The men of Glynton gathered in front of the lord's house, and the blacksmith Mickey, who had no wife, was also in the crowd because he had a son, and most of the people who knew him greeted him.

"Hi, Mickey." Several villagers patted him on the sturdy shoulder and greeted him in a friendly manner.

"Hello." Mickey is a taciturn man, but surprisingly he has a good reputation among the villagers.

"Mickey, do you know what the Baron has summoned us for?" Someone asked curiously.

"I don't know, I just received a notification from Elder Warren too." Mickey twisted his stout wrists, his beard unkempt and his leather apron around his neck, and he forgot to untie it at a time when he was notified.

"Is there going to be a tax increase?" Some villagers said worriedly that as serfs, what they were most afraid of was raising taxes by nobles, but Greenton's taxes were very low, and even if Bruce raised the tax by one percent, it would be much less than in other territories.

"Probably not, the war has just ended, why shouldn't taxes be raised?" Said another craftsman working in a charcoal kiln.

"Shhhh The man standing in front saw Bruce and his retainers coming out, so they made a silent gesture backwards.

Bruce wore his aristocratic garment, which had been found in Jeffrey's castle, and a whole box of clothes belonged to him, and a black cape fluttered behind him, and he wore a leather belt around his waist, inlaid with turquoise and several rubies, and at the front of the belt was a delicate copper plate buckle.

"How many are there?" Bruce looked at the people gathered in front of his lord's house and turned back to Phoebe.

"There are two hundred and sixty people here." Phoebe tells Bruce about the count.

"More than two hundred." Bruce smacked his mouth, Greenton had absorbed a lot of new people, some serfs who had escaped from other territories, but even so, population was still a serious problem for Bruce.

"Do you want us to announce the decree first?" Edward glanced at Phoebe, and he said to Bruce.

"Yes." Bruce nodded, and Edward loudly announced the decree in the meeting, and the serfs were at a loss when they heard it, except for the new word "tribune", everything else seemed to be the same as usual.

The serfs cultivated the lord's land, and in addition to paying taxes, they also had to undertake military service, which they had done since ancient times, and they all looked at Edward with indifference.

"Do they understand?" After Edward's announcement, he looked at the silent scene and said with some embarrassment.

"You don't understand, do you?" Phoebe coughed softly, thinking that just by announcing it like this, the serfs would not understand at all.

"Brethren who join the Grington Militia, in addition to paying half the tax less than the others, you will be able to keep your booty on the battlefield, and you will be equipped with a piece of armor and a weapon, and you will even be paid a silver coin every week." Bruce pushed Edward away in front of him, and he announced loudly to the serfs.

"Oooo At first, the serfs did not understand the so-called militia and the role of electing the protector, but Bruce's words were simple and easy to understand, in addition to paying less taxes, he could also get a silver coin a week to join the militia group, so a fool would not do it.

"I want to join."

"I'm going to join in, too."

Suddenly, the crowd boiled, and everyone pushed and rushed towards Bruce and the others, but fortunately, the spearmen and pestle soldiers who had been prepared formed a human wall in front of Bruce and stopped the enthusiastic people.

"Looks like they should get it." Bruce smiled and said to his retainers.

Anne directed the servants to bring out a wooden table and stool, and Phoebe sat behind the wooden table with goose feathers, and he dipped ink and wrote the names of those who signed up on parchment.

"Tell these recruits that when they complete a year of service, they will be given a promotion according to their rank." Bruce looked at the serfs lined up and said to Stukov beside him.

"Military rank? What is that? Stukov asked, surprised.

"It is the process of upgrading the soldier's experience and the longer the service, and it is also the way for the soldier to be promoted, and those who perform well can even be promoted continuously." Bruce touched his lips and said with a smile that it was all like a fun strategy game.

The retainers were puzzled by Bruce's words, but Bruce didn't care, he would gradually implement the system in the army, and the Greenton militia was his first experiment.

"Okay, who are we going to nominate as the military tribune?" When everyone was registered, the serfs gathered together, and they sat on the ground talking to each other.

"I propose Mickey." Someone said.

"Why don't you choose me, I'm Clarke."

"Hahaha, you clown, don't think we chose you."

After a period of commotion, the serfs identified Mickey as their military tribune, and it seemed to them that it was like a leader chosen in a busy farming time, without any difference.

"Then the civil tribune is Elder Warren, do you have any objections?" Bruce asked them.

"Nope." The serfs looked at each other, shook their heads, and replied, in fact, Elder Warren had been in charge of the affairs of the village, and now he only had a definite position.

"Very well, those who have completed the registration can go back, you will soon be notified of the training, you must act in accordance with the notice of the military tribune, if there is anyone who disobeys the order, I will be dealt with by military law." Bruce looked at them and announced to them.

"Ah, what?" The serfs opened their mouths wide when they heard this, they were just a group of ordinary serfs, and now Bruce wanted to restrain them with the decree of the sergeants in the castle, which made the serfs very uncomfortable.

"If you understand it, you have to say it out loud, sir." Bruce suddenly roared at them, his voice like that of an angry lion, and the frightened serfs reflexively straightened up.

"Yes, yes, male, oh no, sir." The serfs, including the blacksmith Mickey, said loudly with a panicked face.

"Okay, disband." Bruce waved at them and told them to leave the front of the lord's house.

"Lord Baron, you can't be too strict with these people, or they will soon give up, I understand these serfs." Edward looked at the serious Bruce, shrugged his shoulders and said to him.

"It's just right to give up, and it also saves me a lot of money." Bruce said disapprovingly, he was going to go to the chaff, and what he needed was an army with an arm-on-arm command, not a whole bunch of barbarian rabble.