Succubus' Manor

The maids surrounded Benjamin in the middle. The maids were all wearing gray cloaks, and the hats covered most of their faces. Such a wide cloak concealed their figures, and no one could tell that they were women. Businessmen crowded around, and some People saw Benjamin.

Benjamin was a little nervous, he had never seen such an occasion, it was noisy and crowded.

He could hear the merchants around him talking.

"Why didn't anyone come out?"

"Should they have come from somewhere else?"

"It must have taken the goods and left somewhere else, that's good! It's safe!"

The merchants put their feet on their feet, stretched their necks, and stared intently inside while talking. They waited for a long time until the candy was photographed. After the candy was photographed, they were allowed to be put in by the guards.

Cans of wine were placed on the ground, and the servants opened a few cans, and took out the clay bowls from behind.

Every merchant who was let in was given a small earthenware bowl containing sesame wine.

They all knew that this was a "goods inspection", so they didn't refuse, and drank it directly after accepting it.

These wines are all distilled wines, but the number of times of distillation is not many, and the entrance is not particularly spicy. Chi Yan is also concerned about the taste of the local people, fearing that they will not accept it if it is too spicy, so these sesame wines are mellow, but not too spicy. Not too exciting, just within the acceptable range of people.

The local wine is basically low-alcohol fruit wine, the most common one is wine, but people here don’t know how to use distillation, so there are many impurities in the wine, and the taste is similar to fruit juice, which is still low-quality fruit juice. If the grapes are more sour, And without sugar, the taste of the wine is simply indescribable.

Benjamin was also given a bowl. He took a few sips cautiously, then his eyes lit up, and his arms holding the money bag tightened.

Before he left home, he also drank wine. Only he, his father and brothers could drink that wine. Because of the small amount, it was very precious, but compared with this wine, those precious nectars were nothing.

The merchants were also satisfied, and they were eager to spend all the money they brought.

Some merchants who bought sugar did not leave either. They had money and were unwilling to let go of sugar and wine.

Like sugar, the starting price for wine is [-] cans, and the reserve price for [-] cans is two gold coins.

Merchants kept bidding, and each price increase was a hundred copper coins.

"Six gold coins, two silver coins, and three hundred copper coins!"

The businessman's face turned red, and he was dizzy because of the price fight.

Benjamin: "Seven gold coins!"

The businessmen looked at each other.

Anyway, it’s more than the twenty cans, and if you add it up, you’ll lose money, so Benjamin got his wish and got the twenty cans of wine, and the kid who was standing by ran up to him and asked, “Sir, do you want to continue shooting? "

Benjamin shook his head: "No more."

The child grinned: "Master, come with me, go over there to get the goods."

Benjamin walked over with his maid.

The competition among merchants continues.

Because [-] cans were sold at a time, they were sold very quickly. Chi Yan was very satisfied watching the gold coins being taken away one by one. He finally started to make money—it was still a lot of money, and it was not a one-off sale. You can come once a month.

Part of the money received will be shipped back to Sakerd as wages and bonuses, and part of it will be used to build Stettin.

It's not that Chi Yan doesn't want to build Saket, but that there are too few people in Saket, and Chi Yan doesn't intend to let Saket absorb too many newcomers.

There are too many strangers, and it is difficult to distinguish the forces of all parties.

It is better to maintain the status quo.

The children were running around on the flat ground. They were all orphans. They had no parents to raise them, and they didn't have the strength to compete with adults for jobs. Chi Yan asked the manager to gather the orphans from each street in advance, arrange a place for them collectively, and then find them got work.

The castle is responsible for two meals a day, a new set of clothes for a season, and until they reach adulthood, the money earned by the children belongs to them, and they can buy things with their own money. The money belongs to their pocket money.

The old housekeeper felt that Chi Yan's method was not good: "Those orphans are not good things. Some of them are not taught in life, but those who can grow up will eventually become thieves. If they are caught, their hands will be cut off. You let them go." Doing such a job, what if they steal money from merchants?"

The old butler has always insisted that poor people have no character, and being poor is bad.

Chi Yan didn't argue with the old butler either. The old butler was old and his ideas were deeply ingrained. Chi Yan had told him so much before but it didn't work, so he found a way to discuss things with the old butler.

Chi Yan sat on the chair, looked at the group of little radish heads, and the old god said, "Don't let them work, do you want me to support them all the time?"

The old housekeeper: "You shouldn't bother with them, anyway, commoners always have children."

Now that the economy is underdeveloped and there is no industry, common people have two bases for having children, because children mean labor.

Commoners can't afford cattle—or even if they can, they can't afford people.

