The Wizard’s Fairy Tale

The villagers listened obediently.

No one dared to speak.

William then continued, "As a lord, I have an obligation to protect you, so I will recruit guards in the village, provide food and accommodation, and train!"

The eyes of the villagers lit up, and some young men were eager to move. The provision of food and accommodation was enough to attract many people in this era, especially those families with less land but a large number of people.

Recruiting members of the guard team was something William had wanted to do for a long time. After all, one baron couldn't always be the first to lead the way, he even had to lead the entire formation!

But this is not urgent, you can take your time, it is not something he urgently wants to do.

"Similarly, where there is an obligation, there is power!" William's words spread throughout the venue, and the villagers knew that the main event was coming, and each of them cheered up and listened attentively, "As your lord, as the leader of this land , mountains, rivers and forests, sole master of swamps, I have the right to charge a reasonable fee for the protection I provide!"

"Dear Lord Baron Dikas, your request is as normal and reasonable as a person wants to eat. I would like to ask how much you plan to charge?" Counting from the right, in the middle of the third row, there is a slightly obese middle-aged man A villager, a young man, asked William.

"Tell me your name." Anyone who dared to eat the first crab should be encouraged. William looked at him with a flash of appreciation in his eyes and said.

"Adams, Lord Baron Dikas, my name is Carl Adams, and everyone here calls me Mill Adams!" Feeling the eyes of William and the nearby villagers, the only miller in the village was a little excited and authentic. I just like the attention-grabbing feeling.

"Very good, Adams! But let me remind you that if you want to express your opinion, you must raise your hand before speaking, and you can speak only after I agree."

When William said this, the smile on Adams' face suddenly froze, and the nearby villagers also laughed.

"Then, Adams, go back. Then raise your hand and ask questions." William said tirelessly. He must instill this new behavior habit in his subjects. Feel free to express your opinion!

"Yes." Adams stepped back, then raised his hand again.

William looked at all the villagers and said majestically, "Not just Adams, but everyone else too! If you want to express your opinion, I welcome it, but raise your hand first!"

Old John behind William was anxious, thinking that William was too approachable and would make these untouchables lose their due respect, but it was not good to talk about this with William at this time, so he could only talk to William later.

Old Gretel in the team also secretly smiled, thinking, Old Gretel has seen so many masters, this new master is really a different lord!

After inspecting all the villagers, William looked at the embarrassed Adams again, and first praised him, "Adams, you are the bravest person I have seen today!"

Adams was taken aback for a moment, then the corners of his mouth parted and his eyes narrowed, "Thank you, Lord Baron, for your compliment! Thank you, Lord Baron, for your compliment!"

William chuckled, his expression became serious again, and he said seriously, "Now, let me answer your question. You asked me how much I charge. I think 40% of the harvest is a reasonable range!"

As soon as the words fell, all the villagers fell silent, looking at William with shock and despair.

William frowned involuntarily. When he thought about it, the value of 40% was still relatively low. Many lords collected more than this amount of land rent, not to mention that they also collected other taxes. One-third of the harvest is already the result of the lord's generosity.

Could it be that the good days when no one collected taxes have passed for a long time,

Now when it comes to tax collection, everyone has an opinion.

Sure enough, it is easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but difficult to go from extravagant to frugal!

If that's the case... a flame rose in William's heart.

He paused, and then said, "I want to reiterate that the 40% I collect not only includes your land rent, but also includes your taxes on cutting trees in the forest and fishing in the water. In addition to commercial taxes, other The tax is all inside!"

Old John was in a hurry, and couldn't help shouting, "Master Baron, you don't need to be polite to them!"

"Old John, I naturally have my own considerations." William said without looking back.

Old John had no choice but to shut his mouth, and looked angrily at the untouchables below who were still showing dissatisfaction!

"What? Do you think it's low? Maybe I should charge a little more." William was a little tired, and he had no one under his command, and he could only say such things in person.

The villagers in the team couldn't help whispering, and the voices were superimposed, just like a large group of mosquitoes gathered together in the evening, and the sound of flapping wings was disturbing!

