Chapter 218: Forced Loan
Since Xiaolu City was not captured, Leiman no longer recognized the alliance between Ursula and the Kingdom of Fierce Lion - this was the order Leiman received before leaving Qicha Fortress. King Ulric was unwilling to be used as a knife for nothing. If Xiaolu City could not be taken, the alliance would not take effect.
In addition, the Sarleon Kingdom and the Ravenstern Kingdom have already ceased fighting, and the Sarleon soldiers have no reason to stay in Ravenstern, so Rayman led his troops back to Sarleon and abandoned Ursula outside Xiaofurnace.
In the end, Ursula went through a lot of trouble and got almost nothing.
Fortunately, Sir Ryan came to pick her up, and she returned to Dark Falcon Castle safely. But she certainly couldn't do anything else in the short term, and could only show her goodwill to Roland.
Sir Roland did not refuse Ursula's request to enter Dark Falcon Castle for recuperation. This was something Leon had deliberately instructed. All forces that could be united should be united. In the short term, the only enemy of Dark Falcon Castle could only be the Jatu people.
All the surrounding forces had no intention of attacking Dark Falcon Fort. Instead, they showed a certain goodwill. This was inevitable - Dark Falcon Fort was the front line of Stern Crow Realm's resistance against the Jatu people.
Therefore, both Xiaolu City and Oldenburg were basically willing to sell some necessary supplies to Sir Roland, such as food and daily necessities.
Even the people of Misty Mountain are trying to show goodwill to Dark Falcon Castle, but they are not doing it to deal with the Jatu people.
Andongjia successfully contacted her people and repaid the previous blood debt with 1,800 dinars.
To be honest, this amount of money is nothing to the Lord. The lives of the people of Misty Mountain are really worthless...
However, for the people of Misty Mountain, there are not many people who can pay off their blood debts these days. Andongjia is even regarded as the leader of a new tribe because of this.
This is also their tradition. Being able to repay the blood debt is equivalent to bringing back a large amount of supplies to Misty Mountain, which makes them qualified to form a new tribe.
Then, following the lord's instructions, Andongjia built a camp in the wilderness north of Dark Falcon Castle.
The camp was an outdoor trade market.
Andongjia will lead the Misty Mountaineers and Pendor soldiers to maintain the security and order of this camp, and allow the Misty Mountaineers to trade supplies here.
For example, food and daily necessities - in fact, they are all purchased locally from the Cold Crow Territory, and they are directly sold as middlemen.
Although the Misty Mountain people robbed everywhere, they would not rob Andonga. In order to conduct normal transactions, they would even protect this small camp.
Although the scale of transactions is small now, such a place where equal transactions and food can be traded is indeed very rare for the people of Misty Mountain.
In addition, the merchants in this camp allow bartering - this is in line with the needs of the Misty Mountain people. They really don't have dinars, but they have plenty of local specialties such as deerskin and bear skin.
The Misty Mountain people are just barbaric, they are not stupid. They all know that this kind of camp must not be robbed, so most of the Misty Mountain people will show goodwill to Dark Falcon Castle.
Therefore, all parties now maintain good relations with Leon's Dark Falcon Castle, except the Jatu people.
However, the Jatu people did not come to harass them for the time being, perhaps because they had some problems internally - it was actually very obvious that Juda's tribe had suffered extremely heavy losses, and Zakar would definitely seize this opportunity to unify the grassland.
Everything was going smoothly, and Andongjia had already begun to recruit people from the Misty Mountains. However, she did not quite understand one of the lord's requests.
Leon asked her to only recruit Misty Mountain people who could speak Pendor and they could not be shamans.
It’s okay if it’s not a shaman. Andongjia has been cheated by the shaman of the Bear Claw Tribe and he doesn’t have a good impression of shamans.
But you have to be able to speak Pande, which is a bit difficult.
Ordinary Misty Mountain people don't have much chance to learn foreign languages...
The only people who can speak Pendor fluently in the Misty Mountains are those with relatively good backgrounds in each tribe, such as the clan leader's family or the shaman's family.
These people are not easy to recruit.
So Andongjia asked Sir Roland what to do - but Sir Roland didn't know either.
However, Roland also felt that this request was correct. After all, if they couldn't speak human language, he wouldn't be able to train these people, so he asked An Dongjia to think of a solution himself, but he had to resolutely implement this request.
So An Dongjia followed the example of Maixiangling and Bailubao and set up a training class in the trade market outside the Dark Falcon Castle to teach the people of Misty Mountain how to speak.
Anyway, the lord only requires them to be able to speak, so it's okay to teach them.
However, the teaching progress was quite slow at the beginning - it is not easy to teach by oral communication without relying on text, and An Dongjia herself is semi-illiterate, and she doesn't know many words...
In fact, An Dongjia just wanted to form a team as quickly as possible. After all, in her opinion, only those who have soldiers can have status.
She wanted to get higher status.
