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

The cold wind before the rain blew on Fredges's chest. He stroked his hair, revealing a pair of gray eyes: "Hurry up, we are almost there, if you hold on a little longer, I have already notified the nearby church, and they will be able to deliver the herbs and food soon."

"Priest, I saw Heavenly Father, he seemed to be looking at me." The old man knew well and relaxed his head, and put his head under the weeds, "It's going to rain, you go first, don't go, It's going to rain on your head."

"You can sit in the carriage..." Before Fredges finished speaking, the old man's hand had already dropped into the dirt.

The wind before the rain was getting stronger. Fredges looked into the distance. After a while, he lowered his head and closed the old believer's eyes.

Chapter 218 Refugees Are So Hot!

On the opposite side of the Elbe River, the beachhead that was once covered with rocks has now become a flat land, and the foaming river water hits the river bank, as if someone is beating a drum in the river water.

Gloomy dark clouds, misty fog, a small lamp in the gray mist is like an eye in the darkness, emitting orange light.

On this beach, a refugee camp is being repaired urgently. It used to be Feng Sen's camp for receiving immigrants. It has already grown to a large scale, but now facing the next three consecutive waves of thousands of refugees, Feng Sen has to be careful.

The large wooden barrels that were originally intended to be used for wine were carried to this circle of sheds and placed on the kang about the height of the calf. Bundles after bundles of bristle brushes were placed on the table. Lüneburg mobilized barbers and herbalists to complete such tedious work.

The black awning boat moved forward against the rippling water on the river, transporting sacks of wheat to the west bank of the Elbe River, while the packers yawned, holding wooden hammers and helplessly nailed the fences into the soil one by one and tied them with vines.

The packers put on hardened and heavy oilcloth cloaks, and continued to grit their teeth and knock on the fence in the rain.

Standing on the outskirts of the refugee camp, Feng Sen was wearing a short cape and a hood, standing in the spring rain that kept falling. The rain dispelled the gray mist, but diffused his own water vapor instead.

"Aren't you there yet?" Nie Yinniang shook her shiny black hair and kicked a piece of unlucky grass on the ground boredly.

Feng Sen responded indifferently: "Keep waiting, you will follow me these few days, and you are not allowed to go anywhere."

Nie Yinniang stood beside Feng Sen dejectedly. When she was in the Central Plains, she either ran around to steal things, or was ordered by her teacher to kill people. She has been here for almost a month, and she just has nothing to do every day, which really makes her uncomfortable.

I don’t know how Zhao Cunxu or Lei Pu provoked her. One night, she resorted to some tricks and switched the women on the bed of the two thousand families. Good guy, the scene the next day was a mess. She was still standing on the roof and clapping her hands happily.

In order to show punishment, Feng Sen not only made her serve hard labor and serve him tea and water, but also ordered her not to leave his sight unless she was sleeping. The big brat calmed down a bit.

In the light wind and drizzle, a wet flag wrapped on the flagpole appeared in everyone's sight, and Feng Sen recognized at a glance that it was the cavalry he sent to respond.

In the carriage behind the cavalryman, Fredges turned sideways to take care of the child who had just fallen asleep, and looked at the camp in the distance, while an apprentice was also looking at the refugee camp that was still being built and repaired in the distance. In the rain and fog, it barely showed a trace of outline.

"It looks pretty good." The curly-haired apprentice's eyes lit up. "I thought we would meet another lord who was as stupid and cruel as Earl Eresburg. I didn't expect our Duke of Saxony to do a good job."

"After all, he is the leader who piled human heads into mountains." Another apprentice chattered, "Who dare not listen to him."

There was no smile on Fredges's face, but his expression was a little more relaxed. When he got here, there should be no bandits and robbers looting. At least the Sirisian who can be called the "chief prince" would not let robbers appear in front of his eyes.

"Sinner Anthony, the Duke of Saxony, greets you, priest from Frank, welcome." The refugee team approached, and before Fredges got out of the car, Feng Sen stepped forward to meet him.

Fredges bowed politely: "I, the humble servant of the heavenly father, Fredges, greets you to see the pious believers of Saxony and the Duke of Saxony conferred by King Charles."

