Chapter 138 I always feel that something is not right
After learning that more than 12,000 of them also had to pay taxes, Horn felt something was wrong.
In fact, after careful calculation, there are 10,693 adults over 15 years old among more than 12,000 people, which is almost 21,386 dinars, equivalent to 178 gold pounds and 26 dinars.
It's not that Horn can't come up with this money. He still holds the more than two thousand gold pounds from the Blue Blood Orphanage in his hand.
But this money is Horn's sealing bank, and he doesn't want to use it unless it is absolutely necessary.
The most important thing is, forget about other workers or citizens, if they can stay until now, at least they still have a few jobs.
But this group of people in Xinying have no jobs and rely entirely on the city hall to allocate relief food and work-for-relief.
If it weren't for Horn, their situation would be similar to that of beggars. It doesn't make sense to ask beggars to pay taxes.
They haven't even been paid the first week's wages, they just paid rations in advance, so how can they have the money to pay for this.
After much thought, Horn decided to ask for details, so he made another trip to Fort Joan of Arc.
Duke Dardenne is a rare powerful nobleman who is on their side. The villagers of Horn will still need his protection in the future.
It is not worth it that the cooperation between the two parties breaks down just because of a possible misunderstanding.
Arrived in front of the castle again, the courtier told Horn apologetically that the person in charge of collecting taxes was the priest Zandbek, and he didn't know what the situation was.
Horn had to rush from the Duke's castle to the city hall on the other side of the city, but when he arrived at the city hall, the footman at the city hall told him that the priest Zanderbek was not there.
But the one who allocates tax areas is Bishop Boerwerf, who holds the household registration. Maybe Horn can go to him.
Looking at this posture, Horn knew what was going on. He would not really go to Bishop Bulwerf.
If he really went there, the message would be "Bishop Boerwerf is out, why don't you go to XXX and ask?"
After wandering in the city square for a while, Horn went to find Casti, as a result, Casti was locked in the house by two guards and was not allowed to see visitors.
Horn even ignored the guards' obstruction and went up to knock on the door, but there was no response.
Walking the horse on the road, Horn looked at the sky. After several runs, it was already afternoon.
The originally bright sunshine was shrouded by the rising faint black smoke, as if covered with a dark brown filter.
The rooster weathervane on the roof of the house keeps rotating around the black smoke.
Originally it would be best for Sissi to investigate this matter, but he is not here now.
Early this morning, he took the money and went to the countryside to buy grain. The price of grain there is still relatively cheap.
Today, the price of food in Fort Joan of Arc has quietly risen to 2.5 dinars per gallon for wheat and rice crackers, and 1.5 dinars per gallon for barley.
When Horn first came here, 1 dinar could buy 8 loaves of bread, but today he can only buy 5 loaves, a full 60% increase in price.
"Goat's!" Horn spat on the ground, and now he could only return to the camp first.
He passed the previous street again, but the lively atmosphere was gone.
The streets were covered with blood stains and fragments of doors and windows, and all kinds of clothing and furniture were scattered and broken on the ground.
The workers sat on the steps in front of the door in disgrace, exposing their hairy arms and leaning against the door in disgrace.
Weeping women, carrying babies on their backs, were picking up the pieces of their homes in front of the house.
When Horn walked past with his guards, they looked up with numb eyes.
The horse's hooves stepped on the charred ground, as if a small war had just been fought here.
With the empire’s incompetent administrative efficiency, taxation is so barbaric and crude.
When I arrive in Chizuma Town in the future, I will really have to find some financial experts for these tax-related matters.
To be honest, Horn thinks Sissi is quite good, but he doesn't know if he is willing to go to Pond Town with him.
With his current talent pool, it is even more than enough to manage Chizuma Town with 800 people.
Whether it is Madeleine, Jeanne, Armand, Chilvis or Granpvin and Das, they have all been tempered during the long march and exhaustion.
Relying on the advanced feudal hundred-household system, if there were only one or two thousand people, Horn would still be quite confident in them.
