Iron Powder and Spellcasters

   Chapter 244 Tax Resistance

   With the existing warehouse in Revodan, it is more than enough to meet the quota required by Maplestone City.

but…

"Don't pay! Damn it! Don't pay a grain of food!" Andre shouted angrily: "Send a piece of paper here, just want us to obediently pay the grain and pay? Next time he's going to die, do we have to give it too? he?"

   Winters fiddled with a knife: "I think Adams will still send troops even if they hand in the food."

   On the matter of refusing to pay food, the six people did not need to discuss to reach an agreement.

   It’s easy not to pay food, the question is what to do next?

   The current situation can be called internal and external trouble.

   Outside, in Vigne and White Mountain, at least eight battalions of enemy troops are gathering.

Inside   , the refugees are powder kegs that can explode at any time, and Revodan is also surging undercurrents.

   Winters does not have any control over North Eight Towns, and his influence in South Eight Towns is based on the support of the estate of the manor.

   As soon as the counter-insurgency troops arrive, Gervoudan will welcome them again, and the squires of Nanba Town will quickly crawl at the feet of the New Reclamation Corps.

   In the end, only the people of Wolf Town sincerely support Winters.

  The rest is just grass, whoever wins will go with whoever wins.

   In the battle to capture Gervodan, they swallowed big fish and ate too much. Before he could digest it properly, the legion's fist waved.

   The second person responsible for the current situation, Lieutenant Don Juan said casually: "It's not that the lieutenant colonel and I have not considered it. Evacuate the warehouse, let Revodan, and return to Wolf Town. If he wants to come, let him come."

   "If he comes, he will retreat. If he doesn't come, he will occupy Gervodin. In this case, the worst is the result of the original plan." Lieutenant Colonel Moritz, the first responsible person, was not in a hurry.

  Easy to eat, hard to spit out.

   Fortunately, a few people would not be fascinated by a small border town like Gervoudan.

Andre slammed the table and said viciously: "We can't occupy it, and we won't leave it for them! A fire will burn up Wodan! Take away the food, and we will retreat to Wolf Town and Heishui Town! Two hundred kilometers Chidi, the supply line is enough for him! If you dare to come, you will eat them, and we will enter Baishan County and Vigne County."

   Hearing this, Senior Mason couldn't help laughing: "You can't do this, Maplestone City has no intention of destroying us at any cost this time. Not only can't we retreat, but we will fight. If you hurt them, they should be stable until May next year."

  Senior has been sullen and absent-minded in meetings since he came back today. This is the first time he laughed.

  Andre was annoyed by the laughter: "Why do you say that?"

   "Isn't the reason obvious?" Mason propped his chin and asked, "What's next in May?"

   "What?" Andrei asked.

  Winters has figured out what Senior Mason meant: "The wheat is cooked!"

"It's as simple as that," Mason said rightfully. "If I were General Adams, I would never make a big move this winter. The Paratus beat the Hurds in winter because the wasteland is easy to walk in winter, and winter The most vulnerable season for the Hurd herds. In Palato, the opposite is true."

   Seeing that everyone else was listening intently, Mason-senpai was a little embarrassed.

He swallowed and explained: "Winter is suitable for defense, not for offense. If General Adams is still sensible, next May will be a good time for him to send troops. Maishu, the supply pressure is small. We abandon the city and retreat, they Can cut our wheat. We hold on, and they annihilate us.

   Our soldiers are undertrained and demoralized, and General Adams' troops need training as well. Instead of rushing to beat us, let's train our troops this winter and send them out again next year. General Adams' financial resources, grain reserves and troops are far superior to ours, and no matter what we consider, the time is on his side. "

   "That's it." Senior Mason spread his hands and smiled awkwardly.

  The meeting room was quiet.

   "Well said!" Winters clapped the table, applauding the senior.

   Patting the table, knocking on the cup, and stomping the feet are the common ways to stir up the atmosphere in the Luyuan and the military. Winters has no wine glass at hand, and stomping his feet is indecent, so he can only pat the table.

  Bud and Don Juan responded immediately, and Andre and Moritz followed.

   A few people clapped the table loudly, like the sound of hooves.

  The soldiers and clerks on the first floor looked at the conference room on the second floor for unknown reasons, thinking that the officers were demolishing the house.

   "We are jars, Adams is jars." Winters sadly quoted an elder's teaching: "Porcelain doesn't touch jars."

  Moritz lowered his eyes and sighed softly.

"A shrewd guy like Adams wouldn't want to grit our teeth and kill us all. In my opinion, he's doing it with both hands. If we're vulnerable, he'll take advantage of the situation to retake Rewardin. If our clay pot is really hard, He will wait until next year to bring out the hammer to hit us. This winter's action is not a big deal."

   Winters made the final call: "Can't let Revodan!"

   Now that the purpose is clear, the next step is to develop a battle plan around it.

   Winters brought out an unfinished large-scale map based on Lieutenant Colonel Jesska's atlas.

