Heroes of the Invincible Knight

(Wait, I'm writing, I'll change it when I finish writing)

Dragon City

Different from the coldness of the snowfield, the golden dragon at this time has entered the hottest time of the year, and the passers-by on the road basically only wear a short shirt to cover their bodies, and some even go topless. But no matter where you stay, sweat can't stop flowing.

Those who can hide in the shade are okay, and there are still many people who still have to work hard when the sun is in full bloom.

Since the beginning of the year, the burden of the people has more than doubled, and materials from all over the world gather on the wharf of the Jinlong River every day.

Every time a ship docks, there must be hundreds of coolie workers boarding the ship to carry goods under the scorching sun. kill some people.

Not only is the labor much heavier, but even the land tax has risen sharply. Fortunately, the Golden Dragon Kingdom has enjoyed peace for so long. , Naturally, someone will give them a showdown with more labor to offset it.

As for resistance? There is no need for the knights to act. A quasi knight wearing simple equipment and a few soldiers can easily suppress an entire village of peasants. Facing the heavy corvee and taxes this year, ordinary civilians have no choice but to curse inwardly.

In this era when extraordinary power overwhelms everything, the pyramid structure of the kingdom is extremely stable. Not to mention that the Charlemagne family has ruled the kingdom for five hundred years now, if there is no threat from foreigners, this kind of rule may last for another five years. century.

For ordinary people, the increase in corvee taxes in the kingdom is a real tyranny, but for Ren who implements tyranny, it is a last resort. The war is coming, and he has to try his best to squeeze the power of the people and prepare for war. , As for doing this to resist the orcs, before the orcs came to the city, how many people understood this truth.

…

In a side hall of the palace, Ren, who has been regarded as a tyrant by the people, is sitting on the main seat at this time. The dozens of people below are all important officials of the kingdom, including top officials like Liangxiang and Saul, as well as the recently arrested The eldest prince Wolf with many garrison legions in his hands.

Most of the people present have knight-level physiques. Even King Ren himself is a great knight-level master, let alone a sky-level master like Saul. Everyone is dressed very solemnly, because they have a certain understanding of the cold and summer weather. resistance.

It's just that although the hot weather won't make them impetuous, the things that are being discussed at this time are a bit heavy for everyone except Sol.

"So when expropriating civilians to raise taxes, everyone can reach an agreement for the righteousness of the country and race. Now I say that it is so difficult to ask the nobles to contribute their efforts?"

There was already some anger in Ren's tone. Faced with Ren's questioning, most people lowered their heads and did not dare to answer, fearing that something wrong with a sentence would be brought on to them, and they would not agree, no. Agree neither.

After all, according to Ren's thinking, all nobles have to increase taxes like ordinary farmers. For these nobles, they usually try to find ways to pay less tax, so there is no reason to accept more.

And not only had to pay taxes, the king actually made the nobles take responsibility, and they had to bring equipment and private soldiers to the barracks to report for the war according to their titles and territories.

The barbarian aristocrats in the north or some military aristocrats who have been awarded recently may be able to pull up some capable personal guards to fight. Most of the aristocrats have enjoyed wealth for hundreds of years. Except for a few big aristocrats, every generation To be able to have a knight who can't even swing a sword to inherit the title is their greatest pursuit of force.

It is conceivable that if Renn's two requirements must be implemented, it will be digging meat from the vested interest groups in the kingdom, and if he comes out to answer the words, it may be rejected by the entire interest group.

Don't agree, they didn't have the guts to say it to Ren, who was obviously a little angry now, so they just buried their heads and pretended to be dead, and they just didn't move any way Ren's eyes glanced.

Only Saul looked at Ren calmly. One-third of his status came from blood, one-third from the golden dragon, and one-third from his personal strength. It had nothing to do with these nobles. He was Ren's most staunch supporter.

But his support was useless. Among the others, even Wolf, who was the eldest prince, did not dare to stand up to answer the questions. Apart from the support of Rennes, his reorganization of the garrison army also had the support of various nobles. The aristocrat who was under pressure gave him real talents and material support. If he stood up to support Rennes' approach, it would probably shake his own base.

