Chapter 475 Golden Bird Orphan
"Hey, what are you looking at? Be careful, sir, I'll slap you." The sweaty old knight had just pushed the old box onto the carriage and turned to look at the roadside. the lively civilians yelled angrily.
On the King's Road leading to Hotam County, a queue of more than a mile long was now lined up.
Flying dust fell into the eyes, cattle, horses and livestock were intertwined, children were running around among the wheels and thatch, and behind them were the anxious roars of adults.
"Go quickly, go quickly!" The knight in a blue cape embroidered with golden birds swung his whip on both sides of the team, urging these people to move forward.
The main body of these are civilians and craftsmen from the Condai Territory, and some are civilians who fled during the civil war in the kingdom.
After the civil war broke out in the kingdom, thousands of refugees fled into the Thousand River Valley. This was one of the few places that was not affected by the war.
Although the Innocent Dam has not yet been repaired and there is still a risk of flooding, it is better than staying in the war zone and having your head cut off by soldiers.
The leader of these immigrants is Racunio, the former Grand Master of the Border Knights. He had just resigned from the position of Grand Master last year and was preparing to retire to the mountains and forests.
While visiting Condai, he heard about the current situation of Charles, the old knight commander, and decided to lead a team to protect the immigrants and pay a visit to Prince Condai.
"Lacunho!" Contai opened his arms enthusiastically and hugged his old friend who was both a teacher and a friend. "Captain, your beard has turned white."
" Hahahaha." Lacuneo, who was wearing a coarse cloth burqa, laughed and punched Prince Condai in the back, "I'm eighty, it's strange that I'm not white."
"Let's go. Come on, let's talk inside. I have some good wine here." Pulling Lacunio's arm, Prince Condé almost dragged Lacunio towards the garden of the house.
"Are you planning to stay here in the future?" Taking a sip of wine, La Cunho and Prince Condé walked in the garden together.
“Of course, but currently there is only Hotam County, Hotam County is enough.”
Within the Thousand River Valley, Hotam County is the richest and most prosperous area, even Lower River County, which has developed commerce and finance, cannot compare with it.
Hotam County is close to 30,000 square kilometers, including more than 12,000 square kilometers of cultivated land, with developed water conservancy and irrigation systems.
Walking on the King's Road in Hotam County, between rivers and tributaries, irrigation canals are distributed like spider webs among towns and estates.
The water wheel by the river stirs white water, and the gate of the barrage blocks the jumping water waves.
As long as the local lord controls the gates and waterwheels, he can easily control the agricultural life of an entire region.
In addition to agriculture, freight flows very quickly through the developed water system of the Thousand River Valley itself. There are a series of sporadic small towns distributed along rivers such as the Nauan River.
Unlike the three southern counties where large cities are equipped with satellite towns, there is only one large city in Hotam County and that is Feiliu Castle.
On the remaining land, based on the lord's castle and church, there are dozens of small towns with no more than two thousand people.
Most of these small towns are engaged in food processing, dye production, oil extraction and basic textile industries. This county alone can contribute 18,000 gold pounds in tribute and income to the Leia royal family every year.
When Mizam was still there, he had calculated the potential tax revenue of Hotam County for Prince Condai.
He found that if taxes were not paid to the church and the Kingdom of Leia, the local annual tax revenue could reach nearly 200,000 gold pounds.
Although at least one-third of it was taxes in kind rather than coins, it was still a huge sum of money for Prince Condé.
Of course, at least half of the 200,000 gold pounds went to the local nobles, but if Prince Condai could straighten out the tax system in Hotam County, he would get at least 70,000 to 90,000 gold pounds every year. .
In this way, Prince Condai can maintain the existing six imperial companies without borrowing any more money, and it only takes four to six years to pay off most of the foreign debt.
This is the case for Hotam County alone. If we can capture the entire Thousand River Valley, it is really unthinkable.
However, such a Thousand River Valley is only above average in the Kingdom of Laia. His real hometown, Heshang Island, is the richest area in Laia.
You know, the Kingdom of Leia has a total of eight territories: Eagle's Foot Bay, Thorn Garden, Gravel Field, Windmill Land, Heshang Island, Dawn Island, Qianhe River Valley, and Xianshiden.
The Heshang Island area is only half the size of the Thousand River Valley, but it provides the Leia royal family with nearly one-third of the country's tax revenue.
It is the textile industry and commercial center of Hebei Province on the Nauan River. The tax revenue of the city alone is less than 200,000 gold pounds, which is more than three times the tax paid in the entire territory of Qianhe River Valley.
“Are you interested in hearing what this old guy like me thinks?”
"Please tell me." Prince Condai put down the wine glass in his hand and said seriously.
“After the death of the old pope, there are not many constraints on you. Taking advantage of this civil war, you can just rule a piece of land.
My idea is, at least don’t let it The Jinque family has no descendants. After two or three generations, when the previous nobles have almost forgotten their hatred, we may not have a chance to rise again."
After listening to the words of the old leader La Cunho, let's go. Prince Condai, who was in the small garden, fell silent.
For the great nobles of the Kingdom of Leia, the Goldfinch family's attempt to collect local finances really crossed the line.
But at that time, the Plantagenet Dynasty had the strongest extraordinary knights after the Hundred Years War, and the surging cavalry used blitzkrieg to wipe out two dukes in three months.
