King of German Mercenaries

After being the "mascot" for a month, old Hoffman didn't have any friends of the same grade to show off. So, he agreed with Marin to leave.

It was as if Marin fled in a hurry, he took his men and horses, rode a cart, and headed to the Netherlands...

The speed of riding is obviously not comparable to walking, and Marin and others are equipped with one person and two horses. The horses pulling the cart are also three horses in one cart, which is extremely efficient. Therefore, three days later, Marin brought a large force and arrived at Den Helder, a small seaside port across the sea from Texel Island.

Den Helder is only 4 kilometers away from the fishing village of Thorenche, the southernmost port of Texel Island. However, Den Helder is not yet a port city, but a larger fishing village with a small fishing port.

If people are carried, the small fishing boats of these fishing villages can easily transport everyone to the other side. However, Marin brought 1,030 horses and several large carriages, which the small fishing boats could not accommodate. Consequently, Marin had to send men on horseback to the important nearby seaport of Amsterdam, employing several large ships.

In this way, after waiting for four or five days, the group of Marin took the big boat hired by Amsterdam and landed at the fishing village of Thorenche.

After landing, Marin sent people to convene the local villagers and found a businessman who could speak the local dialect (businessmen are not easy these days, they have to learn to speak a variety of dialects), and they helped loudly announce that they were the new Texel. The fact that the lord of the barony, and issued a sheepskin document and seal issued by the emperor.

In the face of Marin's 400 wolves and tigers, what else do the villagers think? So they swore allegiance to Marin and offered to pay the taxes.

Considering that the year 1495 is almost over, and next spring, the fishing season in the North Sea will only begin. So Marin demanded that the tax be levied next spring.

Then, Marin continued to lead people north to the administrative center of Texel Island - Denburg...

What disappointed Marin was that he did not see the mighty and majestic castle he imagined, but a desolate old castle...

Yes, the desolate castle...

This castle is very small, and it is completely incomparable with those pictures of European castles that Marin saw on Weibo in his previous life. Of course, those castles that are tourist attractions are either the king's residence or the duke and earl's residence. And Den Burg, strictly speaking, was just a palace of the Dutch earl. Therefore, this castle is the size of two or three villas. At best, it is a luxurious country house. It's just that there are more tall and solid walls than the villa.

Around the castle, a church and a number of dwellings are scattered sparsely. It seems that Den Burg is just a small town with a small population.

When Marin brought the army into the town, he caused a huge panic. People fled home, closed the doors, and watched Marin's troops through the cracks.

In medieval Europe, it was normal for armies to pass through small towns and grab a handful. Even killing a person and robbing a person is also common. Therefore, the townspeople are also very afraid that they will be robbed or even killed...

Marin ignored the townspeople, and went straight to the church to chat with several local priests. By the way, he inquired about the situation on the island.

The principal of Den Bosch Church is an auxiliary bishop who is responsible for missionary and religious ceremonies throughout the island. In fact, Texel Island is embarrassing, the area is not small, but the population is very small. If you send a regional bishop, it will be overkill. It is not appropriate to assign priests (priests) to preside over the religion of this region. Therefore, the Archbishop of Utrecht simply arranged an unfavorable auxiliary bishop (lower than the assistant bishop, the assistant bishop has the right to inherit the regional bishop, and the auxiliary bishop does not) to manage the hundreds of believers on the island. ...

Yes, there are only a few hundred people on the island…

According to Auxiliary Bishop Dalyan, Texel is currently sparsely populated. The reason for this,

Mainly because of the inconvenience of transportation.

These days, there are no planes and no ferry boats. Therefore, it is very inconvenient to travel between Texel Island and the mainland. If the islanders want to go to the mainland, they must take the fishing boats of fishermen.

However, fishing boats do not often go to the mainland. Generally, the fishermen are going to sell salted fish, or go shopping, before they dispatch their fishing boats. The farmers and herdsmen on the island can only take the boat.

Usually, due to the inconvenience of transportation, the prices on the island are much more expensive than those on land, except for the sea fish, rye and mutton produced on the island itself...

So while quite a few people have immigrated to the island, most have since moved away...

Right now, the entire island of Texel has only one town, Den Burg, with 200 townspeople. Outside the town, there are the three villages of De Waal, De Koch and De Coxdorp, as well as the two small fishing villages of Thorench and Odesilde. The total population is only 800 people.

The cultivated land on the island disappointed Marin even more, with only 1,000 Ugrams. In addition, many grasslands are used for sheep.

It is not to say that there is only 1,000 Ugrams of land that can be reclaimed as farmland on the island. However, there are few people on the island, and only such a large area of ​​fields can be cultivated. If there are too many acres, the labor force will not be enough. Even, because of insufficient labor, only half of the 1,000 Ugram arable land on the island is cultivated every year, and the other half is left fallow.

Also, the 200 Eugram fields on the island belong to the church property on the island. The remaining 800 Eugrams belong to three families - the Colin family, the Maher family and the Ronnie family.

However, these three families also have a lot of land on land. They don't really care about the land on Texel Island. Because the affairs on the island are too troublesome to manage because of the inconvenience of transportation.

"Bishop Dalyan, are these three families willing to sell their fields?" Marin thought about it and decided to buy the land that the three families didn't value. As a lord, if there is no field, it will become a joke.

"You are already a lord, of course you can do this. Moreover, you can buy from these three families at the reserve price. Because, nominally, you are the owner of this island!" Assistant Bishop Dalyan suggested kindly.

Auxiliary Bishop Dalyan is very welcome for the island of Texel to become an independent barony. Why? Because some barons regard this island as a territory, they will definitely manage it well, and even recruit refugees to open up wasteland together. At that time, there are more people on the island, and he, the auxiliary bishop, can be promoted to the real regional bishop. Moreover, the more people there are, the more "tithing" the church will have.

In the European Middle Ages, the church had the privilege of collecting tithes from the people. This privilege, until modern times, still has remnants. However, in Protestant countries, this tax was later received by the government.

On the advice of Auxiliary Bishop Dalyan, Marin decided to spend money to buy land titles in three farming villages and several ranches on the island. According to the estimate of Assistant Bishop Dalyan, the total value of the land of three agricultural villages and several pastures on the island is only 10,000 or several thousand gold coins. This is a piece of cake for the local tyrant Marin.

Then, Marin took 400 of his men to the desolate old castle-Denburg...

I saw that this ancient castle was covered with dust, and only the sheriff in the town often sent people to clean up the facade. As for the inside of the castle, it has always been locked. The thickness of the dust inside, the foot steps on it is a pit...

And the wooden furniture in the castle, a lot of it fell apart. Obviously, it's all corroded...

"Damn, Kohler, tomorrow you'll find someone to clean the castle. Remember, let everyone wear masks, it's so gray, it's really uncomfortable..."

Because the castle was so dirty, Marin had to order his men to set up camp near the castle and live in tents for a few days. As for Marin himself, at the invitation of Assistant Bishop Dalyan, he moved into the church room...

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