Rose Empire

The first thing Jonathan Hackman did when he took office was to announce that there would no longer be a distinction between citizens and freemen in Ambratu. From now on, both citizens and freemen would be civilians under the rule of Viscount Lanwan.

Upon hearing the news, the citizens of Ambratu in the city naturally looked dejected, while the larger number of free people were ecstatic.

Although the city-state freemen were named "free", their lives had little to do with freedom. Whether it was the poverty of Awa after being deprived of his citizenship, or Jonathan Hackman's family being broken up and sold as a slave after being deprived of his citizenship, it all showed how difficult the lives of freemen were. They paid heavier taxes than citizens, but hardly enjoyed any benefits from the city-state. They would often encounter unreasonable exploitation and plunder by upper-class citizens. Even if they appealed to the court, the judges and juries would try their best to convict the freemen.

Thanks to the first decree, Jonathan Hackman's second decree was also smoothly implemented - recruiting scribes and patrol members. The free people who finally had a chance to turn things around burst into great enthusiasm. Jonathan Hackman only offered a low salary and recruited 300 scribes and more than 2,000 patrol members.

Jonathan Hackman distributed weapons to the patrol members and armed them. With such a force in hand, Jonathan Hackman announced: "Because of harboring the criminal Pender who killed Harvey Sherwin, all citizens of Ambratu must serve three months of hard labor!"

When this order was issued, the city of Ambratu was in an uproar. Although the long-term loss caused by being deprived of citizenship was far greater than the three months of hard labor, people tended to have a lower tolerance for immediate pain, so some citizens began to band together to resist.

But Jonathan Hackman knew exactly why Charlotte wanted him back as sheriff.

The process of eliminating a class is bound to be cruel and bloody, so Charlotte wants Jonathan Hackman to bear the blame. Jonathan Hackman has grudges against the citizens of Ambratu and the Council of Elders, and no matter what he does, he can be said to be an act of revenge out of personal grudges.

This was an open conspiracy, but Jonathan Hackman was willing to be the scapegoat.

At that time, almost all members of the Hackman family became slaves and were sold to different places by slave traders. Most of them are nowhere to be found now. With Charlotte's help, Hackman found the whereabouts of his youngest son, but when he found him, his youngest son had already died of exhaustion in the mine.

Charlotte needs to eliminate a group of people who will probably never support her rule in their entire lives, and Jonathan Hackman is also eager to avenge himself and his family.

Faced with the citizens who united in resistance, Jonathan Hackman ordered a massacre without hesitation. Half of the property left by the killed citizens was confiscated by the public, and the other half was rewarded to the patrol soldiers who made meritorious contributions.

The patrols composed of former freemen were enthusiastic, and teams of Ambratu citizens were escorted by patrols to the Viscount Lanwan to dig canals. In theory, these citizens could return to Ambratu after serving three months of labor, and their property would not be taken away, and their families would not be expelled, but this might not be the case in reality.

Jonathan Hackman has begun investigating the theft of Charlotte's gold and silver utensils. Once the stolen goods are found, the thief will be directly demoted to a slave and all his property will be confiscated.

Of course, this is just the beginning.

Charlotte believed that Jonathan Hackman would make good use of these three months and spare no effort to prevent these former citizens from returning to Ambratu.

squeak...

The heavy door was pushed open.

Charlotte followed Eric Scamario into a dark and dry Ambrato public vault.

"This is the treasury of the Ambratu city-state," Eric introduced. "According to the treasury account, there are about 200,000 fusos, 1.2 million dirs, and 5.3 million zabis here."

The dir is the currency issued by the city-state of Fidelity. The currency value of the Sokya Peninsula has always been unstable. If a battle is won, the currency value will rise sharply, and if a battle is lost, the currency value will fall sharply. The currency issued by Fidelity is no exception. It can only be said that the currency issued by the largest city-state is slightly better.

In the past two years, the Philippine Dir has suffered a series of defeats, and the exchange rate between the Dir and the Fuso has been maintained at about 4 to 1. One million and two hundred thousand Dir is about 300,000 Fuso.

As for the staggering 5.3 million Zabis...

Zabi is the currency issued by Ambratu, and even the people of Ambratu themselves do not use it, let alone other city-states.

Charlotte picked up a Zabi from a cash box and examined it carefully.

This kind of currency feels heavy, made of very solid materials and high in copper content. Unlike some city-states, which directly use iron coins or even shells to make up the number.

However, there is a scene of a man and a woman engaging in (harmonious) sexual intercourse with unknown meaning printed on the front of the Zabi coin, and it is unknown what the taste of the Ambratu people is.

Charlotte threw away the coins in her hand in disdain, clapped her hands and sighed: "So poor..."