Feng Sen nodded slightly as a salute, and looked at the frightened and eager Frankish refugees behind him. They hesitated. Before that, they hoped to reach Hamburg as soon as possible, but when Hamburg was in front of them, they were at a loss.

Fredges stepped in front of the refugees: "Although I can't wait to experience the wisdom of the East, but for the sake of these pious Heavenly Father and His People, let's resettle them first."

"This is natural..." Feng Sen waved his hand behind him, and a young Heavenly Father apprentice holding a board and paper came up, "Let's do the handover first."

"Father bless."

"How many people are here? Is there a back team or a single person? I need to divide them into families and register them separately."

After thinking for ten seconds, Fredges replied: "There are almost 1100 people here, there is no rear team, and more than 20 families with patients were placed in the church in Bremen. In fact, when I set off Many refugees were collected along the way, and when they reached the Saxon border, there were more than 2000 people, but they were either left alone or died of illness on the way, or they were assigned to churches that lacked people on the way.”

"Ah, that's better." Feng Sen nodded, "Priest Fredges has been with these refugees all the way, and he is already more familiar with them than I am. I may need your help."

Fredges stroked his chest and bowed his head: "It's an honor."

"Among the refugees, all those who cannot take care of themselves are selected for emergency medical treatment and assistance." Feng Sen said to Fredges unceremoniously.

Without waiting for Fredges to answer, Feng Sen stepped forward and walked in front of the refugees: "Everyone, you may have heard of me. I am Anthony, the godson and adopted son of King Frank. You have heard of me more or less. name.

I have come to announce to you, blessed are you believers of the Father, that I will provide each of you with a set of clean clothes and a bowl of steaming porridge, and the only thing you have to do is to After the priest Fredges, register one by one, and you can get the porridge.

But I have to tell you that although you have suffered all the bumps along the way, if you want to enter Hamburg, you still have to accept three difficulties. "

Feng Sen raised three fingers at the refugees:

"The first test is the baptism of hot water, which means that you wash away the filth in your heart, and only the devil will fear holy water, this is also your judgment and verdict, only the pious can pass the test.

The second level is to shave your hair, which means that you take the initiative to repent of your past sins and face the new world with the attitude of a newborn baby.

In the third pass, you pray devoutly for three days in the camp and eat only vegetarian food to wash away the filth in your heart.

After passing three difficulties, you can enter Hamburg and welcome a new life. Believers from Frank, do you understand what I said? "

Chapter 219 From the beginning of March to

In the five weeks from the beginning of March to the present, the banks of the Elbe River almost exploded. Under Charlie's arrangement, the lords from all over the country transported refugees to Saxony in large numbers like sending the plague god out of the country.

Due to Feng Sen's five-year non-official policy and the promotion of heavy plows and manure, both manor owners and nobles in Saxony are in urgent need of labor. After all, they can no longer force tribal people to be slaves as usual.

Therefore, from entering Saxony to arriving in Hamburg, almost one-third of these refugees were distributed by manor owners, lords and churches along the way. Due to Feng Sen's deliberate price suppression, the prices of wood, bricks, mortar and other building materials were slightly lower. at market price.

Taking advantage of this shareholder wind, small construction sites appeared all over Saxony. Everyone was renovating houses and even completing some basic infrastructure construction spontaneously.

At least in the territory of Saxony that Feng Sen could touch, most of the feudal lords and tribal leaders maintained superficial peace, but there were also many tribesmen or serfs who went to refugees or pretended to be refugees. After all, after a comparison, Feng Sen was the least exploited here.

As a result, a strange scene appeared on the land of Saxony—free people went to refugees.

With the addition of these people, the operation of the Hamburg refugee camp became more and more tense. At the peak, the Hamburg refugee camp even received more than 200 refugee groups in one day, and thereafter, a small refugee group of 4000 to [-] people entered almost every week. Feng Sen calculated on average that almost [-] refugees flooded in for the entire month of March.

So many refugees have also brought severe population pressure and public security pressure to Hamburg, especially the quality and background of these refugees are mixed, and there are even robbers among them.

