Looking at the men and women standing with their heads hanging outside the car window, Roland's chest continued to churn with the bitterness of sadness and anxiety.

Perhaps the military and political leaders of Titans could take pleasure in the reactions of these people, savoring what they called "the pride and glory of the superior race" as if they were drinking wine, but all he could see in them was endless ugliness, resentment on the verge of boiling, and seeds of turmoil and conflict.

There is no ugliest act in the history of the intellect that bases its pleasure on the suffering of another people, and I don't know what to say to the judgment of the teacher of history on extreme racism in the face of mankind itself.

The reaction of the Castilian people made him even more anxious, and on the surface the slogan of Titans: "Order is obtained by collective execution" seemed to make guò argument, and the proud Castilian succumbed to the stake and mass graves. Their cousins are like a bunch of real minions, who know how to please their cruel masters. But Roland knew very well that this was just a layer of disguise, and under the appearance of wood and docility, there was a sense of undying resistance.

There are 47 soldiers, 21 non-commissioned officers, 6 colonels, Major General Kurache, commander of the garrison, and 33 administrative officers at the village and town level...... This is the number of military and political personnel in the SAR who were assassinated in one month last month, and by last week, even the interim governor, Viscount Bruno, was found stabbed to death in his bedroom.

Titans responded to the Castilian revolt with a tougher, high-pressure policy: hostage executions, sitting, strategic villages, mass graves, sweeps, and village clearances - Titans perfected the work he had done in the Crown of San István and applied them to the Castilian occupation. Gallows and guillotines everywhere. Executions are carried out every day. And the Castilians retaliated even more violently against this......

There is no better way to describe the Saarbaddou district in terms of smoke.

The chaos of law and order led directly to economic depression and an increase in unemployment, which in turn turned the unemployed who had no food and clothing to become a reserve force for the rebels - a vicious circle. The economic policies of the occupying authorities have raised this vicious circle to a whole new level.

The occupation policy of the Titans was simple - plunder.

All the resources that can be looted in the occupied territories, whether they are finished products or raw materials, factories or mines, this qiē is only a number on the looted list. Those who could be transported back to Charlemagne were packed and shipped away, and those who could not be transported back were given to the consortium and the dignitaries of Titans to divide up.

This plunder not only caused heavy losses to the Castilians, but also directly caused the occupying forces to dry up their sources of tax revenue. Due to economic distress. The occupation authorities engaged in the enclosure of land. Led by the National Guard, a large number of Titans troops were mobilized to drive the peasants away from the land they had cultivated for generations.

The process of land seizure is generally as follows: first, the inhabitants are forcibly evicted from their premises with the assistance of rifles and field artillery. Then a well-dressed legal officer pulled out the paperwork. The land was declared illegal. The peasants were "bandits" and logically should have been convicted and hanged. But Wang Jun was "merciful" and decided to pardon these "bandits". Now they have to leave with 15 kilograms of luggage, and the next thing is to set fire to the house and occasionally commit adultery with young girls.

Of course, not all Wang Jun, who claims to be a "superior race", likes such "performance art" as burning people's houses and prostituting wives and daughters, and the "impartial law enforcers" will also put the "bandits" in prison and then set a price for their families to bribe and ransom them. Anyway, the money and the woman were sent "voluntarily", and you and I will not go to court.

However, this kind of exploitation alone could not satisfy the needs, so the wise men of Titans came up with a new trick -- collecting taxes only in cash, not grain! In addition, the grain was purchased by the occupation authorities, and the whole family of the smugglers of grain died!

On the surface, it doesn't seem too much. Without a strategic reserve system like Yalfheim's, collecting grain as a tax is a very uneconomical thing, perishable, volatile in price, and not comparable to precious metal currencies. As for the unified acquisition by the state, it is also easy to understand that the economy of the colony is of course directly managed by the authorities, such as grain, salt, mineral resources, etc., are all officially operated, so as to prevent price fluctuations from causing panic among the people.

