The holy war against Ikzar in St. Corlesman's war ended in this way, fast, but effective, the whole war took only about a month, but the results were very rich, not only annihilating more than 10,000 enemies, but also forcing the warlords and nobles who had no intention of fighting outside the country to cut down several cities and castles. The only problem that needs to cause headaches for the Duchy is the Tubmo soldiers hoarded on the back of the Duchy, but presumably those actions of the Tubmo Empire are just a warning to St. Colesman.

Although many parts of the land seized from Iqzar are located in barren deserts and deserts, and there are few areas of abundance, they are not in any way comparable to those of other fertile lands on the continent, such as the Wolf region. But compared to Dar Azzor, a barren place that has not been fertile since ancient times, it is not bad for St. Colesmans to occupy cities like Safed and Salem.

The arable land in and around the Safar alone could alleviate the food crisis in the principality, or at least free the principality from its embarrassing status as a food importer.

Although the Duchy of St. Colesman, with an incomparably glorious title and a land that can be said to be lower than average on the western continent, the treasury is not very rich, but it cannot be said to be poor, which can be seen from the ability of the principality to wage a foreign war. You must know that the cost of starting a war is far greater than people think, and the expenses involved in this are not only rewards for soldiers, but also materials and food for coordinating the logistics supply of 20,000 people. Weapons, arrows..................

If you say. This time the war ended in defeat for the whole country, and the huge emptiness of the treasury was enough to cause internal turmoil in the principality. Thankfully. The principality succeeded, and what he gained was far greater than what he paid.

But it is embarrassing that such a country needs to import grain from abroad, and most of this grain is transported by land from the Tubomo Empire in the north, and some is sold by merchants from other countries across the sea.

Once the Principality's food source is cut off, a country with millions of people will face the pitiful situation of having no food to eat, which can be said to be something that no monarch can endure. Thus the Safari was the target of the Duchy, or Alphonse. The loss of the Affat Principality would take it to the next level, at least in terms of attitude towards the Tubmo Empire.

In contrast, the city of Salem is not so important, although iron ore resources are also quite scarce in the principality, but this shortage also means that these iron ores have become real iron tools that can be used. For example, iron farming tools, iron armor...... These mature steel products are worth far more than their raw materials by several times. However, the manufacture of these iron and steel products was based on the presence of a blacksmith who could turn these ores into weapons with a forging hammer, otherwise the ores would always be just ores.

But. It is obvious that in the Western Continent, blacksmithing is undoubtedly a relatively scarce profession. Generally speaking, there is only one blacksmith in a few villages, and the work of these blacksmiths is only to forge and forge farm tools for the farmers.

If you look at it this way. It is not uncommon for people to be blacksmiths, but in fact, every blacksmith is the private property of the local nobles. They made armor and forged weapons for the nobles. And the blacksmiths also have the idea of hiding their own secrets. Refuse to pass on your forging skills to others, otherwise. Others have learned their own skills, how can they survive? And often a nobleman has a limited number of personal troops, so often a nobleman with little power has only one exclusive blacksmith. As a result, the number of blacksmiths is scarce.

Salem, at its most prosperous, was recorded as having more than 100 blacksmiths in the city, but now, after years of war and the collapse of taxes, most of the blacksmiths of the past have been forced to put down their forging hammers and pick up all kinds of tools, sickles and hoes have become ordinary farmers. Therefore, the current Salem is just an empty shell at best.

And now, our Lord Earl of Salem, Vickers, has finally set foot on his own territory, a city not so far from the sea, after returning to the capital of the duchy to receive a full canonization ceremony. The iron-producing city in the desert, where the weapons and equipment were produced in the past, although the equipment produced was not at all comparable to the equipment of other places on the continent, but it was enough to cope with the battles in the Near East.

Vickers rode on a horse rewarded by the king, followed closely by Shabak, Leechten, Old Jock and others, among which the somewhat naïve Rose River was also in the middle of the team, and the mighty fifty centaurs with riding spears and weapons pinned to their waists slowly entered the city of Salem.

Salem was fortunate that it was not baptized by war, as was the case with the Safat, but was given to the duchy by the cowardly or quick-witted Iqzars. In fact, it cannot be said that the Iqzar people are cowardly, it can only be said that they do not have enough strength to deal with the threat of the Santa Clesmans, and it can even be said that if there is no Tubmo Empire because of the fear that the strong St. Clesmang will be able to annex the northern frontier of the Ixzar Empire, I am afraid that the price paid by Ikzar for this war will be even greater.

