Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Whether the militiamen in Plato's legal meaning are "citizens" or "soldiers" is not important to other ethnic groups - they all go to work anyway.

But for Dussac it was a world of difference.

If the militiamen are "soldiers", then Dusak's service as a militiaman can be deducted from his service years, even if the militiamen actually do the work of civilians.

This was Brother Rhett's idea. The old mendicant monk had no clue after two bottles of wine.

Old Dusak, who is still alive today, swore an oath with Marshal Ned thirty years ago and officially surrendered to the Republic of Plato, and eventually settled and multiplied into the Dusak people of the new land.

And their descendants will take the oath again when they enter the army as adults.

However, all the oaths only mention "everlasting loyalty" and "service" and do not limit the specific form of service, which leaves room for interpretation.

For Dussac, serving is equal to being a soldier, equals to killing people, equals to raising the saber high to cut down, this is a matter of course.

They did not realize that there were huge loopholes in the system - militiamen were also soldiers, and being a militiaman also meant serving.

For every day Dussac joins the militia now, he can theoretically shorten his service time by one day in the future.

While essentially taking advantage of a loophole, Dussac will be happy because the risk of their service is reduced;

The other four villages in Wolf Town are also happy because they need to send out fewer people;

Winters was equally delighted, for he had turned a bad thing into a good and a bad thing;

The only one who is unhappy is probably the Republic of Plato, but what governs the republic is a clumsy, large, and bloated power system.

It is so slow that it takes a long time to detect even a small bleeding wound on its body. It is unlikely that it will go to war just because it is taken advantage of.

This operation of "turning people into soldiers" is proudly called "system arbitrage".

The old man even had an even more outrageous trick: the prerequisite for Dusak's land transfer was to complete one term of service, but the definition of one term of service is equally vague. If he joins the militia auxiliary force and his service ends automatically after the militia auxiliary force is disbanded, doesn't it count as " Completed one term of service”?

And there are even more extreme and extreme tricks: the "Tolde Agreement" stipulates that when the situation is urgent, the resident officer has the right to recruit civilians under his jurisdiction to form a militia.

But what is an emergency? There is no detailed explanation of the "Tolde Agreement", and the power of interpretation is automatically delegated to the resident officer.

The town-level militia is also a militia. In a legal sense, it is equivalent to the militia recruited by the army. "Serving" in the town-level militia is also service.

Therefore, in theory, Winters could directly declare "an emergency situation in Langtun Town" and set up a paper militia to let the young Dussacs serve in name until the land is granted.

Second Lieutenant Montagne was dazzled and dumbfounded by the endless routines of the old master. The poor second lieutenant has been attending the Army Infant School since he was nine years old and leading a regular life. He has never seen anyone like Rhett who can take advantage of every loophole in the system to the limit. "Arbitrageur".

Compared with other system arbitrage tactics, the initial method is simply childish and does not seem to be taking advantage of the public at all.

"But you kid, you have to be careful. The last two moves are not bloodletting with a knife, but chopping off the toes with a big ax!" Brother Rhett did not forget to remind Winters when he was drunk and his ears were hot: "You are forcing the government to fill the loopholes, and it will definitely cause the government to Revenge. So don’t go too far. Let Dusak serve as a militiaman to save some years of service, which will just solve the source of the militiamen. If the higher ups want to hold you accountable in the future, you will have an excuse."

However, the old monk was obviously overly worried, because just the trick of "turning people into soldiers" had completely washed away the second lieutenant's outlook. As for more aggressive and greedy institutional arbitrage, Winters never even thought about it.

Winters is satisfied with making a small contribution to Wolf Town without expecting to change the way of life of the people of Dussa. At the Gévaudan garrison, he received a satisfactory answer.

…

Major Ronald was initially hesitant, but Captain Epel, the director of the garrison's archives, cited a case from eight years ago to support Winters' appeal.

Eight years ago, in Dashi Town, which is also under the jurisdiction of Tiefeng County. The officers stationed in the town urgently recruited Dusak to form a militia team to suppress the bandits. In the process, the young man Dusak died in the battle.

It is the custom of Dusak to enter the army at the age of twenty. However, marriages occur earlier in rural areas, and many Dusaks have children before they have grown up, served in the military, or been granted land.

The young man Dindusak who was killed in the battle to suppress the bandits in Dashi Town left behind a son, a daughter and a widow.

