This mid-level knight may not be the most accomplished among the Pompeii family's knights who have made a living outside the home, but in the past hundred years, Ston and Pompeii have been the most accomplished among the Pompeii family's knights who have made a living outside the home.
Especially the ability to make a living outside is very strong.
Because he has been a mercenary, he is very familiar with various situations in the Orange Province. Even if there is something unclear, he can still obtain some information through his personal network.
Luther entrusted the task of introducing the population to Ston and Pompeii. This appointment was absolutely correct.
This time, following Ston and Pompeii, there were several knights working as guards, a team of thirty guards, and several scholars responsible for purchasing and accounting.
After a long journey for a period of time, Stone, Pompeii and his party arrived at the territory of Marquis Parker.
This is a typical marquis territory, consisting of several cities, plus a dozen towns, countless villages, and a knightly territory.
Marquis Parker far surpasses Baron Barton in terms of military strength, reputation, and influence.
But this marquis is still not as good as the powerful Earl of Libya, the largest family in Orange.
Because the Libyan count family not only has the most powerful territory, power, and military strength in Orange, but also because it is one of the eight nobles under the command of the first king Micho.
The Earl of Libya's family prestige also exceeds that of the Marquis of Parker.
It can even be said that the influence and strength of these two families in the entire Orange Province are not at the same level.
By the way, the Marquis of Parker is also a branch of the Prussian royal family, one of the branches of the royal family. This is why the family title of the Marquis of Parker is higher than that of the Earl of Libya.
However, due to that major event in Prussian history, the relationship between the Marquis Parker family and the royal family became increasingly estranged. Instead, they became allies of the Libyan Counts, and became a real noble.
The Kingdom of Prussia is located in the south of the mainland, close to the sea. It is only because there is a large area of undeveloped forest in the south that it does not directly border the sea.
The Province of Orange is one of the southernmost territories of the Kingdom of Prussia.
In the entire province, there are twenty or thirty nobles with actual titles, who are not subordinate to each other. They are all vassals of the King of Prussia in name. In fact, the largest leader of the alliance between them is the Count of Libya.
In this large province, some local nobles' territories are bordered by ownerless forests, and some local nobles' territories are adjacent to the territories of other nobles, leaving no room for development and expansion.
For example, the Pompeii family can directly cut down forests and build farmland. As long as they can attract free people and buy serfs, they can expand the entire territory many times.
Of course, there are certain risks in deforestation, because there are still many monsters in the forest, a harsh environment, and even giant dragons.
Unless the entire Kingdom of Prussia once again calls on all the nobles in the country to expand southward, and carry out the eighth expansion in Prussian history, the entire forest can be developed and the kingdom's power can reach the sea.
However, due to that major incident, the prestige of the King of Prussia declined, and the field nobles and the palace nobles became two vaguely opposing forces. Therefore, the expansion of the Kingdom of Prussia to the south became far away.
Without the endless forest to expand, if the territory of the inland nobles wanted to develop, there was only one way to develop business within the entire territory.
However, business development depends on the lord's personal ability, so in most of the inland aristocratic territories, taxation will not develop for a long time.
Some nobles spend a lot of money, but their income is not high. In this case, what should we do?
There is only one road.
Gather as much land as possible in the territory. Bankrupt the freedmen and increase the number of serfs, because raising serfs is like raising livestock, as long as the minimum level of survival materials is provided.
This is a hugely profitable deal.
This is what Marquis Parker did. Because Marquis Parker would do anything to bankrupt those free people, even assassinate them, send out the army, pretend to be thieves, and clean up the free people in the territory.
Because of Marquis Parker's cruelty, he even got a nickname, "The Executioner".
There are many free names who have lost their land in the entire territory, and the situation in the entire territory is very depressed and even chaotic.
The number of thieves and thieves is gradually increasing.
Nobles even believe that the territory governed by the Marquis of Parker is an important source of rebellion. If chaos occurs in the Orange Province, then the Marquis of Parker's territory will definitely be one of the sources.
Pompeii, on the other hand, learned about this situation through his own intelligence connections, and came to the territory of Marquis Parker in a hurry, for the sake of the free people here who had lost their land.
Although Marquis Parker has several cities, the main city is Sparta, with a population of more than 100,000. It is a large city second to none in the entire Orange Province.
Today at noon, under the persecution of the scorching sun, the Knights of Pompeii and their men hurriedly came to this city.
Throughout the Kingdom of Prussia, most cities have no city entry fees. This is because those smart lords know that if they want to continue to prosper in their territory, they must cancel the city entry fees. The city entry taxes will lead to a decline in commercial activities and lead to the city’s
Getting depressed day by day.
But it was obvious that Marquis Parker was not a shrewd lord. He collected entry fees in the city of Sparta and established a series of standards from caravans to civilians, nobles and travelers.
Stun, Pompeii and his party rode on tall horses, pulled several carts, and were accompanied by a group of guards. They looked like a caravan and mercenaries.
The guard responsible for guarding the city gate was treated like a mercenary and received a considerable city entry fee based on head count.
After paying the money to buy the road, Knights Stone and Parker entered the city of Sparta, and relied on the previous layout to go directly to the official residence of the city lord in the city of Sparta.
After entering the city, the first thing you notice is the aura of malnutrition. People with numb faces and sluggish breath appear to be malnourished. People are doing nothing on the streets.
Beggars can be seen everywhere.
I also saw several thieves in Pompeii, attacking people on the road, some succeeded, and some were caught.
The one who gets caught will be miserable.
First he was beaten severely, and then he was judged at the city lord's official residence.
Because the lords made their own laws, the standards were different. The lighter ones were imprisonment and whipping, while the more severe ones were chopping off the hands.
And Stone heard that in Marquis Parker's territory, thieves wanted to chop off his right hand.
In addition, there are traces of defecation and defecation everywhere in the city, and no one cares about it. The whole city exudes a stench.
He looked like he was about to subjugate his country.