Mortal Epic of Douluo

Pan City is a small city located in the northeastern part of the Beiyuan Province of the Tiandou Empire. According to the basic information on the fiefdom obtained by Atreus from Xue Qinghe, Pan City has a total area of ​​nearly 36,300 square kilometers.

It's not small, but its total population is less than 40,000. It can be said that it is vast but sparsely populated.

This "total population" may not be the actual total number of people living in the Pancheng area, because bandits are rampant in Pancheng and even the entire northern part of the North Plains Province, from Haagen-Dazs to Lorraine Province. Banditry activities are serious

It has affected the survival and production of ordinary people, and a considerable number of people have even been coerced into joining bandits.

Another situation is that some powerful soul master families are likely to choose to form strongholds to protect themselves in such a local situation. Ordinary people, in order to avoid dying from banditry, join these soul master families to become tenants and vassals, while local officials continue to

The bandits were unable to eradicate them, and they naturally did not dare to offend these powerful soul master families, resulting in a large number of people being hidden.

The enfeoffment system of the Tiandou Empire is very strange. The enfeoffments of the royal family are generally located within the direct jurisdiction of Tiandou City, and those further away are also located in the important towns of the five major provinces. Such fiefdoms, no matter how high the title is, the person who enfeoffs them

They have no power to govern the people in the fiefdom, and tax collection is done by tax officials directly sent by the empire.

There are two types of salary for people of the opposite sex. Those below the earl (barons and viscounts at all levels) have no land, and the salary is completely issued by the treasury. The earl and above have the power to govern and tax the people of the town. It can be said that

He is the real "Tu Emperor".

Nobles who own fiefs have the responsibility to defend their territory. Once they lose their land, they may be deprived of their title, or executed or even exterminated. This is also a risk that needs to be taken while enjoying power.

When they arrived at the city of Calgary, the capital of the North Plains Province, two imperial tax collectors joined the convoy. They were responsible for verifying and recording the actual status of Earl Pantheon's food estate.

Atreus was a little curious about this and asked: "You two, Your Majesty has designated two thousand households as my settlement. I wonder how many people can be included in these two thousand households?"

One of the two tax collectors was named Deng Kai and the other was named Chang Song. Deng Kai was the first to answer: "According to the Empire's Civil Code, men are required to separate from their parents when they reach adulthood. If parents have many children, only one child can be left to inherit the family. Usually.

Under normal circumstances, a household has three to five people, and a household of two thousand can have as few as six thousand people and as many as fifteen thousand people."

Atreus said with great interest: "So, if we calculate it as ten thousand people, a quarter of the population in Pan city belongs to my food town?"

"Theoretically, that's the case, but..."

"But what?"

Just as Deng Kaigang was about to speak, Chang Song stopped him and apologized: "Your Majesty, these things you said can only be used as reference. Some things... you will naturally understand it when you arrive in Pancheng."

"Hey, are you still pretending?" Atreus saw that they were not willing to communicate seriously and did not force it. "Okay, let's talk about it when we get to Pan City." After saying that, he whipped his whip and drove towards the carriage.

After coming out of Tiandou City, there were not that many people in this team. Apart from Atreus himself, there were Fraser, Zhu Zhuqing, Oscar, Liu Yan and Ennid. Atreus did not let Lou Qiao follow him.

Come here, because Shivana is a "key protection" object in Tiandou Royal Academy, and you can't take her with you yet, so Lou Qiao stayed at Tiandou Royal Academy and became a Tianwei-level teacher, taking care of Shiva by the way.

Na.

Six people rode in a carriage together, and they did not hire a groom. Instead, Liu Yan and Oscar took turns driving. Atreus himself rode a wind horse, traveling lightly, towards Pan City.

The two imperial tax collectors deliberately kept a distance from them, always hanging on the back of the carriage, and invited them to have dinner with them during the break. They also declined due to their low status, so after getting used to it, Atreus ignored them and let them

The two of them do everything on their own terms.

The further north you go, the more different you see. This "scene" does not refer to the scenery along the road, but...

"What house is this?" Atreus pushed open the door of a farmhouse and asked in a low voice, looking at the mess inside and the corpse of a woman on the bed who had obviously been raped.

Zhu Zhuqing next to him also had a low face and responded softly: "This is the thirteenth family. I didn't expect that the northern border of the Tiandou Empire would be so unstable. A village of a hundred people will disappear at the last word."

Today was the evening of October 1st. In the evening, they saw this village from a distance and wanted to spend the night here, but after walking for a while, Atreus noticed something was wrong.

In the evening, there was not a wisp of smoke in the entire village!

With an uneasy feeling, he called Zhu Zhuqing to go into the village to check, only to find that the place had long become a hell on earth.

The whole village has long been in a mess, and unspeakable corpses appear randomly in various places in the village. Some died by the well, some died in front of the door of their house, and some died on the bed.

There was no living thing in the village. The chicken coops, pig pens, and cow sheds were all looted. Even the pots, pans, and other belongings of each household were missing. Only a few utensils were smashed to the ground.

I don’t know if the owner dropped it while fighting with the bandits, or if the bandits took too many things and accidentally lost their hands.

After the companions arrived, everyone gathered all the corpses in the village together and burned them all.

The young people all showed unbearable expressions, and even those who came to Ennid sighed repeatedly, but the two tax collectors there did not react at all, as if they were used to it.

At this moment, Atreus realized that there might not be peace on the way to Pan.

"Sir, I always feel something is wrong. Although Beiyuan Province is the hinterland of the Tiandou Empire, if I remember correctly, there are also three local legions stationed there. Why are bandits allowed to run rampant?" Atreus asked Ennid.

road.

After thinking for a while, Laennid said: "Do you still remember the bandits you encountered when you were ten years old and crossing the northern mountains from Beiyuan Province?"

"You mean to say that after six years, the corruption problem in the local army has still not been rectified, leading to repeated desertions. These bandits are actually...?"

"Not entirely," Laennid shook his head, "No matter how corrupt the local legions are, they cannot allow bandits to run rampant and do nothing. The three legions of Beiyuan Province are stationed in the southeast, southwest, and center. For the vastness of the north,

The area, especially the northeastern area where we are located, is basically left alone. The security of these places is mainly maintained by local officials and nobles. For example, you, the Earl of Pancheng, are obliged to maintain local order and protect the safety of the people.

.”

"So what do you mean?"

"The more chaotic a place is, the worse it is for the central government. The Tiandou Empire has a vast area, and there are many large sects within it. The power of the soul master family is restless. In recent years, the conflict with the Wuhun Palace has become increasingly serious, causing Wuxia to worry about remote areas.

Regional affairs. For nobles and merchants who keep their own rules, local chaos will inevitably cause damage to their interests, but what if the chaos behind it will not only not affect their interests, but even help them strengthen themselves?"

This is just Ennid's guess, but Atreus feels that the real situation may be worse than what Ennid said, but whether the truth is as expected, he still needs to wait for him to verify it himself...

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