Not counting the Zabi that could only be melted down to make copper ingots, there was only 600,000 Fusos in the treasury. The deposits of a city-state were not as much as Charlotte's personal property. The Ambratu Council of Elders did not lie to the citizens when they said that the public treasury had no money.

"There is indeed a shortage of money and grain," Eric said, "but the seizures from other warehouses should satisfy His Excellency the Viscount."

"Oh, is it so?"

Charlotte nodded and followed Eric to the second warehouse.

As soon as the door was opened, what came into view was swords, spears, shields and armor that filled up half of the warehouse.

Eric handed a ledger to Charlotte: "This is the arsenal of Umbratu. The account records in the warehouse show that there are 8,000 spears, 3,000 daggers, 3,000 long swords, 1,000 battle axes, 4,500 shields, 32,000 javelins, 8,000 sets of leather armor, 4,000 sets of chain mail..."

Even with the loss of 7,000 citizen soldiers, the weapons in the arsenal were still enough to arm an army of 10,000 people.

Charlotte sighed that the Sokyans had devoted so much effort to the war, and took a javelin from the weapon rack: "Why are there so many javelins here?"

"Javelin is the most commonly used weapon of the Sokyan people, and their extraordinary faction is also very suitable for using javelins..." Eric Scamario introduced to Charlotte.

The most common extraordinary faction in the Sokya Peninsula is called the "Heavy Infantry Faction" or the "Citizen Militia Faction". Due to the activeness of Sokya mercenaries, places outside Sokya often call this faction the "Mercenary Faction" or simply the "Sokya Faction".

The ability awakened by this faction's first wing is "Vigorous", which can greatly enhance the physical fitness of the resting person. This ability is different from the "Strength Amplification" of the Royal Griffin Knights. It is a passive skill, and the physical fitness will naturally improve after awakening.

The ability awakened when the second wing is "Flying Stone", which is the main reason why the Sokyan people's javelin skills are amazing. This ability needs to be activated by the practitioner's right hand. The projectiles thrown by their right hand will gradually accelerate as they fly, and finally gain extremely powerful kinetic energy and lethality at the end.

"And these javelins are also special." Eric also took out a javelin and showed the tip to Charlotte.

Charlotte tapped the tip of the gun and said, "Copper?"

"No, it's mountain copper." Eric said, "The spear head made of mountain copper can withstand great impact without deformation or breaking."

"Oh, I'm really willing to give it up..."

Mountain copper is a supernatural material, a secondary ore of copper veins. Supernatural materials are generally very expensive, and mountain copper is no exception. The Ambratu people were willing to use mountain copper to make the spear tip of the javelin. How could Charlotte not be shocked? However, thinking that there was a copper vein in the Horse Head Mountain near Ambratu, Charlotte didn't think it was too surprising.

It wasn't just these gun tips. Charlotte also inspected three captured warehouses, which were filled with mountain copper ore.

Looking at the mountain of ore in front of her, Charlotte silently waved her hand and asked others to leave.

After Eric led the other knights out of the warehouse and closed the door, Charlotte took a deep breath, exhaled, inhaled again, exhaled again, and then suddenly hugged Renee beside her.

Charlotte buried her face in Renee's arms and let out a low growl of suppressed excitement.

Renee hugged her young lady and patted Charlotte's back gently.

After a while, Charlotte finally raised her head, looked at Renee with red eyes and said, "Reni, we are rich!"

"Yeah." Renee nodded.

Charlotte paced back and forth in the warehouse, talking incessantly, venting her excitement but trying to control her volume.

"No, this is not just a matter of getting rich. After taking Ambratu, both the north and south of the Lanwan Isthmus fell into my hands. Now I am the only owner of the Lanwan Isthmus. If the Lanwan Canal can be opened next year, it will mean a steady stream of fiscal revenue. More importantly, the door to the Sokya Peninsula has been completely opened to me. There are abundant mineral deposits, high-quality soldiers, and sailors with rich sailing experience..."

Charlotte jumped onto a pile of ore, clenched her fists and punched them twice in the air, declaring, "Next, I just need to conquer the Sokya Peninsula, and this will become the cornerstone for me to flatten the entire continent."

Renee smiled at Charlotte's speech. She was really happy for Charlotte's success. She remembered that when she was about ten years old, Charlotte took a map and spread it in front of them. Then she drew a circle on the Lanwan Isthmus in the corner of the map and said firmly, "I will start from here!"

So Charlotte is almost seventeen years old.

After six years of forbearance and six years of planning, we have finally achieved the huge success we are today.

Only when Charlotte had almost vented her anger did Renee remind her, "Miss, Knight Robin Mancini is still waiting for your summons."

Charlotte nodded, jumped down from the ore pile, straightened her appearance, and said, "Let him come here to see me."

"Yes."

Renee responded, went out for a while, and then came in with Robin Mancini, who was followed by his seven subordinates.

"Greetings, Lord Viscount."

