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(Today's update, 2 in 1 Chapter)
The 173rd chapter "Slave"
Bringing Seth back to his residence, Deacon Clark had already sternly reminded Seth that from today onwards, he must listen to the orders of Du-Wei in all matters. Although Seth was still full of curiosity towards Du-Wei, Deacon Clark had already sternly reminded Seth that from today onwards, he must obey the orders of Du-Wei.
"Just like how you treat your teacher." This was how Clark described it.
Of course, it turned out that Seth had a teacher, and his teacher's position in the Magician's Guild was quite good. It was the same person who had entered the Frozen Forest with Gege Wu, but after encountering Medusa, he tricked Gege Wu and ran away first – Mage Azrael.
However, Seth originally did not have any status under Azrael, otherwise he would not have been sent to sell magic wands. Azrael was an 8th level Magician in the Magician's Guild, he had many apprentices under him, so he did not lack Seth.
Therefore, from now on, Seth could be considered to have changed his allegiance and formally joined Du Wei's tutelage.
"What's wrong, Seth?" Du Wei saw that this big-brained fellow's expression was somewhat strange, so he gently asked: "What are you thinking about?"
"No, no, nothing, Du Wei … … Teacher Du Wei." Seth obediently followed the Magician's Guild's tradition to address Du Wei as "teacher". However, this form of address made Du Wei frown in his heart.
"Seth." Du Wei stopped in his tracks, looking at this magic research genius he had abducted: "I don't need you to call me teacher."
"But this is tradition … …" Seth whispered: "In the Magician's Guild, all apprentices must address the Magician they are loyal to as' teacher '."
"But I am not your teacher." Du Wei shook his head: "You are also not my student, so I have nothing to teach you. I asked you to come over because I need your brain, or even to exaggerate, I need you to teach me something. Hehe … … "
Seth began to panic.
Du Wei patted this wooden fellow, looked at his big head and smiled: "Well, you will understand in the future. I am interested in your talent, and I hope you can use your talent to help me accomplish many things."
Then, Du Wei ignored Seth's expression and pointed to the front of the street: "Look, we have arrived at my residence."
In front of them was Du Wei's temporary residence. This courtyard originally belonged to the First Prince. It was said that the First Prince used it to hide his mistress. Of course, this was just a rumor. No one knew if it was true. Du did not care, as he was, as he was about to leave the Imperial Capital.
This residence was not small, when Du Wei moved in, the servants and the people who were originally guarding the residence had all been dismissed following the fall of the Crown Prince. Du Wei did not spend any time looking for them, there was only one old servant, Mard, and two servants from the Rowling family living in the residence. After Rollin's family moved back to the Rollin Plains, they were unwilling to leave the Imperial Capital, so they stayed and temporarily stayed under Du Wei.
In addition, there was Vivian, Mouse Gege Wu, and Mythical Beast Lord QQ in the residence. However, the existence of Mouse Gege Wu and QQ was still a secret to everyone, only Du Wei knew of their existence.
When he returned, Du Wei was surprised to see Vivian standing at the entrance of the residence, quietly sitting on the steps at the entrance, her hands supporting her chin, looking pitifully at the end of the street. Probably because she had been there for too long, the silly girl was in a daze, not even noticing Du Wei's approach.
"Why are you here?" Du Wei smiled, looking at Vivian who was sitting on the steps in a daze.
Actually, he was quite happy to see Vivian come out. Since the day he brought Vivian back from the "Brokeback Mountain", this little girl with a weak temperament suddenly learned that her teacher had passed away. After coming back, she had been locked in her room, sulking every day.
Du Wei went to see her a few times every day, but every time he went, this little girl was silent with a sad face. Du Wei also tried to talk to her, but every time he talked, this little girl would suddenly cry. In the end, Du Wei had no choice but to let her rest quietly in the room alone. He thought that as time passed day by day, the pain in her heart would eventually dissipate.
Sure enough, today he saw Vivian finally come out and sit at the entrance of the residence. Du Wei walked up, reached out and gently knocked on her head, squinted his eyes and smiled, "Hey! Are you in a daze? Didn't you hear what I said? "
Vivian raised her eyelids, blinked twice, and looked at Du Wei. She gradually came back to her senses, then stood up, rubbed her sore knees, and whispered, "Did, did you pass the exam?"
The little girl still had a weak look on her face, but the pain in her eyes had faded a lot, and her tone carried concern for Du Wei.
Du Wei smiled, and his tone became much gentler, "Did you sit here specially to wait for me?"
