Vares opened a tavern outside the city, which also gave him the opportunity to meet a group of new residents.
That night, he went to Yaman's house with two cans of ale. Yaman was surprised and honored by his arrival.
"Master Vares, you actually came to my humble place, please come in. You even brought me a gift."
"Old friend, I've wanted to come and see you for a long time!" Vares knows how to deal with a slave, turning a greeting into care, a gift into a gift, and a bunch of playful polite words into approachability.
He speaks from the bottom of his heart, always shows a disrespectful attitude, but always maintains a condescending stance, and can make the other person burst into tears of gratitude with just a little charity. This is the best way to psychologically enslave a person.
Old Yaman was almost moved to tears because Vares called him his friend.
After a few simple polite words, Vares sat in the middle of the house. The mutton seller and cotton merchant who followed him sat on both sides. Old Yaman sat with him at the end. As for his wife and
Children are only qualified to stand aside and serve guests.
"Old friend, I came to you today because I want to tell you some good news," Vares took a sip of ale and said with a smile, "The business in the tavern is very good, but I really can't spare the time to take care of my land. I want to
Rent the land to someone who can do it. I wonder if you have such a reliable friend?"
Now that Vares has found Lao Yaman, he doesn't want him to introduce this matter to others, because he knows Lao Yaman's desire for land.
"Are you going to rent out the land?" Old Yaman's body was trembling, and his desire was written on his face.
"Yes, you are my most reliable friend outside the city, so the first thing I think of is you," Vares smiled, then sighed, "Of course, you also have a lot of land to cultivate.
Although you and your sons are very capable, I am worried..."
"You don't have to worry, Master Vares, you can leave this matter to me."
"Really?"
"Of course, my lord."
Vares hesitated for a moment and put on a very embarrassed look: "Of course, you should know that the lord has some special care for us old residents. Our land is much better than yours, so my land rent
It should be correspondingly higher. The Lord wants 30% of the harvest, and I want 50%. Are you willing to agree?"
"Of course I am willing, my master!" Lao Yaman agreed very simply.
"I just like a cheerful person like you!" Vares smiled, "Tell me, how much can you rent?"
"How many do you have? I rented them all!"
Vares shook his head and said: "Old man, you are too greedy. Your family has eleven pieces of land, which totals nearly ninety acres. And I have five pieces of land. Can you afford it?"
"Don't worry, my children are very capable!" Old Yaman called his sons over. "Look at how strong they are. One person can cultivate thirty acres of land. Give me all your land."
, I will give you the best harvest!”
"Old man, I'll leave it to you. I will deliver the seeds and livestock tomorrow, but don't forget the lord's rules. You must harvest at least two thousand pounds per acre of land!"
"You are so generous, sir," Old Yaman was almost in tears, "Please believe me, you will see a lot of food in autumn!"
Vares said a few more polite words and was about to lead everyone away, but the cotton merchant Carton refused to leave.
"Old Yaman, you have such a capable son, you should be able to take on more business. I also have five pieces of land, and I also have 50% of the land rent. Can you accept it?"
Before Yaman could speak, Vares pulled Carton aside and said: "He can't do that much, I'll take you to find someone else."
"I'm not going to find anyone else!" Carton shook off Vares and said, "You are so smart. You earned half of the food without doing anything. You cannot enjoy this kind of good thing alone!"
Vares said angrily: "Keep your voice down, idiot, this is the gift we give them!"
Lamb, the mutton trader, didn't want to leave either: "Old Yaman, I knew you were the most capable. I have four pieces of land and only need half of the harvest. Do you still want to rent it?"
"I rent, I rent, leave it all to me, gentlemen!"
Old Yaman excitedly agreed to the three people's request. Counting his own land, he had to cultivate a total of twenty-five pieces of land, which added up to nearly two hundred acres.
This number was too exaggerated, which made Vares a little worried. On the way back, he kept complaining to the other two people: "You are too impatient, I can rent your land to others!"
Lamb sneered: "Do you think we are fools? How can other people be as easy to deceive as him?"
"I said, this is not a lie to them, this is a gift!" Vares said angrily, "Mutton seller, you have never farmed in your life, you have never bought a slave, you don't understand what the land means to the slaves.
What are you looking for! They have never had a harvest of their own!"
Vares was right, renting out the land was not an easy task at all. After receiving the news from Vares, the residents in the city rented the land to the slaves one after another, and their land was rented out in just a few days.
The time was snatched away.
After learning about this, Reggie was furious: "These idiots, I gave them freedom, but they still want to be enslaved. What is the difference between this and being slaves?"
"The difference is huge," Chris said. "You don't understand the life of a slave at all. A slave in his prime can cultivate ten acres of land for his master. Guess how much harvest his master will give him?"
"I know that slave owners are very cruel. At most, they will give slaves 20 to 30% of the harvest."
"You are still too kind, my lord," Chris laughed. "They can't even get a tenth of the harvest. Two pounds of bread a day is all they can get. The slave masters only need them to live and will not live again."
Give them any charity."
Reggie fell silent. He really didn't know much about slaves. According to Chris's description, it was indeed great luck for slaves to get half of the harvest in a year.
"But are these guys in the city allowed to get something for nothing?"
"Don't interfere in this matter," Chris said, "turn slaves into civilians and civilians into nobles. Isn't this the result you want?"
What was originally a naked squeeze turned into a residential upgrade in Chris's mouth. The nature of the same thing, after different explanations, seemed to have changed a lot.
Now that it makes sense, Reggie's anger has dissipated a lot. Chris then brought up another matter: "What are you going to do with the prisoners in Lane Country? My suggestion is to kill them."
"Kill them?" Reggie asked in surprise, "You said a few days ago that you would win them over as your soldiers."
"That was because I was too naive. Now that I have woken up, I suggest you take action immediately. If you are afraid of ruining your reputation, just leave it to me."
"I don't recommend doing this." Reggie shook his head.
"Why?" Chris frowned, "If you let them live, they will become your enemies!"
"I know," Reggie laughed, "but I think it would be a waste to kill them."
"waste?"
"Yes, I am going to send a letter to Charlemagne. If he is willing, he can redeem the captives with gold coins, five gold coins for each prisoner."
"More than 800 prisoners, you want 4,000 gold coins?"
"It's not too much, but it's not too little either," Reggie said with a smile. "Before the ransom is sent, I want the prisoners to help me build some fortifications. How can I be willing to kill such good coolies?
?”
"Fortifications?" Chris didn't quite understand the meaning of the word. "Do you want to build a city wall? I think this is a good idea, but from the Lost Mountain to the seaside, you have to build a city wall of nearly fifty miles. This is not
Something easy to do.”
"I don't plan to build a city wall. I don't have that many troops. Even if I build it, I won't be able to defend it," Reggie said. "I want to build a sentry tower that can both fight and warn."