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

"I'll report, you wait here."

Some salty sea breeze brushed over the tip of Bolenus's nose. He looked out through the gap of the window. Not far away, on the rushing sea, countless golden snakes were reflected by the sunlight, swimming in the water. The sails were like a dense forest and slowly entered the port under the command of the servants.

On the coast, a huge black lighthouse stands tall. If it is night, this lighthouse is like the Cyclops in Homer's Epic.

"Go in." Kaliheta came out with a bad face, interrupting Bolenus's thinking and poetry, "I hope you really just came to thank Lord Tarassios for his kindness."

"Thank you." Bolenus smiled at him, and walked into the palace.

In the spacious but plain room, except for the solid wooden table facing the door, there are only bookshelves on both sides, and the bookshelves are full of books and files. A man who is not too old is lowering his head, writing something quickly on the parchment with a quill pen.

"Long time no see, may Heavenly Father bless you, thank you for your kindness, Your Excellency Tarassios." Bolenus immediately bowed and saluted, and Tarassios also raised his head.

This man looks about 50 to [-] years old. Although the wrinkles on his face are full, he can still see the handsome demeanor of his youth. He has a pair of sky blue pupils, a marble-like nose and mouth. He doesn't smile, but Doesn't look serious.

Putting down the quill in his hand and drying the ink on the paper, Talasios said childishly: "My dear nephew Bolenus, I am very happy that you can come to my place, but I am also very angry. Why don't you go to my house to find me? I would like to receive you at home, or we can open a bottle of wine from Italy, but you see, here, we can only sit properly."

"I don't want to bother your family, because I always caused you trouble when I came here a few times ago." Bolenus touched the back of his head, and he, who was always cheeky, actually showed some blush caused by shame.

"Don't be stupid, you are always welcome in my home." Tarassios lifted the golden buttons on his shoulders, and pointed to the seat in front of him, "Sit down, this time to Saxony, have you brought Any new news?"

"Yes." Bolenus said excitedly, "You can't believe what I saw in Saxony."

"What is it?"

"It's a group of Serisians." Bolenus said, dancing, "Those Sirians of silk and porcelain. It's a miracle that they actually appeared in Saxony and became counts of the Franks."

Tarassios also raised some interest: "Are you sure they are not Avars, and some Avar nobles also claim to be Serisians."

"Well... similar in terms of ferocity, but they are more civilized, and their language is different from Avar, and they are almost exactly the same as Latin Romans except for a slightly collapsed nose. They are all black-haired and black-eyed, and they are tall. Everyone is like that, much higher than the Avars."

"So what's the name of that Serisian?"

"He called himself Honghu, ah, by the way, King Charles of the Franks baptized him and made him into the church. His Christian name was Anthony. The most incredible thing is that he became a Frank at the age of 17." Nobility—the Earl of Hamburg."

Talasios suddenly stopped answering. He looked into Bolenus' eyes, making him a little hairy. He could only rub his hands a little awkwardly, secretly thinking about which sentence he said was wrong.

Standing up, Tarassios walked towards the bookshelf beside him, rummaging through the bookshelf and asked, "How do you know each other?"

"Because of the Saxon War, Princess Lyudmila of the Kingdom of Eupolit took refuge in Hamburg. Mr. Zinovac went to worship the princess, and I heard that he was starting a chamber of commerce for North Sea trade. We met in the chamber of commerce. Yes, in fact, I also accepted a commission from him."

"What commission?" Talasios said casually while searching on the bookshelf, "I suddenly remembered something, don't worry about it, just keep talking."

"He said that there is a lack of smart people in his land, so he hopes to recruit some elementary school teachers from our Rome to them. He also said that his army lacks training and wants to recruit a group of Roman instructors. Oh yes, he also said that he needs some scribes to help him handle political affairs. He hopes that I can help him recruit in Constantinople."

"How much did he pay you?"

"200 solidas for the activity fee and shipping fee." Bolenus said, combing his fingers, "as long as I can take these people to Saxony, he can pay the labor fee at the price of three solidas for the scribe and one solidar for the elementary school teacher... Did I do something wrong?"

