Chapter 111 Sanqi Tax (please subscribe)
Although there are many people in Qingfeng Village, it has never been popular. After all, there are only a few people who can talk.
While having breakfast with Su Ya and the others, Xu Lai took a look at the map sent by the scouts.
This map was given to him last night, but the lights were dim at night and he couldn't see it very clearly.
Getting rid of the harpies on the map that he had cleared out last night, Xu Lai clicked and found that there were probably hundreds of large and small groups of thousands of harpies near Qingfeng Village.
Of course, this is already yesterday’s number. It’s hard to say how much this number will remain after today.
Unlike Xu Lai, Su Ya could only clean up the harpies in waves, but she got some loot. According to Xu Lai's previous instructions, all the wooden treasure boxes were opened into gold coins.
In the end, Su Ya upgraded 5 of the 15 nomads and 3 of the rangers, and still had 600 gold coins left.
Of course, Xu Lai didn't ask for the 600 gold coins. Su Ya's current troops are all cavalry, and the cost of upgrading these men to the next level is not low.
The flower demons got up on duty, and the spearmen continued to rest. The horse pens were ready yesterday afternoon, and fifteen war horses and seven prairie horses had already lived in them.
Xu Lai specially found three farmers to take care of them. One took care of them, one fed and bathed them, and the other rode them out for a walk.
After everything is cleared around, Xu Lai will ask the farmers to take them out for grazing. It is better to keep them in captivity first.
Nine farmers built wooden houses. After cutting down some wood yesterday, Xu Lai became rich today. Not to mention building three wooden houses at the same time, after building these three houses, the first six houses will be upgraded in sequence.
Six farmers who were not physically strong were resting, and all the remaining farmers went to the grove for logging.
Yu Lan was left in the village by Xu Lai, while Su Ya rested. There was no one in the huge village, and Xu Lai was really worried.
By staying in the village, she could at least rotate the farmers, arrange lunch, and control the forest demon to plant trees.
Firstly, the function of the fence is too small, and secondly, the grove is too far away. Farmers spend a lot of time transporting wood.
Thirdly, Giselle, the forest demon, and the flower demon are in the forest environment, and they are strengthened too much. Fourthly, these trees can also cover the village.
With so many benefits, of course Xu Lai wants to do it.
But it is said that it takes ten years for trees to grow and one hundred years for people to grow. For a big tree to become useful, it will take more than half a year, even in this world where magic thrives.
This is why Xu Lai had to plant trees in advance, otherwise when the three surrounding groves were all cut down, he would have to look for wood elsewhere.
With the forest demon around, Xu Lai's trees don't need to wait for more than half a year, but they still need about two months.
The goal Xu Lai set for himself today is still to wipe out the harpy, but this time he does not dare to go too far.
A whole day has passed since the battle the night before yesterday. Even if all the horse thieves were caught up and killed by Su Ya, leaving no one alive, the horse thieves in their lair should be able to guess the result.
However, the leader of the horse thieves is dead. It should not be easy for those horse thieves to organize again, but now that a day has passed, Xu Lai does not dare to gamble.
For this reason, he specially left Yu Lan to provide support, and also left a messenger arrow for Su Ya.
Xu Lai's direction of action today was changed to the direction where the horse thieves were attacking, in preparation for his expedition to the horse thieves' den.
But before setting off, Xu Lai picked up a leg of lamb and went to the crystal mine first.
We haven’t seen each other for just a few days, and Watanabe has lost a lot of weight. Although food is provided here, don’t think about how good the food is.
The wanderers and farmers responsible for guarding brought some meat and vegetables from time to time. Watanabe had not touched meat for several days.
As soon as he saw the leg of lamb in Xu Lai's hand, Watanabe's stomach was full of greed. However, when he looked up and saw Xu Lai's helmet, he was stunned.
The metal-covered helmet on Xu Lai's head was snatched from Yin Andi's head. As Watanabe, who had met Yin Andi and reported to him several times in person, how could he not recognize it.
But Yin Andi’s metal-faced helmet is standard equipment. Maybe Xu Lai just happened to buy the same equipment from Hong Shang?
