Succubus' Manor

Time seemed to have stood still, Chi Yan swallowed, and he blinked: "I think I can stand up now."

Kleist gently pushed Chi Yan's waist with his hand, and Chi Yan stood firmly on the ground.

Fortunately, his bath towel was very tenacious and never fell off. Chi Yan said nervously for no reason: "I'm going back to the room. You can go back to rest after packing up. I'm tired today."

Kleist stood up straight—he didn't feel ashamed to do so.

Kleist glanced down and raised his head indifferently. After getting dressed, people who didn't know thought he had installed a weapon, so he could only wait in this room specially used as a bathroom. .

Chi Yan went back to the room and changed into pajamas. The stimulation just now had subsided, leaving only endless fatigue. He felt that in the next six months, he might not want to go to the city anymore. Anyway, in his territory No feces all over the place, no sickening stench.

There are no violent elements who smashed and looted because of the pressure of survival.

The steward then came in with a glass of wine, the only silver cup left in the castle.

"My lord." The butler brought the wine to Chi Yan, and Chi Yan took a sip before putting it aside.

"Nothing happened these two days, right?" Chi Yan asked.

Butler: "Nothing."

The civilians and slaves were very obedient, none dared to cause trouble, not even a small friction, the housekeeper felt that if they could keep doing this, then treating them better would be fine.

Chi Yan exhaled: "I'm asleep."

The butler bowed slightly, saluted and left Chi Yan's room.

The new elf was treated by the maid for the wound on his forehead.

Although his head was shaved, the elf's outstanding appearance still made all the maids blush and scramble to clean his wound.

The elf smiled at everyone and looked a little silly.

Renee was not treated so well, and the servants avoided her--the scars on her face were too terrible!

Only a few courageous servants dared to look at her more.

The next day, the housekeeper arranged for Renee to live in a place where the common people lived. Anyway, the common people lived in a mixed environment. When the common people built their houses, many people built them together. Several houses were built very well. It's big, and it's okay to squeeze some people in.

Renee has no problem, the civilians have great opinions!

"She has such a scar on her face!" The civilians expressed their opinions and dissatisfaction to the steward who brought Renee over.

"She might be a robber!"

"What if she gets the food we managed to save?!"

"Let her go to someone else!"

The manager was very dissatisfied: "Are you questioning the decision of the adults?!"

The civilians whispered, "She doesn't look like a nice person."

The person in charge: "This is the territory of the adults! You must agree to the arrangements of the adults?"

The manager was very impatient: "If you don't want to listen to the adults' arrangements, get out and go back to where you were originally."

The civilians stopped talking, and all lowered their heads, honestly acting like quails.

Renee walked into the house just like that, she didn't talk to anyone, she squatted in the corner alone, taking off the scars on her face, but no one bullied her, but whenever she ate, she always looked like a wild beast He rushed over, and then poured his own bowl of paste into his mouth in two or three bites, regardless of whether it was hot or not.

Only what you eat belongs to you, which is what Renee believes most.

As for the elf, because he was good-looking, the steward arranged for him to stay in the castle as a servant.

Chi Yan didn't understand, there were already a lot of servants in the castle!It's almost too crowded.

The butler explained solemnly: "You need a qualified servant, and that elf is very good."

The elf is beautiful, and it's very face-saving to take it out. When his injury heals and his hair grows back, wouldn't it be nice to serve Chi Yan with Kleist on the left and right?

The butler also said: "The other servants are too ugly!"

He really felt so.

In the eyes of the housekeeper, Kadi can only be regarded as barely noticeable. For others, like Anna Abel and others, the housekeeper feels that if they are taken out or made to serve the guests, it will be embarrassing for Chi Yan.

How can a nobleman with noble status and elegant taste be ugly when the people who serve him around him look ugly?

The housekeeper also suggested: "There will be merchants selling slaves at the end of the year, so you must choose good-looking ones."

While talking, Chi Yan was dizzy by the butler's words, and in the end, he felt that what the butler said made sense.

The rainy season has gradually passed, and there hasn’t been much rain recently, only a few drops of drizzle occasionally, and it’s only at night, and the sun sometimes comes out during the day, and the slaves start working. The tauren are still opening up wasteland, and they can’t finish In the wilderness, now there are fewer people and more land, and Chi Yan's territory also includes this large forest.

Strictly speaking, every plant, every tree, every flower and every fruit here belong to Chi Yan.

Some goblins, dwarves, and human slaves went to forge iron, and some continued to do manual work.

The civilians started to open up wasteland. They had to go to the housekeeper to register first, register their names and family members, and then distribute the land according to the population. They had to pay land rent and taxes to Chi Yan every year.

