Section 26: Peripheral situation

When the cold winter is coming, continuous rain begins to fall in most parts of the continent. Older farmers know that after this continuous rain, the real winter is coming. They will collect food and firewood to wait for the cold winter. Throughout the winter, people will curl up in their houses and pass through the winter by the floor furnace in the middle of the house. The same is true for the nobles. Although there are fireplaces and other advanced heating facilities of this era, in the castle made of cold rocks, the nobles also hate the long winter.

"Sir Schwab, do you say you want to build a wall in this room?" Bald Otto and Old Lauke asked curiously, they were already wearing animal skins to keep warm.

"Yes, let the craftsmen build a wall in the room. I have already drawn the drawings, so let's show you." Schwab smiled and handed them a drawing. Schwab was wearing an otter fur shawl in addition to his shirt. Old Lauke took the drawings and saw that this was a rough plan of a wall.

"What's the use of this, Lord Earl." Old Lauke asked curiously as he looked at the drawing.

"To keep warm." Shiwab was also in pain when facing the cold winter with his frozen hands. Schwab thought that in his hometown in his previous life, there was also a cold area, and people there would use a kind of wall. The wall was like a combination of a fireplace and a wall. He burned the fire and let the heating soak the entire room along the wall, playing the role of primitive heating facilities.

“This will provide heating?”

"Yes, I just know what it looks like, so I have to let the craftsmen make modifications."

"Okay, that's really good."

"By the way, this facility of Otto is designed for the people in the castle, but for the civilians and serfs outside, I have another design."

“What is it?”

"Warm kang," said Schwab. This kind of bed made of mud, burns a fire inside and covers things, and will be warm all night long, which is much easier than serfs putting hay on the bed.

"This is such a good thing." Old Lauke sighed. In the difficult winter, I don't know how many farmers will be frozen to death in each territory, and this invention can save many people from being frozen to death.

"Although the mud and other things used are not valuable, it is very labor-intensive to get every leader to use them." Schwab said with a headache.

"Haha, Count, you just need to teach the people to teach them the methods." Old Lauke said with a smile.

"Ah, yes." Schwab patted his head, always thinking that he would send someone to do it himself, and he forgot about this simple method and told the leaders that they would do this thing that was beneficial to them.

"People will love you because of this invention." Bald Otto said sincerely to Schwab.

"There are still many things to do," Schwab continued, "Have the merchants been staying in the territory for a long time recently?"

"This." Bald Otto hesitated in embarrassment.

"What's wrong?"

"It's such a count. The nobles and lords around us are very dissatisfied with us leaving the merchants in our territory. Some families even robbed merchants around our territory when they were poor, which made many merchants leave Mark."

"What? Are there robbers again?" Schwab was shocked and unconsciously placed his hand on his waist, where there was a short sword.

"Unlike the robbers, Lord Earl. These people are the children of the surrounding lords. Last time Lord Hanruowei summoned the lords to fight, they spent a lot of money in the territory to pay for the war. They originally planned to obtain prisoners and spoils in the war to pay for these financial shortcomings, but Earl Georg's defeat in the forest made these people return empty-handed, so those children might have been instructed by the lords." At this time, Srik appeared behind Schwab like a shadow, and he told Schwab and others about the causes and consequences.

"How could they just rob in a sacrificial manner?" Schwab said angrily. These guys who were not working hard were actually eroding the fruits of their labor. The merchants who had finally gathered in the territory made Mark a little prosperous, but these nobles who killed chickens and retrieved eggs actually did this.

"The merchants are lowly. They do not engage in production, but they only despicable transport goods to another place for profit. Therefore, it is a tradition for the nobles to obtain their property through force and no one can stop them."

"What? Tradition? Driving away merchants will only make the territory scarce commodities, and the economy cannot develop without circulation. These idiots." Schwab yelled insults, but it was not understood, including Liugudi and others. Even Koro did the same thing when he was young.

"But Count, you are not planning to offend all the lords around you, right?" Old Lauke asked worriedly.