Putting a scroll on the table, Tarassios spread out the parchment, pointed to a piece of text and said to Bolenus: "Read it."

Somewhat unclear, Bolenus looked down at the scroll: "...In December, Count Anthony of Hamburg defeated [-] rebels in Uda. A few weeks later, Count Anthony of Hamburg defeated Siegfried and Widukind's [-] rebels by the Weser River. In order to commend his achievements, King Charles of the Franks named Anthony Count of Hamburg the Duke of Saxony... and granted full powers?!"

Bolenus's voice gradually trembled, and his eyes widened. He glanced at Tarasios, then looked down at the text again: "Is this Anthony the friend Anthony I mentioned?"

"If you're not lying, it should be him."

"But, duke! Full power! Damn it, I've only been away for a month and a half! He's already the chief official of the Frankish Kingdom?"

"It's not just that." Tarassios tapped his head, as if recalling the information reported by his subordinates in his mind, "He was adopted by Charlie as an adopted son, and now he can barely be regarded as a member of the Frankish royal family. If I didn't If you guess wrong, Charlie trusts and favors him extremely, and he should stay in Saxony to deal with the nobles of East Francia."

"Then his current status..."

"And Nikephoros, our fleet general in Anatolia, is a senior dignitary of the same level."

"He just..."

"Yes, he is." Tarassios sat on the seat, "If there are no accidents, there will be another prominent family named Anthony in the land of Frank."

Bolenus said in a daze, "Then do I still want to..."

"No matter what is in that little box of yours, take it back and come to my house tonight." Tarassios pushed the scroll aside, pulled out a new papyrus, and quickly wrote on the paper, "He asked you to find some scholars and elementary school teachers for him?

No problem, I will handle this matter, even if it is a congratulatory gift to the new Duke of Saxony, as for you, you can maintain a good relationship with him, and you can make a proper commercial profit, understand? "

In a moment of confusion, Bolenus was invited out of Tarassios' office by Kalitach, but he still felt a little dreamy, Feng Sen?Duke?I now have a duke friend?

Chapter 2 Only the truly loyal Lieutenant Jing Nan can see the real title

After the injection of 3 solidars of capital, Feng Sen's package plan can finally start. Visible to the naked eye, on the Elbe River, there are more and more black boats and rafts, full of migratory flags. Man and Coat.

On the banks of the Ulster River, five docks were even built, and the awning boats and rafts were frantically built almost every three days. On the upper reaches of the Ulster River, Viking shipbuilders began to build Viking "merchant ships" with keels in order to solve the problem of insufficient capacity of the West Britain Trading Company.

Therefore, on the Elbe River from Hamburg to Magdeburg, troop carriers and food ships can be seen coming and going every day. Buer held a short bow for shooting rabbits in his hand and watched the crowd with a smile on his face. The boats full of Viking bannermen's clothes went upstream and headed for the port of Magdeburg.

Going to sea with his brother was the right decision for Bue, he can still remember what life was like in the North Sea, he lives in Stavanger, although they have tried their best to open up new fields, but Si Scandinavia's harsh weather and environment can only satisfy the lowest level of food and clothing.

As the number of people in the village increased, Bue could catch fewer and fewer fish, and Jar in Stavanger actually taxed the catch higher and higher. During the fishing days, Bue Er seldom even had enough to eat.

But now it is different.

Patting the dirt on his palms, Bue got on his horse, and in the dark and damp forest, he rode a low mare and passed quickly through the forest path.

The horseshoes were flying, splashing mud and gravel. Bue walked out of the forest, and a wide plain appeared in view. The continuous rain in winter washed away the blood and dust on this land. In Gothenburg, lords and nobles with sad faces of all colors rode oxen and horses, and took their families and leaders to pitch tents in the wilderness.

Dozens of construction sites were built on the outskirts of the former city of Magdeburg. Ships of blue bricks and cement were transported from the boats and spread out not far away. These gray construction sites have been patched layer upon layer on the original green land.

