Chapter 39 Revolt, Nobility, Salt, Slaves

Roman was prepared for violent resistance, violent suppression, and not stopping until he killed a hundred farmers.

But this was going in the worst direction.

Resistance was inevitable.

Suppose someone invented Jinkela, which made modern countries abandon four-fifths of arable land and only keep one-fifth of arable land, and claimed that the use of Jinkela could produce more than 10,000 per mu.

But no one would believe it.

The voice of opposition could turn into a huge wave!

This was not a problem that could be solved by explanation.

Couldn't the farmers see the preparations Roman asked them to do?

The only thing they were not fools about was farming. Of course, they knew that heavy plowing would increase the yield, otherwise they would not be amazed at the effect of heavy plowing.

Some fertile land can naturally produce hundreds of kilograms of crops, while some poor land can only produce thirty or forty kilograms.

They knew that Roman's approach was effective, but they were not sure how much the yield could be increased, so they needed to verify and survive.

A spring plowing lasted only more than half a month.

Farmers must hurry up to resist Roman and make him compromise and follow the past farming tradition. Extensive farming is much faster than intensive farming.

And Roman must hurry up to let farmers farm. He has to liberate the labor force.

Although this contradiction is very sharp, there is no need to fight to the death.

It mainly involves future issues.

…

In a modern country, with a population of more than one billion, even if only one percent of the people oppose a certain policy, there are tens of millions of people.

But the population here is less than 2,000!

Less than 2,000!

Among them, the elderly, women, children, handicraftsmen, and guards in charge must be counted.

There are only 700 to 800 real laborers who can work.

The population is too small.

The residents of a big country do not understand the situation of a small country with few people.

The ruling methods of the two are very different.

It must be admitted that among these hundreds of people, everyone opposes Roman's policy.

However…

At least half of them oppose it, but their opposition attitude is not strong.

The people who strongly oppose it but dare not protest account for another half.

The majority of people dared to protest in front of the lord, but they were afraid of death.

The question is, how many people are not afraid of death?

Very few!

Besides, Roman never pushed them into a desperate situation.

When he faced the turmoil, he made a promise in person that no one would starve to death.

Those who were worried about starving to death only needed to hear this sentence to dispel most of their resistance.

Most farmers were swept up by the will of the leader and had no idea of ​​rebellion.

What is a desperate situation?

When there is no food at home, in the bowl, or in the stomach, that is a desperate situation!

If they don’t grab food from the castle of the noble landlord, they will starve to death tomorrow.

The conditions for the peasant uprising are very harsh.

Most of the time, the uprising of agricultural civilization never broke out when there was food in the stomach, but when there was really no way to survive.

How far are we now?

They think they will starve to death in the future, so they spontaneously seek survival, which is already very far-sighted, and this is what they should do.

This was at best a precautionary measure, far from a riot.

Roman also forgave them generously, not caring about their gathering to cause trouble, he had already prepared himself mentally.

But!

Roman promised that no one would starve to death, but they didn't believe it!

He gave in, but the farmer didn't!

So his face changed on the spot, and he shouted at them, insisting that they obey!

The problem is huge!

This is more serious than the turmoil itself, and it is an impact and destruction on the aristocratic system.

Roman said that this thing is okay, you listen to me, I will lead you to progress.

The farmer said that this thing is not okay, sir, you listen to me, I have experience.

And they don't realize the consequences of this sentence.

Because the premise of this sentence is that there has been no lord in the town of Sger for decades.

In the past fifty years, the agricultural officer of the Bath family has been the highest manager of the town of Sger, but More has no power of life and death, at most shouting a few words on behalf of the noble master to punish you.

So, their understanding of the nobles is a bit unbalanced.

Roman has not yet gained prestige and recognition in this land, and the legitimacy of all his actions comes entirely from his noble status.

Otherwise, he is just an ordinary person.

The leading farmer can turn around and take his people back after getting his promise.

I have promised, what else do you want?

He is not a person who kills to establish his authority, because Sige Town is also short of labor, and he will not kill easily. Killing is the last resort and the worst plan.

Now there are many people, if you have anything to talk to me privately, I can even make you a few more promises and promote you to become an agricultural manager, and your salary and benefits will be the same as other managers.

You want treatment, I will give you treatment.

You want a way to live, I will give you a way to live.

If we can't reach an agreement, we can talk about it. Anyway, you must plant this land, and you can't delay the working time of those people.

You have found so many people, in public, you can oppose me once, you can; you can oppose me twice, it's also fine.

But if you oppose me clearly and repeatedly, how do you want me to end it?

Should I kneel down for you? He said, "Farmers, hurry back to the fields. I'm afraid of all of you."