After the suppression of the bandits, the militia was disbanded, and the Dusaks of Dashi Town went to the garrison headquarters to petition.

It is hoped that the Army Corps will recognize the inexperienced Dindusak who died during the suppression of bandits as "killed in service."

Because Dusak, who was not granted land, could only inherit a portion of the land until he reached adulthood, otherwise his death would be in vain if he died in battle.

The complaint was finally handed to the desk of Lieutenant General Ferenc, the commander of the army at the time. Because the person involved, Dussac, was shot through by several arrows and still tried his best to kill the thief until he died. Ferenc was greatly moved when he learned about it.

The lieutenant general personally made the decision to recognize the war dead as "killed in service", and the injured were also recognized as "wounded in service" and were rewarded.

The eight-year-old case bolsters Winters' claims.

Even if they want to argue in a military court, if they want to reject Winters' claim, they must first reject Lieutenant General Ferenc's precedent.

Winters had no idea that such an incident had happened eight years ago, but since there was a similar case, that would be great.

Major Ronald thought for a long time and said helplessly to Winters and Girard: "This time the drawing will be according to your wishes, but will the drawing be like this in the future... I have to ask the legion headquarters. That’s all.”

All Dussac's archives in this county are under the control of the garrison. As the highest military commander of Tiefeng County, Major Ronald has a considerable degree of self-determination.

He nodded, and it was settled.

Winters was also very excited for a moment. After all, he had never thought about what would happen in the future. Everyone, including himself, believed that Winters Montagne would not stay in Plato for a long time.

When Major Ronald sent Winters and Girard out, he sighed inadvertently: "A son is not his parents' creditor, but he can suck the blood of his parents more than a creditor."

"Huh? Major agreed because of Mr. Mitchell's sake?" Winters thought.

He looked at Gilad, only to find that old Dussac's face was ashen and he said nothing.

"Senior, thank you for your helping hand today."

Walking out of the gate of the garrison, Winters thanked Captain Epel sincerely. Major Ronald would not have been convinced so easily if the captain had not cited the case.

Unexpectedly, Captain Epel just replied calmly: "I'm not helping you, I'm just saying what I have to say. But if you ask me, Mr. Mitchell's kindness is more useful."

After saying this, the captain said hello to the two of them and turned back to the small building of the garrison.

Only Winters and Girard were left outside the courtyard wall, and two horses.

"Second lieutenant, do you want the children to work in the militia now and have less service when they become adults?" Gilad asked impatiently as soon as the captain left.

Winters noticed the strange mood of the old Dussac: "It can't be called dawdling. The law of serving in the militia auxiliary force is the same as serving."

"I don't agree! This is taking advantage of loopholes! It's opportunistic! It's stealing!" Gilad yelled at Winters for the first time since the two met: "Dussac is a hero who would rather rob than steal! It's time to be on duty Just go and be an errand honestly, if you don’t want to be an errand, then he’ll rebel! You absolutely shouldn’t! You can’t engage in this kind of sneaking around! We have sworn a blood oath with the old commander!”

Gilad, who was always smiling on weekdays, suddenly burst out emotionally, and Winters didn't know what to do: "Don't worry, all this is reasonable and compliant in a legal sense."

"But where is the conscience? Where is the blood oath we swore? The Lord is watching from the clouds!" As he spoke, old Dusak became more and more depressed like a deflated ball. He murmured to himself: "No Who is willing to send his son to the battlefield, and who am I to care what other people’s sons do? Alas, you young people, do whatever you want..."

"It's my fault that I made my own decision and didn't discuss it with you in advance." Winters was touched by Old Dussac's emotions. He said apologetically: "If you don't think it's okay, just pretend this never happened. I won't tell anyone else when I get back." ."

"Son, I know you mean well." Gilad grabbed Winters' hand and used the title son for the first time: "I will tell the other Dusaks when I go back, and they will be very happy. Alas. , you young people...just do whatever you want."

Girard got on the saddle tiredly and left with a whip without a word.

Winters didn't expect that such a good thing would make old Dussac so excited. He stood there stunned for a long time before jumping on his horse and catching up from behind.

…

…

The delivery of the goods from the Wolf Town Manor in Gevaudan was very smooth.

This year has been a good year, and the weather has been smooth, so there have been no defaults.

In addition to the output of several major commercial banks that had deposited money in advance, the manors in Wolf Town also harvested many additional crops. This time it was shipped together, and after bargaining, it was bought by several major trading houses.

