At the end of the Tang Dynasty, it was a feudal town, but in Western Europe

"I don't know, Sir Anthony, how much are you going to borrow?"

"Not much, thirty thousand."

"Thirty thousand deniers?"

"No, thirty thousand solididas."

"Farewell."

Hadrad turned around and left, but Feng Sen hurriedly grabbed his horse and said with a smile: "Your Excellency Hadrad, please don't go, so we can discuss it."

Hadrad said with a displeased face: "Thirty thousand Solidar, you are crazy, who can get this out?!"

Thirty thousand Solidar, in Europe where there is a lack of precious metals, is indeed not a small amount, but compared to a new duke like Feng Sen, Hadrad's family background is much stronger.

If you insist on taking it, Hadlard can still mobilize [-] to [-] Solidar gold coins or various collaterals and gold and silver worth more than one hundred thousand Solidar in a short period of time, but the price paid is not small.

The most important thing is that Hadlard is still saving money at present. He has to reserve a reserve fund for next year's uprising. In his budget, he must maintain at least [-] solidars of money reserves.

Just to buy an opportunity, spending [-] solidars at once like this is really hard for Hadlard to give up.

Is it more important to increase the success rate of the strategy, or to increase the follow-up processing ability of the strategy?

"Your Excellency Hadrad, listen to me." Feng Sen still had the same smile on his face, "I have a batch of woolen cloth here, about [-] pieces, and these [-] pieces are used as collateral for [-] soli Da, next year I will take another [-] horses and exchange them for [-] Solidars, right?"

Clothes are indeed hard currency. The balance in Hadlard's heart is a little wobbly, but he still has an unhappy look on his face: "Your Excellency Anthony, are these [-] bolts of cloth made of silver silk, and they can be exchanged for [-] Solidars? When will you pay them back?"

"Within two years." Feng Sen raised a finger, "I'm just short of cash flow."

Can woolen cloth earn thirty thousand solididas in two years?Hadlard frowned, he felt something was wrong, there must be some conspiracy.

After thinking about it in his mind, Hadlard finally shook his head, and was about to refuse, but heard an exclamation.

I saw two tattered men holding two parcels, and fled from the forest to this forest farm in a panic under the pursuit of several sergeants on horseback.

It seems to be an ordinary robber or theft incident, and he looked away from a distance. Hadrad was about to decline, but he saw that Feng Sen's expression became a little unnatural, and he also reprimanded the knights around him loudly, so that They quickly took the two men away.

What's wrong with these two?

Hadlard was still puzzled, but there were exclamations one after another in the hunting ground, and the face of Feng Sen beside him also instantly became ugly.

What's going on here?Following the eyes of everyone, Hadlard's breathing became rapid in an instant. The person holding the package before was lying on the ground. He should have tripped over the chains on his ankles, but at this moment the items in his arms also rolled out.

Under the sun, it was yellow and golden, and even made Hadlard feel a little dazzling and dazzling. It was a huge piece of dog's head gold, even though it was wrapped in linen, only a corner was exposed.

But based on the exposed piece, the whole dog's head gold weighs almost three pounds.

Several soldiers in banner uniforms looked ugly, quickly collected the dog's head gold, and escorted him to try to leave quickly.

As if struck by lightning, Hadlard quickly connected the cause and effect, and the real reason why Feng Sen borrowed money was ready to be revealed.

I just said, to build a woolen fabric workshop, [-] Solidars are actually needed, so it should be here.

But Hadlard wouldn't let them do what they wanted. Regardless of Feng Sen's obstruction, he leaped forward and stood in front of these bannermen: "Mr. Knights, who are these two? Robbers?"

"It's a runaway slave, Your Excellency the Duke." An older bannerman replied respectfully.

"Then whose slaves are they all? Coincidentally, one of the coolie slaves around me died of illness a few days ago. I don't know who the owner is. I think he is strong and strong. I don't know who the master is. I'm willing to pay a high price to buy it!" Hadrad looked at Feng Sen who was slowly approaching, with a smile on his solemn face.

