Chapter 868 Rebellion! Destroy Those Icons! (10,000 Words Update 23)
Even if he is scolded by the king, even if he will be known as a "beggar" from now on, even if it will bring trouble to the entire Netherlands, and even if he is ridiculed as a "beggar" by nobles across the continent for hundreds of years...
After the archbishop came forward to mediate solemnly and kindly, the king finally issued a new edict out of faith in the Lord of Glory, out of respect for the Holy See, and out of compassion and compassion for the people of the Netherlands:
Allow Dutch ships to dock at the Kingdom's ports. However, you must apply for a license in advance, one license is for one ship, no mixing is allowed;
Merchants entering Hong Kong are not allowed to trade at will, and can only trade with designated merchants at designated exchanges and within designated time periods;
Slightly reduce the export tariff on wool, but only businessmen who purchase treasury bonds - newly issued treasury bonds this year - reaching a certain amount can enjoy the preferential tax rate...
Lin Linzongzong, in a word, can be regarded as raising his hand, but... it is still very uncomfortable.
It can only be said to be better than nothing. As long as industry and commerce are allowed to spin up, even if it is slow and full of obstacles, there will be hope.
Industry and commerce complement each other. Only by moving and rotating, from materials to money, and then from money to materials, and constantly multiplying, can these two industries survive. Without living water, there is death!
Accordingly, the Archbishop, on behalf of the Kingdom Church, agreed to temporarily suspend the search operations of the Inquisition's black knights. Correspondingly, the Dutch were asked to conduct their own enumeration, destroy collections and objects, expel pagan hired workers, and cut off ties with pagan merchants...
After the buffer period is over, the tribunal will conduct another census. If there are no major problems, you can let it go.
It seems that it is indeed a lot gentler and has made a lot of concessions.
Therefore, the Dutch nobles could only hold it in their stomachs and respectfully thank the Lord of Glory for His grace, the Holy See for its mercy, and the King for his grace. After thanking him, the king issued an edict again:
In view of the fact that the Netherlands is too far away from the royal capital, the king cannot listen to the demands of the people of the Netherlands in time, so he sends a governor to rule the Netherlands on behalf of the king——
What?
Who do you want to send?
This is a big matter, and the great, wise, and benevolent king needs to study it carefully before deciding on the candidate. After all, in order for the glory of the Kingdom to shine in the Netherlands, this candidate must be chosen carefully!
The Dutch nobles returned to their territories with anxiety. The orders were issued one after another, arousing small cheers and big sighs behind their backs. How will the king decide on the governor?
Obviously, according to the current king's character, he will probably choose the one with the best relationship with him, the one who gives the most gifts, and the one who is most comfortable patting his horses...
Wait, then. The governor elected in this way will definitely work hard to recoup the cost after he takes office!
Before that, the entire Netherlands was forcibly given a lifeline, and the production machines started roaring to life.
"well……"
Old Curry squatted at the door of his workshop, knocked his pipe on the bluestone steps, and sighed sadly.
He is a carpet factory owner in Flanders, an important wool spinning town in the Netherlands. He is fifty-two years old this year. There are four workers employed in the workshop, two rug makers and two weavers.
Including himself, his three sons, his daughter-in-law and his grandson, the entire factory can produce more than a hundred blankets throughout the year.
——And among these carpets and tapestries, the theme of the best and most precious one must be to praise the glory of the Lord of Glory.
Old Curry took his three sons to draw and weave by hand, and no other daughters-in-law, grandsons, or employees were allowed to interfere. After weaving, we respectfully dedicated it to the largest church in Flanders.
Not a penny.
This habit lasted for more than thirty years. From his father's hand, it was passed down to himself, year after year.
However, this year, Lao Curley's blanket workshop suffered an unprecedented blow.
"Hey, old Curry, when will the delivery be delivered?"
Jingle bells, bells, bells, and a mule cart slowly came to the door of the workshop. A young man in his twenties jumped out of the mule cart. His woolen coat was clean and tidy, but the cuffs were a bit worn and white. The style was not this year's new style.
He carefully walked around a puddle of water, bowed slightly in front of Old Curry, and smiled before saying anything:
"Can it be delivered tomorrow? How many can it be delivered? - The ship will leave the port the day after tomorrow, and it must be delivered to the ship tomorrow evening at the latest!"
