King of German Mercenaries

Marin looked left and right, and found that there was no rope tied to the red deer. In desperation, he had to pull out the grass on the side and start weaving straw ropes on the spot. Speaking of which, even in the countryside of later generations, there are not many young people who know how to weave straw ropes. Because the business of later generations is too developed, rope stores of various nylon fibers and other materials are sold in large quantities, not only cheap, but also of better quality than straw rope. Therefore, everyone went directly to buy chemical fiber ropes.

Marin was also bored in his previous life. When he was a child, he learned how to weave straw ropes and straw sandals with a lonely old man in the village who loved to weave straw ropes and straw sandals when he was bored. Then, just happened to come in handy today...

Marin tied the red deer's neck with the braided straw rope, then grabbed the red deer's front legs and pulled the red deer out of the trap. Then, Marin held the warhorse in his left hand and the red deer in his right hand. He couldn't stop competing with the red deer that wanted to escape, and dragged the red deer to the nearest city...

At this time, the closest city to Marin was the city of Bonn under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Cologne, which was the capital of West Germany. It took Marin a long time to lead the red deer outside Bonn. But at the gate of the city, they were stopped...

It turned out that in ancient Europe, entering the city was to pay the city tax. The city tax is not high, as long as two imperial fennies (theoretically fennies and pennies are equivalent). But the problem is, now Marin is penniless!

In desperation, Marin had to inquire about the trading market outside the city, and then walked to a market outside the city. You know, these days, two pfennigs are also very considerable for the poor, almost equivalent to a day's wages. In order to save the city tax, some people simply set up stalls somewhere outside the city.

Of course, local officials are not stupid. You set up a stall outside the city, right? OK, I can delineate a market for you. However, those who set up stalls in the market have to pay the stall tax, just like in the city.

As for the buyer, it does not have to pay tax. However, this is also conditional. That is, those who set up stalls outside the city must be small businesses. If you have a big business and want to set up a stall outside the city to save the city tax, the tax officer will bring the sheriff to trouble you.

Generally speaking, those who set up stalls outside the city sell some cheap materials needed by the countrymen. Such as farm tools, coarse cloth, needles and thread, etc. As for the high-priced and in-demand materials such as salt, although the villagers also need them, the officials absolutely do not allow them to be sold at the market outside the city. Because it will affect their taxation. Of course, in places that are too far from the city, ordinary people can also buy them at the 5-day market. But there are also tax officials at the fair, who keep a close eye on the merchants.

Marin came to the simple market outside the city, naturally not to sell red deer. Because, there can be no big buyers outside the city. He came here to get the city tax.

After thinking about it, Marin felt that he must not sell his war horses and weapons and armor. But to collect the city tax, one must come up with one thing.

After thinking about it, only the short knife on his body can be sold. This short knife is used by Marin to survive in the wild, and it can also be used as a dagger for self-defense. The quality seems to be very good. But Marin was hungry now. After two days of eating grass roots, he started drooling when he saw someone selling black bread that could be used as a brick at the market. So, he decided to get the city tax quickly, and then sold the red deer so that he could eat a normal meal.

In all fairness, Marin's knives are of good quality. After all, this is for knights, and when knights lose their lances, they might have to draw out their daggers and fight people. Therefore, the quality of this short knife is generally good.

But now Marin can't control that much, and he can't care about selling it for a good price. So, this fine short knife worth 20 pfennig was sold to a butcher for 8 pfennig by Marin.

With the cost of entering the city, Marin happily led the war horse and red deer to the city. But what makes him depressed is that his city tax actually costs 4 pfennig. The reason is that the red deer he leads are "bulk goods", and some tax must be collected...

In fact,

If it weren't for Marin's face as a knight with martial arts skills, the guards of the city might have asked for 20 Finneys or even a sky-high price.

Moreover, ordinary people even need the permission of the lord to hunt. If a commoner hunts and kills large animals in the territory without authorization, he may be executed by the lord.

