The library of Noble Theological Seminary had not encountered such a wealthy patron as Arter for many years, and with the exception of churches, universities, and affiliated libraries, the sporadic visitors usually spent a small silver coin to hide in the library and borrow and look through it, and at most buy a Bible or a set of manuscripts about poetry and stories to take home to decorate their desks.

And Art bought seven sets of books in one go, a total of fifteen books, and if they were placed in a poor place in the Northland, the church in the county town would not necessarily have fifteen books, such as the church of Tiniez.

With the continuous expansion of the corps, the theoretical training of officers must also keep up as soon as possible, and it is no longer enough to rely only on words and deeds and battlefield experience as the teaching materials of the academy, so Yate intends to draw on the wisdom of his predecessors and combine the actual combat experience to refine the things in the three sets of military art books as the theoretical teaching materials of the officer academy.

Two of the other four books are devoted to the written word, Latin and Grammar and Rhetoric, both of which were produced by Noble Theological Seminary to help seminary apprentices learn Latin and grammatical rhetoric. To tell the truth, these two sets of books were not very good, but they were sufficient to teach the apprentices and officers who were civilians yesterday, and the main thing was that they were practical and cheap, and the price added up to 1,200 particles, and they were accompanied by six manuscripts of the college's homemade parchment;

The other two are "The Book of Calculation" and "Introduction to Arithmetic", Arte is only a rough arithmetic in his past life or in this life, and the "arithmetic" in knightly education can only barely calculate the territorial taxes, buying and selling transactions, and the mathematics of later generations is unlikely to be popularized and applied in a short period of time here, and it is okay to calculate quietly behind closed doors, if you dare to sell it publicly, you may have to be asked by the Inquisition to interrogate one day.

The book "Introduction to Arithmetic" is transcribed and transcribed from the classics, and it is no longer known that it originates from the writings of the great man, but after a rough translation, Arte felt that it must be no problem to teach the apprentices of the parish school who will become the pillars of civil affairs in the future, so he bought it with a wave of his hand, and this book Cooper and Salter must be proficient in the civil affairs system, thanks to the noble father-in-law of the merchant Golvin, Lottie is also proficient in this way, and this book will be used as a teaching material for them; The book of calculations was written by a great master of arithmetic in the Southern Continent, named Leonardo Fibonacci, and Arte intended to study this profound mathematical work together with those sets of military books, and then submit it to the study when he met the right people in the future.

In addition to the seven sets of books, Art also bought five sets of pen and ink, which were also worth a lot of money, but they were nearly half cheaper than those of the Northland, so Art took them without thinking.

It was a deal worth more than 20,000 pfennigs, and it even alarmed the library's steward.

At first, the steward, who was just busy on the side, had already treated the few people like VIPs, and he invited a few people to the tables and chairs for the guests to rest, and the wine in the exquisite wine glasses was presented to the three of them one after another, and the steward's originally indifferent face was now full of flowers.

While the steward was packing several sets of book covers with two administrators, Art waved to summon the young librarian named Baror.

Balor's face was still full of excitement, and the commission for today's sale was more than he had paid for an entire year.

Barol eagerly filled his glass for the three of Art, waiting for Art's question.

Art raised his glass and looked at Balor with interest, "Young man, I have read the set of books you have transcribed, and it is beautifully written. What is your monthly salary here? Art asked.

"Thank you for the compliment, what do you mean by monthly salary?"

"Oh, I wonder how much you can get paid each week?" Art remembered that most places were still weekly paid in addition to his own territory.

"Honor, when I was twelve, I came here to work as a laborer apprentice for five years, and the apprenticeship was only fed and lodging, and was not paid until last year, when my apprenticeship ended, and I began to work as an administrator and scribe. As for the salary, I can get paid by the library for one grosso for every thousand words I transcribe an ancient book, and I get a commission of twenty-tenths for the books I sell, but the work of transcribing books is rarely encountered several times a year, and I mainly earn a commission by selling books.

"Well~ In addition to the food money handed over to the library, if you are lucky, you can have a salary of fifty or sixty grosso a year."