But her going to be a teacher did greatly change Sir Roland's attitude towards Andonga - originally, Andonga gave Roland the impression of being a rogue robber who came down from the Misty Mountains, and she did have many hooligan habits, so she was often criticized by Roland.
Now this rogue is actually teaching the robbers in Misty Mountain culture, which is certainly a good sign.
Although Roland did not understand what cultural conquest meant, he at least knew that it would make it easier to discipline the people of Misty Mountain, and it could also convey some concepts of kindness and order during class.
But——I’m afraid it’s not appropriate to let Andongjia, the gangster leader, convey this idea…
So Roland sent a team of educated non-commissioned officers to serve as teachers to Andongjia.
This unexpectedly made many people in Misty Mountain feel favorable towards Dark Falcon Castle and the griffin emblems on the officers.
Most people in the Misty Mountain actually want to enter the mainstream society. After seeing the glamorous world of Pendor, and then comparing it with a poor place like the Misty Mountain, many people actually want to make a living in Pendor.
But language is their biggest obstacle, and the lower-class people in Misty Mountain basically have no chance to receive education.
Now that Dark Falcon Castle is willing to teach them to speak and read, this is tantamount to giving these people the greatest hope.
As a result, An Dongjia successfully gathered a group of people, and she and those non-commissioned officers also learned a lot of cultural knowledge.
Being a teacher usually makes you learn faster than being a student. After all, everyone has a sense of responsibility and you can't let your students learn incorrect grammar.
So, during this period of time, Andongjia, a semi-illiterate person, actually learned to write letters - she wrote a letter back, but it was not to the lord, but to Anson.
I don't know what was in the letter. Anson was very mysterious and didn't let anyone know. He was grinning all day long and wasted more than a dozen sheets of parchment just to write a reply letter. Maybe he was not satisfied with any of the more than ten letters he wrote. Anyway, he was busy until midnight before he finished writing the last one.
Afterwards, Anson seemed to receive letters and reply to them every day. He was probably the biggest customer of the parchment merchant in White Hart Castle.
The lord saw everything, but did not disturb them.
With Anson and Roland, two people of good character, looking after him, Andongjia would not do anything reckless.
Likewise, with the rogue Andongjia in Dark Falcon Castle, Roland would not suffer any loss because of his kindness.
…
At the end of October, White Hart Castle welcomed more and more Noldor elves to settle in.
This is the inevitable effect of continued large-scale trading.
Leon himself did not make much money from his trade with the Noldor elves, but he stimulated the Noldor's demand for a better life.
The Noldor elves made money from the continued trade and lived a more convenient life than before.
This convenience quickly produced results in just one month.
Some of the Noldor who were the first to benefit no longer had to worry about where to find food every day, nor did they have to stay at home to spin and weave cloth using hemp and silk that they had pieced together.
After freeing oneself from the difficulties of food and clothing, one will naturally begin to pursue a better life and find one's own value.
They can do what they like more and create wealth in a shorter time.
Those who are good at smelting can produce equipment, and those who are good at craftsmanship can do some handicrafts. These can all be done directly in the forest, and they don’t need to leave the forest.
But those Noldor who are good at fighting or engaged in technical work have begun to come to White Hart Castle to seek their own value.
Their long lifespan gave them more confidence, and most of the Noldor believed that the skills they had honed during their long lives would enable them to do better .
This enables them to get higher pay and status and live the life they want.
This is very similar to how some remote villages were gradually connected by road networks and supportive trade policies, and some young people with professional skills gradually moved from the villages to the cities...
In fact, these Noldor are indeed much stronger than humans in terms of professional ability, but they cannot become the boss just by having professional skills.
Living in isolation in the forest for a long time has put them at a complete disadvantage in terms of communication ability and flexibility of thinking...
Moreover, the Noldor did not dare to go outside Leon's territory for the time being, which made it impossible for them to engage in commercial activities independently.
It happened that at this time, part of the farm between Bailubao and Maixiangling was converted into a factory area after the wheat fields were harvested.
These factories are right next to the flat road, not hidden at all, and don’t look anything special.
Only when you enter the factory will you know that these factories are all heavily guarded, and most of them are divided into two layers, inside and outside.
Those are some "enchantment factories", which are actually various raw material processing sites related to gunpowder, but the final assembly of finished products is not carried out in these factories.
Only the production of magic silver coins takes place in one of the factories, which is managed by Wendatil himself and where most of the Noldor elves live collectively.
If it was to produce conventional weapons and equipment, the proud Noldor elves would simply look down upon the blacksmith shops of humans, but if it was to produce "magic items", every Noldor would be interested...
As a result, many Noldor elves became workers in Leon's territory.
Oh, it should be called a working elf, the kind with free food and accommodation.
The boss is naturally Leon. He is the only big boss that the Nodos can trust at present, and he is also the only boss who can provide these professional and technical positions.
At the same time, true Noldor mercenaries also appeared.
One hundred and fifty Noldor warriors were organized into three patrol teams, responsible for the security of White Hart Keep and the surrounding areas of the Cornish Territory.
There was also another Noldor force of more than a hundred people, who became Leon's mercenaries.
