Evil will not deceive you

Life in Rivendell is quite peaceful. It's so peaceful that you can go out casually at night, and it can even be said that you don't pick up things on the road.

This all comes from the fact that Baron Rivendell doesn't like to develop his own power, nor does he like others to mess around in his own power, and then promotes a large number of low-level officials, as well as trusting the Holy Light Church.

Therefore, for Tatov, even if he works until six or seven in the evening and goes home close to eight o'clock, he does not have to worry about being hijacked by someone.

Those conscientious knights of the Holy Light Church will patrol with the knights in the city, and there was an attack on the prince today, so there will be quite a lot of knights during this period, and he is not afraid at all.

However, as soon as he returned home, his wife, who had married from Tarren Mill, began to criticize him.

"Really, can't you go home earlier? It's not like you haven't seen that so many things have happened today. What will happen if something goes wrong?"

While his wife was nagging, she put the bread on the table. This was the bread that was just baked today. It was produced by the bakery in Stratholme City. Although it was only the cheapest whole wheat bread, it was darker than the bread from other places. I don’t know how good the bread is anymore.

Especially his wife kept the bread warm by the stove, so the bread still maintained a soft texture and tasted quite warm.

After a mouthful of bread, his stomach, which had been harmed by the cold beer, finally felt better.

"I've been drinking with those guys all day long. If something happens to you, what will I do?"

While the woman was chattering, she took the broth off the fire and put it on the table. The children who were helping her sort out the knitting also came running over, everyone wanting to eat something.

"Really, can't you let your father eat more? If he doesn't have enough to eat, you will all be hungry!"

Tatov's wife couldn't help complaining when she saw her children not having enough to eat, but she also knew that these half-grown boys would never have enough to eat during this period.

"Hahaha! As long as you can eat it!"

Tatov naturally didn't care about these things. He banged the table boldly and spoke to his children.

"Okay, kids, you can just eat. I've already agreed with your uncle that you won't go drinking after get off work from now on! Save the money to buy clothes for you!"

He said it very boldly, but his wife heard some worries from it, because her husband's favorite thing is cold beer. Even in winter, when everyone likes hot wine very much, this guy still has to run outside. Get some ice cubes to cool down your own beer.

Because of this incident, they started quarreling from the beginning of their acquaintance, and even almost divorced because of this incident, but today this guy...

Tatov's wife knew Tatov very well. This man would talk big to anyone, including him. Before the two of them entered the grass, she had heard him bragging about being twenty centimeters tall every day, but wasn't it actually only half that?

But one good thing about him is that he never lies to his children.

But she didn't ask now. Instead, she took out the remaining bread so that the children she gave birth to could eat more broth.

And when all the children had eaten and drank with their husbands, and the two were getting ready to go to bed, she took out the account book, and her man Tatov also walked over directly and told the reason.

"The boss is planning to cut his salary."

Tatov lost his previous boldness, and his face was full of sorrow.

"what happened?"

Tatov's wife was very confused. Because Tatov was a carpenter, how could he lose his job in this kind of business?

"You know that Li Ke from the Wild West, right?"

Tatov spoke with a sad expression.

"I know, because of his cloth, we were able to put our children in good clothes this year. What's wrong?"

Tatov's wife did not quite understand the situation.

"Most of the carpentry work here is making wooden boards and carriages. It's basically a physical job."

Tatov was very helpless. He was an ordinary carpenter, responsible for shaking circular saws and other things, and then cutting wooden boards to build carriages.

After all, there are a lot of merchants in Stratholme, and many people come to Stratholme to do business without bringing anything. These people are the ones who need carriages the most.

Their carriage was big and good, and because of this, he was able to raise three children, plus eat meat and drink all day long.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that their noble Lord, Baron Rivendell, is not interested in building any manor, let alone anything arrogant and luxurious. Otherwise, even with his salary, he would probably only be able to support one son.

"But isn't that Lord Li Ke engaged in other business? What does it have to do with the people in your carriage?"

His wife didn't understand very much.

"Because of the metal, the metal plates produced there are too cheap."

Tatov covered his face. Although Li Ke had no intention of targeting their carpentry industry, Li Ke's metal smelting industry directly crushed them.

But as a result, his wife became even more confused.

Of course she knew that the quality of the ironware sold from Li Ke's territory was quite good and quite cheap. The buckets they bought were from Li Ke's family and were very easy to use.

But how does this harm the industry that their family relies on for their livelihood?

"Someone ordered a batch of metal plates from his factory and asked to make them suitable for carriages, so they did it. We didn't care at first, but it turned out that their carriages were light and strong..."

Tatov sighed feebly.

They had all heard this as a joke before.

Because if more iron is used, it will become stronger, but the consumption of horsepower is no joke, and some sections of the road are impossible to pass with the weight of the carriage.

For example, if it rains, a wooden carriage can still be lifted, but what about an iron carriage?

And using less iron reduces weight? Reduced to be lighter than wood?

How much cargo can it carry? What is the purpose of using iron? And if you do this, when loading the same goods, the wooden carriage will not have any problems, but the iron carriage will definitely bend halfway!

It’s not like no one has thought about such a thing before, but they all gave up because of these reasons, but...

Li Ke's factory gave them a surprise.

In other words, fear is better.

The combination of steel pipes and steel plates is both lightweight and able to carry more goods. So it goes without saying what the merchants will choose. Their industry was almost destroyed at once.

And what destroyed them was so unexpected, so without any warning.

He was even sure that the superior Mr. Li Ke might not know that the factory under his name had done such a thing, which directly destroyed their lives and the lives of other carriage manufacturers.

