Vol 7 Chapter 34: Casrela town

A farmer drove a carriage with two huge wheels slowly on the rugged road covered with snow. The thin packhorse seemed to shake every step of the way, making people worry about the next moment. Will suddenly fall to the ground and die.
The farmer was tightly wrapped, so although the weather was terribly cold because of the snow, he was not in a hurry. On the contrary, he shrunk his entire body in his large sheepskin coat and just sat on the wagon Took a nap.
The field path is rugged and surrounded by silver. If you are a poet or a painter, you might create a worldly work inspired by the beauty of the beauty after the snow, but this farmer obviously does not have such a high interest. Especially when his carriage is loaded with real taxes.
A few centuries later, someone once found a record of farmers paying taxes from the site of an ancient city hall. In fact, it is recorded in kind tax. "A farmer should report to his lord throughout the four seasons of the year. Pay 200 Dried wheat, 100 Dried oats, 10 roosters, 5 hens, 30 eggs of various eggs, 5 barrels of honey, several pieces of sheepskin, etc ... "
Such a long list is obviously not a peasant family can pay off at one time, and the lords obviously also noticed that these real taxes are obviously affected by the season, so they will divide these taxes at different times, such as wheat. Collected in two seasons, and oats are looser. As for chickens and eggs, they can be paid every month throughout the year, and honey is often concentrated after the summer and autumn of the year.
But even so, such taxes are indeed a bit heavy, not to mention the tithe that must be paid to the church, so for farmers, even in the harvest season, the days often live tight Baba.
Especially in recent years, abnormal weather has affected many places. Even in those warmer areas, the decrease in harvest is obvious.
This is really a disaster for the farmers. Although the lords in some places have compassionately reduced the tax in the territory, this is often very rare. The vast majority of lords are still stubborn to collect the real tax according to the usual standards. At this time, the church even took away the benevolent dogma they proclaimed every day, and ordered all villages to fulfill the obligations of the people to God. The tithe is absolutely no exception.
In this way, the territory naturally complained everywhere, but even so, the farmers finally reluctantly tried to put the things that can be taken out of the home into the carriage, and reluctantly sent it to the tax collector in the town.
There are 2 tax collectors in the town of Caslera, which makes this town very famous nearby.
This is because unless it is those big cities, there is often only one tax collector in a town, but there are two in Caslera.
Tax collectors are not only prominent in a town, but also have great power. Often, even the mayor of the town should respect him by three points. This is because the tax collector in a locality is not controlled by the local chief, but from the top. The lord of the rank directly accepts the order.
The same is true of the tax collectors in the higher territories, which forms a very strange way of separating the finances and the government, and this way is also after the victory of the movement to regain the lost land. It was established under the supervision of Queen Sabella.
This system will undoubtedly deprive lords at all levels of control of taxation to the greatest extent, and everyone knows that lords without money cannot do much.
The nobles of Castile are not unaware of Isabella ’s ambitions. They are well aware that the Queen is trying to deprive them of power. Perhaps it will not take long for her to take further measures, but even if she knows what is happening. However, the great prestige that Isabella built by reclaiming the land was pressed against them like a mountain, so that the nobles could not act lightly.
The farmer ’s carriage is about to enter the town. From the distance, you can see the large arch bridge outside the town of Caslera. The bridge has a history of many years. According to some accounts, it seems that it has not been built in the town of Caslera. The bridge was already here at the time, and it seemed like the time of the Romans.
The locals didn't care about the origin of the bridge. They passed by the bridge from generation to generation. The only impression they gave was that the tax collector would support his abominable little wooden table on the open space beside the bridge on the side of the town. Let the comrades on the side set a campfire and tax while heating.
The farmer hurriedly drove the carriage across the bridge, because not many people paid taxes today, he was lucky to not stay on the bridge for too long to drink the river wind, but even then he had frozen his lips blue, so when he was When I finally got to the ground, instead of going to the tax collector's master first, I ran to the campfire and stretched out my frozen hands to roast.
"You look like a rat that is about to freeze to death," the tax collector wrapped his thick coat over his body and said, "Hurry up, there are many people waiting behind."
"Master, everything is here, you can write it according to the number. Do you know that I will lie to you?" The farmer rubbed his hands back and forth and then desperately rubbed his almost unconscious ears. "The past few years have been really bad. But I still do n’t collect these things every year, I just know how much I just need to look at.

