Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The boys dug the grave the night before. In the churchyard of Wolf Town Church, next to the resting place of other old Dussac.

At this moment, these young people, who were born and grew up after their parents moved here, are standing behind the tomb with shovels, waiting to add soil back.

A few pine boards and a handful of iron nails were the old hunter's coffin. Winters, Girard and two other old Dussac carried the coffin all the way to the cemetery.

They placed the coffin next to the tomb and stepped aside. An unexpected number of people came to see Ralph off. Not only people from Dussa, but also some villagers from Hedong and Hexi villages also showed up at the funeral. There were even Protestants who came all the way from Nanxin and Beixin villages, which were far away from the town center.

When the villagers from the other four villages paid their condolences to Bell, Winters learned that the hunter Ralph was also a veterinarian, herbalist and forest searcher. All the villagers from the other four villages who came to attend the funeral had benefited from him.

Priest Anthony, who was wearing a full black vestment, presided over the ceremony in person. He held the Gospel in his hand, recited passages of scripture in a cadence, led the people attending the funeral to pray, and recited the Catholic funeral prayer again.

Having been with Ralph for a long time, Winters never thought that the venerable hunter was a Catholic, let alone his son. The Hunters and their son do not attend Sunday services and do not have any religious items in their home.

But when the old hunter was laid to rest, a Catholic funeral was held for him. This made people who knew the inside story really not sure what to think.

After Priest Anthony finished reciting the prayer, he looked around and asked, "Does anyone want to say a few words?"

Just as Gilad was about to speak, Sergey stepped out of the crowd and stood in front of the coffin. It was too late for him to stop him.

Gilad Mitchell's heart suddenly rose to his throat.

It should be noted that only half of the quarrels and fights among Tusa people are due to strong alcohol, and the other half is due to the custom of "saying a few words" at funerals.

Funerals and the dead are regarded as particularly sacred by the Dussa people, and they do not have a tradition of just saying good things.

With great respect for death, mourners will say whatever is on their mind in front of the coffin and will not hide any true thoughts.

The consequence of speaking out is often a big quarrel, followed by the fiery-tempered Dussac using his fists. In some cases, it even escalates to slashing with knives, shooting each other with guns, and more funerals.

Gilad is most worried that Sergey can't help but say something inappropriate. Any quarrel or anyone getting hurt is the last thing he wants to see.

"Ralph Puldov, old Yermo's second son, you all know him without my introduction." Dusak, who was proud and puffed up his chest wherever he went, disappeared, and the old man's eyes were filled with tears.

Sergei choked up and said: "Yermonovich is our old friend, and Dusak, who is old enough on the field, has worked with him as a mercenary. We worked side by side to kill peasants and Northlanders, and together we He was sent to the south to kill the rebels and the Huds. I have never seen anyone better than him at shooting arrows... In the battle at Shitang Ferry, I don’t know how many Dusaks died. My horse was stabbed to death. , a hole was stabbed in the thigh by a rebel spearman, and I would have died there if Jermonovich hadn’t carried me out.”

As he talked, the old man burst into tears. The expressions of the villagers in other villages were more subtle, but many old Dusak had secretly wiped away tears.

Sergey's son Vashka ran out to help Sergey, but the old man insisted on finishing his words: "We old buddies, one of us will die. I regret! I regret that I couldn't understand before! I regret! Yermono Vicky is a real hero and a real Dussac. We used to exclude him, we didn't let him enter the village, we were bastards! But he has paid his debt, and the past should be wiped out no matter what. . Dusak’s son should also be Dusak, and Ralph Novitch should also be Dusak. I’m done! Whoever is dissatisfied, I will wait for you at home!”

After "saying a few words", the old Sergei shook off his son's hand and strode back to where he was originally standing. Winters noticed that the other villagers had little feeling for the old man's last words, but the people of Tusa were obviously very surprised.

It seems that because Sergey's speech was too impactful, no other Dussa people "said a few words", but a few villagers from the other four villages talked about the old hunter's kindness to them and their gratitude.

After this final process, the old hunter's coffin was lowered into the tomb. The little hunter Belle cried and sprinkled the first handful of soil, and then spade after spade of soil was sprinkled on Ralph's coffin.

The old hunter's grave was gradually filled up, and some people couldn't help but cry softly. Winters was also very sad.

