The next morning, in the village of Attila.
Cong Wuyang woke up in the room, went outside, washed his face with clear water, and chewed on a few pieces of charcoal to clean his mouth.
After a simple meal, he walked towards the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village with Vigoro.
From a distance, he could see many figures under the big banyan tree. It seemed that everyone was quite punctual. When he got closer and took a look, all five people were there without any absence. They all had weapons tucked around their waists, though it was just two machetes and three wooden sticks.
Besides Ergou, there were two bald men, who were also two of the people who had robbed him yesterday. They were brothers. The elder brother was named克林 (Klin), and the younger brother was named克比 (Keby). They were quite tall but skinny.
There were two other people. One of them, Erik, had the same explosion-style mohawk as Vigoro, but his hair was shorter and it was red in color, while Vigoro's hair was black.
The other person was named Darren. He lived next to Ergou's house. His hair was casually tied behind his back, and there was a scar from his left eye to the corner of his mouth. He looked quite fierce, but he exuded a simple and honest aura.
Cong Wuyang asked and found that everyone had already eaten at home, so he didn't say much.
Moreover, he had learned from Vigoro yesterday that these people were hired by him to go to Dehar with him in the next few days. So he called on everyone to lead the ox carts and set off.
One of the ox carts carried the dry food, clean water, and some camping equipment needed on the way. After all, it would take a day and a half to ride a horse, and it would take at least two or three days to reach Dehar by ox cart. It was better to be prepared.
After setting off, Cong Wuyang got on the first ox cart. While enjoying the scenery along the road, he also thought about things. After all, he was the employer, so why couldn't he enjoy it? Vigoro was driving the ox cart for him.
The others weren't so lucky. In order to save the strength of the oxen, they could only walk behind the ox carts and take care of the things on the carts behind by the way.
They walked and stopped along the way. At noon, they came to a river. The river was dozens of meters wide, and the water flowed quite rapidly. Cong Wuyang asked Vigoro and learned that this river was called the Vya River. It flowed from the heartland of the Yavier Duchy all the way to the Manya Kingdom and finally emptied into the sea. There wasn't a single boat to be seen on the river.
There was a small stone bridge on the river, which was just wide enough for one ox cart to pass through. If two ox carts were side by side, it would be very crowded and might not even be able to pass.
After crossing the stone bridge, Cong Wuyang stopped everyone and found a flat riverside area with shade from trees to take a rest. They ate some dry food, fed the oxen. The dry food was some dry cakes made from a mixture of corn, wheat, wheat bran, etc. The taste wasn't good, but they could only make do with it.
After the rest, they set off again. After a long journey of more than two days, they finally saw the city walls and towers of Dehar in the distance at noon on the third day.
When they got closer, they found that Dehar was really quite lively. Occasionally, merchant caravans driving horse-drawn carriages or ox carts were queuing up to enter the city at the city gate. After all, it was a border town at the junction of the two countries, and merchants from both countries came and went. Mercenaries who had received tasks would also stay here.
They queued up to enter the city. Since they didn't have any goods, they were charged an entrance tax of two dinars per person, and 20 dinars for the two ox carts, a total of 34 dinars, all paid by Cong Wuyang of course.
Dehar was a medium-sized fortress and a border city in the southern part of the two countries.
During wartime, it also played a role in defending the border. So there were usually more than 6,000 permanent residents, more than 3,000 floating population, and 400 soldiers who were not engaged in farming in peacetime. Among them, there were more than a dozen knights. Viscount Charles had dispatched more than 300 soldiers to the north, leaving two knights and more than 100 people to garrison the town.
It was built on a wide ridge in the forested area. Various crops were planted in the open area below the castle. There was only one main road for passage at the front gate in the southeast. In the middle and towards the north was the castle and the residence of the lord. Surrounding it was a city wall. Behind the city wall were various barracks, military camps, archery ranges, the lord's stable, etc. Further behind was a cliff.
There was another circle of city walls that wrapped around the entire town, and there were four tall towers standing around. The shape of the city was rectangular, a bit like the Chinese character "目" (mu). At the top of the "目" character was the area of the lord's castle and barracks.
A main road extended from the lord's castle and crossed in the middle of the entire city in the shape of a cross, which was the main road. In the middle was a small square, and there were many small stalls around selling various fruits, vegetables, bread, etc.
