Chapter 117 After comprehending the spirit of copycats in the 12th century...
The northern territory of Transjordan, on later maps, covers about 1,500 square kilometers and was home to about 20,000 people in the 12th century.
The population density is approximately 13 to 15 people per square kilometer, which is lower than the overall average of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but higher than the overall average of the Territory of Transjordan.
Many people may not understand this number simply when they hear it, but they must know that the population density of the Southern Song Dynasty at the same time was about 67 people per square kilometer. Specifically, in the two Zhejiang areas, the population density was as high as 114 people per square kilometer.
After the local population was so sparse, it can be said that the bureaucratic administrative system of the Celestial Empire was completely inapplicable.
It can even be said that the traditional Frankish manor feudal system can only be implemented partially...
In such a barren land, it is impossible to support a decent centralized government.
It is no wonder that the Crusader lords of the past generations chose to use the remaining tax collectors from the Seljuk Empire and the Fatimid Dynasty.
However, that doesn't mean that this land is really useless.
Although the population here is small, it relies on trade routes! It is also the only way for a large number of Muslims to go to Jerusalem for Hajj.
Therefore, there is not much shortage of precious metal currencies, and the goods that can be purchased are relatively abundant.
After all, whether it is from Cairo, Egypt to Damascus, Syria, or from the Italian city-state to the Holy Land of Mecca, there is an endless stream of passing caravans.
Compared with Western Europe at the same time, it can even be called a developed commodity economy.
Based on this current situation, it is not difficult for Gairis to come up with an answer. As far as the current Transjordan territory is concerned, centralization? How can he gather so much power... How can he have the manpower to consolidate his power?
From a long-term perspective, the right way is to reduce corvee and reduce taxes, encourage childbirth, improve water conservancy, open up cultivated land, and allow the population to grow as quickly as possible.
From a short-term perspective, it is better to count on the money here than on the people here. If you want to get money in the Middle Ages, there is no future by staring at the farmers every day.
As the saying goes, if you rely on the mountains to eat, you will eat the water, and if you rely on the trade routes, you will eat the caravans.
In this regard, Leonard showed his unique vision. He used physical means to help him collect past business taxes efficiently, and used a sustainable model to fish from the lake to support an elite army that was second to none in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Of course, Garris cannot imitate Leonard. For this reason, at the meeting in Skaar Village, he summarized future development ideas based on past survey results and made an important speech.
What Gehrys said during the meeting, translated into the language of the 21st century Internet, is roughly the same.
[Instead of exploiting farmers, it is better to develop local handicrafts. It is necessary to lay out a small handicraft production network and promote the implementation of craftsmen. It is also necessary to create a good business atmosphere, encourage merchants to stay and consume, and convert mobile merchants into private traffic. 】
[Business roads are the competitive advantage of the Transjordan territory. We need to use services and handicrafts to achieve a combined punch, target the pain points of businessmen, focus on vertical areas, and open up the last link on the consumer side. 】
[In short, the three key points are: light corvee and low tax, development of handicraft industry, and revitalization of commerce. 】
Regarding the spirit of Garris's speech, the participating representatives from nearby villages and towns highly agreed and unanimously stated that under the wise leadership of the [Prophet], the development of the territory is bound to win again and again.
But for the land outside the villages and towns near Skar, Garris was actually beyond his reach in a short period of time.
It can only be said that after the transaction with Leonard, those territories have been designated as the sphere of influence of Garris, and Leonard and the others will not interfere with the changes in Garris' territory.
And it will take quite some time to convert those spheres of influence into real subordinate territories.
First of all, it was still investigation and evidence collection, but this time Garris did not appear in person. Instead, the experienced Simon was asked to lead the team, and he and the imam of the mosque in Alhadi Town formed an investigation and inspection team.
Using the reason for the new lord to ascend to the throne, he conducted visits to various villages and towns in the territory to verify the taxation status of each village, and focused on investigating the blood debts committed by the tax collectors.
Now that it has been clarified that the future development direction of the territory is [light corvee and low tax, development of handicrafts, and revitalization of commerce].
So the original heavy agricultural tax is actually not very important. The group of tax collectors who specialize in squeezing farmers can be said to have become completely redundant.
When the investigation team completes the collection of evidence related to the blood debts of the tax collectors, Garris will immediately let those people know what Garris' mission on this earth is.
After the tax collector group was eliminated, the agricultural tax was not directly abolished, but was simplified into the "royal tithe tax".
Regarding the collection of the reserved tax of the "Crown Tithe", it is based on the British experience of the same period, which turned each council village into a tax-paying unit, allowing local councils to file and pay their own taxes.
