Iron Powder and Spellcaster

The core content of the "Treaty of Torde" is actually only one sentence: "All the land acquired by the Army from outside the Western countries belongs to the Republic, and the property rights belong to the Army."

This treaty is the cornerstone of the political ecology of the new reclamation province and the source of strength for the Galloping Horse Country's continuous westward expansion.

Therefore, anyone who wants to buy land in the newly reclaimed province must first go to the army garrison in the county capital to purchase "acres".

After paying off the land, go to the town under the county with the half-share of the land deed provided by the garrison. Under the supervision and notarization of the mayor and garrison officials, the unsold land will be demarcated according to the number of acres.

After the land enclosure is completed, the land purchaser can cultivate the land. The remaining half of the land deed will be completed by the town mayor and the town official and returned to the county garrison.

The land deed was confirmed, signed and sealed at the county garrison, and then sent upward to the garrison headquarters in the provincial capital.

The legion headquarters will copy, seal, and archive the land deed and then return it to the land purchaser via the county garrison and town office.

Since then, the complete title deed has been made in quadruplicate. The original copy is in the hands of the land purchaser, and the legion headquarters, county garrison, and town office each keep a copy. Damage or loss of any link will not affect the certification of land ownership.

It's just that this process is rigorous but cumbersome, and the land deed can take as little as half a year or as much as a year.

But in a legal sense, there is no need to wait for the complete title deed to be returned. The land purchaser already owns and can control the land the moment the land is demarcated.

…

The Plato Council's method of judging land prices is also simple and crude, considering only two factors: Is the terrain hilly or flat? Is there a water source within half a kilometer?

The unit price of land near the water is high, while the unit price of hills far away from the water is low.

If it is a forest, the value of the wood and taxes need to be added.

Roads, rivers, lakes and all water bodies are the property of the Army and cannot be sold.

The land is divided into two parts: "field surface" and "field bottom". The land purchaser only owns the surface of the field, and the bottom of the field is not sold either.

By stratifying land ownership, buyers of the land can only farm, while any minerals beneath the surface remain owned by the Army.

There are various other restrictive clauses, to name a few, blocking any possibility of encroaching on the interests of the Army.

…

After Girard's careful explanation, Winters understood why Mr. Benting wanted to return to Wolf Town before others.

The new reclamation government’s simple and crude land pricing model, as well as the sales rules that the first person to circle the land will get it, are tantamount to shouting “If you want to buy, hurry up, first come, first served”.

High-quality land is limited, but the number of people who can buy it is unlimited. County and garrison offices are selling land every year, and good land will become increasingly scarce.

This year alone, seven estates have purchased more "acres" in the settlement. Mr. Benting obviously set out early to capture land before others.

"That's what I think." Gilad spread his hands: "Now the land of each manor is close to each other, and the surrounding area is limited, especially the Benting family. I am afraid that Mr. Benting is also worried about others taking over first. In that case His family’s land is no longer a complete piece.”

Girard and Winters rode side by side at the front of the convoy. Without the cargo on the car, the convoy was traveling much faster than before.

"Then there's no need to be like this. Can't we discuss it with the neighbors in advance? It seems that Mr. Benting thinks that other people are as stingy as him." Winters complained about this.

Gilad said helplessly: "Mr. Benting also has difficulties. He has many sons. And who doesn't want their land to be connected into one piece? It is particularly inconvenient to cultivate scattered fields. There are many such fragmented fields in Hedong and Hexi villages. , the villagers didn’t have much money left, so they could only buy small pieces, and in the end Tianlong alone took up an unknown amount of land.”

Agricultural common sense fell into Winters' blind area of ​​knowledge. The second lieutenant did not understand what "field long" was, and Gilad had to explain it to him.

"What about Nanxin and Beixin villages?" After listening to Old Dussac's explanation, Winters was very curious about the situation in the Protestant villages with less arable land per capita.