But if you look into it carefully, there are more cats in it.

The government has the right to set prices as well as the purchases, and the quality and quantity of the grain collected are all decided by the government. It is almost certain that there is a shortage of catties and two pounds, and it is almost certain that it is shoddy, and what is even more powerful is that it is necessary to bribe officials to inspect it, otherwise the grain will not be inspected, will not be collected, and it will not be sold privately for money. When the day of tax collection comes, if you can't pay the tax, you will be sent to prison, and you will pay the tax and capitation money before you can release it.

To be able to toss such a complex and meticulous set of exploitation methods, it is really difficult for those warriors of Titans who have muscles in their heads......

Corrupt officials are rampant, military leaders are in power, the people are in flames, and assassinations are endless—this is the mess that is now in front of Roland.

It was precisely because the occupation zone was rotten and would not become a fief of Prince Charles that Prince Bernard was willing to give it to Roland, who himself had no problem with it.

If you want others to accept your ideas, you have to come up with practical things.

This is a mantra that Li Lin often says, and it is also a universal truth, except for students who read books and read until their brains are short of oxygen, no one will regard the mouth cannon as an invincible artifact. In the same way, if Roland wants others to accept his ideas, he must prove that they are correct and reasonable through some kind of verification. The more extensive the claim, the more weight the evidence must be provided.

A colonial district on the verge of collapse and riot, making it prosperous and peaceful—this was the evidence that Roland was going to make, and he was mentally prepared for it.

"Sure enough, we have to stop the fighting first. ”

Flipping through the various reports provided by the consortium, Roland muttered quietly.

Charlemagne's stupid occupation policy is at the root of the problem. The resulting short-sighted behavior not only exacerbated the conflict between the occupying forces and the indigenous people, but also undermined the local economic cycle. Although the current picture of the continuous repatriation of various resources and wealth seems to be Charlemagne's huge benefits, it is only a matter of time before the negative effects will rewind Charlemagne himself.

However, the other side of the coin is the objective demand for the expedition of the army, which can no longer meet the consumption rate of the front line by rail transportation alone, and it is inevitable to collect and transport all kinds of materials needed for the front line from the occupied areas nearby. So the occupation policy, while stupid and unreasonable, is in line with military needs, and if we want to reform it, we must first stop it.

In other words, we must find a way to end the war.

Sounds incredible. But the situation is developing in that direction.

Until the Thermidor. The Titans had advanced to the line of Pontevedra-Guadalajara-Castri, the richest northern part of Castile was under Charlemagne's possession, and the vanguard had advanced to the town of Guadalajara, on the banks of the Henares, about 50 kilometres east of Ursalía. This is where contacts between the various units can be established. It can also surround Ursalia.

To conquer here. Titans threw 5 divisions in one go. Including the "Ustasha" division led by Colonel Pavelich, the "Chetnik" division of Colonel Mikhailovich, the "Black Shirt" division and the "Black Flame" division under the command of Major General Roata. In addition to a National Guard infantry division tasked with flank cover, 30 iron-clad floating assault ships provided air support.

There seems to be no suspense in attacking a small town with a military force of this scale, but Roland doesn't see it that way.

Fingers lightly pick the edge of the paper, and the text turns to the next page, and a new term appears with purple pupils - International Column (Brigada.Internacional).

The so-called column refers to any kind of military organization larger than the "hundred-man team", which can be at the battalion, regimental, and brigade levels, and there are very few columns at the division and regiment level. What made him more concerned was the "international" prefix.

Patriots, anti-imperialists, anarchists, republicans, socialists, independence activists, atheists, adventurers...... The composition of personnel can be described as diverse and complex to the extreme. The same goes for nationalities: Albion, Irene, Aruba, Seres, Crown, Ostoria, Moravia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Ymir, Lapland, and even the "Volunteer Warriors" of the principality!

