The Knight's Journey to the Empire

In the meeting room of the tax collector's villa, Soran sat at the head of the long table, and Gubellini, Ramos, Henry, Adam, and Javier sat on his left and right, facing each other.

Henry is currently reporting on what he has learned since their earlier arrival.

"According to what you said, Sir Jacques deserves to die for daring to embezzle the young master's private property!" After listening to Henry's report, Adam was the first to speak angrily.

Now he is employed by Soran, although the two have a very good relationship and can be called brothers.

But in formal occasions, he consciously changed his words and no longer directly called Sauron "brother", but called him "young master".

After all, their identities are indeed different now.

Soran didn't think much about it. It was just a title and it couldn't affect the relationship between the brothers.

And he was happy to see it.

After all, there is an employment relationship between the two of them, and they are now discussing serious matters and holding a formal meeting.

It would be best if these rules could be established first.

Adam was, of course, furious.

Because that fat and greedy Sir Jacques dared to collect taxes from the people in the territory for the next three years in advance in the name of His Royal Highness the Prince needing to supplement military funds.

Obviously, he pocketed the money.

As Sauron's good brother, economic advisor, and future caravan manager, this is equivalent to taking money out of his pocket!

How could he tolerate such a thing happening!

"Yes, Master, we must not let that greedy guy go!" Ramos also echoed: "Master, give the order, let me kill him with one sword and get the things back for you!"

"Kill, kill, kill. That's all you do. Brother, can't you use your brain?" Gubellini helplessly refuted Ramos's remarks. "Besides, can we just kill Sir Jacques casually?"

"Why can't you just kill him casually? I think he is just a pig. Killing him is just a matter of one sword!" Ramos was a little angry at his brother's rebuttal!

Gubellini rolled his eyes at him and said nothing.

“Hey, brother, what does that look mean? Are you dissatisfied…” Ramos was extremely angry.

Ever since Gubellini broke through to the entry-level knight profession level, he has been giving me less and less face.

This kid must be too proud of himself. He no longer considers me as his big brother.

Seeing that the two were about to continue arguing, Henry took the lead and stepped forward to stop them.

They gathered here to hold a meeting to listen to reports and discuss countermeasures, not to prepare for a quarrel!

"Don't worry, everyone. Sir Jacques is just a grasshopper in autumn. He won't be able to jump for more than a few days! Sooner or later, he will spit out everything he eats!" Soran concluded directly and changed the subject.

"Can you first tell me some basic information about the territory?"

“Yes, young master,” Ramos regained his composure, stood up and began to introduce the basic situation of the territory to Soran in detail.

"Young Master's territory has a town and seven villages, with nearly 250 households and a total population of more than 1200 people."

"There's no need to pay too much attention to those seven villages. They're basically all honest farmers or hunters. But the situation in Flanders Town needs a detailed introduction."

"The forces in Flanders Town are mainly divided into three groups."

"The biggest of them is the security team backed by the mayor. They are just a bunch of hooligans and gangsters. They rely on the mayor's support and bully the people in the market. They do all kinds of evil things."

"Then there is a loose alliance of tailors, grocers, taverns, blacksmiths, and some merchants or craftsmen. They remain neutral and do not get involved in disputes between the parties."

"Finally, there are loose groups of oppressed people, such as farmers, hunters, and tenants, who are spontaneously organized. Although they are numerous, they are often exploited and oppressed because of their extreme weakness and lack of organization."

After Ramos finished speaking, he also gave his own advice: "Master, I think that we have just arrived here. If we want to gain a foothold quickly and win the hearts of the people, we can use Sir Jacques, the mayor, or the security team as an example to establish our authority."

"But it should be noted that the captain of the security team, although his knight training has not advanced to the entry-level knight profession level, he has the strength of an ordinary entry-level knight."

Obviously, Ramos’ heart was with the poor farmers because he came from a poor background.

If Soran said "yes", he would definitely be the first one to bring people over to kill those people.

Although the entry-level knights have cultivated fighting spirit, the fighting spirit at this stage is mainly used to strengthen the body and improve physical fitness.

Therefore, some ordinary people with extraordinary talents or natural strength can compete with some ordinary knights by relying on their tremendous strength or dexterous swordsmanship.

Of course, if it takes a longer time for the Knight to advance to the Knight professional level, and the use of fighting spirit improves the physical fitness more, then this situation will rarely occur.

For an entry-level knight with normal combat power, fighting against five to ten warriors is absolutely a piece of cake.

The warriors here refer to those professional, rigorously trained elite fighters.

Rather than the kind of peasant warrior who can go to the battlefield with just a sickle and hoe.

"Ramos, watch the way you speak! Remember, you are the young master's man, you have to consider the young master's interests! Don't let your stupid ideas affect the young master's judgment!" After listening to this, Javier took the lead in reminding Ramos in a deep voice.

"Yes, Brother Javier!" Ramos dared not disobey Javier's words.

Soran waved his hand and said nothing.

"What about other situations, such as the economy?" Soran continued to ask.

Ramos was obviously in a low mood at this time, but he still reported loudly all the information he had learned.

"The economic development of the entire territory is relatively average. The overall economy is mainly based on agriculture, with almost no business."

"But there are large tracts of fertile land in the territory that can be cultivated. It is just that the population is insufficient and it cannot be cultivated."

"The small mountain range in the west of the territory has rich timber and stone resources that can be mined. But I heard from the hunters that there have been traces of magical beasts appearing there from time to time in recent years. And due to insufficient population and the lack of attention from the leaders, it has not been developed."

"The tax revenue of the entire territory is around 600 gold coins per year, of which agricultural tax accounts for half, and the rest are various exorbitant taxes set by the greedy tax collector and the mayor."

"There are so many taxes, such as window tax, travel tax, marriage tax, IQ tax, etc. The people often work hard for a whole year, but in the end they have nothing left. Instead, they owe a huge debt and cannot eat enough or wear warm clothes!"

At the end, Ramos was extremely angry: "Master, the tax collector, the mayor and the security team are just a bunch of vampires. How hateful!"

"Give me the order and let me take some people to kill them directly!"

Soran frowned, and suddenly felt a little dissatisfied with Ramos.

Ramos hasn't figured out his position yet.