"boom!"

An angry Ren slapped heavily on the table case. Ren's strength was not weak, and there was a loud noise from this blow. The quality of the table case was not bad enough to withstand Ren's angry blow.

Renn has become so angry, and the people below naturally can no longer hold their breath. With this loud noise, more than a dozen people below, including the eldest prince Wolf, all knelt on the ground with their heads on the ground, looking like He looked apprehensive, but he just didn't want to accept Ren's words. Only Sol still stood firmly in front of the crowd, looking very prominent.

"Left Prime Minister, what do you think about the matter of sending more nobles to the nobles?"

After knocking on the table angrily, Ren simply called people to speak.

The left prime minister who was named by Rennes had no choice but to bite the bullet and go out. After thinking for a long time, he replied:

"Now the military actions of the orcs in Longxiguan are becoming more and more obvious. The Golden Dragon Clan is about to betray the covenant. The kingdom is already in crisis. All the nobles are vassals of the kingdom. It is right for someone to give people and money. Things, even if His Majesty does not send additional troops, each family should take the initiative to contribute to the war."

Although everyone lowered their heads, Prime Minister Zuo listened with their ears upright when he opened his mouth. Prime Minister Zuo said a lot of truths that everyone understood. The less well-informed nobles of the middle and lower classes have already heard the news. If all the nobles can cooperate with the actions of the kingdom by reason, then there will be no such troublesome things.

Now Ren obviously wants to implement a specific and executable order to dig meat from the nobles. Specific measures are needed, but the left minister did not respond positively. After saying a lot of good things, he looked to the side and buried The old enemy at the head smiled slightly in his heart, then changed the subject and said:

"It's just that I'm not familiar with the right minister about how to apportion to the nobles. How to do it, the right minister should come up with specific measures."

Right phase: "..."

"oh?"

"The right minister thinks that the apportionment to the nobles should be increased?"

Although Prime Minister Zuo turned the subject abruptly, Ren didn't seem to care. He followed Prime Minister Zuo's words and passed the conversation to Prime Minister Right. He had already obtained the attitude he wanted from Prime Minister Zuo.

And the right-hand man who was named by Rennes slowly came out. With the system of the kingdom, there will be no fools who can reach this position. In fact, he is like a mirror in his heart. He had already figured it out when Rennes was furious just now. Knowing the key point, he is the right minister of the kingdom, the chief executive officer, and he can't escape when the left ministers are all called.

"Your Majesty, it is reasonable to increase the apportionment to all the nobles in the kingdom, but it may not be appropriate to double the levy as before."

"Why, the common people can accept it, but the nobles can't?"

Of course it won't work. The common people are taxed, and they have to hold back their dissatisfaction. They can't form any resistance force that can affect the kingdom, and the nobles are the foundation of the kingdom's rule. If these rich and powerful nobles are pushed, It can really shake the foundation of the kingdom's rule.

Ryan showed such an aggressive look, in fact, he just wanted to bargain.

Yes, the king bargained with the aristocratic class in the country, using the king's authority and some means to get the entire aristocratic class to hand over part of their interests.

"Your Majesty, these are descendants of meritorious ministers. If you want to forcibly apportion them like commoners, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of the nobles in the country."

"Then the right minister thinks how to make up for the shortage of supplies at Longxiguan? The war is imminent, and the corvee and land tax have already doubled, so we can't continue to send more."

At present, the burden of the kingdom is mainly placed on the shoulders of the common people. Although the nobles are also contributing, compared with the interests and resources they occupy, that effort is definitely not enough. If they could reach the level of Ross's family in the west, Ren would not have such a headache.

"I suggest adding 20% ​​to the existing base, and allowing nobles to use money and food instead of sending troops."

"Additional distribution will increase by at least 30%..."

"If each family fails to fulfill the obligation to enlist, they must take out 500 jinnars, and the amount increases with the rank of the title."

"Your Majesty, is this too much, I think..."

In the end, the discussion became like a market negotiation. After several rounds of bargaining, the two parties settled on a number, and then Renn announced the end of the discussion with a livid face.