Gilad sighed and said: "Because there is little land in those two villages, we simply don't use Tianlong. We just use a few stones to delineate the boundary, but there haven't been any disputes."

"If I want to buy land, should I turn around and go back to Gevaudan now?" Winters asked jokingly.

"Do you want to buy land? Great!" Gilad was first surprised, then pleasantly surprised. He happily took the second lieutenant's arm: "There is an unoccupied land between my home land and Dussa Village, but It’s a complete piece of land, and it’s close to the river. If you think it’s too small, I can sell you some more.”

Winters was surprised by Old Dussac's enthusiasm. He waved his hands repeatedly: "I was just kidding. Where did I get the money to buy the land?"

"It's okay, I can lend it to you."

Of course Winters couldn't agree, he firmly refused, and Girard stopped pressing after seeing this.

Seeing the disappointed look on Old Dussac's face, Winters tried to change the subject: "I feel like everyone is in a bad state and not as vigilant as when they came here."

After spending three days in Gevaudan, many of the coachmen, hired workers and Dussac were in very low spirits.

Many coachmen were yawning and drowsy, leaning listlessly on their seats and waving their whips.

Some Dusaks have not sobered up until now, and have completely lost their vigor and vigor when they came.

Winters counted silently in his mind and found that the frequency of Dusac's patrols had dropped significantly. After walking all morning, only two riders came to patrol ahead.

"Ahem! Farmers don't see many silver coins in a year. Once they have money, they can't control their belts." Gilad became angry when he mentioned this: "That's why I repeatedly promised not to return to Wolf Town and not to pay rewards or salaries. , I didn’t expect that some people would still take what I said seriously!”

Sergey, who had been dozing in the saddle, suddenly became energetic when he heard these words: "Captain, you made a mistake this time. They deliberately gave the money away in the county seat! They have bad intentions!"

"What do you mean?" Winters asked.

"How can the landlord let the tenant farmer save money?" Sergey sneered, with a very disdainful expression: "If the tenant farmer saves money and buys land, won't he become a farmer? Who will work for the landlord then? He will soon have to fight with Hurd again When the barbarians start a war, there will be a large area of ​​cheap land to buy after the war. Which tenant farmer will not be tempted? Do you think they can just give out the money without Gevaudan?"

Gilad's face was solemn: "Don't think too badly of everyone."

"Captain, you are not the same as them. No matter how little land Dusak has, he is still Dusak, and no matter how much land a farmer has, he is still a farmer. Can they compare with us?" Sergey scratched his gray forehead a few times. , said carelessly.

The old man glanced at Winters and quickly added: "Lieutenant, you are different from them. Your hand also holds the handle of the knife, and their hands hold the plow."

Winters smiled, he would have been pissed to death if he had planned with this old Dussac earlier.

Gilad frowned and said, "I have to go see what's going on behind the scenes. Why haven't I seen a few Dusaks patrolling all morning?"

After saying that, he turned his horse and wanted to leave behind the convoy.

Winters was also feeling strange. He gently pinched the horse's ribs and pulled the reins: "I'll go take a look too."

Riding all the way in the opposite direction of the motorcade, old Mr. Mitchell almost burst into anger.

Many Dusak were not patrolling at all. Instead, they tied their horses to the back of the cart and lay down in the trunk of the cart to sleep soundly.

Gilad picked up a big stick as thick as his forearm and hit Dussac in the face when he saw him being lazy.

In less than two months since he arrived in Wolf Town, Winters has already dealt with several fights involving Dousa people. As for Dusak beating his wife and son on weekdays, it was even more common.

The use of violence is not unusual for Dusak, but this was the first time he saw Gilad hit someone, and he beat him so hard.

Dussac, who smelled of alcohol, often woke up screaming until the stick fell on him.

They were first surprised, then angry, and then turned to shame when they discovered that the attacker was Gilad Planinovich Mitchell.

After being beaten, Dussac would get up quickly and receive the beating without saying a word.

Gilad just searched and fought like this, and the second lieutenant couldn't interfere at all.

