Chapter 2254 The Archibald Family

Flint snorted coldly, and slammed the oak wine glass on the table.

"Jason, since you've said that, let me make it clear. I hate the way old Archibald does business, and I won't support him entering the town council!"

Joan glanced at the old dwarf, then at the embarrassed Mr. Tyndale, vaguely aware that the Archibald family was not simple, and seemed to have brought a lot of impact to this conservative southern town.

"Uncle, please don't interrupt, let the mayor continue to talk about business!" Tom advised.

The old dwarf glared at his nephew angrily, but said nothing.

"Joan, let's go on to talk about the Archibald family. Their logging camp was still open until late November. The weather was not too cold at that time, but a small area of ​​ice floes had already appeared on the Dring River. "

Hearing this, Joan could not help but frown.

It is nearly fifty miles from the forest where the logging camp is located to the town, and there are rugged mountain roads along the way. The cost of transporting by manpower or horse-drawn carts is too high, so the logs can only be pushed into the Delin River and flow down to the town. Then fish up the driftwood.

On the other hand, the wood processing factories in the town also use large circular saws powered by waterwheels.

Logging and processing are inseparable from water power, and when the Delin River enters the dry season after winter, it will not be able to provide sufficient power, and secondly, it may freeze at any time. It's troublesome.

Because of this, the lumber mill in Delin town will not start work in winter as a rule. It was odd that the Archibalds' lumberyard did the opposite.

The mayor of Tyndale saw the confusion in Joan's eyes and explained it in due course.

"In previous years, the lumber mills in our town would stop working after the frost fell in winter. In fact, even if the river hadn't frozen, they couldn't find hired workers in this season. After all, logging up the mountain in the cold weather was very hard work, and no one would pay for it. Happy to do the hard work!"

"But the Archibald family doesn't care about this. Except for the old Archibald and his son, there are only four overseers who pay taxes in total. Those who really need to work hard are black slaves."

"Black slaves?" Joan couldn't help being surprised, "We also have slaves in Delin Town?"

"There was none before, but since the Archibald family moved to the town, they also brought a group of black slaves. It is said that they were bought from slave traders in Muspelheim in the south. Twenty strong laborers cost only 2,000 Gold Duga!" The tavern owner, Uncle Baker, interjected, showing a little envy in his words.

Mr. Mayor nodded, his face was particularly gloomy.

"Black slaves are different from hired workers. They don't even belong to their own lives. Old Archibald can fight and kill if he wants to. It's kind of him to feed them and clothe them warmly. Of course he won't pay the slaves an extra Copper wages."

"Forcing slaves to go to the mountains to log in the winter is a very legitimate act in Old Archibald's eyes. He can also take advantage of the suspension of other logging farms to make more money. As for the slaves suffering, he doesn't care."

"Old Archibald was criticized for mistreating slaves. Guess how he responded?"

"The old guy asked the other person back, 'Would you stop riding a horse because it sweats too much in the summer? Would you stop letting a dog sled because it was too cold in the winter?' If the answer was no, then he also had the right to drive His slaves work any time of the year."

"This is just sophistry!" The fiery old dwarf finally couldn't help it. "Fortunately, the gods are fair. After all, old Archibald paid the price for his greed! Just a week ago, the weather suddenly It's getting colder, and the blizzard hasn't stopped until today, and Archibald and his sons, as well as his employees and slaves, are all trapped in the mountains by the heavy snow! This is called 'retribution'!"

"The problem now is not only that the mountain is blocked by heavy snow. I heard that a gang of wolf men from Brass Pass is also wandering in that forest area. If we don't rescue the Archibald family quickly, even if they have enough reserves in the mountain If the food can last until the weather turns better, it may not be able to stop the attack of the jackals and bandits." Mr. Tyndall frowned.

Joan heard what the mayor meant, and was about to speak, but was preempted by Flint.

"Jason, I advise you not to meddle in your own business! The Archibald family is out of luck, and it won't do you any harm!"

"Flint, you are too narrow-minded! Because Archibald is also in the lumber business, if I don't try to rescue him, I'm afraid someone will accuse me of using public power to suppress competitors in the business field and corrupt me. reputation." The mayor spread his hands and sighed.

The old dwarf took a swig of his ale, wiped the foam from his beard, and held up two fingers.

"Jason, I can lead the militia into the mountains to rescue the Archibald family, but there are two prerequisites."

"First of all, we must wait until the blizzard subsides before setting off, otherwise there is no way to cross the mountains and ridges."

"In addition, we must first convene parliament and come up with a bill to completely solve the problem of slavery."

"Mr. Flint, I have no objection to the first item. As for the second item...it's too controversial. As far as I know, several town councilors support slavery in private. After one or two meetings, I'm afraid they won't be able to reach a consensus." The mayor's face was heavy.

The owner of the tavern, Mr. Baker, coughed dryly, and then the mayor said: "The councils of several nearby towns have already passed laws allowing slavery. There is no need for Delin Town to make an exception, let alone make an exception for Archibald. The family is too harsh."

"Other towns do that because most councilors in those towns lack conscience!" Flint scolded, "Allowing slaves, isn't that the same as the gray dwarves? Not only is it morally untenable, but also It will have a huge impact on all walks of life in the town."

"Mr. Flint, where did you start?" Turner asked disapprovingly.

"You guys are still too young to understand the truth!"

The old dwarf unceremoniously taught the group of people in the tavern whose average age was less than one-tenth of his own.

"Think about it. Slaves have no personal freedom at all. They don't get paid. The cost of using slaves to work is of course much lower than that of hired workers. This means that a factory or plantation can earn more than hired workers by squeezing slaves. More profit!"

"Doing business is all about profit! Since slaves cost less than hired labor, a factory or plantation can gain an advantage in the industry by keeping slaves, so other practitioners in this industry have to lay off workers and buy more slave!"

"If things go on like this, hired workers will be forced to sell themselves as slaves, and slaves work under whips and shackles, so they are unlikely to have the energy and motivation to improve labor efficiency, let alone take the initiative to make any inventions!"

I forgot to divide the volume when I posted the article today, which is a bit embarrassing.

This version of the writer's assistant does not seem to have the function of adjusting the position of the chapter, so it can only be done first.

These three chapters should be placed in the twelfth volume, please explain.