Chapter 223: Hicked

"Great, my lord, Viscount Aslan is a tax inspector sent by His Royal Highness......" Father Hugo watched in amazement as Viscount Aslan was pulled out of the house, and soon there were heart-rending screams and whipping in the square, mixed with the cheers of the lively people.

He didn't understand why this young lord, Earl Norton, dared to treat the officials under His Second Highness so unscrupulously, whether it was because he had little knowledge or what kind of basis he had, and he didn't take His Second Highness who was currently in the Antinac Kingdom so powerful that all the nobles of the kingdom were afraid of him.

In any case, Daddy Hugo was worried that the young lord would be angry with His Royal Highness when he dealt with Viscount Aslan, and that the fire at the city gate would affect the fish in the pond, although there was no such idiom for Galintya, but there were similar aphorisms. As the mayor of White Bird Town, Daddy Hugo is afraid that this Earl Norton will slap his ass and flash people, and then the unlucky ones will be the residents of White Bird Town.

"Hehe, Daddy Hugo, don't worry, I have my own reasons for dealing with this Viscount Aslan. Lorist smiled and said to Father Hugo: "You have spent most of your life in the army, and you may not understand the customs and traditions that have been agreed between us nobles of the territory, nor do you understand the duties of tax inspectors. In fact, as the mayor of the Norton family's domain, you have the right to refuse any taxes you deem unreasonable, unless ordered to do so by my lordship.

The tax inspector should be responsible for the taxation of the crown and prevent smuggling and evasion, and for the nobles of the territory, his duty is only to investigate the economic situation of the territory and to accept the tithes paid by our territory to the crown. He doesn't have the power to increase taxes, and he has to get permission from my lord first. He has violated the dignity of our Norton family, violated the traditional rules of the upper lord and the lower lord, even if I hang him, the royal family will have nothing to say.

In a few days, I will bring this Viscount Aslan to the Second Highness, and ask him if what this Viscount Aslan has done is allowed by him, and I will let His Second Highness personally order this bullshit Viscount to be hanged, unless he dares to risk the world to go against all the nobles of the territory to protect this Viscount Aslan, no matter what, this Viscount is dead.

Daddy Hugo, you may have been in the army for a long time, so you don't know the habits of these nobles. The more you tolerate them, the more you have to get them. Like today, this Viscount Aslan dares to lead his troops into White Bird Town, without my permission, which is almost a declaration of war against our Norton family. So I'm not going to let him go. Don't worry, when the sky falls, I'm also on top of the Norton family.

Now you call all your civil servants and get to know him, this is the chief knight of our Norton family, Sred, and he is temporarily in charge of all administrative matters concerning the territory of Hirowas. ”

"All right, my lord, I'll go and call them. "Since Lorist said it with such certainty, Father Hugo had no choice but to go and call someone first.

Soon, Daddy Hugo led in five people.

"Lord Lord, he is old Mike, our accountant, who once served as an accountant in the Kerry Chamber of Commerce in the imperial capital for twenty years, and only returned to his hometown in White Bird Town because of the collapse of the Chamber of Commerce. ”

Old Mike's half-bald and a circle of gray hair looked like he was only fifty-four years old, and he should have done accounting and did non-stop calculations, and his hair fell out so quickly.

Then a tall, thin man in his forties stepped forward to introduce himself: "Lord Lord, I'm Christon, the sheriff of White Bird Town. ”

Daddy Hugo added on the side: "My lord, Christon used to be a secret agent of the former Imperial Police Department, responsible for handling all kinds of criminal cases. His wife is from Shiratori Town, and he returned to settle here after the empire was divided. ”

Loris nodded, keeping this Christon in mind first. Although the family territory has established patrol teams in various towns, it can only deal with trivial matters such as drunk fights at present, and there is really a lack of an expert who is capable of solving criminal cases. After that, the family territory became more and more prosperous, and the people became more and more. It takes a lot of talents to work together to formalize various affairs.

The third one to step forward was a red-faced old man. Hugo introduced: "My lord, this is old Hart. He had been the tax collector of Shiratori for nearly forty years, and knew almost everyone on the island of Hirowas. ”

The fourth, limping over, was naturally Victor, the captain of the garrison, who stepped forward and reported: "My lord, those soldiers are settled, and I have sent a small team of guards to guard them. ”

Finally, a fair-faced young man, who should be five or six years older than Lorlist, came up and politely saluted Lorlist: "Lord Lord, I am Hickde, the clerk of White Bird Town. By the way, I would like to say that your disposition of Viscount Aslan is really very pleasant. But aren't you worried about the revenge of the Aslan family?"

