Riding and Slashing

Chapter 220 Compulsory Loans
Since Dawn Furnace was not captured, Lehman no longer recognized Ursula's covenant with the Sarleon Kingdom—this was an order Lehman received before leaving Seven Fortress. King Ulrik did not want to be used for nothing If Xiaolu City cannot be taken down, this covenant will not take effect.

In addition, the current war between the Sarleon Kingdom and the Ravencrow Kingdom has ceased, and the soldiers of the Sarleon Realm have no reason to stay in the Ravencrow Realm, so Lehman returned to the Sarleon Realm with his troops, leaving Ursula in Xiao Outside Furnace City.

As a result, Ursula tossed a lot and got almost nothing.

Fortunately, Sir Wren took care of her, and she returned to Darkfalcon Castle safely.But in a short time, she definitely couldn't do anything else, and she could only show her favor to Roland.

Sir Roland did not refuse Ursula to enter Darkfalcon Castle for repairs. This was Li Ang's intentional confession that all forces that could be united should be united. In the short term, the only enemies of Darkfalcon Castle can only be the Jatu people.

All the surrounding forces did not have the idea of ​​attacking Darkfalcon Castle, but instead showed a certain amount of goodwill, which is inevitable - Darkfalcon Castle is the front line of Ravencrow Realm's resistance to the Jatu people.

Therefore, whether it is Dawn Furnace City or Oldenburg, they are basically willing to sell some necessary supplies to Sir Roland, such as food and daily necessities.

Even the people of the Misty Mountains are showing favor to Darkfalcon Castle, but they are not out to deal with the Jatu people.

An Dongjia successfully contacted her clan, and used [-] dinars to repay the previous blood debt.

To be honest, this money is really nothing to the lord, the life of the Misty Mountain people is really not worth much...

However, for the Misty Mountain people, there are not many people who can pay off their blood debts these years, and An Dongjia is even regarded as the leader of a new tribe because of this.

This itself is also their tradition, and being able to repay the blood debt is equivalent to bringing back a large amount of supplies for Misty Mountain, and they are eligible to form a new tribe.

Then, according to the lord's orders, An Dongjia built a camp in a wilderness north of Dark Falcon Castle.

That camp is an outdoor trade market.

An Dongjia will lead the Misty Mountain people and Pande soldiers to maintain the security and order of this camp, and let the Misty Mountain people conduct material transactions here.

For example, food and daily necessities—in fact, they were all bought locally from Ravencrow Realm, and they were directly sold as middlemen.

Although the Misty Mountain people robbed everywhere, they would not rob An Dongjia, and in order to trade normally, they would protect this small camp instead.

Although the current transaction scale is small, this kind of place where peer-to-peer transactions and food can be traded is indeed too rare for the Misty Mountain people.

In addition, the merchants in this camp allow barter - this is in line with the needs of the Misty Mountain people. They really don't have dinars, but they have a lot of local products such as buckskin and bear skin.

The Misty Mountain people are just savages, they are not stupid, and they all know that this kind of camp must not be robbed, so most of the Misty Mountain people will also show their favor to Dark Falcon Castle.

Therefore, all parties now maintain good relations with Li Ang's Dark Falcon Castle, except for the Jatu people.

However, the Jatu people didn't come to harass them for a while, and they probably have some internal problems—it's actually obvious that Zhu Da's tribe has suffered extremely heavy losses, and Zakar will definitely seize this opportunity to unify the grassland.

Everything is going well, and An Dongjia has already started to recruit people from the Misty Mountain, but she doesn't understand a request from the lord.

Li Ang asked her to only recruit Misty Mountain people who could speak Pendor, and they couldn't be shamans.

It can't be that the shaman is fine. An Dongjia was tricked by the shaman of the Bear Claw tribe, and he doesn't like the shaman himself.

But you must be able to speak Pendor, which is a bit difficult.

Ordinary Misty Mountain people have no chance to learn foreign languages...

In the Misty Mountains, the only people who said that Pender spoke fluently were people from various tribes with relatively better backgrounds, such as the patriarch's family or the shaman's family.

These people are not easy to recruit.

So An Dongjia asked Sir Roland what to do - but Sir Roland didn't know either.

However, Roland also felt that this request was right. After all, if he could not speak human language, he would not be able to train these people, so he asked An Dongjia to think of a way by himself, anyway, he must resolutely implement this request.

So An Dongjia learned from Mai Xiangling and White Hart Castle, and held a training class in the trading market outside Dark Falcon Castle, specifically teaching the Misty Mountain people to speak.

Anyway, the lord's requirement is only to be able to speak, so it's okay to teach them.

It's just that the teaching progress was quite slow at the beginning - it's actually not easy to teach oral English without relying on words, and An Dongjia herself is also semi-literate, and she doesn't know many words...

In fact, An Dongjia just wanted to pull up a team as soon as possible. After all, in her conception, only those who have soldiers in their hands have status.

She wants a higher status.

But she went to be a teacher, which made Sir Roland's attitude towards An Dongjia change a lot. Originally, An Dongjia gave Roland the impression that she was a rogue robber who came down from the Misty Mountain. He has a lot of hooliganism, so he is often criticized by Roland.

