Chapter 293: Being Cheated
The lord wants to carry out large-scale civil engineering construction, which naturally requires all kinds of technical talents.
However, there is a serious shortage of craftsmen in Li Ang's territory, which makes it difficult to carry out many tasks smoothly.
This is mainly because the territory expanded too quickly and accumulation was insufficient.
Originally, White Hart Castle had no shortage of craftsmen such as carpenters and stonemasons, but after returning from the Bacchus Empire a few months ago, Amy transferred most of the craftsmen to rebuild the Shield Wind Fortress, and they would not be back for a while.
In the continent of Pendor, it is actually quite difficult to recruit craftsmen directly, because most of the craftsmen are owned by others, so currently one can only try to buy or rent them.
Yes, craftsmen can indeed be bought, sold or rented in big cities like Changhe Town. This is not hiring or recruiting, nor is it selling oneself like a slave. Instead, it is accomplished through contract transfer.
When Li Ang first arrived in Changhe Town, Ralph rented some carpenters from the nobles of Changhe Town to Li Ang - and he never returned them...
Most of the craftsmen in the continent of Pande actually have "certification", which can be regarded as a relatively primitive "professional qualification certificate".
However, this certification is not reflected through a certificate, but through a special household registration and labor contract.
People who possess a certain skill usually go to the local administrator to register, then find a guarantor to accompany them and sign a service contract with the local lord - of course, this refers to craftsmen whose technical level can be recognized by the guarantor, and apprentices are not qualified.
This type of contract will specify the type of work, but the classification is rather rough, roughly including blacksmith, carpenter, stonemason, etc.
Generally speaking, this kind of household registration can be called "craftsman household registration".
It is worth mentioning that millers are also included in this special household registration.
Only people with craftsman household registration can engage in the work specified in the contract. Others cannot do this kind of work casually even if they can do it, otherwise they will be fined heavily - this is basically the same as the modern professional qualification certificate.
Craftsmen who signed the contract were equivalent to vassals of the local lord, which exempted them from military conscription and various hard labor, as well as many taxes. Moreover, they could receive the agreed salary if they did the work assigned by their boss well.
When the lord did not assign them any work, they could also take on business nearby to earn some extra money, but they were not allowed to take on business from other places without permission to avoid aiding the enemy.
Therefore, the income of craftsmen is usually much higher than that of ordinary civilians - after all, they pay less taxes, and agricultural taxes and most additional taxes are not collected from them.
This can also be considered as special care for technical workers.
However, these benefits also come at a price. The contracted craftsmen cannot leave the noble's territory at will and must be accessible to the boss at all times - if there is no external mission, those who do not follow the rules and run around will be caught and beaten half to death.
Of course, if you don't have the corresponding skills, but still try to use connections to get a craftsman contract, your fate after being discovered will be even more tragic - this is considered deceiving the lord, and not only will your tongue be cut off, you will also be sold into slavery, and your life will basically be ruined.
In fact, when the Kingdom of Pendor ruled the continent, craftsmen did not need to obtain this kind of special household registration.
Because the Kingdom of Pendor had established many guilds at that time, craftsmen could get business through the guilds, and they could also cooperate with each other through the guilds to complete larger projects. At that time, craftsmen did not actually need to rely on local lords.
The city of Kavala, now known as the Fierce Lion City, was the result of the concerted efforts of the Stonemasons Guild at the time - especially the 15-meter-high city walls, the huge griffin reliefs all over the walls, and the ten-story tower of the Noble Court.
The current Sarleon Kingdom is no longer able to complete such a magnificent and exquisite building, so the outer walls of Sarleon City can only use colorful paintings and hanging wall flags to cover up the traces of the griffin relief that was scraped away.
Today, the countries in the continent of Pendor are divided and have been at war for a long time. The original guild organizations no longer exist, and the craftsmen can only register with the nobles in various villages and towns.
The reason why this is considered a "dependency" is that the relationship between the craftsmen and the lords is neither a traditional loyalty relationship nor a master-servant relationship, but an intermediate state between servants and followers, which can generally be regarded as a dependent contract worker.
In simple terms, they cannot be considered followers, but their status is much higher than that of ordinary farmers.
These affiliated craftsmen are equivalent to resources in the hands of the lord. Many small lords will let the craftsmen take on jobs from other places to make money - the administrator will go out of town to take on business, and then send the craftsmen to do the work, which is very much like a labor dispatch or outsourcing company.