"The revenge of the Aslan family?" Lorist laughed, "Tell me, what do you know?"

"Your Excellency, although Viscount Aslan is an honorary nobleman, his elder brother, Earl Aslan, is a nobleman of the realm. Moreover, the Yaslan family was one of the first nobles in the imperial capital to take refuge in the Second Highness, and was deeply respected by the Second Highness. Earl Aslan was not only a Golden Knight, but also a Captain of the reconstituted Second Regiment of the Royal Guard, and his family was powerful. This is also the reason why I knew that Viscount Aslan had come to collect taxes, but I could only persuade Father Hugo to settle the matter and endure this breath. After all, there has been no news from the family, and I am worried that if Father Hugo resists, he will probably die. Without the approval of the family, the mayor of the town is elected by the residents alone, and a few crimes can be planted on his head at will......"

Hicked paused: "Lord Lord, I don't know much about the strength of the Norton family. However, I have heard that five years ago, the Norton family's northbound convoy did His Highness a great favor. But the old territory of the Norton family is too far away from here, and the second highness is now in a high position, and in the past five years, he has formed six legions of nearly 300,000 horses, and he is waiting for the opportunity to prepare to reunify the former empire. At this time, if the lord thinks that he can dispose of his people at will with his previous friendship, I am afraid that it will make His Royal Highness feel unhappy. Personally, I think it's better to be cautious about the handling of Viscount Aslan. ”

Shi Fatzi laughed beside him: "Hickde, I hope you can understand one thing, the Norton family relies not on friendship, but on strength. Your Excellency had a reason for dealing with that Viscount Aslan like this. However, I am now very interested in what you said about the Second Highness forming six legions of nearly 300,000 horses, can you elaborate on this?"

"Are you?" Hicked looked at Lorist very strangely, the badge on the knight next to him was only silver, not a gold knight, why did he interject so casually?

"This is the chief knight of our Norton family, Shredd, and he will be in charge of all the administration of the Isle of Hilowas. Lorist reintroduced it succinctly.

"Oh......" Hicked suppressed his curiosity and nodded to Shi Fatzi: "Lord Knight, I don't know much, but in the past two years, I have been in charge of dealing with those merchants who buy catches, and I have heard a lot of rumors about His Second Highness. Five years ago, after the armistice between His Royal Highness and the Kingdom of Redlis, the Duchy of Madras, the Royal Guards Regiment was re-formed. He disbanded the Tempest Legion and expanded the Royal Guard Regiment into three legions, each with 56,000 men. Three reserve legions, each with 42,000 men, were formed, and nearly 5,000 Knights of the Kingdom were formed.

As far as I know, the taxes paid to the crown by all the nobles of the kingdom have indeed risen to thirty percent, while the taxes of the crown territories have reached seventy percent. All the looted wealth was used by His Second Highness to support the six legions. The proclamation issued by His Royal Highness said that he hoped that the citizens of the Kingdom of Antinac, regardless of whether they were nobles or commoners, would endure the hardships of the past few years, and that they would compensate everyone after the unification of the empire......"

Lorist couldn't help laughing and patted Schward's shoulder beside him: "Schward, do you hear it, this is the peak of a wave." His Royal Highness wants to replicate the successful deeds of the first generation of the founding emperor of the Krisson Empire, and is ready to use these 300,000 horses to unify the empire. It's a pity that he forgot that the times are different, he is desperate, once he fails, there is no way to fight back, and the Kingdom of Antinac is over. ”

"My lord, aren't you optimistic about the Second Highness's plan to reorganize the army?" asked Hickid.

"It's not that I'm not optimistic, but His Royal Highness's plan to unify the empire this time has no chance of success at all. Not to mention anything else, in the old days when Kerrisson I was able to build an empire, it was a time when there were many warring states, and a barony was a kingdom. The 300,000-strong army assembled by Clison I swept away all his enemies like a tidal wave, and even dozens of kingdoms combined could not resist his front. You must know that at that time, the elite strength of a kingdom was only a hundred, how could it resist the attack of the sea of people?

