: "How do you know we are North people?"
"The sun wears black robes, and we are still foreigners. , It can only be from North." The coachman pulled the reins and stopped the restless horse, "Going to Sugua Town?"
"Yes, what's the matter?"
< br>"My carriage happens to be empty. I can give you a lift. One dinar for each of you is not too much."
"Half a dinar for each person is too expensive for me." Moore Meng's companion argued, "At most it's just that we take a few more steps."
"You think it's expensive, but I think it's too expensive." The coachman cried out, "You are foreigners, and you don't understand many of the rules of our Thousand Valley Papal Kingdom. Besides, do you know the way?
Can I help you? Can you tell me where this place is nearby, and I can send you to a reliable hotel, can you do it yourself?"
"One dinar per person..."
"Then I will do it. Take a step back, the four of you only charge three dinars, right?”
Although the price is still a bit expensive, in order to get to Pickle Town as soon as possible, Mormont still paid it honestly. 1 dinar deposit on board the car.
After getting on the carriage, Mormont and others discovered that there was actually a father and son and several pieces of cargo behind the carriage.
Balimba was so angry that she turned around and was about to go to the coachman to settle the score, but Mormont stopped her and persuaded her in a low voice: "Forget it, don't worry about it, let's break his wheel hub after getting off the car. That’s it.”
After hearing this, Balimba sat back down angrily.
The people under the canopy smiled awkwardly at each other and sat shoulder to shoulder.
Amidst the shouts of the coachman, the carriage started shaking, and the wheat fields on both sides flew backwards quickly.
Driving on the dirt road, the carriage bumped up and down from time to time. The atmosphere inside the carriage was quiet, and the air was filled with the smell of salted fish and embarrassment.
In the end, it was the father of the father and son who asked first: "You are dressed so thickly, you must be from North, and are you planning to work as laborers in Sugua Town?"
< br>Mormont did not answer. Talorin, who was more cheerful beside him, took off his hood: "My companions and I all know a little bit about writing and arithmetic. What about you?"
"Now There is a lot of construction going on near Fort Joan, and there is a shortage of masons. The wages are very high. My cousin is building a school in Fort Joan, and he asked me and my son to come over. "
The middle-aged stonemason rubbed his knees and explained. After a while, he said: "Nowadays, there is a shortage of people who can read and do arithmetic in Fort Joan of Arc. What are you doing in Sugua Town?"
Balimba crossed his arms: "Let's go and take a look first. Maybe there is work we can do in Sugua Town."
The four of them are old secretaries and will never ask a stranger Reveal whereabouts.
"That's true. I used to go to Sugua Town often. It's a nice place. It..."
"Sugua Town is a terrible place. What's there to go to?" Those fifteen The six-year-old mason's son snorted disdainfully, "I'm not even going to Castle Joan of Arc, I'm going to Daze Township!"
"Shut up!" The middle-aged mason was visibly angry when his son interrupted him. "What qualifications do you have to go? You can't even pass the exam to become an apprentice mason, why are you still in Daze Township?"
"I'm going to learn from Senior Witte how to build a house without memorizing it. Your stuff is all old-fashioned, Lao Deng!" the little mason muttered in a low voice.
“Hey!” The middle-aged mason was restrained by Lao Den for three seconds before he realized what he was doing. He picked up the leather rope angrily and hit the young mason, “Who taught you that? ? Try saying something again."
Being whipped with a leather rope brought out the rebellious nature of the little mason: "What are you barking at?"
"Me? "You"
Talorin tugged on Kuru, and Kuru followed reluctantly, pulling the father and son away from each other.
The voice of the coachman in front sounded: "What are you doing? If you break something, you will have to pay for it."
Mormont did not want to cause trouble: "It's nothing, the road is too bumpy, it will hurt people." "I fell down."
"Sit tight, do you think this is the mortar road of Fort Joan of Arc?" the coachman thought they were complaining and retorted.
Pull the father and son apart, and in order to lighten the atmosphere, Balimba asked the coachman: "Didn't you tell us to introduce the rules and places to us? Why don't you tell us how to get on the bus?"
"Oh, it's really troublesome." The coachman flicked his whip and said lazily, "You have holes on both sides of the canopy. Unbutton the holes. I'll let you know when we get there."
(End of this chapter)