The arrival of Lord Innocent has kept the few remaining monks in the area busy. Visit Download txt

There is a small hill here, and the monastery is built in a not-so-dense forest on the southern slope. After leaving the warm city of Chanda, the ancient missionaries would stop here for a short time, and then they would go deep into the forest to preach the gospel of the Lord. Grapes were brought in from the dry provinces at a very early stage, and after a difficult attempt, they finally survived and gradually developed some less productive vineyards. When the empire collapsed, the source of cheap slaves disappeared, and the local slaves either went into exile because of the war or became local farmers, and there were no longer enough manpower to run the large-scale vineyards, and the vineyards gradually shrank to their present size". In ancient times, when Emperor Chanda traveled to the eastern provinces, the vast area around the monastery once supplied more than 400 barrels of wine, and the last part that was not drunk was brought back to the western capital by the emperor and given to his consuls and friends in the senate as a wonderful gift from the East.

The monks managed to keep two vineyards, running one of their own estates and leasing the other to the local aristocracy, charging a hefty rent, choosing whether to pay the rent in gold or directly with the wine, depending on the price of the wine. Regardless of the vineyard, many artisans are employed, and each vineyard has its own juicer and cellar.

The name of this mountain is Ba Kan Mountain. This strange name is clearly not a Chanda place name, nor is it a Vikian one, and the monks believe that it is a Kugit word meaning a series of tree-covered mountains. This explanation is not very satisfying, because the mountain is a large rock standing alone on the plain, not a part of a mountain. But the monks have long monopolized the right to explain everything, and people can only trust them. The monks believed that the original inhabitants of the area were relatives of the Kugit people, who migrated from the vast lands of the east and settled the first settlements here. As the Chanda Empire expanded, well-equipped soldiers and skilled farmers brought it into the embrace of the empire.

It was a very old time, when the Valans used helmets to make wine jugs. The Vekian Servants who led them sang a war song. Knocking on the shield and sacking the rich city of Chanda again and again. The era of the Zenda people is over, and so are the Varans, but the Vikyans have gradually become the masters of this region, from the mountains to the great rivers, from the forests to the deserts, the Vicchians have received the ancient alien cities one after another, and turned them into their own territory. The Wikiyans learned alphabet after letter from letter to foreign cultures, especially the Eastern Zendas, and developed their own culture. Nowadays Wikibians have their own wine, their own poetry, their own epics, and their own heroes. It is no longer possible for a Wikibian town to be governed by a few foreign nobles as it was in the past. It's hard to imagine. In ancient times, a dozen Valan nobles were able to occupy the towns of Vekia, where hundreds or thousands of people lived, and give orders to turn men into soldiers and women to give birth to soldiers.

Lord Innocent's entourage was no more than a dozen people, including two apprentices, a supervisor, and a few Valan soldiers and farmers who volunteered to follow him. The supervisor was the courtier who had been kicked out of the earl's house. Now people call him the Gothic Director. The man learned to drink. He began to binge eat, and he felt very disappointed in life. He had been the hope of the revival of the decaying family. He is good at poetry and music, has worked as a drug dealer and musician, and knows how to make medicine and write. He had studied in the best academies and consulted some of the smartest people in the world, but now, he was left to spend time with a bunch of hypocrites and as the head of a monastery who used to be a pimp.

"My lord," said an obscene-looking monk to Innocent, "we have two hours to go, shall we find a place to rest?" ”

The monk took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweaty forehead, his bald head was steaming with moisture, as if it were about to be cooked.

"I thought we were close," said Innocent, pointing to the spire of the main abbey building peeking out behind the treetops, "and it looks like we'll be there in half an hour." ”

"You are wrong," the monk glanced at the monastery uneasily, "and we are separated from the monastery by a river. There used to be many wheat mills and grape crushing juicers on the river, and many craftsmen ran these small workshops and were responsible for maintaining a bridge over the river, which was made of stone and made of stone. If only you had come earlier, you would have seen how beautiful the arches of that bridge were, like the hunchback of a woman. But a few days ago it rained, everything was over, and the bridge was washed out. We have money, we have stones, but you see, we don't have people who can repair bridges, not a single craftsman still stays in the country. Now we can't cross the river. ”

"Where are the craftsmen?" Innocent jumped off his mule and scratched at the top of his freshly shaved head, where the hair had grown and itched him. "There doesn't seem to be a shortage of food here."

"Of course, there is plenty of food," the monk wiped his sweat, not daring to look into Innocent's eyes, "but this plague has corrupted the human heart. These craftsmen used to rely on our protection and worked for us here, and we paid them a fee, which is very fair and without the slightest problem. But when the plague came, and in the city the wages of the craftsmen were doubled, and these lowly embryos came to our old dean, who had not yet died of syphilis, and these people demanded the same wages from the old dean. You know, old dean, what? Don't you know? Oh, that's okay, a man of great integrity and purity, who rightly refused, and accused the craftsmen of treachery. Those craftsmen are some sturdy bastards, and we dare not provoke them, but the old dean is not afraid at all, what a brave saint, may God bless him with his soul to heaven. ”

"Why do you say that the craftsmen are treacherous?" Dean Innocent asked curiously.

