After a night's rest, Vig left 30 Viking farmers and asked them to load supplies and wounded soldiers onto ox carts and return to Tyneburg while the rest continued on their way.
The team had been walking west for most of the day. Harry pointed to the endless ruins of a wall in front of him, buried in thick grass. "My lord, that is the Great Wall left by the Romans, stretching all the way to the western coast."
Hadrian's Wall?
Vig urged his grey horse to a nearby location, and a brief memory flashed through his mind.
In 122 AD, the Emperor Hadrian visited Britain. To counter the Picts (called Caledonians in Rome) in the northern mountains, he had adopted what could only be called a once-and-for-all approach: building fortifications stretching from the River Tyne in the east to the Solway Firth on the west coast, a total of over 100 kilometres long, some 4.5 metres high and 3 metres wide at the base.
Vig climbed the steps to the relatively undamaged wall. Suddenly, several birds flew out of cracks in the wall, and two light brown feathers fell from the air. When he reached the top, he stroked the battlements, covered in the marks of time, stared out at the vast and desolate desert, and subconsciously recited the second half of Ozymantes.
I, Ozymantes, king of kings.
My unparalleled achievements have driven you to despair.
His gaze extended in four deserted directions.
There was nothing but lonely yellow sand around the ruins.
...
"A good poem, a good poem."
Although they did not understand what language the new lord was speaking, this did not stop Mitchum and Harry from applauding wildly. The noise distracted Vig's attention, and the team continued forward.
Three hours later, they arrived at the second target of the attack. The attack procedure was the same. The ram successfully broke down the gate, but unfortunately, the owner of the estate led some men back into the brick and stone watchtower, ready to defend themselves to the death.
"Don't attack hard, retreat!"
After knocking down the small door of the stone keep, Vig stopped the soldiers from continuing the attack and instead ordered the men to pile up a lot of wood on the ground floor, using the thick smoke to force the defenders to surrender and end the battle before nightfall.
Since the area was not as large as the previous manor, this auction only brought in ten pounds of silver, and little grain or livestock was captured. Only the wine cellar contained many barrels of beer, which brought joy to the entire crew.
The next day, looking at the drunks on the ground, Vig reluctantly declared an extra day of rest.
However, it was thanks to this precious day that the remaining four manors were able to react. They talked in private and finally came to a decision.
...
Two days later, Vig spotted four dressed figures standing in front of the road, and guessed that the four families were planning to band together and fight him.
"That's great, get rid of them now so you don't have to run around on the road."
There are no more than fifty young and strong men in the estate, and even if they give it their all, there are only over 200 of them. Vig doesn't take this small force seriously.
"Build a shield wall and prepare for battle."
He looked around on horseback, trying to find signs of an ambush, but found nothing after a long search.
Where exactly are they hiding?
Vig stared at the thick grass to the northeast, thinking that this place couldn't hide 200 people, and there were more than a dozen pheasants with bright feathers pecking at grass seeds nearby, so the chance of an ambush was almost zero.
After a long time, four figures slowly approached, and Yolen looked up at Vig: "My lord, I think they are surrendering."
Surrendering?
Vig couldn't believe it. He thought that they would gather all the young and strong to start a decisive battle, or run to Tyneburg to steal a house, but he didn't expect this result.
A few minutes later, the four squires knelt on one knee with a sad face: "My lord, we definitely don't intend to rebel, but we were unable to attend the banquet due to some temporary circumstances."
To keep the family business, the four were willing to pay two pounds of silver each, as well as a horse, two oxen, two pigs, and six sheep, begging the lord to forgive their neglect.
"Let me think about it."
Wig turned his head to look at the squires and village chieftains at the end of the team, asking their opinion.
Although some people coveted the estates of the four squires, the general view of the crowd was to accept the surrender and hope that this expedition would end.
"That makes sense," Wig rubbed his chin, thinking that there was no need to kill them all.
Take care of two families and leave four. Not only does it show enough strength, it shows your tolerance. After all, they would have to rely on the locals to pay their taxes in the future, and they couldn't make things too hard.
"That's all, I hope you'll learn your lesson."
Wig held out his left hand, and the squire in front quickly grabbed the back of his hand with both hands and kissed the gold ring on his ring finger hard, and the other three did the same.
Then the four waved their hands toward the hillside, and twelve farmers came over the hillside. They had driven their cattle to the meeting and paid the appropriate ransom.
"Miham, check the amount."
"Yes, sir."
After checking, Wig led the team back to Tyneburg and terminated the employment of the remaining ninety-five robbers. As compensation, he paid five silver coins to each raider, a total of 475 coins, about two pounds of silver. (1 pound of silver is equal to 240 silver coins)
After their cooperation ended, the raiders headed south to look for opportunities. Before leaving, Vig asked them to help spread the word when they returned to northern Europe, telling them that Tyneburg was recruiting Viking farmers and would give them 30 acres of land for free, tax-free, for two years.
"I know that one day, when I can no longer fight, I may come to live in Tyneburg."
...
After seeing the raiders off, Vig calculated his income this time, receiving 31 pounds of silver, as well as a suit of chain mail and some livestock.
"Horses, pigs and sheep are raised in the barn, and people are hired to look after them. In their free time, they are turned out to graze on the fallow land. As for the oxen, one ox can handle 15 acres of land, and each farm needs two oxen."
He thought for a few minutes and decided to sell the oxen to Viking farmers and pay the bills within three years. At the same time, a decree was issued strictly forbidding anyone to slaughter oxen privately, and violators would be severely punished.
In addition, even if subjects were allowed to slaughter oxen, they had to hand over the hides. Since the price of iron armor was too high, Vig planned to hire a tanner to make leather armor and then inlay dozens of iron plates on the chest and belly so that they could be used with some ease.
"Alas, I originally thought of raising a few more shield bearers, but it was some time before I could figure out a way."
In Vig's personal experience, the combat effectiveness of standing troops such as shield bearers and palace guards was far superior to that of the militia, but the cost was too high.
In addition to paying wages and providing decent equipment, food could not be neglected. In order to feed his only twenty shield bearers, he asked the villagers to provide twenty river fish and the same number of eggs every day, and he had to treat the shield bearers to drinks from time to time to ensure their loyalty.
In a trance, Vig recalled a typical negative example.
According to tradition, when the Tang army went to war, each soldier received the following rewards: two liters of wine, two catties of beef instead of mutton, five he of white rice, two thin cakes, one steamed bun, one steamed cake, and five taels of mixed vegetables. Later, Emperor Tang Dezong broke this tradition and ordered Jingzhao Yin Wang Xu to be rewarded with coarse food, which led to the Jingyuan Rebellion. Emperor Tang Dezong thus became the third emperor to flee Chang'an.
"We can't skimp on this aspect, so we can only think of other ways to make money."