"I … I was worried about you." Vivian's little face blushed, and she lowered her head, "The magic exam, exam, was very difficult, I was worried …"
Du Wei patted his chest, where a magic pharmacist badge was hanging, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, look, this is my badge. The one standing in front of you now is already a qualified magician!"
Vivian stared with wide eyes at the magic pharmacist badge on Du Wei's chest, but before the little girl could say anything, Du Wei had already pulled Vivian with one hand and strode into the residence. After taking two steps, he turned his head to look at Seth, "What are you standing there for? Come in! "
Mard also hurriedly ran out from inside, and Du Wei instructed Mard to bring Seth in, "Let him pick a room, anyway, there are so many rooms here. Sigh, it's deserted at night, just like a haunted house."
Mard nodded, and just as he was about to go down, he suddenly remembered something, turned around, and said, "Young Master, Miss Ruo Lin came by, she said that there are some matters in our shop. Business has been good recently, but we're a little short on manpower, if possible, she hopes that you can go take a look at the shop. Also, she seems to be dissatisfied with the two craftsmen in our shop … Also, the four quadruplets you sent to the shop, it seems that Miss Ruo Lin isn't too satisfied with them either."
Du Wei nodded, "Mard, I understand … Mm, also, remember one more thing, don't say 'Miss Ruo Lin' in the future, remember, she is a Knight, no matter the occasion, when you mention her, you have to say 'Your Excellency Ruo Lin', got it? This is very important. "
•
Ruo Lin did have some things that were troubling her.
Although she was now following the right boss, and judging from the trend, this boss Du Wei was rising step by step, and his future was bright. Moreover, Du Wei trusted Ruo Lin a lot, and had already decided to completely hand over the management of such a profitable business in the Imperial Capital to Ruo Lin.
However, Ruo Lin didn't like this job.
In essence, she preferred to manage the group of pirates, or at least lead the fleet to gallop on the sea, experiencing the wind and rain, that kind of life full of novelty and excitement of adventure, made Ruo Lin's heart move more. She didn't want to wear a set of ridiculously gorgeous armor every day, and socialize with a group of hypocritical nobles.
However, Ruo Lin still obeyed Du Wei's arrangement. She was a smart woman, and she could see that Du Wei didn't have enough manpower at the moment. Although this young master's meteoric rise was very fast, but he started too fast, and his foundation wasn't solid. He didn't have enough manpower at hand, which was Du Wei's Achilles' heel. If this problem wasn't solved, it would cause a lot of trouble for Du Wei's development.
Therefore, Ruo Lin obeyed.
She did her best to manage the business in her hands, and she completely showed her ability. Every day, she socialized with group after group of nobles. She didn't need to sacrifice a bit of her appearance like she did in the past ….. Thanks to Du Wei's packaging of her image, in fact, now Ruo Lin deliberately maintained a cold appearance, and those nobles would swarm over like flies.
Ruo Lin felt that she was too busy to bear. Although she knew that today was the day Master Du Wei would go to the Magician's Guild examination. However, this smart female knight was very confident in Duwei … … What a joke, she knew all too well about this young master's various means. As for the assessment, wasn't it a piece of cake for this young master? Therefore, in the morning, she didn't even show a gesture of concern to Du Wei's examination results. Instead, she stayed in the shop and dealt with some things.
At present, the business was very good. In just a few days, it had brought Du Wei more than 1.5 million gold coins. Deducting the cost of the initial investment, the cost of buying the shop, the expenses of the staff, and the cost of the goods, in just three days, Du Wei had made a net profit of a million gold coins.
Without the layers of black-hearted merchants in the middle, Du Wei's fleet could continuously transport the goods that the mercenaries hunted from the Frozen Forest to the Imperial Capital from the North. The freshest goods, the slightly lower price, and Du Wei's current reputation in the circle of nobles made it so that in just three days, almost half of the goods that Ruo Lin brought over last time were sold out.
In the morning, she had already sent someone back to deliver a letter to the ship that was docked at York Harbor at the fastest speed. She asked someone to continue to purchase goods from the North and ship them to the Imperial Capital.
Then, she finally waited for Du Wei to come.
Du Wei brought Vivian along. Since this little girl was finally willing to come out of her room, he couldn't let her stay at home alone anymore. Bringing her out for a walk would be good for her mood.
Vivian was very interested in the goods that came from the Frozen Forest in the North in Du Wei's shop. From the perspective of a Mage, Vivian felt that many of the goods were very useful.
