Chapter 381 [Coincidence?]

On the twenty-second day, the party arrived in a small town called Rova in the northern part of the province.

Waiting here was Boromir, the son of Baron Pierre, and his supply brigade.

Polomir had already traveled to the north more than a month ago to receive the land purchased by Chen Daolin and others from the Governor's Palace.

At this moment, the baron's son, according to the prior plan, purchased a large amount of grain, as well as farm tools, seeds and other materials near Rova City, and waited here to meet Chen Daolin's northbound army.

At the same time, Polomir also had a mission, which was to serve as a midway supply team for Chen Daolin's northward army.

A large team of 10,000 people, mixed with a large number of carriages and horses, appeared on the road in a mighty way, stretching endlessly.

In fact, even the defenders of Rova were stunned by this scene.

For a whole afternoon, the roads to the south were filled with crowds and horse-drawn carriages.

Rova was not on a major route, nor was it a march route to the fortresses on the northern border, so this mass migration of more than 10,000 men was enough to make these local onlookers the talk of a lifetime.

The population of Rova was small, with only a few thousand local families living there, and the garrison stationed there consisted of only a small group of fifty local garrisons, as well as a few temporary hired militia-like farmers.

Although Boromir did not have any special talents, he still completed the task assigned to him quite well.

He had been in the north for a month. A large number of materials were collected here, and after meeting Chen Daolin, Chen Daolin was very satisfied to see it. The list of hoards he handed over to Boromir was more than seventy percent complete.

"The price of grain here is twice as high as in the south, and the amount we buy is so great that I have bought almost all the grain that can be collected within a radius of a few hundred miles from the north, and even if we are lucky, I have met a convoy from Tulip Territory, who is responsible for transporting military supplies to the garrison stationed on the northern border. I befriended the leader of the group, and he promised me two percent more than the market price. You can sell us a batch of grain. ”

"Nothing could go wrong. Chen Daolin frowned: "I don't want to have any conflicts with the Tulip family's army, this kind of reselling military supplies will always cause trouble." ”

"No, it won't. Polomir was quite sure: "The grain they sell is old grain that has been hoarded to the upper limit of time - I asked clearly." The Tulip family treats their army really well. The garrisons of the border fortresses were given the best grain, and once the old grain was stored for a certain period of time, it was not allowed to be eaten by the army, but the old grain was disposed of and replaced with new grain. The leader of the convoy said that he knew the quartermaster of the border fortress and could help us buy a batch of stale rations, which seemed to me to be completely edible. Anyway, they have to dispose of a batch every year, and the Tulip family allows this practice - they sell anyone they sell. As for selling it to us, that leader only needs to get a little benefit. ”

Chen Daolin sat there. Fingers tapped on the table, thinking for a moment. He nodded: "Then do it! according to the price and conditions you said...... But one more thing, I asked them to deliver the grain to our site, and I didn't want to pay any more for the freight. ”

Boromir quickly went out, leaving Chen Daolin and Montoya in the room.

Chen Daolin sighed, Montoya looked at Chen Daolin unexpectedly, frowned, and said, "My lord, is there anything wrong?"

"This Bolomir was slaughtered. ”

"Huh?"

Chen Daolin said lightly: "It's not strange that the army deals with old grain. But generally speaking, the price of this kind of old military grain sold should often be at least 30% cheaper than that on the market. And if the quality of the goods is lower, it is not surprising that the price of a small number of stale grains is 70% lower. When I was in the imperial capital, I heard that many wine-making merchants ate large sums of money to make wine. ”

Montoya's eyes changed, and his face became a little ugly: "My lord...... This Bolomir, will he ...... from it"

"Not really. Chen Daolin shook his head and said slowly: "When he reported this matter to me just now, his expression was very excited, and he completely looked like he had completed the task and showed me his merits - his expression was by no means like he was disguised, if he pretended to be, then this Bolomir would be much more powerful than we imagined, he didn't have this ability." He must have been deceived by those quartermasters. But it doesn't matter, isn't it just spending more money, I lack everything now, but I just don't lack money. Spending more money and getting in touch with the quartermasters of these border guards will be very beneficial to us in the future. ”

After a pause, Chen Daolin said slowly: "If we want to gain a foothold in the future and build a nest here, we need a large number of various materials, and these materials cannot be satisfied by purchasing them in Nulin Province - Nulin Province is already barren. It's the Tulip family's army stationed on the border that can beat their minds. I heard that the Tulip family's private army stationed on the border had more than 10,000 regular troops, as well as 20,000 servant troops and auxiliaries. These more than 30,000 troops eat, drink, and lazar, and consume military supplies every year, and there are also a large number of military supplies damaged and replaced. ”

......

Rova City, although it is said to be a city, but to be precise, it can only be regarded as a town.

That night, the local mayor invited Chen Daolin to a banquet.

Speaking of which, this is still a credit to Boromir. According to Chen Daolin's instructions, Bolomir stayed here for a long time, scattered a lot of gold coins, and bought a large amount of supplies.