This class confrontation is unreasonable.

They didn't understand what he meant and still insisted on the idea of ​​"Master, listen to me and divide the land!"

The saddest thing is that they are pure farmers. Their starting point is to live for everyone, not just themselves. They have no idea of ​​being a scab.

Roman admitted that he did a wrong thing, but the mistakes of this era are definitely not limited to this one thing!

This is why he wants to strengthen the earth.

He wants to establish all order, standards and models, and build such a social system with his ideas.

From now on.

If he says yes, it's okay!

If he says no, it's okay!

This is a one-time approach, just like what Roman is doing now. He has no prestige, no foundation, only aristocratic status, and he will never allow anyone to destroy it.

What could have been negotiated turned into a matter of bloodshed and sacrifice.

Although these laborers are precious.

Roman can't cultivate thousands of acres of land by himself, and he has to rely on them.

Only death can maintain the authority of the nobles.

Seth will only suggest him to do things.

You dare to teach me how to do things?

Facts have proved that when other farmers have food at home, in their bowls, and in their stomachs, they will never give up their lives to fight Roman.

Even if Roman deprived them of all their land.

This is the weakness of the peasant class.

Unless they encountered a great famine or disaster, and dozens or hundreds of people starved to death, they would not have gathered together, rushed into the enclosure, and thrown the landlord into the pot.

Most people are just living a life of ease.

In this era, you can rob their property, deprive them of their land, rape their wives and daughters, and do whatever you want.

As long as you don't threaten their survival basis and can give them free food.

In three years, you can be crowned king!

They won't even be sneaky.

Because they can't plant more land, this year's hope lies in the two thousand acres of land.

They care about the output of these lands more than Roman.

The free and rich lunch every day and the promise are not false at present.

When Roman can no longer provide lunch and can't fulfill his promise.

The contradiction between the exploiting class and the exploited class will have an unprecedented outbreak.

...

...

Everything is back on track.

Roman started to cut trees non-stop.

As his experience in collecting trees increased, his tree-cutting skills became more and more handy, and the time was getting shorter and shorter.

It basically took only half an hour to cut down a tall tree.

On the fourth day of the tree-cutting work, Roman cleared a large open space at the corner of the forest.

On the same day, Seth brought a businessman to the Origin Manor.

In the past, there was no lord in the town of Sger, but now there is one.

Roman felt it necessary to meet these foreign merchants who came to Sger along the Bro River.

This is related to the development of Sger.

The businessman was probably in his early thirties, thin, wearing a dark brown robe, a mustache, and a purse hanging on his belt.

Roman asked, "Are you a salt merchant?"

Daken was in a subtle mood.

He did not expect that such a change would happen in Sger in a short period of time.

His merchant ship arrived at the dock of Sger, and he was going to do business with the residents here as usual.

Then he learned that there was a new lord here, and the lord was very domineering. He took back all the land of the residents of Sig Town, forcing them to cultivate only two thousand acres of land, and killed all opponents.

The lord here is a madman!

He was about to escape when he was stopped by the guards of Sig Town.

An old deacon said that the local lord wanted to see him.

Then he was brought here.

"I am not only a salt merchant, but also wool, wine, medicinal herbs, candles, cheese and butter on my merchant ship..." Daken said truthfully without hiding anything.

If things really go in the worst direction, he will probably go bankrupt directly and be burdened with huge debts.

Because those goods are not his own, but also the investors behind him.

The only way to file a complaint with the royal court is through the insurance treaty, but considering that the local lord's surname is Liejia, the Chamber of Commerce's complaint may be delayed indefinitely or directly ignored and not filed.

Roman knew nothing about Daken's thoughts, and he knew that the grocer was very nervous.

So Roman's attitude was very gentle: "How much salt do you have on your ship?"

"There are more than 500 kilograms left."

"What price can you sell it for?"

Dakken saw that Roman had no intention of embezzling the goods, otherwise he would not have to be polite to him. In this barbaric era, there is no such thing as courtesy before force.

"One kilogram of salt costs one copper coin. The further north you go, the more expensive it is. If you go to the Northern Land or Ego Land, one kilogram of salt can be sold for at least two copper coins."

To be precise, it should be close to three copper coins, and it is even possible to exchange one kilogram of salt for half a sheep.

The Northern Land is a notoriously bitter and cold place, second only to Ego, the hometown of the Arctic Pirates.

But if you go deeper, the corresponding risks and itinerary will increase sharply.

Dakken is not going to the Northern Land, let alone crossing the sea to Ego. He only sells it in small quantities along the Bro River, and the town of Sger is just one of the stops.

