Sawan smiled bitterly, these people's concepts can't be changed in a day or two, they can only be taken slowly. Savin didn't want to dwell too much on this issue, so he changed the conversation and said, "I have gathered everyone today, first, to get to know each other with you, and secondly, to discuss with you about taxation. ”

When Savin said this, the tenant farmers immediately whispered, and this was what they were most worried about, and it was related to their livelihood, and everyone was worried before they came, for fear that the new lord would be like the duke again.

"Ahem......" Sawin coughed lightly twice, signaling everyone to be quiet, and the tenant farmers immediately closed their mouths and looked at Sahain with some nervousness. Sawan continued: "I would like to ask you first about taxes, how did the Duke collect taxes from you?"

Tenant farmers, you look at me, I look at you, no one will speak, Sawan asked again, but everyone still did not dare to speak. Sawin sneered and said, "If you don't want to talk about it, then I'll collect taxes the way I did!"

As soon as Savan finished speaking, a tenant farmer stood up and said, "My lord, let me tell you. It turned out that when the Duke was there, in addition to paying the annual rent of thirty per cent of the harvest, we had to pay five gold coins per head per year, and two gold coins per child, and if we could not pay the gold coins, we would replace them with other things......"

Sawin listened and said that this duke was really black-hearted, and it was no wonder that the tenant farmers had fled with such a heavy tax, and this was a practice of fishing with all his might, and I really didn't understand what he thought. However, it is not surprising that Sawan thought about it, many nobles did not understand the suffering of the people, and all they thought about was how to enjoy themselves. Savan sneered secretly, this good life of the nobles was coming to an end soon......

Sawan waited for the tenant farmer to finish, motioned for him to sit down with his hand, and then said, "Well, I see, the tax set by the Duke is indeed heavier. In this way, from this day onwards, the poll tax will be exempted, the land rent will be halved, and 15 percent of the annual income will be paid. ”

"Wow!" As soon as Savan finished speaking, the tenant farmers blew up the pot, this news shocked them so much, they actually relieved them of so many burdens at once, not only exempted from the poll tax, but even halved the land rent, many people couldn't believe that this would be true, many people couldn't help but pinch their thighs with their hands, grinning in pain.

Sawin watched their reactions, and felt a laugh in his heart, if it weren't for the presence of so many people, he would have laughed back and forth.

However, there are still some people who are not completely sure whether Savan's words are true, and some people have the courage to ask: "My lord, what you said is true? We heard you right, do you really not have to pay the poll tax in the future, and the land rent will be halved?"

Sawan nodded solemnly and said, "That's right, that's it, and it will be done from now on." ”

"Next year, and will it be implemented like this in the future?" Some people worry that Sawan just gave everyone some sweetness when he first came, and maybe it will increase in the future.

"It's going to be like that for the future, whether it's next year, the year after that, or in the future. Sawan affirmed.

At last time, the tenant farmers believed that what Savin said was true, and many of them wept with excitement, while many more excitedly patted each other on the shoulders with their hands, venting their excitement to each other.

Sawan knocked on the table with his hand and said, "Don't get excited, everyone, I haven't finished my words yet." The crowd fell silent at once, and one by one they straightened their ears to hear what Sawin had to say next.

"There is a price to be paid for reducing everyone's taxes, and I want you to tell everyone you know about it, so that those who have left can come back and continue their lives, and if you can persuade a family to come back, the rent for that year will be reduced by another five percent," Sawan said. ”

As soon as Savin had finished speaking, the tenant farmers could no longer sit still, and all the people began to talk to each other, like the first people who had discovered the treasure, and they wanted to tell the good news at once, but they were afraid of being told by others, and in short, they were as excited as ants on a hot pot.

Sawin couldn't help but smile when he saw this, it seemed that his initial reform measures were about to take effect, he stood up and said: "That's all I have to say today, you go down and discuss it, set up a tenant farmer committee, I will communicate with the committee regularly in the future, and you can discuss with Larry about the specific matters that become the committee." Alright, let's adjourn!"

With that, Sawin left the room, knowing that these tenant farmers must have a lot to discuss, and these people who were present couldn't let go of talking, and let Larry deal with the rest.

Spread of Sahain's new tax policy soon spread throughout the surrounding area, not only in Haydonnes, but also in some surrounding villages and towns, and almost every village was talking about it, and some people even came to inquire about it in person. Sahain had assigned a new errand to Naros to gather information from the people, so that these movements would soon be reported to Sahain.

Just a few days when Savan was busy with tax reform, Hortz led the merged mercenary group to arrive, after some reorganization, the mercenary group now has 500 people, which is basically enough to maintain law and order in the territory, but if you want to rely on this army to fight, it will definitely not be enough.

Sawin told Hortz about his idea of hiring political and strategic talents, and Hortz agreed, but this matter was not urgent, talents were not so easy to find, and it was a question of whether people were willing to come.

Sawin consulted with Hortz about his idea of demolishing the castle, and although Hortz supported him in principle, the project was too large to be manpowered. Sawan sighed: "Speaking of which, there is still a lack of people, and the Duke of Amberton is to blame for forcing everyone away." ”

Hortz laughed and said, "If he hadn't done this, would it have been your turn in this place?"

Sawan thought about it, if the duke was a nobleman who loved his people like a son, the land would not have been sold to him. The two laughed for a while, but still couldn't come up with a practical and effective solution, so they had to put it aside for the time being. Hortz gave Sawan an idea: "If you can't do it, you can only hire someone to do it first, since the local population is insufficient, this is the only way to do it." ”

Sawin smiled bitterly: "You have to have a place to eat and live when you hire people, you can't let all the hired workers sleep in the open air, right?"

Hotts said: "This problem is actually easy to deal with, there is almost no cold weather in this place all year round, as long as some simple houses are enough, do you remember the original station in Bianshan Town? ”

As soon as Sawan heard that this idea was good, he hurriedly pulled Hortz to draw the planning drawings, in fact, there is a lot of open space around the castle now, and there are a lot of ready-made woods, all of which were stored in the castle before, and it was too difficult to transport when the duke left, so it was left to Sawen. The castle is now an empty shell made of stone, with nothing in it.

The next day Sawan gathered everyone together and explained his decision, which no one objected to, and Larry suggested that he should take advantage of the opportunity to build a shack and simply build another market, so that the surrounding residents could do some small business in the future. So after some discussion by everyone, this matter was considered a decision, and Lyanna and the mercenary group began to build.

It is not difficult to build this kind of simple wooden house for the mercenaries who wander around all year round, and within a few days, three or four rows of neat wooden houses were built, and Sawin was very satisfied after seeing it, this is somewhat of a small town, although it is very simple but it can finally be inhabited. Sawan asked the mercenary group to build more, so as not to run out of time, and the mercenary group itself also needs to have a temporary station, and now they are barely living in the castle, and there will be no place to live when it is demolished.

Seeing that the construction of the wooden hut was progressing, Parary led a team of men to the surrounding area to recruit laborers, and by the way, to purchase a batch of food, and then began to prepare for the demolition of the castle.

(End of chapter)