No wonder, no wonder, almost got confused again, this Feng Sen wanted to borrow chickens to lay golden eggs, if he really foolishly lent him the money, it would be a big loss.

Facing Hadrad, Feng Sen forced a smile and said, "Your Excellency Hadrad, what is this for? They are all my slaves working in the fields, and they stole the master's gold and wanted to escape?"

"Hahahaha." Hadrad laughed loudly, "Your Excellency Anthony, just as I haven't seen the dog's head gold? These two are clearly miners' slave labor. I said that there is no output in this area of ​​Blanken Hill, and there are monsters and witches. Why do you want to build a new city here? That's it, that's it."

"Your Excellency Hadrad, what are you talking about? Why can't I understand?" Feng Sen waved his hand and asked the rest of the soldiers to stop the other nobles who were trying to listen in on the fun.

Hadrad snorted coldly through his nose: "Your Excellency, Anthony, don't pretend, what do you think Hadrad is? Come to entrap me twice and three times? Bah! Blanken Hill is so big, mining The voice is not small, if you don't admit it, I will send people to search for it and dig it myself."

"Okay, this is my territory, if you dare to dig it, I will fight!" Feng Sen's face turned rosy, "Okay, come here!"

"come!"

"come!"

Riding on horseback, the warm summer wind blew past the two of them, the crisp sound of nightingales, the sparkling lake surface, and the noble youths on the side looked curiously at this side.

"Your Excellency Anthony." In the end, it was Hadera who spoke first, "Now that the two miners have been exposed in front of everyone, with the character of His Royal Highness, no accident, this place will definitely become the royal mint.

If you mine as before, you may still be able to keep this gold mine, but now things have leaked, if the two of us join forces, His Highness Charlie will not be too willing to occupy this place.

So what if you borrowed gold from someone else?You lost the mine itself, whichever is more important. "

"Okay, but this is in my territory. You are a latecomer. I will give you [-]% of the profit at most, and I have no money left. You must send someone to solve the first wave of mining." After being silent for a whole stick of incense, Feng Sen replied sullenly.

"Of course, but I also have three conditions." Hadlard twirled the ring on his hand, "First, no one can tell us about our secret agreement, not even Charlie."

"can."

"Okay." Hadrad said pretending to be casual, "I will be able to send the first batch of 300 Solidars and the corresponding manpower next month, but I will send a group of guards, about [-] people, to garrison in Goslar."

"No, 50 people!"

"250 people!"

"Come on, 150 troops, and not allowed to be stationed in the city."

"Okay." Hadlard let out a breath, and continued, "Finally, to show my sincerity, I will send the first batch of money to Hamburg myself, without guards.

As for the second batch of money, you need to come to my territory to collect it yourself, so it will be next year, and you are not allowed to bring guards. "

Feng Sen's eyes flickered for a while, and the corners of his mouth trembled a little: "Yes!"

"Hahahaha." Hadlard laughed loudly, "Duke Anthony, please, I want to see the gold mine and the mine with my own eyes."

"I'll take you to cough cough cough this afternoon..."

"What happened to Duke Anthony?"

"It's nothing, I think of some happy things, so I'm a little distracted."

Chapter 284 The Merchant of Venice

Since Goslar discovered the gold mine, news has spread throughout Frank in a short period of time.

While the guarantee of the two dukes increased the confidence of the gold diggers, it also made Charlie personally send a letter to question Feng Sen.

But in any case, the upsurge of gold mines swept across the lesser half of Frank, and a large number of gold diggers came to Goslar by land and water.

The population of Salzgitter exceeded [-] in just half a year, and is still heading towards [-].

Hadlard is very proud. This wave has brought him unprecedented benefits. The first is the income from the gold mine, which naturally goes without saying.

But Hadlard's most important thing is not the profit of the gold mine, but Charlie's parade next year.

This is Feng Sen's unwiseness. He knows that doing so will reduce his trust in the king, but he still loses his mind.

The co-guarantorship of the two dukes has already made Charlie uncomfortable. In the second half of this year, if he does not bring a guard to visit, even if Charlie is not suspicious, other nobles will be suspicious.

