Since the Accounting: A Chronicle of the Roman Khanate

Chapter 756 The Tyrol Railway Protection Movement

At that time, the Wu Kingdom's regime was not as powerful as it is now, so after hearing the story, although people were interested, they had the attitude of "why not give it a try, since there's no cost involved."

However, even though it was just a rumor, the townspeople still put some thought into it.

According to the armorer, the people who founded "Great Ming" came from Seris in the east. He guessed they were a group of those who coveted the throne there. In short, they had a respectable background.

The armorer believed that knowledge was often more important than mere brute force. The previous losses they suffered were likely due to a lack of knowledge and experience. The Seres culture was advanced, and these "Ming" people, of noble birth, possessed profound understanding of politics and military affairs. At the very least, they could easily defeat the local lords.

Moreover, they can offer much more than just knowledge and perspective.

It is said that these people have been in Lorraine training the local farmers and citizens. Anyone who pledges allegiance to His Majesty the King can join them and receive assistance from professional military personnel sent from there. As for how to deal with lords and mine owners during this time, and how to conduct the training for the best results, they certainly have their own plans. All one needs to do is ask them for help.

In this way, once the training is complete, they'll be considered semi-professional soldiers. They don't expect to be as disciplined as the Roman legions in the story, capable of directly threatening the Senate, or as fierce as the Swiss next door, able to drive away the lord. Their expectations aren't that high either. Just enough to intimidate the lord and make him consider the consequences of continuing to persecute them will be sufficient.

As for the foreign invasion in the story, that's easy to solve. There are quite a few mountain villagers' gangs up on the mountain; we can be clever and coordinate with them. Many of the people working in town are mountain villagers who have moved to the city and still have connections to their hometown. Getting them to call their fellow villagers is quite feasible.

Of course, with the Ming Dynasty backing them up, things became much easier.

Locals also have a tradition of having a "just cause" for their actions. If it were a rebellion on their own, many would feel guilty. Moreover, in the current situation, everyone's demands are not actually aligned.

To put it bluntly, many people are angry, but it's all just talk. Currently, only the slaves and forced laborers in the mines, and at most some coolies in the city, are truly committed to revolt. Even the lowest-ranking apprentices aren't so resolute—although they keep saying they want to hang all the Jews, just like ten years ago, when it comes to actually making concrete plans, assessing the risks, and deciding which specific people to eliminate, many start to hesitate, feeling that it might not be necessary to go to such lengths.

Thus, although they all shared common goals, significant internal disagreements made it difficult to recruit people. Those who did participate frequently argued, even despising each other and clashing. The craftsmen thought the slave laborers were ignorant and reckless; the slave laborers thought the craftsmen were servile and afraid to act; the city dwellers thought the mountain people were crude, impulsive, and lacked strategic awareness; the mountain people thought the city dwellers were hesitant and missed opportunities. In short, there were disagreements and numerous conflicts.

At this point, invoked the banner of the Ming Dynasty, which proved very useful. Although the King of Wu appeared to be merely an exile, he was a genuine nobleman and could provide ample justification.

The armorer told them that in Lorraine, the locals had already begun to unite and put pressure on their lord through the Ming Dynasty court. Although they were far away, they could ask the King of Ming to vouch for them and convene a meeting to discuss the matter properly.

Everyone agreed, as this gave them more options. The craftsmen in the ironworks were the first to react. They pointed out that Count Bernhard possessed the authority of a lord, provided he also fulfilled his lordly duties: to abide by the rules, protect his people, and maintain order in the territory. However, in recent years, most of the troubles in the territory had been caused by the count himself. Clearly, he had violated the contract and failed to fulfill his responsibilities.

Therefore, under these circumstances, it is reasonable for everyone to break away from him and seek a new lord. This cannot be called a rebellion, but simply a normal procedure, a normal action under the prevailing feudal system. Conversely, if the count cannot accept this and takes the initiative to interfere, then it is all his fault, and he cannot blame everyone for taking up arms in resistance.

This explanation made it acceptable to many. Even the guild leaders thought that if it worked well, they might consider switching allegiance to this better lord.

The count constantly pressured them for products and money, causing them endless unrest. At the slightest provocation, he threatened to kill all the guild leaders, just as he had done during the first uprising. If others could guarantee their safety, changing lords wouldn't be such a big deal.

Those interested in this endeavor secretly gathered in the church, forming a temporary association. They agreed to cooperate in this attempt, and no one could back down until the results were in. If anyone betrayed them and informed outsiders such as the count and the mine owner, the others would work together to eliminate them.

Among the craftsmen, the blacksmiths faced the greatest pressure. Therefore, the members of the blacksmiths' guild took the initiative to provide funding. The guild leader and several master blacksmiths, contributing their own money, prepared to send an envoy to the King of Wu to inquire about the situation.

If they could send reinforcements, that would be ideal. The people here could respond immediately, drive Bernhard away, and then declare the territory as now belonging to the King of Wu.

Logically speaking, these exiled nobles are usually the losers of wars, not lacking in prestige, patrons, or followers. They only need a real territory to rebuild their fiefdoms immediately. Their loyalty to the King of Wu at this time would be a timely help.

Moreover, it was always a welcome gesture from kings for local territories to voluntarily submit to the royal court and become directly subordinate, for which they would offer various preferential treatments. If this investment succeeded, their entire earldom might become a territory with a special status, just like the Earldom of Dauphiné in France. How could they not try such an opportunity?

Among the attendees was a mountain chieftain named Adil, who volunteered to serve as the envoy.

Adil was a Kipchak man, eloquent and skilled at dealing with people. After escaping the mining area, he organized a group of escaped Mongol slaves, formed a small caravan, and traveled around selling necessities to various settlements, sometimes also robbing passing merchants.

