A few days later, Jiang Tian, dressed in simple clothes, was walking on the streets of Rotterdam. But his current identity was that he was a mercenary known as the "War Hyena" and was associated with the "Golden Jackal" black market.
One of the businessmen; member of the Bensalonia Chamber of Commerce from Italy.
The Bensalonia Chamber of Commerce is of course a well-established chamber of commerce that really exists. It is also a long-term partner of many large and small mercenary groups located between North Rhine and the Netherlands. It has long been engaged in the discounting of loot and the sale of stolen property of unknown origin;
Therefore, there are also branches in the Netherlands.
And this was not the first time that he had dealt with these foreign Britons. This time he appeared in the city of Rotterdam, and he was also invited. Therefore, through the person in charge of the Chamber of Commerce in the kingdom, Jiang Tian easily replaced a certain person.
Senior member from Alemany.
This time, the only people traveling with him were two guard knights, Major Migne of the Mountain Regiment, who was a sword and shield sergeant, and an old mercenary with yellow hair whom he recommended; they just formed a small guard and guide business.
The representative group blends in the caravan and is inconspicuous.
Of course, in this era, the city of Rotterdam in the Dutch County was built on a sandbank full of swamps, but because it had the functions of a transshipment hub for both inland river terminals and sea ports; under the management and expansion of successive rulers, it had become quite a city.
The basic prototype of a big city.
It is said that the foundation of the original city was built with wooden piles driven into patches of sandbanks and swamps, and then beams and planks were erected on top. This formed the first settlements of villages and towns. Then when the population gathered and multiplied, it began to
Dike drainage opens up more ground.
Eventually, the size of the city surrounded by many dykes and covered with ports and docks was formed. Therefore, Rotterdam is also one of the few port cities in the Netherlands that can provide a large amount of taxes and trade commissions. The income alone is enough.
More than ten cities in the upper reaches of the mainland.
In Jiang Tian's eyes, the city walls outside Rotterdam are not too high, and most of them are wooden structures; however, the surrounding dams, sandbars and waterways are natural lines of defense in themselves, and it is necessary to break through the perimeter.
Only those bridges and checkpoints can be entered.
Not to mention that during this process, you have to endure the condescending and continuous suppression and killing from the wooden city walls, numerous arrow towers, sentry towers and enemy towers. And slightly larger siege equipment; it is difficult to survive continuously.
He survived the attack and insisted on rushing to the city gate wall.
According to his assessment and judgment, if he did not take action, even if the New Kingdom Army attacked, it would still have to rely on occupying and clearing the peripheral bridge checkpoints bit by bit, and then under the suppression of intensive shelling, through the continuous operations of the engineering company,
Lay out several attack lanes.
Then, the special attack knights will take the lead and cross the natural obstacles of the swamps and sandbars that are easy to fall into; rush into the gap in the city wall created by the bombardment, clean up and suppress the remaining defenders on the walls at both ends; only then can it be possible to capture such a sandy bay.
large port city.
However, after Jiang Tian marched all the way, except for some shipwrecks that were stranded in the river and had no time to clean up, there were not many traces of fierce battles. Even the wooden city walls, arrow towers, and sentry towers were not affected.
Signs of severe damage from the storm.
This made him even more curious. Did the British really rely on internal agents lurking in the city to capture Rotterdam easily? But what made her even more incredible was that after the British captured Rotterdam, they still
Someone came to defect.
And they are people from the Count of the Netherlands with their families. This is too outrageous. Is it possible that the Count of the Netherlands is so unbecoming that the people under his rule would rather join the invading Britons? You must know that in the long-term rumors and propaganda,
Britain is synonymous with barbarism and bloodshed.
However, when Jiang Tian casually asked a similar question to a small vendor selling bad wine and grilled fish outdoors on the street, the other party's answer was also very simple: "Guest, you just came from abroad, right? You
Of course I don’t know how cruel our lord is..."
"In contrast, being robbed by the British is a blessing; at least after they robbed us once, they will not harass us again for a long time. Even the leader of the British, after driving away the tax collectors and agents,
They will also burn the debt documents."
"In this way, at least my wife and children will not have to continue to become debt slaves and be sold to foreign lands. I will not have to go to ships on the high seas and wear chains as an oarsman to pay off debts. At least in my village.
Here, more than half of the people have been sold overseas because of debts.”
"Obviously, the catch of fish and the output of the land in the past two years have been bumper, but no matter what, the price cannot be sold; the labor and taxes imposed by the lord are getting heavier and heavier. The debts owed by the family to the steward and the acting official are getting bigger and bigger.
The more I did, the more I didn’t want to be sold, so I had no choice but to run out as hard as I could.”
"Many others who ran out with me were caught by the stewards and acting soldiers, and they were hanged by lot on the roadside, or the women and children were bitten to death by dogs. God bless me, I was just caught
At that time, the British launched an attack and took us to the city..."
After hearing this, Jiang Tian could only sigh. Regardless of the success or failure of the emperors, generals and ministers, the people at the bottom will suffer in the end regardless of their rise or fall. The same is true for the nobles of the kingdom, but at least under their own leadership and promotion
Now, the situation in the kingdom has improved greatly.
After cutting off most of the subcontractors, middlemen and rentiers who passed through the hands at all levels, including the old royal family/big nobles, the people of the vast villages and towns in the kingdom, even if they are based on the tenancy and capita income of half of the land output,
, the household registration tax can also significantly improve living standards.
Even after the change in the celestial sphere, aliens were rampant and abnormalities appeared frequently; they were particularly able to respond to the call of the national salvation government, and organized semi-off-the-job municipal self-defense and rural patrol teams. But obviously in the vast areas outside the kingdom, the bottom class
The situation of the people has become even more miserable as a result.
Under such circumstances, foreigners from Britain who know how to protect the people (chive fields) and fish in a sustainable way are particularly special. With this complicated thought, Jiang Tian passed through urban areas and saw three people.
Groups of five Britons wandering the streets.
Most of them have disheveled hair, and carry shields, javelins, one-handed axes, and Celtic broad swords. Only a few leaders have iron armor, and most of them wear leather armor inlaid with iron or spikes;
Although there are many who are drunk or having fun with women in their arms.
But there was basically no trace of disturbing the people. Therefore, Jiang Tian and others, under the banner of the Salonia Chamber of Commerce, were invited into the city hall in the central area of the city not long after waiting. They also saw a man kneeling with a sword.