Rova City has not had such a big money lord and tyrant for many years.

And the generous Master Bolomir is actually just a subordinate of someone else. Now the master of the Bolomir lord has come to Rova with such a migration brigade of tens of thousands of people. Naturally, these local leaders are rushing to make friends with this big man with deep pockets.

Faced with such an invitation, Chen Daolin's reaction was very strange, and he politely declined the mayor's invitation to dinner. Instead, he sent an invitation, inviting the mayor, as well as the town's garrison officers, and other dignitaries to go to his camp of 10,000 people stationed in the wilderness outside the town - a picnic!

That night, the mayor of the town, the garrison officers, and several prominent figures in Rova City were invited to Chen Daolin's camp.

What made these people strange was that Chen Daolin's big camp was stationed on a slope outside Rowa City. And it is centered on the slope and spreads out in a circle.

On the slope, there is no doubt that the tent where Chen Daolin and others lived.

The mayor and garrison officers of Rova had never seen such a large migration of troops, and they were curious. In the midst of the camping processions, you can always see people in clean white clothes walking around.

These people are obviously of a different status, significantly higher than the ordinary people, wherever they go. The people around them will take the initiative to bend down and salute them. It will even respectfully get out of the way.

These men in white robes are responsible for directing people to camp and set up, arrange for people to go to the water source to fetch water, arrange for people to rest, and take people around on patrols.

The place where Chen Daolin entertained everyone was naturally outside his own camp on the hillside.

An open-air bonfire has been lit and a row of barbecue grills has been placed next to it.

A few of the skinned, disemboweled, and cleaned lambs had been slipped into pieces and placed on the barbecue grill.

There were five men in gray robes, standing by the grill. With a brush in his hand, he brushed all kinds of spices on the lamb over and over again.

Chen Daolin brought these high-grade spices from the imperial capital. Let these Lova City dirt buns feast their mouths. After drinking a full five barrels of wine that Chen Daolin had brought out, the mayor of Rova City was so drunk that he almost forgot the purpose of his arrival tonight.

Fortunately, there was still someone around him to remind him.

Under the prompting of the people around the mayor, the mayor of Rowa City was a little embarrassed to make some requests to Chen Daolin.

Chen Daolin put down his wine glass, and after listening carefully to the mayor's words, a peaceful and friendly smile appeared on his face.

That night, the mysterious nobleman from the southern part of the empire (according to Boromir) made many agreements with the mayor of Rova and some local merchants.

This included more than a dozen huge purchase orders worth thousands of gold coins. Chen Daolin said that he will need to pay attention to agricultural tools and building materials in the next two years, including sand, gravel and a large labor shortage.

To the surprise of the locals, this noble man was so generous that he offered even more than the best expectations in everyone's hearts.

In the northwest, sand and gravel are everywhere, and you just need to dig them out of the ground. Although the quality of the sand and gravel required by this noble man is relatively high, the fine sand is nothing more than spending some time sifting it a few times.

And the amount of his demand is so large, it is foreseeable that in the next two years, the financial revenue of the entire Rova City will increase rapidly because of the arrival of this noble lord.

The mayor himself would naturally benefit a lot, and with the strength of the wine, he introduced a man to Chen Daolin, the biggest merchant in Rova City, who was his brother-in-law.

And some small requests made by Chen Daolin later were naturally promised by the mayor.

Chen Daolin's demands included that the city of Rowa must be fully allowed to send people to preach in the town of Rova and the six villages under its jurisdiction. Chen Daolin promised that the religion he preached would never violate any of the laws of the empire.

As a manifestation of the friendship between the two sides, the mayor of Rova promised that the missionary team sent by Chen Daolin would be protected by the officials of Rova City, and he even promised to send garrison soldiers to accompany him to protect Chen Daolin's missionary team.

When the atmosphere of the conversation between the two sides became better and better, in the end, the mayor was embarrassed to bring up the last topic:

Taxation!

The 6,000 acres of wasteland that Chen Daolin purchased from the Governor's Mansion of Nulin Province were all within the jurisdiction of Nuwa City!

This is not unusual, this kind of northwestern region is vast and sparsely populated, and the land area under the jurisdiction of a small town is far larger than that of the inner hinterland and the south of the empire.

But since Chen Daolin came here, he bought 6,000 acres of land. It is said that a walled city was built here, bringing tens of thousands of people.

Then, an unavoidable question is in front of everyone!

After all, Chen Daolin is not a nobleman of the empire! This is not his territory! To be precise. Chen Daolin simply bought the land as a white-bodied "businessman" and brought the population with him.

Then, whether he is doing business here or building a walled city, it must be included in the system under the jurisdiction of the government of the Roland Empire, that is...... He also had to pay taxes to the local government, like everyone else in the area!

Of course. Chen Daolin could bargain, after all, he had tens of thousands of troops and more than two hundred heavily armed mercenaries.