"Because the wages were set a hundred years ago," said the monk confidently, "at that time, the abbot of the abbey and the head of the artisans' guild signed a contract to determine the wages for the next thousand years, and it is intolerable for these bastards to blatantly break the contract." ”

"But in a hundred years the price of bread has tripled, forage three times more expensive, and wine one and a half times more expensive," Innocent said, looking back at one of his attendants. The attendant nodded, indicating that Innocent was not mistaken. "And you think the wage increase is not negotiable?"

"These are two things," the monk wondered, "why should we care how much bread is now?" ”

Innocent moved his numb feet, "The craftsman has a wife and children at home, and he has to buy tools and clothes for himself, and the whole family has to eat bread, if he can't even afford these things." Why do you have to work? ”

"So that's what you said," said the monk, "there is absolutely no problem of the artisans not being able to feed their families, they have bread to eat all year round, and meat or fish every six months, and nothing better." They left. It's just because they're of bad character. ”

"No, they just left because the wages were better somewhere else." Innocent's subordinates were silent on this, they were accustomed to listening to the abbot's opinions, and the local priest felt that the new abbot was not easy to deal with. "Cities can raise their wages, why can't you?"

"Who are the people in the city? Do you compare us to them? The monk said with some displeasure, "some Burkes who are usurers, a bunch of barbarians from Nord, and some little bastards who make their fortune by stealing in the market. These people ignore the treaty. Why should we be led by the nose by them if we change the employment price without authorization? ”

Innocent said with a smile. "Because your juicers and mills have to be run by somebody. After the craftsman is gone, the loss is great. ”

"Nature is great," said the monk, "but we don't care, we will never give up our dignity because of some loss." ”

"Oh, dignity." Innocent repeated the word, "Will the tenants of the monastery pay their food and taxes on time this year?" ”

"I'm afraid it's hard," said the monk, "that many people have died, and that the rest will have no time recovering all the land." But it's the same in other regions, every region has a shortage of farmers, and we are not the only ones, so you don't blame us for that. ”

"No, it won't." Innocent said.

"My brother and I are worried about this," the monk frowned, "and one of the knights in the north hanged his butler because of the reduction in taxes. ”

"I am not a knight, and I am not a gallow," said Innocent, "and I promise not to blame you, as long as you obey my arrangement." ”

The monk seemed to be glad that he had been reassured, but he did not dare to believe it.

"Lord Dean, if you can really do this, you will be grateful to all of our brothers."

"You don't have to be grateful to me," Innocent moved as he prepared to step onto the mule, and one of his attendants helped him climb up, "I was one of you. ”

Most of the newly appointed deans boast that they are one of them all, but few of them actually do. The monk tried in his heart to discard Innocent's affinity, so as not to interfere with his judgment.

"My lord, we can rest a little longer."

"No," said Innocent, "we went directly to the monastery from the Broken Bridge. ”

"But that road is impassable." The monk said anxiously.

"I heard that a farmer repaired the bridge last week, and although the stone bridge was not restored, there are already wooden rafts that pave the bridge deck, so that two people can pass side by side, why do you call this impassable?"

"My lord," said the monk, "it's a rotten road, and the water under the bridge is so strong that I can't let you take any chances." ”

"I'm the dean," Innocent said, "and I'll decide how to go." ”

As soon as Innocent decided to set off, the small group was ready, and the retinue mounted their mules one after another, and the two chatting soldiers also arranged their spears and swords, and walked briskly to the front of the line to lead the way, and a few peasants hurriedly followed with a few luggage and parcels.

The monk looked at the dean in annoyance, and after the group had gone some distance, he reluctantly followed.

After a short stretch of grassy country road, a small forest that had been burned by fire appeared on the left side of the road. In the past, the road was surrounded by a fence, and wooden piles of one man high were built along both sides of the road, connected by two or three wooden strips, which decorated the path very beautifully and at the same time revealed the wealth of the monastery. Now the fences have collapsed in several places, and all the wood is white, moldy, and untended by the rain. On the edge of this grove burned by flames. There stood several dark-skinned Kujits. The men were holding handkerchiefs around their noses and were chatting with each other, resting with their hands folded on top of their tools. As the dean and his party passed by, the kujittes nodded stiffly.

"Who are these people?" Innocent, after walking some distance, asked the monk.

"Some wandering Kujits, they come from the steppes of Vekia." The monk got hotter, licking his lips constantly. "They move and go, and no one knows where they came from. They themselves don't remember very well, but their hometown is probably a pasture near the Zejiasi Pass, and they say that they are from the Great Mountain Pass. ”

"How did they end up in this place?"

"There are not enough people, Lord Dean, we are short of many people. These people are willing to come and cultivate the land. He helped us run the farm, and he also had a hand in grazing," said the monk, "and it came to pass that the Ziyou cavalry of the Iron Shield River often stopped at our place, and when we told them that we needed some manpower, they volunteered to help us spread the news in all directions. Soon after. These Kugits have fled to us in twos and threes. Become our sharecropper. ”

"Do they have land?"

