582 Queen's Season (3)

Duke Besa's carriage was delayed at the city gate for a whole morning, and only then did he get the right to pass through the crowd and block the city gate without giving the captain of the city guard 50 gold coins.

This is the way of the world now, and Duke Besa, who once served as the finance minister of the kingdom, knows very well that the current treasury of the kingdom has long been empty enough to starve rats to death.

Most of the salaries of the lower officials, who were not supported by titles and domains, had to be donated to the royal treasury in the name of allegiance to the king and support the war effort, to support the dwindling sources of taxation, and now that it was time for the war, the large number of fleeing merchants took not only the purchases of the Kyoto nobility, but also the trade tax, which used to account for nearly half of the income,

Looking at the somewhat flat face of the captain of the city guard who dangled past the carriage, Duke Besa asked the captain of the city guard in a coarse linen coat with a calm face

"How much money are you going to make in a day?"

The captain of the city guard was the only one here with a round red face, and although he did not wear the high-end cloth that could only be worn by nobles, he had a smug look that was even more arrogant than that of Besa, a former kingdom minister

"Why do you ask this?" he first cautiously looked at Duke Besa's carriage, his eyebrows frowned, and in front of him was the kind of ordinary noble carriage, without any family crest on it, the material used to make zuò was southern Bertha wood, the smooth lacquer surface looked very clean, and if you looked at it yourself, you could see that there were traces of hanging marks

Such carriages are not uncommon in Kulongze, most of them are some broken nobles from the south, you know, in the past, the family crest of these southern nobles were made of expensive gold or dazzling silver, and the ruined family background and embarrassing life have made them pawn even the most basic show-offs, so the people of Kulongze also habitually call them "ruined sons from the south"

At this time, the guard who was in charge of receiving the money just now whispered in the ear of the captain of the city guard, and the captain of the city guard immediately changed his face to a flattering expression, and nodded to the big patron who had just given him a large sum of money, with a hint of showing off in his expression

"This lord, this is not as easy as it seems, dozens of us, standing here in the wind and rain for a while, and also responsible for maintaining order, it is great to be able to get 800 gold coins, the average is to the head, but only a few gold coins, they are all poor ghosts in the south, not everyone wants to be so generous to you, master"

"An average of 800 gold coins a day? That's not a month when you can only receive 24,000 gold coins?" Duke Besa's face was slightly surprised, Kuronze is a checkpoint city on the outskirts of Kyoto, in the previous peaceful era, Kuronze once set a tariff of 80,000 gold coins a month, compared to the current 24,000 gold coins, it is simply a heaven and an underground

"Yes, but it's such a small amount of money, we must also hand over half of it to the lord, otherwise, everyone will be severely punished" The captain of the city guard also had a helpless look on his face, and he pointed to the crowd at the city gate, "Do you see these people, they are all from Kyoto, I heard that those lords in Kyoto are starting to think about how to raise taxes again, these people have basically no chance of surviving except for fleeing to the north"

"North? So many people are going north?"

Duke Besa's face was stunned for a moment, remembering some rumors about the north before, and asked in a low voice

"Didn't I hear that Kyoto issued a strict order forbidding any civilians to go to the north?

"Hehe, how do you say that!" The captain of the city guard showed a sneer at the corner of his mouth, looked left and right, and then said in a low voice, "This lord may not know yet, the captain of the Mamunuk knights stationed here is the son of the former lord of Hutu Beien in the north, for such a thing, of course, he turns a blind eye, who will really take Kyoto's order seriously, not only we are releasing people here, but also several other passes,

The captain of the city guard paused in his voice, let the two soldiers behind him leave, and then continued: "What's more, every time a person is released, the northern Vic City will subsidize us with a gold coin release fee, which is a good thing that can not only get benefits, but also get a counter-compensation reward, who would really refuse As for Kyoto's order, only those self-righteous Kyoto lords will really take it as a matter when they leave the Kyoto area, who will pay attention to him"

"A gold coin for a refugee? this can't be?" Duke Besa's eyes were round when he heard it, which was also too appalling, from the lord who had driven the refugees, this was the first time he had heard that there were people who took money to buy refugees,

"So the Marquis of Vic City in the north is a real hero, in this troubled world, most of the lords can't even take care of themselves, and only this benevolent lord is willing to accept refugees sincerely."