When he finally found Pierre lying in the car and sleeping lazily, the old Mr. Mitchell angrily picked up the stick and hit the little Mr. Mitchell on the head.

Winters was so frightened that he rushed forward and grabbed the wooden stick. If he hit the head with this stick, he would be killed.

But the furious Girard was so terrifying that Winters was unable to control him for a moment. Girard let go of the stick and raised his fist to pounce on Pierre.

Winters could clearly see that this punch was firm and merciless, and it was not at all discouraged because he was his own son, and it hit Pierre's face.

Little Mr. Mitchell woke up in an instant, with blood spurting out of his nose. He had never seen his father look like this.

Pierre was shocked and frightened: "Dad, what are you doing?"

"[Dusa's expletives]!" Old Dusac kept scolding and didn't listen. He grabbed his son by the collar and hit him in the face: "You begged me to follow the car! But you just followed the car like this. ! Do you still have some backbone? Huh?!"

"My mother never hit me!" little Dusak cried.

Winters and other Dusak quickly separated the two, and the three Dusak men managed to hold the furious Gilad back. They kicked Gilad when their fists couldn't reach him.

Shock, grievance, fear, these emotions appeared on Pierre's face at the same time, and tears and blood flowed down together.

Pierre covered his nose and cried: "Why should you beat me? I want to tell my mother!"

"I'll beat you to death! You're a good-for-nothing!" Gilad, who was forcibly taken away, became even more angry.

After the incident, Gilad called all the Dussacs who came to follow the car together for a meeting.

"Is this the first time for you to follow a car?" Old Dusak's anger has not yet been extinguished: "Don't you understand the rules? Don't you understand that going home is more dangerous than when you came? The goods on the car when we came are now loaded on the car. It’s money! Don’t you understand?”

The normally arrogant Dusaks all lowered their heads, and no one dared to look at the old Captain Mitchell.

"From now on, cheer me up." Gilad Mitchell said viciously: "Whoever dares to be lazy and slippery again, I will peel off his skin!"

…

When resting at night, the four-wheeled carts formed a circular fortress in a flat open space.

Fires were lit inside the carriage base, and the coachmen and Dussac sat around the fires, boiling water and hot food, and chatting.

Densely packed bugs were flying on the meadow, and your hands would be sticky even if you slapped them casually. It made your scalp numb just to look at them.

Someone couldn't stand the mosquito bites and threw a few balls of wet horse dung into the fire. Blue smoke filled the car barrier, and all the annoying bugs disappeared in an instant.

However, the smoke also blocked the line of sight, making it difficult for the people in the car barrier to see each other.

Winters, Sergey, Vashka, and Pierre were sitting around a warm fire, and old Sergey was straightening the bridge of Pierre's nose.

"Uncle, look, he beat him too hard. If Brother Winters hadn't stopped me, I would have been beaten to death." Pierre still had grudges about what happened during the day and complained: "I still My nose is bleeding!"

Sergey held Pierre's head with one hand and the bridge of Pierre's nose with the other, and said disapprovingly: "Come on, come on, stop blaming your father. Just be patient and don't move."

Pierre nodded slightly.

"I'll count one, two, three, and then I'll do it." Old Sergey smacked his lips, and when he read "one", he pinched the bridge of Pierre's nose with his hand and gave it a strong squeeze.

Pierre screamed and fell back, tears streaming from his eyes.

It took him a while to regain his composure and complained: "We only counted one!"

"Isn't it good?" Old Sergey checked it carefully again and clapped his hands: "Okay, he's not disfigured. Don't rub or touch him for half a month. He's still a handsome boy."

After giving the doctor's orders, Sergey yawned and sat back by the fire. He poured some hot soup from the iron kettle on the fire and drank it in small sips.

Pierre tentatively touched his nose a few times and said happily: "It really doesn't hurt as much as before."

"Mr. Morozov, you are quite capable at this." Winters witnessed the whole process and said to old Dusak with rare admiration.