On the side of the road leading to the port, small sheds were set up. In the sheds, the vegetable farmers shouted and sold fresh purple radishes, and the blacksmith swung his hammer vigorously, smashing out a series of flying sparks. Opposite the blacksmith, an old shoemaker lowered his head and carved the shape of the sole with a knife under the faint skylight.

A grocer with a donkey loudly quarreled with a fisherman, scolded the fisherman for stealing shamelessly and robbed him of his stall, and the fisherman was not to be outdone, he dragged his brother-in-law who wove a rattan basket beside him to help out.

Hearing the screams behind his ears, Bue knew that not only would the two quarreling people be injured, but they might also pay the bannermen who did the fighting, and the final ownership of the booth would be determined by this sum. Hard work to decide.

Passing through the crowd, they arrived at the port of Magdeburg, where a group fight was taking place. Two rafts were scrambling to enter the port, causing one raft to overturn and fall into the water.

Blood and broken teeth fell on the original brown raft, dyeing it red. From time to time, some people were beaten and fell into the water. The three or five hundred households around them gathered in the gazebo in front of the port, drinking hot milk, laughing and pointing at the group of fighting bannermen.

After leading the mare to the stable and tying it up, Bue walked into the gazebo in three steps and two steps, while the other hundred households also made room for him, picked up the cup, and scooped it for himself from the bubbling milk bucket. a glass of milk.

Not paying attention to the undulating sediment in the milk, Bue drank the milk in one gulp.

"How? How did you choose?" Boo asked, moving his neck.

A hundred households said with a smile: "This group of people is not bad. My second brother works in the port of Hamburg. He told me that these days are the group with the best teeth, the strongest physique, and the group that is not sick."

"Where is Lord Olaf Qianhu?"

"A few days ago, a group of Sorbs wanted to fight the autumn wind and robbed a caravan. Who would have thought that the caravan carried Zu Qianhu's belongings. Zu Qianhu was so angry that he led his troops to catch up Already, Priest Zhenhui has been taking care of many matters these two days."

Yan Yan was talking and laughing here, but the battle over there was over, and the group of banner men who were knocked into the water was obviously more aggressive, and they directly drove the other group of banner men and Bao Yi who were sitting on the boat into the water, and had to swim ashore by themselves.

Guided by the few ten households at the port, a total of forty bannermen and Baoyi appeared in front of several hundred households with bruises and swollen faces. One of the oldest hundred households smiled and said: "My place is full, you guys Choose."

"Then, the old rules?"

"Let's draw lots, stop talking nonsense."

Bouer's hands smelled bad, so he drew a bad lottery, so he had to be the last one. After comparing the badges with the roster, a priest apprentice filled out the scrolls for these hundreds of households, carefully classified them, and put them in small boxes.

Looking at the ten subordinates in front of him, Bue was quite satisfied. The elder brother of Baihu was right. Today's group of people have good teeth, no diseases, and strong physique. The average level is very high. The former group of old, weak, sick and disabled are much stronger.

Two days ago, the quality was uneven, because of the few young and strong, hundreds of households almost fought, and Bue drew a bad lottery as usual, so he could only accept the worst few .

"Who is that? What's your name? Big (harmonious) head." Boo asked, pointing to a somewhat stout guy.

The guy with the big (harmony) head called the big (harmony) head scratched his big (harmony) head: "My name is Bighand Yukus."

"It's such a long name, let's call you Big Head." Bue straightened his short cloak and said, "You have the martial arts of a countryman, you cut off your head."

Squinting his eyes, the big head said naively: "No, I am a pioneer who made great achievements in the battle."

"That's not bad." Learning the Chinese accent of the true wisdom priest, Bue first praised it in a distorted manner, and then smiled proudly, "I chopped off the head of the third level with my own hands, you still have to practice with me." Big head, since you have the martial arts of a villager, you can be a ten households. You can lead these seven or eight people first, and you will have to reassign them later.

From now on, you are Lao Tzu's subordinate, do you understand?Be loyal to Marshal Feng, read it to me, be loyal to Marshal Feng, be loyal to Lao Tzu, understand? "

"understand."

"Just understand, come, I'll take you to our Baihu Office."

Chapter 211 Quickly Bring the Iron Rod Crops!