The Holy Court collects taxes in the form of head tax plus land tax.

A person has to pay taxes from the beginning of landing, and continue to pay taxes after planting the land.

It would be fine if only the Holy Court collects taxes, but the problem is that the lords also collect taxes, and part of the taxes collected by the lords have to be paid to the royal family.

The result of this is that civilians have to pay three times.

Taxes are enough to overwhelm the populace, let alone commissions.

And all civilians who live well have their own land. If the lord sees them pleasing to the eye, or if they can serve the lord and are loyal, the lord will reward them with a small piece of land, which cannot be exchanged for sale, but can be rented out. , or cultivate it yourself.

And these rewarded lands do not need to pay taxes, neither to the Holy Court nor to the lord.

If the lord makes them his bodyguards, the family will not even have to pay poll tax.

Although the demographics here are very bad, as long as you want to live by farming, you can't escape the fate of paying taxes. Unless you become a thief or a robber, you will have to live with strict taxes all your life.

Chi Yan was in a daze when he knew about these taxes.

"Is there no way to escape?" Chi Yan asked worriedly.

If taxes are paid in this way, it is estimated that his territory will be finished in a short time.

The steward gave a solution: "Let all the civilians become your slaves, that's all."

Slaves are property and do not need to pay taxes. Chi Yan will only need to provide two small amounts of food to the Holy Court and the royal family every year - after all, he is just a small lord with a small territory.

Chi Yan also thinks this method is good, but it requires the fingerprints of the civilians, and once they become slaves, they cannot leave the territory.

But Chi Yan didn't need to worry about these, the housekeeper went to take care of it.

Commoners are not fools, of course they know how much tax they have to pay to be commoners, but that doesn't mean they are willing to be slaves - lords can't buy and sell civilians, but they can buy and sell slaves, and all slaves belong to the lord. Just die without even getting a funeral.

Not to mention getting married, civilians can get married as long as they pay money, and the children they give birth to are also civilians, but there is no such thing as marriage for slaves, and the children born to female slaves are still slaves.

The steward did not directly tell the civilians to press their fingerprints, but let the civilians work with the slaves first.

Abel's older brother is crippled. When he was in the city, he could only lie at home every day. Even if he wanted to go out, he couldn't find a job or earn money. He could only rely on the money sent by his younger brother to save food with his parents. Save money to make ends meet.

Since arriving here, he has learned to weave bamboo baskets, and when Kadi and the others come, he will be able to get his first income after breaking his leg.

Moreover, their family did not have a strong labor force, so they did not register to rent land, but planned to make a living by manual work.

Abel went home at night. They had a small house of their own. When the house was being built, many people made friends to build a bigger one. But their family had a special situation. They had an older brother with a broken leg, so they would rather build a smaller house than To be a family together, not to live with other people.

"Mom!" Abel took out a piece of bread from his arms, it was white bread!It's soft, he didn't make a mistake this month, so according to the new rules set by the lord, he got his own reward, and he excitedly said to his mother who was cooking, "Today we have delicious food!"

Mother took the bread from Abel's hand. She had heard from Abel that the lord only ate soft bread, which was different from black bread!But she didn't expect to be so soft!

Abel asked his mother to tear off a piece: "Try it quickly!"

The mother swallowed, she tore off the fingernail-sized bread, and put it carefully into her mouth, because it was too little, and she couldn't figure out what it tasted like, but she had never eaten such food, and she took it with a stone knife. The bread was cut into several pieces.

"We'll be able to eat later." Mother quickened her hands.

They built a simple shed next to the house, picked up stones to build a stove, and then lit a fire to cook in clay pots.

It is said to be cooking, but in fact it is to put the picked wild vegetables into the water and cook, because the rainy season has just passed, and there are many mushrooms growing in the woods, and the main course these days is mushrooms.

These poor people often rely on these things to fill their stomachs, so they can distinguish several commonly eaten mushrooms, and never pick those who don’t know them. They know that many mushrooms are poisonous.

Of course, Abel's family has no spices, and there is only a little salt, which Abel received from the housekeeper, only a very small amount, and Abel's mother did not dare to put more, only dared to sprinkle a little.

Clay pots were also important possessions for them, as they did not heat evenly and could easily crack, and clay pots were very expensive.

At least expensive for people like them.

Abel helped his mother put mushrooms and wild vegetables into wooden bowls—these wooden bowls were exchanged with the dwarves with rattan frames. The dwarves are easy to talk to, they never argue with others, and they will exchange what they make for their needs daily necessities.

