In the Holy Fire Square, Balian, who was wearing full armor and holding a sword, had spent the whole night freezing around the Holy Fire in the winter. He almost collapsed, but fortunately, Sir Rudy came over with several teaching knights early the next morning.
, took Balian to Wallonburg, and let Balian rest in a special room for a while. Balian thought this was his exclusive benefit, but he later found out that this was because a knight had appeared before and had stayed overnight.
The joke about falling asleep during the knighthood ceremony will now be arranged. After the knight's vigil, he can sleep for a while to avoid making a joke during the knighthood ceremony.
After sleeping for almost two hours, Balian was woken up by the teaching knight. He washed his face with cold water and went to the palace hall to participate in the investiture ceremony. For a low-level nobleman like Balian, the investiture ceremony was definitely not
The Duke himself came, but the Grand Knight Commander, Earl Haou, was in charge. The people watching the ceremony were just some trainee knights and knights' attendants, so the scene was not big.
Under the leadership of Earl Hao, Balian knelt down on one knee and recited the knight's oath: "I, Balian Tucker, swear to the God of Fire, to be loyal to the monarch, to serve to the death; not to bully the weak, and to be humble; in all battles I have experienced
, Don’t be afraid of strong enemies; be honest and honest, you would rather die than commit suicide... "
After the oath was pronounced, Earl Haou took the Duke's sword from the knights on the side, tapped Balian's left and right shoulders with the sword blade, and said: "I hereby appoint Balian Tucker as the court knight of the Principality of Brick.
, granted him the title of Beheader, granted him Nolandon Post and the surrounding 50,000 acres of forest land as a fief, which was renamed Nolandenburg District, and rewarded him with twenty serfs, twenty weapons, ten pieces of armor, and ten gold coins.
He will be exempted from taxes on his fiefdom for ten years, and will then be levied based on the actual amount of cultivated land, and will be given the power to build castles... "
After hearing this, Balian knew that the money he gave to the Minister of Public Security was worth it, including serfs, weapons, and ten years of tax exemption. These conditions were already very good for him at the moment, especially the ten years of tax exemption.
But it saved him a lot of money. It seems that no matter which society you go to, giving gifts is a good way to solve problems. Balian couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
After the ceremony, it was customary for the Duke to give a banquet. However, because Balian's current status was too low among the nobility of the principality, he just had lunch with the teaching knight. In the afternoon, Balian was led by the teaching knight.
, holding various documents, he first came to the Heraldry Court. After all, he was already a lord with an independent fiefdom and was qualified to have an independent coat of arms.
After meeting the herald officer, Balian directly handed over the heraldry drawings he had designed in advance to the herald officer and asked him to follow the design. After the herald officer took it over, he looked at it and asked curiously: "Respected
Sir Balian, what is the meaning of this heraldry and its design?"
Balian smiled and replied: "Dear Herald Officer, my family's coat of arms is a hunting eagle. I continue to choose the image of an eagle for my coat of arms to show my origin. At the same time, in order to distinguish
, the eagle on my coat of arms is two eagle heads, one facing left and one facing right, which means always on guard. In addition, the two eagle claws hold a sword and a book respectively. The sword is a knight's sword.
It symbolizes the spirit of brave chivalry; and the book refers to the "Sacred Scripture", which means that I will always obey the call of the God of Fire, and the God of Fire will always bless me and my family."
"Wonderful explanation, clever idea, Sir Balian is not only a brave man, but also a wise man." After listening to Balian's explanation, the herald officer clapped his hands in praise.
"You need to pay twenty dinars to complete the production of your ring, seal and flag. We can make it in about a month." After the praise, the herald officer still had to collect the money.
Tell Balian the fee to be paid.
"Can it be speeded up? One month is too long for me. I have to hurry up and take office in my fief." Balian asked.
"If you are willing to pay one hundred dinars, we can complete it within a week and give you ten sets of black cloaks and two sets of smocks embroidered with heraldry. We can also paint your shield with heraldry." Herald Officer
said.
Balian took out a money bag from his pocket, weighed it with his hands, and handed it to the heraldry officer, "Here are one hundred and sixty silver coins. I want you to complete it within three days and give me at least five flags.
Twenty sets of cloaks embroidered with heraldry and five sets of blouses, and yes, my shield." As he spoke, Balian placed the shield on the table in front of the herald officer.
The Herald stood up and bowed deeply to Balian, "As you wish, respected Sir Balian, you can send someone to pick it up in three days."
Next, the teaching knight arranged for a trainee knight to be Balian's guide and took him to a manor on the outskirts of Valombre. The serfs and armor and weapons awarded to Balian were all produced from this manor.