In this process, Gallis, as the general manager, is mainly responsible for supervising whether the operations of local councils are standardized, and dispatching auditors to randomly check whether the tax declarations of each local council village are accurate every year. Since the tax amount is not high, people's willingness to evade taxes will not be very strong in a short period of time. In addition, most people in this era are terrible at making false accounts. It is actually quite simple for Garris to check the details of the tax items to determine whether the accounts are true or false.
As long as strict audits are carried out, the probability of tax evasion and tax evasion being discovered is increased, law enforcement is implemented efficiently, and responses are provided quickly. In the Middle Ages, it was quite sufficient.
As for commerce and handicrafts, we relied on the brains of Garris from later generations to help the Skal Village improve various production processes.
For example, after so many months of development, Garris has illuminated the crucible steel technology, and because of his knowledge and experience, Garris can make the cost-effectiveness of crucible steel the best in this era.
Strictly speaking, crucible steel technology is not beyond this era. At the same time, India, Syria and Iran all had long traditions.
Compared with open-hearth steelmaking, which was a foreign product that was only developed in the 19th century, the history of crucible steel may even be traced back to 300 BC.
In particular, Damascus steel in Syria is one of the best, and has a very high reputation around the Mediterranean.
But there was nothing wrong with it. After Garris secretly informed some caravans that he could produce low-quality "Damascus steel" weapons here and was willing to sell them at a discount, those merchants showed strong interest.
Indeed, Damascus steel is a good thing. It has both high strength and good toughness, as well as a certain degree of corrosion resistance. It is the best material in the world, but it has one flaw - "expensive".
The sales price of a high-quality Damascus steel sword can even reach hundreds of gold dinars. The price of an ordinary Damascus steel sword starts at several times the price of the same style weapon, and can reach more than ten times the price.
Since Garris is willing to solve the "expensive" defect of "Damascus Steel", then the passing caravans can naturally tolerate the small problem that "Damascus Steel" is not produced in Damascus.
Even they don’t care about the small flaws in the poor quality of “Damascus steel”.
After purchasing graphite, clay, silica and other raw materials through entrusting passing caravans, Garris's painstaking research and the experience given by John's gang of blacksmith knights were added.
Skar Village has been able to manufacture high-quality graphite crucibles. The diameter of these crucibles is not large, but it is enough to smelt liquid iron.
By controlling the carbon content in the crucible, high-carbon steel can be stably produced. It can be said that the steel-making technology, which was difficult for many blacksmiths in ancient times, was no secret in the eyes of Garris.
And due to the development of hydraulic technology, the labor cost of steel forging in Skar Village is significantly lower than that of surrounding areas.
In addition, the trade route for purchasing raw materials for Damascus steel is the one at the door of Transjordan. Gairis can even get the goods earlier than the genuine Damascus steel manufacturers.
This is quite outrageous. Taking into account all the above factors, Garris successfully achieved the achievement of producing cheap knock-off products in the 12th century.
Of course, genuine Damascus steel has many technologies that Garris hasn't fully understood yet, so the quality of his side is still a bit poor, but the "Damascus steel" he produces here is cheap!
Of course, the pattern of the "Damascus steel" produced in Skar Village is not unique enough, but it is cheap!
Of course, Garris's "Damascus steel" is not produced in Damascus, but it is cheap!
Of course, this cheapness is only relative, it is cheaper than genuine Damascus steel. It's not that the price of high-quality steel or high-quality steel weapons has been seriously suppressed.
The copycat production capacity here in Gallis is only so small, and it is not enough to affect the overall market price.
Those merchants who resell Damascus steel weapons do not mind selling genuine Damascus steel weapons while recommending some less expensive but slightly inferior "Damascus steel" weapons to customers with poor financial resources.
Nowadays, the entire Middle East is in a state of chaos, and the arms business really has no worries about sales.
In addition to producing "Damascus steel" that is not produced in Damascus, Guerris is also developing and preparing to produce "Aleppo soap" that is not produced in Aleppo, Syria.
Presumably, in the future, businessmen passing by will also be interested in purchasing.
After a period of investigation by a team led by Simon and Khalid, Garris already had a lot of dirty information about tax collectors.
But there was a tax collector among them, which caught the attention of Gehrys.
Unlike other tax collectors, this guy seems to be taking the initiative to get closer to Lord Isabel, and for some reasons, this tax collector's hands are not stained with blood debts.
This means that it is a target that can be fought for, which will help Geillis to communicate with the Muslim groups in the territory.
"Then, arrange a meeting between him and me." Garris ordered.
(End of chapter)