The merchants fully agreed to Lu Yu's conditions. It would be great to have such a powerful person to protect them, even if they only go to the ridge of Raging Mountain... What's more, he doesn't want any money!
The people in the escort stopped being coy and stepped forward to apologize.
Uncle Shuzhu sat in front of Lu Yu: "Please don't take it to heart. We are all vulgar people holding swords and looking for food on the edge of life and death. Many people are concerned about it, so they will drag others down if they don't follow the rules." People are more angry...it may make you angry, but it is."
Lu Yu felt dumbfounded when he saw that this rough guy was very serious and somewhat uneasy as he explained the reaction of the escort team members clearly. He didn't take it seriously at all. The reactions of the guards were all normal reactions of normal people being dragged into trouble. If he encountered someone who casually caused big trouble for him and was unfamiliar with him, he would be so slanderous. of.
Seeing that all the escorts were still a little uneasy, he picked up the wine bag and took a sip.
Seeing Lu Yu's move, everyone's eyes widened.
It's really bad wine. It's not only sour, but also doesn't taste mellow at all. It's like water mixed with wine and some vinegar... It's rare to drink such a bad wine.
Lu Yu was surprised by this sudden thought and quickly recalled everything that happened when he came to this world.
It's true that because Lulu is by his side, he has the confidence to deal with many things. At first, it was the sense of security that Lulu gave him. When he became a little stronger and could summon summons such as a flesh-and-blood chariot and a piano, , being powerful gives him the right to see higher levels.
Although the journey to send Lulu home was hard, Lu Yu actually went smoothly compared to a person who didn't know magic and didn't have any confidence and could only lower his head to meet various unexpected situations.
Not only that, but after leaving people like Sera and Lulu, I realized that I had really become a lot stronger. The strength of the fourth level, in terms of actual combat, relies on Xu Mo and dual-element summons, and it can protect itself even when facing the sixth level. If you take into account the several summons submitted in the summoning manual that have not been summoned yet, such power cannot be achieved in Mei. La is considered excellent.
Following two geniuses, he was forced to follow them to challenge the high-end game. After playing a low-level dungeon for the first time, Lu Yu discovered...
"What, I'm pretty brave."
For adventurers and mercenaries, drinking is sometimes a ritual.
Many mercenaries don't like drinking, and they don't like the feeling of having their brains anesthetized and muddy. It's just because their friends who have been through life and death all drink, so they drink too. If they don't drink, they will look like they are alive.
Although it was just a chance encounter, it was still a few days' journey to reach the Raging Mountain Ridge. Lu Yu didn't like the atmosphere where everyone around him was trembling and worried about his reaction.
Sure enough, Lu Yu took a big sip of wine, and the guards all let out a sigh of relief. There was no fear in their eyes when they looked at Lu Yu, only admiration remained.
Several members of the escort team took a swig of wine before walking forward and asking Lu Yu why he wanted to go to the Raging Mountain Ridge and why he wanted to stop in several city-states on the border of Solon.
After closing the distance, they get closer in one breath. This is the most straightforward way for mercenaries to get along with each other.
Seeing this, Uncle Shuzhu sent them to dispose of the body. After all, Lu Yu was not from the same world as them. Even if he was willing to lower his profile and interact with everyone, the too large gap in knowledge would cause this group of people with shallow knowledge to offend him unknowingly.
There are only a handful of such powerful summoners in the entire Mela. Based on his behavior and conversation, it can be basically concluded that he has an extraordinary origin... He also carries a certificate stamped and signed by the bishop when he goes out, and he shows it without reservation every time he is questioned. , I'm afraid it was just to conceal his true identity. After all, Lu Yu's behavior didn't look immature at all, but rather very mature and calm.
After arriving at the city-state where the merchants were bulk-carrying goods, Lu Yu did not follow the merchants and refused the guidance of the escort. He went alone into the busiest and most popular street in the city-state.
Vendors without shops occupied prime areas on both sides of the road, displaying rags bought from unknown sources and shouting loudly.