Now this rogue is actually teaching the robbers in Misty Mountain about culture, which is of course a good sign.

Although Roland didn't understand what cultural conquest was, at least he knew that it would make it easier for the Misty Mountain people to discipline, and it could also pass on some good and orderly concepts during class.

But - the idea of ​​letting An Dongjia, the rogue leader, to pass on the concept may not be very suitable...

So Roland sent a team of non-commissioned officers who had learned some culture to An Dongjia's side as teachers.

It was a mistake that made many people in the Misty Mountains have a good impression of the griffin coat of arms on Darkfalcon Castle and the non-commissioned officers.

Most of the Misty Mountain people actually want to enter the mainstream society. After seeing Pan De's colorful world, and comparing it to the poor place of Mi Wu Mountain, many people actually want to make a living in Pan De.

But language is their biggest obstacle, and the people at the bottom of the Misty Mountain basically do not have the opportunity to receive education.

Now Darkfalcon Castle is willing to teach them to speak and read, which is tantamount to giving these people the greatest hope.

As a result, An Dongjia successfully assembled a group of people, and she and the non-commissioned officers learned a lot of culture because of this.

Being a teacher usually learns faster than being a student. After all, people have a sense of responsibility. They can't let their students learn wrong grammar.

So, during this period of time, An Dongjia, a semi-literate person, could actually write letters - she wrote a letter back, but it was not to the lord, but to An Sen.

I don't know what the letter was written in. Anyway, Anson was so secretive that no one would know, and he was giggling all day long. He wasted a dozen pieces of parchment in order to write a reply—probably wrote a dozen letters. I feel dissatisfied. Anyway, I was busy until midnight to write the last letter.

After that, Anson seemed to be receiving and replying to letters every day, and he probably became the largest customer of the White Hart Castle parchment merchant.

The lord saw everything in his eyes, but he didn't bother them.

With An Sen and Roland, two people with strong personalities in charge, An Dongjia will not mess around.

Similarly, with An Dongjia, a rogue, in Dark Falcon Castle, Roland would not be fooled because of his kindness.

……

At the end of October, White Hart Castle welcomed more and more Noldor spirits to settle in one after another.

This is the inevitable effect of the continuous large number of transactions.

Li Ang himself didn't make any money from the transaction with the Noldor elves, but he stimulated the Noldor's demand for a better life.

The Noldor made money in their continual trading, and lived more conveniently than ever.

This convenience produced rapid results in just one month.

Some of the Noldor who benefited first no longer had to think about where to find food every day, nor did they need to stay at home and weave cloth with patchwork linen and silk.

After being freed from the predicament of food and clothing, one will naturally begin to pursue a better life and find one's own value.

They can do what they love more and create wealth in less time.

Those who are good at smelting can produce equipment, and those who are good at craftsmanship can do some manual work. These can be done directly in the forest, and they don't need to go out of the forest.

But those Noldor who are good at combat, or those who are engaged in technical work, have begun to come to White Hart Castle to seek their own value.

Their long lifespan gave them greater self-confidence, and most of the Noldor believed that the arts they had honed during their long lives made them superior in all respects to Men.

This enables them to get higher pay and status, and to live the life they want.

It's like some remote villages are gradually connected by road networks and supportive trade policies, and some young people with professional skills gradually move from the countryside to the cities...

In fact, these Noldo are indeed much stronger than humans in terms of professional ability, but it is impossible to be the boss with only professional skills.

The closed life in the forest for a long time puts them at a complete disadvantage in terms of communication skills and thinking flexibility...

Moreover, the Noldors did not dare to go outside of Li Ang's territory for the time being, which made it impossible for them to engage in commercial activities alone.

And just at this time, a part of the farm between Bailubao and Maixiangling was converted into a factory area after the wheat field was harvested.

These factory areas are just beside the smooth road, not hidden at all, and they don't look like anything special.

Only when you enter the factory area will you know that the inside of these factories are all heavily guarded, and most of them are divided into inner and outer floors.

Those are some 'enchanting factories', which are actually various raw material processing factories related to gunpowder, but the final assembly of finished products is not carried out in these factories.

Only the production of magic silver coins was in one of the factories, which was run by Vendatil himself, and where most of the Noldor lived collectively.

If it is to produce conventional weapons and equipment, the proud Noldor elves simply look down on human blacksmiths, but if it is to produce 'magic items', every Noldor is interested...

So many Noldor elves became laborers in Li Ang's territory.

Oh, they should be called migrant elves, the kind that includes food and shelter.

The boss is naturally Li Ang, and there is only one big boss that Noldor can trust at present, and there is only one boss who can provide these professional and technical positions.

At the same time, the real Noldor mercenaries also appeared.

150 Noldor warriors were reorganized into three patrol teams, responsible for the security around White Hart Castle and Maixiangling.

There was another Noldo army of more than a hundred people who became Li Ang's mercenaries.

This is the team led by Neuer.

From the looks of it, Islandil also intends to let his subordinates earn some money...