That's right, when the Duchy's war against Ikzar was in full swing, the Tubomo Empire in the north of the Duchy suddenly stationed troops on the border, although it did not make the next move, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that the significance of Tubmo's move is to warn the Duchy of Santa Colesmane and warn the Duchy not to go too far in attacking Iqzar.

Even though there was no special alliance between the Iqzar dynasty and the Tubmo Empire, this did not mean that the Tubmo Empire could sit idly by and watch the Duchy grow in power after acquiring the land of Iqar. If Tubremo wants to maintain his supremacy in the Near East, he will rely not only on his military and economic power, but also on the constant weakening of the power of his neighbors. Why not.

In any case, Tubomo's move was undoubtedly very eye-catching in the eyes of the principality. At such a good moment, Tubmo's troops were like fish bones stuck in the throat. It's depressing. In desperation, the principality signed this armistice with Iqzar. Well, although the Principality also benefited a lot from this armistice. At the very least, the gold, silver and jewels looted along the way can make up for more than five times the military expenses of this foreign campaign.

War is one such thing, it can make a person who has nothing rich in an instant, but it can also make the most rich man in the world in an instant. Before arriving in Salem, Vickers did not expect that this important city in the desert would now be so decadent.

The entire city, except for the outer walls, still retains its usual dusk color, and the newly raised cross flag on the sentry post. The rest of the place has long been desolate to a certain point of incomprehension.

Dilapidated houses. Dried up wells, even sacred places for religious activities have been dilapidated. But fortunately, these churches with crescent flags will be demolished sooner or later.

Salem's decadence is first and foremost a demographic aspect. Although Salem in the desert is not a city built on food cultivation, fortunately, there are a few rivers with a small amount of water scattered around the city, but it can be barely irrigated and cultivated, which can meet the needs of some people. Of course, because of the amount of water, there are no woods around Salem.

Relying on the city's own food and food supplies from elsewhere, Salem had a population of nearly 100,000 at its peak. Thirty percent of the city's inhabitants are artisans. It is a trading center that is neither too wide nor too small.

But when Vickers arrived, he saw that the official had presented the number of "fifty kilometers around Salem, and there are only 30,000 inhabitants." ”

If it weren't for the fact that these officials did not carefully verify and investigate, then this population estimate would be really shocking. On the Western Continent. Although the population of a city is tens of thousands, the larger population of a city is the towns and villages that live around the city, and these towns and villages are not as large as those of a city. But the victory is in the number of towns and villages. Or that the number of petty nobles who were rewarded with towns and villages as fiefs was large, so it was often said. The population of these towns and villages is three to five times larger than the number of urban populations.

However, the total population of Salem and its environs is no more than 30,000, so how can it not surprise Vickers?

The population of the city is less than 10,000. The Saddened Duchy's army met little resistance when attacking some cities. Willingness is not that the people of Ikzar do not have the spirit of resistance, but that those who do not resist to resist.

Wickers brushed the hair from his forehead and thought about the reason for Salem's rapid decline, the reason was simple, as simple as the following.

War. Again, the constant warlord civil war in Ikzar, the massive increase in the need for conscription, the forced transfer of soldiers, and the horrific battlefield casualty rate caused a devastating disaster for families in cities like Salem.

Of course, there are exceptions. Some of the more affluent families were exempted from military service by handing over some of their belongings, thus avoiding death. But the same people are the people who have the least spirit of resistance, and why should they turn to violence when they can solve problems with money?

The loss and death of a large number of young people has led to a new evil, that is, there is no one to do heavy work such as cultivating the land. As we all know, this kind of work cannot be done without young and strong people and a large number of livestock, but what is lacking in the desert is also those livestock power, without young and strong labor, only relying on the labor of the old, weak, sick and children, at most they can only feed a few members of the family, and even the phenomenon of starvation to death is inevitable in some families, let alone adding new children to the family.

Just as the basis of agriculture has been severely destroyed by the loss of labour, the handicrafts and commerce based on agriculture have suffered unbearable losses. If you can't even eat enough, who cares about those handicrafts and commerce?

Although Vickers has already experienced the destructiveness of war to mankind during this month's war, the tragic situation in Salem still surprises Vickers.

If agriculture is the foundation and industry is the foundation, then commerce is the catalyst that multiplies the value of industry and agriculture. But now. These three pillar industries can be said to be surviving.