Every six months, he passes through the town of Sger, and can sell dozens of kilograms of salt here. Although it is not much, he does not need to pay any commercial taxes.

This is enough for him to take the risk.

These salts are the more valuable cargo on his ship. He has spent great efforts to open up a channel for purchasing salt. The output of salt-producing areas is limited. It is impossible for all merchants to become salt merchants. Most of the sales of salt are only controlled by a certain person. In the hands of these big businessmen, he could only drink in portions.

Although it is expensive, as a necessity, the supply is usually in short supply in the face of huge market demand, so there is no need to worry about not being able to sell it.

This humble salt purchasing channel brought him huge profits.

The purchase price of 100 kilograms of salt is 2 silver coins, while the selling price is 1 gold coin, which is only cheaper than iron.

Si Ge Zhen couldn't eat the salt, and Roman didn't plan to eat it. He just asked casually.

"Where are the slaves? What's the price of the slave?"

Daken was stunned. He was a little unclear about Roman's purpose, so he had to answer: "Ordinary slaves have more than 1 silver coin, and they only have some brute strength. Some slaves with good physiques or special ones can reach 2 to 5 silver coins. The price of one silver coin, you know, some slaves also have special skills, which are not exorbitant in terms of gold coins, while those slaves of poor quality only cost 8 copper coins or lower - such slaves usually have no transportation value. ”

"Is this so..." Roman closed his eyes slightly, and then said, "When can you bring the slave here."

"How many slaves do you need?"

"How many can you bring?"

Daken was stunned again, "I can bring ten or twenty."

Roman said: "I will give you the price of 20 gold coins, how many slaves can you bring me?"

Daken was immediately in awe.

"I will bring you at least one hundred, no, one hundred and twenty slaves!"

In theory, 20 gold coins can buy 200 slaves, but transportation is a troublesome thing, especially in a remote location like Sige Town. It has to go around a long way, so there will naturally be an extra premium. A slave of 1 silver coin must at least be paid. to 1.2 or 1.5 silver coins.

But this is a big order, and Daken feels that he can take it on and make a profit.

Roman nodded and said, "How long will it take?"

"At least a month, you know the reason..."

The biggest problem is transportation.

This was a barbaric era, with wars and wars all year round, human lives were insignificant, and the price of slaves was generally low. But that doesn't mean it's everywhere.

Especially in the Black Iron Land, there has not been a large-scale war in decades. It is necessary to leave this land and go to other lands to purchase slaves.

"I will pay you 10 gold coins in advance. Whether you can get the remaining 10 gold coins depends on how well you do. From now on, your commercial tax in Sige Town will be 1 out of 20, and this is true for all goods. , no objection?”

Daken nodded repeatedly and praised: "Your generous decree will definitely resound throughout the upper and lower reaches of the Buro River."

Commercial taxes are also one of the sources of income for the nobles, but their attitude towards merchants determines the commercial scale of the territory.

And there is no shortage of such short-sighted people in this land.

Drawing one out of twenty is really a preferential treatment for a businessman, which means that when he sells a product worth 20 copper coins, he only needs to pay a commercial tax of 1 copper coin.

Most nobles maintain a ratio of one in ten, and some even have an astonishing ratio of one in six.

Basically, there is no way for businessmen to survive.

In such a place, commerce and trade will naturally not flourish.

Of course, depending on the product, this tax ratio will also increase or decrease.

Most nobles have an attitude towards the salt tax without exception, which is to collect taxes ruthlessly.

Basically, it will not be lower than six draws and one draw, and the highest can reach the point of three draws and one draw.

This means that if he sells 10 kilograms of salt and earns 1 silver coin, he has to pay the local noble 3.3 copper coins. This is only one part of the salt tax, and the purchase tariff is also an expense.

As a salt merchant, I could only earn the cost price after working so hard, and most of the profit was taken away by the nobles.

However, the new lord of Sige Town was so generous that he only asked for 0.5 copper coins in salt tax, which was already extremely astonishing.

Roman waved his hand and asked Seth to take Daken to get the money.

He just met Daken once and threw out 10 gold coins, which can be said to be very sincere.

Roman was not worried about Daken taking money and not doing anything. If he wants to survive in this world, he must do things well and do them beautifully.

Only nobles dared to take money and refuse to do things for merchants. There has never been a case where a businessman took money and refused to do things for nobles.

Moreover, he could still afford the loss of 10 gold coins.

There are also merchants in Sige Town, but the commercial foundation is weak. The buying and selling of grain is okay. This kind of large-scale slave trade cannot be grasped at all.

After Daken left, Roman took Gweil and continued cutting down trees in the northern forest.