Crops such as sugar beets are roughly processed on site in Gevaudan, and the transportation of goods from Gevaudan to provincial capitals and cities further away is handled by merchant caravans.

The harvest season was completely over, and the manor owner suddenly had a large amount of cash in his hand.

Part of it was used in Gevaudan to purchase necessities for the next year's production, such as coal, iron farm tools, wood, etc.

There is another part that needs to be paid to the hired workers, but the wages of the hired workers are mainly paid in the form of grain rather than gold and silver.

The manor owner would go back with the money and buy grain from the Dussa people who had no shortage of land and had excess grain production. This was the most cost-effective way.

Of course, as compensation for the heavy work during the harvest season, each employee will also receive a bonus - but there is no fixed amount, whether it is more or less depends on the quality of the employer.

Some ambitious manor owners immediately set off for the garrison, hoping to continue enclosing the land before others.

For example, in the Bunting family, the Buntings were able to support their five sons and two daughters, which was a miracle in this era.

Considering the future separation of their sons' families and the dowry of their daughters, they are also eager for more land.

Profits are thus invested in a cycle of acquiring more land, with no end in sight.

According to Winters' observation, most of the money in the hands of manor owners was turned into consumer goods: fine wine, snow-white marshmallows, beautiful furniture, densely woven striped cotton...all kinds of good goods, I won't list them all.

Gold and silver coins slip from the fingertips like fine sand in exchange for material happiness.

Winters also discovered a very interesting phenomenon: Wolf Town produced cotton, linen, and wood, but finished products such as furniture and fabrics had to be purchased from Gevaudan.

The estates only produced raw materials, but had no ability to process them - except for tobacco.

The estate economy was actually particularly fragile and extremely dependent on a well-developed commercial system. Without merchants from outside to collect goods, the economic crop planting cycle of each manor will immediately collapse.

But these have nothing to do with him. He just drew his own conclusions from the perspective of an observer.

What he was most concerned about now was the situation in Venetta, so the convoy stayed in Gevaudan for a few days and he visited all the trading houses in Gevaudan.

Ciel and Gold set off from Hailan very early, and they didn't know much about the current situation. Moreover, Ciel's vision was still narrow, and Gold was unwilling to elaborate, resulting in Winters obtaining very little useful information from them.

But there is a common sense that is self-evident to Winters, who was born in the Merchant Republic: no matter when and where, businessmen are the best informed.

The information he got was slightly different, but it still worried Winters.

Various intelligence shows that the confrontation between the United Provinces and Veneta - the twin alliances - has not cooled down, but is intensifying.

The merchants of Gevaudan heard that on the inland sea, the fleets of Veneta and the United Provinces would intercept, inspect, and seize each other's merchant ships.

There are even rumors that the navies of both sides are pretending to be pirates to rob each other's ships - of course, some businessmen say that it is because the navy no longer has time to take care of pirates, but the pirates that had been subsiding after the collapse of the Taniriya Federation have become rampant.

The result is that no merchant ship dares to fly the tulip flag and the red blood flag on the inland sea today. Ships flew the imperial flag to protect themselves.

[The tulip flag and the red blood flag are the navigation flags of the United Provinces and Veneta respectively]

And more merchant ships simply sailed away from the inland sea or huddled in the port to temporarily avoid the limelight.

The originally prosperous and busy Senas Bay has now become deserted and bleak.

The inner sea of ​​Senas, which was originally known as containing golden water, has now become a deathly water that sailors talk about with disgrace.

The land borders have also been sealed off for a long time, and only a few ports are left to maintain the remaining exchanges of people.

The Congress of the United Provinces and the Senate of Veneta quickly introduced one embargo bill after another, and intra-Union trade that used to be almost unrestricted became illegal to sell anything.

Nowadays, the trade between Veneta and the United Provinces can only go through Palato. However, many Palato merchants have made a lot of money from the re-export business, which makes the merchants of Jevaudan City far in the southwest border very envious.

He didn't see the signboard of the Navarre Trading Company in the city, so Winters also asked the merchants in Gevaudan about it. Unexpectedly, the Navarre family's business was "well known to everyone."

According to the warehouse that purchased cotton, linen and other raw materials, their goods were sold to Navarre Trading Company.

It's just that large commercial banks only have branches in provincial capitals, and they only wait for other small commercial banks to pass the goods, and will not go to the small cities below to receive the goods.

