Chapter 139 Killing the Chicken to Scare the Monkey

My name is Nasser, a Bedouin who came on pilgrimage.

Every morning, when it’s still dark, I have to get up from the haystack and work in the fields.

The dromedary camel that we came on was mortgaged to a Jewish businessman because we could not afford the entrance tax to Khalil (Hebron).

But this only lasted me a month. In the second month, I was forced to work under the command of a local chieftain and became a farmhand in the fields.

The days of digging in the soil are the same and boring.

Until that day, I saw the new lord, the Frankish Earl named Lothar. His fully armed cavalry escorted a carriage carrying a ferocious dragon head.

God, that was definitely a dragon, not some other rare beast.

This new lord is actually a dragon slayer!

He was riding on a tall horse covered with a white riding jacket.

He has a handsome appearance and bright armor. He is accompanied by two female knights who look very exciting.

I have to admit, I was so stupid that I forgot that I should step aside and bow to the road.

His cavalry tried to drive me away, but he stopped them.

He very kindly asked me in Kurdish what kind of difficulties I faced in daily life - holy fire, this pagan lord actually spoke fluent Kurdish.

I was so frightened at the time that I hesitated for a long time: "Lord, I hope I can get some salary increase, otherwise I won't even be able to fill my stomach after working hard for a year."

The handsome pagan lord graciously granted my request.

And soon, my life changed.

The leader gritted his teeth and expressed that he would improve our treatment. The daily salary during the harvest season was increased from two copper coins to 3.5 copper coins.

At the very least, this allows me to have enough money to buy a small portion of dried figs as a snack every day when I work, and when I have dinner in the evening, I can also have a small cup of wheat juice or a bowl of stew with it.

Praise Count Lothar.

May the holy fire bless this generous dragon-slaying hero!

…

In the Lord's Hall.

A huge flag with a double-headed eagle hangs on the wall, and below it, there is a line of small words written in Latin - bathe in dragon's blood.

A dried and tanned dragon head was fixed in the center of the two flags, above the lord's throne.

The leatherworker's skills are good, and the ferocious dragon horns and eyes of the earth dragon seem to come to life at any time and choose people to devour.

At this time, five full days had passed since the night of the dragon slaying.

Leonard and his people have built the most basic wooden fort within the city wall. Next, they will use the "stone", a by-product of mining iron ore from the mine, to gradually replace the wooden fort with A brand new castle.

The Tree of Life has already taken root near the mine. It is said that a single tree becomes a forest. Soon, the Tree of Life, nourished by the dragon's flesh and blood, will develop into an oasis.

Even the hydrological environment there will be changed, with groundwater gathering into a depression and gradually forming a lake.

It is foreseeable that this place will prosper in the future.

Lothar named the new city - New Habsburg, and placed it within his own territory.

In this way, he owned one city, two castles and three fiefdoms.

In the empty corridor, there was the sound of heavy iron boots stepping on marble tiles.

The pace is slow and powerful.

The young earl was dozing on the throne. Hearing the movement, he raised his head slightly and asked, "Have you found any evidence that Hussein funded the bandits?"

"found it."

There were a few blood stains on Jeanna's armor.

She smiled and said: "The hundred city guards you selected are all very good soldiers. They have experienced hundreds of battles and know how to cooperate. With a solid infantry phalanx, they forcibly defeated the bandits funded by Hussein." They were surrounded and strangled to death.”

"We must admit that they are worthy of the eagle flag and the ancient empire that has been buried in history."

"That's natural."

Lothar nodded slightly: "Now that the evidence is available, let's prepare to attack Hussein."

"Remember to leave enough people alive while ensuring your own safety, and capture them all to Hebron. I will read out their sins in front of everyone and send them to the gallows with my own hands."

There are many ways to rule the people.

The simplest is the two words "intimidation".

A benevolent lord may be loved by others, but he will never be feared by others. The king is to be kind and powerful.

After ordering the leaders of Hebron and the local tycoons to increase the wages of farmhands, some people have begun to become dissatisfied with Lothar, the new lord.

However, due to Lothar's power as a dragon slayer, they were frightened into silence. No one dared to object, so they all agreed to Lothar's request.

This is actually not what Lothar wants.

Only if someone opposes him can he kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, but the monkeys are too smart and no one wants to be the "chicken". This requires Lothar to take the initiative to find him.

"By the way, seal up their property and name the field 'One-Third Field', which means that for cultivating this field, you only need to pay me one-third of the income."

"These fields were given first to Christians, or to pagans willing to convert."

Reject the middlemen to make the difference!

Jeanne snorted softly: "I'm sorry to say it bluntly, but Henusberg and the land there should be my fiefdom."

Lothar was confused and angry: "First pay back the money I used to upgrade you!"

Jeanne was immediately speechless.

"Okay, I will implement your will, Lord Lothar!"

Watch Jeanne leave.

Lothar secretly thought about it.

In this era, serfs in Western Europe are not mentioned.

If only freemen's farm laborers are counted, the tax that needs to be paid should be between 50% and 70%.

This includes religious taxes.

The so-called tithe tax does not really mean paying only one-tenth of income and personal property.

For example, the Saladin tax was an additional tithe.

Taking only a third of the money, he is really a very generous lord.

And did Lothar take one-third of the loss?

of course not!

As the output of Malus's blacksmith shop gradually increases, he will rent a large number of agricultural tools to farmers in the territory to increase output.

In addition, the middleman is eliminated and the price difference is earned.

This one-third is much more than what you could earn before.

Hnusburg, village of Seprun.

The tax collector of the village of Sepulun was a Saracen named Hussein. He was the tax collector of this village when the Fatimid dynasty still ruled Jerusalem.

He owned thousands of acres of land, and although these nominally belonged to the Frankish nobles in Henus Castle, in fact, it was better to say that he only had to pay an annual fee and the land belonged to him.

In the center of the village, his mansion occupies an extremely large area and can accommodate hundreds of people.

He personally maintained a guard of thirty people, all of whom were wearing armor.

Not inferior to the standing army of the lord here.

Hussein's face looked a little ugly. Recently, Hnusburg was granted the title of a female knight by the new lord.

His men in Hebron tried to visit him, but were turned down.

This gave him the idea of ​​sending his bandits to intercept and kill the female knight who had not yet taken up her post.

"Oh, you are such an unintelligent woman. If you were like Dame Julia, wouldn't you still accept my tribute and enjoy the luxurious life of a noble?"

Hussein sighed.

If he had a choice, he would not use such drastic measures.

But this new lord obviously had no intention of compromising with him, and once his affairs were exposed and attracted the Frankish Earl's army, he would definitely die without a burial place.

But at this moment, a slave walked in quickly and reported: "The new lord of Henus is here. She has brought more than 20 armored cavalry and 50 heavy infantry, and will be arriving at the entrance of the village soon."

Hussein looked a little panicked.

"How come there are so many?"

Even the original lord of Hnusburg only had about twenty armored soldiers!