Mage Joan

Flint snorted and slapped the oak wine glass on the table heavily.

"Jason, since you have said so, then I will make it clear, I hate the way old Archibald does business, and I will not support him in entering the town council!"

Qiao An glanced at the old dwarf, and then at Mr. Tyndall, who was looking awkward. He vaguely realized that the Archibald family was not simple, and seemed to have brought a lot of impact to this conservative southern township.

"Uncle, don't interrupt, let Mr. Mayor continue to talk about business!" Tom persuaded.

The old dwarf gave his nephew angrily, but made no sound.

"Joan, let's go on to say that the Archibald family and their logging plant were still under construction until late November. The weather was not too cold at that time, but a small area of ​​ice floes appeared on the Delrin River. "

Hearing this, Qiao An couldn't help frowning.

It is nearly fifty miles from the forest where the logging camp is located to the town, and there are rugged mountain roads along the way. The cost of transportation by manpower or carriage is too high, so the logs can only be pushed into the Delin River and downstream to the town. Salvage the driftwood again.

On the other hand, the wood processing plant in the town uses large circular saws powered by waterwheels.

From logging to processing, water power is indispensable. When the Delin River enters the dry season after winter, it cannot provide sufficient power and may be frozen at any time. Logs harvested upstream may be frozen in the river. It's in trouble.

Because of this, the logging plant in Delin Town does not start construction in winter as usual. Archibald’s logging plant did the opposite, which is really weird.

Mayor Tyndall saw the confusion in Qiao'an's eyes and explained it in due course.

"In previous years, the logging yard in our town stopped work after the frost in the winter. In fact, even if the river hasn't frozen, there are no hired workers in this season. After all, logging in the mountains in cold weather is very hard. Happy to have this coolie!"

"But the Archibald family doesn't care about this. Except for the old Archibald and his son, there are only four overseers who are paid and taxed. Those who really need to work hard are black slaves."

"Black slave?" Qiao An couldn't help being surprised. "Do we have slaves in Delin Town?"

"I didn’t have it before, but since the Archibald family moved to town, they also brought a group of black slaves. They were said to have been bought from slave merchants in Moosebelheim in the south. They had 20 strong labors and spent a total of them. 2000 Kindujia!" Uncle Baker, the tavern owner, interjected, showing some envy in his words.

Mr. Mayor nodded, his face particularly gloomy.

"Black slaves are different from hired laborers. Even their lives do not belong to them. Old Archibald beats and kills if he wants to. It would be kind to let them eat and wear warmth. Of course, they would not pay the slave an extra. The wages of the copper plate."

"Forcing the slaves to log into the mountains in the winter is a very legitimate act in the eyes of Old Archibald. You can also make more money while other logging plants are shut down. As for the slaves' suffering, he doesn't care."

"Someone criticized old Archibald for abusing his slaves. Guess how he answered?"

"The old guy asked the other person,'Will you not ride a horse because the horse sweats too much in summer? Would you not let the dog sledding because the winter is too cold?' If the above answer is no, then he also has the right to drive His slaves work at any time of the year."

"This is just sophistry!" The hot-tempered old dwarf finally couldn't help it. "Fortunately, the gods are fair. After all, Old Archibald paid the price for his greed! Just a week ago, the weather suddenly It turned cold, and the blizzard has not stopped until today. Archibald and his sons, as well as his employees and slaves, are all trapped in the mountains by the heavy snow! This is called'retribution'!"

"The problem now is not only the heavy snow sealing the mountain. I heard that a gang of jackals from Brass Pass is also wandering in the forest area. If we don’t quickly rescue the Archibald family, even if they have enough reserves in the mountain. The food that can sustain until the day the weather improves, I am afraid it will not be able to stop the attack of the Jackal Raiders." Mr. Tyndall frowned.

Qiao An heard Mr. Mayor's implication and was about to speak, but Flint took the lead.

"Jason, I advise you not to be nosy! The Archibalds are unlucky, it will do you no harm!"

"Flint, you think so narrowly! Because Archibald is also in the timber business, if I don’t try to rescue me, I’m afraid someone will accuse me of using public power to suppress competitors in the business and ruin me. Reputation." Mr. Mayor spread his hands and sighed.

The old dwarf took a gulp of ale, wiped the foam from his beard, and raised two fingers.

"Jason, I can lead the militia to rescue the Archibald family, but there are two prerequisites."

"First of all, you must wait for the blizzard to subside before you set off, otherwise you won't be able to climb the mountains."

"In addition, we must first convene a parliament and come up with a bill to completely resolve the issue of slaves."

"Mr. Flint, I have no opinion on the first article. As for the second article...the controversy is too great. As far as I know, several town councilors have privately supported slavery and held a meeting or two. I am afraid that no consensus can be reached." Mr. Mayor's face is heavy.

The tavern owner Mr. Baker gave a dry cough, and then the mayor said: "There are several town councils nearby that have passed laws that allow slavery. There is no need for us to make exceptions in Delrin, and there is no need for Archibald. One family is too harsh."

"Other towns did it like that because most of the councillors in those towns lacked a conscience!" Flint scolded, "Slaves are allowed, isn't that the same as the gray dwarves? Not only is it morally untenable, but also It will have a huge impact on all walks of life in the town."

"Mr. Flint, where do you start?" Turner asked disapprovingly.

"You guys, it's still too young and unreasonable!"

The old dwarf unceremoniously taught the group of people in the tavern whose average age was less than one-tenth of their own.

"Think about it. Slaves have no personal freedom at all. They do not receive a salary and work with slaves. Of course, the cost is much lower than that of hired workers. This means that a factory or plantation can make more money than hired workers by squeezing slaves. More profit!"

"In the final analysis, doing business is to pursue profit! Since slaves cost less than hired labor, and a factory or plantation can gain an advantage in the industry through slavery, other practitioners in this industry have to lay off workers and purchase more. slave!"

"If things go on like this, hired workers will be forced to sell themselves as slaves, while slaves working under whips and shackles are unlikely to have the energy and motivation to improve labor efficiency, let alone take the initiative to invent and create!"