Such a force. Running to the city of Rova, there is no doubt that he will become a local "hero" deposit, if he is not willing to pay taxes, then you are not polite. The poor garrison here in the city of Eloa. There was no way to force him to comply.

Of course, Chen didn't plan to do that. In this case, it is tantamount to completely offending the officials of Rova to death.

Moreover, armed resistance to taxes is almost equivalent to an open rebellion.

But Chen Daolin also knows very well that he has the ability to bargain. In this kind of remote place, the emperor is far away, and even if he is armed to resist taxes and does not pay, the local government will not be able to deal with him. At most, the case will be escalated layer by layer.

As long as everyone doesn't tear their faces, they don't openly erect anti-flags. Then this kind of lawsuit has to be fought.

In the end, it can only be a lose-lose result, and I believe everyone does not want to see such a result.

After some discussion, Chen Daolin proposed a solution: tax included!

In other words, he is willing to negotiate a figure that everyone agrees on with the mayor, and then from next year, his walled city, no matter how large the population, no matter what kind of business, whether it is a harvest or a disaster, anyway, he will pay a tax to the local government every year according to this figure.

It was a happy outcome.

Although the mayor of Rowa City knew that Chen Daolin must have reservations about this "tax package" figure, this figure will definitely give Chen Daolin a big advantage in the future.

But there is no better way to do it right now.

Moreover, even if the overcollected taxes do not go into their own pockets, they are just better at performing in the government -- anyway, the amount of tax that Chen Daolin promised to pay every year is enough to increase his government revenue by a large margin.

The banquet that night was a joy for all.

And the final climax is the "prayer ceremony" carried out by Chen Daolin and others!

When the banquet reached its climax, Chen Daolin and others stood up, confessed to the mayor of Rowa and other locals, and took their female dependents and subordinates around the fire to start the daily routine prayer ceremony.

Part of it was self-realization, and part of it was the sight of many gray-robed "divine servants" running around to maintain order, running around the camping crowd and stopping those who were still talking.

And all the people are fully obedient to this kind of drinking.

More than 20 disciples in white robes, plus more than 100 divine servants, finally all gathered around the side of the mountain.

And Chen Daolin even made an exception tonight, allowing those official Christians in white robes to come to the hillside and stand with his people around the fire to pray.

This "extra kindness" immediately brought tears to the eyes of those Protestants. Mayor Rowa was even surprised to see that a few people in white robes and who were highly respected in the crowd that he had seen actually prostrate on the ground on the spot, so moved that they wanted to kiss Chen Daolin's shoes!!

When the prayer service began, the Rova people were even more surprised to find that those dressed in white and gray robes were singing at the same time.

None of them could understand the lyrics they sang, but these people sang in a fit of fascination, hoarseness, and unanimity......

Singing and singing, the scale of this chorus began to grow.

In many places close to the hillside, there was also a gentle singing echo in some of the camping civilian ranks, and this echoing song became more and more loud and louder.

By the end, almost half of the camp was filled with this chorus!

This atmosphere made the Rowa people present fall into shock!

To this unknown and mysterious religion, the Rova people all expressed an instinctive awe.

......

That night, after sending off Mayor Rowa and the others, Chen Daolin issued an order: In order to reward the prayer tonight, everyone spontaneously sang a hymn of praise, this act of worshiping the true God, everyone in the camp tonight can receive ten copper plates!

......

Just when everyone was praising the generosity and kindness of the noble lord, everyone rejoiced.

In an inn in the city of Rova, Baron Pierre and his son have another conversation.

In order to manage the materials hoarded in the warehouses of the various chambers of commerce in the city, Chen Daolin specially authorized Baron Pierre and his son Blomir to live in the city.

And Baron Pierre, who reunited with his son that night, talked for a long time, and at the same time explained how this Darling lord slowly preached his "religion" step by step in the migration team of tens of thousands of people during the journey of more than 20 days, and used that seemingly ordinary but miraculous method to develop groups of believers, and deeply marked his religious brand among the group of tens of thousands of people......

"Father, I was really amazed...... How could he be so lucky?" "How could that horse be so frightened and break free from the reins and almost kill a man?" how could it be so coincidental that those people were bitten by a poisonous snake the next day?, and then it happened that someone almost drowned while bathing in the stream...... In my opinion, this is simply God deliberately pushing this matter in front of Master Daling, so that he can show his mana and mercy to his heart's content, and God has created so many opportunities for him to buy people's hearts?"

"Idiot!"

The baron sighed, looked at his son in disappointment, and was silent for a while, before Pierre said in a deep voice: "Even if that horse was not frightened, wouldn't there have been other car accidents? Even if it wasn't a poisonous snake that had bitten people, wouldn't Lord Darling have made some wild wolves wandering around? Even if no one almost drowned while bathing, couldn't Lord Darling make someone almost choke to death while eating?" Hmph...... If you think so, then when you get to the place, you will hand over all your errands, stay at home honestly, and never come out to help Mr. Darling again!"

(To be continued......)