Chapter 12 The Sacred Ten-Household System
“Since I have been in Gaobao all year round and don’t know you well, so now I ask you to introduce yourself. Each of you will introduce your origin, name, occupation and family. Start from you!”
The rain stopped for a while the next morning after the Advent of the Holy Father.
Standing in front of the hunter's cabin, Horn put his hands on his hips and held a long sword in his right hand, shouting energetically to the villagers present.
The villager who was pointed out was shaken, and he dragged his timid wife and son forward.
"My name is Bevel, I am 29 years old. I am a farmer and a public farmer. This is my wife Raheel, and these are my two sons, Little Bivier and Little Dazov."
Picking up a simple reed pen, Horn wrote down the name on a piece of birch bark.
In the rural system of the Holy El Empire, public farmers represent semi-serfs.
They are listed on the tax rolls, can own private property, and will not be bought, sold, manipulated or lynched like serfs.
But public farmers must lease the land from the lord and must complete agricultural work tasks.
Throwing a wooden sign with two marks to him, Horn didn't even look up: "Go over there and stand behind the wooden board with the same pattern as the wooden sign in your hand. Move quickly."
Pulling the whole family together, Bivier stood at the designated position. Little Dazov curiously reached out to touch the wooden sign, but was slapped down by his mother.
"Okay, next one." Horn finished recording and shouted again.
A stout man wearing a black cotton vest walked up. He took off the woolen hat on his head, pressed his wife's thin back, bowed and said:
"Merciful Lord Holy Sunson, my name is Rektor Ironshui, I am 35 years old, an armed farmer, and I have a blacksmith shop at home. This is my wife Solmi, who has no children."
After glancing at Recdo twice, Horn continued to take notes on the birch bark.
Armed peasants are the rich peasant class in the imperial feudal rural system. Most of them are small and medium-sized landowners and rich peasants. They do not need to pay any taxes and only need to prepare their own weapons for military service.
However, since the end of the Hundred Years War, most armed farmers no longer go to the battlefield, but instead pay shield taxes. Lords can use this money to recruit mercenaries.
But they are still the lackeys of the lords and belong to the middle managers in the rural order.
Throwing a wooden sign with four marks engraved on it to him, Horn raised his head: "Okay, next one."
"Your Majesty the Holy Son, I introduced myself yesterday. My name is Jeshka. I am 31 years old. I am a refugee with no family. I used to be a mercenary and now I am mainly a mason."
Horn remembers this A very discerning one-eyed dragon, he should be the leader of the nearby refugees.
Refugees are a special group born after the empire promulgated the Fugitive Slave Law.
These people often live in groups and move in the wild to prevent capture by runaway slave hunters.
They will not stay in one place for long, and rely on part-time work, begging, and even stealing and robbery to make ends meet. Over time, they become refugees.
Horn pulled out a wooden sign with only a scratch and threw it to him.
“Next!”
Horn spent half the morning registering and allocating money to this group of villagers.
There are a total of 221 villagers in 39 households on this hill, including 6 households of armed farmers with 44 people, 22 households of public farmers with 137 people, and 11 households of refugees with 40 people.
On one side of the hut, four wooden boards have been erected in advance. Each wooden board has a different pattern. Behind the wooden boards stands a person holding a wooden sign with the same pattern.
Behind each wooden board are about 8 to 10 households. The villagers who are familiar with each other whisper to each other, and those who are not familiar with each other sit down separately.
They looked left, right, and around, still somewhat confused as to what was going on.
Threading the birch bark together with a leather rope, Horn turned and walked towards these villagers.
After clearing his throat and stepping to stand on a big rock in front of the villagers, Horn opened his arms: "Believers and lambs, I have something to say, please listen carefully.
As the Holy Father said, today the demons are rampant and snakes and ghosts are rampant. Are you proud of defeating the devil Barnett? But there are so many devils, and Barnett is just one of them. There are countless others.
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Think about it, even the knights have turned into devils. Doesn’t this prove that the devil is around us?
Perhaps all of you here are not devils now, but what if someone is tempted by the devil in the future? What to do then?
Although I have the protection of my mother, you do not. Therefore, in order to prevent this situation from happening, I propose that we implement the sacred ten-household system. "
The sacred ten-household system?
