Ch 40: Income

Herigifu left, and Vig fell back into boredom, picking up stones and skipping them across the river surface.

Half a minute passed, and Micham arrived behind him carrying a stack of bills. He noticed the lord’s mood was somewhat strange. “Master, you’ve taken a liking to her?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

Micham continued, “As a noble, marriage is a very serious matter. If handled properly, it will bring great benefits to your rule. The best choice is to marry a royal princess, but unfortunately, Your Majesty has no daughters or sisters, so that option is eliminated. Secondly, there are relatives of other powerful nobles; I am not yet clear about the situation of each family, so I will not discuss it for now. Finally, as an outsider, marrying the daughter of a local gentleman can reduce the resistance of your subjects. Herigifu is a good choice; it is said that her great-grandmother came from the royal family, barely matching your status.”

“This is a little too sudden, let me think about it.” Vig gestured for those around him to leave, staring blankly at a flock of wild ducks on the opposite bank of the river.

Micham was right; as a nobleman, it was time for him to consider a marriage.

He fell into deep thought.

Speaking of marriage, King Eric had a young unmarried daughter named Eve. During his two years in Eastern Europe, Niels often mentioned this name, seemingly obsessed.

“Eve is Eric’s daughter. Her aunt, Sola, married Ragnar. She’s of high status and beautiful, the only drawback being her open, even licentious, personality. Oh well, let someone else worry about that.”

Immediately after, several more names flashed through his mind, all sisters or daughters of various noble families. Unfortunately, their educational levels were generally low, and Vig repeatedly weighed his options, ultimately abandoning them all.

As for Herigifu, there are three advantages to marrying her.

First, she is Anglo-Saxon, which can greatly reduce the hostility of the locals towards him. Secondly, her family has few members, so she can only rely on him, which is enough to guarantee her loyalty. Third, she can read and write Latin. In the medieval period, where illiteracy was widespread, she is a valuable talent who can also handle domestic affairs after marriage.

After agonizing for over two hours, Vig went to a small room next to the Lord’s Hall and found Micham processing accounts.

“Choose a day to propose to her family, and be as amiable as possible; don’t make me seem like a bully. It doesn’t matter if we can’t reach an agreement; this Master has plenty of choices.”

Vig was not exaggerating. With his legendary adventures in Eastern Europe and his merits from the battle of Northumbria, he was now a legendary figure in Northern European society. During his stay in York earlier in the year, almost every few days a shield-maiden would come to him, but unfortunately, their family backgrounds and abilities were too mediocre to be suitable marriage partners.

“As you command, Sir.”

The next day, Micham, with gifts and two shield-bearers, went to Herigifu’s home. Her mother, Ilis, was overjoyed and immediately agreed to the marriage. With the Lord as a backer, her young son could grow up in a safe environment, and the worry that had plagued her for more than half a year was finally resolved.

The Lord’s wedding, the gentlemen and village heads within the territory vied to arrive to offer congratulations. When the wedding ended, when Vig counted the gifts from each family, he found that, after deducting expenses, he had still netted wealth worth three pounds of silver.

“Good, they know what’s good for them.”

He made a note in the ledger and looked at the tax situation for the year.

Tyne held nineteen large manors and twenty-three sparsely distributed villages.

The total population of the manors reached two thousand five hundred. The residents of the villages were mainly peasant farmers and poor peasants, as well as a small number of small landowners, totaling five thousand villagers. Combined, there were seven thousand five hundred Anglo-Saxons.

Including the two hundred plus Anglo-Saxon farmers and over five hundred Viking peasants（ gradually migrating from Northern Europe）, Vig’s rule included approximately eight thousand three hundred people.

“Lots of land, few people. It’s far inferior to Leonard’s Mancunium.”

Mancunium had two thousand citizens. Including the various villages in the territory, the total population exceeded twenty thousand, second only to the York region directly ruled by Ragnar. Moreover, the wealth created by one citizen is several times that of a farmer. Vig estimated Leonard’s income to be between 250 and 300 pounds of silver.

“Ultimately, the Southern Region is still more prosperous.” Vig sighed and began to tally the figures.

First, the wheat, which had the highest yield. According to a tax rate of 15%, the total income was twenty-eight thousand bushels（approximately seven hundred and eighty tons）. Converted into currency, one bushel of wheat was equal to two silver pence, totaling sixty pounds of silver.

In addition to grain, each manor additionally offered two sheep, five pairs of chickens and ducks, and a small amount of ale and honey. Vig yawned and casually turned to the next page.

Finally, his three workshops. Their total monthly profit was approximately 1.6 pounds of silver. After deducting a quarter for maintenance, the estimated annual profit was fifteen pounds.

Regarding expenditures, the annual wages of a shield-bearer were 70 silver pence, equivalent to about 0.3 pounds of silver. Adding daily food and equipment wear and tear, each of these gentlemen consumed 0.6 pounds of silver per year.

“Twenty shield-bearers, twelve pounds of silver. If expanded to fifty men, the expenditure will reach a terrifying thirty pounds!”

In addition, Tyne also had tax collectors, blacksmiths, tailors, cooks, grooms, shepherds, rat catchers, servants, etc. After marrying Herigifu, he also had to hire six servant girls. Food and wages consumed a total of eight pounds of silver.

After finishing the calculation, Vig was stunned for a moment, realizing that he had forgotten the tribute to Ragnar.

“No good, how did I forget this trouble?”

He fell into a long period of agonizing. Obviously, giving too much tribute would be a loss, while giving too little would lower the king’s favorability.

“Dear, what are you talking about?” Noticing that her husband hadn’t gone to bed yet, Herigifu came over and looked for a few minutes, mentioning the situation in West Francia.

“The Carolingian royal family has appointed many Earls. Father once saw a scroll in a monastery somewhere that mentioned the Earl’s expenses. They need to spend 5%-20% of their total income to fulfill their obligations to the king（including military service, reception of royal travel, and special levies. I think that since there was no war this year, you should at least pay fifteen percent of your income.”

Following his wife’s suggestion, Vig drew up a list, including twenty pieces of woolen cloth, more than ten wagons loaded with grain, and several livestock.

“The total value is ten pounds of silver, which should be enough.”

Dragging his weary body to bed to rest, Vig remained awake for a long time. After the accounting, he realized that the media greatly beautified the lives of medieval nobles. Maintaining daily expenses was difficult, let alone hosting banquets, balls, or tournaments.

Unless he borrowed money from the church or merchant groups.

Speaking of loans, Vig recalled the negative example of the former Lord of Tyne. It was said that his father was extravagant and therefore owed a huge debt to the church, to the point that it took him decades to repay it, leaving him powerless to build stone city walls.

“It seems I need to think of some new ways to make money.”