A normal city has two main sources of tax revenue. One is the poll tax, that is, in a self-sufficient natural economy. There are two main channels for the government to obtain fiscal revenue from the peasants: one is the tax levied on the acreage of land, that is, the land tax, and the other is the tax levied on the basis of the capitation, that is, the poll tax.

In other words, in each family unit, a certain amount of tax is paid according to the number of people in the family.

In addition, there are additional taxes, such as the commercial tax levied on merchants. There are also many types of these commercial taxes, such as the "spice tax", which is a tax levied on spices from the East. There is also a forest tax. Food Tax ......

In some coastal seaport cities close to other countries, there are also trade tariffs, and it is said that the profits from trade tariffs are several times more than those of poll taxes and other taxes.

However, now that agriculture has been hit hard, it can be said that there is only one decoration left for these tax deposits. If there are no more people, who else can be taxed?

Looking at the number jù written on the parchment in his hand, Vickers felt a little like crying.

Last year, the total amount of taxes collected in the whole of last year was only 10,000 Tolian gold coins. These coins may be unimaginably huge wealth for an ordinary person, but compared to a city, these taxes are really a bit unsightly.

The question in front of Vickers. It's how to bring this desert city back to life.

But let's be honest, Wickers has no confidence in his own abilities at all. He didn't think he would be a man who could run government.

But fortunately, after he finished the bloodline from Beniss, something unexpected happened to him, and it must have been as beneficial as the Vault Realm to get something from Kaila Bajulian.

Vickers Tomelio

Strength: 100 Body: 100 Agility: 100

Race: Jihadist Weapon

Innate Abilities:

Skill Integration: The Jihadist Weapon Race can uncontrollably integrate its own skills according to their own needs.

Weaponization: The Jihadist Weapon Race can weaponize its own body. The material of the weapon is directly proportional to the strength and mental power.

The Holy War weapon race, Vickers has accumulated on the battlefield for such a bloodline. Wix didn't know what was going on, but it was in the bloodline. There seems to be a being in the dark who guides his thoughts, so that he can't help but choose this lineage.

I don't know what it's like. Vickers seemed to see the distant future and the past in a hazy light......

..........................................................................................

It's May 1st, Labor Day......

No, no, no. The point is not Labor Day, but the high school entrance examination is coming.

The June 14 high school entrance examination was a major turning point in the lives of most middle school students, so I had to devote myself to the intense preparation team.

Belch......

In other words, the book has been temporarily suspended, and will be updated again after June 14.

And before that, Xiaosheng would be crazy to bury himself in the sea of books.

I believe that after this high school entrance examination, Xiaosheng will definitely bring you more exciting stories.

In other words, the next book is finally about to get on the right track, what kind of storm will Vickers set off when he obtains the fiefdom? What kind of story will there be between Sebas and Alphonse? Is Shabak really what he described? What is the relationship between Jock the Elder and Liechtendean? What kind of friction will there be between the Tubomo Empire in the north and the Duchy of St. Colesman's land on the frontier? What kind of storm will arise from the invaded Ixzar?

..................

"What are you doing, kid?"

"Inherit your throne!" Father ......"

..........................................................................................

Vickers was wrong, very wrong, deceived by his own self-righteous cleverness.

The treasures in the twelve chests of Kaila Bajulian were not as he had imagined, representing wisdom and strength, and at least the eighth chest depicted a warrior kneeling on the ground and holding a sword of blood did not represent a battle-hardened warrior.

It is a symbol of imperial power......

A warrior bathed in blood. The blood-stained sword, half-kneeling on the ground......

The blood of the warrior was not the heroism of slaying a foreign enemy. Rather, he spilled the blood of his own royal brothers in the struggle after the killing.

The same is true of blood-stained swords, and the undead entwined around the blade are the dead on the path to kinghood.

And the reason why this fighter is half-kneeling. It is not because he is religiously receiving the blessings of the gods or humbly letting his father put the crown on his head with both hands. Rather, he was half-kneeling down to look at his father's corpse, the end of one crown, and the opening of another.

The ability of the eighth chest is the [Crown], which is the highest symbol of power. However, unlike the Vault Realm, which is in the shape of a key carved on a chest, the Crown is symbolized by a ring made of gold.

On the ring, inscribed is a piece of shallow writing, which does not belong to any known script on the continent, in the composition of the text. It's the same as the words on the contract that Kayla Bajulian gave to Vickers.

"One day, my reign will come to an end, and you will be crowned king......" Vickers muttered the words on the ring.

I don't know why, maybe it's some mysterious force at work that he didn't know, Vickers looked at the words on the ring and couldn't help but read it.