And now, even you through the merchants know the every move of His Royal Highness, and the hostile countries on the border are very careless, and they have long been prepared to build fortresses and dig trenches. Even if His Second Highness can capture a few border cities, he will suffer heavy damage, if he encounters an opponent who is more sober-minded, lures the enemy to go deeper, clears the wilderness, and fights a protracted war of attrition with His Second Highness, how long can the poor and poor Antinac Kingdom last? These 300,000 horses consume half of it, and I suspect that the entire kingdom will collapse......"

Schward was thoughtful, and Shi Fatzi asked: "What is strange to me is that the five-year armistice agreement signed by His Royal Highness and the Kingdom of Redlis and the Duchy of Madras has long passed, since 300,000 horses have been prepared, why is the Second Highness reluctant to launch a war of unification, isn't this a missed opportunity......?

Hicked said: "I may know the reason, some time ago I heard from the merchant that the third prince is dying, and there are not many days left. It is likely that His Second Highness will wait for his father's death before launching a war for unification. I guess that in this way, if the empire is truly unified, His Royal Highness will become the king of Zhongxing who will go down in history. If the third prince hadn't died, then this crown wouldn't have been able to wear on the head of His Royal Highness......"

"Hehe, Li Lingzhi is dizzy. Lorist made a brief comment.

El and Jim came in from the outside laughing: "Your order, my lord, your order has been completed, Viscount Aslan has been coated with fish glue and glued with chicken feathers and duck feathers, and now it looks like a strange bird tied to the hanging platform by us." ”

"Good. Loris nodded: "Daddy Hugo, how many people are there in that Wanghai Manor you are talking about?"

"We don't know about this, but there must be more than 100 guards guarding the manor. Daddy Hugo thought for a moment and said.

"Joske, Fareia, you two take El's guards and sailors on a trip, and bring everyone there. Those who resist will not be killed. Forget it, try to catch as many jobs as possible, I suddenly feel that there are a lot of things to work on here. Lorist said distressedly.

"My lord, we're all gone, are you okay here?" asked Farea, a little worried.

"It doesn't matter, it's not that you don't know my skills, it's enough to have Knight Schrader and Schward left. By the way, Victor, you take a hundred garrisons with you. Lorist commanded.

"My lord, our White Bird Town garrison doesn't even have leather armor, and our weapons are rudimentary, how can we attack those heavily armed manor guards with a spear, we can't do anything. "Victor refused Lorlist's order.

"I didn't let you die, you don't need your garrison to do the work, just the soldiers of my family who handed it over. I ask you to go only because you are familiar with the terrain and will not let the people of the manor escape. Also, you garrison members should bring more rope to tie up the prisoners. If the attack is unfavorable, I will allow your garrison to retreat first. Lorist stared into the eyes of Captain Victor.

Victor relented: "Alright then, my lord, I'll go and gather the garrison right away, I hope we won't run empty." ”

"My lord," Fareah stepped forward and pointed to the map of Hilovas Island spread out on the table, "After taking the Wanghai Manor." Shall we take down that village called Farama by the way?"

Lorist shook his head: "No, it's not too early, you take down Wanghai Manor, and bring back the noble miscellaneous pieces inside." Fix these eyeless bastards first at night. As for the village called Farama, I will take you there tomorrow, and no one can provoke us in the territory of the Norton family without punishment. No taxes for five years, hehe, good. ”

"Alright, my lord, then we'll go first. Farea led the group to salute Lorist and exited the room.

"My lord, it's not the Aslan family that you've offended when they're gone. You must know that after the Second Highness left the island of Hilowas, the people who occupied this Wanghai Manor were the children of several of his cronies and nobles, even before the Second Highness, they were only children messing around, if you want to be more serious, they will not give you the Second Highness's children, and offend those cronies and nobles around him......" Hicked persuaded a little anxiously.

"Hehe, this guy has something interesting. Lorist smiled and said to Shi Fatzi, "He doesn't understand that we gave the Second Highness a son just because he is our superior lord. We have never been afraid of the power and strength of His Second Highness. If others don't offend us, we won't bully others, but since others provoke us, then we will only repay blood and fire. Schredd, this guy is a talent, let him stop being a clerk, just follow you to hone and hone him first. ”

"Yes, sir. I know it. Fat Shi replied.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you here, you first take a closer look at the specific situation of Shiratori Town and several villages on Hiroas Island, and see how this new territory should be developed. In a few days, after the arrival of the family forces, we will go to the imperial capital. Get busy, Schward, and we'll go out for a walk. ”

"Yes, sir. Schward said happily.

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