The old hunter's left arm was barely sewn onto the body with needle and thread. Because the body was "too incomplete," no woman dared to carry the needle, so Winters and Carman had to do it.

Following the blood stains, the militiamen who arrived later found the dead giant lion and its cub in a cave. In addition, they also found half a fresh corpse and... the head of the Rostov family's youngest son.

There were some rags and rags, but those didn't matter.

It can be concluded that this is also a man-eating lion. The village of Dousa was attacked that night by not one, but two beasts.

In order to protect the horses, Teleqing fought with the giant bear, but was defeated. When he was finally found, his internal organs had been eaten away, which was in line with the habits of bears.

Unfortunately, the man and woman having a tryst in the forest became the prey of the giant lion. The giant lion dragged away and ate the girl, and after feasting, killed the boy who caught up with her.

This explains Ralph's long-standing doubts: Why does the beast attack the lovers in Dussa Village again even though it has already eaten its fill of horse meat?

On the day when the old hunter and the giant lion died together, the giant lion had actually killed a Beixin Village villager and dragged the body back to its lair to enjoy - the half of the body that the militiamen found.

After learning that there was a girl in Beixin Village who went into the mountains to cut firewood and failed to return, Ralph immediately set out to search. When he found traces of the giant beast, he asked his son to go to the ensign, the resident officer, for help, and he himself continued to follow the traces.

What happened next caught everyone by surprise.

After the knowledgeable monk Rhett identified it, the giant lion that died in the hands of the old hunter was probably the legendary "cave lion".

This giant lion got its name from being found on cave paintings, and there are also ivory statues and clay sculptures to prove its existence.

But the problem is that the murals and sculptures that record cave lions are all created by prehistoric humans. Theologians of the Criticism School even believe that the creation time of those murals may be earlier than the time when the Tower of Babel was built.

Therefore, even Brother Rhett, who has traveled around the world, dare not conclude that the thing is the so-called "cave lion", because no one has ever seen what a cave lion looks like. This behemoth is not even recorded in historical records.

If that thing is really a cave lion, then this species has a history of at least thousands or even tens of thousands of years, which is simply unimaginable.

But the old mendicant monk was certain of one thing: that thing was definitely no ordinary lion. Among all the people in Wolf Town, only Brother Red has seen a live lion - claiming to be.

The old monk insisted that ordinary lionesses do not look like this, nor are they so big. No matter in the East or the West, he had never seen such a giant lion. I am afraid that only the giant Nemean lion in the Twelve Trials of Hercules in ancient mythology could have such a size.

Winters had only seen the image of the lion on military flags, and the old Dussacs had also seen it on the enemy's military flags. Others had never even seen a picture of a lion, let alone a live one.

Therefore, Brother Red has absolute authority. Even if others are hesitant, they can only accept the old monk's explanation.

The old mendicant wrote a letter to some naturalists and asked a courier to take it to the Cathedral of Gévaudin and send it out through church channels. But no one knows when I will get a reply.

The troublesome communication method reminded Winters of where he was now - after living in Wolf Town for a period of time, he almost forgot that this was the edge of the "civilized world".

Winters took this opportunity to also send a letter home, again through Brother Reed's church channel. The letter itself was a message, and he was careful not to write much, just asking about how the family was doing.

However, the verification work is not urgent. There is another heavy thing weighing on the minds of the people of Langtun Town: What is such a giant beast doing in a small place like Langtun Town?

But Winters thought deeper: This was a lioness with a cub.

This means... there is at least one male lion.

Even talking about that giant bear, it must at least have a father and a mother, right?

Could it be that there are more giant beasts in the depths of the forest, in places where humans have not yet been able to set foot, in the majestic mountains under the golden domes?

Could it be that these two encounters were just the beginning?

Thinking of this, Winters couldn't help but shudder. He suddenly realized that although the two ferocious beasts were lying in wait, the Wolf Town militia could not be disbanded. Not only must they not be disbanded, but militia training must be normalized.

We also need to set up a weapons depot and purchase some "real weapons." In this way, when encountering a similar situation again, the people of Wolf Town will no longer have to use javelins and sabers to deal with ancient beasts.

Otherwise, if another animal disaster occurs after he leaves this post, it will be very difficult for Mayor Mitchell, a man over fifty years old, to completely reorganize the militia.

What's more, the old hunter Ralph, who was the hero in dealing with this beast disaster, is no longer here. Where can the people of this border town go to find another spellcaster officer?