Only a wandering knight like Marin, the lord doesn't care much. Because the wandering knights are a group of masters who dare to kill for their lives. They are highly skilled in martial arts, and ordinary lords dare not provoke them. Moreover, many of the wandering knights have old friends and relatives, and if they provoke them, they have no good fruit to eat. The soldiers guarding the city are just lowly infantry, how dare they offend the knights?

Legend has it that a few years ago, a certain baron killed a wandering knight who was hunting in his territory without authorization. Then, two months later, a group of knights came from the family of the wandering knight and killed the baron. Also ransacked the baron's estate. The Baron's family brought the matter to the Imperial Court, but it was not resolved. Although the baron's status is higher than that of the fief knight who took revenge (the father of the deceased), he really can't say that he was wrong for avenging his son. Moreover, it was indeed too much for the baron to kill a knight for the mere prey. So, this is the end of the matter, and in the end, it is only the revenge who returned the stolen property.

After that, ordinary lords, taking precautions, were not willing to provoke wandering knights. As long as they don't rely on hunting in their own territory for a long time, they generally don't care. Even if they are found, they will only send people to drive them away, and they will not be as vicious as they are to treat civilians. Because, these wandering knights themselves, or their families, may be thugs with high martial arts skills...

Of course, if a local lord finds out about hunting large wild animals like Marin, he might send his knights over to ask for it back. However, the dissemination of news in the Middle Ages was extremely backward, and communication basically relied on roaring. When the local lord learns the news and sends someone over to pursue it, maybe three or two days have passed. And Marin himself is just passing by in a hurry, where can I find it when the time comes? Even if you find it, it's useless. After all, if you catch a thief, you need to catch the stolen goods. If you don't catch it on the spot, people will sell the prey. Who will admit it then? Unless, Marin is greedy and stays here for a long time to hunt, giving people the opportunity to catch thieves and loot...

After finally entering the city, Marin hurried into the city. After a long time, he finally found a restaurant that was willing to buy this red deer. But the price made Marin so depressed that he vomited blood...

why? The restaurant owner paid only 4 pfennigs for a pound of venison to buy the red deer. Moreover, it is based on a 50% meat yield. That is to say, for this venison, the boss is only willing to pay 800 pfennig. In addition, deer bones can also be used to make soup because of the complete deer skin and by-products such as antlers for decoration. , So, the boss promised to pay 300 pfennig in addition. In other words, such a big red deer can only sell for 1100 Finneys...

According to Marin Hoffman's memory, a pound of wheat is currently worth five pfennigs (a price that would skyrocket after the "price revolution" began in the sixteenth century, and by the seventeenth century it was almost one or two per pound of wheat The shilling is even higher. However, meat prices seem to have been relatively stable). Even less valuable rye is worth 1 pfennig per pound. In other words, the price of a pound of venison is less expensive than a pound of wheat...

Marin, who has crossed over from later generations, is completely Spartan...

You know, in modern times, the price of a pound of wheat is a little more than a pound, and venison costs at least twenty to a pound. This is still raised venison, if it is wild venison, it will be dozens of dollars. In other words, the price of modern venison is at least ten times that of wheat. But in medieval Europe, wheat was more expensive than venison, which shocked Marin.

In fact, it is also Marlin who is short-sighted. You know, this is the Middle Ages. The current German region (excluding Hungary and other regions, but including many regions in later Poland, as well as the Netherlands and some French regions, about 50,000 to 600,000 square kilometers) has a population of less than 10 million. In the future, Germany, on a land area of ​​350,000 square kilometers, has a population of 80 million.

Therefore, the German region at the moment is quite sparsely populated. Like the Rhine and the southern mountains, there is currently a large amount of forest. In the forest, there are wild deer, wild sheep, wild rabbits, and even bison... There are actually many such wild animals, and they are enough for people to hunt and eat.

