Under the intimidation of the soldiers and the temptation of copper coins, the census, which had been difficult to carry out, suddenly became very smooth.
The earl's officials responsible for registering information only need to move a stool and sit at the designated location, and countless civilians will line up and rush to register here. There is no need to knock on doors every day.
Old Ford felt a lot more relaxed for a while. He just needed to walk around the registration location from time to time and show up a few times.
Soon, three days passed and the census was successfully completed, but when old Ford stood in front of a carriage piled high with parchment, he was not happy at all.
What a waste!
Old Ford only felt a pain in his heart. The idea of his master building a garden already made him sad, and now, this cart full of parchment made him feel dizzy.
This is all money!
The parchment used for writing is not so easy to obtain. This cart of parchment and kraft paper is almost all the stock in the entire city of Idar...
In just one week, he had used up all the paper that had been saved by several generations of earls. Such a wasteful act was actually completed under his meticulous supervision. Old Ford suddenly felt that he seemed to be a little sorry for the deceased earl... I'm afraid the coffin lid will not be able to hold it down...
But things had come to this point, and old Ford could only look sad as he escorted the carriage, which was worth thousands of gold, back to the castle to report with his soldiers. However, he did not expect that he did not even see Bruno at all.
"In reply to the butler, the Earl left the city this morning with L'Hôpital and several personal guards and servants, saying that he would be back in a few days..." said the guard at the castle gate.
"What? Where did you go?" Old Ford was surprised.
"It seems to be heading to the seaside." The guard said uncertainly.
"The beach? What are you going to do at the beach?"
"It seems that L'Hôpital told the master that there is a lot of food on the beach, and he wants to go to the beach to find food..."
Old Ford just felt a little suffocated in his chest. The Earl took Leon out of the city once, and when he came back he had the idea of building a garden. This time he took L'Hôpital out with him, and who knows what earth-shattering things he would do.
I thought that L'Hôpital was an honest guy, so I recommended him to my master after Leon left. But I didn't expect that this guy would instigate my master to go to the seaside to look for food...
What kind of food can there be at the seaside? Everyone knows that the serfs and civilians living by the sea depend on the weather for food, and they are always hungry, depending on whether they can catch a few fish that day...
etc...
My master...could he want to go fishing in the sea...
Thinking of this, Old Ford suddenly felt his whole body cold, his legs trembling, and he was so scared that he almost couldn't breathe...
"Hurry... hurry... hurry and chase the master back! The sea is windy and the waves are high. If the master gets excited and jumps into the sea... then the waves... what should we do..."
Before he could finish his words, old Ford's legs went weak and he fainted from anxiety. The castle entrance was suddenly in chaos.
…
On the small road east of Idar City, a group of people were riding horses and walking slowly.
"Master, how could there be food on the seashore?" The new valet, L'Hopital, said aggrievedly, "If the old butler really believes that I told you this, he will definitely skin me alive when he returns..."
L'Hopital originally thought that being able to serve his master was a great job, but he did not expect that he would be burdened with such a huge responsibility just a few days after taking office.
Bruno looked at L'Hopital and said calmly, "Don't talk nonsense. It's obvious that this lord intends to promote you. Think about it, if you really find food on the beach, wouldn't that be a huge contribution to you?"
"But..."
Bruno glared at him and said, "Why, do you want to go with Leon to clean up shit?"
L'Hopital heart trembled, and he quickly said seriously: "My lord, I think... there is indeed food on the seashore."
"That's right. I have always been a generous person and I am willing to listen to other people's opinions and suggestions..."
"…"
The city of Idar is located in the easternmost part of the continent. Just twenty or thirty miles to the east is the continent's long coastline.
In this world, people's exploration and understanding of the ocean can be said to be extremely scarce, and they do not pay enough attention to the ocean. Even for many noble lords on the mainland, the ocean is a natural barrier that restricts them. They are satisfied with the wealth brought to them by the land, and therefore are unwilling to explore the unknown hidden in the ocean.
It is precisely because of this concept that the villages near the sea are particularly desolate, and a large number of civilians and farmers can only live a hard life relying on very backward fishing techniques.
But this does not mean that the villages near the sea are sparsely populated. On the contrary, in Idar, about one-fifth of the serfs in the entire Idar territory are gathered in the dilapidated villages scattered along the sea.
Their only job was not farming or fishing, but boiling salt!
Salt is a necessity in people's daily life. The production and sale of salt almost supports the tax revenue of half of Idar and is the most important source of funds for the Stuart family.
In a sense, salt is not only an indispensable condiment, but also an extremely precious resource.
An adult needs to consume about 6 to 8 grams of salt every day to replenish their physical strength and maintain the osmotic pressure inside and outside the cells. It is an indispensable substance for the normal development of the human body.
It was also thanks to the high profits from selling salt that the Stuart family was able to slowly recover after Bruno's repeated squandering.
Gradually, as the sky gradually darkened, Bruno could already see the faint smoke from cooking fires in the distance and the low villages close to the horizon, so he urged his horse to gallop away.
L'Hopital and his guards followed closely behind, and the country road was filled with dust.
In the village.
The elderly man brought the common people to meet the young earl. The timid serfs were so scared that they lay on the ground, not daring to raise their heads, for fear of being noticed by the distinguished noble lord.
Bruno sat on the ground without any particular ceremony, forming a circle ar
ound the campfire with his servants.
The serfs in the village presented all the fish they had caught with great difficulty, and then fell asleep with difficulty while chewing black bread mixed with wild grass and gravel.
Bruno looked at the burning bonfire and couldn't help but smile bitterly. In the eyes of these serfs, he seemed to play a not very positive role.
Bruno ate the fresh grilled fish but it tasted like wax. He felt that these serfs were not treated as they deserved.
"After a few days, they will probably be able to have a full meal..."