"This is Verde Village." Simon looked at the dilapidated village in front of him.
"Yes, Master, this is it." The fat man walked forward slowly on his pack horse.
The village in front of us is on the edge of the forest, next to the large grassland beside the Rhine River. The surrounding cultivated land is obviously less than that of the Xinkse Village that I passed before, and there are even a few abandoned farmland that no one has cultivated.
Several thin farmers wearing tattered sweatshirts and holding wooden plows were working feebly in the fields. Not far away, a shepherd saw Simon, who was riding a tall horse and fully armed. As if he had seen the devil, he drove his sheep into the forest in panic.
The houses of the villagers in the village are small and dilapidated. In the slightly larger houses, you can even see charred wood. Needless to say, it goes without saying that it is a house that has been burned down. There is a wooden house on a hill not far away. It seems that it is the hunting house built by my father.
The oncoming villagers had pale faces and cold and numb eyes.
"Excuse me, where is the village chief of Verde Village?" Simon stopped a middle-aged woman who was walking into the village carrying a wooden bucket, a white turban with dense spots of mold, and a ripped dress.
"Sir, what are you doing in our village?" The woman did not answer Simon's question directly, but asked very vigilantly.
"This is Sir Simon of the Dorsten family! Didn't you see the family coat of arms on his chest? A few days ago, the Baron had consecrated the village of Verde to Sir Simon. Don't you know?" the fat man asked. In front of him, he said majestically.
Simon smiled bitterly to himself. Originally, after the territory was sealed, the family would send messengers on horseback to the territory to inform the people. However, when Baron Dorsten saw that Simon was eager to pack his things and prepare to leave for the fief immediately, he simply did not send a messenger, so the people in the territory did not know that his new lord was normal.
"It turns out to be Mr. Simon." The middle-aged woman withdrew her vigilance and was replaced by her unchanging indifference and numbness. "It's the second house on the right after entering the village."
"You..." The fat man saw that the woman was rude and immediately pulled out the battle ax from his waist.
"Don't get excited." Simon held down the fat man's hand that was drawing the ax and thanked the woman with a smile.
The two continued riding towards the village.
"My dear young master, you are too kind. That untouchable is clearly ignoring you and humiliating you. Why don't you teach her a lesson? If everyone here knows that you are a bully lord, those Cunning guys will use all kinds of ways and excuses to evade taxes and disobey orders!" the fat man said in spite of himself.
"Ignorance and humiliation are out of the question. I can see from her the disappointment and numbness towards the Dorsten family. We cannot just look for the reasons for many things from the people in the territory. The carnivores themselves must also learn to put themselves in others' shoes." Simon patted the fat man on the shoulder. Simon was very moved by the fat man's efforts to fight for his own interests.
"Vikings have suddenly plundered this village in the past two summers. Every time my father's army arrived, the village of Verde was in a mess and smoke billowed. But it was impossible for my father to maintain a standing army. Guarding this village, it is understandable that the villagers of Verde Village are disappointed with the Dorsten family." Simon took out a bottle of water and took a sip.
"Then what can be done? This village has neither sharp wooden walls nor tall arrow towers. Even if the Baron sends instructors to train these peasants into militiamen, they will still die if they fight against those ferocious and barbaric northern pagans." The fat man's face was full of worry, and his brows were almost knitted together.
"Ha! Don't worry, I have my own way." Simon smiled and got off the horse.
The two of them have arrived at the door of the village chief's house.
"Dong dong dong."
Simon knocked on the mottled wooden door, and after a while, the door opened with a creak.
A girl wearing an old light blue dress, a white women's headscarf, and a pair of green eyes opened the wooden door.
"Who are you looking for?" Looking at the stranger in armor in front of her, the girl took a step back in fear, and slowly stretched her other hand toward the door.
"I am Sir Simon of the Dorsten family. I was granted the title of Verde Village a few days ago. I am now looking for the village chief to understand the basic situation of the village."
"Oh, that's it," the girl breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Simon with a smile, "Come with me, father is working in the house!"
The two followed the girl into the house.
Simon glanced behind the door and saw a hatchet leaning against the wall.
"What a clever little girl." Simon thought.
The village chief's house was also filled with the "mixed smell of multiple gases", but it was much lighter than the smell Simon smelled in Xinkser Village.
The room was relatively dark, and the only light source was the fireplace beside the wall, which was burning with a weak fire. There were no animals in the house, instead there were piles of firewood and two bags of barley and rye.
Entering the back room, an old man wearing a clean green shirt was writing at his desk. Seeing someone coming in, he put the quill aside and raised his head.
"Hello, village chief, I am the new lord of Verde Village." Simon walked in and introduced himself kindly.
"No, there has been no messenger to announce recently." The village chief was very confused.
"Old guy, if you don't recognize Mr. Simon, then do you recognize this?" the fat man behind Simon said, stepping forward and taking a photo of a document with the sealing wax of the Dorsten family's coat of arms on it. On the table in front of the village chief.
"What is this?" The village chief tremblingly picked up the document, put it under the candle and read it carefully.
