Winter has entered the Sunset Territory, the Winter Veil Festival has arrived, and ice and snow have covered the entire Territory.
But the festivals have to be celebrated, and the labors have to be done.
The year has passed since the Lord Viscount arrived in the territory, so Aaron announced that he would be exempted from half of the labor service period at his discretion, and he would be replaced by a Boon laborer.
Historically, labor has been the hardest hit area for nobles to exploit civilians. In theory, peasants have to perform labor for lords and nobles for 60-80 days a year. Farmers need to prepare their own food and tools, and report to the village head or housekeeper early in the morning.
, there are hard work regulations in the labor service. If you cannot complete the task of the day, you need to make up for it the next day.
Labor is very hard. Plowing, transporting, sowing for the lord, harvesting, threshing, and warehousing are the parts that have already been completed. In addition to these parts, there are many obligations that the farmers need to complete, such as building rivers and roads.
Building a city, according to the laws of Cormyr, farmers lack freedom in many places. They are not allowed to make wine at will, cannot leave the territory at will, and cannot sell livestock privately unless approved by the lord. Even every wedding theoretically requires the permission of the lord.
.
This is the so-called "first night right".
Of course, the power of the first night has almost never been successfully operated in an enlightened and authoritarian country like Cormyr. Under the pressure of the three gods of justice, Lathander Chantia, and the fire-haired lady Suni, every lord needs to take office just after taking office.
The first document signed is to give up the right to have the first night and promise to Ms. Huofa that any couple can hold the simplest ceremony (no cap) as long as the families of both parties agree and pay two copper coins to the priest.
Paladins who are full of a sense of justice often play a rather awkward role in this process. That is, when these laws are agreed upon and negotiated between farmers and village leaders, then the paladins will remain silent and acquiesce.
This type of exploitation, but if the lord makes excessive demands or violates the agreement, the paladins will exercise their power.
For example, there was a lord who stipulated that the service time in a year was 67 days. However, the lord who believed in Ben suddenly thought that the peasants only served eight hours a day, so the correct service time should be
67*3=201 geniuses.
Before this rule could be implemented, the lord was besieged by the paladins. Not only was the lord forced to lose his title and let his brother inherit it, he was also exiled.
But from another perspective, for example, if a yeoman inherits his father's land and encounters "inheritance tax", that is, every yeoman must pay "one horse, one piece of land" to the lord when inheriting the land from his elders.
Leather armor, a sheep." Faced with this situation, all the paladin could do was to persuade the lord to give up that "one horse."
There is a very special exception in Mulhorand, where the paladins openly allow the trading of slaves. The reason is that Mulhorand's tradition believes that slaves = the property of the gods of the Mulhorand pantheon.
Warriors would follow such agreed-upon rules and closely monitor whether slave owners provided slaves with adequate meals twice a day and whether they exceeded the working hours stipulated in the doctrine.
I have to say that in the country, if you are not an adventurer, the slow pace of life in the Middle Ages is quite boring.
Douglas is such an unlucky guy.
He came from the Hurek Forest at the edge of the Sunset Territory. Several brothers in the family, the eldest and the second eldest, all finished their hard labor years ago and came back complaining of hardships. Douglas himself did a lot of farm work and worked very hard to serve his parents.
, the two brothers had already married under the witness of Pastor Suni. He begged a lot, but he didn't expect that it was his turn to do the labor service in the end.
Why me?
Douglas thought with dissatisfaction that his village was a newly built village and the annual crop output was not much. His brother and sister-in-law gave him 10 pieces of black bread, and his parents secretly gave him a small bag of copper coins, which was barely enough to deal with it.
The sunset in winter was extremely cold. A group of young people who were about to serve in labor set out together, following the instructions of the officer, walking through the forest, passing by the newly built town, and finally arrived at Feilongshui Lake.
The black bread had been chewed and the copper coins were almost spent. A group of cold and hungry young people gathered around the fire. They didn't rest long before several fierce-looking Shepherd Legion soldiers came up with weapons.
"Hurry up, get up and work! Be quick!"
Douglas's heart was cold. He was hungry and cold, and he knew that he would fall ill soon after working in this condition for a few hours.
But there was no way, the soldiers' attitude was very arrogant, and the weapons in their hands did not recognize anyone.
"One, two, three, get up!"
Two laborers jacked up a log.
"One, two, three, get up!"
Another log was transported to the dock by the river.
After working for a long time, Douglas was really hungry and dizzy. Today's hard work was finally over. He sat down next to the fire, not even wanting to say a word.
However, the next sound immediately made him tremble.
"It's time to eat!" the soldiers of the Shepherd Legion shouted: "Go and get the pig offal porridge yourself, it's enough! Eat as much as you want!"
"These are winter pickles, those snow elves taught us how to make them!"
Douglas couldn't believe his ears.
What, pig offal porridge to drink? And pickles made by adults with pointed ears?!
I don't know where the strength came from, Douglas ran all the way and rushed to the place where he received the porridge.
It’s porridge!
Golden wheat porridge!
The one with meat in it!
Douglas took the pig and wheat porridge in the large bowl with both hands with rare rareness. His hands felt heavy as soon as he took it. The alluring aroma made the farmers in Hurek Forest salivate uncontrollably. He took the simplest dish.
Using a wooden spoon, I gently stirred the food in the bowl, and I was immediately moved to tears.
When the spoon was turned over, the pig's heart, liver, lungs, and large intestine were all turned out. The large bowl of wheat porridge was like liquid gold. More importantly, when the spoon was placed in the porridge, it actually sank in.
!
