Golden Horse Hut (2)

"Hiaaaa!" The coachman started the horses, and the carriage started moving forward.

"So, can you tell me now about the Government Officials?" Nolan asked straight away.

"Sigh!" Harley let out a deep sigh. "To better explain this, I will first tell you the hierarchy of classes of people in our empire. No, this hierarchy probably applies to the whole world."

Nolan nodded with a serious expression on his face. Of course he would be serious. By learning about the Government Officials and the hierarchy of the society of this Empire, Nolan would better understand this world. "I am listening." He said,

"At the top of the hierarchy is the emperor," Harley started. " Below him are the government Officials, and below the Government Officials are the Nobles. Those are the high class, and they have immense wealth.

Then below the Nobles, in the mid-class, are the Merchants. The Merchants are the only ones in the mid-class.

Below them is a low class, the peasants. They are the most in numbers, and they work the most. They especially work hard in the fields, providing food for the whole Empire, but no matter how much they work, at the end of the day, the fields they work on are not theirs.

They just rented them from the landowners, the nobles. So they have to pay extremely high rent to the landowners. They pay seventy percent of what they produce to the landowners as rent.

But that is not the end of the struggles of the peasants. Our Bergon Empire has insane taxes. The peasants need to pay extremely high taxes, taxes of up to nine taels of silver a month.

And at the end of the day, when they had paid the landowners and the taxes, they are left with barely enough money and food to survive.

And finally, the lowest class, the slaves. The slaves are the most pitiful. They are just peasants.

When peasants can't pay their taxes or what they produce is not enough to satisfy the landowners, they are captured and sold as slaves. "

"But why can't they pay the taxes, nine taels of silver is not that much, right?" Nolan asked.

"If you look at it from your perspective, it's not. But having given seventy percent of what they produced to the landowners, they are left with only thirty percent. And a bag of grain that weighs twenty- five kilos (55 pounds) is sold for three taels of silver. So they have to sell three bags of grain just to pay the monthly rent. But, what about the whole year?

For a whole year, they need to pay a hundred and eight taels of silver. That's thirty-six bags of grain." Harley explained.

"When you look at it like that, it's too much." Nolan clenched his fists.

'Neither the emperor nor the others of the high-class care about those poor peasants. They only care about their profit.' Nolan thought.

"Well, we can't do much to help them." Harley shrugged. "Let me tell you about the Government Officials."

Nolan nodded.

"Well, there are five..."

"We arrived,"

The coachman's voice sounded, interrupting Harley.

Not long after, the carriage stopped.

Nolan and Harley came out of the carriage.

"How long did we travel?" Harley asked the coachman.

"Hmm... About twenty minutes, I think." The coachman replied. "Anyway, that will be a tael of silver."

Harley took out a small bag from the belt of his hanfu. "Here," He took a tael of silver out of the bag and passed it to the coachman.

"Thank you," the coachman took the money.

He then turned the carriage around and headed back the way he came.

"Wow!" Nolan exclaimed in amazement.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

Before them was a large, very large yellow pasture. The pasture was enclosed with a meter and a half (4,9 feet) high wooden fence. And inside the pasture, dozens of horses ran around.

On the other side of the pasture, in the distance, Nolan could see dozens of large horse stables.

Nolan looked around himself. The place where they were couldn't even be called a street. Yes, there were several houses around them, but they were probably the houses where the people who worked on this horse farm lived.

Nolan couldn't believe that a place like this could exist in the middle of a busy city.

"Harley, what's this place?"

"This place is called the Golden Horse Hut. And don't think that it's a stupid name. The horses they have here are truly like gold. They are the best of the best." Harley replied. "Now, let's go."

Harley led the way toward the horse barns on the other side of the pasture.

They walked on a small path beside the wooden fence. The small path was going all around the pasture.

Since this path was not paved or anything of that sort, most likely, this path was naturally created by many visitors or customers going around the pasture. A Desire path.

A/N: Desire path - Desire paths are informal pathways created by pedestrians and bikers that carve out routes considered more desirable to travelers. Oftentimes, these paths are shortcuts or easier routes than the paved routes in place.

