Change is now, right now when I communicate with you..."

"If you are still thinking about the new problems you are about to encounter in the same old way, then I am sorry, first of all, the laws of the kingdom do not allow it. We are a civilized society, civilized people, decent people, and no coercive means such as violence are allowed! Secondly, the opportunity will be far away from you, and you will lose the opportunity to get a lot of dividends in this reform!! ”

Mormont's words caused the nobles to talk, and everyone eagerly discussed them with the other councillors around them.

"Mr. Speaker, can we engage in all the business activities of the industry?"

While there was a lot of discussion in the crowd, Locke's arrangement, Viscount Christian, stood up and asked. The gray-haired old paladin was successfully promoted to the knighthood because of his relationship with Locke, and he was also given some positions in the army to his juniors.

Once again, the buzz grew.

"Silence!" Mormont picked up the small wooden hammer next to the podium and slammed it on the table. It wasn't until the noise around him subsided that he continued, "Greetings Viscount Christian! ”

"I need to remind you that there are some industries, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Commerce allows MPs to enter, but there are some industries that are not allowed to enter. Specifically, you can go to Viscount Arnold to find out the specific situation. ”

"If the kingdom is going to develop commerce, why should there be restricted industries?" A nobleman asked puzzled. "Isn't that contrary to what you just said, Prime Minister?"

"Because we have to take care of the feelings of the common people," Mormont explained with a smile, "I know that the councillors have enough money, but the civilians don't, and once you enter the market, you will easily squeeze out their share." ”

"What I need to let the councillors know is that giving hope to civilians is the main reason you can earn gold in the future. Because they are the main consumer group. You may not understand the consumer relationship for the time being, but you need to remember that in order to make the market healthier in the future, the Ministry of Commerce will draw a red line, and this red line will be adhered to by the royal company when the business is withering, and will not force the adult company. This will allow you to earn more gold. Instead of just killing all the fish at once, the next time you can only starve at the empty pond. ”

Locke looked at the nobles below, most of them were ignorant, only a few nodded thoughtfully, and some would peek at themselves. Of course, there are many people who are confused for a while, but then they don't take these things seriously. Obviously, they don't pay much attention to business activities.

After all, the landed aristocracy has been passed down on this planet for thousands of years, and for these nobles, there is everything with land!

"In order to enable the Councillors to establish a commercial system, His Majesty has banned most of the goblin merchants from engaging in commercial activities in Lordaeron, and this is an opportunity for Your Majesty to give you. You know, goblins are a bunch of people with an extremely keen sense of business. But this time will not be too long, no more than five years at most! At the same time, His Majesty will also levy a commodity tax of more than 20% on foreign goods to protect the goods of adults from entering the market. ”

"If you have this in mind, then go to Viscount Arnold and apply for the relevant licenses. It is important to warn you that the Ministry of the Interior will crack down on unlicensed business activities nationwide. In the case of a minor case, the property will be confiscated, and the title will be removed in the worst case. I want to think more about deciding how to do it. ”

"Finally, gentlemen. Your doubts will be answered here, and civilians will not be treated like that. Don't let your Majesty's expectations of you be disappointed, and hope that you will bring good tax revenue to the kingdom in the future. ”

"Oh! Speaking of taxes. Mormont suddenly laughed, and he clapped his hands to attract the attention of the nobles, "Don't think about tax evasion, especially if there is a Ministry of the Interior. The Ombudsman and the newly established Tax Administration of the Ministry of Finance will keep an eye on each one. The tax is not much, and it is just a feather on the turkey for the adults..."

Mormont's words made the nobles in the hall laugh... Get used to... After being tossed by Locke for so many years, they are also used to some of Locke's operations. Although Locke pressed them too military power, he was still quite lenient in terms of finances. This is one of the reasons why, although the nobles are full of complaints, they rarely have rebellious thoughts.

Although Locke doesn't know much about the tax routines of his previous life, he can always be blinded when he watches more TV, and the tax officials in this world are not fuel-efficient lamps. Locke told them about his past life, and they would draw inferences from each other, and in Locke's opinion, taxes could at least be stable.

The first session of the House of Lords, which was lively and much of the aristocracy, came to an end. As the nobles present stood up and watched, Locke took the lead and walked out.

What kind of chemical reaction can be produced in this world by the combination of some of the characteristics of capitalism and socialism, to be honest, Locke does not know.

He had seen the evil side of capitalism, and it was because of this that he did everything possible to give the nobles a hint in their hearts before the formation of the capitalist society... Only by being kind to civilians can we gain more... Killing chickens and taking eggs is tantamount to self-destruction, and so on.

What needs to be done has been done at least for now, and it depends on how it develops in the future.

