People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted

Chapter 139 Kill the chicken to warn the monkey

My name is Nasser, a Bedouin who came on a pilgrimage.

Every morning, when it was still daylight, I had to get up from the haystack and work in the ridges of the field.

The dromedary I came on was mortgaged to a Jewish businessman because I couldn’t afford the city tax of Khalil (Hebron).

But this only lasted me for one month. In the second month, I was forced to join a local headman as a farmhand in the fields.

The days of planing in the land are constant and boring.

Until that day, I saw the new lord, the Frank Earl named Lothar, and his heavily armed cavalry escorting a carriage with a ferocious dragon head.

God, that's definitely a dragon, not some other rare beast.

The new lord turned out to be a dragon slayer!
He rode on a tall horse covered with a white riding coat.

He has a handsome appearance, and his armor is also shining brightly, and he is accompanied by two female knights who look exciting.

I have to admit, I was so stupid that I forgot that I should back down to the side of the road and bow.

His cavalry tried to drive me away, but he stopped them.

He kindly asked me in Kurdish what kind of difficulties I have in my daily life-by the holy fire, this pagan lord can speak Kurdish fluently.

I was so frightened at the time that I hesitated for a long time before saying: "My lord, I hope I can raise my salary a bit, otherwise I won't even be able to fill my stomach after a year of hard work."

The handsome pagan lord graciously granted my request.

And soon, my life was changed.

The headman gritted his teeth and expressed that he wanted to improve our treatment. The daily salary during the harvest season was increased from two copper coins to 3.5.

At the very least, this will allow me to buy a small portion of dried figs as a snack when I am working every day, and I can have a small glass of wheat juice or a bowl of stew for dinner in the evening.

Praise Count Lothar.

May the holy fire bless this generous dragon-slaying hero!

...

In the lord's hall.

The huge banner of the double-headed eagle hangs on the wall, and below, there is an extra line of small characters written in Latin - bathing in dragon's blood.

A dried and tanned head of a giant dragon was fixed in the center of the two banners, above the lord's throne.

The craftsman of the leather craftsman is good, the ferocious horns and eyes of the Earth Walking Dragon seem to come alive at any moment, and choose to devour anyone.

At this time, five full days had passed since the night of the dragon slaying.

Leonard led the people inside the city wall and built the most basic wooden fort. Next, they will use the by-products brought by the mining of iron ore from the mine - "stone" to gradually replace the wooden fort with A brand new castle.

And the tree of life has already taken root near the mine, the so-called single tree becomes a forest - soon, the tree of life, nourished by the flesh and blood of the giant dragon, will develop into an oasis.

Even the hydrological environment there will be changed, and the groundwater will gather into depressions and gradually form a lake.

It is foreseeable that in the future, this place will flourish.

Lothar named this new city - New Habsburg, and included it in his own territory.

In this way, he owns one city, two forts and three fiefdoms.

In the empty corridor, there was the sound of heavy iron boots stepping on the marble tiles.

The pace is slow but strong.

The young earl dozed off on the throne, raised his head slightly when he heard the movement, and asked, "Have you found evidence that Hussein funded the robbers?"

"found it."

There were a little blood stains on Rangna's armor.

She smiled and said: "The one hundred city guards you selected are all very good fighters. They have experienced many battles and know how to cooperate. Besieged and strangled."

"It must be admitted that they are worthy of the eagle flag, and they are also worthy of the ancient empire that has been dusty in history."

"That's natural."

Lothar nodded slightly: "Since the evidence is already there, let's prepare to attack Hussein."

"Remember to leave enough alive under the premise of ensuring your own safety, and arrest all of them to Hebron. I will read their sins in front of everyone and send them to the gallows with my own hands."

There are many ways to rule the people.

The simplest is the two word "threat".

A benevolent lord may be loved by people, but he will never be feared by people. The way to do it is to give kindness and power together.

After ordering the leaders of Hebron, the local tyrants, to increase the salaries of farm laborers, some people have begun to be dissatisfied with the new lord of Lothar.

But due to the power of Lothar and the dragon slayer, they were so frightened that they were silent, and there was not even a single person who dared to object, so they all agreed to Lothar's request.

This is actually not what Lothar wants.

Only when someone opposes him can he kill chickens and monkeys, but the monkeys are too skilled, and no one is willing to be a "chicken", so Lothar needs to take the initiative to find them.

"By the way, seal up their property and name the field 'one-third of the field', which means that to cultivate this field, you only need to pay one-third of the income to me."

"These fields are given priority to Christians, or pagans willing to convert."

Refuse middlemen to make the difference!

Jeanna snorted softly: "Forgive me for speaking bluntly, Hernusburg and the land there should be my fiefdom."

Lothar was not straightforward, and his anger was strong: "First pay back the money I used to upgrade you!"

Jeanna was at a loss for words.

"Okay, I will carry out your will, Lord Lothar!"

Watching Jeanna leave.

Lothar thought secretly.

In this era, serfs in Western Europe were not mentioned.

If only the freedman's farm laborers are counted, the tax they need to pay should be between 50.00% and 70.00%.

This includes religious taxes.

The so-called tenth tax is not really just paying one-tenth of income and movable property.

For example, the Saladin tax is an additional tithe.

Only one-third of the charge is really a very generous lord.

And does Lothar receive a third of the loss?

of course not!
Because the output of Marles Blacksmith's shop is gradually increasing, he will lease a large number of farm tools to the farm laborers in the territory to increase production.

In addition, the middleman is removed to make the difference.

This third is much more than what he could earn before.

Hernusborg, Cypron village.

The taxpayer of Cypron Village is a Saracens named Hussein. When the Fatimid dynasty still ruled Jerusalem, he was the taxpayer of this village.

He owns thousands of acres of land. Although these nominally belong to the Frankish nobles in Hernus Castle, in fact, it is better to say that he only needs to pay an annual fee, and the land belongs to him.

In the center of the village, his mansion occupies an extremely large area, capable of accommodating hundreds of people.

He personally raised a 30-man guard, and everyone was even more armored.

It is not inferior to the standing army of the lord here.

Hussein's face was a little ugly. Recently, the new lord had granted Hernusburg to a female knight.

His men in Hebron tried to visit, but were turned away.

This gave him the idea of ​​sending his bandits to intercept and kill the female knight who hadn't arrived yet.

"Hey, what an unintelligent woman, if you are like Countess Julia, why don't you accept my offerings and enjoy the luxurious life of nobility?"

Hussain sighed softly.

If he had a choice, he would not use such drastic means.

But the new lord obviously has no intention of compromising with him, and once his affairs are exposed and Earl Frank's army is attracted, he will die without a burial.

But at this moment, a servant walked in quickly and reported: "Hernus's new lord has arrived. She brought more than [-] armored cavalry and [-] heavy infantry, and she will soon reach the entrance of the village."

Hussein's face was a little panicked.

"How come there are so many?"

Even the original lord of Fort Hornus had only twenty or so armored soldiers!
(End of this chapter)