Niang looked at the noisy market in front of him, and then at the castle that was about to be completed at the foot of the mountain in the distance, feeling indescribably weird.
As a traveling businessman, Niang has also been to many places. Whether it is the magnificent castles or beautiful manors of the nobles, or the autonomous towns full of hustle and bustle, he can see that there are many differences in this place before his eyes.
But for a while, Niang couldn't tell what the difference was.
It wasn't until he saw the vendors on the roadside pouring sewage into the street that the sewage did not flow everywhere on the street, but gathered into a few small holes and disappeared. Only then did he understand why he felt that there was something wrong with the small market in front of him.
Something is wrong.
Although it is also noisy and noisy here, it is extremely clean and there is no unpleasant smell like other towns, especially the unbearable smell of feces in many towns.
At this moment, Niang seemed to feel that he was not in Argau, but in Rome. Only the streets of Rome could have such clean streets.
Just because the city of Rome has perfect sewers built by the Roman Empire.
Unexpectedly, a small county in Aargau actually built sewers. This lord of Aargau is really rich.
As a businessman, Niang couldn't figure out the use of the lords here spending so much money to build sewage facilities. The only explanation was that they had too much money and no place to spend it.
It seems that that Lafite wine is indeed a good thing, and we must find a way to master the brewing process.
The main purpose of Niang coming to Aargauling is for Lafite wine. After the merchants brought the goods, Lafite wine has now become an extremely popular commodity. Naturally, Niang also wants to get a share of the Lafite wine trade.
soup.
Just when Niang was thinking about where to start and obtain the brewing process of Lafite, a group of soldiers approached him at some unknown moment.
When he came to his senses, he was surrounded by soldiers.
When he saw the soldiers, Niang did not panic, but said loudly.
"I already paid taxes when I entered the territory. I did not evade taxes. Here is my tax payment certificate." As he said that, Niang reached into his arms and took out a piece of parchment.
But the soldiers ignored him, and no one took the parchment. Niang had to stand there awkwardly, a little at a loss.
Why are these soldiers targeting me? I haven't broken any laws.
Soon, Jinte arrived, looked Niang up and down, and asked:
"May I have your name?"
"Niang, my lord."
"Are you from the Bar area?"
"Ah, yes, I did pass by the Baal area before."
"Then it's you, come with us."
Niang was confused. Before he could react, two soldiers came forward to pick him up and take him away.
"Sir, where are you taking me, sir? I have... something to say."
"Stop talking about it." Jin Te turned around and glared at him impatiently. "It's your blessing that our young master wants to see you. There are many people who want to see you but can't. How can there be so much nonsense."
Young Master? He is the son of a nobleman from Argolan. Why are you seeing me? Niang was even more confused, but Jinte's attitude made him dare not speak out for fear of angering the soldiers in front of him.
Generally speaking, the soldiers at the bottom are much more brutal and difficult to deal with than the nobles. If you offend them, it won't be worthwhile to get beaten for no reason.
"Oh my, what's going on with you guys? Jinte, I promised you to invite people over, how could you do this to others?"
When Otto saw Niang being held up by soldiers, he pretended to be surprised.
"Hurry up and let them go. The merchants are all valued guests of our territory. Without them, our territory could be so prosperous. I'm really ignorant."
"Oh." Jinte agreed, quickly motioned to his soldiers to let go of Niang, and then left with the soldiers.
"I'm not scaring you. These people under me are a little ignorant. Don't mind. I have no other reason to come to you. I just want to ask you something. By the way, can you tell me your name first?
"
Otto looked at Niang with a smile and reached out to help him.
On the way here, Niang already knew who the handsome young man in front of him was. He was the actual controller of Argauland and the future earl. How dare he really let him help him, so he quickly stopped him.
"Dear Baron Otto, my name is Niang, and I am just an ordinary businessman. If you have anything you want to know, just ask, and I will tell you everything."
Seeing Niang's nervous expression, Otto shook his head. Good guy, how can he be so scary with such a harmless face and friendly smile?
He no longer dwelled on this issue, and began to ask Niang if he had heard any news about the kingdom in the Bar area, and was also concerned about the health of King Lothair II.
Hearing Otto's question, Niang breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that Master Otto really wanted to know the news. He could just send someone to ask. Why go to such trouble? It wasn't top-secret information.
Since it was not top-secret information, Nanian would not hide it and told everything he heard in the Baal area, the capital of Lotharingia Kingdom.
Sure enough, just like what happened in history, Lothair II, who was originally vigorous and vigorous, unexpectedly contracted a serious illness in the second half of the year and became bedridden.
After being treated by well-trained doctors and local cardinals, Lothair II's health did not improve, and instead fell into a coma for a whole day from time to time.
The residents of the Bar area were discussing this a lot, thinking that perhaps the wise and mighty King Lothair II would not survive the winter.
At this time, many powerful nobles of the kingdom, represented by the Duke of the Netherlands and the Count of Luxembourg, had rushed to the Bar area, presumably to compete for the power of the kingdom left after the death of Lothair II.
This was Niang's guess, and it might just be Lothair II's act of entrustment before his death. Because Niang was just an ordinary businessman, he only saw the flags of many nobles, and did not know the inside story.
Niang also said that this news is not only known to everyone in the Bar area, but at least it is a household name. If the Argau collar was not remote, the news would have spread here long ago.
Hearing Niang mention this, Otto was also helpless. The Swiss mountainous area is like this. Inconvenient transportation not only brings backward economic development, but also a lack of information.
Therefore, the Basel area next to the Danube River is particularly important.
After Otto listened to Niang's story, he pretended to have a sad expression on his face and said softly.
"Gods above, may the disease be far away from His Majesty the King. His Majesty's heirs are still very young. If His Majesty is gone, the kingdom may be in danger of destruction.
After hearing such sad news, I was really anxious and could not wait to go to church to pray for His Majesty right now.
Merchant of Niang, please forgive me for my poor hospitality. I wanted to prepare to go to the church to pray for His Majesty, but I had to be aggrieved and let them send you back."