When we came to Sur City, it started to rain. The rain was not heavy, fine and dense, and the rain powder fell one after another, blurring the outline of things. So in Allen's eyes, the city of Sur became mottled blocks of dark and light gray. From a distance, you can see the guard wall of the city. From Allen's point of view, the height of this guard wall is seriously insufficient. Even ordinary soldiers can touch the top of the wall with one jump, let alone a fighter like Alan who can reach a height of six or seven meters with a full jump.
The city of Sur was rarely attacked, otherwise the Baron of York should have raised the guard wall.
There are several defensive tools on the wall, which seem to be weapons such as heavy crossbows. It is very primitive, and its power is limited. The role of decoration is far greater than the actual use.
There are several sentry towers in the city of Suer, but there are no soldiers in the stone towers. Allen was surprised by the laxity of the city defense. The buildings in the city are low, except for the bell tower, the church and a few buildings in the City Lord's Mansion, most of the houses, workshops and shops are bungalows. In the misty rain, only the outlines of a few towers can be vaguely seen.
After paying a silver coin, Alan and the others were able to enter the city.
Walking into the city gate, there is a square. The square is covered with mud and sand, which turns into a muddy ground after being washed by the rain. On the mud-covered square, an army of about a hundred people just disbanded. Judging from the weapons in their hands, this army has about 20 fire/gunners, and the rest are infantry. The officer reprimanded them loudly, and looked at Allen inadvertently.
Allen smiled brightly.
The officer was taken aback, and then came back to his senses, Allen and the others had already entered the urban area.
It is more appropriate to say that it is an urban area, rather than some messy alleyways. The winding and narrow lanes are lined with dilapidated black bungalows on both sides. As it was almost evening, the chimneys of every household were emitting gray smoke. With the rising of gray smoke, the choking smell of charcoal wafted in the air.
In the corridors outside some houses, two or three children in linen clothes and trousers looked at Alan and the others curiously. A few bold children even ran forward, spreading their hands and shouting words like "Tangtang". At this time, Jim would use his only moving hand to drive these children away like flies, and even lit a flame at the tip of his finger.
The sudden burst of flames made the children scream and run away, but they looked at them even more curiously.
The rain seems to be increasing.
"Let's rest here and have something to eat, and then I'll call that fat pig Sean. Oh, he's the biggest cotton merchant in Sur City. He owns five or six of the ten workshops in the city. "
Pushing open the wooden door of a bar, Jim bowed and said. There weren't many people in the bar. After all, it's not the time to drink and have fun. Meals are provided during meal time, and Jim is very familiar with this place. After entering the door, he called to the bar: "Old Rock, bring us five dinners."
He asked Allen again: "Master, do you drink? Their ale is not bad."
"Try it." Allen said succinctly.
So he found a corner and sat down with Willick and others. There were five of them, and they were all unfamiliar faces except Jim. Some guests in the bar cast all sorts of meaningful glances, but when they came into contact with Willick's mighty-looking fury beast armor and the short blade that Belmode was playing with in his hand, they looked away tactfully.
As long as you are a normal person, you know that it is not a good thing to provoke adventurers. These people are not gentlemen, they can fight for a woman, or violently kill someone for a bad look. Although they didn't know that Alan and the others were not adventurers.
Allen swept around the bar.
The bar is a typical civil structure, the walls are made of stone bricks, but the supporting frame of the building is made of wood. The lampstand hanging from above is full of candles. They are the main lighting of the bar, but there are two electric lights near the bar. It is obvious that this planet has started to use electricity, but everything is in the initial stage.
At this time, the guests gradually talked about an attack last night. From their words, Alan heard that it was Baku and others. Allen winked at Jim, and the magician left knowingly, and graciously invited the men who talked most enthusiastically to drink a bottle of ale.
Before the dinner was served, a few ordinary-looking women in goblin and scantily dressed clothes walked into the bar. They seemed to be regular customers here, and they chose a table near Allen and others to sit down. Two of them took out a thin and long tobacco pipe from cheap handbags, stuffed some shredded tobacco into it, and started smoking. A woman in a black dress winked at Allen and the others and made suggestive gestures.
At this time Jim came back and said: "Those people are being held in prison. I heard that they will be sent to the mines as coolies for a few days. They probably won't come back."
He glanced at the women again, swallowed his saliva and said, "These are prostitutes in the city of Suer. They can provide you with satisfactory services for only one silver coin."
But Alan and the others were not interested in this, Jim just shrugged and remained silent.
Soon the food came up. Looking at the bread, soup and steaks that were so small that they could be swallowed in one bite, Willick complained, "Isn't there anything better?"
