Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 403 Coercion and inducement

After the bloody and cruel public trial, in order to appease the fear and anxiety of the remaining surrendered petty nobles, Harvey held a banquet before leaving for the North.

The dinner was still held in Harvey's favorite "buffet" style, but due to the scarcity of products in Fengyuan City in winter and the backward cooking methods, it seemed a little out of place.

Fortunately, the petty nobles who came to the banquet were not interested in eating at all. Most of them looked trembling with fear and gathered around a group of powerful figures in the North headed by Harvey.

The petty nobles present were all small characters without any soldiers or troops under their command. They had no conflicts with the Northern Army during the Battle of Fengyuan City. After a few glasses of wine, even the lower-level officers of the Northern Army who had always been rude to the Southern nobles softened their expressions.

Although Harvey held the wine glass, he did not drink a drop of wine. Everyone present knew that he was in the special situation of controlling the incarnation puppet, and no local nobles who were unaware of the situation dared to force the de facto "King of the Border" to drink.

"Haha, I originally thought... that completely banning the church in Fengyuan City and its surrounding areas would be met with strong opposition from you all, but I didn't expect it to be implemented so smoothly."

Several of the minor nobles surrounding Harvey shuddered, exchanged glances, and then cautiously replied, "My Lord, Fengyuan City and its surroundings aren't a devout parish of the Church... Yet, the believer tax is levied at a very high rate every year, and everyone has long been dissatisfied with the Church."

This is true. After all, when the Church of Light exploits its believers to gain profits, it does not only target ordinary believers. For them, nobles and wealthy businessmen are the fat sheep. They have always held the principle of "the fatter the wallet, the more we should dedicate to our Lord."

The great nobles might still be able to gain some benefits from close cooperation with the church, but the small nobles were completely divided and slaughtered - after all, their fiefdoms were not rich, and the people under their rule all paid taxes to the church, so naturally there was less money in their pockets.

In this situation, Xavi naturally chose them as the main targets to be won over.

He clapped his hands and ordered his personal guards to bring a wooden tray covered with red silk, on which was clearly placed a custom-made magic revolver. Compared with the standard military model, it had more handmade decorations and carvings, and looked full of mysterious beauty.

"Sir...what does this mean?" The little nobles looked a little horrified. They knew very well that the weapon in front of them, like the spears carried on the backs of those soldiers, was the culprit that crushed the Ralph family in Fengyuan City.

"I'm sure many of you have seen it before." Harvey chuckled and explained calmly, "This revolver... is a mass-produced magical weapon manufactured in my territory."

He raised his hand to signal everyone to gather around, picked up the revolver, and handed it to a minor noble. "What do you think of the difficulty of making this weapon and the casting process?"

The nobleman whose hand he had forced with the gun froze up, not knowing whether to put down or pick up the heavy revolver.

"Lord... Lord, with all due respect, an ordinary weapon craftsman would be incapable of crafting such an exquisite magical weapon. This must have been created by an alchemist possessing extraordinary power."

Harvey burst into laughter upon hearing this. "You're totally wrong. To be honest... my military factory can mass-produce a thousand of these short revolvers every month. In just a month and a half, we can equip an army capable of capturing Fengyuan City."

Pierce, who had been standing beside Harvey, stepped forward at the right moment and added coldly, "At the same time, the military factory can also produce more than twice as many automatic rifles, the type that soldiers carry on their backs."

"No... As expected of you, Lord, ruling such a powerful and prosperous northern territory. Ha... hahahaha... hahaha." The nobles responded with fawning smiles and trembling voices. Only one young noble, a bandage still bound on his forehead, took the revolver. He examined it with curiosity and shock, then summoned the courage to ask Harvey, "Lord, may I ask how you managed to allow mortal soldiers to wield magical weapons?"

An aristocrat beside him who was obviously familiar with him quickly tugged at his robe, signaling him not to be so rude and reckless as to spy on the military secrets of a great lord in public.

Harvey didn't care at all, and asked with a smile: "What's your name?"

"Ross, Ross Ralph, the knight of the Frost Eagle family, My Lord." The young man did not seem afraid of Harvey knowing that he was a member of Duke Ralph's family branch, and his expression was very calm.

It turned out that the guy who knocked his father unconscious and surrendered voluntarily was a young man who knew how to act.

Harvey nodded and hinted, "The answer is simple. Follow me back to the northern frontier and we'll find out the secret."

Before he finished speaking, Ross's eyes lit up, and without a second's hesitation, he touched his chest and saluted, saying, "It is my honor, Lord!"

The other nobles looked at Ross as if he were a fool, not understanding why he was manipulating them into walking into a tiger's mouth. After all, they were essentially the "losers". Being able to save their lives and territorial property was already a kindness from the other side, but abandoning their family property and going to the other side's territory alone was a fool's errand.

"Do you all think my northern territory is some kind of dangerous and barbaric place?" Harvey said with amusement, "You've never been to the wilderness, so it's normal that you don't know how prosperous and wealthy it is right now."

He paused, then continued casually, "In fact, my territory's fiscal revenue and trade income this winter has reached a whopping 100,000 gold pounds. Well, if it weren't for the large number of refugees from the war in the south, which consumed a lot of food reserves, the actual income would probably increase by about 30,000 pounds..."

The minor nobles all gasped. "Three months of winter, one hundred thousand gold pounds?"

Most nobles rely on the rent of fiefdoms and poll taxes from their subjects throughout the year, earning at most a hundred gold pounds. Some of the more clever ones may be able to double their income by running family businesses, but they always have to take more risks. The family wealth accumulated by many small nobles for generations is not even a fraction of the annual fiscal revenue of Harvey's territory.

Some people were even keen enough to hear from Harvey's words that "taking in refugees from the south consumed a lot of reserves, about 30,000 gold pounds" - it was unheard of that a noble lord would take the money out of his own pocket to help those refugees whose lives were worthless.

A noble, dazzled by the gold, cautiously approached Harvey and said flatteringly, "My Lord, besides collecting taxes and rent, what kind of business can one run to earn such an astronomical fortune?"

Harvey looked around at the nobles, all of whom had eager expressions on their faces, and chuckled.

"Want to know? It's simple... Give up your status and title as a feudal noble and follow the new system I establish. Then you will naturally get your share of this huge pie."

(End of this chapter)