After the report, the manor guards guided Balian to meet the fat butler of the manor. After seeing
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
After Balian's knights issued documents and a list of rewards stamped with the palace seal, the fat butler asked Balian to sit in the reception room first while he went to select serfs for Balian. After hearing this, Balian thought to himself, this is definitely not possible.
I'd better choose the serfs myself, otherwise what's the point of handing over a bunch of old, weak, sick and disabled people to me.
"Dear housekeeper, I'd better go with you to choose. After all, it's going to be brought to my territory, so I still want to choose by myself." Balian said to him with a smile.
The fat butler said with an expression of embarrassment: "Sir Balian, this is not possible. You know, there has never been such a precedent. After we selected it, we let the lord take it away. If the lord chooses, all
If we take away the strong labor force, what will happen to my estate? I still need people to farm the land and herd the cattle."
Before he could finish speaking, Balian took out a money bag and stuffed it into his hand, "My friend, the Duke has already approved the reward of serfs to me, so what if you let me pick and choose? Anyway, these serfs are not you.
Why should you be so serious about your property?" As he spoke, Balian patted him on the shoulder.
The fat butler opened the purse and was stunned. There were thirty silver coins in it. He looked embarrassed just now, but now he immediately became flattering. He said with a smile: "Sir Balian, this
If it were anyone else, I would definitely not agree. I swear to the God of Fire, this is absolutely the case. But who can say it is you, a great and admirable knight. I asked the guards to gather all the serfs and let you choose carefully.
One pick.”
Seeing him like this, Arn sighed in his heart: "Sure enough, money is God's messenger in the world, and it can make the world crazy about it, and there is no bottom line for it."
It didn't take long for the serfs to gather in the open space of the farm. There were more than 300 people in total. Although it was a cold winter, most of these people were wearing very thin clothes, and many of them didn't have any decent clothes.
Their shoes were just straw sandals wrapped with a piece of animal skin. They stood in the open space with dull eyes, shivering in the cold wind, waiting for the steward's announcement.
Balian couldn't bear to see them, but how could he protect others when he couldn't protect himself? Balian could only be ruthless and choose his first batch of subordinates like picking goods.
People.
Balian, accompanied by the butler, boarded a large wooden box. He looked at the people below and said: "Women, children and old people over fifty years old, get out." After hearing this, he was pushed by the manor guards.
Next, women, children and the elderly retreated to the surrounding wooden sheds. The reason for this was that Balian could not bear to see these vulnerable people suffering from the cold here.
There are now almost a hundred people in the open space. Balian continued: "Those who have fought in wars, have been craftsmen, and those who are skilled in craftsmanship come forward, and the others retreat."
At this time, almost two-thirds of the people were screened out, and there were still thirty people in the open space. Balian asked those who had been craftsmen to stand on the right, and those who had fought in the war to stand on the left. There were ten craftsmen on the right.
Leon got off the wooden box and walked in to ask some of these craftsmen. There were five of them who could drive carriages. After all, they were also considered technical talents. There were also tanners, carpenters, and stonemasons. Even though there was no blacksmith, Balian knew that.
It is impossible for a blacksmith, a highly skilled talent in this time and space, to become a serf.
Then he came to the left again. These people were all young and strong people who had fought in the war, but Balian was not sure whether there were any disabled people here, so he thought of a way. He said to these twenty people: "You all
Raise your hands above your head and jump on the spot a few times." Sure enough, after such an inspection, he found several people whose hands and feet were injured and disabled in the battle. It was impossible for Balian to take in these people in his current situation, so he ruthlessly asked the guards to take them away.
After being eliminated from the team, there were still twenty-five people in the venue.
Balian walked up to the fat butler, lay down and whispered in his ear: "How about I take all these people?"
The fat butler rolled his eyes and whispered: "The extra people are worth fifty dinars each, otherwise I won't be able to report to the superiors."
Balian nodded, took out three gold coins from his arms, stuffed them into his hand, and then lowered his voice and said: "How about giving me a few more young and strong women? The territory also needs people who can wash and cook.
"Although young and strong male labor is very important, Balian does not want the territory to be filled with male hormones. There are some young women, and these strong laborers can still have some adjustments in their lives. Moreover, Balian also wants to win over these two through marriage.
An outstanding person among fifteen people.
The fat butler's eyes widened when he saw the gold coins. He said cheerfully: "Brother Balian, I allow you to choose ten women and five children." After saying that, he patted Balian on the shoulder and said, "You
We also need some children and teenagers to serve as attendants. These are necessary in the lord's mansion. They are trained from an early age and have high loyalty."