Nolan and Harley walked for about ten minutes before finally arriving at the horse stables.

Around the stables were a lot of people. Some were cleaning the stables, and some combed the horses.

A person with ordinary looks, probably a worker, approached Nolan and Harley. He wore brown farm leather boots and old, dirty brown overalls. "How can I help you?" He asked.

Looking at the man, Nolan raised his brows. 'Overalls? The textile industry in this world is highly developed.' Nolan thought.

"We are here to buy a horse," Harley said.

"I understand. Please follow me." The man turned back and led the way.

Nolan and Harley followed closely behind.

They passed one-horse stable, two, and at the third horse stable, the man led them inside.

Since the horse stable was built from wood, inside were a lot of wooden pillars.

To the left side and right side of the stable were separate boxes, each for one horse. And of course, the whole horse stable was full of hay.

"Boss, we have customers!" The man shouted.

Behind the man's back, Nolan and Harley looked at each other and shrugged.

A few moments later, a muscular young man came out from one of the boxes.

He carried a hay fork. The hay fork had a wooden handle and metal tines.

A/N: Since there is no proper definition for the tines of hay fork. This is the definition for the tines of a fork: The points or teeth of the forks are called tines, they are arranged like in a comb and they are used to collect or pierce food during a meal.

The young man walked to Nolan and Harley. He stood before them, leaning on the hay fork.

"You can go." He said to the man.

The man then left the horse stable.

'He is quite the opposite of what I expected.' Nolan thought.

He expected the owner of this large horse farm to be a lazy fat man in his late forties.

But the young man before him was at most in his middle twenties. He had short brown hair and wore brown farm boots with blue overalls. This showed that he was a hardworking young man.

The young man wiped his sweaty forehead. "I really worked myself off today." He muttered with a wide smile.

"Anyway, how can I help you?" He asked.

"We want to buy a horse," Harley replied. "How much are they?"

"Well, all our horses are of good quality. But our most ordinary horses are five taels of silver. The highest quality horses are ten taels of silver. Of course, we have ultimate quality horses, or you might have heard some people calling them the Best Military Horses. They are fifty taels of silver one."

'Expensive," Nolan thought. 'Well, before doing business, let me see what kind of a person you are, Inspect.' Nolan used his skill.

[Name: Ethan Hart]

[Age: 26 years]

[Personality: Friendly, Honest, Unforgiving]

[Hidden trait: Excellent businessman]

[Occupation: Noble]

[Martial arts: Advanced Axemanship]

[Strength: 26]

[Stamina: 14]

[Agility: 10]

[Description: This person repays favors tenfold, but he repays grudges hundredfold]

[Hidden trait Description: Due to his hidden trait, he easily convinces people and closes good deals]

Nolan smiled. 'Interesting. He has a hidden trait. And I never expected that the hidden traits give special effects. Now I am starting to wonder what effects my hidden trait, Good Person, had.'

"Please show us the horses of ordinary quality," Harley said.

"I understand. In that case, please follow me." Ethan said.

He led the way out of the stable, and they continued walking back toward the first stable.

They entered the first stable.

Inside, there were boxes for horses too. Just like in the previous stable, in this stable too, some boxes were empty.

Ethan then led them to a box with a horse.

Inside the box was a well-taken-care light-brown horse.

"This boy here," Ethan smiled and stretched his hand to the horse, patting his head.

"Alright, we will buy him!" Harley said happily without even thinking twice.

'Is this the effect of his hidden trait?' Nolan thought. 'Or does Harley trust this Golden Horse Hut farm that much?'

"No, we will take two," Nolan said.

"Two?" Harley turned to Nolan and asked, surprised.

"Well, two. We will take one more horse." Harley agreed without much thought.

"No problem." Ethan smiled and moved to the next box with a light-brown horse inside too.

"This buddy here is the best for you. He is the brother of the one I previously showed you. They are inseparable, and we always trained them together. Honestly, I was a little sad that I had to separate them. But everything turned out well. You will not regret taking this one too."

'He looks like a talkative type,' Nolan still examined him. 'Or is he saying all this just to convince us?'