The wide square outside the council hall was filled with noble carriages marked with their respective coats of arms, and Locke moved the muscles around his neck to step into the carriage with the coat of arms of the Harvey-Minethil family.

After being officially crowned king, the Harvey family and the Minahill family officially merged into a new family.

As for whether their children will separate and form a new family in the future, that is their business. But after Locke is crowned king, he will not change his surname, and the child born to him and Kalia will have to change this surname. In fact, the integration between noble families was quite frequent in this era and was a normal operation. There's no need to make a big deal about such a small thing, he has more to do.

It wasn't long before Prime Minister Mormont and Minister of Agriculture and Home Affairs Berg Hansen got into Locke's carriage together, and together they set out for Dragoncastle.

"What the prime minister said is very good, at least I have revealed what I want to say in my heart." In the spacious carriage, Berg handed Mormont a cup of tea, then poured himself a cup and drank it as he smiled, "I thought you were going to sweat profusely when they asked." ”

"Does Your Majesty need it?" Mormont first raised the Ningshen Flower Tea in his hand to signal Locke, and after receiving the refusal, he took a sip and said slowly, "This is all Your Majesty's idea, I just repeated it." ”

"Don't slap my ass, it's all your work." Locke couldn't help but laugh and retorted, "Without your support, all of this would be just an attic in the air." ”

"But Your Majesty, there is something that needs to be resolved as soon as possible." Mormont put down the teacup in his hand and looked at Locke, "Last week, Your Majesty just promoted the titles of the nobles. However, the corresponding territorial rewards were not divided simultaneously. The aristocrats are a little uneasy, you know, what they hold in their hands is what reassures them and makes them more supportive of our reforms. This will also bring the best members of their family into our positive and negative balance, which will boost the momentum for the further development of the kingdom. ”

"This matter is urgent, dividing the territory of hundreds of nobles at one time is not a small amount of work." That being said, Locke still turned his head to look at Berg, "How is the division and replacement of the territory going?" ”

"There is a shortage of personnel, and it can only be done gradually." Berg shrugged helplessly, "I even borrowed soldiers from the Ministry of Defense from Duke Abydis to help us measure the land. ”

For Berg, measuring territory is undoubtedly the most hated thing. The officials of the department under his command climbed the mountains and mountains and crossed the jungle every day, surveying and mapping the map while measuring the extent of the actual aristocratic territory, and creating obvious signs on the edge of the territory. This is no small project.

For example, the smallest barony has an area of about 120 square kilometers, while the larger barony has a lot of 200 square kilometers. As for the viscounts, they are generally between 335 and 550 square kilometers, and some of the higher viscounts, such as Arnold, the Minister of Commerce, have a territory of more than 550 square kilometers, reaching 650 square kilometers. As for the counties, it's even bigger. In Locke's system, the earl is already a top-level title, and it is basically impossible for the duke to follow other nobles. Therefore, most of the counties are between 600 square kilometers and 950 square kilometers.

It's really hard to measure such a large area, especially if you rely on your feet to walk all the way. This is also part of the reason why Locke was not afraid of rebellion after depriving the nobles of the right to recruit private soldiers.

Most of Lordaeron's land belongs to the royal family, and there is no harm in enclosing some remote areas with no obvious mining resources to them, and they will not occupy much land. In addition, in the past, according to the relationship of obligations between the feudal lord and the vassal, the vassal was required to provide military service to the feudal lord as a condition. However, in the new reform, the nobles were no longer allowed to have their own vassals, and Locke would also include their domains in the newly divided provinces of the kingdom, under the protection of the Ministry of the Interior, avoiding the sense of crisis caused by the absence of a noble private army.

In the same way, the royal family will not easily do anything excessive against the nobles' domains. All this is written into the law, unless the nobles rebel against the royal family and the country. Otherwise, the land will be confiscated, and the person may have to walk on the gallows once.

But the obligations are also mutual, as vassals because they don't have an army, they can't help the feudal lords with military equipment as they did in the past, and of course Locke doesn't expect them to gain military power. They only need to pay 5% of the income from the fields for the year as taxes, and grain and gold can be used as taxes. At the same time, when the nobles inherited the title, they only had to pay a territorial inheritance tax. Not too much, certainly not too little. As long as the heir to the title pays taxes, he can inherit the land that his father has been entitled. Locke will not force the nobles, and the nobles with less territory will have correspondingly less taxes than those of the same level. Moreover, if the heirs of the nobility are not yet minors, the royal family will take custody of them, and they will be able to inherit the territory after they reach adulthood, and they will not have to pay the inheritance tax and fines of the territory.

This was a means of protecting the nobles' domains, and this initiative was supported by some nobles, at least one thing was clear, that is, as nobles, the land could be hereditary forever.

In this way, the problem of aristocratic fiefdoms was solved, and the control of the central government over the localities was successfully strengthened.