After Winters informed Girard of the above idea, he gained Girard's approval and strong support. Mayor Gilad Mitchell not only supported the normalization of the militia, but also strongly recommended the formation of a formal security guard in Wolftown.

Sheriffs and security guards are essential law enforcement for a town. Sheriffs are generally full-time, and Guard members can be full-time or part-time, depending on the size of the town and its budget.

The situation in Wolf Town is rather embarrassing. It is said to be a town. It has a permanent population of less than ten people, only two dirt roads, one horizontal and one vertical, and no city walls.

By the way, in common language, the word "burgher" is derived from the word "city wall" [Burg]. Townspeople/citizens are the people who live in the city walls.

There is nothing in Langtun Town in Jevaudan City, but Wolf Town is indeed a "town" in a legal sense. But before Winters arrived, it had neither a peace officer nor a vigilante.

Therefore, when Gilad served as both mayor and resident officer, the town government had almost no law enforcement capabilities.

Even if it was just a trivial matter like "a fight between loggers and villagers", Gilad would have to go out in person with a saber, otherwise he would have to go to Dussa Village to find his old subordinates for help.

And in fact, "fights between loggers and villagers" were very frequent, happening almost every week, and the old Mayor Mitchell was troubled endlessly.

Even Winters, who had just arrived in office, encountered an incident once. Several young people from Hedong Village were beaten until their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen. At that time, Winters was busy guarding against animal disasters. He gave both parties a lecture and then let them go.

In order to realize his desire to make Wolftown a truly prosperous town, Girard Mitchell was very keen to establish a formal security guard.

In his opinion, the security guard can be dispensed with, but cannot be left out. Ensuring public security can attract more people to live in the town center. It is best for Guard members to be full-time, but part-time is okay.

Mayor Mitchell also offered to help Winters solve budget problems. The town directly funded and hired a security team.

The power of the officers stationed in the new land was very great, and the power of the town mayor was also very great. The Plato Council is only responsible for collecting taxes. As long as the taxes can be paid by the people below, nothing else matters. The mayor has almost as much power as a tax collector in the empire.

Not only that, because all property rights belong to the army, the people in the newly cultivated land have to pay taxes on almost everything they do. You have to pay taxes when you go into the mountains to collect firewood, you have to pay taxes when you go down the river to catch fish, you have to pay taxes when you set up nets to catch birds, and so on. Moreover, these taxes are in addition to the basic agricultural taxes and poll taxes.

For example, the Orion family, in addition to paying poll tax and road tax, also has to pay taxes when hunting in the mountains. They need to provide eight deer skins and eight fox skins as hunting taxes every year, or pay three large silver coins.

Let’s talk about the Mitchell family. The Mitchell family owns a small boat. So regardless of whether Gilad Mitchell fishes or not, he has to pay the fishery tax.

These additional taxes were paid annually, and some of them were mandatory, such as the firewood tax. Even if farmers only burn their own straw for a whole year, they still have to pay tax, which is simply a disguised poll tax.

Winters couldn't believe his ears when he heard Brother Red chatting about these "exorbitant taxes." Because the taxes on the newly cultivated land in Plato are completely different from those in Veneta, it can even be said to be worlds apart.

The ruling class of the Republic of Veneta is almost free-range in rural areas. The Merchant Republic is very calculating at heart, and is accustomed to weighing everything on the scale, seeing everything as a business.

What the commercial republic needs is currency, real gold and silver, precious metals that can be used for trade. In addition to this, the Republic also needed manpower and material supplies to maintain its trading fleet and urban craft industries.

What farmers lack most is precious metals, and small families cannot save much money. Transactions between farmers are carried out by barter all year round. The smallest small silver coins were too large in "face value" for farmers and had to be cut into smaller pieces before they could be used in rural areas - that is, "silver dimes".

Therefore, in the view of the rulers of the Republic of Veneta: the cost of extracting money from farmers is too high. For every silver coin scraped from the peasants, two silver coins were spent on the standing army responsible for suppressing the peasants.

What a loss! What a loss! This is a deal that is sure to end in losses for my grandma’s family!

Moreover, frequent peasant rebellions will also disrupt the supply of materials and manpower to the city.

Therefore, the taxation in rural areas of the Republic of Veneta is mainly in kind, and the directorate only collects taxes on an annual basis and suppresses bandits (because bandits will rob caravans on the fixed roads, which is very bad for business).

