The next morning.
"Slurp~"
"Slurp~Slurp~"
The chef in the castle was quite intelligent. After watching Bruno demonstrate it himself, he learned how to make noodles. After all, making noodles is not difficult.
But what is commendable is that he actually taught himself and developed a new dish, fried egg.
"The fact that he can come up with new dishes on his own shows that this new chef is not a fool. Remember to reward him." Bruno said casually.
"I'll arrange it right away, sir."
After having a delicious breakfast which was not very sumptuous, Leon had been waiting at the castle gate for a long time.
Although he was somewhat puzzled by Bruno's sudden decision to inspect the territory, he did not ask much and just followed Bruno's orders without hesitation.
According to the pre-planned plan, Bruno intended to take a good look at his territory, the city of Idar today.
This is not only for a better understanding of the world, but also for selecting a location for the Hanging Garden.
There were not many people accompanying him, including the personal valet Leon and two personal soldiers. As for the old butler Ford, he was busy doing a census of the city of Idar.
He climbed onto the horse and rode forward relying on his original body's memory.
This was Bruno's first time riding a horse after the crossing. The ride was a bit shaky and bumpy at first, but he quickly adapted to it, and even used a small whip to urge the horse under him from time to time.
Bruno's Count's Castle is located in the northwest corner of Idar City, built on a low hill. Although this castle, which is only about three or four stories high, does not look that majestic, and even seems a bit shabby to Bruno, it is already the tallest and most luxurious building in Idar City.
After all, luxury is relative.
Along the way, Bruno discovered that the farther away from his castle he was, the simpler the residents' houses became.
Most of the houses closest to his castle were two-story stone buildings, some even with a large courtyard. As he moved further away from the castle, the houses gradually changed from stone to wooden, and even the courtyards became smaller and smaller.
"Most of the residents around the castle work for us. They are paid well on weekdays, so their lives are relatively affluent in Idar City." As if seeing Bruno's confusion, Shabi explained considerately.
"Actually, you didn't have to come here. Most of the people living here are poor people and serfs. There's nothing to see."
The road gradually became narrower and the air was filled with an unpleasant smell.
Probably because it rained a few days ago, the road was a little muddy, and the cow and horse feces mixed with the mud and water on the ground, making it difficult to distinguish.
More and more people gathered on both sides of the road. Most of them were wearing dirty and worn short-sleeved shirts and walking barefoot on the muddy dirt road. Some of them had shackles on their feet and had dull eyes.
Leon rode forward and stood in front of Bruno.
"Get out of the way, everyone, a noble lord is passing by." He waved his whip and shouted loudly, looking like a lackey who took advantage of his power to bully others.
"Don't hurt women and children." Bruno warned from behind but did not stop them.
The barefoot children on the roadside had runny noses and looked curiously at the noble lord riding on the horse, but were quickly held down by their frightened parents, who made them kneel on both sides of the road, somewhat at a loss.
This is Idar, and this is the world.
Nearly ten thousand civilians and slaves gathered in the city of Idar. The closer one got to the city, the more crowded the streets became, and the stronger the sour smell in the air became.
As he got deeper into the center of the city, Bruno finally understood what the smell in the air was.
That is the result of human and livestock excrement constantly fermenting in the air.
Bruno even saw someone casually dumping a large pool of excrement on the side of the road, and then when he saw a nobleman riding a horse, he suddenly knelt on the ground and had close contact with some indescribable existence.
Oh my god, this disgusting smell!
After realizing this, a terrifying term suddenly appeared in Bruno's mind: the Black Death!
A great plague that killed one-third of the Western population on earth!
"This feces… is this how you deal with it?"
Leon nodded as a matter of course.
Yes, when a person has difficulty even filling his stomach to make a living, how can he have time to pay attention to hygiene?
A clean and hygienic living environment is something only the nobles in this world can enjoy!
Luckily I was riding a horse...
Bruno finally understood why medieval nobles always carried umbrellas when they went out, and he also finally understood the origin of the smell of high heels.
Enduring the disgusting smell in the air, the master and his four servants could not help but speed up their pace and advance towards the city wall that was already in sight not far away.
Finally...out of town.
After leaving the city, Bruno couldn't help but take a deep breath. The breath of nature was so beautiful.
"Leon!" Bruno said seriously.
"Master, what do you want?"
"Give orders to arrange for someone to collect excrement in the city starting tomorrow. Also, put up notices. One basket... no, three baskets of excrement can be exchanged for one copper coin!"
Dirty! Messy! Bad!
This is Bruno's entire impression of the city of Idar.
He absolutely could not accept that his territory would be in such a state.
Bruno is a man who values his life. The dirty sanitary environment in the city of Idar is like a time bomb. Once detonated, it will become an uncontrollable plague!
Bruno would never allow this to happen!
Leon rubbed his ears, thinking there might be something wrong with it.
"Collecting... feces?" Leon asked uncertainly.
"That's right! You heard it right!" Bruno said without a doubt.
"But... isn't one copper coin for three large baskets a bit... too much? After all, even if it's one copper coin for ten large baskets, there will be people who will give it."
Leon was about to cry. The master had just been peaceful for a while, so why did he start to act up again? After all, everyone's fiefdom was like this.
When Shabi thought about how those lovely copper coins, would be equated with dirty feces, he felt like crying but had no tears. He knew that he would be scolded to death by the old housekeeper when he returned.
"Then five large baskets of manure can be exchanged for one copper coin. It's settled." Bruno made a prompt decision.
Gold, silver and copper coins were the currency of the Norman Empire.
One gold coin can be exchanged for ten silver coins, and one silver coin can be exchanged for ten copper coins.
The nobles liked to use gold coins, while the common people could only afford copper coins. As for silver coins... the nobles felt that using silver coins was cheap, while ordinary people could not afford silver coins. Therefore, silver coins were the least circulated.
"But this will cause a lot of extra expenses in the territory. After all, if you shovel a little on the road in the city, you will get a large pile of feces." Shabi said in a low voice.
"It's okay, feces is a good thing." Bruno laughed.
"Good...good stuff?" Leon felt that his master was becoming more and more abnormal.
"What? You have any objection?" Bruno glared at him fiercely.
"No! No!" Lon said quickly.
"Serfs are often slow at work, so they need a capable person to look after them. How about this? I will appoint you as the Shit Shoveler of Idar City. Starting tomorrow, you will be responsible for supervising the slaves to shovel shit and collect feces."