"Land? Of course not, how could we possibly give the land to this bunch of barbarians. The monk said. Lord Dean, please don't worry about this matter, we won't mess things up, all the land deeds, we are in Little East Lake City, protected by the Council of Vekia and the Council of Burke, these barbarians have no way to turn against the guest. ”

"Oh, that's right." Innocent untied the water bladder from the saddle of his mule and handed it to the monk, "You are so hot that you seem to have fallen into the water. What do these Kujit do? ”

"Hmph, what will they do!" "You see," cried the monk dissatisfiedly, "they plough the land by burning a grove and then ploughing on the ashes. Heavy ploughing, light ploughing, seed selection, fertilization, all not. Lazy and arrogant, fond of drinking and fighting. If it weren't for the lack of manpower, we wouldn't have let them here. ”

The group walked along the sun-dappled path, and soon heard the sound of the river flowing.

The bright blue water of the river resembles a silk streamer, and it is here that the girls of Vecchia used to draw water from it, laugh at each other, and carefully roll up their white or huáng dresses so as not to get wet. From here the warriors departed, and the boots and hooves of the horses had broken through the quiet dawn here, leaving only the melancholy echoes of the maidens and many empty afternoons. Melancholy Vykian songs spread here, singing about cheap wine, singing of knights' swords, singing fables about ancient kings. It was now quiet and uninhabited, two broken dinghys leaned against the shore, a fire was lit in the middle of three or two shacks, a thin and blackened old fisherman looked at the visitor with a watchful eye, and at the same time skillfully repaired a ** fishing net with a wooden shuttle with both hands, and a bucket of fish was alive in a wooden barrel.

Innocent saw the bridge that the monk had feared: it had two arches, which indeed resembled a woman's house, and the middle part of the bridge had collapsed, and the broken stones were faintly visible at the bottom of the river, and some white stones had been fished ashore. After the bridge broke, people found a lot of men and women in the bridge, these are ancient Zenda statues, when people were building the bridge, those sculptures were broken and filled into the bridge as stones, and a flood brought them back to light. The villagers were amazed that the stone sculptures and people were so similar to living people, and the priests warned the villagers not to be too interested in the ancient pagan stuff, saying that the stone statues were actually living people who had been enchanted.

The bridge is now connected with several wooden planks, and people piled two piles of gravel in the middle of the river, and then laid wooden planks on top of the gravel, fastened with stones and iron nails, and looked terrible. It is no wonder that the monks were worried that the peasants could travel on such a road, but the well-pampered monks would not be able to pass through. Of course, there is more to the despair than that, because the two piles of rocks are constantly sinking, and the speed of the sinking is different, so that the plank in the middle is tilted, and one of them has fallen into the water, and it is absolutely impossible to repair it without half a day's work, and now only the most daring farmer can climb over with the plank, and even then, he will inevitably wet his trouser legs.

"My lord," the monk tried to dissuade his abbot at the very least, "I beg you one last time, let us turn slowly back along the river, it will take a little longer, but it will be foolproof. It's also good for walking around, it's good for appetite, we have prepared fish and nǎi cheese, boiled vegetables, small mushrooms drizzled with nǎi oil, and even a small barrel of wine that you will have an appetite for in the evening! Please follow me! ”

The fisherman came over and looked at Innocent's mule, "My lord, this fat priest is right. If nothing else, your mule will never be able to cross the river, and it will fall off when it gets on the plank. You won't be able to get to the other side in two hours. Would you like to see my fish? Big and fat, just online, cheap like a free giveaway. There is also half a bucket of shrimp here, which is also very good, and my daughter caught it for two days! ”

Innocent looked at the fisherman, "I'm the new abbot, and you actually say that I can't get to my place in two hours?" ”

The fisherman looked melancholy at the other side of the river, "Even if you are the Ecumenical Patriarch," the fisherman swallowed, "you will not be able to arrive." You can only walk along the riverbank, where there are good places to walk. If you can stand on the other side of the river for half an hour, I'll give you the fish and shrimp. ”

The fisherman's eyes widened suddenly: the dean unbuttoned his robe without saying a word, and took off his clothes one by one, and soon there was nothing left. Then, the dean folded his pants together and pressed them against his bare head. Amid the screams of his subordinates, Lord Innocent jumped into the water, revealing only one head, and a pair of trousers on his head, and swam towards the opposite shore as fast as a fish.

The Abbot's team was stunned, drawing crosses on the shore, praying for the blessed Mother of Good Fortune to bless the Abbot, and something was crumbling in the fisherman's heart, and he looked at the priest team with a deceitful expression.

A few minutes later, a person on the opposite side waved his hand and asked his subordinates to rush over as soon as possible, and then put on his ** pants and turned around and walked into the woods.

The dean's team did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly went on the road along the riverbank.

The monk was sweating profusely and was holding a bucket of fish, and the Gothic director was shocked and holding half a bucket of shrimp.