Chapter 348: Mormont's Journey (Part )
As July approaches, the entire Thousand River Valley becomes hot, especially Langsand County in the south.

But on the outskirts of Heitao Town, there were still four people wearing thick black robes that covered their faces, walking slowly on a dirt road covered with wheel tracks.

"How long will it take to get to Suangua Town?" A hoarse female voice came from under a black robe, "If this continues, I'll suffocate to death."

"They've all been sent to Heitao Town, so why don't they send us to Suangua Town together?"

"I've already said that the farthest they can go is Heitao Town. After all, they are still fighting."

The black-robed man at the head turned his head, and under the hood that covered most of his face was Mormont who had escaped from the Stormwind camp.

In addition, there are his three companions.

The one who rescued them in the chaos was the man in black who had told Mormont that there was a wake-up potion in the warehouse.

Mormont knew that he could not escape to the Black Snake Bay because of the Copper Fortress, so he offered to go to Jeanne d'Arc to find Pasrick.

Now, it is heard that Pasrick is doing well in the Savior Army, and the two of them have some friendship, so he can be considered half-teacher to Mormont.

Go and seek refuge with him, maybe he can find a way to rescue all your companions.

After hearing about Mormont's destination, the man in black was overjoyed and immediately handed him two letters, asking him to help deliver them.

One letter was given to Pasrick and one to the captured knight of Kush.

If Mormont could agree to his request, the man in black would be willing to send some cavalry to escort them into the Saviors' territory.

However, no matter how powerful the man in black was, he could only send them to Heitao Town and dared not go any further.

Despite his frustration, Mormont had no choice but to move on.

There were patches of woods on the roadside, and behind the hedges and fences, domestic dogs barked at the lambs that stuck their heads out of the fences to eat grass.

In the countryside, groups of farmers lined up in long queues, bent over and moved forward step by step, harvesting rice and wheat in the fields.

In the threshing grounds between villages, farmers holding flails, with sweat on their faces, beat grains from bundles of rice stalks and wheat stalks and put them into cloth bags or rattan baskets.

In the red brick mill standing in a corner of the village, an old cow was mooing as it ground wheat into flour.

The mill, well and stream were all common property of the village, so apart from the common money required to repair any damage, there was no need to levy an additional mill tax.

In fact, while Jeanne was fighting on the front line, Horn was not idle.

The one-year tax exemption period of "no tax payment" is not only to allow the people to recuperate, but also very important for abolishing old taxes and reorganizing new taxes.

For example, some taxes that need to be abolished include the death tax, which states that after a public farmer dies, the land will automatically be returned to the lord, and his descendants will need to pay a tax to the lord before they can continue to work on the land.

Is it okay if I don’t pay it?

Of course they could, but they would just starve to death because the Fugitive Slave Act stipulated that public servants could not leave the land without permission.

This tax must definitely be abolished.

However, some new taxes also need to be gradually established, such as customs duties, commercial taxes and stamp duties.

But at least during this one-year tax exemption period and two-year tax reduction period, for a total of three years, farmers' lives will be much better than before.

According to Horn's current plan, the main task in the four years from 1445 to 1449 is to restore the economy and carry out industrialization.

"Listen." The witch Balinba pointed her white-spotted finger at the nearby threshing floor.

"This is my dream of heaven. It is small and ordinary. I don't want to become a bishop or a noble. I just want to live in happiness..."

"The song has changed again." Mormont leaned his hands on the pergola and looked at the busy scene over there. Although the work scenes along the way were similar, the songs were different.

He still remembered that when he set out from Stormwind Castle in a carriage, it was the harvest season.

At first there was no singing in the wheat fields, only the cracking sound of the whips of the village head and the housekeeper, and the shouting of people selling their children because they failed to pay the taxes.

Mormont and his companions had seen such scenes many times. Although they were chilled, they were not surprised at all.

When we reached the so-called "rebel zone", we began to hear songs along the road: "No priests, no kings, the gates are open to welcome the priests, and the saints will not be paid when they come."
After entering Heitao Town, we basically entered the inland edge of the Thousand River Valley Papal State, and the singing and customs changed again.

The song turned into "Dream of Heaven". The whip-waving village chief was gone, but the farmers seemed to be more diligent than before.

Even in the southern provinces of France, where agriculture was most developed, they did not see such peaceful pastoral scenery.

There are no beggars on the roadside, no hooligans in the fields, only simple farmers working steadily.

Somehow, they were suddenly looking forward to Sour Melon Town.