This is the team led by Neuer.
It looks like Islandil is planning 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 was lucky. Although he had not been in Changhe Town for more than a month, there was no trouble in this newly acquired territory.
Because of Eric.
Eric has been in Changhe Town all this time. He is the person who is most familiar with Changhe Town, so the lord naturally gave him an important task again.
Now that the lord has been promoted to a higher title, a capable subordinate like Eric should of course also be promoted and get rich. Now Eric is already the government official of Changhe Town.
Eric never imagined that his life would change so dramatically in just one year.
A year ago, he was just an ordinary mercenary, living a life of uncertainty, hanging around between taverns and battlefields.
But one year later, he had gone from being an unknown person to the chief administrative officer that most of the nobles in Changhe Town were vying to curry favor with.
Those nobles with the title of baron or knight were actually smiling at him flatteringly.
They all seemed to have forgotten, or pretended not to remember, that they were just the children of the fisherman in the north of Changhe Town, with neither noble blood nor superb martial arts or outstanding talents.
It seemed that his fate suddenly changed after he was shot by Lisadilan. The lord saved him personally and gave him more opportunities continuously.
Not only did he become a knight, he also became the governor of a big city like Changhe Town.
This is probably my luck?
Eric thought.
But in fact, it is never luck that determines everything.
Instead, seize every opportunity you can and keep making the right choices.
But now as the chief steward, Eric is a little undecided, because the lord's thoughts are becoming more and more difficult to understand.
"Sir, are you saying that we should give money to the people in Changhe Town?"
Eric now looked at the Lord as if he was looking at a complete loser.
"No, it's not giving money, it's lending money. Lending money to them to pay taxes, and they have to pay it back in three months or six months."
The Lord spread his hands and said, "Aren't they crying poor? I lent them money. If anyone dares to cry poor again, it means they are totally disrespecting me!"
The problem Eric encountered was collecting taxes.
Whenever it comes to collecting taxes, people from anywhere will of course cry poor...and Le Ang's men have not yet learned how to deal with this situation, and Le Ang himself actually has no experience.
Godric did give some suggestions and put Eric in charge of dividing the non-commissioned officers into dozens of groups. Each group would be divided into an area, such as a street or a small village, and then a quota would be allocated to each area.
This is actually the traditional way of levying taxes, and the non-commissioned officers are equivalent to traditional knights.
But this traditional method of having tax collectors collect taxes and knights assist is not very suitable for Leon's territory.
Most of the sergeants under the Lord came from Maixiang Territory and Bailubao, and they were not from Changhe Town. In addition, they had never done tax collection...
Therefore, the non-commissioned officers will appear helpless when they arrive at the local areas.
The rapid expansion of territory will cause problems of one kind or another.
In fact, Li Ang's taxes were not heavy. The total amount was less than twice the national tax, and it was levied directly in proportion to people's land and house contracts registered in the administrative office.
This is definitely the lightest tax rate in the entire Sarleon Territory, and it is basically levied in proportion to wealth.
But no one would be willing to pay even the lightest tax...
So the lord plans to use some special methods.
He directly asked Eric to take people to go door to door to publicize the new policy.
For those who automatically pay taxes before the end of October, regardless of whether they were originally businessmen or civilians, records will be kept and tax payment certificates will be issued. Maixiang International will give priority to families with tax payment certificates.
Whether it is recruitment or other business activities, those who pay taxes will be given priority.
For those who are not so active in crying poor, we will provide a loan policy that allows them to apply for low-interest loans from banks. Before mid-November, the annual interest rate is only 12% - this interest rate is less than half of a commercial loan because there is no compound interest.
After all, many of them may not have cash, but as long as they have assets, whether it is real estate or land, they can always find collateral.
The extremely poor people who really have no assets do not have to pay taxes, but they must go to build roads or be recruited as militia. If they have skills, they can do other jobs. There are plenty of jobs in Maixiangling and Bailubao.
The lord does not support lazy people. You must either pay money or work hard. Beggars will be driven out of the city and left to fend for themselves.
If they don't want to pay anything and just keep crying poor, then after November 15th, Eric will bring his troops to every household and force them to "borrow money" to pay taxes.
And at that time, the monthly interest rate was 2%, and the interest was compounded monthly.
What? You call this a forced loan?
No, no, no, this is good policy in this era, and it is exactly the same as helping farmers with loans.
Don't you have money to pay the tax? The lord has lent you money to pay the tax, but if you don't do it, then you don't respect the lord at all...
"Sir, this... forced borrowing of money, will it drive 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 would I let them stay here? However, if someone borrows money from me and leaves my territory without paying it back, then there is nothing to say. I will just issue a warrant to arrest them and bring them back to do hard labor."
The lord now looks like a tyrant.
"I understand, sir, but if nothing unexpected happens, I'm afraid both you and I will be scolded..."
Eric nodded helplessly.
"It doesn't matter. This will help us know who the enemy is... Eric, actually, we need enemies right now."
The lord waved his hand and looked at the map on the table.