Sergey twisted his silver-gray pigtails and said with a smile: "It's nothing, the old army knows how to do it."

The jumping flames reflected everyone's mood.

Pierre on the side was still indignant: "Just watch, I will tell my mother when I get back, and my mother will definitely be on my side!"

"I said, you kid, save your dad some trouble." Old Dusak said to little Dusak with some displeasure: "Your dad beat him all the way. If he stops at your place, then he can still convince everyone." Really? Ask the second lieutenant if this is true."

"That's the truth." Winters nodded.

Sergey said earnestly: "And if you think about it again, who are you? You are the son of Mayor Mitchell. Whatever you do, others will learn from you. If you are lazy and sleeping in the car, other Dussa Can you feel comfortable when you see this? Can you not learn from it? Your father and I have escorted the car so many times and have never seen this kind of thing. You dare to be lazy and slippery as soon as you come to Dusak. Don't you understand what's going on? You This is what makes dad angry."

Winters next to him nodded in approval.

But Pierre was rendered speechless, but he still argued unconvincingly: "But he also beat him too hard."

"It was indeed beaten too hard." Vashika, who had never spoken, said with some gloating.

Vashka was sleeping in the cart after Pierre, so he was lucky not to eat the sticks.

Sergey's face darkened, and he raised his hand and threw the hot soup in the bowl at his son: "You bitch, do you have the nerve to say that? You're lucky that I didn't beat you up."

Vashika screamed when she was burned by the hot soup, and retorted: "I am a bastard, then you are a dog!"

Old Sergey was so angry that he grabbed a piece of firewood and started to do it.

Winters quickly stopped Old Dusak: "Mr. Morozov, there is no point in getting angry with a child."

Sergey sat cross-legged by the fire angrily, not in the mood for dinner.

"This is the first time I've seen Mr. Mitchell get angry, and I was shocked." Winters racked his brains to try to adjust the atmosphere: "Has Mr. Mitchell been so angry before?"

Old Dusak snorted, glared at Vashika and said: "It's not surprising. The captain had this temper when he was young. When he got angry, he would be so angry that he would die. It would be better to say that after marrying that girl who is not from Dusak, , my temper has become completely different from before."

"Isn't Mrs. Mitchell from Tusa?" Winters asked knowingly. He had always been curious about the mysterious Mrs. Mitchell.

"No." Sergey stood up with his hands on the ground and spat toward the fire: "I'm going to pee."

Before leaving, old Dusak couldn't help but kick his son.

…

Beside a fire near the east side of the car barrier, Gilad sat alone, smoking a sullen cigarette.

"Captain, your place is quite spacious. One person can occupy a fire pit." Sergey smiled and squeezed next to his old friend. He had just returned from peeing outside the camp.

"Is that kid okay?" Gilad stared at the bonfire.

"What can happen?" Old Sergey grabbed a piece of stall and wrapped it around him. The temperature difference between morning and night on the plateau was huge: "Didn't we fight much harder than them when we were young? That day when you punched two of my back molars. We even went to boxing with Dusak from the neighboring village in the evening."

Gilad Mitchell sighed: "We are all old."

"Isn't the little one growing up too?" Sergey yawned.

"No, it's not the same. They are different from us." Old Dusak said sadly to another old Dusak: "Although these little ones have Dusak's skin, they don't have Dusak's bones. .”

Correction! Correction!

Thanks to previous book friends who voted through recommendation;

Thanks to the book friends Sky Lens, Kun Kun, Machinery in Things, The Flower Planter’s Yellow Rabbit, Moon Night Front, I don’t know what it is called, 54 months, an ideal uncle in his thirties, book friends 20170827184656094, Jiang Xue Diao Weng, Calm Gray Thank you all for your recommendation votes from Guo, Soda Bird, Book Friends 120325172509365, and Social Justice Lao Wang. Behart.

Thanks to my book friend Soda Bird for four tips. Although this classmate may not have seen this yet, thank you, it’s a great compliment.

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