After a loud whip crack, a carriage slowed down and drove alongside these people. The coachman lifted his sunshade hat and asked, "Are you guys from North?"

He and his companions looked at each other, and Mormont, who had traveled extensively, asked in a faint Norse accent: "How do you know we are Norse?"

"He's wearing a black robe in the hot sun, and he's a foreigner, so he can only be a Norseman." The coachman pulled the reins to control the restless horse, "Going to Suangua Town?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"My carriage happens to be empty. I can give you a ride. I think it's not too much to charge you one dinar each."

"Half a dinar a head is too much for me," Mormont's companion argued. "At most we have to walk a few more steps."

"You think it's too expensive, but I think it's too expensive too." The coachman complained, "You are foreigners, you don't know many of the rules of our Thousand River Valley Papal State, and do you know the way?

I can show you where this area is and take you to a reliable hotel. Can you do that on your own?"

"But one dinar per person..."

"Then I'll take a step back and only charge three dinars for the four of you. Is that okay?"

Although the price was still a bit expensive, in order to get to Sour Melon Town as soon as possible, Mormont still paid the 1 dinar deposit and got on the bus.

After getting on the carriage, Mormont and others discovered that there was a father and son and some goods behind the carriage.

Balinba was so angry that she turned around and prepared to go find the coachman to settle the score, but Mormont stopped her and whispered to her, "Forget it, don't bother about it. Let's break his wheel hub after we get off the carriage, and that'll be the end of it."

After hearing this, Balinba sat down again angrily.

The people under the canopy smiled awkwardly at each other and sat down shoulder to shoulder.

At the coachman's shout, the carriage started shaking, and the wheat fields on both sides quickly rushed backwards.

Driving on the dirt road, the carriage bumped up and down from time to time. The atmosphere in the carriage was quiet, and the air was filled with the smell of salted fish and embarrassment.

In the end, it was the father of the pair who spoke first: "You are dressed so warmly, you must be from North. Are you going to work as laborers in Sour Melon Town?"

Mormont did not respond. It was Talorin, who was more cheerful beside him, who took off his hood. "My companions and I both know a little about writing and arithmetic. What about you?"

"There is a lot of construction going on around Jeanne d'Arc now. They are short of stonemasons and are asking for very high wages. My cousin is building a school in Jeanne d'Arc and asked me and my son to go there."

The middle-aged stonemason rubbed his knees and explained, then said: "Now Jeanne d'Arc is in need of people who can read and do arithmetic. What are you going to do in Sour Melon Town?"

Balinba crossed his arms and said, "Let's go take a look first. Maybe there is work we can do in Sour Melon Town."

The four of them are old secret party members and would never reveal their whereabouts to a stranger.

"That's right. I used to go to Suangua Town often. It's a nice place. It..."

"Suangua Town is a rotten place, what's there to go to?" The fifteen or sixteen-year-old stonemason's son snorted disdainfully, "I won't even go to Zhend's Castle, I want to go to Daze Township!"

"Shut up!" The middle-aged stonemason was obviously angry when his son interrupted him. "What qualifications do you have to go? You can't even pass the exam to become a stonemason apprentice, and you want to go to Daze Township?"

"I want to learn from senior Witt how to build a house without memorizing. What you have are all outdated things, Lao Deng!" the young stonemason muttered in a low voice.

"Ah hey!" The middle-aged stonemason was controlled by the word "Lao Deng" for three seconds before he reacted. He picked up the leather rope in anger and hit the young stonemason, "Who taught you that? Say it again and see."

Being whipped with a leather rope actually brought out the rebellious nature of the little stonemason: "What are you barking about?"

"I██ you█!"

The middle-aged stonemason raised his fist and hit him. The young stonemason was not willing to be outdone and punched back on the spot. The old and the young fought so hard that the truck bed was full of dust.

Talolin pulled Kuru, who followed reluctantly and pulled the fighting father and son apart.

The coachman's voice sounded in front: "What are you doing? If you break something, you will have to pay for it."

Mormont didn't want to cause any more trouble: "It's nothing. The road was too bumpy and I fell down."

"Hold on tight, do you think we're on the mortar road of Joan of Arc?" the coachman thought they were complaining and retorted.

Pulling the father and son apart, in order to ease the atmosphere, Balinba asked the coachman: "Didn't you say you would introduce the rules and places to us? Why didn't you tell us after we got in the car?"

"Oh, what a hassle." The coachman flicked his whip and said lazily, "There are two holes on the roof. Unbutton the holes and I'll tell you when we get there."

(End of this chapter)