Half a day's drive west from Thorne City, a mountain range hundreds of miles long runs across the plain leading to the Principality of Burgundy, dividing the plain into east and west parts.

The length of the mountain range is not small, but the width is not. From the entrance to the exit, it is no more than ten miles wide. The middle part of the mountain range seems to have been cut in half by a giant axe, and a wide valley appears among the mountains, becoming a passage connecting the east and west.

There is a prosperous castle in the wide valley, which is the city of Beaune, an important border trade town between the Principality of Burgundy and the Counties.

The setting sun was like blood. On the driveway east of Beaune City, a group of cavalry escorted two carriages and galloped towards Beaune City, dragging a trail of dust on the road that had been sunny for several days.

"Sir, Stanley has already sent out a sentinel. There is no warning or abnormality in Bona City. The enemy must not have sent an order to block the border. Should we go into the city to rest? The horse has been running for a long time, so we must rest." Ron Shuang said.

His feet lightly kicked the horse's belly, and his body shook up and down as the horse galloped, causing his voice to tremble slightly.

Art stood up slightly, moved the point of support from his hips to the soles of his feet, so that his buttocks that had been bumping for half an afternoon could calm down, and then replied: "There are many people with complicated eyes, and it is easy to cause trouble. We will bypass Bona City and continue westward. If

Stop and rest when you encounter a village or market town; if you don't find one, camp before the end of the darkness."

Beaune City is an important border trade town, but due to the suzerainty relationship between the Count of Burgundy and the Principality of Burgundy, Beaune City's trade market role is far greater than its border military role, so Beaune City has not completely blocked off Burgundy.

The road leading from the country to the principality, if there are business travelers who do not want to enter the city, they can directly bypass the city of Beaune and enter and exit the border freely.

After Andu escaped from Thorne City, Art headed westward with his team non-stop, and finally arrived at Beaune City before dark. After passing Beaune City, it no longer belonged to the country of Burgundy, even if it was his opponent.

In response, it was impossible to dispatch troops to pursue them with great fanfare.

Art didn't want any accidents to happen at the last moment. Regardless of whether there was any abnormality, they would inevitably have to be interrogated when they brought the heretics in and out of the city gates. To accept the interrogation, they had to carefully disguise themselves, which was very troublesome. So even if the sentry reported back

He said everything was normal in the city, but he still decided to bypass Beaune and rush to the next inhabited village or market town to spend the night.

When the convoy galloped around the city of Beaune, the city was still as bustling and bustling as before. The trade of the two feudal kingdoms gathered here, and many merchants took advantage of the intermittent trade routes to complete the last trade trip of the year.

The defenders on the southern city wall of Beaune looked puzzled as they watched a dusty team speed past on the road about a mile to the south. They had been stationed here for many years and rarely saw people rushing on their way without entering the city after dark.

After crossing the city of Beaune, the team continued on for about five miles, and finally arrived at a village in a valley before it got dark.

The village is located next to a carriage road, and there are often pedestrians and business travelers passing by to rest, so the villagers did not panic at all when they saw a group of people wearing caravan guard uniforms and carrying short swords and daggers on their waists entering the village.

An old man who looked like a village elder received the group of people.

The old man is not only the village elder, but also the owner of a hotel in the village. Almost all passing caravans will stop at his house, so the old man has basically left the farmer's profession and is quite tactful in his dealings.

Entering the hotel, Art declined the old man's offer to send someone to take care of the carriage, and asked Ron to take care of it himself with a few soldiers.

Entering the first floor of the hotel, the old man ordered the kitchen to prepare a large table of bacon bread, pea paste and other food. He also took out a barrel of high-quality beer from the wine cabinet and filled a wooden cup.

After finishing the drink, he turned the cup over to show that he had finished drinking, and then asked the bartender to take a few more identical cups and fill them up for Art and the others one by one. He said politely: "This must be the first time for this gentleman to come here."

It is always right to be careful on a trade route. However, this trade route has been prosperous for decades. Seven or eight years ago, business travelers were occasionally killed on the road. However, since the Principality of Burgundy sent troops to clear it up,

Nothing like this has happened on this road for many years, so you can eat, sleep and walk with peace of mind."

After finishing speaking, the old man patted the beer barrel and said: "This barrel of beer is considered as a gift from me to all the distant visitors. In the future, when businessmen pass by, no matter whether they come from afar or not, I have a barrel of good wine here waiting for guests for free."

Come and get it." After saying that, he left naturally.

Art thought this old man was very interesting. He guessed that he was on guard, so he consciously tasted the first glass of wine for the guest to reassure the guest and avoid embarrassment. Then he generously presented the beer as a gift and threatened that as long as he passed by, he would eat or not, whether he would like to stay or not.

You can come to any shop and drink a barrel of beer for free. Such a flexible mind can only be developed in a place where business is prosperous.

Art drank a glass of beer and took a look at the hotel. Nowadays, the weather is getting colder and colder. Even if there are business travelers coming and going, they are rushing to their destination to complete their trade, so there are not many guests in this hotel, and the old man who owns the hotel is also very leisurely.

