Chapter 277 276 Falling in Comfort

Chapter 277 276. Falling in Comfort

The merchants agreed to Lu Yu's conditions. It would be great to have such a powerful person to protect them, even if they only went to the ridge of the raging volcano... What's more, he didn't want money!

The guards no longer hesitated and came forward to apologize.

The tree branch uncle sat in front of Lu Yu: "Please don't take it to heart. We are all crude people holding swords and looking for a meal on the edge of life and death. Many people have concerns, so they will be more angry at those who don't follow the rules and drag others down... Although it may make you angry, it is true."

Seeing this rough man very seriously and somewhat nervously breaking up the reactions of the guards and explaining them clearly, Lu Yu was a little amused. He didn't take it to heart at all. The reactions of the guards were normal reactions of normal people being dragged into trouble. If he met someone who casually caused big trouble for him and was not familiar with him, he would also be so critical.

Seeing that the guards were still a little uneasy, he took the wine bag and gulped down a mouthful.

Seeing Lu Yu's action, everyone widened their eyes.

It was really bad wine, not only sour, but also not mellow at all, as if wine was mixed into water and some old vinegar was added... Such a bad wine is really rare.

Lu Yu was surprised by this sudden thought and quickly recalled everything that happened in this world.

It's true, because Lulu was with him, he had the confidence to deal with many things. At first, it was the sense of security given by Lulu. When he became a little stronger and could summon summons such as the flesh chariot and the piano, his strength gave him the right to see a higher level.

Although the journey to send Lulu home was hard, compared with people who didn't know magic and had no confidence and could only bow their heads to face various unexpected situations, Lu Yu was actually very smooth.

Not only that, after leaving Sera, Lulu and others, he realized that he had really become much stronger. With the strength of the fourth level, in terms of actual combat, relying on Xu Yu and dual-element summons, he can protect himself even against the sixth level. If we consider the several summons submitted in the summoning manual that have not been summoned yet, such strength is also excellent in Meila.

Following the two geniuses, he was forced to follow them to challenge the high-end game. When he went down the low-level dungeon for the first time, Lu Yu found out...

"What? I'm quite brave."

For adventurers and mercenaries, drinking is sometimes a ritual.

Many mercenaries don't like to drink, nor do they like the feeling of being anesthetized and muddled. It's just because their friends who have been through life and death all drink, so he also drinks. If he doesn't drink, it will seem strange.

Although it was just a chance encounter, it was still a few days before reaching the ridge of the angry mountain. Lu Yu didn't like the atmosphere of being trembling around and worrying about his reaction.

Sure enough, Lu Yu took a big sip of wine, and the guards breathed a sigh of relief. When they looked at Lu Yu, there was no fear in their eyes, only admiration.

Several members of the escort team took a sip of wine and walked forward to ask Lu Yu why he was going to the ridge of the angry volcano and why he was staying in several city-states on the border of Solon.

After getting closer, they got closer in one breath. This is the most generous and direct way for mercenaries to get along.

Seeing this, the uncle of the tree branch sent them to deal with the body. After all, Lu Yu and they are not from the same world. Even if he is willing to lower his status and get along with everyone, the huge gap in knowledge will offend this group of shallow people without knowing it.

There are only a handful of such powerful summoners in the whole of Mela. Combined with his behavior and conversation, it can be basically determined that he has an extraordinary origin... He also took a certificate with the seal and signature of the bishop when he went out, and showed it without reservation every time he was questioned. I am afraid that this is to conceal his true identity. After all, Lu Yu's performance does not look immature at all, but very mature and steady.

After arriving at the city-state where the merchants were distributing their goods, Lu Yu did not follow the merchants and refused the guide of the escort team. He went into the most prosperous and popular street in the city-state alone.

The vendors without shops occupied the prime locations on both sides of the road, displaying the rags they had bought from who knows where, and shouting loudly.

The farmers who did not want to go to the lord's mansion and sell rice in the merchant's shop laid out the gifts given to them by the earth, and from time to time they held up some of them with their dark hands covered with calluses and cracks from long-term labor, and showed them to the passers-by. They did not shout, but used their eyes and actions to silently show off the results of their labor.