"well……"
Old Corey sighed again. He braced himself on his knees, stood up with difficulty, and guided the young man inside. Going in from the workshop gate, more than a dozen carpet looms are placed against the wall.
The blanket above is brightly colored and has exquisite and delicate patterns. Basically, the general pattern has been revealed, and the progress is either one-third, half, or close to completion.
Just looking at these machines, the blanket workshop in front of me is clearly doing good business. But look at the human hands - only half of the looms have people busy in front of them!
Old Curry was trembling, holding on to his stiff and sore waist from sitting for a long time spinning, and led the young man through the production workshop to the warehouse. The warehouse was empty except for a dozen rolls of blankets hanging on shelves, covered under dense coarse cloth.
"That's all?"
The young man glanced briefly, and his face turned dark instantly. A dozen rolls - even if they are of the best quality, the selling price of a dozen rolls of blankets is not even one-third of the amount they purchase from this store every year!
"Old Curry, don't hide good things." The young man stepped forward, lifted a piece of coarse cloth, glanced at it quickly, then lifted a piece of coarse cloth, and glanced again. The more I swipe, the tighter my brows become, and the more I swipe, the uglier my face becomes:
"Our family has been doing business with you for many years. If you have good things, you must remember to leave some for us! With only this small amount of goods, we can't even pay for a trip to the ship! We made a deposit years ago. !”
"We also want to make more things..." Old Curry continued to sigh. He supported his waist and led the young man to the warehouse next door. The heavy, moisture-proof warehouse was empty, except for a few small bags of dyed wool on the long rows of wooden shelves.
"If the wool cannot come in, there will be no spun yarn; if there is no wool, the dyed yarn used for weaving carpets will not be available. Our workshop has been out of raw materials for a month!"
"..."
Young people also know this difficulty, as do shipping businessmen. In fact, anyone who catches a child over three years old on the streets of Flanders knows about it. Ever since the king's new policy came down, everyone has had a hard time.
"...During this period, the workshops cannot operate, and workers still have to be paid, and they have to eat and drink. Day by day, they can only get in but not get out. The price of flour has increased five times, and the price of salted fish has also increased. three times……"
And these workers are all veteran workers who have been with the workshop for ten, twenty years, or even two generations of father and son. If you have no choice but to resign hastily, you will have a reputation as a mean person in the industry and your reputation will be ruined.
The young man silently added for him. Old Curry tied the mouth of the last bag of wool tightly, turned around, and looked at him eagerly:
"Are there any new goods recently? - You can get half a ton of dyed wool. Next month, we will deliver fifteen blankets! No, twenty! I will lead everyone to work day and night, and I will never miss you. thing!"
"I don't know... To be honest, my boss also mortgaged a house to take this boat trip. This time, how much goods can be sold, how much can be brought in, and how much money can be spent to take out the goods? Before returning, no one knows have no idea……"
The young man sighed deeply, settled the accounts with Old Curry, and moved away all the finished blankets. The mule cart was loaded with goods and jingled as it headed towards the port terminal. Alas, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any fish or shrimps. If you sell something, you can hope to get your money back...
Old Curry carefully locked the gold coins into the money box, picked two more and put them in the money bag, called a taxi, and wandered to the area where carding, dyeing, finishing, and spinning craftsmen lived. Bless the Lord of Glory, they must have new raw materials!
With ships coming in and out of the port and new yarn for dyeing, old Currie's blanket workshop started to work again.
The rug maker uses a special thorn gun to pierce the wool behind the woven warp and weft threads, and then pulls it out. As it enters and exits, patterns gradually appear on the loom;
The knitter flies with his fingers, winding the wool around two adjacent warps one by one, knotting it at the back, and cutting the thread ends with a knife; then passes the weft thread through the middle of the front and back warps, and smashes it firmly with a comb , one square foot of carpet requires thousands of knots;
An experienced older weaver, paired with a novice, can weave one square meter of carpet a month by hand; using the spear method, it can only weave two or three square meters in a month at most.
In the workshop, the flowers, animals, people and scenery are all filled with the blood and sweat of the weavers.
Knit, knit. A blanket, sold to the palace, can allow the light steps of ladies to spin and dance on it day and night;
A blanket, sold to the Glorious Holy City, can save the pain on the knees of priests when they kneel in prayer;
A carefully woven blanket mixed with silk thread of a special material was sold to the Kingdom of Kent. It is said that it can be processed into a flying carpet by the magicians!