Art picked up the wine glass, walked up to the old man who was standing behind the wine cabinet and counted the books, and said with a smile: "I have met a lot of people, but I rarely see smart people like you.

You can come and get beer at any time. I don’t know how many business travelers you will attract to your shop to eat, drink and rest. I’m afraid you are not from an ordinary farmer’s background, right?”

The old man stopped the quill in his hand, glanced at Art, and replied: "Sir, old man, I dare not call you "Your Excellency" in front of your nobles. My name is Brigitte Foss. You are right, ordinary people

Farmers don't know how to keep accounts with quills. My family was originally a business traveler family in France, but by my generation it was so dilapidated that it was difficult to keep a belly. Fortunately, my father and grandfather left behind a business mind.

He did not starve to death. He has been doing business in various places over the years, and it was only when he was old that he saved some money and settled his family business in the village."

As expected, Art was right in his mind, and he seemed to be a man of ups and downs in the business world.

"Since you have been doing business everywhere, I would like to ask you, how can we go northwest from here to avoid castles, fortresses and checkpoints and reach Paris as quickly as possible?" Art said, taking out the money bag from his arms and pulling out five coins.

A small, sparkling silver coin worth sixty pfennigs was gently placed on the front counter of the wine cabinet.

After taking a look at the small silver coins on the table that were enough for this group of people to eat and drink for five or six days, and then repeatedly looking at Art and the people at the table in the room, the old man concluded that this was a caravan hoping to take a hidden path to evade business taxes.

Things were familiar to him. He picked up the silver coins one by one and replied calmly: "Two miles west from here and out of the valley is a plain. Pingchuan continued westward and stopped at the first village he encountered. He found a village called

Sandra's middle-aged man, tell him you are friends with old Bree."

"For only fifty pfennigs per carriage, he will take you around all the castles, fortresses and checkpoints along the way that require inspection and tax collection, and arrive at a port city called Auxerre, where Sandra will give you

We found a river boat that goes directly to Paris. Those boats are ships that carry military supplies to Paris. They don’t have to pay taxes, but the conditions for boarding are really not that good.”

After finishing speaking, the old man gave a special instruction, "Sandra only accepts the work of caravans of three carriages or less at a time. If the scale is larger, there is nothing he can do."

The old man took another look at Robert, who was sitting on the wooden table in the hall drinking beer, and said: "But I saw that there is a priest accompanying you in your team. The most direct way is to carry the flag of the church, as long as you threaten to deliver it to the church in Paris.

Donate and ensure that no one dares to intercept and collect taxes."

Art took note of the old man's words carefully, and asked the old man some questions about his business trip. Then he thanked the old man and went back to the table to eat and drink seriously. After eating and drinking, he went to the stable to replace Ron and the others who were guarding the carriage horses...

...

............

The night was uneventful. Early the next morning, Art paid off the room and board fees and continued on the journey with his team. Not long after, they arrived at the village the old man at the hotel had mentioned and gave a boy with a runny nose at the entrance of the village.

After collecting a small copper coin, Art easily found Sandra who was gambling with someone in a thatched hut in the village. She found a quiet place and explained her purpose. Sandra accepted Art's deal without any hesitation.

Then without even asking who or what was loaded in the carriage, he returned to the dilapidated thatched house, tidied up a little, took out a mule and horse, and then left the village with Art and his entourage and ran towards the south...

After leaving the valley, the terrain is originally very flat, and the westbound road is very smooth. If you follow the normal route, you can reach the river port city of Auxerre in up to three days.

But this is a commercial road, with many castles and fortresses along the way, and many outposts and tax cards. In order to keep a low profile, the group of people went south for a long time under the guidance of the gambler named Sandra, and then went west through some country roads.

They walked around streams, farms, manors, and even farmers' cultivated land. They saw the villages and settlements along the way and turned a blind eye to Art and his party when Sandra led the way. Obviously, there are many ways to do this.

Following Sandra, we traveled all the way through rivers and wading, and the team did not arrive at Auxerre until noon on the fifth day. The journey was far and many roads were very difficult to travel, but we did bypass almost all castles, fortresses and outposts along the way, even though

Several remote checkpoints that were really impossible to bypass were also finalized with a few words from Sandra.

Fifty pfennigs a car, people have their own reasons for being expensive.

After arriving in Auxerre, the team found a small warehouse to rest near the dock, and Sandra went alone to find a river boat that could take the team to Paris.

Auxerre is a port city located in the middle reaches of the Yona River. The Yona River, which originates from the southeastern mountainous area, formed river transportation conditions suitable for large and medium-sized ships until it arrived here, so it can be regarded as the first port city on the Yona River.

, go northwest along the Yona River, merge into the Seine River in a city called Montroff, and then continue sailing to the city of Paris.

Due to Auxerre's special location and role as a port, it is one of the few cities that does not build walls and does not collect a traveling merchant tax. Its main income comes from river transportation, food and accommodation, and trade.

After resting overnight in a warehouse near the port, Sandra brought back news early the next morning—the ship bound for Paris had been found.

Art left Stanley, Dawson and others to guard the carriage, while he took Father Robert, Ron, Matthew and others to follow Sandra to the port cargo terminal to meet the captain of the cargo ship.
Chapter completed!