The news that the legion is about to return south has already spread back to the valley. The military families living in the wooden castle can't wait to prepare for the triumphant return of their men, especially the family members of the new soldiers of the Wells Legion. They have not yet adapted.

Men are always on tenterhooks when they go out to fight. I heard that they are very happy to know that their family members were not killed or wounded in battle.

Outside the wooden castle, in a low thatch made of thatched branches near the north road, a little boy with runny nose looked at a middle-aged woman busy beside the wooden bed. The woman's head was wrapped in a thick linen cloth to keep out the cold.

He dragged out the broken wooden box under the wooden bed and took out a money bag sewn with old linen.

This purse contains the military pay that the man in the family has saved for several months. The mother and son spend less than half a pfennig every day to buy some barley and oats from the grocery store, grind them into powder at the mill, and then use firewood to bake some simple foods.

, it’s not that there is no money, the monthly salary of the legionnaires exceeds sixty pfennigs, which is enough to provide food and drink for the mother and son.

The main reason why the woman saves money is to save some money to build a decent wooden house in the wooden castle as soon as possible. This shack was built by the Civil Affairs Bureau for the families of the soldiers of the Welsh Legion. The shack can barely fit a wooden bed.

Behind a small wooden table, the mother and son could only share a stove next to the shack with several other newly recruited family members of foreign soldiers. All the men's military pay was sent home to save, while the woman herself took care of the children while cooking in the wooden castle.

Do some odd jobs for the families of military officers and wealthy citizens.

However, after learning that her husband was coming home soon, the woman thought about it and took out seven copper pfennigs from her purse and put them into her belt. Then she closed the wooden box, pulled the wooden door, and walked towards the inner wall of the wooden castle with her child.

.

The woman took her child to the Mubao Bakery and bought a few loaves of fine flour bread. She also cut a piece of bacon and ham from the grocery store. After thinking for a long time, she bought a whole clay pot made in the valley for the man who was about to return.

Wells beer. After doing this, the woman walked out of the inner castle with a large pile of drinks and food with a satisfied look on her face. The boy beside the woman held a small apple given by Ms. Emma in his hand and jumped up and down while eating.

Just as he walked out of the corner of the wooden castle and walked towards his small shack, the little boy ran into a man wearing a cotton robe and regular clothes, with a stainless steel knight's sword hanging on his waist, and holding a brocade box in his arms.

The woman was about to step forward to help the child up, but when she looked up, she was so frightened that she quickly knelt down while holding the wine and food, "Lord Baron, I forgive the child for bumping into you."

Art handed the brocade box to Ron behind him, picked up the frightened little boy who fell to the ground, and patted the boy's head, "Young man, you are so powerful. If you were taller,

We can break through the enemy's wall. Go back to your mother."

The little boy held the dusty half of the apple and hid behind his mother.

"Get up, madam, is she in the wooden castle?" Art asked softly to the woman who was kneeling with her head bowed.

"Back to your lord, Baron, the lady is in the mansion and has not gone out."

"Okay, get up." Art said and walked around the kneeling woman towards the wooden castle. Several castle residents who saw the lord returning wanted to run and tell each other loudly, but Art stopped him...

In the lord's hall on the first floor of the wooden castle mansion, after learning that the legion was about to return, a servant was cleaning up the long table in the hall. The baron liked to hold meetings on this long table.

In the lord's official room at the back of the lord's hall, the baroness' personal maid Ollie opened the account lists sent back by the Northland caravan one by one and put them on the wooden table. The little maid Camille stood on the other side and used a

Carefully sharpen the cut of the quill with a short and sharp carpentry knife, then place the sharpened quill in the corner of the wooden table, then pick up another smoothed quill and start repeating; except for one in the upper left corner of the wooden table

In addition to five or six freshly sharpened quills, there are also small glass bottles containing precious ink called iron gall ink. This ink was purchased by the caravan at a high price from outside. It is a kind of ink obtained from oak galls or other trees.

It is made by mixing the sap extracted from tree galls with copper powder. It also needs to add some gum as a thickener. The price of such ink is certainly not low, but the handwriting is also very clear and does not fade easily.