Robin Mancini and his men knelt on one knee together.

"No need to be so polite. You are all my meritorious servants." Charlotte raised her hand with a smile.

After Robin Mancini stood up, he introduced his subordinates behind him to Charlotte. When he introduced Logan, One-Eyed Logan knelt down again.

"Your Excellency, this dagger is a miracle passed down in my family. I would like to present it to Your Excellency." One-eyed Logan said, holding a palm-length dagger in both hands.

"Oh, what kind of miracle is this?" Charlotte picked up the dagger curiously.

"My grandfather got it accidentally during a war, so I don't know its name. Because after it pierces a person's body, it will make the person feel unimaginable pain, and those with weak wills will immediately lose the power to resist. I usually call it a fang." One-eyed Logan introduced.

"Is this the one that killed Harvey Sherwin?" Charlotte pulled out the ordinary-looking dagger and looked at it carefully.

"Yes."

One-eyed Logan lowered his head and answered. He thought Charlotte was going to take the dagger, but the next moment Charlotte put the dagger back into the sheath and returned it to Logan.

"I haven't rewarded you for your service yet, so how can I accept your gifts?" Charlotte said with a smile, "I heard from Knight Mancini that you are all willing to hide your identities and work for me in secret."

"Yes."

The seven people answered together.

They used to be frustrated people stuck in the quagmire, blaming everyone and everything, and almost losing confidence in life. It was the help of Charlotte and Robin Mancini that helped them get out of the quagmire and even got a chance to turn things around. For this reason, they were also willing to do something for Charlotte.

"In that case," Charlotte glanced at the inconspicuous gray linen clothes on these people, drew the dagger at her waist, and said with a smile, "Please kneel down."

The seven people knelt down again in confusion.

Charlotte slapped the dagger on the shoulders of the seven people one by one and said, "I, Viscount Charlotte Melefield of Lanwan, appoint you as knights. From now on, you will be the knights of the Grey Knights who walk in the shadows for me. I hereby appoint Knight Robin Mancini as the leader of the Grey Knights and Knight Logan as the deputy leader."

The seven people were very excited by this unexpected surprise. They were the defected citizens of Ambratu. They thought they would have to go through some tests before they could gain full trust. However, they never expected that Charlotte would directly give them the status of knights. Although they were the gray knights that they had never heard of, they were still knights.

One-Eyed Logan gritted his teeth, made a decision in his heart, and said, "Your Excellency, if you can trust me, I am willing to recruit three hundred extraordinary people for you!"

PS: I feel really grateful for your reward. Thank you for your recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and blades. I thought it would take two days to accumulate 7 recommendation tickets. Yesterday, everyone helped me break through the recommendation ticket mark in one go. I am really very touched~~~]q裙①榴吧二衣妻一⑥

Volume 67: Chapter 59 Chapter The changes of the nominal nobles and the Principality of Luyuan

The "three hundred extraordinary people" mentioned by Logan refers to the citizen soldiers recalled by the Ambulatu Council of Elders from the front line of the Aiye Alliance. That was the last fighting force that the Council of Elders had placed high hopes on, but unfortunately, before they returned, the Ambulatu city-state no longer existed.

Logan promised that as long as Charlotte could promise him three hundred knighthoods and a sum of money, he would recruit the three hundred extraordinary people and the other seventeen hundred citizen soldiers for Charlotte.

Charlotte chose to trust One-Eyed Logan without any hesitation. For her, making such a choice was not difficult.

First of all, these two thousand citizen soldiers seriously threatened the safety of Ambratu County. Although they were already helpless, Charlotte only had less than two hundred knights. It was not impossible to fight with fewer people against more people, but it was inevitable that they would have some teeth grinding.

Secondly, Charlotte learned from Jonathan Hackman that the Lesser Sassini had sent envoys to negotiate with the Ambratu Elders Council not long ago. It was said that there were more than 5,000 Ambratu citizen militiamen in the Lesser Sassini slave camp, including at least 800 extraordinary people.

Such a large number of opposition forces scattered outside will have to be dealt with sooner or later, otherwise these people will become the vanguard of the Ai Ye Alliance's counterattack on Ambratu in the future.

That’s right, after taking down Ambratu, Charlotte must start considering the opponents in the next strategic stage.

Although Ambratu is located at the northernmost tip of the Sokya Peninsula, it is still a member of the Aiye Alliance. Charlotte took advantage of the fierce battle between the Aiye Alliance and the Delmer Alliance to dig the wall behind, which would inevitably anger the Aiye Alliance. Charlotte didn't know to what extent the Aiye Alliance was willing to do for Ambratu, but from the perspective of the enemy, Charlotte needed to prepare for the worst.

If we can successfully recruit some of the Ambratu militia this time, it will lay a good foundation for completely solving the problem of more than 5,000 prisoners of war in the future.

