King of Mercenaries

Chapter 58: The Desolate Castle

After a month of "mascot", the old Huffman also had few friends of the same grade to show off. So he agreed to leave Marin.

Marin ran away quickly, took his men and horses, hurried to the horse, and went to the Netherlands ...

The speed of riding is obviously not comparable to walking, and Marin and others are equipped with a single horse and two horses. So, three days later, Marin and his army arrived at the small seaside port of Den Helder, opposite the island of Texel.

Den Helder is only 4 kilometers away from the fishing village of Tholencher, the southernmost port of Texel. However, Den Helder is not yet a port city, but a larger fishing village with a small fishing port.

If they are carrying people, the small fishing boats in these fishing villages can easily transport everyone to the other side. However, Marin brought 1030 horses and several large carriages, and the small fishing boat could not be loaded. As a result, Marin had to send someone on horseback to nearby important seaport Amsterdam and hired several large ships.

In this way, after waiting for four or five days, Marin was on a big ship hired by Amsterdam and landed in the fishing village of Tholencher.

After landing, Marin sent a local villager to find a local dialect businessman (businessmen are not easy this year, they have to learn to speak many dialects), and helped to declare loudly that he was the new Texel The fact that the baron was the lord of the lord, and issued a sheepskin instrument and seal issued by the emperor.

Facing Marin's 400 warriors like wolf, what other ideas do the villagers have? So they swore allegiance to Marin and stated that they were willing to pay taxes.

Considering the end of 1495, the fish flood in the North Sea will begin next spring. So Marin demanded that taxes be levied next spring.

Then, Marin continued to lead people northward and arrived at the administrative center of Texel Island-Den Burg ...

What disappointed Marin was that he didn't see the majestic castle in his imagination, but instead saw a desolate castle ...

Yes, the desolate castle ...

This castle is very small and completely incomparable with the photos of European castles that Marin saw on previous Weibo. Of course, the castles that are tourist attractions are either the king's or the duke's. Denborg, strictly counted, was just a palace of the Earl of the Netherlands. Therefore, the size of this castle is like two or three villas. At best, it's a luxurious country house. It's just that there are more tall and solid walls than the villa.

Around the castle, a church and several houses were scattered sparsely. It seems that Denborg is just a small town with a small population.

When Marin brought his army into the town, he caused great panic. People fled home, closed the door, and watched Marin's troops through the crack of the door.

In medieval Europe, it was normal for an army to pass through a small town and grab it. Even killing individuals and robbing them are commonplace. Therefore, the townspeople are also very afraid that they will be robbed or even killed ...

Marin ignored these townspeople, but went directly to the church, greeted several local priests, and by the way, asked about the situation on the island.

The principal of the Den Burg Church is an assistant bishop responsible for preaching and religious rituals throughout the island. In fact, Texel Island is embarrassing. The area is not small but the population is small. If you send a regional bishop, it will be a little overkill. It is not appropriate to send the priest (priest) to take charge of the religion in this area. Therefore, the Archbishop of Utrecht simply arranged an unacceptable auxiliary bishop (lower than the assistant bishop, who has the right to inherit the regional bishop, and the auxiliary bishop does not) to manage the hundreds of worshippers on the island ...

Yes, there are only a few hundred people on the island ...

According to Bishop Dalyan, currently the population on Texel is sparse. The reason for this,

Mainly because of inconvenience.

These days, there are no planes or ferries. Therefore, it is very inconvenient to travel between Texel Island and the mainland. The inhabitants of the island want to go to the mainland, they must take a fisherman's fishing boat.

However, fishing boats do not often go to the mainland. Generally, fishermen will sell fishing boats before they sell salted fish or buy them. The farmers and herdsmen on the island can only take a boat.

Usually, because of the inconvenience of transportation, the prices on the island are much more expensive than on the land, except for the sea fish, rye and lamb produced on the island ...

Therefore, although many people emigrated to the island, most of them later moved away ...

Right now, there is only one town in the entire Texel Island-Denborg, with 200 townspeople. Outside the town, there are the three villages of De Waal, De Koch and De Coxdorp, and the two small fishing villages of Tholencher and Odeshilde. The total population is only over 800 people.

The cultivated land on the island disappointed Marin, only 1,000 Ugram. In addition, many grasslands are used for sheep.

Not to say that there are only 1,000 Eugrams on the island that can be cultivated for farmland. Instead, the island has fewer people and can only plant such a large area of land. If there are more acres, the labor force is simply not enough. Even because of insufficient labor, only half of the 1000 Ugram land on the island is cultivated each year, and the other half is left fallow and abandoned.

Moreover, the 200 Ugram fields on the island belong to the church's property on the island. The remaining 800 Eugrams belong to three families-the Colin family, the Mahir family, and the Roni family.

However, these three families also have a lot of land on land. They don't really care about the farmland on Texel. Because the affairs on the island, because of the inconvenience of traffic, are too cumbersome to manage.

"Bishop Dalian, are these three families willing to sell their fields?" Marin thought about it and decided to buy the land that the three families didn't value. As a lord, if there is no field, it becomes a joke.

"You are already a lord, of course you can do this. And, you can buy from these three families at a reserve price. Because, in name, you are the owner of this island!" Bishop Dalyan suggested kindly.

For the island of Texel to become an independent baron leader, Bishop Dalyan is very welcome. why? Because a baron used this island as a territory, he would definitely take good care of it, and even recruit exiles to open up wasteland together. At that time, there are more people on the island, and his assistant bishop can be promoted to be a true regional bishop. Moreover, with more people, there are more "tithing" in the church.

In the Middle Ages of Europe, the church had the privilege of collecting tithes from the people. This privilege, until modern times, still remains. However, in Protestant countries, this tax was later accepted by the government.

Following the advice of Bishop Dalyan, Marin decided to pay for land ownership in three agricultural villages and several ranches on the island. According to the estimate of Assistant Cardinal Dalian, the total value of the land of three agricultural villages and several ranches on the island is only 10,000 gold coins. This is a piece of cake for local tycoon Marin.

Then, Marin took 400 men to the desolate old castle-Denborg ...

I saw the old castle covered with dust, and only the town's sheriff often sent people to clean the lower facade. As for the interior of the castle, it has always been locked. The thickness of the dust inside is a pit ...

And many of the wooden furniture in the castle fell apart. Obviously, they were corrupted ...

"Mom, Kohler, tomorrow you'll find someone to clean the castle again. Remember, let everyone wear a mask, it's so ugly, it's really uncomfortable ..."

Because the castle was too dirty, Marin had to order his men to camp near the castle and live in a tent for a few days. As for Marin himself, at the invitation of Bishop Dalyan, he lived in the church room ...