William yelled loudly, covering everyone's voices, "Old John, help me find out, who is talking? Pull him out and whip him ten times, and fine him a silver franc!"

As soon as the words came out, none of the villagers dared to speak, and the whole place fell into an eerie silence.

Old John was useless again.

After a pause, only an old man among the villagers raised his hand tremblingly.

"Say it!" William said, pointing at the old man.

"Thank you Baron! I'm Gretel, old Gretel. Everyone in the village calls me to deliver Gretel." The old man introduced himself first.

"Hmm." William nodded uncertainly.

"Lord baron, you see, our life is already so difficult. If you add such a heavy burden, I don't think our whole village can survive this winter. Lord baron, you want a land that no one will plow for you Territory? So, I implore you, on behalf of everyone in the small village of Nisai, I implore you, please lower the tax!"

The other villages in Nise Village nodded in agreement and looked at William expectantly.

"You **** untouchables, are you threatening the adults?" At this time, Old John stood up and reprimanded everyone.

William remained silent.

This in itself is an affirmation of Old John's behavior.

Old Gretel waved his hand and said, "Master John, we never meant that. We respect and welcome our Lord Baron Dikas more than anyone else! It's just that the small village of Nisai has already placed a thousand loads of boulders on its shoulders. We I can no longer afford it, and a single piece of thatch will cause the entire village to perish!"

"Untouchable, put away your sophistry! In front of Old John, all your attempts will fail." Old John thought that Old Gretel was lying to him.

"Master John, I can attest that what Old Gretel said is true! We really can't afford to pay such a high land rent." Adams interrupted, swearing.

Old John suddenly screamed, "Untouchable, you have violated the lord's law by not raising your hand to speak! You will be whipped and fined!"

Adams froze.

At this time, William frowned, blocking Old John's actions, then looked at Old Gretel, and said calmly, "I'm very strange! I hope you can give me an answer!"

"I must know everything!" Old Gretel bowed.

"Well! As far as I know, 40% of the land rent belongs to the lowest level in the entire principality, not to mention that I include so many taxes. Compared with the 40% of the land rent I set, the taxes collected by other lords Only high, not less, fifty percent, sixty percent, not uncommon, even seventy percent."

"Since they can survive, why can't you?"

William's question is very similar to what his school teacher often said when he criticized the students in his previous life, "Why can so and so do it, why can't you do it?"

"Is it really not possible, or what is the reason?" William's words already had a hint of murderous intent.

Old Gretel smiled wryly, "My lord, the Harvest Moon is coming soon, so the Frost Moon will also be coming soon!"

"oh."

"In the month of frost, heavy snow will cover the forest and swamp, and food will become scarce! And those horrible creatures living in the depths of the forest will come out to look for food, and the small village of Nisai is the place where they will bear the brunt."

"What horrible creature?" William asked with a heartbeat.

"Wolves! And the lizardmen in the swamp?" Old Gretel hesitated for a moment, then asked.

The villagers all showed sad expressions on their faces, as if thinking of the unhappy past.

"Lizardman?" This was something William didn't know, and he looked back at Old John.

Old John also looked ignorant.

William looked at Old Gretel again, and said, "Tell me about the situation of the Lizard Man."

"Yes, Lord Baron Dikas." Old Gretel replied, "Lizardman is a humanoid creature living in the Shadow Swamp. It looks like a large upright lizard with sharp fangs in its mouth. The body is covered with a thick layer of scales, and they can also use some simple weapons, which are extremely numerous."

"Whenever heavy snow falls, the lizardmen in the Shadow Swamp swarm out, looking for food everywhere. We humans are their diet, and my father died under their fangs."

"There is such a thing!" William suddenly realized, no wonder this Shadow Swamp has been placed between the Kingdom of Golden Rose and the Principality of Fadil for so many years, but no country has been completely conquered!

In addition to the problem of the swamp itself, the existence of lizardmen is also an important factor that cannot be ignored.