However, because they arrived late, the Mongolian tribes in the mountains generally fared worse than the local tribes. Coupled with issues of language, culture, and religion, there were many barriers between them and the locals. Previously, the earl and mine owners' excessive cruelty had forced everyone to unite in rebellion. Even after the rebellion succeeded, many problems resurfaced.

Therefore, the Mongols, in their disadvantaged position, were even more eager for the arrival of the Ming Dynasty. While the local mountain people were still hesitant, unsure whether to get involved in the affairs of the city dwellers, they had already taken the initiative. Adil assured them that he would deliver the message and then try to relay the feedback as soon as possible. He also suggested that everyone should be prepared and take action regardless of the Wu King's response—since they had already submitted a petition for instructions, they might as well assume that the higher-ups had agreed.

Even before he arrives, we could launch a rebellion, raise the banner of the Ming Dynasty, kill the Jews in the town and mines, and expel the Earl's forces. If the King of Wu inquires later, we can blame the envoy for being too slow, causing the dates to misalign. Anyway, the die is cast; just tell him if you want this territory or not.

This would also prevent the powerful nobles on King Wu's side from hesitating and dragging things out, which could lead to unforeseen complications. This was a tactic they had witnessed many times on the grasslands.

However, the others still felt that this method was too radical. They still didn't have much of a chance against the Earl, and they couldn't be so reckless. His small caravan could run away at any time, but the artisans in the city wouldn't be so easy to escape…

If the King of Wu doesn't agree, it's not a big problem; a little guidance would suffice. In fact, some craftsmen actually think it's better if the King of Wu doesn't send troops. Because the soldiers he sends will definitely be outsiders. If these people fight with the army the Earl brought, even if they successfully drive out the Earl, their territory will likely suffer greatly. It would be better to find a way to get the local people from the mountains to join the war. After all, they're all related in some way, so it's easier to negotiate.

With this in mind, Adil set off for Lorraine. Some time later, a group claiming to be sent by the King of Wu to scout the area arrived.

They said that Adil wanted to request reinforcements, but the court felt that the area was too far away and sending troops would likely be ineffective. However, they could help with the livelihood issues of the territory. Therefore, the King of Wu sent a guard team with several agricultural experts to assess the situation.

Everyone was quite disappointed, and the people sent by the King of Wu were also somewhat embarrassed. They told the locals that Adil was still in Lorraine, continuing his efforts to see if he could persuade the court to increase its investment.

As for themselves, they were hired by the King of Wu from the Purple Horde. During this time, they had indeed been busy in various places according to orders, helping the locals improve their lives—perhaps the court had been doing this kind of thing all along, so they subconsciously felt that the locals' requests this time should be similar.

They only have expertise in agriculture; they really don't know anything about warfare. But since we're already here, we'll try our best to help.

Judging from the envoy's words, this place is isolated and agriculture is underdeveloped. However, generally speaking, such a large area must have some places that still have development and utilization value. They can still investigate, see the specific situation, and plan an improvement strategy to see which places can be saved.

The locals were also unsure what to do and could only decide to wait, hoping that Adil could step up his efforts. They also contacted the villagers in the mountains, asking them to each provide a guide to lead Wu Wang's people around and see if they had any other solutions. After all, if they could improve agriculture and solve the problem of low output due to a large population in the mountains, it would be of some use.

However, the people sent by the King of Wu soon finished their investigation and returned.

They complained to the locals that Adil had kept saying the place was poor and life was hard, was he intentionally hiding their problems to the court to plead for benefits? Because after a short walk, they found that the place was actually not barren at all.

In most of this area, the mountains aren't steep, especially the valleys and streams, where the soil is very fertile and irrigation is easy. Some slopes aren't suitable for growing crops, but with a little development, fruit trees and other cash crops can be planted. Logically, a place like this shouldn't be poor; I don't know what the locals are up to…

As for the problem of blockage, it's even simpler.

There is only one main road in this place. According to the local priest who led the way, it dates back to ancient Roman times.

Around 15 BC, Augustus dispatched a legion from his base in Verona, Italy, northward across the Alps to establish the province of Rheia. This was to open up more routes, secure the flanks and transport supplies, and support the important Danube region.

Here lies the Brunello Pass, the lowest of the Alpine passes, making it relatively easy to traverse. The Romans then built a road through the pass, connecting Italy to the south of the mountains with the barbarian regions to the north. Thereafter, this pass served as the boundary between the two major geographical regions of Alemannia and Italy.

However, with the decline of Rome, large numbers of barbarian tribes migrated south into Italy, the western part of the empire gradually disintegrated, and Roman influence gradually withdrew from the region, moving from north to south. After that, no one was able to fully maintain the road. For the next thousand years, people simply made do with it…

So, saying the traffic here is bad is pointless—this road was planned over 1400 years ago, older than Brother Tian himself. After that, it was completely neglected for a thousand years. The fact that you can still see a road here today is a miracle. I don't know if it's because the Romans were incredibly skilled engineers, or if those who came after them were just too incompetent…

They weren't road construction professionals, but the situation was all too obvious—you need roads to talk about transportation.

Aside from this ancient road, the entire territory, and even the surrounding areas, have virtually no other decent passageways. Without roads, transportation is naturally impossible. Isn't that obvious...?

They advised the locals not to overthink things and to first master the basics of farming, dam construction, and road building. They would also write to the King of Wu, requesting some seeds and farm tool samples, and sending more engineering experts to guide the construction. Otherwise, even if they drove away the Earl, the place would remain in this wretched state. Only by addressing both the symptoms and the root cause could they hope to succeed.

(End of this chapter)