Adventurers who needed to replenish their equipment and rations shuttled through this street. From time to time, they plunged into the clanging blacksmith shop, drank a sip of wine in the tavern, and finally passed by the farmers who were selling old grains, picking and choosing some for emergency use. However, these rude people were always careless when rummaging through the bags, and the rice grains wrapped in the gaps on the edges of the bags were spilled on the ground. On the busy avenue, Lu Yu could see a few farmers with children picking out the rice grains that were trampled into the loess in the dust from time to time, and tremblingly put them back into their pockets.

Lu Yu came to a farmer. The old man's skin was already dark with a little red. When Lu Yu looked down at him from top to bottom and saw his turbid and hopeful eyes, he couldn't help but squat down.

"What good rice..." Lu Yu put his hand into the rice bag, feeling the rice grains squeezing his palm from all directions. Looking at those white and plump rice grains, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

The old man's eyes suddenly lit up: "Master, you have good eyesight, buy... buy some."

Lu Yu asked: "What's the price..."

"This bag only costs ten copper coins."

Lu Yu weighed the rice bag and felt that it was about twenty kilograms. According to the prices of various countries that Sigrid learned after arriving in the Church, this price is undoubtedly expensive, because the basic currency circulating in the four countries can be further subdivided.

"This price is more expensive than what I bought in the Pope City." The old man was afraid that Lu Yu would leave, so he explained: "Our tax rate is high, and you can't compare us with other places... This is already the lowest price. If it is lower, we can't even pay the tax..." "I remember that the tax rate in Solon was adjusted by the royal agreement." The old man was stunned for a while: "I don't know about the royal agreement... I only know that the lord requires the payment of grain according to the land area... No matter if the harvest is poor or there is no harvest, as long as you have land, you must pay it... If you can't pay it, you must pledge your children as serfs and grow enough grain for him before you can regain your freedom." Lu Yu was stunned for a moment, and he asked hurriedly: "Were you a serf before?" "Our ancestors were all slaves... But for some reason, sixty years ago, Emperor Solon seemed to have made some reforms, and the serfs in many city-states on the border were freed and allocated land. At first we all thought it was a good thing... After all, it only takes Paying taxes will give you a piece of your own land, and you won't have to be whipped anymore. This was something that we never dared to think about before. "

"But as time goes by, the tax rate is getting higher and higher... At first, the tax was paid according to the harvest, and later it was paid according to the proportion... Now it is paid according to the size of the land. In the past, if you couldn't pay it, you could borrow grain to make up for it... Now if you can't pay it back, we won't have children."

Xu Yu on the side was puzzled: "But since you have to pay the debt, the rice should be given directly to the lord, why do you still want to sell it?"

Lu Yu explained for the old man: "Because the purchase price of the lord and the merchants can't satisfy them, selling it to the wandering adventurers can at least make more money... Let me think about it, the lord allows you to use money instead of grain to pay taxes, right?"

"Yes... Master... Buy some, even a handful is fine, these are all good food... If you are afraid of getting dirty, I will help you sift it again."

As he said this, the old man picked up the tools beside him and was about to sift it again.

Lu Yu took out a few copper coins and put them in the old man's hand: "Send the rice to the caravan in the east of the city, someone will take it."

Watching the old man limping away with the rice bag, Lu Yu felt mixed emotions.

He really wanted to give him a silver coin directly, but he was afraid that his self-esteem would not be able to accept it.

Thinking of Sera's instructions when he left, he smiled self-deprecatingly and shook his head: "If she sees it, she might laugh at me."

Lu Yu then found some vendors to ask about the situation and basically understood some of the conditions on the Solon border.

Xu Yu said: "These city-states are rebelling. They don't follow the tax rates set by the king, but set their own tax rates."

"Didn't you notice?"

"What did you notice?"

