William then continued, "As a lord, I have the obligation to protect you, so I will recruit guard members in the village, provide food, accommodation, and training!"
The villagers' eyes lit up, and some young men were ready to take action. Providing food and accommodation was enough to attract many people in this era, especially those families with less land but a larger family.
Recruiting members of the escort team is something William has wanted to do for a long time. After all, you can't always let a baron take the lead. He has to take charge of the entire formation!
But this matter is not urgent, he can take his time, it is not something he urgently wants to do.
"Similarly, with obligations comes power!" William's words spread throughout the place, and the villagers all knew that the highlight was coming. They all cheered up and listened attentively, "As your lord, as the leader of this land,
, the sole owner of mountains, rivers and forests, swamps, I have the right to charge a reasonable fee for the protection I provide!”
"Dear Baron Dickas, your request is as normal and reasonable as a person's need to eat. I would like to ask how much you plan to charge?" Counting from the right, there is a slightly fat middle man in the middle of the third row.
A young villager asked William.
"Tell me your name." The courage of anyone who dares to eat the first crab is worthy of encouragement. William's eyes flashed with admiration and he looked at him and said.
"Adams, the distinguished Lord Baron Dickas, my name is Carl Adams, and people here call me Mill Adams!" Sensing the eyes of William and nearby villagers, the only miller in the village said slightly excitedly, and he
I like this feeling of attention.
"Very good, Adams! But let me remind you, if you want to express your opinion, you must raise your hand before speaking. You can only speak after I agree."
When William said this, the smile on Adams' face suddenly froze, and the nearby villagers also sneered.
"Then, Adams, step back. Then raise your hands to ask questions." William said tirelessly. He had to instill this new behavior habit into his people. He didn't want to have a bunch of people grab him every time he held a meeting to discuss it.
Leave your opinion!
"Yes." Adams stepped back and then raised his hand again.
William looked at all the villagers and said majestically, "Not just Adams, but everyone else too! If you want to express your opinion, I will naturally welcome it, but raise your hand first!"
Old John behind William was worried, thinking that William was too approachable and would make these untouchables lose their due respect. However, it was not easy to talk to William about this at this time. He could only wait to talk to William about it later.
Old Gretel in the team also smiled secretly and thought to himself, Old Gretel has met so many lords, this new lord is really a different lord!
After William completed a tour of all the villagers, he turned his attention to the embarrassed Adams and praised him first, "Adams, you are the bravest person I have seen today!"
Adams was stunned for a moment, then he grinned to both sides and narrowed his eyes, "Thank you, Lord Baron, for the compliment! Thank you, Lord Baron, for the compliment!"
William chuckled lightly, his expression became serious again, and he said seriously, "Now, let me answer your question. You asked me how much I charge. I think 40% of the harvest is a reasonable range!"
As soon as he finished speaking, all the villagers fell silent and looked at William with a look of shock and despair.
William frowned involuntarily. When he thought about it, the figure of 40% was still relatively low. Many lords collected more than this amount in ground rent, not to mention they also charged other taxes. Their subjects, after working hard for a year, could get
One-third of the harvest was already the result of the lord's generosity.
Could it be that the good old days when no one collected taxes have gone too long, but now when it comes to collecting taxes, everyone has an opinion.
Sure enough, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality!
If this is really the case... William felt a flame rising in his heart.
He paused and then said, "I want to reiterate that the 40% I collect not only includes your land rent, but also includes the taxes you pay for cutting down trees in the forest and fishing in the water. In addition to commercial taxes, other
The taxes are all in it!”
Old John was anxious and couldn't help shouting, "Baron, you don't need to be polite to them!"
"Old John, of course I have my own considerations." William said without looking back.
Old John had no choice but to close his mouth and look angrily at the group of untouchables below who still looked dissatisfied!
"What? Do you think it's too low? Maybe I should close it a little higher." William was a little tired and had no one under his command. He could only say this kind of thing in person.
The villagers in the team couldn't help but whisper, and the sounds added up, just like a swarm of mosquitoes gathering together in the evening, and the sound of flapping their wings was so noisy!