"Are you complaining," the tax collector sent his classmate to check, and then glared at the farmer "or do you think you should pay less?"
"We didn't say that, we're not the kind of person who likes to cause trouble," the farmer immediately defended, rubbing his cheeks with both hands until some hot ones stopped, and then he took a straw bag out of his arms The ceramic jug was handed to the tax collector "But I heard that the west side of the town seems to be different from yours, this is always true."
"Oh yeah, you know it again," the tax collector grabbed the flask from the farmer's hand, pulled out the stopper, and poured his head back. The warm liquorice made him feel comfortable. Little, it made his temper a little bit smoother, he took another sip and threw the jug back to the farmer, then glanced at the other side of the town far away, muttered in his mouth, "Who knows how that happened?" Things are a bit weird to say that, I advise you not to be cranky, know what might happen here. "
The tax collector said impatiently and waved to the farmer, urging him to hurriedly move forward with the emptied wagon, and make room for the people behind.
As the farmer walked forward, he muttered something in his mouth, seeming to be complaining why he was unlucky because he paid taxes on the east side of the town, and then he hurried into the town in a chariot.
The farmer ’s carriage went to the center of the town not long afterwards, and then he looked at the small brown-red cobblestone in the center of the town square and sighed.
The reason why the town of Caslera is different from other places is that there are two tax collectors because this town belongs to two different lords.
When the movement to recover the lost ground was in full swing, there was no place in the entire Iberian Peninsula that was peaceful and peaceful. Even in the north, which was not occupied by the Moors, Christians all the time looked forward to being able to whip south, expel Moore, and recover the lost ground .
At that time, countless Iberian nobles were involved in this protracted war. Many families often spent several generations in a war that seemed at that time to never end.
This naturally created a very common phenomenon, that is, the heir of a family was one day after the war was told to die unfortunately, and this family not only broke off the heirs, even the seven aunts and eight aunts. The relatives of the tributaries also died in the war, so that the family ’s territory became an unowned thing and was taken back by his lord. These unowned lands were either annexed by the great lord, or they were rewarded again in the war The heroes who have risen in China.
But when these newcomers have n’t had time to celebrate their benefits, either the heir of the original territory that was supposed to be dead suddenly came back alive, or suddenly a relative who the original lord thought was dead The irrefutable evidence of inherited claims has come forward.
Of course, the old lord will not give up, and the new lord will not be able to spit out what he has eaten in his mouth, and then naturally he will continue to struggle on his own.
From the singles to the gang fights, the conflicts that broke out over the territory in the years after the war never stopped in Iberia.
This situation certainly made the twin kings and husbands who wanted to quickly get rid of the devastating dilemma destroyed by the war have a headache, so after a lot of compromises with the old and new nobles, those disputed territories ended up with the double kings After the trial of the court of nobility, the name was divided into two, three, or more, and as these territories were continuously divided, some places appeared. Even the same town has different lords. There will naturally be different tax collectors.
This is the case with the town of Caslera. This town originally belonged to the Dudarin family. Although this family is not a very prominent family in the Castilian court, it can be said to have a long history. The earliest creation of the family The person Elsova Joan Dudarin can even trace back to the early era of resistance to the Moorish invasion.
It's just that the family's luck doesn't seem to be good. In the past few years, the Dudarin family was already very rare, and shortly after Queen Isabella announced the end of the Moorish rule and the war to regain the last lost ground began. News of the unfortunate death of the last few descendants of the Dudarin family was full of blood and war.
Then the town of Caslera without the lord was finally subdivided to another new nobleman who had gained honor and wealth in the war, until one day Dudulin appeared, and troubles followed ...
The farmer drove the carriage past the line that has now divided the town of Caslera into two halves. No one noticed that the farmer seemed relieved when the wheels of the carriage ran over the pebbles on the ground.
The carriage wandered slowly on the dirty street until it stopped at a side street.
The farmer carried the empty jug into the alley. His footsteps started slowly, then gradually accelerated, and finally stopped at the door of a family after passing two more houses.
"That's it." The farmer mumbled and went up to knock on the door, but the door was opened without waiting for his hand to touch the door panel, and then a short man who didn't look tall appeared at the door, which made the farmer helpless Leng, instinctively said "I am ..."
"Come in, how far away you look like it's annoying." The short man greeted with a frown, then turned sideways to make way.
The farmer was a little sullen. He took off his hat from his head and walked into the room with his hands pinched. Then he saw the young man sitting by the half-open hearth furnace and reading the letter with fire.
