Summer days are always very hot, the air is sweltering when you breathe it into your lungs, and even the migratory birds in the air hide under the branches of the trees to avoid the sun's temperature.

The dazzling sunlight was sprinkled from the sky to the earth, and the cattle and sheep were lying on the ground listlessly, and everything seemed so lazy.

But human beings, as creatures, are completely different from them, they have to be busy for their livelihoods, and in order to make life better for themselves and their families, they have to run around in this hot summer day.

A modest caravan was moving slowly along the bustling stone roads of Denlenburg, the heart of the kingdom of Lorik, where commerce was extremely thriving, and a large number of caravans and merchants had to come here from all over the world to earn the profits they craved.

At this time, the wide stone road is very crowded, and although it is not a rubble, the road is also full of pedestrians.

People gather together to become more sultry, and the sun seems to become more and more fierce at this time, as if it will not stop until the last drop of water in the body has evaporated.

Mendes wiped the sweat from his head with the clothes on his body, squinted his eyes to prevent the sweat from entering his eyes, and he glanced forward, only to see that there was still an endless crowd in front of him.

He sighed and looked at the small caravan behind him, his heart full of apprehension.

The caravan was accompanied by four wagons and five caravan guards.

These caravan escorts were not cheap, and the escort cost him a silver coin.

However, he knew it was worth it, because he was blocked by a group of robbers before he could enter the kingdom of Lorik.

They weren't ordinary robbers collecting tolls, they looked like a group of improvised gangsters who were going to disband after a single vote.

But fortunately, he hired these caravan guards, and seven or eight people hesitated for a while after seeing the caravan guards and chose to let them go.

At that time, Mendes's heart was about to jump out of his heart, and he was really afraid that something would happen to him this time.

It is nothing to lose your life here, but your family will inevitably live an extremely miserable life because of this.

In fact, he was once a relatively wealthy merchant who lived a very decent life with his own house and business in a city in the Rhodeland Empire.

However, due to the recent military action in the Rhodesland Empire, the tax rate on luxury goods has been raised.

This caused the luxury merchants in the territory of the Empire of Rodland to suffer heavy losses and almost go bankrupt.

And he was no exception, the goods bought at a high price could not be sold at a low price, and no one would pay much more for the same thing than before, even if those people were wealthy and did not lack money.

In this way, his business became more and more shrinking, and the long-term unrecoverable funds made it more and more difficult for him to turn over, and many businesses could not be sustained.

But the labor and the rent of the premises had to be paid, for which he already owed the guild more than a thousand silver coins.

Although this money was not a small amount for him in the past, it did not reach the current situation of being in such a desperate situation.

But now, he has nothing to do, and the long-term imposition of the luxury tax has made the market extremely depressed, and he has no profit at all.

These thousand silver coins were already a mountain for him, and the pressure on his back made him breathless.

If he can't get the money, his family will become very miserable.

Which guilds are not a good thing, they will do anything for money, and they will never do a loss-making business.

He has already imagined the end of his own money, his son was castrated and trained to sell at a high price, while his daughter and wife were sold to the chicken yard to pick up customers, and their own real estate and factories will all be occupied by them.

At this time, he heard that one of his former colleagues had made a fortune in the Kingdom of Lorik and saved his own industry, so he also wanted to try his luck here and see if he could turn the situation around.

It can be said that this time the merchant is his last straw, if he succeeds, then his funds can be returned, and after repaying the loan from the guild, he can sell part of his property to maintain his daily life.

Maybe after this luxury tax is over, he can make a comeback with his own capital.

And if he fails, he is robbed of the goods or gets the desired profit here, he will face a very miserable end.

It can be said that this time is an attempt by him to break the boat.

Mendez touched the cross on his chest, put it on his mouth and kissed it, praying to the Holy Father to bless him with all the best.

He looked at the merchants around him, and his heart settled down a little, because he believed that if it were not for profit, these merchants would not have come here.

Moreover, as rumors have said along the way, there are indeed not so many tax cards here, even if he passes through the territory of those vassals, as long as they show the customs certificate, they do not need to pay the tax again.

He wiped the sweat from his face again, enduring hardships that he had not endured in many years, and he had no choice for the sake of his family.

Finally, as it was approaching dusk, he finally saw the towering walls of Denlenburg.

Outside the city walls, there are circles of houses and shops.

He looked at the bustling scene around him, and couldn't help but have more hope for this trip.

Mendez swore that he had never seen such a prosperous place, and that he had walked on the stone roads all the way, passing through the large and small commercial cities, but not entering the city.

When he actually entered Denlenburg, he was immediately stunned by the prosperity of this place, which was not only prosperous, but also so orderly.

He had been to Deboren, the capital of the Empire, but it was so filthy and chaotic that a careless person could leave his purse.

But here, there is no such sight at all.

He was also a little fascinated when he passed by the splendid entertainment venues, but he knew that this time was different from the past, and he was not qualified to enter these places that were expensive at first sight.

He walked the streets for a while, and soon found his goal.

It was a very large tailor's shop, and he had brought four carts of beautifully crafted velvet, almost the best ready-to-wear material in the entire Holy Cult world.

Even William's fine clothes were all made of velvet, which shows his value.

He entered the tailor's shop and quickly made a deal, the tailor owner often sewed clothes for the nobles, and velvet, which was in short supply, was in short supply, and he would not give up such a large batch of goods this time.

Four carts of velvet he sold for six thousand silver coins.

When Mendes got his hands on the six bags of gold coins, he froze.