Near the town gate, in the southwest area of the fortress, there were several taverns and inns. In this era, taverns also provided accommodation services. They chose an inn that looked relatively clean to stay in and had a rather sumptuous lunch, which only cost 21 dinars in total.
"Bring all your things. Vigoro, take two people and help me contact the people dealing with grain and livestock. Tell them to come to the inn and talk to me tomorrow morning, saying that there's a big business cooperation for them. I'll take Ergou to the slum area. The rest of you can move freely and just come back in the evening," Cong Wuyang said to everyone who had just finished eating.
Everyone didn't say anything and went out one after another according to Cong Wuyang's instructions.
As for why he asked Vigoro to find the merchants, first of all, Vigoro had been to Dehar and was more familiar with the place. And for the job of finding merchants, as the son of the village head, he should have seen the world. If he asked the other people, they might not know anything. Also, there was an element of testing Vigoro.
And the reason for taking Ergou out was that although Ergou's name wasn't very good, he was quite smart and could be easily ordered around when he needed someone to help.
There were two places in Dehar that were the liveliest.
One was the area of streetwalkers in the northwest of the tavern area after nightfall. Just from the name, one could tell that this place was filled with female workers who were living in poverty, didn't want to work hard, or had been sold here. It was also the most alluring place for men.
The other was the slave market in the slum area. After all, the population composition there was complex, with a good mass base and a natural hiding environment.
Every day before dawn, batches of slaves were transported here from surrounding territories or countries. Some were put in cages, and some were chained together. Each person had a circle drawn with white paint on their forehead, indicating that they were slaves for sale.
There was a wooden sign hanging around their necks, on which various information such as age, gender, etc., and the code name given to them by the slave owner were written.
Some of these slaves were fallen aristocrats from other countries, some were criminals and prisoners of war, and more were farmers captured in the war. For various reasons, they could only use their last bit of value - themselves - to exchange for the right to survive.
When Cong Wuyang led Ergou into the slave market, the noisy shouts and screams immediately rushed into his head.
There were also several people dressed like nobles and some merchants beside them. After choosing the slaves and negotiating the price, the slave owner beside them immediately smiled and handed over the contract, and motioned to the servant beside him to brand the slaves with a special mark using a red-hot iron.
One by one, the slaves screamed and accepted their fate. After being branded with the special mark, even if the slaves escaped, all the slave merchants on the continent had the obligation to bring the slaves back to the buyers. If others found the slaves and returned them to the owners, they could also get a substantial reward.
But most of the slaves on the street were male. After learning about it, it turned out that the female slaves were all in the stores. The beautiful ones were directly supplied to the local nobles or handed over to the auction house for auction. So all the slaves displayed outside were male.
Looking at the slaves on the roadside who were confused and numb, Cong Wuyang directly walked up to a slave merchant and said, "Are there any slaves from the Snow Country, Norefen?"
Because he had heard that Norefen slaves were the best, they were all tall and strong, and had the strongest combat ability. He wanted to recruit some soldiers, and of course, he wanted to use those with the best physical fitness.
"Sir, we don't have slaves from Norefen here, and there probably aren't any in the whole market. Basically, all the slaves from Norefen are sold in the imperial capital market of the Jiede Empire. That's the center of the continent. And if we transport slaves from the north to the south, they might die on the way,"
The slave merchant in front of him looked him over, didn't mind his abruptness, and patiently explained.
"But we have slaves from the Jiede Empire here. I'm sure you've heard that the Yavier Duchy and the Manya Kingdom are at war with the Jiede Empire. There are many prisoners of war captured from the battlefields between the two sides here. They have a certain degree of discipline and are also strong in body. As labor forces, they can definitely create value for you, sir,"
The slave merchant continued.
"How many Jiede slaves do you have here in total? And what's the price?" Cong Wuyang asked in a steady tone.
"Huh?" This made the slave merchant a bit stunned.
"I asked how many Jiede slaves you have here. Slaves from other countries are also okay. I want to buy more. Can you give me a discount on the price?" Cong Wuyang said.
