Tome of Blood

"Rumor? What rumor?"

Angus' words aroused Charlotte's interest.

"My lord..."

Angus glanced at Priest Lottie and several original Demon Hunter knights accompanying him in the convoy, considered his words, and continued:

"Rumors say that you betrayed the family, betrayed Castel, and sold the interests of the Earl of Castel to the church in order to succeed in inheriting the title."

Charlotte: ...

Grass, what's the matter with this feeling that you obviously want to refute, but don't know how to refute?

"Is it the vow I made to the Church in Boulder last year?"

Charlotte asked.

Baron Angus thought for a while and said:

"Somewhat, but not quite."

Charlotte is confused:

"How do you say that?"

Baron Angus replied respectfully:

"The promise you made in Boulder last year, as we all know in Castelland, this matter has had a great impact in the noble circle, and many families strongly oppose it..."

"However, later the High Priest of Boulder was arrested and tried by the church's trial court. Everyone knew that you made an empty promise with the High Priest, so gradually no one mentioned this matter."

"It's just that after you took the throne, this matter was brought up again."

"But this is not the root cause, maybe the nobles are very concerned about who is the lord above their heads, but for the vast majority of the people, I don't think they care whether they are ruled by the church or the nobles, after all... many times The taxation of the religious authority is even lower."

Charlotte said.

After finishing speaking, she looked at Baron Angus again:

"Not to mention, after I succeeded to the throne, I also hinted at the arrival of the envoy of the territory. The empty promise was just a delaying tactic I made to balance the pressure brought by the Duke's Palace and other nobles."

"That's the problem. To this day, most of the nobles including me also believe that you don't really want to dedicate the Castelland to the church in the future, but the matter of you standing with the church It's a fact."

Duke Angus said.

Charlotte's heart moved slightly:

"Oh? So, the nobles and citizens of Castel don't want to see me getting too close to the church?"

Baron Angus nodded:

"Yes, you set off from Boulder with the priest appointed by the church. This matter was summoned to the earldom by magic when you just set off on your journey."

"And recently, there has been a new saying that you don't really intend to promise Castor to the church in the future, but to reintroduce Castor into the church's faith..."

"Many people are saying that with your succession, the church will reintegrate the faith rule of the Castel Territory, collect tithes again, and make up all the taxes owed in the past..."

Charlotte: ...

She knows what the tithe is. It is similar to a certain church in the western history of Blue Star in her previous life. It is a religious tax collected by the holy royal court from the residents.

The "Holy Code" clearly stipulates that paying tithes is the obligation of every resident under the faith of the Holy Royal Court, and the payment amount is one-tenth of the harvest of agricultural and animal husbandry products.

By the way, the Duchy of Boulder has a tithe.

Not only the Duchy of Boulder, but also any duchy or counties Charlotte passed along the way.

Paying tithes has become a daily routine for the people in the world of Miria. If it is placed in some theocracy, in addition to tithes, the people also have to pay the church land tax, transaction tax and other taxes...

The Holy King's Court is not for charity, and the church's asylum is also for Quintana.

But the point is not here.

The point is the other two meanings revealed by Baron Angus' words.

One is that the beliefs of Castelland are not completely unified.

The second is that on this basis, the Holy Royal Court probably hasn't carried out a substantive rule of faith here for many years.

"Isn't the belief in the Castelland unified?"

Charlotte asked in surprise.

This matter has never been mentioned in the information of Castel Manor!

"Yes, our Castel Territory has been the fringe area ruled by the faith of the Holy Royal Court since ancient times. When the first Earl of Castor opened up the territory, there were indeed many holy believers at that time. But as the Earl Territory With the continuous development of the church, more and more immigrants immigrated from the interior and the north, most of whom came from the interior were opponents of the church, while the immigrants from the north... were originally unbelievers and pagans.”

"To this day... the beliefs in the territory have long been chaotic."

Baron Angus said.

Charlotte: ...

