Chapter 158 Bird Manor

This grape plantation belonging to Lothar is really big.

It is not so much a plantation as it is a village whose main business is grape cultivation.

Blacksmith shops, stables, huge wind-powered and animal-powered mills, and houses made of wood and mud are arranged in an orderly manner around the manor.

The total number of farmers in the village is about 20 households and about 100 people.

In the deepest part of the village, a two-meter-high white wall surrounds a three-story manor-style building that is not very gorgeous.

The door is open there.

The manor housekeeper, who had received the news early, stood at the door with more than ten "servants", ready to welcome him.

A tall olive tree, nearly ten meters high, swayed gently in the breeze. Its long, narrow, dense leaves provided a shade.

There was a slight rustling sound in her ears, and Jeanne whistled: "What a great place for vacation."

Lothar frowned.

He still didn't understand what kind of experiences Jeanne went through after she was reborn as the "Glory Knight" to become the carefree person she is now.

The butler took off his hat and saluted respectfully: "Your Highness, your presence makes the Bird Manor sparkle."

The manor is called "The Flying Bird" because the first grapevine here grew from the excrement of migratory birds that came here to overwinter.

Lothar nodded slightly: "Butler, tell me your name."

The housekeeper said quickly: "Fabio Hoss, just call me old Fabio."

The steward of such a manor is actually equivalent to the role of a guard officer like Leonard.

In peacetime, they had the power to collect taxes, manage land, lease farm tools and livestock to farmers, and convene manor courts.

In the face of invasion by foreign enemies, they also had the right to recruit serfs to defend the lord's property free of charge.

But it is worth mentioning that Lothar has very few serfs under his command.

The vast majority of people, as long as they were willing to convert, were liberated by Lothar to work as farm laborers and pay taxes in proportion.

There is no longer a need to devote half of the time every week to cultivating the lord's land for free as before.

Losa believes that the employment system can better stimulate people's subjective initiative.

As for serfs, when they work for free for their lords, they will inevitably become lazy and lazy - this is human nature and cannot be changed with a whip.

"Then old Fabio, please lead my knights to rest. My women and I will dine in the manor and taste the fine wine."

"I promise, my lord, that you will receive the best possible hospitality."

The butler's attitude was very humble, even a little frightened.

Lothar is the lord of Hebron, and Fabio's power in the manor all comes from him. In a sense, Fabio should be regarded as Lothar's "retainer".

Lothar's first impression of Fabio was good. He was dressed simply, with a tall figure, and his skin was somewhat darkened due to frequent exposure to the sun. His movements had a strong military style.

"Fabio, have you ever been in the army?"

Fabio said quickly: "Indeed, I once served in the army under Count Leonard. I reached the highest position of a follower and commanded a group of infantry."

"good."

Lothar praised succinctly.

Fabio was a little uneasy. The discord between the new count and the old count was well known.

"plz follow me."

Fabio and a group of servants welcomed everyone in.

There are no professional maids or servants in Asuka Manor. They are all part-time. Most of the time, they still have to do farm work in the fields.

Fabio witnessed a slave clumsily trying to hold Jeanne's "grapes", only to be frightened by a snoring sound that made him back away.

He quickly said: "Sorry, beautiful lady, these are country people who have never seen the world. They have no intention of offending."

Jeanne gave a good-natured laugh: "It doesn't matter, 'Grape' is a narrow-minded person, and everyone knows that he likes to tease people. No one will blame him."

The young men who had never seen the world were dumbfounded.

Fabio was angry and scared: "You bastards who deserve to have your eyeballs gouged out, you dare to look directly at the female members of the lord's family, get out of here!"

The hussars let out good-natured laughter: "They must have never seen Ms. Jeanne fighting, otherwise they would be shocked."

"It's okay, old Fabio, everyone likes Ms. Jeanne, it's normal."

"Your Excellency is a tolerant man, and he will forgive you, but if you continue to look at it, we will not be happy with it."

The hussars joined in the fun with all kinds of chatter.

They all like Jeanne as their commander.

Lothar also had a smile on his face: "Fabio, don't blame them, let them go down."

Fabio showed a grateful expression: "Sir, do you want to go to the wine cellar to have a look? There is a batch of fine wines that have been stored for a whole year."

"No, I want to rest in the hall for a while. You can go get a bucket."

Lothar walked straight into the manor.

With Fringilla's help, he took off the cloak and a full set of armor on his back, wearing only a thin shirt: "Hey, everyone, sit down, it's quite cool here."

It's probably because Leonard has never lived here before. The furnishings in the manor are very simple, but it can be seen that people clean it frequently, making it rare and tidy.

In any case, it is much more comfortable than the dark and damp castle.

The butler also came in carrying the oak barrel at this time.

Inside the half-meter-high oak barrel, there was the sound of wine and water clashing. It looked heavy, but he didn't show any sign of exertion.

"Fabio, where are you from?"

"My lord, I am from Messina."

Fabio placed the wooden cups on the table.

Lothar asked: "Remnants of the empire?"

(Empire can be replaced by Rome)

Judging from his appearance, Fabio is definitely not a Moor from North Africa, nor does he look like a Norman who occupied Sicily. He has black hair and black eyes, and is a typical Latin.

There is a sentence in "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" to describe the people of the empire: "The people are all grown up and upright, similar to China, so they are called Da Qin."

It's just that the Daqin people here are most likely talking about the Greeks.

Fabio smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, you are joking. Where are the Imperial people? There are only Greeks."

He picked up a hammer and a wooden wedge, tapped the oak barrel gently, and drilled out the wine hole.

The bright red wine immediately carried the aroma of grapes and flowed along the wooden wedge into the wooden wine glass placed below. When it was almost full, the butler inserted a wood chip into the wine outlet hole.

"Sir, please taste it."

There was a trace of expectation on the butler's face, and he was obviously very confident in the wine produced by Feiniao Manor.

Prajna was about to pick up the wine glass, but Jeanne had already grabbed it first and drank it all in one gulp: "Well - it tastes great, but the alcohol content is too low."

Lothar signaled to the housekeeper that he could leave.

He said: "I said you are allowed to make distilled liquor."

Jeanne sat on a chair with a backrest, raised her legs slightly, and tapped the table leg with her toes.

Hearing this, she said concisely and concisely: "Lazy."

Prajna frowned: "What if the wine is poisonous?"

Jeanne smiled and said: "In short, I can't bear to let Miss Prajna test the poison for me. Such a beautiful lady should be loved and loved."

Lothar's face suddenly darkened.

Smelly girl, how dare you yin and yang me?

Jeanne waved her hand: "It's not poisonous, feel free to drink it."

Lothar opened the wood chips and poured wine for everyone one by one.

Fringilla took the wine glass and sipped the wine gracefully.

Danba smacked his lips and said with some disgust: "Sure enough, no matter how similar the color is, it still doesn't taste as good as blood."