But it doesn’t cost much to have a child and raise a child. You don’t need to import milk powder and provide for your children to study like in modern times. In this era, the cost of raising a child is very low.

When children grow up, they can work when they are seven or eight years old, and they can earn money when they are more than ten years old.

Having more children in a family is similar to the accumulation of primitive capital.

Therefore, the poorer the family, the more children will be born.

Rich families no longer need to accumulate primitive capital. What they need is to consolidate their social status and find more ways to earn money. Therefore, having children is not particularly important to them. As long as they have a marriage that can inherit the family property It is enough to have a child.

As a result, many aristocrats are still unmarried in their 30s and have no children in wedlock.

The common people are in their 30s, and there are groups of children.

It was only after traveling here that Chi Yan understood why people in many places are getting poorer and more born, because for them, having children is not all about reproduction, but for getting more labor, hoping to rely on these labor to achieve economic leap.

Especially in ancient times, ordinary people in ancient times relied on farming to make a living.

There is a huge shortage of labor force, so we can only desperately "create people".

Chi Yan waved his hand: "Anyway, it's human life."

He couldn't reason with the old housekeeper. In the end, neither of them could convince the other.

Like now "doing my own way", the old butler has nothing to say.

Sure enough, the old butler stopped talking, he just sighed deeply - the lord is so kind, he almost broke his old heart.

Boots led Benjamin to the warehouse, and after mentioning the goods, Benjamin gave Boots two copper coins.

Boots accepted it happily, gave Benjamin a non-standard salute, and then bounced away. He ran to a place where no one was around, and put the copper coins into the pocket inside his clothes.

These clothes were all given to them by the lord, and each of them had a set.

Before being taken away by the steward, Boots could only sleep in the alley, go to the garbage dump with a group of homeless orphans to find food, or beg on the street. Small, so his hands were not cut off for stealing.

Just as Boots packed the copper coins, a little girl also ran here.

Boots had a good relationship with the girl, they came from the same street.

"How much did you get today?" Boots asked in a low voice.

The girl also whispered, "Ten."

Buzz thought about it, and felt that he had almost got ten coins. He whispered again: "Let's go to the market to buy meat to eat at night!"

The market sells jerky, which can be chewed without cooking, and you can get a small strip for five copper coins.

The girl shook her head: "Jerky is too expensive! I'm going to eat baked tofu."

Recently, a new night market has been opened, which sells cooked food at very cheap prices, and it is specially opened for ordinary people.

One copper coin can buy two pieces of baked tofu.

Brushing some soy sauce on baked tofu is also delicious. Although there is no spice, it is already a rare delicacy for ordinary people.

Buzz swallowed: "Then I'll eat tofu too."

Girl: "There will also be a bean dregs cake."

The bean dregs cake is not tasty, but the children don't think it is bad. They used to only eat stinky food.

I don't know how many children died after eating their stomachs badly.

Boots suddenly said, "Your skirt is dirty."

The girl quickly became nervous: "Where? Where is it dirty?"

Boots squatted down and cleaned the mud spots on the girl's skirt with his hands, then he stood up and said, "It's clean."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief: "This is my most beautiful dress!"

She only has this skirt.

A beautiful dress with no holes.

A dusty skirt made of sackcloth.

The girl glanced at the shed not far away, and she asked softly, "Is the lord in the shed?"

Boots: "Probably so?"

The girl whispered: "Mom said I was pretty. When I grow up, I might be able to work as a maid in a castle!"

"Mother" refers to the woman employed to care for the orphans.

Boots also thought the girl was pretty, so he became worried: "I'm not pretty, so I'm sure I won't be able to go to the castle in the future."

The girl comforted: "When I go to the castle, I will help you find a way. You are my best friend."

Boots was much happier.

The two children ran out hand in hand, and continued to stand by the merchants. When the merchants finished taking pictures of the goods, they would run to lead the way.

The children have a tacit understanding that whoever passes first will be responsible, and there will be no robbery of guests.

Children with fast hands and feet and quick reactions can earn more pocket money, and those who have bad hands and feet are fine. In short, they will not be hungry or have no place to live.

Before dark, all the goods were photographed, and the servants who knew how to count had to work all night to count the money earned.

The current method of counting is very old, counting with sticks, and counting by the length of the stick.

Chi Yan could only find carpenters and let them make the abacus.

Fortunately, when Chi Yan was studying, he had to learn abacus and mental arithmetic in elementary school, and he hadn't forgotten how to use abacus.

Teaching abacus is faster than teaching Arabic numerals, and then teaching people to be told by mouth, and the speed of abacus itself is not slow, except that it is not as good as a calculator, and it is not slower than calculating on paper.

Thank you for elementary school, thank you teachers, and thank you for your memory.