Chapter Five Hundred and Seventieth Caravan and Level Training
"Dang Dang Dang..."
Accompanied by the sound of wind chimes, the caravan coming from afar stopped in the village of Xinnisai.
The Maizhiji Chamber of Commerce to which the caravan belongs is not the most powerful chamber of commerce in the Kingdom of Slavia, but it is the chamber of commerce that has developed the fastest in the past six months, because behind them stands the largest landowner in the Kingdom of Slavia - the new king.
Liszt.
William just heard about some of the measures implemented by the new king Liszt in the royal capital, and knew that he had grown a lot.
Growth is not about how much knowledge a person acquires, but about how he learns to compromise with society while adhering to his original beliefs.
It seems that the Sphinx's feathers really helped Liszt a lot.
I heard that now in the royal capital, the nobles no longer dare to exploit the common people so unscrupulously.
Although exploitation is still inevitable, it has at least been restrained.
The nobles were a bit resentful towards the new king, but there was nothing they could do about it.
Behind these situations, extremely high political skills are required.
And for this outstanding political ability, William believed that the effect of the Sphinx's feathers must be indispensable.
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Mai Enze, a young and feminine man with silver-white curly hair, is the son of the president of the Mai Zhiji Chamber of Commerce. As a trial caravan leader, he led the caravan to trade with William.
There are political factors and economic reasons for this.
The new king Liszt, who was aware of political factors, found that the location of William's territory was really clever, which effectively prevented the two brothers who were hostile to him from colluding.
As long as William is firmly rooted here like a nail, Liszt's throne will be very stable.
Therefore, the new king decided to do his best to protect the existence and development of William's territory, at least not to collapse under the slightest pressure from his brother.
As soon as he heard that William's territory needed trade, he immediately sent his "white gloves" to bring various goods.
Of course, due to the distance, they were not the first caravan to do business with William.
Food is hard currency in this world, and you can always find a buyer.
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Although Mai Enze is young, he has a big heart.
He looked at the village of Xinnisai calmly.
I heard that this place was originally just a ruin due to unknown reasons, but in less than half a year, under the management of this adult, it has become so prosperous.
This gentleman is really good at what he does! Mai Enze sighed in his heart.
Most of the aristocratic circles in the royal capital believe that this lord of humble origins only managed to get the position of lord by flattering the new king and a bit of good luck. In fact, he has no ability at all.
No.
But after actually seeing William manage such a great situation in less than half a year, Mai Enze felt that William was not simple.
You know, William took root here alone and was rejected by the king's two brothers.
Being named great nobles, they had already established good relations with other nobles in order to exclude William from the circle of nobles.
A nobleman who is not recognized by other noblemen will not be looked down upon by other noblemen even if he holds a title.
But what I didn't expect was that William had been here for such a long time, but he didn't deal with the local nobles at all, and only did his own thing, making Duke Charles and Earl Ferret feel like they were punched in the cotton.
I feel powerless and feel depressed and uncomfortable.
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The river meanders by, and there are dozens of women washing clothes by the river, and there are dark-skinned middle-aged and elderly people fishing with a net.
Next to it are square fields that have been flattened. At a glance, it seems that there is no end to them.
Not far from the fields, the square village of Xinnisei stands there!
Although it is said to be a village, its area is actually more than twice the size of an average town.
Towns and castles are standard equipment for a baron.
On the thick city wall that seemed to have astonishing defensive capabilities, energetic soldiers stood on guard posts to look out.
Four main streets formed by uniform wooden houses divide the entire town into nine areas.
What surprised Mai Enze the most was that these wooden houses with the same style and seemingly no difference all had a wooden sign nailed to the door.
Mai Enze looked at a certain wooden sign.
There are characters native to the Kingdom of Slavia and characters commonly used on the mainland on the wooden sign.
For a businessman who has thoughts about his father's position, both of these texts are necessary to learn.
He can understand both texts.
Regardless of the words, the wooden sign expresses the same meaning - No. 132, East 1st Street.
East 1st Street? Is there also West 1st Street? Mai Enze quickly drew inferences in his mind. He jumped to other streets to look. Sure enough, the wooden signs said "West 1st Street" and "Easter 2nd Street"!
It's just that the numbers are inconsistent.
So that’s it! Mai Enze suddenly realized, and suddenly understood the function of these wooden signs, with surprise and admiration in his eyes.
There are dedicated personnel to follow up on the caravan affairs, so Mai Enze doesn't have to do everything personally, and the scenery in the village of Xinnisei attracts him too much. It's like a cat is tickling him in his heart, and he is more urgent.
He wanted to know more about the village, so he pondered for a while and then wandered along the main street in Xinnisei Village.
There were many slaves working in and out. They were wearing old but relatively clean clothes, with ruddy complexions and energetic eyes. After looking at Mai Enze with curiosity, they were busy with their own affairs.
This is a situation that Mai Enzer did not see under other slave owners.
The eyes of slaves under other slave owners are full of numbness, and they are not so active in doing things.
What magical magic did Master Hansel cast on his slave? Maienzer's curiosity about William reached a new level.
Unknowingly, Mai Enze followed the flow of people with the largest number of slaves and came to a certain area.