Art had already looked at the young man, and as a scholar who could write Latin and was multilingual, he shouldn't have been so embarrassed, at least not in patched clothes and ripped boots.

Art pointed to the hole in Balor's boot, "You're a scholar who can write and read, so even a scholar who is just a monk shouldn't be like that, right?" Art asked.

"Honorable guest, there is no shortage of scholars in Noble, there are too many priests and monks here and people who can write and read, I am not a scholar." Barol embarrassedly blocked the patches on his clothes with his hands, and his toes subconsciously shrank into his boots.

"Have you ever thought about getting out of here? Out of Noble, you are definitely worth more than you are now. Art didn't plan to go around in circles, and he didn't say a word.

Barol could understand Art's solicitation, but his eyes immediately dimmed, "Leave?" I have a mother who has been bedridden for two years, a younger sister who is just getting ready to do housework, and two younger brothers who can't even hold a plate. ”

"What about your father~" Matthew on the side opened his mouth.

"I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't have asked." Matthew shut up after asking, knowing he had asked something he shouldn't have asked.

Balor shook his head, "It's okay, he's drunk, and the priest has said that people like him don't deserve pity and pity." ”

Art originally intended to solicit it, but when he heard that there were still four burdens in his family, his heart suddenly cooled.

However, Art still tried with the mentality of recruiting talents, "Barol, to tell you the truth, I am a frontier viscount of the Count of Burgundy, I have just obtained a fief, and now I need a young scholar like you to do things for me. ”

"If you wish, I may appoint you as my personal secretary, to take care of my paperwork or to teach officers and apprentices in my realm, and you will be treated with dignity and privilege in my realm. In addition, food and housing, the monthly salary is eight groso, which is the lowest salary, and if you do well, you will be promoted and paid, and if you have meritorious service, you will be rewarded. ”

"As for your mother and younger siblings, if they wish, they can come with you to my territory, and your younger brothers and sisters can enter the school I have opened, and if they are not suitable to go to the school, they can also do some simple work in my territory, and I will let them grow up; As for your sick mother, your salary will feed her completely, and there are skilled healers in my land, who can heal your mother free of charge......"

The conditions offered by Art are definitely sincere enough.

A glimmer of light returned to Balor's eyes, "Lord Viscount, you are not the first guest to throw an olive branch to me, but you are the first person willing to accept the burden behind me. Thank you for your kindness, but Burgundy is far away in a foreign country to the north, and I need to consult with my family......" Balor was a little moved.

Art nodded in satisfaction, turned to Ron, and then whispered a few words to Ron, who immediately took out a piece of birch bark, and Art took it and tore it off, took the pen and ink on the wooden table for the guests to copy, wrote a line on the birch bark, and then signed the "name" at the end.

"Balor, I'm going north in a hurry, if you think about it, go to Vilno City in Provence in the north to find a shop called the Continental Comptoir, as soon as you take out this note, they will arrange for you and your family to go north." As he spoke, Art raised Barrol's hand and slapped the birch bark into his palm.

At this time, the library steward had already packed all the books that Art had purchased, and Art did not stay long after paying the money, and left the seminary and the city of Noble under the eyes of everyone in the library......

The group had been gone for a long time, but Barol was still standing at the door of the library with the birch bark and looking at it, "Salt Medici?" Medici surname~I think I've heard of it somewhere~"

After leaving Noble, the crowd did not delay any longer, and rode all the way north.

The Duchy of Lombardy did not strictly control business travelers, and as long as they did not enter the city, they basically did not have to pay taxes, so the Ates traveled freely across the borders of Lombardy.

But as we get closer to the border, the relaxed atmosphere becomes tense.

The war between the two principalities of Provence and Lombardy has been over for more than a year, but the embers of the war between the two armies have not been completely extinguished, and the two principalities are still stockpiling large numbers of troops along the border.