And when Charlie came to parade, it happened to be this time next year. At that time, Feng Sen was in his own castle without guards, King Charlie was captured by himself, and he sent troops to garrison in Saxony. Guess what others would think?Guess what the Frankish court thinks?

Hmph, if Feng Sen is also detained at that time, then the alliance between Saxony and Turingen will be established, and there will be allies to share in the face of the Franks' counterattack, which is much better than fighting against everything by one person before.

Every time I think of this incident, Hadlard will secretly rejoice. Unexpectedly, unexpectedly, you, Feng Sen, also fell into my hands!Back then you caused me to defeat the Weser River. This time, I will pay back all the humiliation tenfold!

As for the failure, Hadlard replayed it several times, and there was only one result in all of them—safety!

………………

Odateto is in Hamburg for the first time.

But standing on the port outside the city of Hamburg, he never imagined that in the north, in the desolate and barbaric north in his impression, there could be such a big city. Just judging from the number of ships entering and leaving the pier, it was already comparable to many ports in Italy and even Athens.

The port here obviously shows signs of transformation, not only widening the mouth of the Alster River, but also digging out a tributary for the Alster River, forcibly creating a small delta near the port.

And on the port outside the city, the neatly arranged brick and tile houses, as well as the crosses on the roofs, made him a little dizzy. Is this in Europa, or in Eastern India?

There are not many boats traveling on the river, including short-distance awning boats and barges, as well as slender dragon-headed warships and merchant ships.

Some Vikings, who were usually considered bloodthirsty and easy to kill, honestly worked as coolies at the pier. The command of the clerks was smooth and efficient. They could complete the unloading and transshipment of a batch of ships in a short time, at least better than most of the ports that Odateto had seen.

But compared with his hometown Venice or Constantinople, the queen of Wancheng, it is still slightly inferior.

From the plank road in the port to the port square, Odateto stepped on the hard ground and looked at the pedestrians around him with some confusion. They were either driving vehicles or carrying baskets on their backs, hurrying.

Seven or eight soldiers in green woolen clothes patrolled the port square and the plank road. On the flagpole of the port, there were also a thief, a liar, and a rude sailor.

On the pavilion at the corner of the port, a statue that is said to be the sage of Siris stands there. Some pedantic priests object that this is idolatry, but the merchants will still worship the god of Siris who is in charge of wealth.

Anyway, no money, just worship as much as you want.

"Odateto!" A familiar voice sounded in the back of his head.

Odateto turned around and smiled instantly: "Helerio! Long time no see, how is it going? Is the business in Hamburg going well?"

"Of course, it went very well." Helerio laughed, and walked forward with his arms around Odateto's shoulders, "Some time ago, our Duke opened up a piece of land near the south of the Ulster River. Foreign merchants are allowed to invest and build workshops.

I invested in a shipyard, specializing in the construction of cargo ships, small cargo ships, the kind that only go on rivers, not only faster than others, but also small knar ships are much better than ordinary barges, and I have already made a lot of money.

I took the opportunity to build a new shipyard, and you see, sooner or later I will become the richest ship merchant in Hamburg. "

"That's really congratulations." After following Helerio through an area full of singing and singing, Odateto couldn't help feeling a little jealous, especially after seeing that he actually bought a luxurious carriage, he really wanted to write sour words on his face.

I am afraid that my brother will have a hard life, and I am also afraid that my brother will drive Lu Rover!

After getting into the carriage, Odateto stroked the car body that still exuded the fragrance of wood, and couldn't help but ask, "Is this car expensive?"

"Expensive, of course expensive, if it's not expensive, I wouldn't buy it." Seeing Odateto's expression, Helerio knew he had misunderstood himself and smiled, "I know what you mean, this car I bought the car on loan. In Hamburg, all industries are closely related to our duke.