"Order the soldiers of the Mark Legion to strengthen their territory and prepare a banquet this week, and invite our surrounding families to visit Mark in the name of my Earl of Stedetin." Schwab thought for a while, and felt that the reason why these nobles dared to take risks was just for the sake of interests. It seemed that he had to win them over into his own circle of interests and then deal with those few illegal people.

"Do you have any plans?" Srick looked at Schwab with a curious and interesting look. Schwab often didn't know what the duke's spy was thinking, and why he asked to come to him. Everything he did was like an expression waiting to watch the show.

"Yeah, is there anything else?" Schwab stretched and handled the official duties all morning, which made Schwab feel tired, which reminded him of his free days in his previous life. Although it was an era that required hard life, it was really peaceful without swords and bloody storms.

"Where to go? Lord Earl." As Schwab stood up, the young attendant William hurriedly followed Schwab with his long sword in his arms.

"Little William, you've been here for a long time." Schwab asked, looking at William, the young attendant serving beside him.

"Six years, Lord Earl."

"It's been a long time. Have you learned to use a sword?"

"No, sir, no one has taught me since the death of the first lord I served." The young servant William nodded and said in a low voice. His father had already planned to give up. He was preparing to make a name for himself as a knight, but he lost the opportunity to be educated because of the changes in Mark Fort.

"Let's go, Little William, I'll teach you how to use a sword starting today." Schwab took Little William to the open space in the castle, helped Little William choose a wooden sword, and helped Little William practice the method of using a sword.

"Sir Earl, have you finally started training your servant?" Sir Coro asked with a smile as he looked at Schwab's serious professor William with his sword.

"Yes, I plan to choose some strong kids in the territory of Mark and go to the castle to teach them how to use weapons and literacy." Schwab wiped his sweaty face with linen and said to Coro.

"What? Does the children of the serfs use swords?" Coro said in surprise.

"But they are not qualified to use swords." Liugudi said.

"They can use other weapons, anyway, this is a talent nurturing program, and these kids are Mark's future." Schwab continued, "Is there anything else?"

"The representative of the merchants asked for advice."

"Oh, please come in."

"Yes." A businessman with a flat hat, thick wool shawl, and tight pants tied with a purse around his waist followed the guard to Schwab. The merchant saw Schwab wearing a shirt and an eagle-eagle-emblem printed on it, and knew that this was the owner of the castle, so he quickly knelt down and saluted.

"Great Earl, I am the representative elected by the merchants, my name is Ruger."

"What's wrong with you here?" Schwab asked.

"That's right, Lord Earl, because the cold winter is approaching, our merchants are preparing to go to the warm south. During this period of time, Lord Earl gave us a lot of generous treatment, so he decided to say goodbye to you."

"Ah, is that right? If you are afraid of the cold, please rest assured. I will definitely let you feel the warm wind in Mark." Schwab said confidently.

"But, this." The businessman stammered in embarrassment.

"What's wrong? Could it be because of the robbers' affairs? If it were this, I would solve it." Schwab comforted the merchant and said.

"Thank you, Lord Earl." Tears shed in the eyes of the merchants. At these times, the nobles were plundering merchants near the Mark territory, making it impossible for merchants to do business with peace of mind. Many precious goods were plundered. The big merchants with caravans and mercenaries were better, but small merchants like themselves were facing the danger of bankruptcy. As merchants rebuked by the church, they could not appeal through any legitimate channels. If the lord who enjoyed judicial rights did not come forward, the merchants could only go far away. However, the merchants had no hope for this. How could the lord who was also a noble help him? But Schwab actually said that he would solve the problem.

"Don't worry, if you want to deliver goods, report to Lao Lauke. I will send soldiers to protect you assembled caravans." Schwab said.

"But, we little businessmen don't have that much money to hire your soldiers." Ruger said frowningly.

"Don't worry, this is all free."

"What? Really? Thank you so much, Lord Noble Earl." Ruger climbed to Schwab's feet happily and kissed Schwab's leather boots.
Chapter completed!