Du Wei and Ruo Lin went upstairs to have a detailed discussion while Vivian was left to slowly pick through the goods.
Ruo Lin first explained the few problems that she was currently facing.
Firstly, there was a lack of manpower. Since it's a business for the nobles, then the shop also needs some strictly trained attendants … … Those nobles aren't ordinary people. If he casually went to the slave market and bought a few people without strict etiquette training, it will cause people to talk behind his back, and it will also cause Du-Wei to lose face. The nobles were very particular about these things.
Secondly, there was the problem of craftsmen. Most of the goods shipped from the North were raw materials. Although Du Wei had paid a high price to hire a few good craftsmen in the Imperial Capital before opening the shop, there were blacksmiths, tailors, carpenters, and a few engravers. But it was still far from enough.
It wasn't easy to sew and mend the fur of those magical beasts into exquisite clothes or fur coats. While the nobles were particular about the materials, they were also very particular about the novelty of the designs. In this aspect, they were obviously lacking.
And those precious magic cores, although most of them had been ordered by the Magician's Guild, some rich and noble families would also purchase them to please the Mages that their families recruited. There were also some weapons …
Speaking of weapons, this was what gave Ruo Lin the most headache.
At present, the materials stored in the warehouse were all top quality goods, but the strength of the two blacksmiths under her was too ordinary. And the manpower was too little. Just last night, when these two mediocre blacksmiths were forging a set of equipment, they damaged two pieces of the Earth Dragon's scales. They also accidentally destroyed a slender sword that was designed to be used by the nobles because of the lack of heat control. Because of the lack of heat control, the slender sword that was designed to be like a chopstick was easily broken by the blacksmith's tongs when they were trying it out.
The two blacksmiths had actually worked very hard, but their talent was not enough. And although they had forged weapons before, they had never come into contact with so many top quality materials.
These were only the current problems, and the thing that made Ruo Lin the most angry … was the female magic apprentice quadruplets that Du Wei gave her!
Those four beautiful quadruplets were originally the pets of a man who was worth millions of gold coins, but Du Wei did not seem to have any interest in these four girls. After the shop opened, he directly threw these four girls to Ruo Lin.
Du Wei's idea was very simple. He hoped to continue developing his business, and in the future, he would be able to make some magic tools! Mages as a group did not lack money. On one hand, there was a large number of nobles who gave them a lot of wealth. On the other hand, mages had all kinds of precious gems. This kind of group was what Du Wei thought was the best consumer.
The magic cores of the magic beasts that were transported from the north could be made into many things that attracted mages. Du Wei was also very clear that selling raw materials was far better than selling finished products! The profits would also multiply several times. However, the production of magic tools was not something that ordinary craftsmen could be competent at.
In the Roland Continent, there was a special profession called "Magician". This profession was very small and there were not many people. Its main purpose was to create all kinds of tools that mages needed, such as magic wands, crystal balls, and all kinds of magic support tools. There were even people who could create magic scrolls!
But this profession was also very strange. Some Magicians were outstanding mages, and the magic tools they created were mainly for their own use. Occasionally, they would create some tools that would be circulated in the market. Of course, such magic-crafters were extremely rare. Only people who were both magic-crafters and magic-crafters had the ability to create magic scrolls.
Most of the Magicians were originally magic apprentices, but they did not have the talent to become mages. In the end, they had no choice but to become a Magician, and use their magic knowledge to create all kinds of things that mages needed.
But no matter which Magician it was, Du Wei was currently unable to recruit them. This was because almost all Magicians belonged to the Magician's Guild. As for those magicians who were originally magicians, they wouldn't be casually recruited by anyone.
Therefore, Du Wei had high hopes for the quadruplets. He hoped that these four girls could use their magic knowledge to become a money-making machine in his hands.
Obviously, Du Wei's understanding of the value of these four girls was different from most men.
If it was any other noble, they would have already taken these quadruplets as their exclusive property.
"Your Excellency the Duke, with all due respect, I would like to ask you to take these four 'young ladies' back!" Ruo Lin said bluntly, "They are not here to work for me! Every day, I have to separate people to serve them! Humph … "
Du Wei frowned, "There is such a thing?"
Then, Ruo Lin told Du Wei about the past few days.
It turned out that not only Ruo Lin was depressed, but the quadruplets were also very depressed. Since childhood, they were four beautiful women. After being bought by Count Biliaibuer, they went through strict training and some magic knowledge. But Count Biliaibuer's expectations for them were frank: all the training they received was for the sake of pleasing men in the future.