The farmers who did not want to go to the lord's mansion and sold grain and rice in the merchant's shop laid out the gifts given to them by the earth. From time to time, they would hold some up with their dark palms covered with calluses and chapped from long-term work, and show them to the passers-by without shouting. Instead, he silently showed off the fruits of his labor with his eyes and movements.
Adventurers who needed to replenish equipment and food rations shuttled through this street. From time to time they plunged into the clanking blacksmith shop, from time to time they took a sip of wine in the tavern, and finally passed by farmers selling old grains. Pick and choose a few for emergencies. It's just that these rude people are always careless when rummaging through the bags, and the rice grains wrapped in the gaps on the edges of the bags are spilled to the ground. On the pedestrian-filled road, Lu Yu can see a few farmers with their children from time to time. He picked out the rice grains that had been stepped into the loess from the dust and put them back into his pocket tremblingly.
Lu Yu came to a farmer. The old man's skin was dark and slightly red. Looking down at him, Lu Yu couldn't help but squat down when he saw his cloudy and hopeful eyes.
"What a rice..." Lu Yu put his hand into the rice bag and felt the rice grains squeezing his palm from all directions. Looking at the white and fat rice grains, he couldn't help but admire.
Suddenly there was light in the old man's eyes: "Master, you are discerning, buy...buy some."
Lu Yu asked: "What's the price..."
"This bag only costs ten copper coins."
Lu Yu weighed the rice bag and felt that it weighed almost twenty kilograms. According to Sigrid's knowledge of prices in various countries after arriving in The Theocracy, this price was undoubtedly expensive, because the base currency circulating in the four countries could continue to be broken down. divided.
“The price is more expensive than what I bought in Papal City.”
The old man was afraid that Lu Yu would leave, so he explained: "Our tax rate is high. You can't compare big places with us... This is already the lowest price. No matter how low it is, we won't even be able to pay the tax..."
"I remember that Solon's tax rate was adjusted by the royal family's unified agreement."
The old man was stunned for a while: "I don't know about the royal agreement... I only know that the lord requires that grain and rice be handed over according to the land area... No matter whether there is a bad harvest or no harvest, as long as you have land, you must hand it over... If you cannot hand it over, your children must be pledged Only by being a serf and cultivating enough food for him can he regain his freedom."
Lu Yu was stunned for a moment, and he quickly asked: "Were you a serf before?"
"Our ancestors were all slaves... But for some reason, Emperor Solon seemed to have made some reforms sixty years ago. Serfs in many border city-states were freed and allocated land. At first we all thought this was a good thing... After all, You only need to pay taxes to have your own piece of land, and you don’t have to be whipped. This is something I couldn’t even imagine before.”
"But as time goes by, the tax rate is getting higher and higher...In the beginning, the tax was based on the harvest, and later it was based on the proportion...Now it is based on the size of the land. If you couldn't pay it before, you could borrow grain to cover it. …If we don’t have it now, we won’t have any children.”
The person on the side was puzzled for a moment: "But since you want to pay off the debt, the rice should be given directly to the lord. Why do you have to sell it?"
Lu Yu explained for the old man: "It's because the purchase price of the lords and merchants cannot satisfy them. You can at least make more money by selling it to itinerant adventurers... Let me think about it, the lord allows you to use money instead of grain to deduct taxes, right? Bar?"
"Yes... Master... buy some, even a handful. This is very good food... If you are afraid of getting dirty, I will sift it for you."
As he spoke, the old man picked up the tools on the side and started to sift through them again.
Lu Yu took out a few copper coins and put them in the old man's hand: "Send the rice to the caravan in the east of the city. Someone will collect it."
Seeing the old man limping away with the rice bag, Lu Yu felt mixed feelings in his heart.
He wanted to give him a silver coin directly, but he was afraid that his pride would not be able to accept it.
Remembering Sera's instructions when he went out, he smiled mockingly and shook his head: "She may laugh at me if she sees it."
Lu Yu then found some traders and asked about the situation, and basically understood some of the conditions at the Solon border.
After a while, he said: "These city-states are in rebellion. They don't abide by the tax rates set by the king. They even set their own tax rates."
"Didn't you notice?"