No wonder the Holy Royal Court still supported her as the lord even if she refused to accept the promise made last year. The real situation of Daring Castel is actually full of heresies!

The "miracle" at her succession ceremony was so great, and the name of the saint was almost confirmed. It is no wonder that such a lord will be hostile by the locals.

"The Holy Royal Court... How long has it been since I collected tithes in Castel?"

Charlotte asked again.

Baron Angus scratched his head:

"I'm afraid... it must be more than a hundred years?"

Charlotte: ...

Compared with the extraordinary protection of the church, tithes are neither too heavy nor too light.

But if the rumors say that it will be paid in full at once, the tax amount for more than a hundred years... is a bit exaggerated.

It's just that Charlotte has never said anything about the so-called making up the tithes. She didn't even know that Castel hadn't paid taxes to the church for hundreds of years.

Obviously, someone behind this rumor is fueling the flames.

"This is a non-existent statement. I only found out today for the first time that the church's rule has long been in name only in Castelland."

Charlotte shook her head.

Baron Angus breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately smiled:

"That's right, I don't think you would do that either."

Charlotte: ...

You look so relieved, you must have thought I would do the same, right?

will do so? !

Although Baron Angus is a nobleman, he is an honest, serious and dull knight.

Even he couldn't grasp Charlotte's true thoughts, and it was too normal for this rumor to spread throughout Castel.

To be honest, Charlotte didn't take the tithe rumors to heart.

The remarks about completing hundreds of years of taxation at once will be self-defeating.

Charlotte didn't even have the idea of ​​collecting taxes for the church again, after all, she wasn't a true holy believer...

But she clearly felt the malice of the person behind the rumor.

And... things that are directly related to the interests of the people, such as tithes, seem to be the most terrible things, but in fact, they are not.

The really terrible thing is that she used her position of leaning towards the church to set her against the people. It was the deeper meaning behind the tithe. under" statement.

Originally, Charlotte planned to act under the banner of the Holy Royal Court.

But now, perhaps, she needs to reconsider her position.

However, thinking about it from another perspective, the confusion of Castel's beliefs is also a good thing for Charlotte, making it easier for her to fish in troubled waters.

She didn't really want to preach for the Holy Royal Court, but she wanted to find a way to spread her beliefs.

On this basis, maybe Charlotte has to check who is behind her.

That is to say, she is not a real holy believer. If she is really a pious "saint", such remarks are really like hitting a snake.

Again, if you want to find out who your enemy is, you have to think about who will benefit after you lose, or in other words, whose interests will be affected after you come to Castel.

Although there are archives in the manor, to be honest, the materials from more than ten years ago are not of sufficient reference value in this regard. Charlotte still needs more information.

She had an intuition that this must have something to do with the nobles in the territory.

After all, it takes a certain amount of financial resources to easily spread a rumor throughout Castel.

The convoy moves on.

Although I could feel the indifference and even hostility of the people towards me, but fortunately, I was just watching from the sidelines, and no one would surround the team.

Except for Baron Angus who was traveling with him, Charlotte didn't meet any new nobles along the way.

The degree of urbanization in the Castel Territory is obviously higher than that of the Duchy of Boulder or even the Duchy of Moonguard, especially after going north.

Large and small towns can be seen almost everywhere, and in Charlotte's view, the population density even surpasses the two counties under the direct duke of the kingdom, and there are especially many small nobles.

Along the way, there were quite a few minor nobles who visited, but apart from inviting Charlotte to the banquet, they did not accompany them like Baron Angus.

Charlotte felt it too.

Although she succeeded in inheriting the title, from top to bottom in the Castel Territory, she really lacked authority and dominance, more like a bare rod.

However, this situation has improved significantly after entering the direct jurisdiction of the Earl of Castel.

That's right, a direct-controlled territory.

The Earl of Castel also has a direct territory.