But the "dispatched workers" of this era actually lived a good life. For ordinary civilians in the continent of Pendor, becoming a craftsman was a very respectable thing. They were more respected than mercenaries, and they did not have to take the risks of being a mercenary.
Especially blacksmiths and carpenters - the actual social status of these two professions is almost comparable to that of attendants.
Generally speaking, the number of blacksmith shops and carpentry workshops in a territory often reflects the prosperity of the territory.
This is mainly because blacksmiths and carpenters are indispensable roles at all levels of the territory.
From the various equipment in the castle, to the various equipment of the soldiers, to production and living tools such as farm tools and kitchen knives, all of these have to be made by blacksmiths and carpenters.
The most important thing is that they are the few craftsmen who often accompany the army to fight, because all the baggage equipment basically requires the joint efforts of blacksmiths and carpenters - such as catapults, ladders, city gate hinges or thorn wood, etc.
When guarding the bridge in Fletcher Village, Leon had asked the carpenters to cut down the bridge piles during the battle and divided the spoils among them.
Therefore, craftsmen are strategic resources for the lords of the continent of Pendor.
As long as it is a resource, it can be traded.
Although the status of craftsmen is higher than that of ordinary civilians, their contracts are dependent in nature after all. The lords can transfer their contracts, but most of the time the craftsmen themselves must be willing to do so.
Moreover, the buyer must be a noble with a territory or manor, otherwise the craftsmen will not be able to settle down and enjoy the privileges of tax exemption, conscription and labor exemption, and the deal will definitely not be done.
This may be the earliest two-way choice...
In fact, this is very similar to the transfer of players between clubs. The buyer usually pays a transfer fee to the seller, and then the worker who is listed for sale and the buyer renegotiate the contract.
Of course, it is okay to fail to reach an agreement or not to negotiate, but you will most likely lose your current social status, and will most likely be severely beaten - usually the lords who plan to sell craftsmen are very short of money, and they will definitely be beaten if they hinder their boss from making money.
So sometimes craftsmen might reluctantly move to another lord's territory, and then pray that the new boss is a kind and good person.
The nature of leasing is similar to labor dispatch. The contract and household registration are still in the hands of the lord. The lord collects a lease fee and then sends people out to work for others.
The carpenters that Leon and Ralph had rented and never returned actually originally belonged to Lady Bella - but she was a heretic and had lost her noble status, so in this case she did not have to return them.
Blacksmiths are special in that they are usually hard to buy and can only be borrowed.
Because usually, a qualified blacksmith is basically also a qualified warrior. After all, it is difficult for someone who does not know how to fight to forge excellent weapons. It often takes more than ten years to train a qualified blacksmith.
Moreover, the transfer of a blacksmith's household registration and contract generally requires the transfer of the blacksmith shop together. This is not a simple transfer. Unless the blacksmith is on the verge of bankruptcy and plans to sell the territory, it is difficult to reach an agreement.
Fortunately, Leon was not short of blacksmiths. He had a large group of skilled blacksmiths from Mettenheim under his command .
Klose is about to own his own blacksmith shop, but it may be difficult for him to realize his dream of forging a greatsword because he already has a new profession, knight.
The Silver Hand was registered by Leon as a family guard knight group. In the Kingdom of Sarleon, newly registered knight groups must have at least five knights who have fought for the country.
Therefore, Leon directly appointed Klose's old teammate as a knight.
According to Sarleon's rules, this is actually illegal, because these people from Mettenheim are neither of noble birth, nor native to Sarleon, and they are not even related to any nobles.
Normally, they should marry a noble girl from Sarleon before they are eligible to be knighted.
But Leon didn't care. He had the final say in the entire East. If any noble had any objection to this, their family might have a few more uncles from Mettenheim...
Klose's Knight Territory is right next to the Aire River outside the Maixiang Territory. There is a lot of construction going on there, and many water-powered mills and blacksmith shops are being built.
However, the construction progress was extremely slow because there were not enough carpenters and stonemasons.
So Amy is actively shopping.
According to the custom of the continent of Pendor, things like human trafficking usually take place in taverns, and the buying and selling of craftsmen is no exception.