If you don't have a good outfit, you won't even be able to enter the gates of the inner city, let alone talk about cooperation. You have studied at the University of Constantine for so many years, so you should know this better than me. "

This is true. Looking out from the car window, the road leading to the outside of Hamburg has been filled with various houses. Unlike the brick houses on the other side of the port, the houses here are mostly wooden houses, mud houses, and even tents.

But most of them have a characteristic, in the tent or on the side of the road, you can always see a few strong men holding wine glasses, drunk.

"Those are all Vikings." Helerio snorted disdainfully. "Most of them are volunteers. They do part-time jobs or logging on weekdays. When they get paid, they spend money on alcohol and go to work after drinking. The alcohol sellers That gang, seeing them is like seeing your own father.

Just these Vikings consumed more than half of the annual production of beer, and they didn't know how to save money to live, so they were waiting for the war. "

"Why?" Odateto looked out the car window, "These barbarians are naturally warlike?"

"One aspect." Hererio patted Odateto on the shoulder, telling him not to stare, "The other point is that when Yi Cong joins the war, he can be a flag-raiser, and when he becomes a flag-bearer, he can be awarded fields and hard-core crops, so they are waiting every day to go to war.

But if you ask me, there are very few people who can become a bannerman if they just hang around like this and don't practice martial arts. They are just stepping stones with fantasies.

Also, it's best not to stare at them, these people are savages after all, make them angry, then throw a throwing ax in the car and it's over, my new carriage. "

"I see." Odateto looked at the interior of the carriage, and finally couldn't help asking, "Helerio, I want to ask you, how did you become so rich? You were expelled by the Venice Council a year and a half ago, and you were penniless. In such a short period of time..."

"Hahahaha." Helerio laughed loudly, "First of all, if you say I am rich, I am not rich, and now I am a Solidar who has thousands of debts.

But to say that I am not rich, I can owe thousands of solidars, and I go to and from the inner city every day, living a relatively good life.

As I said before, in Hamburg, everything is closely related to our Duke, and His Excellency makes the policy.

In the newly built workshops in the Ulster New District, there is no tax for three years, and you can also buy building materials at low prices, hire engineering teams from the construction department at low prices, and even have low-interest loans.

I started my business by selling short capes and saved a fortune. When I heard that His Excellency the Duke was going to build a ship, I immediately sold the short cape business and borrowed a large sum of money to build a new dock.

Just wait, in three years, I can not only pay off all the debts, but also make a lot of money. "

"I'm really envious." Odateto couldn't help sighing, "If only I had this opportunity."

"Envy? I'm just envious! Before the West Britannia Company, I wanted to enter, but unfortunately, my industry hadn't started yet, and I didn't have any money left, so I didn't qualify. If I had the current industry at that time... well, I won't mention it." Helerio patted Odateto on the shoulder, "Believe me, Odateto, Hamburg is full of treasures, and you will be able to dig it out. I believe in you."

Looking at the confident Helerio, Odateto recalled his downcast figure when he left Venice a few years ago, and couldn't help showing a smile of anticipation.

"Today, I will take you to take a bath first. In a few days, we will spend Christmas together, and then I will introduce you to some business friends. Oh, by the way, you'd better go back to Saxony's Cuju team, otherwise it will be easy isolated."

"Cuju, what is that?"

"I'll take you to see it in two days, and you'll know."

Chapter 285 You Can't Punish the Teeth Soldiers, and You Can't Treat the Common People

As the carriage gradually moved towards the city of Hamburg, in the distance, the city wall of Hamburg appeared in Odateto's sight.

The curtain was lifted, and Odateto sat on the carriage, looking at the towering city wall in the distance, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.

This is different from the wooden stockades he used to see when he was traveling in Western Europe. The city wall of Hamburg is a complete masonry structure, almost six meters high. Judging from its appearance, it should be made of poured stone.

Beside the piled up female wall, Odateto could see the guards patrolling back and forth, and in the arrow tower above the city gate, a man in green was waving a flag towards the distant arrow tower, watching The appearance is to communicate something.

"How about it? Tall?" Helerio said with a smile, "Although it's not as good as Constantinople, it's already a very spectacular and towering city wall, especially in the land of the Franks."