The title of "International Column" is really worthy of its name.

It is not clear what the combat effectiveness of this "multinational force" is that it speaks different languages, uses different weapons, and even does not dress uniformly, but judging from the data, most of them are experienced veterans, or young people with special skills, well-trained, high-spirited, and extremely hostile to Charlemagne. If you underestimate this volunteer army too much, I'm afraid Titans will kick the iron plate.

What's more, the appearance of this never-before-seen "volunteer army" on the Castilian front line itself represents the posture of various countries.

('We don't plan for a full-scale war right now, but if it's a proxy war, we'll be there to the end.') That's pretty much it. ）

Regardless of the outcome of the battle between the international column and Titans, there was such a gesture there, and Titans, who was as arrogant as he was, had to consider whether the barren south of Castile was worth their bloodshed. Coupled with the tight form of occupation and the rising costs of garrisons and law and order warfare, they will inevitably stop their advance and turn to deal with the smoke of the rear.

Charlemagne has reached the extreme, Castile has retreated to the extreme, no one can win, and now it is waiting for someone to come out as a mediator.

Peace is not far off, and once the war is over, the expenditure on "munitions" will be much reduced, taxes will be lowered, and the governor's palace and ordinary people will be able to breathe.

However, this is just a way to catch your breath. Without fundamentally reversing the backward economic structure and changing the tax system and officialdom, which are riddled with malaise, it will be impossible for the SEZs to achieve true prosperity and tranquility. However, reform is bound to touch the interests of certain people, who will do whatever it takes to obstruct and sabotage reform and deal with these people's troubles that are even more troublesome than the reform itself.

Not to mention, among the many obstructors, there are two other depositors that cannot be ignored - Titans and the consortium.

Needless to say, as a newly formed military organization, arrogance and bureaucratic habits took root within the organization with one great victory after another. Acts such as "going down to the top" are examples, while meddling in local affairs, privately establishing tax systems, and extorting taxes is another.

After trying all kinds of illegal acts, reaping a lot of benefits from them, and not being banned and punished for it. The Titans no longer take law and morality very seriously, and even consider their illegal actions to be legitimate.

There is this kind of thinking, and it is the type who likes to solve problems with a pistol instead of his head, and he knows what this group of people will do when they know that someone has cut off their money.

The consortium has taken a relatively moderate stance, acquiescing in the reforms and welcoming the economic prosperity of the new Territories, but also setting a bottom line.

Castilian workers are paid one-fifth of Charlemagne's wages, an eight-hour workday, and overtime pay is three times the normal hourly wage.

A very gentle bottom line, not at all like the bottom line that a "typical capitalist" like Li Lin would propose.

In addition to the excessively low salary.

"Don't take too big a step, if they are paid the same work as Charlemagne's workers, then what's the point of us hiring them on relatively mild terms? More importantly, before you have real power in the SAR, you need corrupt officials and warlords to cooperate with you. If you are too good to the workers, you will definitely offend the interests of these people. They will resist your administration, even if the SAR is paralyzed and even a serious armed conflict breaks out. If that happens, I'll get you back before Richelieu can speak. ”

Li Lin's warning before his departure surfaced again, and Roland couldn't help but smile wryly.

Although his adoptive father said this for his consideration, the selfishness of the consortium was also among them. According to the consortium's plan, this new territory will become a dumping ground for commodities and the production of cheap labor, and as long as these two goals are not touched, the consortium is willing to remain silent about the reform and provide all kinds of support, on the contrary, Li Lin will take matters into his own hands to close down the SAR before the warlords take action.

The opponent in front of him is so strong, and Roland, who has always been optimistic, is also surprised by the weight of the difficulty.

But-

"If you don't do it, you can't do it......"

said words that seemed to be self-deprecating, but there was no complaint or burial in his tone, and the purple eyes that opened the screen window and looked at the Governor's Mansion in the distance shed a resolute color. (To be continued......)