The Ates also kept a low profile, trying to avoid those well-guarded garrison castles, and lowered their posture when they encountered checkpoints, dealing with the checks as if they were ordinary merchants, paying taxes and taxes, and stuffing money, relying on the merchant identity documents obtained by Salter in Provence, the Lombards did not deliberately make things difficult for these merchants, after all, their country relied on these merchants to transport gold, silver and blood.

However, after crossing the border of Lombardy, through Fort Bogdan, which has been reduced to ruins and a black market, the hard days of inbound business travel came.

Ten miles north of the ruins of Bogdan, across a shallow river, was the de facto control of Provence, and the Atenes had just crossed the river when they were stopped by a group of Provençal soldiers armed with swords, shields, axes and spears.

Without saying a word, the soldiers took the reins of a few men and walked towards a tax outpost on the shore, and Art waved his hand to stop the urge of Ron and Matthew to draw their swords, this was not Burgundy.

The Provençal soldiers did not do anything out of the ordinary, they simply brought a few of them to a long wooden table in front of the checkpoint and handed it to a man who looked like a tax collector.

This tax collector was about thirty years old, with a broken finger on his left hand, and his face was wounded, like a retired officer in the army, and the tax collector did not raise his head and dipped the quills in the carbon juice in the glass bottle, "Name? Where did it come from? Business or travelling? Do you have commercial goods with you? How much is it worth? ”

"Atwood Wells, from the Count of Burgundy, traveling, carrying no goods." Art had already broken away from Lombardy at this time, and there was no need to hide his identity anymore.

The tax collector had obviously not heard of the Arts, but glanced up at the horses and guards behind the Arts, "Such a big battle is just to travel to the south?" Sir, please understand that I need to check your bags according to the regulations. ”

Art shrugged his shoulders and got out of the way.

The tax collector glanced at the soldiers on the side, and the soldiers walked over to the horses, and Ron stared at the soldiers with hatred and hatred, staring at the soldiers for examination.

Several soldiers dug out the books that Art had purchased and brought them to the tax collector.

"Sir, didn't you say you didn't bring merchant goods? What is it? ”

Art was a little dumbfounded, "This~ teaching property and books have never been subject to customs duties and commercial taxes, don't you know?" ”

The tax collector picked at his head and pointed to a parchment notice on the wall of the watchtower behind him, "What you said was a few years ago, and now unless it is a clergy personally escorting the religious property, the rest will be taxed, but the tax amount is lower, fifty taxes and one for other ordinary goods, and ten taxes for southern goods and spices." ”

It seems that Provence has indeed become insane because of the war, and such taxes have become almost insane.

The tax collector saw the incredulity in Art's eyes, "Sir, we don't have a heavy tax here, and now the tax on the western border is more than twice as heavy as ours. The Lombards have robbed us of too much, and we must rely on commercial taxes to recoup the war losses. ”

"We know Viscount Berrion! My lord was a friend of the Viscount of Berrion and the Viscount of the Frontier of the Count of Burgundy. When Ron heard of such high taxes, he couldn't help but move out of the banner of Viscount Berion and the nobility of Art, which usually worked.

The tax collector was startled at first, then regained his composure, first quickly got up and bowed to Art, and then asked several soldiers on the side to put down their weapons, "I'm sorry Lord Viscount, you should indicate your identity in advance, Burgundy is a friend of Provence, and we treat the nobles of our friends as our own nobles." He bowed to Art again in apology.

"Alright, can I leave then?" Nor did Art intend to embarrass these conscientious border tax collectors.

"I'm sorry Lord Viscount, unless you have a decree of privilege from the court or a warrant from your lord, Viscount Berrion, according to the decree and our estimate, you will have to pay a merchant tax of thirty-five Provence Nelles, and five other men and six horses will have to pay an entry tax of fifteen Provence Nelles." This tax collector has an iron-faced and selfless face......

“...... When you see Lord Berrion, you may have to talk to him and have him return all the taxes he has collected to you. Ron was still distressed by the huge border tax, which was almost enough to catch up with his military salary for half a year.

"Okay, let's talk about it when I see Viscount Berrion, I'm not just worried about this money......"

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Chapter 391: Private Secretary