The Knight's Journey to the Empire

"Well, respected Lord Adam, can I ask a question?" Finally, a citizen slowly raised his hand and asked the first question of the day: "Excuse me, sir, what is the use of this population census and cultivated land census in the territory?"

Adam silently gave it an admiring look, and then said, "What's the use? Of course it is useful, and the use is huge. For example, everyone has to pay the poll tax, everyone knows that, right?"

Everyone nodded.

The population tax levied on the Knight Continent begins from the moment a child is born and ends at the moment of death and burial.

This population tax can be said to be a tax that follows the subjects throughout their lives.

Moreover, the standards for collection vary from place to place, regardless of gender, age or seniority.

Anyway, there is never a relative standard.

And in the hereditary territories of the nobility, the poll tax was decided by the nobles themselves.

Therefore, it is inevitable that some nobles set the standard of poll tax very high in order to increase tax revenue.

This has led to the following situation: some poor subjects are even afraid to have more children; and elderly subjects even choose to run away from home in their later years to reduce the burden on their families.

Therefore, the collection of this poll tax caused many subjects to complain and hate it to the core.

But there is nothing I can do.

Because this is a tax that needs to be levied according to the laws of the kingdom. How can a small citizen go against the entire state apparatus?

"The Lord made an important instruction at yesterday's meeting. After the White Bear Territory completes the population census, there will be three types of people in the territory who will no longer need to pay the population tax: the first is children under the age of twelve, the second is the elderly over the age of sixty, and the third is the disabled who have no ability to work."

"Also, young people between the ages of twelve and sixteen, as well as disabled people who are only partially able to work, only need to pay half or a quarter of the population tax after being identified through the population census and having their qualifications verified!"

"Also, after conducting a census of cultivated land, if it is found that a family has too many laborers but too little land to cultivate, the government will allocate the corresponding land to the family when allocating land, so that they can have enough land to grow food."

"So, are these useful?"

boom!

As soon as Adam finished speaking, there was thunderous applause and cheers that resounded through the sky!

"It's useful, it's really useful!"

"Yes, yes, thank you for your kindness and goodness, Lord! Long live the Lord! Long live the Lord! Long live the Lord!"

"The Lord is the most benevolent nobleman I have ever met in my life! I am so, so, so happy to be a subject of the benevolent Lord in my lifetime! This is so cool!"

"From now on, I will be the most loyal subject of the Lord. Anyone who dares to challenge the dignity of the merciful Lord will have to step over my dead body first!"

"Me too, I will defend the Lord's honor till my death!!"

"+1!" x∞

……

Adam looked at the people below the platform who were dancing and cheering, and they seemed to be praising the lord from the bottom of their hearts.

His heart was slightly moved, as if he suddenly understood why his young master did this.

To be honest, in the beginning, he didn't quite approve of his young master's behavior.

Because of the ancient tradition of the Knight Continent, whether it is governing a country or governing a territory, one can only govern the people by suppressing them, one can establish majesty by forcing them, and only strong pressure can facilitate management.

And with so many people-benefiting policies from ancient times to the present, perhaps only a fool could have formulated them!

But now, Adam has been excited by the many people in his territory, and his heart is slowly warming up!

"Okay, okay, everyone, quiet down, be quiet!"

The scene gradually became quiet again!

"This time, the Baron has formulated so many favorable policies to develop the territory, so everyone must cooperate with the work of the Government Affairs Office and complete these two tasks. Don't disappoint the Baron's expectations! Do you understand?"

"Understood!" Everyone responded loudly and happily.

"Well, let me read out the next instruction from the Baron!"

"According to the Baron's development and construction plan, in three days, our White Bear Territory will carry out a road construction project. The main part of the project is to widen and flatten the section of road connecting Flanders Town to the County Avenue."

"Then the government office will recruit everyone to work together. Are you willing to come?"

This last sentence actually meant that Adam wanted to test whether these subjects truly supported Baron Sauron.

He had seen this happen before.

But those subjects were unwilling to go and gave all kinds of excuses.

Even if I had time to sit at home and grind steel bars, I would never go.

So this time, Adam deliberately did not mention the issue of treatment, just to see how the subjects would react.

If they truly supported Baron Soran, their first reaction would certainly be to support this policy without hesitation.

really……

"I'm willing to go, I'm willing to go, I will definitely go, I'll go right away, I'll definitely be the first one to go!" As soon as Adam finished speaking, the leader immediately echoed him loudly.

"Yes, yes, I will do my best to complete whatever the lord tells me to do!" Another citizen responded loudly.

"The benevolent Lord has formulated so many favorable policies for us. How can we let him down?"

"Yes, it is our honor to do something for the Lord. I was just thinking about how I could repay the Lord's kindness. And here he comes!"

"Yes, this road construction can also make it easier for me to travel. Now that the lord has taken the lead in recruiting us, I must go and help!"

"Lord Adam, why don't you talk to the Lord? I don't think we need to wait three days. Let's start tomorrow!"

……

There was an endless stream of responses. Except for a few who were somewhat reluctant, everyone else was very enthusiastic and couldn't wait to start working and repay the lord.

Adam saw everything, and the corners of his mouth had unconsciously risen to an incredible height.

But in my heart, I was already overjoyed!

"Hahaha, well, since everyone is so enthusiastic, I will tell you another good news!"

Then everyone tacitly kept quiet and listened attentively.

"The Baron is not recruiting everyone for free for this road construction project. For the people who respond to the call to participate in the road construction project, the Baron will prepare a breakfast for everyone!"

"And during each ten-day work period, citizens who come for five full days will be given a salary of three copper coins per day! If they come for all ten days, they will receive a full attendance allowance of five copper coins at the end!"

“Ah, this…this…this…this…this…” Most of the subjects were so shocked by Adam’s words that they were suddenly speechless.

The tradition since ancient times has been that the subjects obey the lord's call for free and serve the lord for free.

But this is the first time I've heard of this being rewarded!

How can this not be shocking?

But soon, everyone reacted.

Immediately, the entire crowd erupted into even warmer applause and cheers.

Just now, they actually wanted to obey the lord's call for free from the bottom of their hearts.

After all, it is the hibernation season, and we are idle anyway, so we might as well use the time to repay the lord's kindness.

But now, if you obey the call-up, you can actually have food to eat and get money in the end.

For most of the subjects, this is undoubtedly an act of timely help.

Because the place where the white bear collar is located is extremely cold in winter, so they need to hibernate.

During the hibernation period, you cannot engage in production work, and the territory is so poor that there are no jobs available.

In addition, the advance taxes were just paid some time ago.

Therefore, many families of the subjects have now almost reached the point of pennilessness.

Maybe in a few days, people might really freeze to death!

But now the Lord's plan can really solve their urgent problems!

All of a sudden, all the people of White Bear Territory had a sense of belonging to White Bear Territory and support for Lord Sauron, which reached a very high level.

If Soran is willing to lead them to break away from the rule of the Kingdom of Midburg and declare an independent country.

Maybe they will choose to follow without hesitation!

Therefore, from this moment on, the White Bear Territory has truly become Sauron's territory, both in terms of physical definition and spiritual imprint.