The big head led the bannermen and the coats, followed Bue Baihu, and marched along a dirt road. Soon, they walked out of the suburbs of Magdeburg and marched further.

Stepping on the dirt road full of puddles, within a mile of walking, the straw sandals of Datou and the others were filled with sand, and Bue rode slowly on the pony, walking on the left side of a group of bannermen and Baoyi, talking to Datou about the rules of Baihusuo.

"Listen, I'm going to tell you the rules. I'll just say it once. If you don't hear clearly and lose your head, I won't explain it to you." Clearing his throat, Bue kicked and looked distracted. The big head said, "You are ten households, so you must listen clearly."

"This land will be our territory from now on, and we have to behave properly when we get to the land." Bouer pointed to the sky, "Heavenly Father in the sky is kind, and Odin on the ground is helping us, let us become After joining the Eight Banners, from now on, we no longer have to pay taxes, and we own as much food as we grow, and there will be no Jarre or anyone else in a mess to come to us.

However, if you don't need to pay the food, you don't need to pay the food, and there is a price. The price is that you have to abide by Marshal Feng's rules. Will Marshal Feng read it?Read it after me - Feng, Da, Shuai, Wan, Sheng.Go back and practice more, you know it will be useful in the future? "

The big first-class bannerman immediately nodded yes, and repeated the five words loudly, but the outlier tuned out, and Bue waved his hand: "Stop shouting, there are people in our banner, let them teach you... It's all far away, let's continue to talk about Marshal Feng's rules:

The first one is to serve as a soldier to eat food and go to battle.We also ate food and drank water. If you dare to say that you can't go to the battlefield, I'm sorry, but I won't agree.

Article [-], public servants pay grain.In other words, we can choose to hand over part of the surplus grain grown by the Eight Banners to the public treasury of the guard.

We recommend a few trusted bannermen brothers, hire and entrust some caravans to help us operate, or supervise the officials in the guards to lend or sell these grains, and then share the money according to the proportion of the surplus grain. "

"It's no good who pays the food..."

I don't know who muttered something below, but Bue, who had sharp ears, still heard it. He turned his head and glanced around among these banner people, and said with a sneer, "Of course there are benefits. Those who donate the most surplus food every year have the big ones." Those with the best grades can accumulate merit.

And you have to know that a family of bannermen can only shade their direct relatives. In other words, after you pass on the position of bannerman to your son, your other children will all get the banner, and the public treasury will pay severance pay.

If you have a daughter, you have to get married, and the public treasury will pay for it.If you are lucky and can live to old age, this public treasury will also provide subsidies to help you take care of yourself.If there is a fire, or heavy snow collapses the house of the guard, the public treasury will also pay for repairs.

The more this surplus food is paid, the more this money will be. Whether or not you pay it is up to you. "

"Is it so profitable to sell food? I don't think so."

This time Buer heard clearly that it was Big Tou. He immediately stepped forward and lashed Big Tou's back with a horsewhip: "Stupid! The surplus money from selling grain is used to hire people to reclaim or buy fields. If it doesn't work, you can open a shop. Or buy a carriage to form a caravan, these properties are public property of the guard, there are tax deductions, and the money earned is also distributed to us according to the money and grain paid."

This big head is also rough-skinned and thick-skinned. A whip hit on his back was just a red mark. He said with a naive smile, "Then if I get out of the flag, can I still get the money?"

"That's a good idea." Bue rolled his eyes, "If you go out of the flag, I'll give you a severance pay. If you're promoted to the army, you'll be a nobleman. One person's land is worth more than half of ours. Baihusuo, still think about these three or two sons?

The money and food produced by the guards are definitely not as much as you get as a government soldier. You spend all the money and food issued by the public office every month to find a skilled woman, just to ensure that you don’t have food and clothes. "

"Then what if the public property loses money?"

"If you lose money, just tighten your belt, what else can you do?" Boo let out a sigh of disdain.

A big Viking man with a strong nasal voice asked: "Then can we work in the public property if we go out with the flag?"

"This is our third rule." Bue said seriously, "No business in the Eight Banners is allowed. We Banners were born to fight wars, and doing business will only fill your brains with money. Can't fight at all.

