Vilno, an important border town in the south of Provence, is the largest fortress city in the southeast of Provence.

Thanks to the national war that lasted for more than two years, the vicinity of Vilno has not yet recovered its former prosperity, except for a few road throats, most of the military forts and village manors around the city are in ruins, and it only takes less than a month to destroy a castle, but it may take generations of hard work and sweat to build a castle.

There was no better place to stay than Vilno's people who had crossed the border, and the tax collector at the border outpost had repeatedly warned them that bandits and rebels had been rampant in the border area recently, so they did not plan to risk sleeping in the wilderness.

So they didn't care about the horsepower, everyone could only urge the horses to run, and rushed to Vilno City before the dark city gate closed.

The city was about to be curfew, so there were not many pedestrians in the city when everyone entered the city, and even the shops closed their doors and closed their doors.

When you come to Vilno, Yate naturally doesn't have to go to the boarding house, the European Comptoir just established a shop in Vilno in September last year, the name of the shop is the Continental Comptoir, and all the points under the Continental Comptoir, whether it is a transit station or a shop, have the function of providing food and lodging for their own caravans.

The group paced on the north-south main road in the center of Vilno, and soon came to a three-row shop with an attic on the second floor, from the top of the attic stretched out an iron frame, under the iron frame hung a long and wide signboard, on which were written "European Merchant House" several bright and eye-catching common texts, and a wolf pattern was drawn on the top of the signboard.

On the front of the shop, there is also an eye-catching signboard on the door beam, and there are several rows of slightly smaller words in addition to the words "European Commercial Bank" - buy southern goods at a high price, and sell northern goods at a low price

Next to the three rows of doorways is an alleyway, which is large enough for horse-drawn carriages, and inside the alleyway is a side-opening gate, which is supposed to be the backyard of the shop.

Two shopkeeper-looking men were slamming the last shop door to the door bar, and Ron jumped off his horse to stop it.

A freckled shopkeeper in a coarse linen robe was first startled by the horrific scar on Ron's face, and then after making sure that the man was not a robber who had broken down the door and robbed him, he said impatiently: "Honorable guest, it is closed today, please come back tomorrow morning to buy and sell goods!"

Ron didn't have a chance to buddy, so he pushed open the door and walked in, "Tell Serjo that Lord Art is here in person, let him greet him." ”

"Who are you?" Another shop guy couldn't help but ask.

"My name is Ron, hurry up and find Sercho down, the adults are still waiting outside the door." Ron's tone was non-negotiable, and the freckled fellow took it as he hurried through the shop.

After a while, a middle-aged man wearing a peaked soft hat, a short woolen shawl, and a cotton robe with a suspicious face hurriedly ran out, and an old man who looked like a scribe came out with the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man took a look at the candle flame in the shop that had not yet been blown out, and quickly took off the soft hat on his head, "Lord Ron, it's really you!" ”

Sergio, born in the south of Provence, four years ago when Lombardy invaded Provence, the owner of this grocery store fled north to Burgundy with his wife and daughter, and was recruited by the then patrol officer Yat when passing through the southern wilderness of Tignaz.

With the formal establishment of the European comptoir, the earliest caravan clerk was also promoted step by step, and in September last year, the southern part of Provence was basically stable, and Sergio was also sent by the commercial officer of the European comptoir to the south of Provence, which he was familiar with, to form the Vilno branch of the continental comptoir.

Serjo is also a senior primordial in the valley, so he is familiar with Ron.

Ron stepped forward and nodded in greeting, "Steward Serjo, your lord is waiting outside the door." ”

Celjo didn't have time to greet Ron, so he quickly straightened his clothes and strode outside the store......

"My lord, the shop in front was originally the largest tavern in Vilno, but after the war, the tavern went bankrupt and closed down, and we rented the shop from the lord's hall last September, and Lord Berrion gave us support, and the shop only needs to pay five thousand pfennig per year."

The front shop has three rows of shops, and there are also two-story rooms and attics, which is cheap enough, and Berrion is indeed enough to support the European comptoir.

Serjo pointed to the place where everyone was standing, "This courtyard in the back was originally a merchant, and the original owner is now living in the Northland, and we spent 50,000 Fennigh to buy it from him, and it was connected to the shop in front of it, as a store for the European Merchant House. ”

The square courtyard was not very large, but it was complete with a carport, stables, wells, and storehouses, and there were a few low houses on the inner side of the courtyard, which could not only park the horses, but also store goods, and provide temporary accommodation for the attachés of the caravans.

"The courtyard can be used for the attaché's residence, and the caravan steward can go to the guest room on the second floor of the shop in front of him."