"Of course! My lord, I have a total of 37 slaves from Jiede here, 150 dinars each. There are 18 slaves from the Farilan Kingdom, 140 dinars each. And 5 slaves from the Manya Kingdom, 130 dinars each. In total, it's 8720 dinars. If you want all of them, I'll charge you 8500 dinars,"
After hearing clearly, the slave merchant's face immediately beamed with joy. He gestured with his fingers and did some calculations, then said eagerly.
After all, it was not easy to meet such a big customer. Others usually bought one or two slaves, or at most a few. But judging from what this person said, he seemed to want to buy them all. This was several months' worth of business performance.
"Why are there slaves from the Manya Kingdom? Isn't the Yavier Duchy allied with the Manya Kingdom?" Cong Wuyang asked in confusion.
"Sir, for us slave merchants, as long as we don't sell slaves from our own country in our own country, that's fine. As for where the slaves come from and where they go, we don't care at all," the slave merchant replied.
Goodness, this was a case of "let others suffer but not myself". Unexpectedly, this slave merchant had quite a wild way of doing things.
"I want all these slaves. You can also go to the nearby slave merchants and ask for me. Help me gather 300 slaves. I don't care which country they are from, but they all have to be in good health with all their limbs intact. The price will be the same as your offer. Ergou will stay here and wait. I'll go get the dinars," Cong Wuyang said to the slave merchant and then to Ergou.
The slave merchant said, "Yes, yes, sir. I'll go and gather the slaves for you right away."
"Yes, sir. I'll wait here," Ergou replied.
After giving these instructions, Cong Wuyang turned around and went back to the inn. Seeing that Vigoro and the others hadn't come back yet, he took an ox cart, found an empty alley, took out the dinars from the system space and put them in a bag, then rushed towards the slave market.
The most expensive slaves from the Jiede Empire were only 150 dinars each. He wouldn't even need 50,000 dinars for 300 slaves. He could keep the extra money for buying supplies tomorrow, which would be convenient. Cong Wuyang thought to himself.
When he drove the ox cart to the slave market, he saw that the original slave merchant was organizing people to check the situation of the slaves. Ergou was also helping to count them beside him. There were several other people who looked like slave merchants chatting with the original slave merchant.
When the slave merchant saw Cong Wuyang approaching, the wrinkles on his face seemed to increase by two more, and he said to him,
"Sir, we have gathered a total of 150 slaves from Jiede, 100 slaves from Farilan, and 50 slaves from the Manya Kingdom for you. According to the quoted price, it's a total of [total amount of dinars] dinars,"
Cong Wuyang nodded. After Ergou finished counting, on the grounds that there were no marks made yet, he didn't brand the slaves.
But he signed the contract, paid the money, and also gave an extra 500 dinars, asking them to find a place to take good care of the slaves and made an appointment to take them all away at noon the next day. The slave merchant agreed with a beaming face.
Just as he turned around with Ergou and was about to leave,
The slave merchant stopped him and said, "Sir, please wait a moment. We several slave merchants have discussed it and want to give you a gift."
"Oh? A gift? What kind of gift?" Cong Wuyang asked in confusion.
"Sir, please follow us into the house," the slave merchant said, gesturing with his hand in an inviting manner.
Cong Wuyang wasn't afraid of any tricks they might play. He led Ergou and followed them into the store.
"Sir, please wait a moment. I'll go and bring the gift out," the slave merchant said and then turned around and walked towards the corridor.
"Okay, I'll wait," Cong Wuyang nodded.
The other slave merchants were quietly accompanying them. After waiting for a few minutes, they saw the slave merchant who had just left leading a female slave walking slowly. The female slave had fair skin, a high nose bridge, big eyes, a plump yet petite figure, and there were still tears on her face. She was wearing a thin white dress.
"Sir, this is the gift we have decided to give you. She is the daughter of a lord from the Jiede Empire. She was accidentally captured by a general of the Manya Kingdom when he organized an army to go into the territory of the Jiede Empire,"
"She is still a virgin. We bought her and originally wanted to keep her and give her to Viscount Charles. But today, since you bought so many slaves from us, we have discussed it and decided to give her to you as a gift. We hope you can accept it," the slave merchant said sincerely.
In their hearts, a person who bought so many slaves at one time was worth their great effort to win over!
So the several of them discussed it and decided to give him a beautiful daughter of a noble who had been in their hands for a long time!
Dehar