   Lieutenant Colonel Moritz suddenly remembered something and said to Winters: "In that case, there is someone you need to meet."

"who?"

   "Of course it's the one who came to deliver the letter." Lieutenant Colonel Moritz took a sip from the glass: "I caught him."

   Winters went to see the messenger of the New Reclamation Corps.

   Don Juan, who stayed in the conference room, warmly embraced Senior Mason's shoulders: "Senior, we are not separated from each other, and we should drink more together in the future."

  Mason and Winters are close, Juan also fought alongside Winters, and is a direct predecessor of Winters.

   But Don Juan and Richard Mason are really unfamiliar.

  Mason was born in the artillery department, while Juan was born in the infantry department. The two have only one level of alumni relationship.

   In addition, Hu Antian's gender is twisted, and he is too lazy to get close to others, so the two cannot be called good friends.

   Juan's sudden enthusiasm made Mason very uncomfortable, and he nodded again and again.

   Juan quipped: "You may as well count, the three of them are all cavalry, and the cavalry has three votes at once. Our infantry and artillery must unite in order to gather three votes to form a strategic balance with them."

  Mason returned to his sullen look, nodding absentmindedly.

   "What troubles do you encounter? Can I help you share your worries?"

   "Alas." A bitter smile appeared on Mason's face: "It's nothing."

   "What's the matter? Let's talk about it."

   "I took time to go back to the ranch today."

   "Ranch?" Juan frowned slightly: "And then?"

   "God **** Ronald!" Mason's voice was trembling, and the grief and anger in his heart could no longer be suppressed: "My breeding pig! I really don't know which bastard's belly got in! Ah..."

  …

  In the prison in the garrison, Winters met the messenger of the New Reclamation Corps.

  To his surprise, it was a school official who came to deliver the letter.

   The other side leaned against the wall and was taking a nap, as if he was not in a damp and dark prison, but just taking a nap in the living room at home.

   Seeing Winters coming, the colonel greeted him with a calm expression: "Good day, Captain Montagne."

   Winters had never seen each other, and he had never seen him if he wanted to.

   "What should I call you?" Winters asked rhetorically.

   "Stiebel Zoltan, Major." Major Stiebel said with a smile, "You don't have to salute, or I'll have to pay it back."

   Winters nodded.

   "I don't know if you have received the official document from the Legion Headquarters." Major Stiebel changed to a more comfortable sitting position.

"received."

   "It's good to receive it. Although I didn't hand it over to you in person, my mission is complete." Stiebel smiled: "Then what's your answer?"

  Winters dragged over the chair and sat down, and answered simply, "No."

   "Captain Montagne." Major Stiebel patted the dust on his trousers and asked casually, "Do you want to be a warlord?"

   "Warlords? Warlords want to be independent, exploit people, and bet on opportunities. I don't want to be a warlord." Winters sneered: "In the new land, isn't the biggest warlord Kevin Adams?"

   The air in the cell was three-thirds colder.

"In any case, General Adams maintained order in the province of New Reclaimed Land, and he did not let the war burn to New Reclaimed Land." Stiebel sighed: "Do you think the people of New Reclaimed Land are miserable? Why don't you go? Look at the banks of the Ember River, which was once the richest land in Palatu, and you will know what purgatory on earth is."

   Winters did not answer.

   "General Adams is recruiting refugees to open up wasteland, and he is making things develop in a good direction." Major Stiebel looked at Winters sternly: "Pay the quota, you want to play a house in Iron Peak County, as you like."

   "I won't hand in a grain of wheat or a spoonful of flour. General Adams wants it, so let him fetch it himself."

"General Adams kept the fighting out of the new field, and you want to start a raging fire in the new field." Major Stiebel narrowed his eyes: "Do you know how many people you're going to kill? General Adams has so far The people you kill won't even be a fraction of what you will kill in the future."

"You don't have to tell me this! Without blood, there is no victory. You and I both know this." Winters looked the major in the eyes: "If my people don't want to die for me, you will know. If my people are willing to die for me, you will know. I want to ask you, how many people are willing to die for General Adams?"

  Stiebel sneered and sighed: "It seems that I can't convince you."

   Winters did not speak, and suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the thumb of Major Stiebel's left hand pressed the ring finger.

   Winters' body was like being thrown into ice water, and his whole body stood up.

   Almost without thinking, he instantly entered the spellcasting state, and launched the cracking technique with all his strength, pouring all the "magic" into Major Stiebel's head.

With a    "bang", Major Stiebel's skull was torn apart.

   Blood and brains splattered all over Winters.

   Moritz, who was guarding outside, heard a strange noise and rushed into the prison.

   The sight in front of him was unusually tragic: the messenger's skull was torn into pieces and slumped over his shoulders. The creamy brain is exposed, but only half is left. The heart of the deceased has not stopped beating, and the red serous fluid gushed out from the cross-section of the arteries.