However, thanks to the Baojia system’s reporting mechanism and the armed suppression of the nearby Eight Banners, after killing a lot of people, these pests were either used as slaves or sent to Kalkberg to repair the salt mines. Needless to say, how high the death rate of mine construction in this era is.

However, the entry of these people still brought Feng Sen a lot of trouble, because Hamburg simply couldn't provide so many jobs, and after several small meetings with his subordinates, Feng Sen finally gave two ways.

The first one is to carry out infrastructure construction. In addition to the embankment of the Alster River, the Gistacht embankment and barrage on the Elbe River were also built, and two new ports were built along the Elbe River, Hamburg and Magdeburg, and even Urban construction of Bremen.

The second is vigorous reclamation. After Feng Sen became the Duke of Saxony, the scope of his direct territory was much larger. It used to be the front line with Vidukind, but now it can also be reclaimed and planted.

Moreover, some inland salt marshes and water conservancy projects also require them to drain and level. Although many of these lands cannot grow wheat, after observing some old farmers nearby, Feng Sen found that in Rosengarten In the northwest, there is an area in the eastern inland of the Elbe River, which is very suitable for planting apple groves and herbs, and it can also be regarded as cash crop farmland.

However, Feng Sen did not expect the consequences of the massive infrastructure construction. As soon as his stall was rolled out, the refugees who originally poured in were not enough, and the food stock in the warehouse was also plummeting.

And today's meeting is held precisely for this purpose.

Outside the newly built political hall in the Jiangfu, there are still many coats and small buckets in their hands to whitewash the walls. Whether it is the ceiling, the pillars, or even the papered windows, they are all brand new, and the ground is not contaminated with much dust.

Sunlight shone indistinctly into the room along the panes, and in the golden light path, the dust moved irregularly, as if dancing a whirling dance.

Sitting in front of the stone screen, Feng Sen and the civil and military leaders of various departments sat separately, watching the priests and apprentices busy comparing the paper, changing or moving the wood pieces on the stone screen one by one.

After waiting for almost 10 minutes, this schedule update was officially completed.

Looking at the task indicators classified according to the priority, unfinished and updated, Feng Sen felt quite pleasing to the eye.

Turning around, Feng Sen first asked Zhenhui: "Vice Envoy Zhenhui, how are the arrangements for Magdeburg and the Eight Banners over there?"

Zhenhui replied: "So far, the 33 hundred households of the Eight Banners soldiers have been resettled and allocated, and the four thousand households are still under construction and are expected to be completed in June. Magdeburg has basically been resettled. Now the population of the free people is almost 150 five households, a total of more than 400 people, and the tribal leaders and nobles have a total of 130 five households, a total of more than 2000 people."

"That's right. I'll go to Magdeburg to inspect when things are free here." Feng Sen nodded with satisfaction, and then looked at Wang Sima, "Wang Sima, how is the implementation of the Baojia system and the withdrawal of villages and soil?"

Although they broke up with Feng Sen before, Wang Sima and Feng Sen clearly separated their private affairs and official affairs, and replied loudly: "At present, the registered households are Qimin, and they are treated as Baojia. The urban population of Hamburg has a total of 70 people, divided into fifteen A Lifang. As for the countryside, there used to be more than 30 villages, but now they have been merged into more than [-].

According to your requirements, these people are all classified as nationals, so the [-] people are divided into thirteen lis and two townships.As for Magdeburg, it is still in progress, and I don't know what the situation is now. "

"Very good." Feng Sen nodded in satisfaction again.

"Ah, I have to recommend a talented person to Jieshuai. It is Jingzhao Wei's son Wei Xunzhi. He is humble and can make good friends with the natives. If he is approved by him, he can serve as a military officer for the Northern Saxon Guard." Wang Sima stood up and bowed to Feng Sen.

Feng Sen nodded: "Let him come to see me tomorrow, I will test him first and make plans."

"Here." Wang Sima clasped his hands again and said, "Jie Shuai, I have one more thing to do. Now my land is expanding, and I want to manage many things, but now there are different official positions in the government office, and the rank is difficult to determine, so I can't make a unified dispatch plan. Therefore, I suggest that Jie Shuai should just build a government here, set up a shogunate, and use Jiedu Shi as the shogunate general?"