Even during the training days in Count Biliaibuer's mansion, the quadruplets were served by people. Apart from the training, their life was almost comparable to that of some young ladies from small noble families.
Originally, after being given to Du Wei, the four girls were very satisfied. After all, Du Wei was young, handsome, and had a prominent background. Recently, he became a popular Grand Duke.
The four girls were thinking that if they could please the Grand Duke in the future and get his favor, they would be able to fly to the branches and become phoenixes.
Unfortunately, who would have thought that Du Wei was too lazy to even touch a finger of theirs. He even threw them to be Ruo Lin's subordinates!
The most annoying one was Ruo Lin! This rude woman, this cold woman, she actually dared to ask her delicate self to work!
… …
After listening to Ruo Lin's narration, Du Wei's face became gloomy. He looked at Ruo Lin: "Don't tell me you can't do anything about them? Ruo Lin, Knight, I am very disappointed in you! In the past, you were able to deal with a group of unruly pirates, but now you can't even deal with four little girls? "
Ruo Lin's face became somewhat embarrassed: "My Lord … … These four young ladies were sent by your side, I … …"
Du Wei immediately understood Ruo Lin's concern. He smiled: "You can rest assured, they are not my women, and I don't intend to make them my women! Now you can rest assured, right? I sent them to you, so they will be under your command! If they are not obedient, then you can do whatever you want with them! "
Ruo Lin breathed a sigh of relief, only then was she relieved.
Looking at the female Knight's face, Du Wei snickered in his heart: This time, the quadruplets will have to suffer for the next few days.
After muttering to himself for a while, Du Wei said: "The problem of manpower cannot be rushed, we can only slowly find them. Especially craftsmen, good craftsmen are hard to find now. In a place like the Imperial Capital, no one is willing to give us good craftsmen. If we snatch them openly, it is easy to offend people, especially when I will be leaving the Imperial Capital in a few months. When I am here, even if we offend people, we don't have to be afraid of revenge. But after I leave, it will not be the same. So, it is better not to do things that offend people. "
"But good craftsmen are already taken, where are we going to find them?" Ruo Lin sighed.
"If there is no other way, the only stupid way is to train them ourselves." Du Wei also shook his head: "But the cost of this is too high, and it takes a long time to achieve full results. Let's put the craftsmen matter aside first, I will slowly think of a way … Hmm, it is still early, we might as well go to the slave market in the city to take a look. Maybe we can buy some suitable people. "
•
The Roland Continent's slavery system has always been firmly opposed by the Shrines, and this has been the case for hundreds of years.
Of course, in Du Wei's view, this is not because the Shrines are noble, but because the Shrines are dissatisfied with the huge benefits of slavery, but they are not able to get a share of it.
For hundreds of years, although the continent was generally peaceful, the expeditions to the Nanyang Ocean, as well as the occasional small rebellions in the northwest, would always bring back many captives after the Empire's expeditions … This was especially true for the expeditions to the Nanyang Ocean. Every time they returned from an expedition, they would bring back a large number of spoils of war … Many of which were natives captured from the large islands in the Nanyang Ocean.
It is not that the Empire's army likes to plunder people … To be honest, which of the generals who lead the expeditionary army doesn't like to plunder more gold and silver?
Unfortunately, as the expeditions to the Southeast became more frequent, the harvest of each expedition became less and less. If they really can't snatch things, then in order to at least get some harvest to supplement the military budget, they would plunder people and take up the largest proportion of the spoils of war in the recent expeditions.
Following that, the natives from the Southeast became the mainstream of the slave market. Du Wei has seen the statistics from the military. Currently, in the Imperial Capital, according to estimates, there are more than 8,000 natives from the Southeast. Most of them have been captured and brought to the Imperial Capital for many years. Some of them were even the second generation after being captured and lived in the Empire for many years.
In addition, there are also many slaves who were originally free people. Because of poverty, they could only sell themselves as slaves. Several small scale rebellions in the Northwest would also give birth to some slaves.
Other than that, there is also a kind of existence called "Official Slaves", mainly from declining rich and powerful families. For example, after the coup this time, several rich and powerful families were completely eradicated. Many people in the family were convicted. After being tried, they lost their status as free people and became slaves. Most of them were sold in the slave market.
Interestingly, the largest slave trader in the Imperial Capital is not someone else, but an industry directly under the Empire's central finance department. That place is set up in the slave market in the Southwest of the Imperial Capital. There are many "Official Slaves" gathered there.
