Jed is a young freeman in Mote City. He is not loyal to any noble.
He lived in a stinky slum, with more than a dozen people crowded together. If it got dark and he came back late, he wouldn't be able to get a place to sleep, so he would have to spend the night outside. If it rained, he might get wet all night.
Last winter, Jed saw someone freezing to death in the snow outside their house.
Some of the companions around him couldn't bear it, so they sold themselves to the nobles as serfs in exchange for dozens of silver coins. From then on, their lives no longer belonged to them, and their life and death were completely controlled by others.
Jed never thought about selling himself into slavery. He liked to be free and control his own destiny, even if he couldn't eat a bite of food for several days.
The first thing he did when he woke up every morning was to go to the city gate or the Free People's Square in the city to find some work.
If the nobles have any temporary jobs, they will send people over to recruit them. The salary is thirty copper coins a day, which is enough for Jade to eat black steamed buns for four or five days.
The nobles have a variety of jobs, some are farming in the fields, and some are moving houses. Over the years, Jed has learned many skills, and he is proud of it.
On this day, Jed came to the city gate as usual.
There are very few jobs today, and most of them are taken away by powerful free people.
After a long time, the sun has risen high, and basically no one will come to recruit at this time.
Jed was sitting on a lawn and his stomach began to growl.
He still has two copper coins, but after today he will run out of food.
If he can't find any work in the next few days, he might starve to death.
Jed glanced at the stable next to the city gate, where there were several strong horses grazing with their heads down.
He once ate the leftover hay in the manger in the dead of night. This was Jed's secret. If he hadn't done this, he would have starved to death several times.
At this time, Jed saw a young man wearing fiery red armor walking to the gate of the city. He looked two or three years younger than himself.
The young man looked very handsome, had a strong physique, and had a noble temperament about him.
"Presumably he is also a nobleman, right?" Uncle Brown's philosophical words rang in Jed's mind, "Well, we are the same people, some grow up with golden keys in their mouths, and have no worries about food and clothing throughout their lives; while people like us, in order to survive,
If you go down, you have already tried your best."
Jed smiled to himself, saying that there would be no interaction between him and the noble.
The young man took out a piece of parchment from somewhere, wrote and drew on it, then posted it next to the city gate, and shouted loudly: "We are looking for workers. I hope the town will recruit young workers for a long time. The daily salary is fifty copper coins, and food and accommodation are included."
"
Jade couldn't believe his ears. He made fifty coppers a day, and he also had food and accommodation included?
How could such a good thing happen?
However, he kept an eye on it and did not rush there.
Those nobles are living vampires, and they never do business at a loss.
Previously, Jade took over a job that cost 40 coppers. He worked from morning to late at night. When he returned, he didn't even have a place to sleep. He lay outside all night and was woken up by the cold several times.
People around him have the same concerns as Jade, they don't believe that pie will fall from the sky.
But the temptation of fifty copper coins was too great.
Jed saw Uncle Brown mustering up the courage to walk up to the little nobleman and asked, "Sir, what exactly are you doing in your territory?"
The young noble said: "Simple, just build a house."
Jed was very excited. He had taken over this kind of job many times, and now he was a good hand at building thatched houses. He was once praised by a noble and rewarded with five copper plates.
However, for such a job, the nobles in the past would charge thirty copper coins a day.
So Uncle Brown started asking about salary matters.
Unexpectedly, the young nobleman grabbed a large handful of copper coins and said it was today's reward.
Under the temptation of the copper plate, Jade's blood surged. He couldn't care about anything else and quickly ran over to sign up.
Just be tired if you are tired. It is better than starving to death. Fifty copper coins will be enough for him to eat for many days.
Jade saw that the young noble had eliminated many old guys, and felt a little glad that he was still young now.
In the end, the little nobles only recruited about twenty people and took Jed and the others into the city and towards a commercial street.
The goods here are very expensive. Just one item may cost Jade half a day's salary.
Jade was taken to the "Hope Town" shop, and he remembered that the ice cream cakes and sandwich bread sold in this shop were popular throughout the city.
He had seen it from a distance on the day of the first lottery.
Even the cheapest sandwich bread costs more than 30 copper coins, and Jed can't afford it with a day's income.
Now, he no longer had any doubts about the salary of fifty copper coins. The sandwich bread business was so booming that if he sold just a few, it would be enough to pay for people like him.
Jed saw the little noble walking up to a young knight and saying, "Leave five people here and teach them how to make sandwich bread. The rest will be taken back to the territory and let Robert choose some suitable places to build a house."
Jed was not left behind, but followed the knight out of the city.
Long Trip.
The group walked for more than three hours before arriving at the so-called Hope Town.
Jed was already ravenous with hunger, but he was used to it. For free people living at the bottom, starvation was a common occurrence.
They were walking on a country road, and there were several middle-aged and elderly people in their fifties working hard in the fields next to them.
Jed couldn't help but puff up his chest. Only in front of these serfs could he feel a sense of superiority.
These guys who sold themselves into slavery must be envious of their freedom, right?
But soon Jed was shocked. He saw the serfs working while talking and laughing, and one even sat on the ground to rest.
But the knight walking at the front turned a blind eye to the lazy guy.
How can this be?
Jade felt that his understanding had been subverted. Shouldn't serfs be insensitive?
Shouldn't the knights under the nobles be the most brutal minions, exploiting the serfs?
Why are these different from what I have seen and heard before?
Walking past the serfs, Jed heard what they said.
"That bastard in my family actually made me stop farming. Really, what will I eat if I don't farm? After only a few days of good life, have you forgotten the poor life before?"
"My son is the same. Ever since he went to work in the orchard, he no longer wants to work in the fields. Good land can't just be abandoned like this, right? This is hard on my old bones."
"Thanks to the Baron, we can have enough to eat and no longer have to worry about hunger."