"It can be considered." Feng Sen knocked on his forehead and pondered for a while before answering, "Nowadays, the people of Saxony focus on farming and fighting. If talented people enter Saxony, they have to start from the coat-coated bannerman. It would be a waste. In this way, Wang Sima, Deputy Envoy Zhenhui, I will write an outline for you later, please help me write a charter."

"Here!" Both of them bowed their hands in applause.

After confirming the implementation of the dam and the "National Wild Law" with Chen Chongyi, Orion and others, Feng Sen finally talked about the main topic of the meeting - the food issue.

Chen Chongyi immediately replied: "The matter of food is really urgent. Now our dams and bridges are almost out of food, why don't we continue to ask the church for food?"

"Or you can buy it from a grain merchant," Olean suggested.

"But grain merchants are too expensive, and the price of grain shipped from other places is several times higher than our normal price." Wang Sima objected, "Our grain and grass can last until June at most."

"Actually, I have a vague idea." Feng Sen stood up and interrupted their conversation, "Think about it, do those merchants really transport food from thousands of miles as they said? I don't think so, my name is People have checked, they are all looking for lords and free people in Saxony to collect grain, exchange for cloth, fur, farm tools and livestock, and then sell the grain to us. Instead of letting them earn the difference, we should also go from those Wouldn’t it be enough to get it from the hands of free people and manor owners?”

Olean asked suspiciously: "But Jie Shuai, didn't he say that he won't be able to get out of school for five years? Wouldn't this be a violation of the oath?"

"Who said I want them to pay the grain as tax?" Feng Sen laughed: "Buyers can buy it, so can I!"

2 twenty chapters chapter twelve hundred and twenty

"Our Siris paper is small and easy to carry. If you take a roll apart, it won't break no matter how you fold it. It's very useful for wiping your butt, copying scriptures, and wiping your mouth. After opening it, it's the same size as papyrus. You can see how much he earns it and it won't break..."

Exaggerated cries sounded in the market town, combined with the noise of bargaining and the stench of cattle and sheep's excrement, once an unfamiliar person entered, he might be dizzy, and then stepped into Liu Ying's tent unintentionally.

The sky was gloomy, and the air was so heavy that it was about to drip water. On the avenue at the gate of Lichfield, a group of vendors were setting up tents and trailers one by one according to the prescribed positions, and bringing goods from all over the place. Put on a decaying wooden table.

In Western Europe in the 8th century, the commerce lagged several Wall Streets in the Saracen world. There was no fixed commercial market in the settlements, and a market was held every ten days or even every month, so that merchants from all over the world came to trade.

However, compared to Charlemagne's behavior of forcing commodity prices, King Offa of Mercia's initiative to establish a town to attract merchants can be regarded as a business genius.

Everyone in Mercia praised Offa as a good king.

Since Offa succeeded to the throne, he has not only conquered the five kingdoms of southern England with continuous victories, restored Mercia's hegemony over the Anglo-Saxons, but also built Offa Embankment on the border of Wales to defend the Welsh attack.

At the same time, he is also Astolfo's uncle.

In the civil war that year, although Astolfo's father and Offa were hostile parties, the past has become a cloud, and Astolfo is now working wholeheartedly by Charlemagne's side.

There is no conflict of interest between the two parties, and the relationship has eased a lot. The previous troubles for Feng Sen's caravan were due to Astolfo's favor with Offa.

"Let's take a look. It doesn't drop dregs or deteriorate. You need to copy scriptures or write letters when you travel. It is very convenient to carry. It also absorbs ink well and won't stain the sleeves. It is clean and hygienic. What? Where can I buy it? There is a small caravan behind me. Buy ten volumes and get one free. Each volume is 80 Deniers."

A young peddler with a bulbous nose tried his best to sell to passers-by. These people were all regional salesmen hired by Emond. During the month of training in Hamburg, in addition to learning characters, Emond also learned a lot of distribution knowledge from Feng Sen, which is now passed on to the intermediaries of these agents.

For example, this buy ten get one free sales method.

Seeing that no one answered, Suantou walked to the aisle in the middle, facing the gradually dense crowd, he suddenly yelled: "Father!"

