The Raffi estate, not far from the location of the new Eagle Castle, was originally just a very ordinary medium-sized estate owned by the Alachol family.

With Otto's arrival, it became the center of power in Aargau.

Otto enjoyed living in the manor very much, and in his opinion, the cramped and dreary castle rooms were not as comfortable as the big house of the manor.

The smell of each morning is simply different, and at the manor, when you open the window in the morning, you can smell the scent of nature.

In the castle, most of the time the fresh air is mixed with the disgusting smell of excrement.

After promising to give the old castle to his brother El, Otto did not stay in the old castle for long, and moved to the Lafite estate in less than a week. The original name of this manor was not Rafi, it did not have a name at all, and why it was called Lafite was completely Otto's personal bad taste.

After moving to Château Lafite, Otto has been busy with one small thing: winemaking.

In view of the special situation of the Allgao collar, there were no resources, there were no special products, and Otto wanted to find a profitable product for the territory. After thinking about it, Otto realized that with the little knowledge he had left as a liberal arts student, there were only two options: glass and high wine.

It's a pity that Otto doesn't know the specific production process of these two products, only that the glass seems to be made of limestone, and he doesn't know what other raw materials are needed and how to fire them.

This kind of thing can only be left to the craftsmen to try their luck, and Otto naturally can't pin his hopes on luck.

Otto doesn't know how to make high-quality wine, but he still knows the principle of distillation. And the winemaking itself is not a high-level process, even ordinary people can.

Then what Otto needs to do is simple, which is to urge the craftsmen to make wine, and then through distillation and purification, it is enough to turn the wine with a low degree due to the process into a high degree of wine.

In this way, it can also consume the mountains of grain in the warehouse, after all, apart from food, the Allgaux collar has nothing to produce.

Unfortunately, it is not liquor that is popular in Europe today, but wine. Even if Otto succeeds in making spirits, he needs to cultivate consumption habits.

Otto was not worried about this, wine was a favorite of the nobility and clergy, because of its low degree, good looks, and mainly for social needs.

The majority of middle- and lower-class people, for alcohol, do not meet any social needs, what they need is the paralysis and happiness brought by alcohol.

Since they can make wine, there is naturally no big problem in making grain wine, and the principle of this thing is the same. After recruiting more than a dozen craftsmen who were proficient in winemaking, Otto supervised them on a daily basis, waiting for them to produce the finished product.

He was still a little worried, if he didn't get it right and turned the liquor into beer, it would be troublesome. Although beer is theoretically more popular and has higher sales, due to the current traffic situation and transportation conditions, beer can only sprout on its own, and it is impossible to sell too far.

This is contrary to Otto's original intention.

However, the brewing of wine is not something that can be completed in a day or two, and after Otto himself has tinkered with a small distillation unit, he waits patiently for the first batch of liquor to be baked.

With the advent of autumn and the annual harvest season, the farmers of Aargau Collar will be able to have a richer New Year this year.

On that day, Otto issued a decree that directly reduced the taxes of the peasants by seventy percent, and at the same time stipulated that all serfs who cultivated the lands under the direct administration of the Arakhof family could obtain the status of freemen as long as they paid the taxes on time for three years, that is, the freedom of life was no longer restricted.

If they have been cultivated for more than 10 years, they can buy land from the Alakhor family at five times the annual output of the land, and become the private land of the peasants, enjoying tax exemption for three years.

Private land purchased can be passed down from generation to generation, but it is not allowed to be bought or sold without the permission of the lord, the Alakhor family, but it can be subleased.

Otto's idea was to make the vast number of serfs free people and become rich. In this way, we can provide enough citizen class and labor for the emerging towns, and also make the various commodities produced after urbanization have consumers.

Otherwise, the so-called urbanization is just a castle in the air.

Originally, Otto wanted to expand the scope to the entire Aargau territory, but considering the situation of the feudal system, it was decided to implement it only in the direct territories. Otherwise, it is easy to arouse the opposition of the vassals.

Land and population were the source of wealth and power for the aristocracy, and most of the aristocracy would not be happy if the peasants were allowed to move freely.

Otto knew that he was in a hurry, his steps were too big, and he was easy to pull eggs, and he had just taken power to displease the nobles, wouldn't it be death.

The second point is to encourage land reclamation. Uncultivated land in the direct domain of the Arakhold family is exempt from taxation for two years after reclamation, and then cultivated for five years, i.e. a total of seven years, can also be used to buy land.

The purpose of this second article is mainly for the construction of the new Eagle Castle. Forced migration would certainly cause dissatisfaction among the peasants, but if the land reclaimed after the resettlement were to be owned, many would be willing.

To maintain a town, you still need enough villages to support you.

As for the third article, it is the announcement of a commercial tax.

All caravans transiting through Aargau were subject to a tax at the rate of thirty taxes. Residents of the territory who do business in towns and cities are required to pay a commercial tax of forty one.

The decree signed by Otto did cause a good response. The vast number of peasants were very happy with the reduction of taxes and the opportunity to acquire their own land.

Although the other nobles felt that Otto's behavior was inappropriate, the decree was only directed at the direct domain of the Alakhor family, and they could not control it.

As for the commercial tax, it is a big rush. Because although the decree does not say it, Otto has already told everyone that a part of the profit will be shared with them every year from the commercial tax received.

Otto's purpose in doing this was also to avoid a second tax collection in the territory, which would have a huge impact on the entire business environment.

Give a piece of the pie to the vassals, and they will naturally not offend Otto by doing such a thing.

The peasants are very kind and simple, and after learning the news that Master Otto had reduced their taxes, during this period of time, the Lafite estate has been receiving all kinds of prey from the peasants every day, making Otto a little tired of eating wild game.

"Young Master." Wade Knight came to Otto, who was resting on the swing with his eyes closed, and whispered.

"I just received the news that another caravan refused to pay taxes and chose to take a detour, and the goods carried by this caravan were furs. You see if we're going to..."

"Fur?" Otto suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Wade on the side, a smile on his face. "It's almost winter, and I think this winter is going to be very cold, and I'm a little worried about the warmth of the people."

"Okay, I understand Master Otto, I'll arrange it." Wade nodded and hurried away.

Otto yawned and tightened his clothes, this autumn wind is indeed blowing a little cold.