"Chantia is on top, Chantia is on top!" Douglas was so excited that he picked up the hot porridge and was about to find a corner to cook hard.
"Hey, no more pickles?" the soldiers reminded him with a sneer.
Pickles?! Douglas thought this is not over yet?
I saw the soldiers scooping up a spoonful of pickles from a large iron bucket with a spoon half as big as the palm of my hand. They did not shake their wrists or the spoon the whole time, and threw it into the big bowl, causing a burst of droplets.
Douglas was heartbroken.
But the aroma of the pickles already made him forget about it. He gently picked up a piece of it with his lips. It was sour, salty, sweet, and had some indescribable faint pain!
So delicious!
"Hey, is that enough?" the soldiers laughed.
"Enough, enough!" Douglas nodded desperately, fearing that the pig offal porridge and pickles in the bowl would fly away, he randomly found a corner, picked up the big bowl and worked hard.
Along the corner was a whole row of workers, each of whom was sipping porridge, and some were licking the bowl with their tongues after eating.
The porridge is hot, the vegetables are salty, and the heart is warm.
The feeling of hunger and cold disappeared in an instant. Douglas drank a full bowl of porridge and wiped the corners of his mouth, thinking that it would be great to be able to do hard labor this time.
Even homesteaders can't afford this kind of food.
But this was not over yet. The soldiers of the Shepherd Legion came over and laughed and cursed: "Are you full? If not, you can continue!"
What?!
Douglas felt like he was dreaming?
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
We are all eating like this, what will Lord Aaron’s grandfather eat?
Douglas recalled the Salian family emblem he saw by the Feilongshui Lake. Before, his eyes were full of hatred and numbness, but now, Douglas felt that the Salian family emblem seemed to be shrouded in a sacred octagonal halo.
But, why?
Douglas didn't understand. Human beings began to subconsciously look for reasons.
I remembered what I heard in the village that the Salian family had been deprived of their title, I remembered the unclear rumors about Aaron and the princess, I remembered that Aaron already had a priestess from the Silver Virgin as his wife, I remembered that they had seen
Douglas thought he had found a reason.
Your Excellency, Chandiya, doesn't Lord Aaron just want to replace the royal family?
Then count me in!
Throughout the Sunset Territory, the eyes of the farmers who came to enjoy Salian labor for the first time gradually changed.
The porridge is delicious and the dishes are delicious!
But can we still eat it tomorrow? If we can eat it tomorrow, can we still eat it the day after tomorrow?
Anyone who wants to harm Lord Aaron is our enemy!
After eating in the evening and preparing to rest, Douglas suddenly heard the roar of a dragon in the sky.
"Hahahahahahahahaha~"
Under the cover of night, the workers saw the giant dragon flying past, flying all the way towards Salian Castle, and the air was filled with her proud and arrogant roar.
At first, the people of the Sunset Territory were afraid of the dragon when they saw it.
However, since Aaron came to Sunset Territory, Egil has been flying over every corner of the territory for a period of time, "inspecting" her "territory". After a long time, even the most ignorant farmers are not surprised.
.
"That's the Guardian Dragon." The workers were talking a lot, talking about the great dragon Egil. Because everyone was full, they didn't feel too sleepy for the time being.
At this time, the guard who was guarding the gate suddenly spoke: "Isn't that right? Please be clearer. The porridge and pickles you eat are all rewarded to you by His Majesty the Dragon!"
"Your Majesty Dragon? Is this true?" The farmers were surprised.
"Yes, Sir Aaron somehow convinced her and asked her to take out the food that was originally stipulated to be taken away, so that everyone can have hot porridge to drink and pickles to eat."
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the room suddenly changed.
One of the workers looked older and knew more. He suddenly said: "Speaking of which, the previous news and rumors said that the purple dragon on Cormyr refers to this giant dragon? Sa
Mr. Li An and this dragon are not..."
The workers suddenly fell silent and collectively looked at the guard at the door.
The guard didn't respond.
It's obvious that some ideas have sprouted in their minds.
…………
Sallian Castle, Palace of Aquitaine.
"Bang!" The window was kicked open, and Egil, who had transformed into a human form, grabbed the upper edge of the window with both hands and flew into the warm palace in a very uncivilized up and down rotation.
"Ah!" Miss Priest's screams and Aaron's complaints came from the room: "Egil! Can't you come in normally?"
"Shut up, servant!" After a period of dormancy, the power dragon Egil is now full of energy. Her body length has been extended from nine meters to twelve meters, and her power has become more powerful.
Therefore, giant dragons are really a species blessed by God. They can often become stronger while sleeping.
"If you dare to resist me again, I will devour you completely in the name of the legendary dragon species. You, a servant, can't be so rude to the master! - Ah!" The big dragon was still arrogant, and Aaron had already hit him with his hand.
On her forehead.
At this time, Egil's majesty was gone. She covered her head and squatted down: "You have gone too far, servant! What kind of punch are you doing? It hurts me so much!"
The pastor lady, who was originally frightened and angry, couldn't help but smile when she saw this scene.
This arrogant legendary dragon... seems a little timid facing Aaron?
"Just in time, Egil, if you wake up, the whole grand curtain can start to be prepared." Aaron apologized and touched Egil's silver dragon horn with an extra hint of red hair.
"Hey, don't touch my horns!" Egil quickly backed away.
He knew that Egil had vaguely felt the power from the Chaos Contract Palace through the High Dragon Clan Contract, so she became a little timid.
Four powerful powers, it still feels like the pinnacle!
"Come on, let's do it together." Aaron showed a smile: "This time, we will give the whole country a performance that will shock the gods."