None of this has anything to do with old Currie. All he knew was that a blanket, sold to a merchant in the maritime trade, could cover half of his family's expenses for half a month after deducting various costs and wages.
The path for a family to climb up is slowly accumulated from these blankets.
Loom, loom, another loom;
House, house, from renting a house, to buying a house, to buying a piece of land to build a workshop;
The eldest son is a textile worker, the second son is a textile worker, and the second and third generations of the family are all textile workers. When it comes to the eldest son’s smartest grandson, he can even be sent to church to study.
——If you are lucky, if you are favored by the priest, it is even possible to become a glorious priest!
By that time, their family will be able to follow suit and become masters!
By the way, I heard that the new governor is about to take office, and I don’t know how much taxes will be increased by then. Before he takes office, he must knit as many blankets as possible, sell them as much as possible, and save more money——
"Everyone, work harder! Tonight, each person will get an extra spoonful of mutton!"
"Old Curry! Old Curry!"
Suddenly someone shouted outside. Chaotic footsteps came quickly, and in a moment, a familiar young man rushed into the workshop and grabbed Old Curry's arm:
"Hide the blanket now!"
Old Curry's arm trembled, and with his fingers flying behind the warp, he immediately tied a wrong knot. He looked at the visitor a little angrily, but the young man who came to buy goods on time did not have time to apologize and said in a hurry:
"The Black Rider is here! Hide all your blankets, especially those special blankets. If you can't hide them, burn them! Hide all the wool! If you are still weaving, please unload it from the loom! I Before we leave, we have to inform the next family that we will leave the harbor tomorrow to avoid the limelight!”
After that, he turned around and left. Old Curry shuddered, and quickly raised his voice, shouting at his son, daughter-in-law, and factory employees:
"What are you doing standing still! Work quickly! Bata, Will, come with me!"
The family was in a hurry, unloading and hiding blankets and wool. Not even two days after hiding, Black Cavalry’s iron boots broke through the workshop door:
"Someone reported that your workshop is producing things for pagans?"
The leader was a knight in black clothes and armor. His face was hidden between his helmet and visor, and his appearance could not be clearly seen. He pressed the sword with one hand, looked around, and waved casually:
"Search!"
"Search carefully, bit by bit! Don't miss any of the warehouse walls, secret rooms, cellars, and roofs!"
The Knights of the Inquisition, the guards, thugs, and all kinds of people they brought with them, dispersed with a bang and dug three feet into the ground. Old Curry trembled and stepped forward to ask for money, but was mercilessly pushed to the loom frame by a guard:
"Go away! We are here to safeguard the glory of the Lord! Don't taint us with dirty money!"
After a search, the blankets hidden on the beams and the woolen bags hidden under the mattress were found one after another. Immediately the chains jingled, and Old Curry, his wife, three sons, three daughters-in-law, the whole family, and four hired workers were all locked out——
"Let me go! Let me go! I have always believed in the Lord of Radiance devoutly! In the cathedral, there are blankets from our workshop every year! My grandson is studying with Father Rude in the cathedral-"
Torture, interrogation, blackmail. When the family finally managed to save their lives and were released with their half-crippled bodies, the house, workshop, and loom, everything, were all in the name of someone else.
"I was wronged...I was wronged..." Old Curry was lame in one leg, and his face had a large burn mark from the soldering iron, which was terrifying. He gritted his teeth, leaned on a cane, and moved towards the cathedral step by step:
"I want to see my grandson... I want to see Father Rudd, I want to see the bishop... I want to appeal..."
"You'd better not go." On the way, a thirty-year-old neighbor stopped him with pity on his face. "Your grandson..."
He quietly brought old Curry to his home. Stepping into a side room, a slightly bulging thing was wrapped in half-worn sheets, making no sound.
Opening it up, the marks on the small body were horrific.
Old Curry exploded all of a sudden.
"My weaving workshop...my grandson...the glorious lord of dogs...my whole family has believed in you for so many years!"
He took to the streets. His son, the hired hand, followed into the streets.
From every house, every workshop in Flanders, every farm in the suburbs, every farmhouse and barn, angry craftsmen, small businessmen and small workshop owners took to the streets in a mighty force, forming a torrent:
“Tear down those churches!”
"Burn those monasteries!"
"Destroy those icons!"
"Glorious Holy See, get out of the Netherlands!"
****
4000 words!
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