After all, hair is difficult to comb and braids are easy to hold.
On this street, not everyone is crying. After walking a few steps forward, you can still see some workers drinking and celebrating after the disaster.
These well-informed or quick-thinking workers received information in advance or sensed abnormalities and hid the money. Or else there were the more united and stronger laborers, who used stones and fences to block the tax collectors' advance.
The taxes that these "tricksters" have not paid will be deducted from those taxes that have been paid.
When the lord said to levy 1 dinar, the priests and soldiers would not really levy only 1 dinar. The extra tax would not only feed their own people, but also Use it to offset the portion that was not successfully collected.
After a long sigh, when he arrived at the outskirts, the road became wider. Horn simply accelerated his horse and returned to the camp.
He planned to stay in the camp for the time being and wait for Sissi to come back.
After all, there is currently no information, and Horn does not want to act rashly.
Sitting in the wooden house, Horn held his head, still not quite understanding what Duke Dardenne meant.
With the sudden imposition of war tax, could it be that the situation in Qianhe Valley has intensified again? Or something big happened that he didn't know about?
Besides, by playing like this, didn’t he ruin the reputation he had accumulated in the past?
"Duvallon!" Horn shouted toward the outside.
"What's the matter? Papa."
"You go and inform Jeshka and ask him to take people to several important nearby checkpoints, and then Rene, ask him to take Cheka went to the surrounding villages and refugee camps to investigate the situation."
"Understood."
"And..." Horn stood up and walked back and forth in the wooden house twice, "Tell Jeanne and her Holy Grail Knights to be careful and patrol more during this time."
No matter where the Duke is Whatever the situation, it’s always good to be prepared.
…………
Standing at the door of the iron-paned wooden door, Sissi knocked on the door and woke up Horn who was correcting the double-entry accounting work of the Boy Army and the bishops.
Seeing Sissi, Horn threw away his pen as if relieved: "Come in."
"Didn't I bother you?" Sissi asked, looking at the account books piled up in front of Horn's desk.
Horn smiled bitterly and said: "You are not disturbing me, you are saving me. I gave these account books to those guys to practice, and they calculated that the average return on investment of these chambers of commerce was 380%."< br>
Sissi couldn't help but laugh. He unbuttoned his clothes, revealing his delicate collarbone, and picked up the account book to fan himself: "It's the first time. With their level, it's good to be able to calculate it."
Seeing Sissi sweating profusely, Horn stood up and poured him a glass of water.
“How is the food issue going?”
"The first load of food has been shipped as a deposit." Sissi took the water politely and took a sip. "They still need to collect the rest, which will arrive one after another tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."
< br>"Do you know about paying taxes?"
"I was just going to tell you about this." Sissi put down the water glass and said quickly, "This is too unusual. , I initially thought that the Duke invited these "short-haired" refugees to unite them for the purpose of recruiting troops.
At least these people are brave enough to resist, and are much stronger than the cowardly farmers. < br>
Recruiting them as soldiers will prevent the Duke from recruiting troops among his own people, which will affect the economy and the Duke's reputation.
But now, he actually wants to tax all. Logically speaking, it is appropriate to tax the residents and use the armed refugees as cannon fodder.
But didn’t he tax these refugees and force them to run away? "
"Can't run away. "Horn shook his head solemnly, "Jeshka went to look at the nearby roads. Almost all the castle checkpoints are closed. Unless there is a voucher signed by the Duke, no entry or exit is allowed. "
"There must be something happening that we don't know about. "Sissi touched her bare chin and said, "Tomorrow I will go to Castle Joan of Arc and ask about the matter. Maybe the subordinate officials misunderstood the Duke's meaning. "
"I'll go with you. ”
"You should stay in the camp." Sissi shook her head to dissuade her. "This way, if something happens, we will still have a backbone."
"Do you think anything will happen?" Horn's His eyes were more solemn than before.
Sissi hesitated for a while: "I'm not sure, but I feel something is not right."
ps got busy again after the holiday, there will be another chapter later.
(End of this chapter)