Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 367 Migration
In late April, the Crown Prince arrived in Liverpool and saw twenty hullboats and five brigs moored at the mouth of the Mersey.

The dock was piled high with cargo, which was hoisted onto the deck by a wheeled crane. Some family members carried packages and boarded the ship one by one, preparing to travel to the distant and unfamiliar West Frankish region.

Upon learning of the Crown Prince's arrival, Earl Brecken came to greet him.

"Your Highness, you've come at the perfect time. I've completed the handover procedures and am about to lead the last group of people onto the ship." His tone was cheerful, and he couldn't wait to head to the new territory.

Among the various earls of Britain, Liverpool is in the worst category. It is small in area and sparsely populated. The first Earl, Ulf, left after only a few years. Later, Brecken became the second Earl, but he still could not revitalize the region.

After a series of setbacks, Brecken chose to do the same thing as his predecessor—to give up and wait for a suitable opportunity to ask his lord to change his fiefdom.

He was fortunate; the new fief granted by the emperor was located in southern Frankish territory, not far from Bordeaux, an excellent agricultural region. During this time, Brecken swiftly completed the handover procedures with the cabinet to prevent the emperor from suddenly reneging.

"Your Highness, all the paper documents are stored in the Earl's Mansion, no, now it should be called the County Magistrate's Residence, and the Cabinet officials have completed their inspection. We've finally made it to today, and we can finally be relieved."

After a brief conversation, Brecken suddenly brought up something. Last month, some Nordic merchants had come specifically to buy war bonds, and the count suspected that they were backed by certain Nordic nobles.

The Crown Prince had already heard rumors about this matter, and the cabinet suggested a laissez-faire approach, a view shared by the Emperor.

The Nordic nobles acquired war bonds in exchange for land within the Frankish territory.

This land was not a noble fiefdom and did not grant feudal privileges. When the Nordic nobles migrated there to settle, they were required to pay taxes and perform military service as usual. The more land they owned, the more obligations they bore, which was beneficial to the empire.

After hearing the explanation, the count breathed a sigh of relief and summoned his butler. "Sell all the war bonds to those Scandinavians, and do it quickly."

Before the goods were fully loaded onto the ship, the count accompanied the crown prince on a stroll through the town.

Liverpool's transition from an earldom to a municipality was generally welcomed by locals due to lower agricultural taxes, more town hospitals, cheaper briquettes in winter, and easier access to public office and career advancement for residents of municipalities.

The Earl had always held himself in high regard. But as they prepared to part ways, the residents of Liverpool finally revealed their true feelings, leaving him utterly devastated.

"Your Highness, the fleet is ready, I should depart."

Brecken hurried to the dock to board the ship, not wanting to stay in this godforsaken place for another second.

With the help of the wind, the fleet left the Mersey estuary and sailed south along the Welsh coast. After a two-day stop in Plymouth, the fleet crossed the British Channel and continued south to the Garonne estuary.

Afterwards, Brecken's party switched to longboats and sailed eastward along the Dol River, a tributary of the Garonne, until they finally arrived at his fiefdom of Pineil.

The fleet docked at a simple pier, and Brecken led his entourage in a grand procession toward the castle marked on the map.

The May sun was warm but not scorching. On both sides of the road were vast, flat, and open wheat fields, with the nearly ripe wheat ears rippling in the breeze. Farmers were working in the fields, dressed in linen or wool clothing, using simple wooden farm tools. Iron tools were very rare, and occasionally a cow could be seen pulling a wooden plow to till fallow land.

Even with outdated farming techniques and tools, the wheat here is still growing well. The Earl picked up a wheat ear and examined it carefully. He thought that if iron farm tools and new heavy plows were promoted, the wheat yield here would be 2-3% higher than that of Liverpool.

At noon, the Earl arrived at a small village. The houses here were mostly built of roughly hewn stones, with roofs covered with dried wheat straw. In the center of the village was a stone well, where several women were drawing water and talking. Upon seeing the stranger, they immediately lowered their voices and hurriedly fled home.

At the east end of the village, there is a communal oven area, where the air is filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread. A baker is using a long-handled wooden spatula to take freshly baked rye bread from the stone oven. This is the staple food of most villagers, and white bread is only seen on festivals or special occasions.

Through some open doors, the count glimpsed the narrow and dark farmhouse, with only a few rough benches and sleeping beds covered with hay or animal hides. Wooden farm tools were piled in the corner, and the occasional bleating of sheep could be heard from the neighboring livestock pen.

"With the common people so poor, how much tax did the previous lord collect?"

After leaving the village, the group traveled for about two hours before finally seeing the castle standing on the hillside ahead.

The main building of the castle is a Roman-era stone watchtower, surrounded by a wooden fortified wall.

Unfortunately, the stockade walls and houses inside were burned down, and the stone watchtowers were damaged by tunnel warfare, resulting in irreparable collapses.

Twenty soldiers were stationed at the nearby mill, under the command of a young lieutenant. Upon learning Brecken's identity, the lieutenant carefully examined the documents, then ordered his men to pack their belongings and return to Bordeaux to report.

Overall, the climate and soil of this new territory are better than those of Liverpool. However, the people suffer from poverty, lack iron farming tools, and are indifferent to their lord, making them prone to rebellion at any time.

For the next two weeks, the count led his trusted men to inspect every village in his territory, meticulously recording the population and arable land area of ​​each village before bestowing titles upon the barons and knights under his command.

Upon reaching the northernmost point of the territory, he happened to encounter another group of Vikings, soldiers of Rickard, who were also patrolling the territory.

Six nobles requested the exchange of their territories, and their demands were largely the same—the new territories must be abundant in wine. Therefore, Vieg placed all their territories in southern Frankish territory. To the north of Brecken lay Ricard, to the east Goodwin's eldest son, and to the southeast, Pascal the Younger.

After the inspection, Brecken returned to the castle ruins to ponder future plans.

From an economic perspective, the most suitable approach is to cultivate grapes on a large scale, produce wine, and sell it to Britain, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe. However, the problem is that neighboring countries share the same idea, and with everyone vying to expand production, the price of wine will inevitably fall.

“Pineay’s location is still a bit lacking. The best place should be along the Mediterranean coast, with plenty of sunshine. Besides making wine, olives can also be grown to produce olive oil, which the empire is in dire need of. It’s a pity that I fell seriously ill three years ago and missed this war.”

The count felt an overwhelming sense of regret. He took out paper and pen and wrote a letter to the emperor, requesting that he be taken to the next war.

(End of this chapter)