Ren's face returned to normal after the crowd dispersed. In fact, his goal had been achieved, and Ren didn't really want to drive the nobles apart, although he knew very well that at least half of the nobles in the kingdom had been completely transformed For moths.

But he couldn't get rid of these moths violently. He was different from Li Cha. Li Cha could carry out reforms without any scruples because the aristocrats in the North were not strong, and Li Cha's rule did not rely on those nobles. It's not Li Cha's basic situation, and even when Li Cha is full-fledged, he can directly suppress the nobles in the river valley by violent means, and directly rob the interests.

But Ren is different. The foundation of the Golden Dragon Kingdom rests on these nobles. Although they are corrupt, Ren dare not remove them at will. It will only plunge the kingdom into greater chaos. He can only fight and compromise Gradually find a balance point.

Judging from the results of this small pilgrimage meeting, Renn still achieved his goal, and set a tone for the addition of the faction in front of more than a dozen people by singing together with the left and right prime ministers. I believe that the news will come soon It will be spread throughout the aristocratic class through these dozen or so people.

With the authority of the king and the endorsement of the left and right ministers, I believe that most nobles will not do anything impulsive for this part of the small addition.

"Uncle Sol, after this additional dispatch, it should be enough to maintain the Dragon's Breath Pass army."

Only Saul and Harris were left in the hall, and Ren was not as tense as before.

"That's enough for now."

"call."

"Uncle Saul, why do you say that during the time of His Majesty Aragorn, the population of our family was less than one-third of what it is now, but we could easily maintain 10 million soldiers. Up to now, the population of the kingdom has been maintained by 100 million people. The five million troops at Dragon's Breath Pass are struggling so hard."

To put it bluntly, this problem is that the squeeze on people’s power is not as good as that in the Aragon period, and the subjective initiative is insufficient. At that time, humans fought with Aragon to fight for the human race. Most people did everything they could to fight for the human race. .

But now people are living a comfortable life lying on the credit book, the oppression of the orcs has become a thing of the past hundreds of years ago, and human beings have lost the spirit of the Aragon period. In addition, Rennes is not at the same level as Aragon in terms of strength and prestige, and the relationship with the domestic nobles is checked and balanced. No, I won't even blink my eyes if I die.

Sol was silent for a while after listening to Ren's question, and it took a long time before he replied:

"The nobles at that time were always the first to fight."

The current aristocracy might as well not have it.

When Ren thought of this, he couldn't help but think of Li Cha who was "messing around" in the Northland.

"Is there anything new about my good son-in-law recently?"

"Your Majesty, Sir Richard seems to be mobilizing troops against Xueyuan again recently."

Harris, who had been silent all the time, only answered when Ryan asked about Richard's situation.

"Use troops on Xueyuan?"

When Ren heard this strange place, he didn't react for a while, and after a little thought, he probably thought of where the snow field was.

"Why did he send troops to the snowy field to fight those giants?"

"Yes, and according to the intelligence, Mr. Richard has won another big victory."

"Can even the snow giant win? Why don't he save his energy and prepare for the next battle with the orcs if he can fight so well."

For Li Cha to do some miraculous things, Ren was already a little surprised. In addition, he knew very little about the snow field, so he didn't delve into this issue, and turned the topic back to the orcs.

"Send someone to remind him, it's almost time to report to Longxi Pass."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

…

Northland, Miracle City

Half a month has passed since the battle of Snowfield City, and the Snow Giant Royal Court seems to have not even chosen a new king. Intervention, Xueyuan City can be regarded as a firm foothold on the snowfield.

The few banner regiments that had suffered severe staff reductions during the war were now basically replenished. The Hunter family was very efficient and replenished the recruits shortly after the battle ended.

After being busy for a few days, Li Cha became the hands-off shopkeeper again. He either patrols around every day, or waits for Messiah to accompany her for a period of time after she returns home from learning magic.

But today was an accident, Li Cha did not accompany Messiah in the mansion, but came to the Boulder Fort, waiting for the refreshment of the market and tavern...