Chapter 50 Gold Coins Explode
After suppressing the coup d'état, Horn got up early the next day.

I don’t know if it’s because I got rid of a worry, but I feel much more refreshed.

Last night, after putting Townley in jail, Horn quickly sent people to put Chilvis and Grampven under house arrest.

These two people are Tang Li's capable men, but they are still needed to contact the secret party, so they are only placed under house arrest.

As for Townley himself, Horn was no devil, but only struck him with ten strokes of the cane and broke both his legs to prevent him from escaping.

How the remaining thirty sticks will be paid in installments and whether there will be interest depends on whether Chilvis and Grampven cooperate.

After sending people to take control of every aspect of the monastery, Horn immediately went to the monastery's warehouse and began to inspect the spoils.

You know, the warehouses and other places were previously controlled by Townley and others, so Horn had to notify Grampven in advance if he wanted anything.

There is also the possibility that they will not give it! Ask, and they will say no!
Is there any king law?Are there any laws?
Does the treasury of the Papal States belong to his Tongli family or my Galar family?

"Your Majesty, this way."

Led by a treasurer monk, Horn, escorted by several papal guards, followed the monk and moved forward slowly.

The corridor in front of me was about two people's shoulders wide. The floor was paved with marble, with carvings of vines and acanthus leaves entwined around every root.

The faint scent of daisy drifted into the long and narrow corridor through the rose-shaped round window. The stench of books, ink, and moldy wood almost turned into brown-black smoke, floating in front of Horn.

"Your Majesty, this is our indulgence warehouse." The treasurer monk pushed open the wooden door. "We just imported a beautiful indulgence plate from Norn."

Horn said nothing and walked into the room which was about the size of a study.

On the boxes and on the ground, seven or eight bundles of indulgences were tied up with hemp ropes, while under the window frames, a mess of relief plates were placed in a disorderly manner.

"Your Majesty, please see that if someone kills their blood relatives, such as parents, brothers, and sisters, they must buy this kind of indulgence." Picking up a bundle of indulgences from the box, the treasurer monk introduced, "One is 20 dinars. Buy about 10 to 20 depending on the situation."

After that, the treasurer monk picked up a bundle of indulgences from the other side: "If someone kills his wife and wants to marry another, buy this, one is 10 dinars, or buy this big one, one is 50 dinars, which is more convenient."

"Or this one, this is the latest one, blood relatives are guilty of the crime, 4 dinars."

"If someone commits a crime of bestiality or chicken-pointing, for example, someone had sex with a monitor lizard last month, then they will buy this for 2 gold pounds."

The treasurer monk introduced the bundles of indulgences in detail, but Horn shifted his gaze to the relief plate not far away.

"Do you use this kind of wooden letterpress for all your printing?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, we usually use letterpress."

"Have you ever tried to take the letters apart and put them together to print them?"

"Oh, just say movable type printing. I am ignorant, but I have heard of movable type printing."

Horn's heart tightened and he was a little disappointed. He thought he had finally found a way to make a fortune.

The treasurer monk picked up a relief plate and said, "There are movable type printing machines, but they are more expensive than relief plates. We can't afford them at all."

"why?"

A set of movable type is made of metal and may indeed be more expensive than letterpress printing, but it can be reused many times to print different books. Isn't this better than letterpress printing?

"Because ordinary metal movable type can't hold ink. Only special ink can hold it, but that's too expensive." The treasurer monk smiled and pushed open the door. "This is basically the warehouse of indulgences. Do you have any other questions?"

"Let's go to the next room."

"As commanded, Your Majesty."

Following the treasurer, Horn walked around the warehouse until he reached the last two rooms.

"Your Highness, this room is called the north room of the ice house. It is connected to the cellar. We always get ice from here in the summer. As for this room, it is the money room, where the deeds, gold, silver and IOUs are stored."

Horn knew the main event was about to begin: "Take me in to see." He locked the two iron doors and revealed three large boxes, each containing gold and silver coins, land deeds and IOUs.

The treasurer monk opened the largest box, and golden light instantly filled Horn's eyes.

Horn walked forward, picked up a gold pound and examined it carefully.

When Horn was an accounting apprentice in the Grocers' Guild, he was not worthy of touching such high-end currency.

Now that I can touch it with my own hands, of course I have to take a good look at it.

According to the accountant in the city of High Castle, this gold pound is in accordance with the royal coinage standards, with a diameter of about one franklin (3 cm), is made of 1% pure gold, and weighs about 30 ounce ( grams).

The front of the gold pound is printed with the portraits of successive Holy Aiel emperors, and the back is printed with the sacred tree that supports the world.

The Empire's Coinage Act stipulated that one gold pound was forcibly exchanged for one pound of silver.

One pound of silver was minted into 120 dinars, each of which was about 10 francs (2.2 cm) and weighed about one-eighth of an ounce (3.8 g).

The right to mint dinars was mostly delegated to the hands of various dukes, so the patterns printed on them were varied, including some with their own portraits and some with family crests.

The Duke of Maainon of France even printed his own beagle on the dinar, which was nicknamed Dogecoin.

As for the price of one dinar for copper coins, it fluctuated between 30 and 60, which could buy half a gallon to two gallons of grain.

According to estimates from previous years, the Horn family's 25 acres of land can produce approximately 2200 pounds of rice crackers.

After deducting 220 pounds of tithes to the church and 220 pounds of rent in kind to the knight, 250 pounds of crops for next year, 500 pounds of food and reserve grain, the remaining 1010 pounds of rice can be sold for 112 dinars.

From these 112 dinars, 50 dinars of monetary rent to the knights and the church, 5 dinars of head tax, and 24 dinars of horse rental and fodder loss for armed farmers were deducted.

Adding the cost of repairing farm tools and houses, the dry food and bribes he brought with him when working for the church and the knights for free, and some miscellaneous expenses, there were 13 dinars.

The Horn family's annual real estate income was 244 dinars, with a surplus of only 20 dinars.

What is the purchasing power of these 20 dinars?

It is the equivalent of five linen smocks, a horse yoke, a dish of cream sparrows at a noble banquet, a simple appetizer.

These 20 dinars were based on the fact that when old Galar was alive, there were three young and strong laborers in the family and grain could be sold at one dinar per gallon.

Ever since Horn went to work in the High Castle, he had to hire migrant workers because the knight's land was not allowed to be left idle.

According to the unspoken rules of the Fugitive Slave Act, slaves had to pay their knights what they were owed in order to avoid being captured and having their "illegal gains" confiscated.

Otherwise, once a public farmer made a small fortune in the city, the knights would immediately find slave hunters or capture him themselves, confiscate his property, and even kidnap his family members to intimidate him.

The Knight's Castle is the real underworld lair.

Horn persevered in eating black bread and sending his wages back home, but they were either divided up by the villagers or seized by the knights.

At present, this small box contains a total of 125 gold pounds, 344 dinars and countless copper coins.

This is equivalent to 63 years of total income from the Horne estate or 767 years of annual surplus.

Dust particles were flying in the light, and the warm sunlight fell on the box, reflecting bits of golden light.

When Horn reached into the pile of gold coins, it felt slippery and cold.

It was like stirring a basin of thick blood.

　p.s. I'm a little late in looking up information, and there will be another chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)