After finishing speaking, he rolled forward in the mud and grabbed the hem of a farmer passing by: "Father, I haven't been able to find you for so many years, why don't you write to me? Ah? Papyrus is too expensive, it doesn't matter. We have this Cyris paper, which is cheap and not inwardly rolled. It is easy to carry. Look at it, it's yellow and white, and it won't break no matter how you fold it..."

"I'm not your father!" The farmer was caught by the hem of his clothes and couldn't move forward. He was afraid that he would tear his clothes too hard, so he could only hold back and struggle, "Let go, let go, I'm not your father!"

"Oh oh oh, it turned out that I was wrong." Seeing that the farmer was about to become angry, he stood up with his nose up, wiped the muddy water on his face, and shouted loudly in the crowd, "Actually, my father and I I have been separated for ten years, and he only wrote me one letter in these ten years, because the paper is too expensive and it is easy to break.

But the paper I bought from Seris in the far east is not only cheap, easy to carry, copy scriptures, write letters, write a eulogy or suicide note for myself, but it is also tougher than papyrus, you can tear it no matter how hard it is..."

But it is a pity that because there is no relationship with the nobility, Suan Tou Nose's shop is in the agricultural and sideline products area, and these nearby farmers have no use for paper. Of course, these Seris paper cannot be sold.

Seeing that no one paid attention to him, Suantoubi thought for a while, washed his face and hair, put on the woolen coat that Emond had given him, and walked towards the distant market selling fur amber or clay pots with his head held high.

It has to be said that compared with the half-commercial and half-agricultural people with agricultural and sideline products on the outside, the inner town is much cleaner than the outer one, as if the two worlds are clearly separated.

Taking the fortune teller's shed as the critical point, on one side of the critical point, yellow and emaciated farmers carefully exchanged grain, chickens, ducks, and geese for a small pottery or a wooden barrel, while on the other side of the critical point, nearby Aslin, priests, rich peasants, and Fang Bo strolled on the streets, holding gold and silver coins in exchange for swords, wine, and furs.

Such people will have the demand to buy paper.

Suan Tou Nose tidied his clothes, pushed back his dirty and greasy hair, closed his mouth so as not to show his black teeth, and walked into the more advanced market here with his head held high.

Although things were much more expensive than those bought and sold by the commoners, there was not much difference in terms of the overall environment and atmosphere. The ground covered with stones and wooden planks was full of sewage and vomit, and two or three drunks were staggering through the aisles with beer in their hands.

However, there are also Fang Boss and little lords from all over the world. As they walked, the daggers and daggers at their waists collided with each other and made a crisp sound.

Strolling in such a market, Suantou no longer dares to go to the street like before and just hug a farmer and start playing tricks to attract attention. Emond specifically mentioned this during the training. Take advantage of those powerful and small lords, they don't need to pay any price to kill you.

Suantui wandered around in the aisle, and finally found his target - the man in the black priest's robe.

It was a group of priests who gathered to discuss. It was said to be a group, but it was estimated that there were only three or five people. They were standing next to a peddler who bought candles, and they were talking together while waiting for the peddler to stock up.

"Damn the fire." A monk held the cross on his chest, "I hope the heavenly father can cast that wandering warehouseman into hell and make him suffer forever."

Beside them, another monk sighed helplessly: "Fortunately, the rescue was timely, and only a small part of the scrolls in the church were damaged."

"It would be great if we could be more gentle in the rescue. Now those files are no longer usable, and we have to transcribe them again. The diocese only paid a sum of money to buy Frank's beeswax. How can we afford to buy these papers now?"

"Sorry." Suantou suddenly stood up and bowed politely to them. The monks were surprised at first, and then turned to look at him.

"I overheard your conversation. This is rude behavior. I should go away, but out of piety to the Heavenly Father, I still want to say a few words. Maybe I can solve your problem." Suantou nose said respectfully.

But the look of surprise that Suan Tou Nose had expected did not appear on the faces of the priests. Instead, they stared at his attire and face in disgust: "Go away! You cunning and cunning businessman! Are there still people who don't work in production?" Devotion to the Father? What a shame, go away!"

"But—our Seris paper is small..."