William shouted loudly, covering everyone's voices, "Old John, help me see who is talking? Pull him out and whip him ten times, and fine him a franc silver coin!"
As soon as the words came out, no villager dared to speak, and the whole place fell into an eerie silence.
Old John has no use again.
After a pause, an old man among the villagers raised his hand tremblingly.
"Say it!" William pointed at the old man and said.
"Thank you, Lord Baron! I am Grete, old Grete. People in the village ask me to deliver messages to Grete." The old man introduced himself first.
"Yeah." William nodded, not sure whether he should or not.
"Lord Baron, you see, our life is already so difficult. If you add such a heavy burden, I think our entire village will not be able to survive this winter. Lord Baron, do you want a place where no one will farm for you?"
Territory? So, I beg you, on behalf of everyone in the small village of Nisei, I beg you, please lower the tax!"
The other villages in the small village of Nisei nodded in agreement and looked at William with hopeful eyes.
"You damn untouchables, are you threatening me?" At this time, Old John stood up and reprimanded everyone.
William remained silent.
This in itself is an affirmation of Old John's behavior.
Old Gretel waved his hands and said, "Mr. John, we never meant this. We respect and welcome our Lord, Baron Dickas, more than anyone else! However, the shoulders of the small village of Nisei have already been weighed down by thousands of boulders. We
We can no longer afford it, a piece of thatch will cause the entire village to perish!"
"Untouchable, put away your sophistry! In front of Old John, all your attempts will not succeed." Old John thought that Old Grete was lying to him.
"Mr. John, I can prove that what Old Gretel said is true! We really can't afford such a high rent anymore." Adams interrupted, swearing.
Old John suddenly screamed, "Untouchable, you didn't raise your hands to speak, and you violated the lord's laws! You will be whipped and fined!"
Adams was stunned.
At this time, William frowned, blocked Old John's action, then looked at Old Gretel, his tone became calm and said, "I'm very strange! I hope you can give me an answer!"
"I will tell you everything I know!" Old Gretel bowed.
"Well! As far as I know, the 40% ground rent is the lowest level in the entire principality, not to mention that I have included so many taxes. Compared with the 40% ground rent I set, the taxes collected by other lords
It will only be higher, never less, 50% or 60% is not uncommon, and even 70% is common."
"If they can survive, why can't you?"
William's question is very similar to what his school teacher used to say when criticizing students in his previous life, "Why can so-and-so do it, and why can't you?"
"Is it really not possible, or is there some reason?" William's words already contained a hint of murderous intent.
Old Grete smiled bitterly, "Sir, the Harvest Moon is coming soon, so the Frost Moon is coming soon too!"
"oh."
"In the Frost Moon, heavy snow covers the forests and swamps, and food will become scarce! And those terrifying creatures living deep in the forest will come out to look for food, and the small village of Nisei is where they will bear the brunt."
"What kind of scary creature?" William asked with his heart moving.
"Wolves! And lizard men in the swamp?" Old Gretel hesitated for a moment, and then said.
The villagers had sad expressions on their faces, as if they were thinking of unhappy past events.
"Lizard man?" This was something William didn't know. He looked back at Old John.
Old John also looked ignorant.
William looked at Old Grete again and said, "Tell me about the lizard people."
"Yes, Lord Baron Dickas." Old Gretel responded, "Lizardmen are humanoid creatures living in the Shadow Swamp. They look like a large upright lizard, with sharp fangs in their mouths.
Their bodies are covered with a thick layer of scales, and they also use some simple weapons, and there are a lot of them."
"Whenever heavy snow falls, the lizardmen in the Shadow Swamp swarm out in search of food. We humans are their diet, and my father died under their fangs back then."
"Such a thing actually exists!" William suddenly realized. No wonder this Shadow Swamp has been like a thorn between the Golden Rose Kingdom and the Faldiel Principality for so many years, but no country has completely conquered it!
In addition to the problems of the swamp itself, the existence of lizardmen is also an important factor that cannot be ignored.