Money brings two people closer, the fat butler is kind-hearted
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
He reminded Balian of some things to pay attention to. Balian nodded, and with the help of the butler, he selected ten young and strong women between the ages of twenty and forty, and five boys of twelve or thirteen years old.
After completing the settlement procedures with the butler and obtaining the deed, Balian asked the manor guards to gather his serfs into an empty barn. It was sheltered from wind and snow, which was much better than outside.
The steward stood on a large box and read out the announcement of the transfer of affiliation to the serfs below. The serfs collectively knelt down to Balian and swore allegiance. After they got up, Balian stood on the box and said to them: "You guys
Now you are the people under my rule. I will not say too many useless words. I only have three points to tell you. First, be loyal to me, obey my orders, and complete the tasks I assigned you, and you will have success.
Having enough food to eat, a house to live in, and clothes to wear; secondly, those who are disloyal to me and betray me will only die. Those who cheat and cheat, and those who dare to do bad things must be severely punished; thirdly, only the most important thing is
One thing, as long as you don't betray me, don't be lazy at work, and don't do bad things, I will pardon you and become free people after five years."
In fact, the first two points have been mentioned by many lords, and they are also commonplace, but the third point really surprised these serfs. You know, no one wants to be a serf who is bound to his personal freedom. Everyone wants to be free, which is why
In this way, when Balian said the third point, the eyes of those people whose eyes were dull just now became bright. After all, there was hope in life.
Balian gave the fat butler an additional thirty dinars and asked him to be responsible for the food of these serfs in the past few days. At the same time, he specifically asked him to let these serfs eat well. After all, they had to travel for a long time. Look at the current health of these serfs.
The situation, I'm afraid, is not possible. The fat butler has now been defeated by Balian's money offensive. Basically, Balian said whatever he said. Not only did he readily agree to this matter, but when he and Balian came to the armory,
When choosing a weapon, I was defeated by two gold coins.
Balian took away ten spears, ten fighting axes, five swords, five leather bucklers, in addition to ten sets of hard leather armor, and fifteen iron helmets. Most importantly, Balian was among the weapons.
Curry found two boxes of crossbows, so Balian shamelessly brought five crossbows and two hundred crossbow arrows. These weapons and equipment, coupled with fifteen young and strong serfs with combat experience, plus Balian and Eomer, should
Enough to deal with most bandits on the road.
After settling the matter of the serfs and soldiers, Balian asked the butler to leave him two guest rooms. Before the coat of arms was issued, Balian and Eomer would live in the farm and simply train these serf soldiers to avoid
He was attacked on the road and was at a loss.
After leaving the farm, Balian returned to Wallombre City. He first went to Wine Street and found Eomer in the tavern called Sugar.
It was already evening, and Eomer was eating on the first floor of the tavern. When Balian came over, he asked the boss to add a roast rabbit and a large glass of ale. During the meal, Balian told Eomer his plan, "
Eomer, I am going to buy some warm clothes first. The clothes worn by these serfs are too thin now. They are not suitable for places in the south like Wallombre City, let alone going to the north. In addition, I also need to buy
Some food is needed whether it is for eating on the road or in the early stages of territory construction; we also need to purchase other tools such as hammers, saws, nails, cloth, pots and pans and other daily necessities. We are going there.
Not a fertile area, but a woodland in the north with nothing but an outpost."
Eomer tore off a rabbit leg and said as he ate it, "With all these things, do we have to buy a few carriages?"
Balian nodded, "Not only carriages, but also horses. I only have three horses now, the three horses I took back from the bandits, but these are war horses and cannot be used for camel carts. How many more do we need to buy?"
A draft horse."
The two of them were worried about how to purchase these things. Sir Rudy came to the tavern. He knew that Balian had arranged for Eomer to live here, so he thought that Balian might come to Sugar's Tavern after the knighting ceremony.
He came over.
Balian asked the boss to add another roast rabbit and ale. He told Sir Rudy what he had just discussed with Lawrence. Sir Rudy smiled and said, "Don't worry about these things. I know a place."
You can purchase everything and the price is cheap.”
When Balian and Eomer heard this, they were stunned and asked: "Where?"
"Go to the Salted Fish Market in Xiacheng District. It's a black market where thieves, robbers, and bandits sell their stolen goods. It's the cheapest place to buy these things. However, there is a high chance that strangers will be cheated if they go in. They don't care whether you are a noble or not.
." Sir Rudy said, taking a sip of ale, and then continued: "I happen to be off duty tomorrow, so I will go with you. I have been in Wallombre City for so many years, and now I am in charge of city defense. These people are very helpful to me.