"The tax rates set by these lords are basically aimed at ordinary people. Their purpose is to turn ordinary people into serfs again. The merchants who passed by and the shops here adopted basically the same tax rates. Even if there are situations such as asking for protection fees, they are indeed abiding by the rules set by the Solon royal family."

"The royal family doesn't care?"

Lu Yu said: "You will understand the reason after you have seen Solon's map. Among the four major countries of mankind, the largest is Kodzoun, which controls the east and blocks the invasion channel of foreign races. Because of the common threat of foreign races, Kodzoun's border nobles need some support from the grassroots people and dare not press too hastily, otherwise no one is willing to advance and retreat with the city-state. The second is Sligo, which occupies the central and northern regions of Mela. They focus their power on the south, while the vast north is regarded by them as a place for labor reform for the unforgivable people. land, and there are Sligo's old enemy dragons in the north. The lords guarding the north are always ready to fight with the dragons. Population and people's hearts are also something they need to fight for. Therefore, they will learn to exploit them reasonably... uh... exhaust the pond to catch fish? "

"Look at Solon again. Although the forest elves, the most powerful in the north, are a threat, they are also fighting among themselves. Other races are relatively weak. The city-states and small countries bordering Solon, which are the buffer zone of the four major countries, dare not conflict with the behemoth Solon. You can often hear news that the lords of Solon invaded small countries and were despised by the nobles. In the south, the nobles want to squeeze the non-Solon races into juice and drink it. Look at the squirrel people in Civita. If they can survive, why do they rebel with their entire tribe? Don't they know that they can't beat Solon? "

Lu Yu shook his head and sighed: "Solon, it's too safe. "

Now that the four major countries have reached a balance of power, no one has the ambition to go further, and they are content to protect their own territory. The Solon nobles, who could not see any external enemies in the short term, had no intention of giving concessions to ordinary people. The nobles near the royal city of Rodmire had to have some dignity and were more reserved in their eating habits, and they were also wary of the authority of the royal family.

As for the nobles on the border of Solon...

"Why do the lowly people want us to give concessions?"

At first, Lu Yu couldn't figure out why the political systems he had seen along the way were so awkward, as if they were a hodgepodge, with the feudal lords, the emperor, and the relationship between the monarch and his subjects all a bit twisted, but later he gradually understood.

The sudden appearance of magic and the successive magic tides caused each regional civilization to be thrown into chaos by a huge turmoil when it was brewing, and these countries that rose later could only grope their way forward in the ruins of the previous countries.

Such things happened one after another. Even if the rulers of the country had foresight, the people below had their own thoughts.

If it is close to the time for the reshuffle, why should I be a good person honestly?

Good people always suffer.

I will try my best to make myself fatter and accumulate more advantages, so that I can wait for the magic tide to rise, climb to the top first, and hold stronger power.

The nobles may not be stupid, but most of them are selfish. Once such ideas spread, it will become a reasonable choice to start playing badly and wait for the reshuffle when the magic tide may come.

Lu Yu instantly understood many things.

Laurende should have inferred from his words that the magic tide might come faster than expected. Although he didn't know where Lu Yu got the news, it was what people in his position should do to prepare for a rainy day.

Asking him to come to Solon anyway, and smilingly saying that this is an assignment, is actually to hope that he will see how corrupted the border of Solon is when magic scholars predict that the magic tide may come in the next twenty years.

Without the stimulation of a strong external enemy, the powerful Solon began to degenerate in comfort.

The Civita region is just a microcosm. In the border far away from the royal city of Rodmire, those nobles waiting for a reshuffle and the lords who are insincere but insincere are turning their territories into one Civita after another.

Now they are just squeezing ordinary people with Solon identities, trying every means to exploit them as their serfs, at least on the surface they still respect the Solon royal family. But once the turmoil begins, their hands will reach out longer.

None of the four major countries is stable.

Is it the cycle of history? Lu Yu couldn't help asking in his heart.

Lu Yu looked up at the sky: "I hope there will be a long interval after the end of this magic tide... For magicians, all this is too slow, but for ordinary people... it's really too fast."