Town Market

A medieval fair differed from a village market.

In the Middle Ages, holding a fair first required permission from the local lord and a commitment to pay heavy taxes. To resolve trade disputes, there would also be a trade court consisting of one commoner and one noble.

Fairs did not have a fixed location; they were typically held at an agreed-upon spot in a small town, with temporary stalls set up for merchants to bring their goods.

Indeed, medieval fairs also served as wholesale markets. The rise of fairs coincided with the increasing prevalence of bulk goods.

Due to the state of roads and transportation, before the late Middle Ages, merchants primarily made profits by selling luxury goods. The chaos and moral decay caused by wars often led to merchants dealing in bulk goods being robbed and killed.

In such a historical context, it was evident that selling luxury goods did not require holding fairs.

After all, most people could not even afford basic necessities.

Damian didn't know which year it was, but judging by people's attire and lifestyle, it was likely around the mid-Middle Ages. Considering that, despite frequent wars, this place could still maintain institutions like monasteries, the emergence of markets was almost inevitable.

On this day, Wagner, a knight who had always disliked Damian, dressed neatly and brought his family to the Free City to mock Damian's presumptuousness.

About three kilometers away, he saw a new sign that read, "Distance to Gothingen Free City: Three Feet." Below the sign were icons representing bandits, goblins, and wild boars, all marked with red "X", indicating that the area was free of bandits, goblins, and large wild animals and thus safe.

Since most villagers were illiterate, Damian had simplified the distance to three feet, implying roughly three miles or three fifteen-minute walks.

"Just a little trick!" Wagner coughed to hide his surprise.

In fact, the sign not only served as a milestone but also cleverly advertised Damian's Free City with an innovative approach that took the knights by surprise.

What was more insulting was that no one else had thought of this good idea. Almost everyone relied on relatives and word-of-mouth to promote their villages.

Many knights were so harsh with their people that they were despised by refugees, leading to a lack of new residents in their territories.

Wagner's family was curious about the sign, and his young daughter even touched the wild boar icon.

As they neared their destination, Wagner was astonished to find that Damian was paving roads with stones from the river.

In this era, almost no one built roads!

People tried to reduce the convenience of roads to prevent farmers from fleeing and to make it harder for enemies to attack. In such an era of turning against one's neighbor, building roads was tantamount to suicide; having no roads meant peace of mind.

Wagner admitted that whether Damian was cunning or timid, his boldness was genuine.

"Hmph, he'll regret it when the bandits come," Wagner thought.

Continuing along the road, they reached the so-called Gothingen Free City.

Wagner had intended to belittle Damian, but seeing the well-planned Free City, with its neat, square camp on a riverside highland, stone foundations, watchtowers, and spacious houses lined with orderly market stalls, he felt a pang of envy. Compared to his own dilapidated castle on a hilltop, the contrast was stark.

In the Middle Ages, for safety, knights built castles as high and as hidden as possible, often sacrificing comfort and light. The result was a multitude of mysterious castles with living conditions akin to prisons.

Besides Wagner, many early-arriving knights also pointed and commented on Damian's Free City.

Although they were a bit envious, more of them were mocking Damian for his recklessness.

These days, who normal would live on flat ground!

Living on flat ground, can that be called normal?

But the more they mocked like this, the more people gathered around to join the market.

There were slightly affluent small landowners coming to buy salt and fine flour; there were rural small vendors coming to exchange second-hand items; and there were many destitute tenant farmers coming here to seize the opportunity to buy new clothes.

There were also respectable knights and monks pointing at things at the crossroads, but they couldn't help but watch the drama and buy some spices.

The diverse social groups fully demonstrated the vitality of medieval social life.

As for those salt, spices, etc., they were naturally works of Damian's friends.

Early in the morning, with morning dew in the air, Joan set up her stall with cloth woven by farmers from her estate and farm women.

Although Joan said anything would do on the surface. But in fact Damian had already guessed that Joan was spending money to buy goods for his self-esteem.

"Thank you," Damian said gratefully.

Sometimes too many words are powerless; specific actions are more sincere. Therefore he didn't say anything else.

In response to his solemn thanks, Joan just turned her head slightly and muttered "You're welcome."

Before long, sister-in-law Amelia arrived too.

After suppressing her grief over her brother's death, Amelia quickly emerged from the shadows like a medieval person. She brought fine flour and fresh fish with farmers she led here.

Damian heard villagers report that Amelia had even eaten only one meal a day for several days just to save some bread crumbs so she could hire villagers to sell them.

Amelia truly regarded Damian as a pillar of her family.

Damian was touched so he secretly took a bag of gold coins and stuffed it into Amelia's waist bag when no one was looking.

Before he could finish speaking another wave of people came from southward.

No one expected it was actually Madam Marian whose estate had been plundered by Damian!

Upon seeing Damian Marian bowed slightly and thanked him: "Thank you for helping me reclaim my estate."

Damian was surprised because his intention was only to cut back territory left by Scoke as much as possible. But since it benefitted Marian he accepted her help without guilt.

What Marian brought was rock salt mined from an alpine salt mine stored in her estate. There were two big bags full of it left over from Scoke's embezzlement at that time.

Seeing salt made Damian slap his head realizing he forgot about digging into Scoke's treasure trove.

Marian seemed aware, covering smile with fan gently saying: "Don't worry, let them finish dividing the territory first."

Damian nodded slightly knowing it wasn't convenient draw attention now..

With these three families' goods help, Damian immediately gained confidence in his small market.

Although Countess in castle remained aloof she also spent money sending precious oriental spices as support.

Moreover, Damian underestimated the villagers' spiritual and cultural deprivation.

They flocked from all directions, mostly to watch the free theater performances.

But when the villagers discovered the variety of goods available, they couldn't resist spending their money and food to purchase them. And then, it attracted more people to rent stalls, expanding the business significantly.

As a result, the number of visitors to the riverside market surpassed a thousand people in a single day.

It had truly become a marketplace.

[System notification: Gottingen Free City has been established.]

[Current city level: Level 1, Small Town Market.]

[Current city structures: Lord's Longhouse Level 1, Market Level 1, Wooden Wall Level 1.]