"Oh! My dear Sir Simon," the village chief bowed deeply to Simon after reading the document, "please forgive me for my rudeness just now."
"I don't blame you, this canonization is indeed different from usual. As soon as the canonization ceremony was over, I came over impatiently, so my father did not send a messenger to inform you," Simon smiled, "I'd like to trouble the village chief to summon the villagers later to announce the news."
"Of course, no problem, Master." After saying that, the village chief shouted "Elsa", and the beautiful girl who opened the door earlier pushed the door open and entered.
"Go find two people to clean the hunting house on the mountain. Just say it was my order," the village chief said to the girl, "Master, this is my daughter."
"Hello, Master Simon!" Elsa and Simon smiled at each other, then went out with a slight blush on their faces.
"It's not too late now. Some villagers working outside may not have come back yet. Why don't you introduce the situation here first." Simon looked at the sunlight coming in from the window.
"Okay, my lord, you sit down first." As he said that, the village chief moved a bench over. "The village of Verde is in a difficult time now. The last time the damn Vikings came to plunder, they killed ten people. A few villagers who rose up in resistance robbed us of most of our food. During the winter, eight or nine people were reduced due to hunger. There were only a total of more than 150 people left in the village. So now that spring has begun, various tasks are somewhat slow. lack of manpower."
"It's been so difficult, why haven't you gone to Dorstenburg for help?" Simon was puzzled.
"We have tried," the village chief looked at the flames of the candle blankly. "In winter, many villagers divide one day's food into three days, and the cooked wheat paste is so bland that it is full of water. Some people are so hungry that they can't hold on. He lived there and came to me for help. I had no choice, and my food storage was only enough for our family. So I asked the tax collector of the Dorsten family stationed in the village to go to Dorstenburg to ask for help from the baron. "
"Yes, there is such a thing." Simon searched for the memory in his mind. On that winter afternoon, a tax collector and two militiamen from the village of Verde came to Dorstenburg. In the evening, they took away There was a carriage full of supplies.
"But that morning, the tax collector and two militiamen returned to the village of Verde, dragging a cart with very little food. They said that the baron was also short of food. The baron had to raise it for us here and there. Alas, there was no food. No way, I can cope with this small amount of food in a short time, but in the end there are still eight or nine people who have not survived this long winter." The village chief paused and saw Simon frowning, "My lord, what's wrong with you?"
"Dolstenburg never lacks food at all in winter, and I saw the tax collector dragging a cart full of food on the road that afternoon." Simon sneered.
"What!?" The village chief suddenly stood up, shocked, "That means..."
"This tax collector is a big problem. Don't worry, I will meet this guy in person tomorrow." Simon said through gritted teeth while suppressing his anger. The fat man on the side was also furious.
"By the way, where is this tax collector now?" Simon couldn't help but ask.
"He should still be drinking in the village tent. I passed by that house in the afternoon and smelled the strong smell of alcohol and the sound of fists coming from inside." The village chief shook his head helplessly, and then looked out the window. "Sir, it's getting late. I'm going to ring the bell to gather the villagers."
The village chief stood up, extinguished the candle with his hand, and the three of them came to the open space outside the house.
"Ding, ding, ding"
Following the short and rapid ringing of the bell, the villagers walked to the open space in the center of the village one after another. It was getting dark by now, and someone had already set up a bonfire in the center of the clearing. Everyone was talking in low voices, looking at Simon and Fatty from time to time. Some well-informed villagers already know that this is their new lord.
After a while, when the village chief saw that everyone had arrived, he loudly asked everyone to be quiet.
Simon looked around, but did not find the tax collector.
"Everyone, be quiet, be quiet! The respected gentleman next to me is Sir Simon of the Dorsten family, and he will be our new lord from now on!" As he spoke, the village chief raised the document in his hand high.
The fat man stood next to the village chief, holding a torch so that the villagers could see the documents clearly in the dim sky.
After the village chief finished speaking, there was no applause or cheers, only death-like silence.
"I know the pain and suffering that everyone has suffered for a long time, and I feel the same and I am very sad. However, the past has passed, and we must look forward. Since I have taken over this land, I swear that I will Protect it well and manage it well..." Simon stepped forward, faced the villagers, and said loudly.
The villagers with cold and numb eyes listened, with a glimmer of hope in their eyes, which then turned into indifference and ridicule.
"My lord, please forgive me for my presumption and recklessness. I have a question. All of us villagers in Feld Village want to know. When the Vikings came to plunder us in the summer and autumn of last year, Dole Where is the Stern family’s army?”
Suddenly, a slightly childish voice interrupted Simon's speech.
"Bold!" The fat man shouted loudly, drew out the armed ax from his waist, and immediately moved forward.
"Wait!" Simon stopped the fat man, took the torch from the fat man's hand, and walked forward slowly. Wherever they went, the villagers automatically divided into two rows and made way for them. At the end, there was a low body shrouded in darkness.
Simon came closer and finally saw the true face of the "reckless man" in front of him.
