I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 199 Rosin
Five pounds.

"Your Excellency, this is absolutely impossible!"

Luc shook his head, his face full of refusal. "You know, I only have a fief of one bridge. Even if I become a contractor, it's only been a few months. How could I possibly earn five pounds?"

Five pounds.

How could the Baron say that?

He didn't mean to deceive; he genuinely didn't have that much on him right now.

"I heard you've invested in a caravan?"

Berry pursed his lips and suddenly gave an irrelevant answer.

"Yes." He had already told Pierre about this, so it wasn't surprising that Berry knew.

"You also oversaw the construction of a watermill in Macon County?"

"That's right, it's a family heirloom technique."

"A family secret technique. Ha, I heard from Archdeacon Pierre that you have another secret technique: you can make blank paper, right?"

"Yes."

Luc admitted it again, but a hint of doubt crept into his eyes.

Why is Berry asking these questions?
"Very good, you are very honest."

Berry smiled and nodded, then glanced around, lingering on Jean for a couple of seconds before continuing:
"By the way, why didn't your slave squire come? Wasn't he John the Deaf's slave? He should be very familiar with Cooper Castle."

Luke's breath hitched.

"I heard that after you bought those, you also went to Smith's and bought some hoes and shovels."

Berry shrugged, his thick, fleshy face twitching slightly.

"Then my knight, please tell me honestly, how did a down-on-his-luck knight from the Upper Lorraine Duchy, who has been missing for many years and wandered thousands of miles, manage to afford to create a blank sheet of paper? How did he manage to invest in a caravan? And how did he manage to become a church contractor?"

“And the most crucial thing,” Berry said, his hawk-like eyes fixed on Luke, “is that why you, as a warrior, are buying shovels and hoes instead of swords and knives?”

Blacksmith shops within any castle were always places of special interest to the lord, and every purchase of ironware was recorded by Smith with special markings.

When Jason went missing, an angry Forman intended to cause trouble for Smith, but while flipping through the ledgers, he discovered that Luke had actually purchased ironware before becoming a knight.
Luc's breathing almost stopped, and Jean behind him even quietly moved his hand to his waist.

“You are a clever man, Luke. I hope you will stop making excuses. To be honest, I don’t care where you acquired your treasure, but you must understand that you are my vassal and have an obligation to pay taxes for me. If you cannot pay five pounds, then I will have no choice but to confiscate all your fiefs.”

"Besides, you and I both know that you can produce it."

Looking at Berry, who revealed his slightly yellowish fangs, Luc's brows furrowed slightly.

He was a little confused.

what happened?

Just now, Berry revealed a series of Luke's whereabouts, which really startled him, but unexpectedly he changed his tune in the blink of an eye, insisting that he could produce the coins, but had nothing to do with Knightsburg.

Did Berry not actually discover it?

What is he doubting about himself?
Seeing Luc's puzzled look, Berry finally grew impatient. He looked out the window at the light rain, which had been falling frequently lately, and said:
"Sir Luke, do you really want me to expose you?"

"Hey, let me remind you, you've been to Maconshire too. Do you really think that fool, the Earl of Macon, could have built a castle there?"

"That's a military fortress left over from the Roman era!"

Berry's pungent breath lingered in Luc's nostrils, and Luc's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Does this guy think I discovered and stole a Roman nobleman's tomb?

Luc suddenly lowered his head and met Berry's gaze. The short baron smiled knowingly at the sight.

“I have always been a very generous person. I don’t care about the property you acquired before you became my knight, but I suppose the place where you acquired the property should not be far from my territory. In that case, you should pay some taxes. Besides, bridge maintenance is a reasonable thing to do, isn’t it?”

"Five pounds! Pay five pounds and we'll let bygones be bygones."

After much deliberation, Luc finally nodded and said, "I will give it to you in two months."

“Very good.” Berry nodded in satisfaction.

"By the way, what part of the church are you currently repairing? And where are you living?"

Luke was having a headache and wanted to say goodbye and leave when Berry suddenly asked another question.

Luc's mind raced, and he remembered a location. "The abandoned church of Knight David," he said. "The church sent me to repair it. I'm currently recruiting enough craftsmen, so I've been traveling around."

“David?” Berry’s eyes were lowered, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing Berry's appearance, Luc paused for a second before saying, "Baron, I'd like to purchase some rye from you. I'd like to recruit some craftsmen in Telfbridge. Is that alright?"

“Of course, we’ll go by market price.” Berry readily agreed without much thought, waving for Luc to take his leave.

A short while later, when Luc was led back to the room, he immediately ordered:
"Go quickly and tell George to rush back to Knightsburg tonight and have Ryan reply to the church immediately, offering us the lease for David's abandoned church!"

……

Joseph's investiture ceremony was a grand affair, with the banquet lasting for three days.

The next day, it was the ladies of each family's turn to appear. Several knights' daughters tried to get close to young Joseph, but he brushed them off.

In contrast, the baron's second son was ignored.

On the third day, at the Baron's suggestion, a tournament was held. Luc took this opportunity to say goodbye to Berry and, with Jean and Miller, rode back to the Bridge of Tölff on the ordinary traveling horse and with a pile of grain.

"Take a few more steps, the war in Provence is over, and there are only refugees coming from the north. Remember, this time focus on finding people with skills!"

Having emerged from the Baron's castle unscathed, Luc's sense of crisis only intensified.

Berry's greed is increasing step by step, and he is also testing himself more and more. Only by accumulating more strength can he protect himself.

"Sir, where did you get the five pounds from?"

George informed the manor of the situation, and after the manor's security was lifted, Ryan returned to Luke's side once again. Upon learning of the situation, he looked at his master with worry.

Knightsburg was not poor, but the lord was truly penniless.

“Hoffman is coming back, and with his share of the profits, we can make up five pounds.”

"By the way, you just said that Jill discovered a kind of pine resin charcoal that burns longer than regular charcoal, is that true?"

Luc didn't care about money, or rather, being able to temporarily numb the Baron with money might not be a bad thing.

He was more concerned with how Knightsburg could develop its strength so that it could prepare for a future conflict with the Baron.

Despite the extortion, Luc was still seething with anger!
The population still needs to be accumulated, but only if Knightsburg can afford to support it.

Next month, we will organize land reclamation. It can be said that as long as conditions permit, land reclamation cannot be stopped every year.

The arrival of the rainy season proved that the previous worries were unnecessary; the autumn harvest should be good, enough to feed another batch of people.

And this time, we can recruit them openly and legitimately right under Berry's nose!

"Absolutely reliable, sir. I tried it myself, and pine resin charcoal really burns longer and at higher temperatures."

When burning charcoal, Luc always chose the more common oak and beech.

Until recently, Jill cut down some pine trees specifically for extracting resin, and surprisingly, after burning them, she discovered that the resin charcoal was more lustrous than other charcoal, with a layer of white crystals and a thin layer of oil on the surface.

With a skeptical mindset, he handed it to Ryan to use, only to be surprised to find that it burned for half as long as ordinary charcoal.

“Go back and reward Gil.”

With more and more new products appearing in the manor, the second thing to do to strengthen the manor is to accumulate wealth!
We must expedite the process of converting the new product into Fenni.

Ryan leaned closer to Luke and said:
"Jason's forge is smelting iron much faster thanks to this fuel. He's already forged ten triangular arrowheads in the last few days. I've tested them on the heavy crossbow."

At this point, Ryan excitedly gestured the length of a finger, "It can penetrate as deep as a wooden stake at the shooting range!"

(End of this chapter)