Not only commoners exchanged with them, servants often exchanged with them too.

"I don't know if termite nests can be used to make clay pots." Abel thinks there is a good chance, but now there are almost no termite nests, and they have found all the surrounding nests.

We can only wait for the termites to recuperate and see if they can be found next year.

They used to think termites were bad things, but now they think termites are good things.

Not only did they have a house here, but they also had furniture. The table and chairs were also exchanged with the dwarves. To Abel's surprise, the lord never ordered the slaves to stop exchanging things. Now the richest slaves should be the dwarves.

The other races are doing well, but they don't have the same craft as the dwarves.

"There is a female dwarf who is very powerful!" At the dinner table, Abel said while drinking mushroom soup, "She can break such a thick tree trunk with her bare hands!"

The elder brother was not convinced: "It's okay when my leg is not broken!"

Abel could only smile, and he said, "My lord said that the sowing will start tomorrow."

The whole family was taken aback, what to sow this season?

Wheat can be sown in spring.

Abel: "I don't know, but since it is decided by adults, it must not be a bad thing."

"Hurry up and eat the bread!" Abel picked up the piece his mother gave him, and salivated, "I will work more carefully in the future, and bring back white bread every month."

But the family members are reluctant to eat.

They have never eaten such fine bread and such fine wheat flour since they were young.

Even for wealthy commoners, it is already quite remarkable to be able to eat black bread every meal.

Seeing that his family didn't eat it, Abel took a big bite first.

A big mouth full!Fragrant and soft, very delicate!He ate with such bliss that he even made noises while chewing.

But no one thought the sound was bad when chewed, they just felt better.

The temptation is greater.

In the end, the whole family ate all the bread and the mushroom soup, and there was nothing left. They sat on the chairs during the rest time after the meal, and they were not busy clearing the table. They were still thinking about it. Looking at the delicious meal just now.

There was soft white bread to eat, and mushroom soup with salt, and there were so many mushrooms that their stomachs bulged from eating.

It's not a good life in the city.

When they were in the city, they could only go to the nearby hillsides and secretly pick some wild vegetables when no one was watching. If they were found, they would be punished, because everything in the territory belonged only to the lord, and the lord did not speak. They went to pick wild vegetables and fruits privately, which was stealing. Once they were accused or caught, their hands would be cut off.

Mushrooms are even more extravagant. There are almost no mushrooms growing on the hillside, and even if they grow, they have been picked long ago.

There are many mushrooms in the woods, but they cannot go in.

So never eat mushrooms and bread all you can eat.

They may never forget this feeling of happiness for the rest of their lives.

It's just that Chi Yan looked at the mushroom in front of him with a bitter face - he rejected the mushroom!

Butler: "You don't eat mushrooms?"

Chi Yan said seriously: "Actually, I'm not very picky."

He really couldn't accept the taste of mushrooms. Others tasted mushrooms as umami, but he tasted mushrooms with a muddy smell.

In addition, the cook made the mushroom soup into thick soup, but because of his strong request, the cook didn't put a bunch of spices in it.

Kleist and the two knights sitting on the other side accepted it well.

Chi Yan discovered that there was nothing in this world that these three would not eat.

Probably as for the good living conditions, they will be picky eaters - such as him.

There are many things he didn't eat before he crossed, he didn't eat onions, he didn't eat garlic, he didn't eat mushrooms, he didn't eat duck or mutton, and he didn't eat any fat meat.

But after a long time of lack of oil and water, he even started to crave fat meat.

"Is there anyone in the city selling soybeans?" Chi Yan suddenly asked the housekeeper.

Butler: "Yes."

Almost no one eats soybeans. At this time, soybeans are small and deflated, and they are not very filling, and they have to be bought with money.

With that money, it is better to buy some wheat mixed with wheat bran. Although eating it hurts the throat and it is easy to pull it out, it is better than beans.

Steward: "There are soybeans in the warehouse."

Chi Yan didn't expect that there was a species in his territory.

So he pulled himself together.

Press the oil!

There is no vegetable oil here, and the source of fat is animal oil, but the price of animal oil is high and the availability is low—how much oil can a sheep have?Even the lord Chi Yan felt useless, let alone civilians and slaves.

But how to extract the oil is a problem.

Apart from knowing that sesame, soybeans, rapeseed and peanuts can be squeezed out of oil, Chi Yan knew nothing.

And Chi Yan seems to have read it somewhere, saying that the oil yield of soybeans is very low, so soybeans are not a popular crop for oil extraction.

But he has nowhere to look for other crops with high oil yields.

So, just soybeans, there is no choice.