This is a little boy who is dirty and covered in dirt. He looks about eleven or twelve years old. But there was a perseverance and indifference on his face that clearly did not match his age.
"Why is it him!? Hey." The village chief also saw the child, lowered his head and sighed.
"What's your name?" Simon asked calmly. The so-called child's speech is unbridled. Although he was very annoyed that his speech was interrupted, he would not punish a child severely for it.
"My name is Klein, sir." The little boy replied coldly.
"Very good, Klein. Let's not talk about the question you just asked. Didn't your father teach you that it is rude to interrupt others when they are talking? Besides, the person who is speaking is your lord !" Simon said, his volume gradually rising.
Klein, who looked very determined, seemed to have been broken through the defense line, and suddenly started crying, with tears and runny nose, and he knelt down in front of Simon.
"I, my lord, wuwu, I really don't mean to offend, I just don't understand why, why my father bravely stood up when the Vikings came to plunder, but, but so indifferent. It’s okay to die worthless, without any compensation at all. The tax collector wants me to pay a large amount of inheritance tax. Wow, all the valuable things in our family have been robbed by the Vikings. Why, how can I afford it? High inheritance tax? The tax collector used my house to deduct the tax. Now, I have nothing, I can only build a small tree shed on the mountain, be a damn poacher, and live till now. . Leader, Lord Lord, please judge my sins, kill me with one sword, and let me go with my father. I have nothing to live for now, wuwuwu..."
There was silence in the village. Apart from the crackling of the campfire and the swaying of the leaves in the woods by the wind, there was no sound at all.
"Bah!" Simon pulled out the sword from his waist.
Some people's hearts were in their throats, staring at Simon, as if Simon would end this poor young life with a sword in the next second. There are also people who take schadenfreude and long for the exciting scene of blood splattering in this monotonous and boring life.
Simon inserted his sword into the mud with his backhand and walked slowly to little Klein.
"Klein, I'm sorry for what happened to you. This time, I won't pursue your poaching behavior, but if you are caught next time, I will never take it easy. One code will be the same, I I think I have to apologize to your father and all the heroes who are brave but have been treated unfairly!" After Simon finished speaking, he bowed slightly.
Not only Klein, but the surrounding villagers were shocked and looked at Simon blankly. They had never seen a noble bow to the people, let alone apologize.
The ice-like indifference in the villagers' eyes changed subtly. Some people are still mocking, while others feel moved. After all, Simon had the soul of a modern person. He had just arrived, and he didn't have much of the arrogant and rigid concepts of the aristocracy at that time.
Even the fat man, who usually had strong aristocratic ideas, was silent at this time.
God, this is such a mess. If it's not handled well, Simon's inauguration day may become the day of riots in Feld Village. Even if Dorsten's army suppressed the riot, Simon would become a complete joke in the aristocratic circle.
"Don't be afraid, little Klein. Since no one is raising you, I will raise you. From now on, you will be my attendant. I will teach you how to strengthen your body and how to protect yourself with a sword. I swear on my honor. , one day, you will avenge your father and become a respected man." Simon put down the torch and directly picked up Klein.
At this time, the indifference and numbness in the eyes of some of the surrounding villagers had obviously faded a lot. Something called hope gradually sprouted in their hearts.
They have been oppressed for so long, but now a new lord stands up to uphold justice for them, whether he is pretending or from the bottom of his heart. Thank God, this means that the damn status quo can finally improve.
After a brief commotion, many villagers quickly decided to stand with Simon to overthrow the tax collector who had been oppressing them for a long time.
"My fellow citizens, if you have been treated unfairly, or if you have any unspeakable secrets, tell me now. I swear to you on my honor that I will give you justice!" Simon said loudly, At the same time, he winked at the fat man.
The fat man immediately took out the armed ax from his waist, took off the buckler from his back, and asked the village chief about the location of the counting house.
The village chief answered quickly. At the same time, the village chief pulled two young men over and gave them some instructions. The two young men immediately took out the wood-chop ax from the firewood pile not far away, and disappeared into the night with the fat man.
"Master, please make the decision for me! Why does our family have to pay window tax, stove tax, and food tax in addition to firewood tax, forest toll tax, and house tax? The tax collector also said that this is the Baron's new tax. Order? I once passed by Xinkse Village and talked with the villagers there. I learned that they have never had to pay such a ghost tax! Our family is already so poor that we can't afford to pay the tax. How can we pay the tax?" A person with a full face said The vicissitudes of life, the middle-aged woman said mournfully.
"My lord, why do we have to pay an extra renovation tax when we repair a house that was destroyed by the Vikings? Why does the tax collector insist that this is just renovating the house? Sir, please preside over it for me. That’s fair! My family can’t afford the taxes, and now half of the house is in ruins!”
"Master, master..."
The villagers were like a pot of hot oil dripping into the water, causing the pot to explode instantly.
"Very well, tax collector, you have done so many evil things in the name of our family behind my father's back. I can't wait for tomorrow, so I will kill you tonight." Simon felt the sword at his waist want to Drink blood.