Behind the wooden table, sitting on a leather armchair padded with wool, was Lottie Huguet, the mistress of the valley. She was eight months pregnant, and Lottie's belly was so swollen that she could only lean back slightly.

Only then can you write smoothly.

After the cold winter of January, both the northern and southern caravans stopped trading and entered a period of rest. Lottie also took this opportunity to check and calculate the accounts of all the teams under Yate's command over the past year, including the two caravans from the north and the south.

Some people in the valley barely knew this skill, but no one was proficient in it, so Lottie had to do it herself.

Lottie held a quill in her hand, sometimes dipping it in ink and writing calculations quickly, sometimes stopping to tuck the quill behind her ear and pick up the account book to compare repeatedly.

"Oli, take out the second to last account book from the pile of account books on the right hand side at the bottom of the wooden shelf and give it to me." Lottie discovered that there was an error in an account number at the Southern Goods Store in Lucerne City, Northland, last June.

The difference is a full five hundred pfennigs, which requires detailed comparison.

Ollie pulled out the parchment with dense numbers and words and gave it to Lottie as requested. Lottie took the parchment with her left hand and picked up the results of the calculation just now with her right hand. After careful comparison, she found that Lucese's shop was indeed on the sixth floor.

There was a payment made once a month with the note "Eagle Eye Salaries" in the corner, and Kenem's signature was on the corner note, so the account books were correct.

Lottie picked up the quill and copied the contents of the corner notes to the number of gaps in the general ledger. She blew the ink with satisfaction and said, "The store's account books have finally been reviewed."

After saying that, he started to pick up the transit tax account book of the border outpost.

Seeing Lottie opening the next account book, Ollie advised: "Madam, you should take a rest. Anyway, the account books will not be left to be calculated tomorrow."

Lottie put the quill into the ink bottle, rubbed her sore lower back, and replied: "I have to sort out the general register in the next two days and give it to Uncle Cooper and they can discuss it at tomorrow's meeting.

, Art will be back soon and I hope he can see last year’s account verification results when he comes back.”

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

"Master? Old—" The kitchen servant who also served as a handyman in the mansion was wiping the long table with a rag. When he saw Art suddenly appearing at the gate of the mansion, he screamed in surprise.

Ron stepped forward and covered the cook's mouth, "Hush, where is Madam?"

The cook was confused and pointed to the office room inside. Ron nodded to Art, who was holding a brocade box at the door, and Art tiptoed towards the office room quietly.

Ollie was the first to notice Master Art who slowly opened the door and poked half of his head in.

"Shhh" Art put his index finger on his lips to make a silent gesture, and then waved to Ollie, signaling for her and Camille to step back.

Ollie walked gently to Camille, covered Camille's mouth and pulled her out of the office. When Camille passed by, Art stretched out his hand and patted her head gently.

Behind the wooden desk in the office room, Lottie was still calmly and attentively sorting out the account books of the border outpost since last spring. The tax collector at the outpost was not very good at writing, so Lottie had to concentrate on identifying it.

Lottie used the algorithm in the "Book of Calculations" to calculate the accounts, which required a large number of calculations. The manuscript paper was all homemade straw paper waste from the valley workshop. These straw papers were discarded because they were too rough, so they were chipped.

The pointed quills wore out quickly, and Lottie had to replace them several times.

"Camille, stop being lazy and sharpen the worn pen tip quickly." Lottie wrote softly on the account book and said softly to her side.

After writing for a long time, the tip of the quill became flatter and flatter. When Lottie was about to change another one, she found that there was no spare at all, "Camille!"

Lottie turned her head to ask the maid, when a thick hand held a quill and handed it over. Lottie was startled and slowly raised her head to stare.

After a moment, Lottie stood up and slapped Art on the face, then rushed forward and hugged him tightly...

In the bedroom on the second floor of the mansion, Lottie was lying on a special lounge chair, with a happy face on her face, stroking the silver wire pearl-covered gold bead necklace pendant she brought back from Paris around her neck;

At the edge of the lounge chair, Art knelt down half-kneeling and rested his head on Lottie's swollen belly to feel it carefully. Five fingerprints were clearly visible on the other side of his face.