Chi Yan knows that sesame seeds need to be fried before pressing oil, so soybeans should also be fried before pressing oil. Can't fry oil, what effect can different fires produce.

So after the blacksmithing, the vigorous oil extraction movement began in the territory.

But no one in the territory knew what Chi Yan was going to do, not even the housekeeper.

Except for Kleist, no one even asked Chi Yan this question.

"What are you going to use soybeans for?" Kleist sat on the chair in Chi Yan's room, while Chi Yan himself was lying on the bed taking notes.

In addition to oil, he also urgently needs paper, there are too many things to write down, parchment is expensive and rare, and the same is true for cloth, which is a luxury, and taking notes is too expensive.

Without raising his head, Chi Yan said, "Squeeze the oil."

Kleist stood up, walked to the side of the bed, and then sat beside Chi Yan: "Express oil? There is also oil in soybeans?"

Chi Yan: "...Of course, why not?"

Kleist: "How do you know?"

Chi Yan blinked. He felt that he couldn't explain clearly. Since he couldn't explain clearly, he didn't bother to explain, and said, "I just know."

Seeing that Chi Yan didn't say anything, Kleist didn't continue to ask. He just looked at Chi Yan in silence. Chi Yan felt uncomfortable being stared at by him, and looked up at Kleist.

Before he could ask, Kleist seemed to know that he was going to ask, and said softly: "There are some things you can't say directly, it will be very dangerous, you know?"

Chi Yan didn't understand what Kleist meant.

Kleist could only break it into pieces, crush it, and tell Chi Yan slowly.

He felt that Chi Yan touched a lot of things, but he just didn't understand that the most dangerous thing in this world was the human heart.

"You know how to smelt iron, and you know that soybeans can be used to extract oil." Kleist looked at Chi Yan gently, "If the Holy Court finds out, they won't believe that you only know these two things, and they will hope to learn from your brain." get more."

Chi Yan shuddered violently under Kleist's gentle gaze.

It's not that he hasn't thought about this, but he has stayed here for such a long time, and he still has some understanding of it. The Holy Court usually doesn't send people to the lord's territory. The wheat was sent to the Holy Court.

And if he wanted to improve his life, he had to make changes, and as long as he made changes, he would never be able to hide it from the people in the territory.

This is beyond doubt, unless he is willing to defecate everywhere, be full of lice, and eat rotten meat.

Chi Yan: "...Then what should I do?"

Kleist stretched out his hand and pulled the broken hair from Chi Yan's forehead behind his ears.

When Kleist did this, Chi Yan got goosebumps all over his body.

He thinks this looks really like flirting...

But he didn't dare to ask.

Kleist said: "Don't tell people that you know how to extract oil. If soybeans can extract oil, it is you who discovered it by accident, understand?"

"You're so smart!" Chi Yan praised without hesitation.

He didn't grow the string.

When he was in junior high school, a male classmate was jealous that he was liked by girls, so he often stuffed dead cockroaches and mice into his desk. He always thought it was his bad luck. Both mice and cockroaches liked to go to his desk to look at the scenery. As for why they died, he didn’t know why. have no idea.

After graduation, the male classmate came to him to apologize, and he realized that the other party had set the mice and cockroaches.

After the male classmate apologized, he said in a complicated way: "I thought you found out a long time ago, that's why you never talked to me."

In short, after this incident, Chi Yan was synonymous with slow response and dullness in the eyes of his classmates.

The classmate who has a good relationship also said: "Even if I offend you, it will take a while for you to react."

Kleist accepted Chi Yan's compliment with a smile. He looked at Chi Yan's serious expression, stared intently into his eyes, and couldn't resist pinching Chi Yan's face.

Chi Yan's skin was very good, as smooth and tender as a baby's.

Kleist did not want to let go after pinching it.

Chi Yan: "???"

Chi Yan: "What are you doing?"

Kleist withdrew his hand and sighed regretfully.

Chi Yan rubbed his face: "Go to sleep, I'm going to sleep."

After speaking, Chi Yan put the parchment and quill pen on the table beside him.

Kleist didn't stay any longer, and just as Kleist opened the door of the room and was about to leave, he happened to meet the housekeeper.

Behind the butler was a bald elf with a blank face.

The butler didn't speak to Kleist, but passed Kleist and said to Chi Yan: "My lord, the weather is getting colder, you need a bed warmer."

Chi Yan looked over in a daze.

warm what?

The author has something to say: Bald Elf: "Who am I? Where am I? What am I here for?"

Chi Yan: "Hey, as expected of the landlord class, there are bed warmers."

Kleist (black face).

Butler (secretly give yourself a thumbs up).