It can be said that the Empire's finance department relies on the sale of slaves every year to seize a large amount of financial income.
The reason why the Shrines are dissatisfied is because the Shrines are unable to officially get a piece of such a big cake every year.
•
Most of the slave trade in the Imperial Capital is concentrated in the Southwest of the city. Originally, there was a wide road under the Southwest city wall. It was on this road that the most prosperous slave market in the entire continent was born.
The Southwest area of the Imperial Capital has always been close to the slums. The entire Southwest area of the city has a population of more than nine hundred thousand people, almost half of the Imperial Capital's population.
On this one kilometer long street, in addition to the slave trade, there are many ordinary slums and all kinds of strange people looking for work.
In other words, this is similar to the "labor market" that Du Wei saw in his previous life.
At the end of the long street, there is a square. The original statue and pool in the center of the square were removed decades ago. Now, there are several high platforms in the square. A few famous slave trading groups in the Imperial Capital are on these high platforms, carrying out lively slave trading.
On the square, with several high platforms as the center, there is a large crowd gathered to watch. Many of them are merchants from other places, and there are also some people from the Imperial Capital's rich and noble families. The slave traders standing on the high platforms are holding whips in their hands. Behind them are several burly bodyguards. On the platform next to them, there are large iron cages. In the cages, people are locked up like animals. Most of the people locked up in the cages are "newbies" who have just become slaves. Only these captives from the Northwest or Southeast Asia are not willing to accept the fate of being slaves, so they resist and are locked up.
On the other high platforms, there were a few slaves with blank faces and empty eyes. There were no ferocious slave traders or bodyguards around them. Usually, there were only a few dozen people tied up with a thin rope. They just stood there with blank faces, obediently motionless, and let the people around them cast all kinds of gazes at them. These are the old slaves who have already become numb.
Even the slave traders are constantly walking to the side of the slaves, pinching their faces, knocking on their chests, or opening their lips to show their teeth … … just like animals. These people are indifferent. They have already become numb to their own fate.
Du Wei and Ruo Lin are walking in the crowd. Both of them are wearing casual clothes. Ruo Lin is not wearing a set of overly gorgeous armor, and Du Wei is naturally not wearing the eye-catching magician's robe.
Wearing an ordinary coat, Du Wei and Ruo Lin squeezed through the crowd with difficulty.
On both sides of the road, in addition to the slave trading platforms, there are some indifferent people in the corners. Some are men, some are women, some are old, and some are young. They will also quietly stand at the corner of the street, their eyes sweeping back and forth in the crowd. These people, without exception, have a piece of cloth on their body or arm.
These are not slaves, but free people of the Empire. It is just that many people have to sell themselves as slaves in order to survive because their lives are difficult. As long as they stand in the slave market with a piece of black cloth on their arm, it means that they are willing to sell themselves.
Of course, there are also some who are not willing to be slaves. Standing here with a piece of white cloth on their arm, it means that they are willing to find a master to be loyal to, but not in the capacity of a slave.
There are also many people like this. Most of them are people who have some skills. Some are craftsmen, coachmen, and some are down-and-out warriors.
Du Wei looked along the way and found a few people wearing shabby and shabby clothes, holding rusty longswords in their hands, standing in the corner with dignified expressions. The white cloth on their shoulders is unusually eye-catching.
In the Imperial Capital, it is not easy for a warrior to survive. The Imperial Capital is the center of the Empire. There are too many experts gathered here. Basically, a mid-level warrior is just a bodyguard for a noble.
On the other hand, it was much more difficult for low-level warriors to make a living. There were also many low-level warriors that the nobles disdained to recruit. They could only work in some carriage companies. Those who were slightly better off could even work as bodyguards in the carriage company's transport team.
As for those who have low martial skills, only level one or two warriors, it is even more difficult for them to find a living.
The prosperity of magic and the decline of warriors is the epitome of the entire continent.
Du Wei was sizing up the warriors in the corner when he suddenly heard Ruo Lin call out to him, "Young Master, look!" Looking forward, he saw a surge of people at the end of the street. That is the largest slave trading center in the Imperial Capital. It belongs to the Empire's official slave trading center!
In terms of quality and price, official slaves were generally much higher than ordinary slaves. Most of the slaves from the wealthy families who had their properties confiscated had undergone some training and could be used immediately after being bought. Therefore, although the price was higher, they were still favored by many buyers.
"Let's go take a look." Du Wei nodded.
It seems that he came at the right time. There seems to be a batch of "new goods" for sale at the official slave trading center.
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