Viscount Lanwan's territory, Viscount's castle.

"You all have made outstanding contributions in the campaign against Ambratu..."

Charlotte said as she looked at the thirteen strong and muscular soldiers kneeling in a row below.

These thirteen soldiers were all attendant knights of the guards of the territory of Viscount Lanwan. The public treasury of Ambratu made Charlotte a fortune. In addition to a large amount of mountain copper ore, Charlotte also found a variety of extraordinary materials such as mithril powder in another public treasury, but the amount was small, far less than the visual shock given to Charlotte by the room full of mountain copper ore.

So, Charlotte took out these extraordinary materials with a stroke of her pen, and asked the knights who were going to the expedition to Ambratu to recommend thirty of the best squire knights to collectively undergo a spiritual awakening ceremony.

In the end, thirteen of the thirty squire knights successfully awakened. This success rate was neither high nor low...

The squire knights who had successfully awakened naturally knelt down to thank Charlotte for her kindness with all their hearts, but Charlotte's words made them feel a little resentful.

In this expedition to Ambratu, they actually just rode back and forth on horseback, and captured a few unarmed ordinary people. If capturing a few ordinary people can be considered "outstanding merit", then how should the merit of Cecilia, who captured more than 6,000 Ambratu citizens in one go, be counted?

But Charlotte didn't seem to realize what was wrong with her words. She continued speaking: "To reward your contributions, I will knight you all."

The squires and knights kneeling below showed uncontrollable joy on their faces.

"But..." Charlotte continued, "As you all know, I, Lanwan, have been building a lot recently, and I can't find any suitable land to confer upon you. I plan to give you some money as compensation, and you can find a place to buy land in the future. How about that?"

The attendant knights looked at each other in bewilderment. Many of them were born in Lanwan. How could they not know that among the twenty-five knight lords in Lanwan, there were still at least thirty vacancies of knights. So Charlotte's statement that there was no land to be granted was simply a lie with open eyes.

However, the merits of the squires this time were really small, not even a decent battle. They all thought that Charlotte was in a good mood and wanted to reward them with knighthood, but felt that they were not qualified enough, so she only wanted to give them titles but not land. They did not have the courage to object to this because it was the truth.

So, they all chose to follow Charlotte's arrangement: "Your will."

Charlotte was very happy and smiled as she conferred the title of knight on all thirteen of them.

However, what these new knights did not know was that Charlotte was only using them as a breakthrough. From now on, Charlotte would no longer intend to enfeoff any nobles with the right to rule over fiefdoms. She would rather use the taxes from the territories to pay subsidies to these nobles.

If this matter were announced directly, there would definitely be an uproar in Charlotte's territory. However, if there are thirteen precedents, it would be much easier to deal with in the future - your predecessors did not have actual fiefs, so why can't you accept that you don't have actual fiefs?

Greenfield Principality, riverside castle.

The Principality of Green Plains was not very peaceful and harmonious during this period. The castle was heavily guarded, with patrols of knights passing by from time to time. Even the servants in the castle lowered their heads, with heavy expressions and hurried steps.

All this is because of a secret known to everyone - Grand Duke of Greenfield, Jose Melfield, is critically ill!

It was called a secret because the news had never been publicly announced. The upper echelons of the Greenfield Principality and the Melfield family kept it a secret and would never talk about it to the outside world. Wolf Vonderen, the steward of the Riverside Castle and the confidant of the Duke of Greenfield, had always declared to the public that the Duke was in good health and there was absolutely no problem.

The reason why it is known to everyone is that there are many clues that can prove the fact that Jose Melfield is critically ill.

First, a large number of knights who were not in service in the principality were recruited and gathered in the riverside castle. After the knights settled down in the riverside castle, no further combat orders were issued, as if the purpose of the Duke of Greenfield recruiting them was to have them garrison the riverside castle.

Furthermore, the Duke of Greenfield's almost annual patrol of the western border was cancelled. This annual routine was a joint action between the Principality of Greenfield and the Principality of Bonan. However, this winter, the Duke of Bonan had already arrived at the border of the two countries as agreed, but the Duke of Greenfield, Jose Melefield, suddenly said he would not go. For aristocrats who value respect, standing someone up is undoubtedly an extremely rude act.

Furthermore, many nobles of the Principality of Greenfield discovered that the handwriting of the official and private letters sent to them by the Duke of Greenfield had changed greatly. They once guessed that these official and private letters were fake, so they came to the Riverside Castle to verify. After Wolf Vonderen's repeated assurances, everyone reluctantly believed that those official and private letters were real.

As for why it was Wolf von der Leon's guarantee, it was of course because none of the nobles had been able to meet Jose Melfeld in person.

There were so many worrying signs that many people remembered a recent rumor in the territory - Duke Jose Melfield was critically ill!