ebookland Chapter 439 3 Prince
Chapter 439 3 Prince
The harbor soon calmed down again, the local gangs became polite and helped the Goddess Church build a church.
Thanks to the tools they brought, a magnificent church soon took shape. Many poor people in the harbor began to work on the church, which accelerated its construction.
The Port of Valencia also used many new equipment, including pulleys, making the port, which was originally occupied by fleets, more efficient.
Although many workers lost their jobs as a result, they were seamlessly absorbed by the church. There was no need to worry about what would happen to these people after the church was built, as there were still a large number of basic public facilities that needed to be built. After all, in the eyes of the imperial fleet, the port of Valennia was too backward, so backward that it was almost uninhabitable, and the merchants would rather live on the ship than stay in the port.
As for where the money comes from, it naturally comes from these sea merchants. Although these merchants go to sea to make money, compared with the opportunity to work for the empire, money is simply the most useless thing. What's more, the profits brought by these infrastructures and maritime trade are simply a drop in the bucket. As long as they are provided with food, the people in the seaport will work hard.
Today, the Gray Robe is taking Rosaline to the area around the harbor to clean out the small nobles around who are unwilling to surrender.
The presence of Gray Robe, a high-level professional, alone was enough to deal a dimensionality reduction blow to the nobles in the surrounding territories, not to mention the mixed formation that followed Rosaline into the expedition. Among them were young and strong men recruited from the port, Avar captives on the ship, and some imperial soldiers serving as officers in command. The battle was over quickly, and looking at these newly conquered territories, Rosaline still felt a little unreal.
For some time before, Rosaline was either reading or writing letters. Many forces on the continent of Soran were very concerned about Rosaline, or the empire behind Rosaline. The news of the naval battle had gradually spread through the Avars, and no force was so blind as to come and cause trouble. On the contrary, more and more forces began to win over Rosaline. Even the Avars said that everything before was a misunderstanding, and they planned to send envoys to discuss with Rosaline in detail.
The third prince Domingo, who was closest to Rosaline, came directly to the surrounding area to "help" Rosaline clean up those disobedient nobles.
Rosalin sighed and shook her head as she looked at the so-called soldiers who fled when they saw the artillery.
Rather than soldiers, they were more like a group of farmers holding pitchforks. This was what most wars on the continent of Sauron really looked like. Super-level magic battles, professionals bombing each other, and knights charging in rows to the death were almost all very rare sights, especially after the Avars placed their main forces on the continent of Mu.
It is precisely because of this that the Avars can rely on their few inferior firearms to defeat everyone in a magic-free environment.
The strength of these small lords that Rosalind faced was similar to that of ordinary people in a magic-free environment, not to mention that although this was not a magic-free environment, Gray Robe was a real high-level spellcaster.
The situation on the battlefield quickly collapsed, and the morale of the peasants holding pitchforks immediately collapsed and they fled for their lives.
Even though the professional knights at the back killed several people, they were unable to stop the team's rout. After looking at the gray-robed man stroking his beard and the artillery that was constantly firing intimidation, the group of knights collapsed after a symbolic resistance. The lord's castle was already deserted, and Rosaline took over the territory so easily.
Domingo, who came to "help" Rosaline, frowned when he saw the extremely smooth fighting situation. The fighting was going so smoothly that he could not tell the level of his sister and the empire. He could only see that the gray robe was still strong and the artillery of the old empire was indeed very powerful.
On the balcony of the not-so-tall lord's castle, Rosalin and the third prince Domingo, who should no longer be called the third prince but His Majesty the King Domingo of Castile, were overlooking the gathered subjects below with their personal guards.
Looking at the serfs kneeling before her, Rosaline was a little dazed for a moment. After all, there were no serfs in the empire anymore, and even Rosaline seemed to have forgotten about these people at the bottom of society.
When she heard that General Darcy of the First Army of the Empire was born as a low-level savage, Rosalin didn't quite believe it. Could these low-level people really have such power? They were just some people who would only run away when they saw magic.
"Sister, today I will teach you how to manage your territory."
Domingo looked at the tax situation of the territory handed over by his subordinates and said, "Well... the original tax is too little. Sister, I suggest you collect three times the original tax for this territory."
"three times?"
Rosalin looked at her third brother in shock.
Domingo saw the shocked expression on his sister's face, nodded complacently, and then began to talk: "Triple tax is only one of the means. You also need to mobilize half of the young and strong labor force in the village every month to build castles, fortifications and mine ore. Those who can't work will be replaced by other family members. This will not only weaken their potential rebellion capabilities, but also provide a steady supply of labor for the territory."
“Then who will farm the land?”
To be honest, this was the first time that Rosaline had talked to her brother about matters concerning the territory. After all, it was the first time that Rosaline actually owned her own territory.
"It doesn't matter if a few people die of exhaustion. As long as the deterrent is strong enough, the people behind them will not dare to be lazy. Besides, if they die of exhaustion, you can rent the land to wealthy tenants at a high price. They are more efficient and can collect more taxes. It doesn't matter if the remaining refugees are sent to the army or sold as slaves. The money earned can also cover the military expenses."
Domingo looked back at his sister, put on an attitude of superiority, and said earnestly: "You have to remember that these people are very cunning. If you don't force them, they will always find ways to be lazy. They even dare to hide coins instead of handing them over to contribute to the protection of the territory. The previous lord couldn't defeat us because of this. If the previous lord was as smart as me, it would not be so easy for us to capture this territory."
Obviously, although Domingo did not contribute anything, he is very proud of his actions. What is this called? This is called sustainable fishing.
Rosalin suddenly felt that her third brother was so strange.
"Do the other brothers and sisters manage their territories in the same way?"
Hearing Rosaline's question, Domingo nodded and said, "There is nothing I can do about it. I don't want to do this either, but if I don't do this, I won't have enough funds to fight against those guys who usurped my father's power. Everything I do is for Castile."
Although she said that she didn't want to do this, but when she saw the twisted smile on Domingo's face, Rosalin knew that her third brother was also enjoying it.
"I understand. Thank you, Third Brother."
The expression on Rosaline's face became increasingly cold. In the end, she did not agree to the alliance, nor did she provide Domingo with imperial firearms. She just politely sent Domingo out of the newly occupied territory.
Something seemed to break in Rosalin's heart. Before she saw these serfs and heard her third brother talking about her policies, Rosalin thought a lot. Not only did she read through all the decrees that the emperor of the empire had ever used, she also analyzed them one by one. She and the gray-robed man continued to analyze how those decrees balanced interests, how they used people's hearts, and how ingenious they were.
But when Rosaline actually saw these serfs and subjects who could not even get enough food, she understood that there were no twists and turns. As long as you fed them, they would work hard for you. It was that simple.
"National Master, can the policies we formulated before be implemented now?"
"It has already been implemented at the harbor, but Your Majesty, are you sure you want to implement those policies here as well? Once they are rolled out, the nobles around you may unite against you, even the Third Prince who just left."
"National Master, you should understand that our roots are not those nobles."
Rosalin looked towards the harbor and said, "And I must defeat my brothers and sisters as soon as possible, otherwise I will have to wait until the next fleet of His Majesty the Emperor arrives."
Rosalin shook her head and sighed, "His Majesty the Emperor will definitely hang my brothers and sisters on the newly built street lamps."
Meanwhile, on the other side, Regus had flapped his wings and arrived at the place agreed upon with the Dragon Church. This place was a noble territory very close to the harbor. When the local nobles saw the blue dragon landing, they knelt on the ground. They were all loyal dragon believers.