Chapter 75: Imitation of the wisdom of future generations
Zaid felt that some of his ideas were wrong. He had previously thought that the farmers in Transjordan were poor and could not afford to spend money.
But in fact, he was a little frightened by the consumption enthusiasm of the farmers here.
It’s not that the farmers here are stupid and have too much money.
But compared to the poor farmers in Egypt who didn't even dare to come up to take a look when the caravan passed by, the farmers in Skal Village were very proactive and willing to come up and bargain.
Merchants are not afraid of you bargaining. At least if farmers are willing to bargain, it means that they are willing to buy and have some money in their pockets.
No matter how much or how little money you have, you can still make a few business deals.
Salt, needlework, cloth...these were what the farmers paid attention to, while some knights from the Skal village simply wrapped up the iron ingots and papers in Zaid's caravan.
For those knights who are forging iron, there are no iron mines nearby for making iron. It is a bit of a disadvantage to buy iron tools directly from merchants. It is better to buy iron ingots yourself and make them into weapons or agricultural tools.
Seeing the crowds of people and listening to the rising and falling of the hawkers, Zaid felt confused at such a vibrant market.
What Zaid didn't understand was that the farmers here in Skar Village were different from the farmers in other areas.
Whether they are farmers in Egypt or farmers under the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In the eyes of the feudal lords, they were all walking animals, "slaves" who mined gold from the land.
What the feudal lords needed in dealing with the peasants was to do their best to fish from the lake.
As long as the peasants do not rebel, they will naturally get as much as they can.
In the eyes of most feudal lords, the order of the world seems to be fixed, and the output of the land will not change.
Since there is no better way to increase land output, the relationship between them and the farmers is a classic zero-sum game, and the noble lords are the party with the initiative.
This white grain is given to poor people to eat, what a sin!
Throwing that shiny gold coin to the poor ghost flower is a sin!
The more the peasants eat, the less the noble lord's knights will have to eat.
The peasants spent more, and the noble lords themselves spent less.
The noble lords relied on knights to maintain their status, rather than relying on the love and respect of peasants.
The noble lords needed to use gold coins to hire soldiers instead of relying on the voluntary defense of the peasants.
But this logic is untenable in Gallis' view, and it is also meaningless to the Taiping Order.
At this time, a new understanding must be introduced, just as the "Social Contract" proposed that sovereignty lies with the people.
For the religious sect, it is because faith is in the people that it can exist.
When a sect has no believers, it will naturally dissipate.
Instead of exploiting the people and feeding mercenaries, they gain the power to suppress the peasants.
It is better to go directly, put the people first, feed the militia directly, and establish a community militia system.
It is better to be direct, people-oriented, and keep wealth and manpower within the constituency councils to develop productivity.
[6. In the name of Isabel, authorize the district council to form its own militia, hire instructors for training, and defend the justice of the law. 】
This clause is actually modeled on the old wisdom of Calvinism 350 years later. Calvinism was a protestant religion during the religious reform in the 16th century. They were quite capable of fighting in religious wars...
In the Calvinist community, while believers have obtained a high degree of autonomy to form a city council, all their adult males are obliged to participate in militia training. They need to prepare their own weapons to deal with emergencies, and are responsible for defense tasks and public security maintenance.
At the same time, in Calvinist teachings, every believer has the right and responsibility to communicate directly with God without going through the church clergy as an intermediary. Therefore, in their view, defending their faith means defending themselves.
This system enhances the cohesion of the community to a certain extent, because each member is given the responsibility to protect and maintain the community. It also allows citizens to have more say in political life through the participation of the militia.
These militiamen are not only warriors who defend their homes, but also participants in their own community politics. They are also firm believers in Calvinism.
They firmly believe that guarding the community means guarding themselves, guarding their faith means guarding themselves, and they firmly believe that God stands behind them.
The mutual embedding of military, political, and religious identities gave them unwavering faith.
You must know that a slave who has nothing will not defend the slave owner's property.
For Garris, while the villages and towns around him have gained a high degree of autonomy, if they are unwilling to defend themselves, they will only usher in a more tragic ending.
But if they are willing to firmly defend their rights and interests, as the sect's ideas spread to the outside world, their fellow travelers will only increase in number.
At the same time, after the previous poll tax has been waived and more food is retained at the grassroots level, the growth of the population is bound to accelerate. The currency left behind can also be used to purchase more iron tools so that they can cultivate more land.
More farmland, more people, and more iron tools. In this era, this area is the only way to develop rapidly productivity and military.
There is no need to rush to get some steam engine technology. As long as the population here is 10,000, it means that at least 3,000 people will receive military training and 2,000 starting militiamen will defend their homeland.
And what binds these people together and gives them a common goal is faith, which is the faith spread by Garris.
Sacred faith connects every believer.
Let them stride forward on the road and no longer be confused.
While Zaid was doing some small business, he noticed one thing. There were also many local Arabs coming to this village.
The local Arabs, although they took part in the joyful atmosphere, were obviously not farmers.
Out of curiosity, Zaid grabbed a Muslim passing in front of him and asked them why they came.
Then he got a vague vocabulary.
"Public trial?"
Then after some explanations, Zaid became even more confused.
"A public trial? Against a tax collector? And soldiers from Lord Leonard?"
"But..." Zaid was a little confused. Can things like tax collectors be brought up for trial? What happened to the soldiers sent by the lord?
It was as if in Skaar Village, this magical land, many of the iron laws he knew in the past no longer existed.
Looking in the direction that the man pointed, something seemed to be being set up in the grain drying field not far away.
Second update, I’m going to take a break and then write the third chapter
(End of chapter)