This prohibition of doing business does not mean that you are not allowed to do business yourself, and that your descendants are not allowed to work or be tenant farmers in the public property of the guard for five generations, and only outsiders are allowed to be hired in the public property.By the way, the bannerman was found to be in business and immediately beheaded. Yu Ding left the flag without even severance pay, and his descendants were not allowed to raise the flag again. "

These Viking bannermen immediately fell silent and nodded like chickens pecking at rice.

"Don't be so afraid, our life in the Eight Banners is still easy. As long as you don't commit crimes, you can plant fields and train soldiers every day if you have nothing to do. Let's not talk about droughts and floods to ensure your harvest. I guarantee that you will not starve to death or freeze to death." Bue said with a smile, "There is really a war , Let’s go out with the army, if one is not careful, hey, just like me, if he cut off his head and made a military exploit, he will immediately become a hundred households.

Let me tell you, our immediate boss, Olaf Zugui Houqianhu, is a Han Chinese with a foreign surname who has been directly promoted for three months. Have you seen it elsewhere?A little Viking slave has been Yale for three months, such shit luck... don't talk nonsense outside. "

Halfway through the speech, Bue, who realized that something was wrong, immediately stopped talking, and scolded harshly, "If you dare to talk nonsense, let me see how I treat you."

Looking at the strange eyes of the flags and coats in front of him, Bue really wanted to slap himself twice, and he quickly brought the topic back: "Well, the fourth rule, listen carefully, don't be distracted by thinking about what you have:

Article 12: Every winter, all the bannermen gather at the Qianhu Institute for training, and every summer, all males above the age of 15 but under the age of [-] gather at the Qianhu Institute to participate in the summer camp.

This summer camp is fully enclosed, 45 days each time, pre-training will be conducted and people will be invited to teach characters.

There is a quota every year. If you perform well, you can be recommended to further study in the guard school. If you have two sons in your family, one will inherit the banner and keep the family business, and the other will go to the guard school for further study, and you can become a minor official in the future. What's not bad. "

"Article [-] and the last one, Bannermen are not allowed to leave the guardhouse without permission." Bue's body dangled on his horseback, "Do you know what a guardhouse is? Our area is called Baihusuo. Ten Baihusuo All one thousand households and five thousand households are one guard, and you are not allowed to leave the guard, you know? That is regarded as a deserter, and those who will be beheaded, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Speaking of this, Bue, who was still swaying, suddenly stopped, and he raised his whip and pointed to a dirt enclosure in front of him: "That's just right, we're here now, everyone, welcome to Bue's hundred households."

Chapter 212 Come back soon, the office sent a wife!

What appeared in front of Datou was a soil fence about two meters high, but it was only half built. On the edge of the soil fence, beside a few wooden piles that were deeply embedded in the soil, several long wooden boards were erected, firmly clamping the cooked and scattered soil in the middle.

The wind with the aroma of pine came from a distance, rolling the corners of the coats, and seven or eight coats with left lapels stood on the scaffold, hammering and compacting the ground between the boards like making rice cakes.

Buer was still riding on the horse, pointing to a field not far away and said: "Look at that, from here to there, a total of 75 acres (about 3000 acres) of land is ours. Besides, there are 50 acres of land nearby. Acres of woodland to raise pigs and sheep, and hunt."

"Such a big plain?" Datou's eyes widened, and his head was a little dizzy. You know, in Beihai's hometown, surrounded by mountains, the terrain is broken, and there is rarely enough flat land for reclamation and farming. In order to save more land, Yaer and the village live on the mountains.

"Then how do we divide the land?" A Viking man looked eagerly at the land in the distance, where a dozen coaters and bannermen were clearing the land with hoes.

Bue rubbed his neck: "Each banner household has five households subordinated to Baoyi, and I have ten subordinate households. Each banner household has more than four acres of land, and Laozi himself has eight and a half acres. There are only 8 acres, and we have to develop the remaining 25 acres by ourselves, but our 50 households currently only have about 25 members, and these [-] acres are more than enough.”