Ye Guyun, Frank and Avis walked together on the way to the port. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Ives was going to a slave market in the harbor that was not explicitly supported, but was in fact a customary convention, to buy a few young and even juvenile slaves as apprentices.

And the other two are there to join in the fun. Of course, it is Ye who is in charge, and his curiosity about the world is just as Frank's curiosity about him.

As a human being in the third life, Ye Guyun has never visited the slave market.

Even in the second life, in the feudal society defined as cannibalism, the phenomenon of slavery and slavery was like sunshine and air, and it was justified, but it was only slavery and slavery—perhaps the relationship between employment and employment was only a superficial layer on the surface, but there was always a hint of contract spirit hidden in it. And like selling livestock, peddling in the public, allowing buyers to pick and choose fat and thin, wanton tasting, and exposing a trading relationship that tramples on dignity and personality **** naked to the sun, I dare not say that there is absolutely none, but it is definitely only a handful.

Anyway, Ye Guyun had never encountered it, even if he had reached a very high level in that world.

Now, I have my wish and can experience it for myself.

Crescent City's slave market is not open all the time, only a limited number of times a year, and the number and date are variable, depending on the origin of the "goods".

Crescent City (or the Northlands as a whole) was naturally slave-free, so slaves, like most of the other goods on the right road, were trafficked by sea from the sea.

If there is any difference that has to be mentioned, it is only the conditions of transportation. Ordinary goods (especially the high-value ones) could lie on a secure cargo ship, which the merchants always tried to avoid wear and tear, while slaves, for the most part, were piled up in dense clusters on slave ships of all sizes, in poor conditions, and sometimes even crooked and scarred.

The journey of every slave ship is a road of blood and tears.

Hey, stop, we're not here to denounce the evil of the slave trade, what we want to explain is that it is not easy to trade slaves by sea, and because of this, as a lonely city near the sea in the actual sense, the supply of slaves in Crescent City is inevitably cyclical.

In addition, the goods of slaves themselves have the peculiarity of unstable sources (slaves are not something that can be caught if they want to), and at the same time, Crescent City has a particularly strong demand for cheap labor (the whole city is on the wealthy side, and there are few people willing to do "inferior" work).......

Well, to sum it up, it means that under the combined effect of three factors, a kind of extremely in-demand cargo for slaves in Crescent City, every time it arrives, it will always be digested at a very fast speed, and in many cases it will not even take more than a day. So, the so-called slave market and its opening hours refer to the section of the wharf where many slave ships used to berth and the day they sailed into the port.

Today is the day when a group of slave ships arrive.

There was a fleet of three ships, the Acacia, the Old Beech and the Ancient Oak, all of which were neat and shiny three-masted ships, and their huge sails were embroidered with the same coat of arms, indicating that they all belonged to a powerful family with a deep heritage.

Dark green, framed by a circle, is a giant tree with deep roots and flourishing foliage, which is the image of the coat of arms, an emblem that belongs to the Latres family.

The Latres family is a wealthy family that started from the slave trade, and it has been more than 100 years since its rise to the present. However, they have long been wealthy families, but they have never considered transformation, but have resolutely carried forward this ancestral business of lack of morality, and now, they even monopolize several slave sources.

(In fact, the vicinity of the Latres family's location is a place where there have been many wars for a long time, and there is a theory that these seemingly never-ending wars were deliberately manipulated by the Latres family.) ）

This century-old human trafficker is quite professional in such a job as slave trafficking, which can be seen from the fact that they can easily arrange three high-end and high-grade sail ships that are completely different from their peers as a means of transportation. For those who are interested in buying slaves, the coat of arms of the Latress family is simply a sign of quality assurance.

As for the people of Crescent City, it has long been assumed that the arrival of the fleet of the Ratress family is the day when the largest, most important and most valuable slave market of the year is opened.

Along the way, Frank was popularizing some relevant knowledge for Ye Guyun, and of course, there was also the reason why Derotan and Avis's blacksmith shop needed to buy slaves.

“...... Even an ordinary blacksmith usually needs to hire some small workers to help with some tedious and uncomplicated tasks. And some of the more skilled blacksmiths and petty workers who are able to recruit apprentices are probably played by their apprentices. As for Derotan and Avis, as a pair of grandmaster-level blacksmiths who are famous, they are obviously much busier than ordinary blacksmiths, so, hehe, they can't do without the support of their apprentices at all......"

“...... Ken, Stowe, and Barty, all three of them were apprentices to Derotan and Avis, and had been with them for years, before coming to Crescent City, ha, as you can imagine, they were all slaves. ”

“...... Why did they leave? It's very simple, because they have learned something! Drotan and Ives never hesitate to give careful guidance to their apprentices! Speaking of which, they are really good teachers! Every batch of apprentices, as long as they stay with them for a few years, will become excellent blacksmiths, and then they will be poached by some lord, noble, or merchant who is in dire need of blacksmiths with high salaries. Ken, Stowe, and Barty already have a good reputation, and they must have left for the same reason this time!"