The farmer's heart couldn't help but jumped, his hand holding the hat tightened more, and after a few steps forward, but was signaled to stop by the short man, he stood there in a hurry, silently waiting.
The young man did not let him wait long. After reading a section of the page in his hand, he collected the letter and raised his head to look at the farmer. Then he frowned slightly and said strangely, "You are not like a soldier like this. "
"Adult, I fought in the war," the farmer immediately raised his waist after hearing this, but then his shoulders collapsed. "But I was injured, and now I can only support the family by farming."
"It's not easy to grow land now," the young man asked casually. "If you want, I can arrange for you some individual living. That's what you deserve."
"This ... can't be an adult, thank you," For a moment, the farmer seemed to be moved by this promise, his eyes lit up, his hand holding the hat paused, but then he shook his head "I know myself I can do anything, except killing people, I only grow the land, but I am tired, I have a wife and children at home, I want to accompany them to live a peaceful life. "
Looking at the farmer who did n’t make contact with himself deliberately, just staring at the flames that could n’t be beaten, the young man nodded after a little silence:
I said this is what you deserve, but since you are willing to live now I won't force you on the day. "
"Thank you sir, thank you!" The farmer nodded nervously. He thought that it would not be so easy. After all, he had sworn at first, but now it seems that the Baron Dudarin of the town of Siscaslera is in front of him. Adults who have to be respectful also seem to be not so difficult to speak.
"The town of Caslera belongs to the Dudarin family," the young man glanced at the grateful farmer. "But now this is very unsatisfactory. I hope to help Baron Dudarin. What do you think?"
The farmer looked at this young noble who seemed quite mysterious to him. He did n’t know who this person was, only that suddenly someone sent him a letter asking him to come and see the adult, and obviously he did n’t want others to know. He's here.
"Do one thing for me, and then you will be free." The young man ordered.
"What do you want me to do?" The farmer asked in a low voice. At this moment his seemingly stupid appearance seemed to have undergone a slight change, and a pair of eyes that were always godless on his dirty face shone.
"You are a soldier, so tell me how to lead the enemy who has been hiding in the fortress?"
The farmer's head tilted his lips and said, "What else can I do to anger him, call him a soft-hearted coward, and greet his family women, and if they are pagans, let their prophet go to hell, they all do so. "
The young man thought about it and thought it was indeed the case, so he picked up a money bag from the table next to it and threw it to the farmer: "Take it, the money is not much but enough for this winter, do as you say, I want the town of Caslera to get into trouble soon because of disputes. "
The farmer took the money bag in his hand and weighed it in his hand, and then stuffed it into his pocket with satisfaction: "Master, do you want the whole town to be messed up?"
"As long as I can make an excuse for what I want to do next, after all, this is the domain of the Dudarin family. I don't want the baron to pick up a mess."
The farmer nodded in sympathy, he bent over to salute the young man, then put on his hat without a word and turned to leave.
"Adult, do you think this person can really do this?" After the farmer left, the short man came over, and he asked the young man with some worry, saying that he knew the young nobleman who appeared suddenly. Not many, but he knew that the baron master was not only respectful to this young man, but also seemed a little afraid.
"It doesn't matter if you can't do it, does it?"
The young man smiled at the short man. He could see that the celebrity of Baron Dudarin seemed a little uneasy about his decision, but he didn't care. After all, as he said, it was no big deal if he didn't succeed.
This answer obviously cannot satisfy the short man, but he also knows that this is not something he can manage ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Although he still does not know what the origin of this young nobleman who does not even know the true and false names is Think of the respect and respect that even the baron master respected him, and the short man could only bear what he said no more.
The young man sat down by the hearth again. He picked up the unfinished letter and looked at it quietly, just under the firelight shining on his face. The short man seemed to see the corners of his mouth curl slightly and slipped over A slight warm smile.
The winter day was very short, and the tax collector who had been caught in the cold had finally survived the hardship of the day. He instructed Banmy to extinguish the bonfire and put away the wooden table, and then jumped on the carriage in front of him and led by two guards. The convoy filled with the real taxes collected that day went outside the town.
The lord's castle is not near the town of Caslera, so it is a long way to go back.
The team gradually disappeared into the distance, and the sky gradually darkened.
Seeing the tax car team gradually disappeared, the people in the town secretly whispered these odious moths.
It's just that people don't know that this is the last time that the town of Caslera saw the tax collector.