There are many brand-new shops here, including carpenters' houses, tailor shops, bakeries, grocery stores, and blacksmith shops.
Of course, there was not much iron in the blacksmith shop, and there were no weapons. The two blacksmith apprentices and several children were doing nothing in the blacksmith shop.
Seeing this scene, Mai Enze smiled knowingly. Soon they would not be so idle, because a large part of this transaction consisted of iron blocks, weapons, and red stones that could be used as fuel.
Halfway through, Mai Enze discovered that the pattern of this area was very similar to the overall pattern of the entire Xinnisei village.
Four secondary streets composed of various shops divide this area into nine smaller parts.
The core part is a very spacious store.
The name of the store is very strange, it's called "Youjian Supermarket"!
What is a supermarket? Mai Enze was confused.
However, he knew that this was a shop opened in the name of Lord Hansel, but the supplies inside were scarce now. Apart from food, there was basically nothing else.
It seemed like this was an area whose main function was commerce! After wandering around for a while, Mai Enze suddenly had an idea.
So... other areas must have their own functional positioning! Mai Enze guessed in his heart.
This Lord Hansel is really interesting.
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"Mr. Lewis, I'm very happy to cooperate with you and Hanley. We will come again next year." Mai Enze looked at the packed carriages, with a friendly smile on his face, and said
Calm Lewis said.
"My master, Lord Hansel, is also satisfied with the service you provided. In addition, if possible, after returning home, at some appropriate opportunity, I can express my master's sincere gratitude to that person!" William, the representative of the Lewis scholar, spoke with Mai.
Faunze exchanged.
"I will, Mr. Lewis. I have to say that Master Hansel's ability is more outstanding than many people think. If you ignore it, they will pay the price one day." Mai Enze said meaningfully.
"We hope that day will not come." Louis was silent for a moment before saying.
Mai Enze smiled and said no more. After counting the supplies, he left with the vast number of people.
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The benefits of trading are obvious.
After many transactions, William's winter grain inventory was reduced by two-thirds, but Hanley acquired a thousand more slaves, and the population suddenly expanded to more than 1,700.
Three hundred and fifty iron spearheads, eighty cross swords, fifty hunting bows, some iron, some salt, some linen, and other materials, etc.
For William, the most important thing is weapons.
Although he has a way to "make something out of nothing", he can't explain the source.
It would be very troublesome if the Bishop of Holy Light were to investigate later.
William didn't want to throw away this vest before he achieved his goal.
Fortunately, Liszt was indeed a good king, and he enthusiastically sent weapons to him when he needed them most.
With the weapons in hand, William began to build an army.
No matter what era it is in, violent institutions are always the ruling class's greatest reliance.
Whether it is defending the homeland or expanding territory, the army is inseparable.
The personal guards transformed from more than fifty mercenaries were only a temporary measure. Their discipline and combat effectiveness were never high, and William only used them makeshift.
Now that everything is ready, including food, grass, weapons, and venues, William is about to train his troops!
Train your own soldiers!
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The first thing William did was not to select soldiers, but to grade the slaves into three levels.
There are more than a thousand new slaves, all of whom are third-level slaves.
The first group of slaves who followed William were promoted to second-level slaves.
Those with outstanding performance will be promoted to first-level slaves.
The rank of the slave is related to the slave's treatment, food and accommodation conditions, so the slaves value this very much.
After becoming a first-level slave, if you perform well or make contributions, you will be free and no longer a slave.
Just like the scholar Louis, because he had always performed well, after the harvest, William tore up his slave contract with a wave of his hand and made him a free man.
At that time, Louis was so moved that he cried, knelt down to William, and swore allegiance to William and his family from generation to generation.
William wanted to laugh when he heard it, it was all a promise in the mortal world.
He just confirmed Louis' identity, gave him a job as Hanley Collector, and got paid.
William also told him that when he made enough money, he could buy a house to live in by himself.
After hearing this, Louis nodded desperately and devoted himself to work in an even more enthusiastic state.
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After the harvest, William issued the second order, which was that all those who entered the army would have their treatment level upgraded by one level. Those who were originally first-level slaves would directly obtain the status of free citizens. However, the army was not allowed to enter and not to leave.
No, if you want to push it out, there is no way except to lie down and go out.
In William's previous life in the 21st century, this order was very overbearing, and even the Labor Arbitration Bureau would not dare to fight with it.
But here, everyone, including the mercenaries, felt that this was a natural order and looked forward to being selected by William.
Of course William could not choose just any slave.
For example, those who have special skills have more important battlefields than here.
William chose guys who were obedient and hard-working.
One hundred and sixty were selected from the old slave group, 310 were selected from the new slave group, and thirty relatively experienced guys from the Guards were selected to join the selected group of soldiers.
As an auxiliary.
All added up, there were five hundred men and horses, and they looked really impressive.
This is because it is winter now, so we can select so many soldiers. In normal times, it would not be possible.
After all, the ratio of soldiers to civilians, which is close to one-third, is too scary, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is militaristic.
But why would William care about this!
Even if his New Nise village turns into Sparta in another world in the future, it doesn't matter to him.
The military camp had been built, and five hundred new recruits entered the military camp area under William's order and began their difficult "military training."