At that time, all foreign forces were in internal turmoil and had no time to interfere in Leia's internal affairs.
If the Changge nobles hadn't exposed the "immortality wine" incident, the Golden Birds would have almost succeeded with the support of the Pope.
The stress and trauma of this incident made the nobles of Leia very resistant to Jinque.
It is not that Prince Condai does not have the idea of restoring the country in his heart, but the situation is forcing him to do so, what can he do?
"You are right, I think so too." After saying this, Prince Kong Dai felt unwilling but also somewhat self-deprecatingly relieved. "I have an idea." La Cunho, the old captain, sat down by the pool. He patted the marble stool next to him, which was carved with a seahorse punching a dung beetle. "Char, you can sit down too."
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"Captain, what do you want to say?"
"Char, have you ever thought about reconciling with the local forces in the Thousand River Valley?"
"Reconciliation ? At this moment? Are you kidding me? "Prince Kong Dai almost jumped out of his chair. How can he reconcile after he got to this point?
He has already given in to becoming a prince in this corner, should he still give in?
La Cunho shook his head: "The current situation is that you have come to the Thousand River Valley, but you have never established a foothold in the Thousand River Valley. You should first reconcile with the local forces, and then encroach little by little."< br>
"Why not? At present, the entire Hotam County is under my rule. The grain harvest is great, the floods have been driven away, and the faithful people live and work in peace and contentment." Prince Condai frowned in confusion, "Why doesn't it count? Have you gained a foothold?"
"Let me ask you a question, who hands the tax?"
"Of course it is in my hands." With a look that seemed to be a smile but not a smile, Prince Condai laughed, "I usually keep it with Barney Forth. When I want it, I go to him to get it. I can't let my boys go to the village to be with those country bumpkins. Do you want money?”
"There's nothing wrong with borrowing from the church's system. Everyone does it." La Cunho looked at the good apprentice in front of him, "But are you sure that Bishop Barnifus is in charge of the money..."
"That's why I called all the old courtiers and old nobles led by Condai. When they take root in the land of Hotam County, everything will be fine."
Laku Neo grabbed Prince Condai's hand and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Little Charles called a large number of craftsmen and civilians, and Lacunio agreed.
After all, they are all subjects of Kong Dai, and they are outsiders who have just arrived, so they will definitely obey Prince Kong Dai's orders.
But it was wrong for him to call over the family members of those knights and veterans of the old court, because what these nobles wanted was land.
Those Hotam knights had just died on the battlefield with the Salvation Army, and the territory of the back leg was about to be divided among the new knights.
Although this was a helpless move because military pay could not be paid, the stimulation to the local nobles was still too great.
What about redemption or loan? Spend some money, not much.
After the external brains of Prince Condai, Mizam and Old Pope, were exploded, La Cunho felt that Prince Condai's political level had declined significantly.
Prince Condai may be a decisive decision-maker, but he is not a careful and meticulous planner.
So far, La Cunho has not been able to find a second Mizam beside Prince Condai.
In other words, after the outbreak of the civil war and the death of the old pope, Prince Condai seemed to have untied the iron collar around his neck and had to let out the madness that had been suppressed in his heart.
“Ciel, there are some things I say that you don’t like to hear, but I still have to tell you.
It took me a lifetime as the Grand Master of the Border Knights to understand that the knight sword cannot do anything. Get everything
The people of Qianhe Valley's resistance to the church is obvious to all, and the blue-blooded orphans did go a bit too far.
You should not stand so clearly on the side of the church, that is a shackles.
Really smart people should learn to be vague and hesitant, and only make decisions at the last critical moment. "
Prince Kong Dai's tone was vaguely impatient: "Then what do you think I should do? "
Of course La Cunho noticed his emotions, but he still said patiently: "You can only use tens of thousands of people, but there are millions of people in the Thousand River Valley, and behind them are Frank and Norn and other foreign forces.
What you have to do is not to fight them all at the same time, but to reconcile with one of them and then attack the other faction.
Considering that the Salvation Army is a bandit army with civilian origins, the most convenient way for you is to marry the Archduke Meliati.
You are the largest external force, and she is the largest local force. If the two are married, you occupy the plains and she occupies the mountains. This is the best situation. "
"Marry that old maid who keeps her word? Prince Kongdai curled his lips, "Then I'm afraid the Jinque family will be extinct. Meliati... I swore that I would kill her." "
"...Okay. "Lacunho looked at Prince Condai's gray pupils and was silent for a while before standing up. "Since you don't want to look for it in the Thousand River Valley, then look outside. We old guys from the previous dynasty can't give it to you. How much help was provided. ”
"I am also considering it, but there is still no suitable candidate."
"If there is no suitable candidate, go find a mistress. At present, you are the only one in the Jinque family." La Cunho said without doubt. , "It's terrible that you don't even have a mistress in your mansion."
"Is it necessary to be so anxious?" Prince Condai, who muttered without realizing that he was dancing on the blade, stood up. Leave.
Looking at his confused and confused figure as he left, the old leader La Cunho sighed heavily.
Looking up at the sky covered with white clouds, the clouds looked so much like the face his father had told him before he died.
Golden Bird Orphan, Golden Bird Orphan...
Is it really the Holy Lord who wants to destroy the Golden Bird's bloodline?
(End of this chapter)