In early October, everything was arranged, and Vig led the caravan south. In addition to paying tribute, he planned to buy a consignment of armor to equip thirty new shield-bearing recruits.
Arriving in York, the city was not much different from when he left. There were few pedestrians on the streets, and some of the ruins had not yet been cleared away, having become nests for birds.
"Half a year has passed, what is Ragnar doing?"
Less than a third of the shops along the route were open, and the most popular was undoubtedly the inn. The strong smell of alcohol and noise hung in the nearby streets, making them smoky.
"Wine? Maybe open a brewery to consume the surplus grain so it doesn't mold in the barn."
Near the palace, Vig suddenly had a good idea to make money. He memorized it, tidied up his appearance, and informed the guards of his mission.
The captain in charge of the guard was Nils. After a few pleasantries, he motioned for his men to clear the way: "Hurry and enter. Most of the lords are here."
As he entered the main hall, he heard someone reading out the amount of tribute:
"Lord Tiss, four horses, sixteen oxen, twenty sheep, five hundred bushels of wheat..."
After a quick assessment, Pascal's tribute was about the same as his. They were both from the North, and neither was much better.
Now it was Ulf's turn. The fellow had a worried expression on his face, and the list was crumpled in his hand. After the thin official took it, he smoothed it out and read it out loud:
"Lord Liverpool, ten oxen, ten sheep, five hundred bushels of grain, twenty barrels," the voice trailed off for a moment and the official looked at Ulf with a complicated expression, as if struggling to hold back a smile.
"Twenty barrels of dried eels." After he finished reading, he turned his head and looked at Ragnar and Queen Sora on the throne.
Ragnar, wearing a golden crown, had a blank expression and wanted to say something, but Halfdan, who was standing next to him, could not help but laugh, causing most of the people to burst out laughing and filling the hall with a happy atmosphere.
From start to finish, only Vig, Sora and Pascal had tense faces and showed no loss of composure.
After laughing for a while, Ubber, who was being held on the queen's lap, clapped his hands and shouted, "Eel Earl, Eel Earl."
"Shut up!" Ragnar looked at his third son Halfdan and his fourth son Ubber and asked Ubber in a soothing tone, "What happened?" Ubber
was embarrassed and annoyed and answered with a red face, "I originally planned to give you tribute in sheep. Unfortunately, I was unlucky. The flock was attacked by bandits in Wales and about three hundred heads were lost!"
Ragnar rose from his seat and poured a glass of wine for his interlocutor, "Liverpool has poor soil and a sparse population. I understand your difficulties. Remember to get rid of this band of bandits next year and bring me their heads."
"Thank you for your understanding." Ubber sighed with relief and silently returned to his original position.
When it was Vig's turn, he handed the list to the strange English-speaking official, who smiled politely: "My name is Goodwin, sir."
After Goodwin had finished reading the list, Ragnar roughly calculated that a piece of ordinary woollen cloth was worth five shillings, and twenty pieces of woollen cloth totaled five pounds. With cattle and grain, the total cost was about ten pounds of silver.
"Yes, Tyneburg has a population greater than only Derwent and Liverpool, ranking third from the bottom. You can add these things together, which is reasonable."
Upon hearing the praise, Vig bowed and saluted: "I have always been your most loyal servant."
At last it was all over.
Vig came to the end of the line on the right and whispered to Ulf at the front, "Who hasn't come yet?"
"Leonard and Ivar."
As soon as the voice died down, Leonard strode quickly into the hall, followed by ten followers, each holding a huge white swan in their arms.
Leonard offered a tribute of 40 pounds of silver and ten decorative white swans to occupy Manchuni, a fine place second only to York, and claimed it as a gift for the queen.
"Thank you for your generosity." Sora's tense face smiled for the first time, and she grew very fond of these pure white creatures.
"But this creature can fly. Should we tie it up with a rope or lock it in a cage?"
Leonard smiled and shook his head. "Your Majesty, even if we cut off some of their feathers during the molt every year, they will still not be able to fly. I have brought a swan breeder especially, and in the future he will be responsible for such trifles."
Having been the center of attention, Leonard swaggered to the front of the right line, as if demonstrating his status as the strongest vassal.
For over half an hour, Ragnar, Pascal and Goodwin discussed matters related to wine and wool business.
Wine was imported from Frank, and wool was a traditional export product of Northumbria. Due to the low production capacity of the textile industry in Britain, many types of wool could not be woven into woollen cloth and could only be sold across the sea to Flanders (now Belgium and the Netherlands). Once the wool was obtained, Flemish merchants sold the woven cloth on the European continent, which led to the prosperity of villages and towns such as Ypres, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp, and eventually to the development of cities.
"Your Majesty, since the war the royal family's income has fallen considerably. I propose to impose import duties on wine and to raise the export price of wool."
As Minister of Finance, Pascal was extremely concerned about this disorder. From time to time, a Scandinavian fleet arrived in York. Out of politeness, Ragnar always held a banquet to entertain these guests, who had never met before. At first, precious wine was also served at the banquet. After repeated dissuasions from the queen, Ragnar had no choice but to divide the tiers. Common Vikings served mead, while nobles such as lords and kings served wine.
Despite this, the treasury's gold and silver reserves were still dwindling. If they did not find a way to open up new sources of income, they would probably go bankrupt before next year.
After thinking for a moment, Ragnar did not want to show his embarrassment at the lack of money in front of his many vassals, so he waved his hand casually, "Fine, do it your way."
After discussing the taxes, Ragnar summoned two nobles who had a land dispute to arbitrate the conflict between them. He then summoned an iron merchant and asked him to increase his supplies. Around noon, just as he was about to invite everyone to eat, Ivar, dressed in a black cloak, arrived late.
"Hey, are all the adults here?"
Ivar looked around and found that the face in front of the left side of the throne was unfamiliar. "Who is this thin man?"
"His name is Goodwin, my new official who assists Pascal in state affairs." Ragnar motioned for Ivar to hand over the list of tribute to Goodwin, but Ivar spread his hands and made a helpless expression.
"I had a little problem in Ireland and was unable to hand over the grain and cattle."
With that, he whistled outside the palace and called out to four fair-faced, slender women. "This is this year's tribute, please forgive me. When I return to duty next year, I will be sure to repay you with interest."