"They don't stand in the way, they think it's the right thing for apprentices. And after losing these indispensable helps, they had to recruit a new batch. Mentoring from the beginning, until they are matured, they become famous, and then they are told to get out of here, and over and over again! Over the years, I don't know how many excellent craftsmen have graduated from this small blacksmith shop, and these people are now scattered throughout the cities of the Northland and even the mainland. For example, hehe, the blacksmith group in the engineer barracks at Ehillon Castle is full of apprentices from the two of them......"

“...... University, yes, university, I like it, their blacksmith's shop is a foundry university......"

“...... Why did you choose to buy slaves as apprentice......s? Ye, you may have limited your own thinking. Think about the situation in Crescent City, and you'll get the answer. It's not that Derotan and Ives don't want to take in some of the inhabitants as apprentices, and they did exactly that in the first place—everyone knew that it was easier to train a resident with normal status than a slave! In Crescent City, it is difficult to find anyone willing to serve as a blacksmith apprentice, especially among the most suitable young people......"

“...... They can be businessmen, they can be landlords, and they can easily get by. They have become accustomed to a comfortable life, become impetuous, arrogant, impatient, and hard-working spirits have become difficult to find in them......"

“...... Of course, there is always no shortage of enterprising elites in each group, but these people in Crescent City choose to devote themselves to what they consider to be more advanced skills, such as combat skills and magic knowledge. They prefer to exist as soldiers or adventurers......"

“... Therefore, the purchase of slaves as apprentices was a last resort. I think it's a good and meaningful practice, and at least it can give a lot of slaves who have been in a miserable situation a chance to change their fate..."

“... Haha, although the truth is indeed lying there, don't think that the two of them are noble, it's just that they have to buy some cheap labor for them to squeeze!"

Talking and laughing all the way - well, most of the time it was Frank talking, and the other two were just silently acting as listeners. In contrast, Ye Guyun was okay, after all, he had many questions in his heart, so he needed to speak from time to time, while Ives maintained a cold attitude with a smile and silence throughout the whole process.

Frank is not surprised, and Ye Guyun, heh, can be regarded as having an appreciation of the demeanor of the high-level race of elves.

The trio soon arrived at the port.

Ives led the way with ease.

Pointing to the dock workers that could be seen everywhere nearby, Ye Guyun asked, "Aren't these people residents of this city?"

"I know what you mean, but it doesn't contradict what I just said. Frank replied, "In fact, they are not full residents of the city, although they have more complete rights." ”

"Some of them are retail immigrants who have moved in from other places, some are domestic servants brought in by merchants from their own cities, and some are ....... Alas, the provenance is too complicated! And most of them were originally slaves, and they first came here in the same way and in the same way and in the same circumstances as you will see in the slave market. Of course, now they are no longer slaves, they have all been converted into indentured laborers, and their personal rights are greatly guaranteed. ”

"In fact, not only the dock workers, but all the heavy manual laborers in Crescent City now mostly exist in the form of indentured labor. These contracts, some fair, some unfair, but all very heavy and not so easy to buy out. After all, Crescent City was indeed short of labor, and it took a lot of effort for the merchants to gather the existing labor force here. ”

"All indentured workers, gradually, will become residents of this city and enjoy complete rights, which is a solemn promise we give. Because we know that there can't be only one ...... in a city Uh, what do you mean by that word? Father used to say......"

"Class. Ye Guyun interjected.

"Oh! yes!" Frank exclaimed, then muttered in a low voice, "It doesn't seem like the word, but it sounds more accurate...... Whatever!"

Frank smiled sheepishly and continued: "There can't be only one class in a city, so we have to do some filling, make some divisions. And then we know that in order for the city to remain vibrant, we cannot allow all classes to be completely fractured and rigid....."

"Class solidification. Ye Guyun interjected again.

"Yes, we can't let the class solidify, so we designed some ...... that we thought would be appropriate uh...."

"Ascending Channel!"

"That's right......."

Ye Guyun nodded and stopped talking.

The three of them didn't go far before they came to a bustling dock. Seeing a large number of brightly dressed merchants, stewards or escorts, Ye Guyun knew that he had almost arrived at his destination.

Sure enough, through the crowd, you can already see several rectangular wooden platforms two or three feet high for display, on which the traffickers are talking endlessly about slaves in ragged clothes and numb eyes. Most of them are humans, but others are some less common humanoid races, half-orcs, half-elves, dwarves......

It's like selling livestock!

"Ah, poor man......"

For the first time, Ives uttered a meaningful word.

"Let's go, this is for the gentlemen! Our goal is elsewhere. ”