After everything was back on track, Li Ang finally returned to his new territory, Changhe Town.

Perhaps the lord is lucky, although he himself has not been in Changhe Town for more than a month, but there is no trouble in this newly acquired territory.

Because Eric is there.

Eric has been in Changhe Town for this period of time. He is the person who is most familiar with Changhe Town. The lord naturally gave him an important task again.

The lord has been promoted to a noble, and of course a competent subordinate like Eric should also get promoted and make a fortune. Today, Eric is already the political officer of Changhe Town.

Eric never imagined that his life would change so dramatically within a year.

A year ago, he was just an ordinary mercenary, with his head tied to his belt, living a life without tomorrow, hanging out between taverns and battlefields.

But today, a year later, I have changed from an unknown person who no one cares about, to a chief executive whom most of the nobles in Changhe Town are vying to curry favor with.

Those nobles with the titles of barons or knights actually smiled flatteringly at themselves.

They didn't seem to remember, or they all pretended not to remember. They were just the children of the fisherman in the north of Changhe Town. They had no noble blood, no great martial arts or any outstanding talents.

My fate seemed to have changed suddenly after I was shot by Lisa Dilan. The lord personally saved me and gave me more opportunities continuously.

Not only became a knight, but also became the steward of a big city like Changhe Town.

This is probably my luck, right?

Eric thought.

But in fact, it has never been luck that determines all this.

Instead, seize every opportunity that can be seized and continue to make the right choice.

But now, as the chief executive, Eric is a little bit undecided, because the lord's mind is becoming more and more difficult to understand.

"My lord, are you saying that you want to send money to the people in Changhe Town?"

Eric looked at the lord now as if he was looking at a pure prodigal son.

"No, it's not sending money, but borrowing money. Lend money to them to pay taxes, and it will be repaid after three months or half a year."

The lord spread his hands: "Aren't they crying poor? I lend them money, and whoever dares to cry poor will lose my face at all!"

Eric's problem is collecting taxes.

But when it comes to tax collection, of course people everywhere will cry poor... and Li Ang's subordinates haven't learned how to deal with this situation, and Li Ang himself has no experience.

Godric gave some suggestions, let Eric be in charge, divide the non-commissioned officers into dozens of groups, each group is divided into an area, such as a street or a small village, and each area is allocated a quota.

This is actually the traditional way of expropriation, and non-commissioned officers are equal to traditional knights.

But this traditional method of letting tax officials collect and knights assisting is not very suitable for Li Ang's territory.

Most of the non-commissioned officers under the lord are from Maixiangling and White Hart Castle, and they are not from Changhe Town, and they have never done tax collection...

So the non-commissioned officers will look helpless when they get to the place.

The rapid expansion of the territory will cause problems of one kind or another.

In fact, Li Ang's tax is not heavy, the total amount is less than twice the national tax, and it is directly collected in proportion to the record of people's land and house contracts in the administrative office.

This is definitely the lightest tax amount in the entire Sarleon Land, and it is basically levied in proportion to wealth.

But no matter how light the tax is, no one is willing to pay it...

So the lord intends to do something special.

He directly asked Eric to take people door-to-door to promote the new policy.

People who automatically pay taxes before the end of October, whether they are businessmen or civilians, make records and issue tax payment certificates. Maixiang International will give priority to families with tax payment certificates.

Whether it is recruitment or other business activities, taxpayers are given priority.

Those who are not very active in crying poor people can give a loan policy, and they can go to the bank for low-interest loans. Before mid-November, the annual interest is only 12%-this interest is less than half of commercial loans, because there is no compound interest.

After all, many of them may indeed have no cash, but as long as they have assets, whether it is real estate or fields, they can always find collateral anyway.

And the extremely poor who really have no assets at all do not need to pay taxes, but they must go to build roads or recruit into the militia.If you have the skills, you can do other jobs. Now there are plenty of jobs in Mai Xiangling and White Hart Castle.

The lord does not raise lazy people, he either contributes money or effort, and all beggars are driven out of the city to fend for themselves.

If you don't want to come out with anything, just blindly crying poor, then after November [-]th, Eric will go door-to-door with troops and forcefully 'borrow money' to pay taxes for them.

And at that time, the monthly interest rate was 2%, and the interest was rolled over on a monthly basis.

What?You say this is called compulsory loan?

No, no, this is good governance in this day and age, exactly the same as agricultural loans.

Don't you have no money to pay taxes?The lord lends you money to pay, if you don't do it, then you don't pay attention to the lord at all...

"My lord, this...forcibly borrowing money, will it force them away?"

Eric didn't quite understand, didn't the lord always want to increase the population?
"If they are not willing to obey my rule, why should I let them stay here? However, if someone borrows my money and leaves my territory without repaying it, then there is nothing to say, just issue a warrant to arrest them Come back to hard labor."

The lord looks like a tyrant now.

"Understood, my lord, but if nothing happens, you and I will probably be scolded..."

Eric nodded somewhat helplessly.

"It doesn't matter, this will let us know who the enemy is... Eric, in fact, we need enemies right now."

The lord waved his hand and looked at the map on the table.

(End of this chapter)