In addition to the three viscounts and seventeen baronies that were sealed off, one-fifth of the Castel land is under the direct control of the Castel family, covering about 26,000 square kilometers and having a population of about 180. One hundred thousand, accounting for one-third of the population of the entire earldom.

To be honest, this area is also very large, and it can completely become a wealthy earldom in the New Moon Kingdom.

This part of the area can be subdivided into two parts, which are exactly located on the two obtuse sides of the obtuse triangle of Castel's Collar, one on the left and one on the right.

The area on the left is just north of the Castel Territory, where the capital Beigang is located, also known as the Viscountdom of Beigang.

That's right, Viscount Land.

Strictly speaking, besides the Earl of Castel, Charlotte also has the title of Viscount Northport on top of her head.

The area of ​​Beigang Viscounty is almost 16,000 square kilometers, which is about the size of the capital of the Celestial Dynasty. It concentrates the most elite area of ​​the entire Castel Territory, with a population of more than 1.5 million, and it is also Charlotte's destination.

And the area on the right is the Castel silver mining area on the border. It is almost 10,000 square kilometers, mostly hills and low mountains, and the population is only 200,000.

Unlike the demesne of the Principality of Boulder, which has baron vassals, and the demesne of the Crescent Kingdom, which has vassals of earls, the demesne of Castor has no noble lords with titles of baron or above.

Here, the city magistrates and court nobles without fiefdoms directly ruled the territory for the Castel family. They only had administrative districts, and had no territorial ownership, let alone military power.

Of course, they also have their own land, but at most it is just some estates.

Northport Viscounty is obviously richer than other places in Castelland. The official roads in the field are built like the city roads in the outer city of Boulder. endlessly.

As soon as Charlotte entered the territory, she was warmly welcomed by the city officials who had been waiting for a long time.

It was really a warm welcome, and it made Charlotte subconsciously think of the leadership inspection in the previous life. Many officials from the territory came, and there were even some citizens who wanted to be a large number of onlookers.

Not only that, there are even soldiers standing guard on both sides, well-equipped, and the proportion of extraordinary people is not small, obviously the armed forces of Beigang.

Looking around, the team that came to welcome Charlotte might have three to four hundred people, and if the onlookers were added, there would be even more people, and the number might exceed a thousand.

It can only be said that not everyone has listened to the rumors, or in other words, in Castel's direct-controlled territory, the people's trust in the Castel family may be higher than in non-directly-controlled areas.

And this is only at the entrance of the territory directly under the Central Government, and it has not yet reached the capital Beigang.

In the welcoming team, the leader was the mayor of North Port, Madoc Olan, a city magistrate of civilian origin.

Maddock is a middle-aged man who looks to be about fifty years old, with a lot of gray hair.

Compared with the mayor, he looked more like a businessman. He was chubby and always cheerful, like a Maitreya Buddha. Charlotte subconsciously thought of the fat butler of the Duke of Boulder's house.

As soon as he saw Charlotte, his eyes lit up, and he rushed over with a group of city officials and nobles, and said happily:

"Lord Charlotte, you are finally back. I haven't seen you for many years, and you are getting more and more beautiful."

Well, another acquaintance I don't know.

Not to mention that the memory inherited by Charlotte is not very complete, even if it is complete, the people Yuanzheng met when he was a child will definitely have blurred memories after so many years.

Charlotte could only smile and nod.

"My lord Charlotte, I am tired from the journey, the Earl's Mansion in Beigang has been packed and I can move in anytime!"

Maddock said with a smile on his face.

Afterwards, he took the initiative to take over the reins of the car, and actually drove the horse for Charlotte himself.

Surrounded by Charlotte's carriage, the mighty team continued heading north.

After walking for about half a day, Charlotte finally arrived at the final destination, the capital of the County of Castel, the economic center and trade center of the northern lowlands, and one of the megacities in the New Moon Kingdom with a population of over 500,000. , the water city known as the Pearl of the Sea - Beigang.

Scared to death, almost didn't catch up... Even the title is blind