Craning their necks, the villagers of Moulin Rouge turned their heads and looked to both sides. They only saw confusion on their faces. "Master Saint Sun Tzu, this What does the sacred ten-household system mean? Ten-household joint insurance for citizens? ”
"Almost, the so-called sacred ten-household system, based on where you are standing now, organizes eight to ten households into one guarantee, with ten household heads. Because the devil's corruption will be contagious, one person is a devil, and all are protected Everyone is responsible, and only those who report the devil are not guilty.”
Like mice, the villagers lowered their heads, and groups of people whispered in low voices as the water behind their heads undulated like leaves.
"I'm not a devil, why should I be responsible?"
"Anyway, I have a clear conscience..."
"Keep your voice down. This is the instruction of the Holy Grandson. Be careful of the Holy Lady striking you with lightning."
Seeing the villagers discussing, Horn did not stop it. It is better to speak out his dissatisfaction than to hold it in. I feel good.
There is no way he can set up the sacred ten-household system. With the knowledge and blindness of these ignorant people, it is too easy to incite them. Yesterday's incident is proof.
Horn does not have his own base as a tentacle. He can only use this method to obtain enough information sources and understand the movements of the villagers.
"Of course, this is just a proposal." Horn put his hands behind his back with a faint smile on his face, "I will not force you to do it. Those who disagree can start from your position now. Left..."
After hearing what Horn said, many people breathed a sigh of relief, straightened their clothes, put on a relaxed smile, and turned around to leave.
“But——” Glancing at the pace of the people leaving, Horn said with a smile, “As the saying goes, ‘Everyone has his own lord.’ When you join ten households, you are your own lord. Then you will automatically get rid of your identity as a public farmer."
"You want to stand here?"
"Okay, I will stand here."
The person who had just stood up to leave immediately turned around, changed positions with the person next to him, and sat down again.
"Whether you are an armed farmer, a public farmer or even a refugee, as long as you join ten households, you will immediately acquire fifty acres of land! Add to what you already have."
Pick up a stack of bark fiefs from your hand. On it is a carrot seal with the words "Ordered by the Holy Spirit to benefit life and death."
Horn raised five fingers to them confidently, "Don't worry about honoring it. The church regards my mother as the master. The servant's land naturally belongs to the master. My mother is a virgin and I am the only one. Son, after all, the land of the church will be mine sooner or later, and I can do with it whatever I want!”
Anyway, when the flood recedes, I will be rich, where can you go to me to cash it in?
As long as I don't do anything wrong before I escape.
Moreover, in order to obtain enough food from the forest, Horn must improve their discipline and organization.
Otherwise, it is not an option to have Horn come to micro-manage everything every day.
After hearing Horn's words, many villagers' eyes lit up, as if they had opened the door to a new world.
“Hey, that’s right, the Holy Father has no wife, and the Holy Lord is a virgin. This family has no heirs. No wonder they want to adopt the Holy Grandson as their adopted son.”
“ According to this, the world was created by the Holy Father, and sooner or later the world will belong to our Holy Grandson.”
Seeing the villagers' logic slipping, Horn did not stop or refute.
After yesterday's baptism, he had the knowledge and thoughts to understand these villagers.
They are not mentally retarded. On the contrary, their shrewdness can be seen from the time they deceived Jeanne to "borrow" money.
The blindness and stupidity they show is just due to the limitation of their vision and knowledge, which prevents them from acting beyond their cognition.
The morning bacteria don’t know Hui Shuo, and the crickets don’t know Spring and Autumn.
Horn could only talk within their framework, otherwise he would not be able to communicate at all.
Continuing to put on the classic magic smile, Horn clapped his hands proudly and interrupted their discussion: "I have finished speaking. Who of you agrees and who opposes? If you agree, just don't say anything. If you disagree, just don't say anything. Please raise your hand."
After saying this, Horn waited for three to five seconds. The villagers either looked down at the ground or looked at each other.
"In that case, the matter is settled. You each elect ten household heads. Come to me for a meeting after lunch. I will provide the food for lunch."
ps adaptation is not random. Editor, there are also refugee problems in real European history. For details, see "Research on the British Refugee Problem in the Early Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries"
(End of this chapter)