Not only the German region, but the whole of Europe is now sparsely populated with many wild animals. As long as you have a musket, or are good at using a bow and crossbow, then you can definitely hunt and kill prey often, without lack of meat, and sell it (provided you have the qualification to hunt).

At the same time, the level of agriculture in Europe in the Middle Ages was so low that it was not worthy of shoes for the Ming Dynasty of the same period. The yield of wheat per mu is better in Europe, except for Italy, which can reach 150 to 200 catties per mu. In other areas, the yield of wheat per mu is generally around 100 catties. Of course, this also has to do with the current climate. After all, this era is the "Little Ice Age", and the temperature is low. But the more reason is that the European farming skills are extremely low. They do not know how to fertilize, and the plows used to cultivate the land are also very backward.

For example, Huaxia began to use the very advanced and labor-saving curved plough in the Tang Dynasty. In this era, there were only two types of ploughs in Europe - the Saxon heavy plow and the ordinary light plow. The downside of the light plow is obvious - it works very shallowly and can only rip through the topsoil, which is ineffective. And the Saxon heavy plow, the effect is very good. But it was so bulky that it required several horses to pull it together.

(European horses are large and powerful, so they are very suitable for draught horses. Therefore, horse farming has always been popular in Europe, and cattle are relatively rarely used. Many cattle are raised as dairy or beef cattle.)

However, in Europe, how many draught horses can the average person have? Obviously not possible. Therefore, the Saxon heavy plow, only those aristocrats and wealthy families can afford it. Generally poor small landowners can't afford Saxony heavy plows.

No manure is applied, and the tillage is shallow. This has resulted in generally low agricultural yields in Europe, resulting in high food prices. In contrast, because there are many wild animals in the wild, and Europeans themselves graze extensively, the source of meat is very rich, which also leads to the low price of meat in Europe in this era.

According to Marin Hoffman's memory, beef was only 4 pfennig a pound at this time, while lamb and pork were only 3 pfennig a pound. In other words, the cost of eating meat is lower than eating wheat bread...

Of course, rye is cheaper than meat. Therefore, poor families generally eat a mixture of rye, soil, sawdust, stones and wild vegetables to "cast" (why do you say casting? Because such black bread can kill people and can be used directly as bricks, which can be called the "casting" of the Middle Ages. Nokia") extra hard black baguette.

Even the Hoffman family, a knight family, usually eats black bread. White bread made of wheat flour is lavishly eaten only on major festivals. Of course, the black bread that the Hoffman family eats is not the same as the black bread that the poor family eats. At least, the black bread the Hoffman family eats is not so hard, and it is not mixed with dirt and other things, it is normal black bread.

Thinking of this, Marin burst into tears:

"I didn't expect that wheat in the Middle Ages was more expensive than meat! What's the matter, I used to read the time-travel novels and thought the author was bragging, but I didn't expect it to be like this in reality!"

Before crossing, Marin had read a lot of novels about crossing into ancient Europe. For example, a novel mentioned that in Europe after the 17th century, the price of wheat was extremely expensive, reaching a few pounds per quart (12.7 kilograms). To this end, the protagonist also made a fortune by using modern agricultural technology to farm...

"Well, it seems that I have to find a way to grow wheat to make a fortune!" After all, Marin was a pure rural child and was no stranger to farming.

But the problem is, farming must first have land! In this era of land owned by feudal lords, even if you have money, you may not be able to buy good land. Even if you buy good land, if you really grow wheat and make a fortune, maybe the lord will be jealous and come to rob... After all, the Middle Ages were the lord's world, they were the emperor of the earth, and the land ownership was with the lord...

Therefore, after thinking about it, Marin still felt that it would be better to go to Emperor Maximilian I first. First help the emperor to fight, and then strive to achieve military exploits and gain a fief. Then, when you have a fief and become a lord, you recruit serfs, use modern agricultural technology, mass-produce wheat, and become a local tyrant in the Middle Ages...

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