"What did you find?"
"The private tax rates set by these lords are basically aimed at ordinary people. Their purpose is to turn ordinary people into serfs again. In the past, merchants operating shops here adopted basically the same tax rate, even if they asked for protection fees. The situation existed, but they did follow the rules set by the royal family of Solon.”
"The royal family doesn't care?"
Lu Yu said: "You will understand the reason after looking at Solon's map. Among the four major kingdoms of mankind, the largest is Codezon, which guards the east and blocks the invasion channels of aliens. Because of the common threat of aliens, Codezon The border nobles of Dezoun need some support from the lower class, and they dare not push too hard, otherwise no one will be willing to advance and retreat with the city-state. Secondly, Sligo, who occupies the central and northern region of Mera, puts their focus on power. In the south, the vast north is regarded by them as a labor camp for heinous people, and there is also the Dragon Clan, Sligo's old enemy, in the north. The lords guarding the north are said to be always ready for a bloody battle with the Dragon Clan, and the population and people's hearts are also They need something to fight for a little bit, so they squeeze and learn to reasonably... uh... take advantage of it?"
"Look at Solon again. Although the most powerful forest elves in the north are a threat, they themselves are also fighting among themselves, and other races are relatively weak. Bordering Solon, the city-states that serve as the buffer zone of the four major countries have no effect at all. We dare not conflict with the behemoth Solon. We can often hear news about Solon lords invading small countries and being despised by the nobles. In the south, the nobles are eager to squeeze the non-Solon races into juice and drink them. Take a look. If the squirrel people of Civita could survive, why would they rebel as a whole? Don’t they know they can’t defeat Solon?”
Lu Yu shook his head and sighed: "Solon, it's too safe."
Now that the four major countries are all in balance, no one has any further ambitions and is content to protect its own territory. The nobles of Solon, who could not see any external enemies in the short term, had no intention of giving up their profits to ordinary people. The nobles who were close to the royal city of Rodmir had to nod their faces, behave more reservedly, and were wary of the authority of the royal family.
And the nobles on the Solon border...
"The untouchables still want us to benefit, why do they?"
At first, Lu Yu couldn't figure out why the political system he saw along the way was so awkward. It seemed to be a hodgepodge of feudal lords, the emperor, and the relationship between the monarch and his ministers. Later, he gradually understood.
The sudden appearance of magic and the successive waves of magic caused each regional civilization to be disrupted by a huge upheaval when it came to fruition, and these countries that emerged later could only groping through the ruins of their previous countries.
Things like this happen one after another. Even if the country's rulers have far-sightedness, the people below have their own agendas.
If it's almost time to reshuffle, then why should I just be a good person?
Good people always suffer.
I will try my best to make myself fatter and accumulate more advantages, so that I can wait for the magic wave to rise, climb to the top first, and hold stronger power.
There may be some nobles who are not stupid, but most of them are selfish. Once this idea spreads, it will become a reasonable choice to start laying out the cards and wait for the shuffle when the magic wave comes.
Lu Yu understood many things instantly.
Laurende must have guessed from his words that the magic wave might arrive sooner than he expected. Although he didn't know where Lu Yu got the news, it was what a person in his position should do to prepare for a rainy day.
Let him come to Solon no matter what, and said with a smile that this is a job. In fact, I hope he can see how dangerous the Solon border is when magicians and scholars predict that the magic wave may come in the next twenty years. erosion.
Without strong external enemy stimulation, the powerful Solon began to fall in comfort.
The Civita region is just a microcosm. On the border far away from the royal city of Rodmere, the nobles waiting to be reshuffled, and the arrogant lords are turning their territories into one Civita after another.
Now they are just squeezing ordinary people with Solon identity and trying every means to exploit them as their own serfs. At least they still respect the Solon royal family on the surface. But once the turmoil begins, their hands will stretch even longer.
None of the four major countries is stable.
Is it a historical cycle? Lu Yu couldn't help but ask in his heart.
Lu Yu looked up at the sky: "I hope there will be a long interval after this magic wave ends... For magicians, all this is too slow, but for ordinary people... it is really too fast."
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