"What about the guards? How many guards are there? ”

"Lord Hui, there are three guards in total, there are two guards with short swords in the shop in front of them during the day, and one guard patrols back and forth between the shops and the warehouse after closing at night, and the three guards take turns to take care of them, plus there is the care of Lord Berion, so there has been no change so far."

"Does the shop have an underground vault?" Art is more concerned about whether there is a secret room, because spices such as black pepper are more expensive than gold, and it is absolutely inevitable that people with bad intentions will peep.

"Yes, yes, the entrance and exit of the secret room is in the shop, and all the precious southern goods such as raw silk and spices we have purchased in the past few months are stored in the secret room, and the key to the secret room is only carried by me and the clerk; At present, due to the poor sales channel in the north, the Salter steward only buys spices for the time being, and the rest of the southern goods are not purchased for the time being. ”

Art nodded, the specific operation of the European Commercial Bank is undertaken by the executives of the European Commercial Bank, such as Salter, and he is only responsible for formulating the direction, and the specific details will not interfere too much.

However, his fixed business with the local guild in Lombardy Ravati was intended to be placed at Sercho's disposal. "In the name of Salter, I negotiated a deal with the local southern cargo company in Rawati, and from next month they will send a batch of low-cost spices and other southern goods to Bogdan every month, and you will go to the dock in person at that time." Art gave the contract to Sergio.

"Now the tariffs on the Lombard side are very low, but the taxes on the Provence side are very heavy, and as for how to avoid the tariffs, I still need to go to the Viscount of Berrion to discuss in person."

Celjo turned out to be a contract.

Accompanied by Serjo, Arte rounded the shops and warehouses with great satisfaction, and praised several of the Vilno Continental Merchant House, and gave Sercho and the clerk a bronze coin at a discount of fifty pfennigs, and the rest of the guards gave them a reward ranging from ten to fifty pfennigs.

Everyone is very grateful.

Art rejected Serjo's request to verify the account books, saying "I can rest assured that you will do things", which caused Serjo to be moved by tears.

That night, Art and his entourage were settled in the guest room of the European Comptoir to rest, and they did not speak all night.

Early the next morning, Arte sent Ron himself to the Vilno Lord's Hall to invite Viscount Berrion to a banquet in the most luxurious tavern in the city, and Ron was soon back.

"Viscount Berrion went hunting? Where to hunt? ”

Ron wiped the sweat from his forehead, "In the hilly area at the foot of Mount Lamel southeast of Vilno, Viscount Berrion sent two hundred troops into the mountain to chase and suppress for half a month before driving the remnants of those rebels down the mountain, and now he has mobilized three hundred soldiers near Vilno to surround the rebels in a hill, and just last night, Lord Berrion personally went out of the city to command the encirclement and suppression. ”

"Now the city of Vilno is guarded by Nadord, the knight of the Inner Palace, Viscount Berrion, and this news was also told to me by Sir Nadord." Ron picked up the wine glass on the wooden table and took a sip.

Art touched his chin, "I just happened to miss it~ This purging of the remnants of the bandits is not a day or two that can be over, we can't wait forever~"

Arte must meet Berion, this is one of the main purposes of his southward journey, Berion is now not only the upstart of the Provençal court, but also the support of Arte in Provence, and more importantly, he has become the lord and army commander of Provence in the southeastern border of Vilno, and the next development of the European merchant house must rely on the help of the viscount of Berion.

Salter has visited Berion many times, and the various forces of the European comptoir in Provence are all dependent on Berrion to deal with them, but Salter is only a subordinate of Arte after all, so it is reasonable that this kind of thing must be done by Art himself.

"Ron, you take Matthew and them to Sir Nadot and ask him to send us a soldier who knows the way, and then lend us five horses and armor." Art decides to venture out of the city to find Berion for herself.

"Master, isn't it too dangerous?" Ron said "danger" in his mouth, but his tone was full of anticipation, and the greatest pleasure for him now was to fight in battle.

"Are you afraid of danger? Don't worry, I won't take risks lightly, my main purpose is to find Viscount Berion, and if I have the chance, cut off a few bandit heads as a greeting gift. Art said as he began to remove the weapon from the wooden rack.

"Go ahead, remember to lend me a hard bow."

Barrion and Art have a good relationship, and Nadot also has a close personal relationship with Ron, and after learning that Art was going out of the city to find Berion, the commander who stayed behind Nadot specially selected two elite cavalry to lead the way for Art, and personally took Ron and several people to the arsenal stable to select five sets of weapons, armor and five young horses.

At noon, after being invited to a sumptuous lunch in the hall of the lord, the five men of Yat and two leading cavalry left Vilno and headed towards the hills and mountains to the southeast......

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Chapter 392: The European Merchant House