The reason... is the same as that of Gevaudan's trading house, which requires the manor owner to transport goods to Gevaudan. Being unsafe on the road is all about reducing risks.

Winters thought about bringing a letter to the Navarre Trading Company from the merchants in Torgevodan, but after careful consideration he decided not to do so.

He did not trust the merchants in Gevaudan, nor the branch of Navarre Commercial Bank, and even if he wrote a letter, he could not write important information.

But now that he has communicated with Hai Lan, he is not in a hurry to send the message back. Who knows if the Platuan people will turn over his letter to the Plattuan Army?

…

Time flies by in Gevaudan.

After living in an empty and quiet rural area for more than two months, Winters felt a little uncomfortable returning to the city.

During the three days, in addition to doing business and seeking information from merchants, Winters also followed the believers to the Gevaudan Cathedral to attend mass on Sundays.

However, the ensign went to the cathedral with the mentality of a tourist, and ended up quietly avoiding the Holy Communion.

To be fair, the Cathedral of Gevaudan is indeed spectacular and gorgeous, even compared with the sea-blue St. Mark's Cathedral, it has some merits.

The raised vault seemed to hit people in the face from a high place, making every human who walked by feel their own insignificance.

It's just that what makes Winters sincerely sigh is not the miracle of God, but the wisdom that human beings burst out in order to please the gods.

Just looking at the cathedral in front of us, it is difficult to imagine how craftsmen used simple tools such as chisels, hammers, and pulleys to build such a majestic building.

In the eyes of Winters, a sea-blue man, Gévaudan is not really a wealthy city.

But to build such a cathedral in a city with only one or two thousand people, I really don’t know whether to call it extravagance or waste, ignorance or piety.

Of course, what impressed Winters even more was Bishop Gevaudin’s gorgeous vestments and the dazzling gold and silver utensils on the altar.

The second lieutenant couldn't help but think: I'm afraid part of it is the toll collected by the old man at the bridge, right?

In this way, three days passed quickly.

On the fourth day, it was time to start again from Wolf Town and return to that remote, isolated but lovely border town.

But an hour had passed since the agreed departure time, and nearly half of the people still hadn't shown up.

After asking the latecomer's companions to urge them several times, there was still no one coming. Girard and Winters waited anxiously.

Winters was furious, ordered the latecomer's companion to lead the way, and angrily came over with his saber in hand.

It wasn't until he came to the door that he understood why the person leading the way, Nono, didn't dare to tell him directly - it turned out to be a brothel.

"Young master, who are you looking for?" The fireworks woman inside the door gently shook her waist, smiled and approached the ensign, and even reached out to hug the ensign's waist: "Please stay together~"

How has Winters ever experienced this?

With a livid face, he kicked open every door. When he saw someone from Wolf Town, he would punch him awake and give him a riding crop: "Okay! The money he earned will be spent on the brothel!"

The bruised and bruised Dussac and the employees were caught by Winters at the meeting place, and Girard understood it at a glance.

He asked with a sullen face: "Didn't I say time and time again that no reward will be given out until you go home? Have you all turned a deaf ear?"

He didn't ask the people who went to drink flower wine, but the owners of the manors around him.

Everyone caught by his gaze lowered their heads in shame. Vic Hoffman, the owner of Golden Spike Manor, defended himself: "A few servants came to me and said they wanted to buy something to take back. I didn't think much about it. Just give it to me. Besides, everyone is really tired all the way here, so we should relax..."

"Shut up!" The furious Girard interrupted the old Hoffman sternly: "I won't listen to the explanation. If you don't follow the rules, don't follow the team! You can do it yourself! You don't know that the long-term worker can only save money by relying on this reward for the whole year. Pay some money?! Don’t you know that the way back is more dangerous than when you came here?!”

Vic Hoffman was so frightened by old Dussac's sudden murderous intent that he did not dare to speak any more.

The people and cars seemed to be roughly there, but after careful counting, there were still very few people.

Girard grabbed a hired man by the collar and asked, "Where is your master?"

"I'm telling you, Sir, Master Benting went back yesterday." The captured hired worker shivered: "He wants to go back to enclose the land first, and he won't let me tell you."

I've been a little tired lately and not in a good state.

But this chapter was the one I had the most fun writing, and I couldn’t stop writing it.

Thanks to the book friends who voted for recommendation before;

Thanks to book friends Lao Tuwu, Calm Hui Guo, and Jiang Xuediao Weng for their monthly votes, thank you all;

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