Ch 139: Wool rchant
Seeking a loan from a rchant?
Utgard felt a surge of resentnt. As a traditional Viking warrior, he always looked down on those smooth-talking rchants. Now, ennobled as a knight, he felt his status was higher than that of a commoner, making him even more unwilling to deal with such people.
Afterward, Utgard found a knight he had forrly served, requesting help.
The other man sighed, indicating his helplessness. “Child, normally, you were once my retainer, so providing funding would be acceptable. However, I also have a large debt that I haven’t finished repaying. I suggest you borrow money from the Tyne Town rchants, agreeing to repay it in five years. I guess they won’t refuse.”
Under the pressure of reality, Master Utgard had no choice. He spent several days recruiting five young Viking n, promising them land, and then led his newly ford team to Tyne Town to borrow money.
It was now late September. The autumn harvest was over, and the flow of people in Tyne Town increased sharply, especially in the East City marketplace area. This area was filled with rural peasants and rchants from Northern Europe and Flanders. They hawked their goods in different languages, creating a scene of prosperity and chaos.
Utgard walked along the main street and found a two-story brick building at the intersection. The sign was written in three languages, with a scale depicted beside it; a wool bale was on the left pan, and a pile of silver coins was on the right.
“Wool rchant Guild?”
The knight, illiterate, entered this busy trading post with doubt.
On the ground floor hall, a long wooden counter was set up, with a layer of thick woolen cloth covering the surface to prevent coins from rolling. Three young apprentices were handling business behind the counter, and a middle-aged accountant was supervising.
At this mont, a long queue was lined up in front of the counter. So held a parchnt filled with writing, so carried a basket of wool, and so held a heavy bag that seed to be filled with silver coins.
Without queuing, Utgard walked straight to the counter. “I am a knight newly ennobled by the Duke. I heard you offer loans?”
The accountant carefully examined this brown-haired Viking. He was tall and strong, wearing a black wool cloak over an old iron scale armor, with a sword hanging from his waist.
“Openly walking in the street in armor and carrying a sword. Good, it is a privilege exclusive to masters.”
Thinking of this, the accountant imdiately changed his expression and invited the knight to the eting room on the right side of the hall to inquire about the latter’s details.
“May I ask your na, age, the date of your ennoblent, and the location of your fiefdom…?”
“Utgard, 24 years old. I killed Hugh, the forr lord of Glasgow, and was ennobled as a knight by the Duke half a month ago.”
After verification, confirming the knight’s identity was correct, the accountant inquired about the client’s needed services. Unsurprisingly, it was another loan to purchase a warhorse.
He took out a docunt and explained it word by word.
“Recently, King Ragnar levied additional taxes, causing the price of warhorses to rise, and the profits from wool and various export businesses to decline. Our loan agreent has been slightly adjusted. The contents of the agreent are as follows:
One, the knight will borrow seven pounds of silver, with a total interest of 1.5 pounds, to be repaid over five years.
Two, during the repaynt period, this rchant Guild enjoys the right of first purchase of the wool from the knight’s manor.
Three,”
1.5 pounds of interest! I’ve saved up for so many years, and it’s only enough to repay the interest?
Utgard abruptly stood up. The rchant Guild guards outside heard the noise and rushed in to check the situation, but were dismissed by the accountant.
Utgard was both surprised and angry. “No, no, you are simply too greedy.”
On the way here, he had heard passersby ntion the Pontilan rchant Guild, which also operates loaning business, so he intended to try another place.
The accountant guessed the other party’s intention and softly persuaded him:
“The interest rate of the Pontilan rchant Guild is the sa as here, and their wool sales channels are not as good as ours, so the price of purchasing wool may be slightly lower.
The remaining rchant Guild belongs to Ilis. She is the Duchess’s mother. The Duke worried that such business would damage his relationship with his subordinates, so he forbade Ilis from providing loans to barons and knights.”
Utgard did not believe the accountant’s words and went out to inquire about news. After wasting half an hour, he returned to the Tyne Wool rchant Guild.
After a short while, the accountant drafted a loan agreent. After confirming that there were no errors, he called in the marketplace notary and Harry, the guild’s shareholder on duty that day.
Given Utgard’s knightly status, the Earl’s Residence also sent a young clerk to explain the terms of the agreent to the knight.
After a long ti, feeling dizzy and overwheld, Utgard, unable to bear the tornt, pressed his fingerprint at the end of the agreent and awkwardly wrote his na.
“Finished?”
The fat rchant, Harry, placed a large bag of coins on the table. “Yes, this is seven pounds, a total of 1680 silver pence. You can count them one by one, or you can choose to weigh them.”
Utgard turned his head and sought help from the notary and the young clerk. Seeing this, the notary took out a scale and weighed the total weight of the silver coins. It was indeed seven pounds.
Thus, the transaction was concluded.
There were a total of three copies of the agreent: one for the Wool rchant Guild, one for Utgard, and one for the Earl’s Residence.
Carefully putting away the parchnt, Utgard shook hands with Harry. Suddenly, he noticed that this Anglo-Saxon rchant was wearing a pendant with a World Tree pattern, apparently converted to the Norse faith.
Not only him, but all the other rchant Guild employees were wearing the sa pendant. Utgard felt puzzled, picked up his money pouch and left the guild. A few minutes later, he realized:
The Roman Catholic Church forbids believers from lending money, so these profit-seeking fellows simply changed their faith!
Instantly, Utgard’s mind was greatly shocked. He looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed:
“Comrce is the dirtiest activity in the world. Once involved in it, the virtues of knights, such as loyalty, faith, and bravery, will inevitably be corrupted. As for those greedy and cowardly rchants, they are not the masters of wealth, but rather slaves of wealth.”
Pushing through the crowded streets, he arrived at the Southwest Area of Tyne, paying the Castle accountant for the purchase of Frankish warhorses, and applying for an audience with the Duke.
Vig was sowhat puzzled by his subordinate’s arrival. “The warhorses will not arrive until next spring. Why are you so impatient? Borrowing money several months in advance ans you need to repay it early, which is not cost-effective.”
Utgard scratched his head, saying that he hadn’t thought much about it. He ca to Tyne Town to collect supplies and, incidentally, handle the loan procedures. To settle it once and avoid having to make another trip next year.
Vig didn’t say much more and talked with the knight about other matters, finally reminding him, “There will be no war in the next few years. Rember to treat your subjects well and patiently manage your own industry.”
“As you command.”
Utgard bowed, leaving the main hall of Tyne Castle. Outside, he passed by five young n with youthful faces.
These young n were the first graduating students. Invited by Ivar, they went to Ireland to help manage accounts. After half a year of hard work, they ended their overseas assignnt and returned to Tyne Castle to report.
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