"Fortunately, I can do other carpentry work and build houses, but recently I heard that Mr. Li Ke's houses are not made of stone and wood. Instead, they use steel bars instead of wood, and the stones are made of cement. Instead, although I don’t know what cement is, I think it should be much better than stone, just like steel is better than wood.”

He sighed softly, and when he thought about the future, he felt a burst of despair.

Because it seems that no matter which way he goes, he will be killed by Mr. Li Ke, who has a good and bad reputation.

Really, he is obviously a good person, but why does he do almost the same thing as a tomb robber?

He was really confused and didn't know what to do.

He had seen many people lose most of their income because of Li Ke before. For example, the blacksmith next door to him was undoubtedly an excellent blacksmith, but the problem was that the various iron products produced in Li Ke's territory were directly broken. All his pride.

He used to be good at hammering nails, but now, the wages he needs to hammer a box of nails are enough to buy ten boxes from Li Ke's Chamber of Commerce!

Originally, the hoes he made were easy to use and strong, but now, the hoes sold by Li Ke's Chamber of Commerce are not only four-fifths of his price, but are even stronger than his!

How can one live like this?

If the blacksmith hadn't had some savings, the whole family would have hanged themselves now!

It's better now. The other party could have repaired other things, but now he only has to repair the armor for the master.

But there are rumors that the best thing made in Li Ke's territory is not carriages, nails and the like, but various full-body plate armors.

But they were all cut off by the noble men.

"In this case……"

Tatov's wife finally understood why her husband gave up drinking, because for him, giving up drinking would save a lot of money and allow their children to grow up safely.

And even if you lose your job in the future, you can still live on your savings for a period of time.

only……

"...The one named Li Ke is really a bad guy!"

Tatov's wife tightened her apron. She didn't like her husband to drink too much, but that was because she would be heartbroken when the other man was sick. She also expected to farm in the farmland in the countryside with her husband when they grew old. , taking the grandchildren to play and fish by the stream.

Not because the other person wasted money on drinking.

His work was so heavy and he was so tired. She had no objection to him wanting to have a few drinks.

It's just that I don't want the other party to drink so much.

However, now because of Li Ke, her husband no longer even has this hobby...

"There is no way, who makes the other party a noble lord? If they were all like our Lord Baron Rivendell, there wouldn't be so many bandits in the world!"

After Tatov said this, he lay down directly on the bed. His friends and him basically had the same reason for not drinking. This wave of salary cuts directly forced them to find ways to make some extra money.

He thought about how he could do some side work.

Are you making toys?

He thought about this and shook his head.

Nowadays, most people in Stratholme, except those who sell food and have spare money, have experienced more or less reduced wages because of Li Ke's products.

Although Li Ke's products have reduced their living costs, the problem is, have they also deprived them of job opportunities?

But they still can't blame those people. There are better things and lower costs. Even they know clearly, what should businessmen choose?

"If that doesn't work, why don't you go back to your hometown with your brothers and buy a large piece of land? From now on, you can sell grain, and then the brothers can do carpentry?"

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his plan was feasible. Baron Rivendell basically did not use his own corvee, and at most he paid some land rent. He had three children, and he could get several laborers after a few years of hard work.

And it may not be very difficult in the past few years. It is much better for my brothers to work and eat together than for everyone to work together.

In this way, maybe a village can be formed, and I can be the village leader by then.

Thinking of this, he couldn't stop thinking about leaving Stratholme. After all, he had long wanted to return to the countryside to farm. Most of his brothers were also people who grew up in the countryside. It was impossible to return to the countryside. Just going home!

When he thought about their brothers being able to grow crops on their own land, drink wine made from grapes and wheat grown by themselves, and eat rabbits in the fields, he felt excited, as if he had returned to his childhood.

At that time, he was carefree and felt that as long as there was wine and his brothers in the world, he could go anywhere.

And with his carpenter skills and brothers, this is indeed the case.

Until I met...

He looked at his wife who was slowly getting into his arms, looking at her appearance that was no longer glamorous due to life, and his rough hands touched her slightly less rough face.

"Alyssa..."

"Um?"

Tatov's wife had a beautiful name, but she was no longer as beautiful as she had been in the past. This woman, who had been devastated by time and housework, still looked up at her husband.

At this moment, she vaguely saw the smile of that high-spirited young man in the corner of her husband's mouth, and Tatov also saw in the bright moonlight in his eyes that he was once beautiful, but he disliked her very much. girl.

"Let's go back to the countryside. There, we take our children on a boat, go fishing, explore, farm, raise cattle, and my old gang. Their daughter is very beautiful, so our family The bastards are doing a good job of causing harm to them..."

Because of drinking, Alyssa never liked Tatov's brothers very much, but she still had a good relationship with them.

However, at this time, listening to her husband's heartbeat surging with yearning, Alyssa hesitated and then had the same dream as her husband.

"Well, okay, although the countryside is not very convenient, it is pretty good...and..."

She said this, caressing her husband's strong chest muscles, and slowly said words that made both of them breathe faster.

"...I can raise another child."

As soon as she finished speaking, her husband held her in his arms and felt his heavy breathing.

"I want a girl this time."

But she just chuckled and did not refuse her husband's rough move to pull away her clothes.

Because the other person was like this when he was a teenager.

"...This is not your decision."

But just as the two people were kissing, the door was violently kicked open, the sound of swords suddenly resounded below, and a group of uninvited guests wearing armor rushed into their room at this moment.

Tatov blocked in front of his wife almost instinctively. Alyssa watched all this in horror, but because of her husband's back and the suddenly noisy street, she didn't hear much or see much. Too much, but the next moment...

"He ate today's bread! Kill them!"

She saw her husband's head fly with her own eyes.

Well, that's all for today, a little uncomfortable.