Coronation as king?

.................................................................................

The Crown is more of a skill than a treasure, a skill tree with three skill branches. Maybe just by quantity. There is a world of difference between the Crown and the Vault Realm. You must know that in the [Vault Realm], as long as you have enough Divine Coins, you can completely exchange some powerful skills.

But. After seeing the three skills on the [Crown], Vickers couldn't help but gasp, but he was afraid that no matter how powerful the skill in the [Vault Realm] was, it would not be as powerful as one of the [Crown] skills.

【Crown - Absolute Obedience】The power of the king. A categorical imperative that no one can disobey. It is possible to distort the ethics, thoughts, and beliefs of the person being ordered.

【Crown - Mind Reading】The power of the king, no one can hide his heart in front of the king. You can know the inner thoughts of the target of the cast.

【Crown - Memory Tampering】The power of the king. As long as the king doesn't want people to know, no one will know!

.................................................................................

"You. Come here. Vickers entered the courtyard of the Doge's Palace, and saw a trembling maid standing on one side of the door.

"Yes......" The maid apparently did not know what the young count had called her for, and her heart could not stop her horror.

She was not a well-educated servant, but an ordinary maid who had been hired for the time being, but had temporarily put on a rough cloth made of linen. She was chosen for the simple reason that she was one of the few young women in Salem who could speak the language of St. Colesman, and after being accepted in Salem, all the people involved in the Doge's Palace were purged for safety reasons.

It can be said that the entire Doge's Palace, including the loyal dogs guarding the courtyard, is already brand new, even if this is not what Vickers wants to see. Who knows if Alphonse has mixed his own hands and eyes into the defense of this courtyard, what needs to be known is that even the team escorting Vickers to Salem are soldiers of Alphons's immediate cronies.

"I order you to ......," Vickers said slowly, staring into the maid's eyes.

"You ordered me to ......" The maid's eyes gradually became confused, and she slowly muttered Vickers's words, and her tone was flat and a little creepy.

What should she be ordered to do?Vickers hesitated, if he wanted to test the strength of this skill, he had to use someone else to do it.

"Turn around and walk five steps forward, three steps to the right, crouch, stand up, and take six steps forward. ”

"Yes. ”

Da Da, the maid's footsteps sounded slowly, forward, then right, and then squatted down in a ridiculous position, the wide skirt was obviously not suitable for this kind of movement, the corners of the skirt were stained with a lot of mud, and then the maid stood up again and walked forward in a rhythmic six steps.

"Ah, Lord Count!"

After completing this qiē, the maid looked at the surrounding scenery a little blankly, and then saw Vickers standing behind her, and made a maid salute in a little panic, although her maid ritual was really not standardized.

"I command you to ......"

"Uh-huh?......" The maid tilted her head a little strangely to look at Vickers, not understanding what he meant by "I order you".

Did it fail?, Wickers muttered to himself, it seemed that [Crown-Absolute Obedience] should only be used once on one person.

However, Wickers did not give up and continued to play again, but of course the result was another failure.

"Forget jì just a qiē. "[Crown - Memory Tampering] activated.

"Yes. ”

"Ahh

"Forget jì just a qiē. "[Crown - Memory Tampering] activated.

"Yes. ”

.................................................................................

Then the poor, unsuspecting maid took the opportunity to make a real body, and Vickers finally figured out some of the characteristics of the [Crown] skill.

First of all, [Absolute Obedience] has good effect, but it can only be used once on the same target, and the target will forget what he just did after completing the task assigned by Wix.

[Memory Tampering] does not have the effect of [Absolute Obedience], but there is no limit to the number of times it can be used, and it can be used many times, but it also has the same disadvantage, that is, with the current control of Vickers, Cheng dù has no way to carry out deep memory tampering, or only can tamper with the memory of the target in the most recent time, and this recent time Cheng dù is worth the memory within 24 hours. When it comes to going back and tampering with memories, Vickers has a feeling of powerlessness.

[Mind Reading] is not a skill that can actively perform any mandatory actions on the target, but its power is as good as his name, it is a skill that can read the target's current mental activity.

The power of these three skills, there is no way to estimate it with divine coins, with these three abilities, I'm afraid that even stupid people can get items like the name of the skill.

However, these three skills have a common limitation - distance limit, the target cannot be more than 100 meters away from Vickers......

Who the hell are you, Kayla Barjulian?, Vickers brushed his hair, then brushed the shoulders of the bewildered maid and walked out of the Doge's Palace.

................................................................................. (To be continued......)