   And Winters stood in front of the corpse, motionless.

   "What's the matter?" Moritz frowned and walked to the corpse and started to examine the dead.

   "This man." Winters took a piece of mince from his cheek: "Probably the caster."

   "How do you see it?" Moritz touched the hidden pocket of the corpse's shirt, trying to find the casting material.

   Winters made a gesture—the left thumb pressed down on the ring finger to show Lieutenant Colonel Moritz.

   His gesture is the standard spell gesture for Alliance spellcasters.

  Moritz stopped, frowning even tighter.

   Winters no longer uses gestures to cast spells, because he only uses two spells to fight, there is no need to add gestures, he now pursues speed and explosiveness.

   Lieutenant Colonel Moritz doesn't even need gesture casting, he fights with only one spell.

   Maybe it was Winters' little speed advantage that saved him just now.

   However, he is not sure now whether the other party is a spellcaster or not.

  Moritz saw through Winters' thoughts and said in a deep voice, "You don't need to struggle, just kill and kill. If you do it right, you'd rather kill by mistake than give him a chance."

  General Adams was destined to receive no reply from Captain Montagne.

   Perhaps there is no answer, but it is a clear answer in itself.

  Civil war, not only has no warmth at all, but is even more cruel than pure enemy-friend fights.

   Major Ronald's admonition was quickly verified by Winters.

  …

  …

  Although the fire has burned to the side of the boots, things have to be done the same.

   The top priority right now is to deal with the refugee camps.

  On the second day after the official document from the Legion Headquarters was delivered, all the refugees outside the city were finally screened, registered, and divided into sixteen small camps according to their place of origin.

  Bud holding the thick register, suddenly asked Winters and the others: "Do you know what the Book of Doomsday is?"

  Religious issues have always been a blind spot for Winters.

   But even other people don't know what the "Book of Doomsday" is, they just think it sounds scary.

   "About five hundred years ago, a king ordered an inventory of all the estates, tools, livestock, and people in the country, to measure and estimate the value of all the grasslands, pastures, farmlands, forests, and fish ponds in the country."

Bud said slowly: "The final result was compiled into a book, the so-called "Last Judgment Book". Its real name is actually "Land Tax Investigation Book". But because the investigation officials sent by the king were as severe as the Doomsday Judgment It got its name, so people called it The Book of Doomsday."

  Bud spoke earnestly, and Don Juan and Andre pricked up their ears and listened carefully.

   "Guess, how many years have the nobles used a Book of Doomsday?" Bud asked again.

   "One hundred years?" Andrei asked tentatively.

   "No, it's five hundred years, and the Empire is still using the Book of Doomsday." Bud's rough fingers rubbed the thick spine of the register: "This is our Book of Doomsday."

  The statistics that consume a lot of time and energy show that the total number of refugees outside the city of Gervoudin is 22,173.

   Among them, there are 6873 males over the age of 16, accounting for 31%;

   There are 8869 women over the age of 16, accounting for 40%;

   There are 6431 children under the age of 16, accounting for 29%.

   This booklet represents 22,173 mouths waiting to be fed and 22,173 hungry stomachs.

   However, it also represents the 22173 dual-labor hand.

   The key is how to get them back into production.

   "The population has been counted." Winters slapped the knife on the table and announced proudly and excitedly: "Then give them arable land!"

   "Fat land?" Bud closed the page, his eyes were cold and firm: "No hair! Not even an inch of land!"

   [Part of the error before the assignment, Priskin should be a tobacco dealer, not a sugar dealer]

   [With regard to the proportion of the population of the refugees, men, women and children, refer to the "Poverty Survey" conducted in Norwich, England in 1571]

   [Simply put, in the sixteenth century, the population of various countries increased dramatically, and the number of refugees also increased greatly. The government regards refugees as beasts of floods and breeding grounds for crimes, so various places have carried out "poverty surveys" in order to solve the refugee problem]

   [Although the actual national census was not carried out in England until 1801, the systematic registration of population information by British local governments started as early as the 16th century]

   [Further, it can be traced back to William the Conqueror's "Book of Doomsday"; the Celestial Dynasty also has a similar statistical system, namely the Fish Scale Atlas, and the Prince's "Transparency in the World" explains the past and present of the Ming Dynasty's archive system]

[According to the survey data, the total number of poor people is 2,359, accounting for 22% of the total population; 525 males over the age of 16, accounting for 22%; 860 females over the age of 16, accounting for 36%; the rest are 16 Children under the age of 926, accounting for 48%]

   [This book appropriately adjusts the proportions of the three parts of the population to make them more suitable for the current situation of the newly reclaimed land—the medical conditions here are not good, and the child mortality rate is high. Women have to work like men, and there is no cheap alcohol, so the difference in life expectancy between men and women should not be too big]

   [Final adjusted ratios: men increased to 31%, women increased to 40%, and children decreased to 29%]

   [Thanks to book lovers for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, reward and comment]

   (end of this chapter)