All the wealth of the noble Merchant Republic of Veneta lies in cities, cities, and cities.

Cities are the key. As long as urban energy sources continue to receive supplies of materials and manpower, will farmers live or die? Archon Veneta didn't really care.

However, because of this, the farmers' taxes in the Republic of Veneta are also the lowest among the republics. Farmers only need to pay a fixed amount of grain every year.

Other times? Don't cause trouble, just fend for yourself. [Note: However, farmers in the Republic of Veneta do not enjoy any civil rights, such as being unable to carry weapons in the city. ]

"Isn't this counter-productive? Can this be tolerated?" Winters said to the old mendicant monk in disbelief: "If this kind of tax is imposed on the farmers of Veneta, even Hailan City will be attacked by rebels. On."

"Boy, what do you think Dusak is for? There is a Dusak village in every town in the new land. Why do you think the Palatine Council went to such trouble to arrange it like this? Why is Gila from Dussac De Mitchell will be the mayor?" Brother Rhett narrowed his eyes, smiled and patted Winters on the shoulder: "You! Too young, too simple."

"Uh... could it be that Dusak is specifically used to suppress farmers?" Winters was almost shocked to the point of being incoherent: "But I think the relationship between Dusak Village in Wolf Town and several other villages is okay?"

"Is it still okay?" the old monk asked with a smile: "Is it really okay? Boy, I said you have a dull sense of politics, but you still don't believe it. If you apply your martial arts skills to politics, you can still be considered a good person. Talent."

"Is it...ok...?" Winters was also asked hesitantly. He thought about it carefully: "The two Protestant villages are indeed relatively unfriendly to the Dussa people, and the attitudes of the other two villages are now It’s a bit subtle when you think about it.”

The old monk laughed loudly: "That's right, politics is very subtle. Do you know what the other four villages call Dussa Village behind their backs?"

"Isn't it just called Dussa Village?"

"Wrong, they are called 'Tatar' villages. Tatars are barbarians, people who drink blood from their hair." The old beggar monk circled his head and read a few ancient sentences in a mellow tone: "Do you understand?"

"Um..." Winters didn't know how to answer the question for a moment.

"The relationship between the several villages in Langtun is actually quite good." Brother Reid chuckled lightly and took a sip of Mitchell's home-brewed wine: "Gilard Mitchell, although he looks like He is rude, but he is as wise as a fool, and he knows how to handle government affairs well. Several other villages fished and hunted rabbits without paying taxes, but he just pretended not to see them. Several other villages secretly cultivated corners of the land, and he also turned a blind eye. Close one eye.

The Mitchell family also has a "good wife", so the relationship between the villages is naturally relatively relaxed. There are a lot of small towns like Langtun in the newly cultivated land. Some people are lenient in governance, while others are strict in governance. I have visited every small town in the new land. Speaking of places that are too strict, I have also seen massacres of villages! The tyrannical government is as fierce as a tiger. From the Far East to the Near East and then to this place, the world is vast and nothing is worse than this. "

I love writing settings, writing settings makes me happy.

The two words "Burger" and "Burg" are German memes. The etymology I saw is very interesting. The English Hamburger comes from the German city of Hamburg, and the German city of Hamburg is composed of [Ham+Burg]. ], which means [Ham protected by city walls], and the mayor [Burgermeister] is simply the "Lord of the Citizens", and the second one can be translated as "Master of the Citizens".

Because I wanted to adjust my schedule, I happily went to bed at 12 o'clock last night. It took me a whole day to write this chapter, so I don’t know whether this chapter should be counted as yesterday’s or today’s. I’d better try to write more in each chapter to pay off the debt.

Thanks to the book friends who voted for recommendation before;

Thanks to Shuyoutian Lens, 54 Months, and Wu is Xiaogao for their recommendation votes, thank you all;

Thanks to the book friends Wu is Xiao Gao, Calm Gray Guo, The Yellow Rabbit of the Flower Planter, Book Friends 20181010005850390, Behere370, Jiang Xue Diao Weng, An Ideal Uncle in His Thirties, 54 Months, Sky Lens, Book Friends 20191007064305842, Kun Kun, Moon Night Thank you all for your recommendation votes for Zhifeng, Yanyunsan, and Kamen Rider.

I am impressed by every book friend who voted for recommendation, and I am really grateful to you for insisting on voting for recommendation.