I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 110: 35 ()

Hoffman walked along the road with a tired look on his face, followed by nine mules and eighteen caravan members.

Hoffman opened the water bag and took a sip of barley beer. Recalling what happened in Cooper Castle, his face became even uglier.

Perhaps because of the impending war, this time Baron Berry blackmailed him heavily.
Hoffman had long known that every lord would impose heavy tariffs, but even though he knew it, the complicated taxes still made him feel a little breathless.

There is no other reason, it is just that the lords entrenched in various roads are so good at finding ways to take away Finney!
Hoffman counted the common taxes: transaction tax, management tax, stall tax, and in larger cities there was also a city entry tax.

These are nothing. What he can't stand the most is the so-called road maintenance tax.

What is road tax?
When you pass by the road in front of our door, you may damage it, so in order to maintain the road surface, you need to pay money, namely road tax.

Listen, is this human talk?

That’s not all, there is also the so-called commodity tax: if you sell a certain commodity in a territory where the commodity is produced in abundance, you need to pay commodity tax.

The greedy Baron Berry took advantage of this and insisted that his territory was rich in all kinds of goods that Hoffman brought, and forcibly took away some of his money.

In addition, each place has various rules and different small taxes, such as commodity weight tax: if the amount exceeds a certain amount, tax must be paid; vehicle quantity tax: if the number of mules, horses or vehicles exceeds a certain number, tax must be paid.

But this is not over yet!

If you are in the other party's territory and accidentally drop the goods on the ground, then I'm sorry, you'd better be glad that no one saw it. Otherwise, according to the other party's rules, as long as the goods fall within their own fiefdom, they will belong to them!

Hoffman sighed. He had made this stupid mistake last night.
A newly recruited caravan member accidentally dropped a bundle of linen outside the stall while carrying goods to the stall. Hoffman swore that within a second of the goods falling, a member of his entourage suddenly swooped out from the corner, like a vulture swooping on rotting meat. Before Hoffman could react, it was snatched away.
"Damn guy!"

Hoffman kicked the stone under his feet hard. He was certainly aware of Berry's greed, but what made him most angry was that he had no choice.

It's not that there are no other ways to go south. The key is that those trade routes with flat roads have long been divided up by large caravans. If you rashly rush in, you will probably be close to seeing God.

Besides, they have cooperation with guilds along the way. Once a small caravan of his enters the city, it will face double exploitation from the guilds and the lords.

"Ugh"

Hoffman was deeply resentful. With the war in southern Burgundy, refugees were everywhere and bandits were rampant. Although Hoffman's caravan had more than ten people, there were also some unscrupulous bandits who robbed them along the way.

During the half year of wandering in the south, one person in his caravan had died and one was disabled. In order to better transport the southern goods back to the north, in addition to filling the vacancies, he also hired two new soldiers. Otherwise, how could the new member drop a bundle of linen for nothing?
Looking wearily toward the north, he now only hoped to enter the relatively peaceful Lorraine region as soon as possible.

When mentioning Lorraine, Hoffman couldn't help but think of the Knight of Upper Lorraine last year, and his heart couldn't help but ripple.

Will he come?
Hoffman looked back at the two extra empty mules. He did not break his promise and brought one extra empty mule. As for the other one, of course, it was snatched away by Hoffman's entourage.

After losing goods and manpower one after another, Hoffman felt that he would not make much money on this trip, at most he would just break even. But if he could really bring in low-cost charcoal as that guy said,
Hoffman's eyes narrowed slightly. There is no shortage of charcoal in Bavaria, but don't forget, there is no shortage of buyers either!

If I could really get cheap charcoal, I could make a small profit.

The premise is that the wandering knight did not fool him.

"Wait, what is that?"

Hoffman was lost in thought when he suddenly saw a few vague figures standing at the Telf Bridge in the distance. He immediately stopped the caravan vigilantly.

Hoffman gritted his teeth, "Bastard, is it another robber?"

"Draw out the swords!"

The clanging sound gave Hoffman courage. He moved forward cautiously. As the distance shortened, he finally saw the opposite side clearly.

"Oh my God! Mr. Luc! You actually came!?"

Hoffman was surprised at first, and then he was delighted. He didn't expect that this guy would keep his promise!

"Quick, put away all your weapons!"

Hoffman put on a smile and opened his arms warmly, wanting to give Luc a hug: "Oh my friend, I really didn't expect you to come. To be honest, I thought you were joking, you know?" "Stop, Hoffman, pay the toll first!"

Hoffman, who was striding forward, suddenly froze.

His expression was extremely wonderful, and his sparse hair was messed up by the wind.

".Dude, you're kidding me, right?"

"Who's kidding you?"

Luc said sternly to Hoffman, who looked as if he had eaten a fly:

"I solemnly declare that the man standing before you is Luc Montmorency, Knight of Upper Lorraine, legal heir to the estate of Waldeger, Knight of Burgundy, master of the Bridge of Telf and the mill at Tihar."

Looking at the dazed Hoffman, Luc smiled and said, "Now you should understand. This bridge is my legal territory. All caravans passing through here must pay the bridge tax."

"So, this is not a joke."

"However, since we are partners, you will be exempted from the bridge toll this time."

Luc's words disappeared into the river.

After a while, Hoffman blinked, as if he had just reacted. He raised his finger, pointed at Luc, and said in surprise:

"You mean you've become the master of this bridge?"

"Are you a Knight of Burgundy?"

"Oh my God, how did you do that?"

It was not easy for even a wandering knight to become a vassal of other regions and enjoy fiefdoms, so it was no wonder that Hoffman was shocked.

Luke smiled and told Hoffman about his story. The man in his forties said with a sincere emotion: "You are such a lucky guy."

Knowing that Luc was joking with him, Hoffman felt relieved. The two of them exchanged a few brief greetings and then discussed the real highlight.

"I didn't expect you to bring two empty mules, Hoffman. You're a man of courage. It just so happens that the cart of charcoal I brought is just enough for two mules."

Hoffman chuckled twice but didn't explain.

"Fifty-fifty. I'll provide you with this charcoal at cost price, and I'll take 50% of the profit."

"Knight Luc, this is impossible, at most 30%!"

"Okay, then 30%."

Looking at Luc's faint smile, Hoffman shook his head. He thought that the other party should really be a businessman.

"Hoffman, why did you increase the number of guards?"

Luc glanced around and asked casually.

After hearing Hoffman's explanation, Luc stroked his beard and suddenly laughed:
"Sell this batch of charcoal first and see how it goes. If it's good, I can do you another favor."

The two signed the usual business contract. Hearing Luc's words, Hoffman looked up at Luc, who had become a formal noble after not seeing him for a year. "What can I do for you?"

"Trade route."

"A trade route that avoids Baron Beric."

(End of this chapter)