The captain of the city guard said with a grim face, "I heard that with him, not only can he get a share of his own land, but he can also directly load the grain he grows on a sea ship and sell it on a sea ship on the other side of the mainland at a price one-third higher than that of Kyoto.

"It's a ......"

Duke Besa's face was extremely ugly, of course he had heard of this kind of food trafficking to the north, and he knew the exact names of these fellows

"How many people can you put in a day, if not the entire population of Kyoto will be gone in a few years at most," Marquis Besa asked, puzzled

"We won't put up to 2,000 people a day, and we're not stupid"

The captain of the city guard shook his head and replied respectfully, "Although the above didn't care much, but if the population loss is too severe, the lord will not be able to explain to Kyoto, so we only open the door once every three days, and only release one-tenth of it each time, so that even if Kyoto is investigated, at most it will be said that these homeless people are not out of the city, but wandering to other places, to be honest, even if there is no money, we will let it go privately." You can't just watch these people starve to death."

Oh, by the way, there's one more thing I forgot to say."

The captain of the city guard seemed to remember something, and made a gesture to a clerk in charge of registration at the gate in the distance, and soon the plainly dressed clerk came running with a pamphlet

"This lord, this is a road map to the north that is given to you"

The captain of the city guard took the pamphlet, handed it to the Duke of Besa through the carriage window, and said respectfully, "With it, you can easily reach your destination."

"The northern road map?"

Duke Besa's face was stunned for a moment, and he took it curiously and looked at it, this is a map made of rough leather, on the left side of the map and some explanatory text, with a few thick lines on it, marking the route from Kuronze to Vic Territory, as well as the towns that can provide food and lodging along the way, and even in some places, it is also marked with "scenic spots", which seems to be not only sold to refugees,

This made the old and dignified Duke of Besa feel a little crying and laughing, the people of Zuò appeared to be very wise, and the rough and thick leather could be preserved for a long time without being damaged due to rain and other reasons.

"How much does this cost?"

The Duke of Besa raised the map in his hand and asked,

He estimated that such a thing should be the local lord of Kulongze, which was specially used to sell to those nobles or some merchants who had not been to the north.

This made the former Chancellor of the Exchequer feel a little curious, and in his impression, the lord of Kuronze was a very decent person, and he didn't expect such a little wisdom,

If such a map can be sold for a gold coin, those nobles who can afford to buy the road will not be stingy with a single gold coin, which is undoubtedly an excellent source of wealth, which can be appreciated and reaped benefits

"No money, this thing is available to everyone who goes to the North"

The captain of the city guard said very generously, "This has already been paid for by Vic Ling, as long as you give this map to the registration point in Vic City at that time, they will also give you a reward of a gold coin Of course, in the eyes of a generous lord like you, a gold coin is insignificant, but for those refugees who have nothing, a gold coin can allow them to be temporarily resettled, in addition to buying some daily necessities, they can live in peace for more than 3 months, which is enough for them to start a new life"

Duke Besa was silent for a while, but his eyes were blazing staring at the rough leather in his hand, and he knew that this was done by the Marquis of Victonse, who led Vic, without asking.

The carriage slowly passed through the crowded city gates, and as the refugees outside the city dispersed, Duke Besa was finally able to set foot on the road to the north, he played with the rough map of the north in his hand, and his eyes were solemn,

Out of Kuryuzawa, he could clearly feel the contrast between the relaxed and vibrant atmosphere of the north and the oppressive tension of Kyoto, and the villages along the way no longer seemed so dilapidated or deserted.

Faint cooking smoke rose from the grass roofs of the village in the distance, and the smell of wheat grass wafted in the air.

The wheat seedling field has just been planted, and the large areas are distributed on the ridges in the distance, spreading all the way to the distance of the sky.

The road sped past in front of me, and the wheels crushed the gravel on the road, making a cheerful creak,

A verdant cedar forest appeared in the distance, like a huge blanket of green shade, and the wind blew through these trees, making a pleasant whirl,

A wooden sign on the side of the road caught the attention of the Duke of Besa, which was made of the most common white fir wood in the north, with an off-white surface covered with pimples, circles of grain clearly visible, and cyan vines coiled around the wooden poles,

On the front of the wooden plaque, there are several large Salander characters that read "Welcome to the North".

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