Suddenly feeling a fetal movement, Art raised his head and looked at Lottie excitedly, "It's moving! He's moving, he must be a bad boy..." After that, he rested his head on Lottie's belly.

...........

The warmth of the southern valleys could not be conveyed to the wind and snow in the north. At this time, the northern land of Burgundy was in chaos.

A week ago, the Inquisition sent by the Paris Inquisition arrived in Besançon. The Inquisition consisted of a bishop and three priests from the Inquisition, as well as a group of clergy and religious guards. The Church of the Principality of Burgundy also sent a bishop and

Several clergymen accompanied the investigation.

Now that the ecclesiastical power of the Kingdom of France is getting weaker and weaker, the Holy See urgently needs to reestablish its authority through a series of actions. The heresy incident in the County of Burgundy before Christmas has become a reason for the Holy See. It is said that Pope Boniface VIII

Your Majesty has personally inquired about this matter.

After arriving in Besancon, the leading bishop of the Heretic Tribunal rejected the warm reception of Besancon Archbishop Fabio. After learning that the dead bodies of Dean and his son were on their way to Besancon, he directly led the people of the Tribunal to Sophia.

Assassin's lair in the city of En is only two blocks away from Thorne Cathedral. Pagans are breeding under the eyes of the bishop, and Bishop Thorne cannot shirk his responsibility.

As for the wealthy businessman owner of the mansion, he had already gotten wind of the news and ran away without a trace. However, the court immediately announced that the wealthy businessman and his family had committed heretical crimes. Not only did they have to recover all the confiscated family property and put it into the church treasury, they also ordered the entire church to be punished.

Searching for wealthy merchants and their families.

Father Robert, the experiencer who accompanied the Inquisition, complained to the Inquisition that when he left with the heretics, he was chased by Viscount Errol, the governor of Thorne City, and the defending army. The Inquisition immediately turned its attention to Errol.

Errol, but after two days of searching, no direct evidence was found to show that Viscount Errol was involved in the heresy incident, so Viscount Errol barely escaped after paying a huge "commitment fee" to the Inquisition.

However, he escaped the judgment of the church but not the attacks of political opponents. A tax account book of the Saône Province over the years magically appeared in front of the Marquis of the Palace. The sick Marquis of Ivrea became angry and ordered the palace officials to investigate.

this matter.

Count Bernard had no choice but to throw Errol out...

The Heretic Tribunal stayed in Thorn City for five days and arrested several clergy, city nobles and merchants who may be related to the heresy incident. Even the owner of the shop that provided food and vegetables to the wealthy merchant's mansion became a heresy incident.

of those implicated.

In mid-February, the bodies of Dean and his son arrived at Besançon. The Dean and his son were convicted of heresy and murder by the Inquisition. Their stiff bodies were tied to a cross and burned at the stake.

Under the strong pressure of the Tribunal, the Holy See of Besancon ordered a nationwide search for members of the Dean family. Within two days, the bodies of the old Mrs. Dean and Dean's illegitimate son were quietly delivered to the door of the Besancon Cathedral.

....

Dean and his son were punished again, the family was destroyed, and many powerful people involved in the heresy suffered disaster.

Count Bernard's power was severely thwarted and his arrogance was greatly reduced. Baldwin took the opportunity to attack and manipulate the meeting of ministers to cut off the fiefdoms of several barons and one viscount under Bernard...

The Heretic Tribunal, which had caused the heretical turmoil in the North, turned its attention to the south. They demanded that all the Dean family's property and territory be converted into church property.

Bernard and Baldwin rarely unanimously opposed the seizure of territorial fiefdoms. In the end, the court demanded that all the property of the Dean family be recovered. However, after receiving the news, Art Lian Fei Ge submitted a petition and insisted that no property was found in the territory of the Dean family.

He also hinted that all the Dean family's possessions had been transferred to Bernard's hands, and offered to hand over some farm tools, livestock and grain goods for confiscation.
Chapter completed!