In fact, Amy was very experienced in recruiting various craftsmen. After all, she had lived in White Hart Castle for so many years, and Godric often asked her to manage government affairs. She had participated in the expansion of White Hart Castle in recent years.
Due to the shortage of staff, Amy offered a high price in the pub, basically offering a salary package that was twice the market price.
In order to spread the news, Amy asked Eric to cooperate and post purchase advertisements everywhere in Changhe Town.
Generally speaking, this kind of purchasing method that does not lack money is very effective.
But this time, Amy encountered a more special situation.
Many nobles did come to the Adventurer's Tavern, intending to sell their craftsman contracts, and some even expressed that they could rent people to Amy for a long period of time.
It looks like it's going well.
But these nobles are not locals. Most of them come from the same place - the vicinity of Lion Lake City.
Moreover, they all seemed to be followers of Prince Alric, and Amy was not familiar with them.
Maybe after Prince Alric took over Lion Lake City, there was no more business to do there. Anyway, no matter who these nobles belonged to, as long as they were willing to sell, Amy would certainly be happy to accept it.
Anyway, they did have a large number of craftsman contracts in their hands - Amy was very familiar with these contracts, and they were indeed real.
So one transfer or loan deal after another began to take place in the pub.
In order to improve efficiency, Amy generously paid the deposit first, and then agreed with them to bring the craftsmen to Changhe Town in half a month.
But the problem was that the day after Amy paid the deposit , when she was preparing to arrange a carriage with the nobles to pick up the craftsmen, all the so-called "nobles" disappeared!
Obviously, Amy was cheated. This must be a gang-organized scam...
In fact, this method of disguising oneself as a noble and using non-physical transactions such as contract transfer to defraud deposits is very common, but Amy was really unprepared this time.
In fact, the deposit that was defrauded was not much. The total amount of multiple deposits was only about 5,000 dinars, but Amy was quite angry.
Because Amy really didn't expect that at this time, there would be someone who would dare to lie to her?
Although Godric and Leon have "fallen out" on the surface, many outsiders may think that Amy does not have Leon's support, but as long as you stay in Changhe Town for a few more days, you will know that Amy can still be considered half a family in Leon's territory...
Besides, even if we don’t consider Leon, Amy herself is not someone who can be bullied!
After all, she was a princess of the kingdom, so she had both status and military strength. The female soldiers of Griffin Claw were quite ferocious. And everyone knew that Amy would definitely be able to pull out a large group of Noldor mercenaries from White Hart Castle - there were always a large number of Noldor elves wandering around the streets of White Hart Castle!
Logically speaking, Amy should have informed Li Ang if someone came to Changhe Town to commit fraud.
But Li Ang is not in Changhe Town now.
Due to the need for large-scale infrastructure construction, Li Ang went to Karen Deer Castle to recruit labor - the rebels led by the gladiators only recognized Li Ang, and they would not be so obedient if it were someone else.
Since Leon was not around, Amy decided to maintain her dignity, so she did not tell anyone else about this embarrassing incident. She planned to make up for the loss herself.
After all, in Amy's opinion, there are quite a few women around Leon...
Wendy's appearance and ability made her a strong competitor.
Some time ago, Leon went on an expedition to D'Shar and brought back Alina, who was also a formidable opponent with both beauty and wisdom...
Although Leon claimed that Alina had only come here temporarily to seek refuge, Amy didn't believe it. She felt that Alina had clearly stuck to Leon since she met him the last time she came for help!
So Amy now feels a sense of crisis. She doesn't want these two competitors to know that she has been deceived...
The female soldiers of Griffin Claw were very capable. It only took Amy a few days to determine the whereabouts of the scammers.
They did go to the jurisdiction of Lion Lake City, but they were dispersed to various villages and towns in the surrounding areas.
Moreover, those scammers were actually nobles - basically, they were grassroots lords of various villages and towns, mostly knights or manor owners.
Therefore, the contracts in their hands were indeed genuine, which meant that there were indeed so many craftsmen in their territory.
There is nothing to say about this. In this case, Amy will of course take the troops to collect the debt - the deposit has been paid, so either bring back the agreed craftsmen, or catch those scammers and make them do hard labor, otherwise where will the face of the princess of the kingdom be?
So Amy gathered most of her men and led four hundred female explorers into the jurisdiction of Lion Lake City to begin her debt collection journey.