"Yes, but you have to go to the City Lord's Mansion." The waiter said humorously.
Jim said: "People in the city have not had an easy life in the past two years. The Baron of York has raised taxes, and ordinary people have tightened their belts to barely survive."
"It seems that this baron has a bad habit of collecting money." Edward smiled.
"I hear the Baron's little storehouse is full of gold coins," whispered Jim.
Allen coughed lightly and said, "Eat."
After dinner, Jim left the bar. Half an hour later, he came back with a fat man. Around his neck was a gold chain as thick as a pinky finger. The necklace was rough in workmanship but full of weight. If the chain had been pure gold, it would have been worth enough to make people in the bar jealous.
The fat man sat down across from Alan and the others, slapped his palm on the table and said, "Which one of you is the boss? If it weren't for this shit, don't expect me to come out of the house on a rainy day. Since we want to talk about business, let's talk about it now." , I don’t like long-winded words.”
Jim introduced with a smile: "This is Mr. Xiao En. If the young master wants to do business, you should cooperate with him."
Sean took out a piece of clothing from his pocket. It was a sample of fabric that Jim had brought. In fact, it was the corner of the clothes cut from Allen's original clothes, but it was this thing that aroused Sean's interest. The fat man pinched the fabric and said, "Tell me, how do you produce textiles with such a density."
Allen leaned forward and smiled: "This is the worsted spinning technology developed by our family. Does Mr. Xiao En think there is a market for it?"
"If there is no profit, do you think I will sit here? So, you are the boss that this guy said?"
"My name is Allen."
"You are so young."
Allen nodded and said: "Yes, because I am young, I dare to take risks, otherwise I would not be sitting here."
"Very good, I want this kind of technology. I don't know how Master Alan is going to cooperate with me?" Sean said bluntly.
"It's very simple. I provide the technology and produce the necessary machines. Of course, because we come from afar, it is impossible to bring the machines with us. We only have technicians, so the textile machines still need to be purchased or even made by ourselves for assembly."
Sean said: "These are not problems. There is no smelter in Sur City, but I know some good craftsmen. As long as you have a pattern, they can make it."
"Then of course the workers and the venue will also be provided by Mr. Sean, and we will get a 50% share of the profit afterwards." Allen spread his palm and shook it.
Sean laughed: "That's not okay, young master. You see, I've arranged all the workers' sites and the parts needed for your machines, but I only accounted for 50% of the final profit. This But a little too little."
"Okay, you six and I four."
"No, I can only give you 30%!"
Allen laughed, and said to Jim: "There should be other workshops in Sur City willing to cooperate?"
Jim nodded and said, "Of course, sir."
Sean said in a deep voice, "But none of them are bigger than me."
"Then let them unite." Allen said lightly: "There is a saying in our place. As long as there is double the profit, no businessman will refuse such a sale. If there is three times the profit, all businessmen are willing to work hard for it And the technology I provide is enough to make your textiles enter the high society and be admired by the noble ladies. This kind of profit is more than three times. Mr. Xiao En can do it, I think, there are people who are willing to cooperate with me. "
Sean narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Allen. His eyes moved to Willick and the others again. Edward lowered his head and wondered what he was thinking, while Willick moved his gauntlets. The short knife in Belmode's hand would always disappear for a moment, and then reappear like a magic trick. Sean saw this in his eyes, and finally returned to Alan and laughed: "Deal, Master Alan, I have made a deal with you as a friend. But to carry out the cooperation smoothly, I still need some more fabric samples and even ready-made clothes. Because To integrate the workshop and requisition the site, both need to be approved by the baron, and I need to show something that is enough to impress him."
"There is no problem with this. We will bring a ready-made garment next time."
"That was really looking forward to."
Sean called for ale and filled it up for Alan and the others: "I wish our cooperation a smooth one."
After drinking a few drinks with him, Allen said without a trace: "Mr. Xiao En, there is one more small matter to trouble you."
"What's up?"
"We had a few coolie slaves when we came, but they ran away two days ago. They probably ran to the city of Sur. I wonder if you can take care of them. As the master, I need to punish them severely before I can give A warning to other slaves." As he spoke, Allen described the appearance of Chin Baku.
Baku's scarred appearance was very obvious, and Sean said immediately after hearing it: "So it's them."
Allen made an unexpected appearance: "Mr. Xiao En has seen them."
Sean nodded: "Your slaves broke in last night, gave the city defense team a lesson, and then threw them into prison. I heard that they were going to be taken to the mine as coolies."
"That's not okay," Allen said.
(I missed it when dragging the manuscript, I am really sorry.)
(end of this chapter)