"We will take them both." Harley agreed.

"Alright. They will be prepared in a while." Ethan said and left the stable for a moment.

"Why are you so easygoing?" Nolan asked.

"This Golden Horse Hut is well known, and they have a good reputation. They will not cheat us and destroy their reputation for just ten taels of silver." Harley replied.

Nolan didn't continue the conversation.

He had nothing left to say.

Ethan returned after a while.

"The two horses and two saddles will cost you twelve taels of silver," Ethan said, smiling.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nolan noticed a bale of hay before one horse box. "Oh, I almost forgot. Please give us ten bales of hay."

"What?" Ethan asked, surprised.

"Ten bales of hay," Nolan repeated.

"I heard you well the first time, but how will you carry them? The bales are massive."

"I have an idea." Nolan smiled. "If you could bring us to the place with the bales of hay and then leave the place for a while. I will then settle everything."

Ethan thought about it for a while.

"I can bring you to the place with the bales, but it's not like it will change anything." He said.

Nolan smiled widely. "Then please let us there."

Ethan shrugged.

He then turned back and led the way out of the stable. Outside the stable, they continued walking until they arrived at another stable.

However, this stable had a closed, giant, two-winged door

Creakk!

Ethan pushed the whole door open.

"Sorry, but I would have to leave the entrance open. Otherwise, there won't be any light inside for you to see what you are doing," Ethan said. "But don't worry, I will go to the side and will not peek at what you are doing inside."

"Thank you then," Nolan entered inside, followed by Harley.

This stable, no this building built just to look like a stable was full of bales of hay to the roof.

"Are you going to make them vanish?" Harley asked.

"Yes,"

Nolan got closer to a bale of hay.

The bale of hay was tied together with a thick rope and was really big.

Nolan touched a bale. "Store,"

Swosh!

The bale vanished.

He did the same thing with nine other bales.

"System, give me the box of silver taels," Nolan muttered.

Instantly, in his hands appeared the wooden box with silver taels inside that Harley and Nara gave him.

Nolan opened the box and took out fifteen taels of silver. And then again stored the box back in the inventory,

"Alright, let's leave," Nola said with a smile from ear to ear.

"No matter how many times I see it, I can't help but wonder, how do you do it?"

"Secret,"

Carrying the silver taels in his hands, Nolan and Harley left the stable.

Ethan waited for them a little further away from the entrance.

Nolan and Harley walked over to him.

"What, is it over already? But it has not been even ten minutes since you entered." Ethan said. "Where are the bales of hay?"

"Don't worry, I took care of that," Nolan said. "How much does everything cost?"

"With the bales of hay, it will cost you fourteen taels of silver."

"Alright," Nolan passed him the silver taels in his hands, leaving himself only a tael.

He placed the tael in the belt of his hanfu.

Ethan accepted the money, "Follow me. Your horses should be ready,"

He led the way back to the first stable. The stable where the horses previously were.

Inside the stable, the two light-brown horses were out of the boxes, with two people holding them by the reins of the bridle.

The horses also had saddles placed on their backs.

They were ready for riding.

A/N: Bridle - The headgear used to control a horse, consisting of buckled straps to which a bit and reins are attached.

Reins - A long, narrow strap attached at one end to a horse's bit, typically used in pairs to guide a horse in riding.

Nolan and Harley walked over to the horses.

Harley jumped on the horse.

Clearly, it was not his first time riding one.

"Amm... Harley." Nolan called out.

Harley turned to him. "Why don't you climb on his back?"

"I don't know how to rid a horse," Nolan said, a little embarrassed.

Slap!

Harley slapped his forehead.

"Ahhh!" He sighed hard. "Come and sit behind me,"

"Alright."

Nolan walked to Harley.

Harley helped him climb on the horse, and he sat behind Harley.

Harley took the reins of the other horse in his hand.

"Hold me tightly," Harley reminded him.

Cleak!

The reins sounded, and the horse started moving forward.

"Hahahahah!" Ethan laughed loudly. "Come back again,"

He waved to Nolan and Harley, who was getting further and further away.