Thinking of this, Watanabe's heart ignited hope again, but Watanabe then thought that even if Andy Yin sent troops to fight, he might not be able to save him.
Perhaps, when Yin Andi sees the map he drew for Xu Lai, he will hang himself up and skin him and cramp him. This is how he always treats traitors.
Xu Lai didn't know that the helmet he was wearing aroused countless reveries in Watanabe, and he didn't bother to pay attention to Watanabe's thoughts.
I saw him holding the leg of lamb and slowly handing it to Watanabe’s mouth, and while Watanabe secretly swallowed his saliva, he asked:
“What did you hear the night before yesterday? Is there any movement? "
The battle the night before was so intense that even if Watanabe lived in this cave, he probably wouldn't be able to hear anything.
Sure enough, Watanabe nodded with difficulty, his eyes not moving the whole time.
"Do you know what the noise is?"
Watanabe is a horse thief after all, and the shouts of the horse thief are all too familiar, otherwise he would not think that way when he saw Xu Lai's helmet.
"Master Hero, what do you want?"
Xu Lai coughed and stopped teasing him, saying: "Your band of bandit brothers came to avenge you the night before. But it's a pity that no one can go back, including your former leader." Watanabe was mentally prepared and could accept it for a while, but he was still a little surprised when he mentioned Yin Andy.
"Now your lair is leaderless and has lost a lot of horse thieves. It is the weakest time."
Watanabe swallowed and said in surprise: "You, you don't want to attack our lair, do you? ?
I once heard that there was a bandit leader who also coveted our lair. At that time, he secretly sent people to attack our home without telling the prairie king. As a result, they failed to break through the gate and returned. ."
Xu Lai nodded and said: "I have seen the map you drew. Although the gate of the cottage is made of wood, there are seven or eight arrow towers erected behind the cottage. After breaking through the gate, there are traps and ambushes inside the stronghold
There is also an underground bunker with tunnels extending in all directions. You can sneak attack from the rear at any time. To attack by force, you must have more than three or four times the number of troops. "
Watanabe said: "You, you just know. "
However, Xu Lai shook his head again and said: "But if someone can take us in from the tunnel, then what use are the front gates and arrow towers?
We appear directly at the rear, who will be trapped in the trap set in front? "
Watanabe knelt down in front of Xu Lai, hugged Xu Lai's thigh and said: "Master Hero, please spare my life! ”
Xu Lai snorted coldly and said: "Do you really want to dig mines in this cave for the rest of your life?
The wanderer reports that you are quite hardworking. Apart from eating and sleeping, you spend all your time on The mining is on, how many have you dug? Oh, it turns out that one has been dug out.”
Watanabe doesn’t want to stay in such a mine for the rest of his life, and he is still a little convinced of his identity as a hero. Powerful.
So he gritted his teeth and started digging honestly, otherwise he wouldn't have lost weight in a few days.
However, after spending several days mining without sleep or food, only one unit was mined.
Of course Watanabe didn't know that it would take farmers, who were never lazy, 6 days to dig out one unit of crystal. He could dig out one unit in just a few days, which was as fast as the farmers.
Just at this speed, Watanabe has already despaired. Even if he can mine 1 unit of crystal every week, 100 units will take 100 weeks, almost two full years.
With such intensity of work, and without the supplement of vegetables and meat to his body, he would not be able to survive even one year, let alone two years.
However, if we relax and dig slowly, we may have to stay in this mine for ten or twenty years.
By then, even if Xu Lai lets him out, he will become an old man, an old man who has been drained of money and has no assets.
Xu Lai promised again: "As a horse thief, no matter how long you stay, you must have done a lot of evil things.
But you can be regarded as having made meritorious deeds. I will absolve you of the death penalty, but you can't. Free.
However, if you can successfully lead us into the horse thief's lair, I will consider you to have made another great contribution. From now on, you will be considered a member of my Qingfeng Village and no longer need to stay in this mine. It's dark inside.
You have also seen that I am never stingy with my own people. Even if the guard watching you is just a monster in your eyes, he will still eat and drink every day.
If you are. As a villager in Qingfeng Village, I not only promise to ensure your personal safety, but also provide you with a house and provide you with food.
Any property you acquire with your own labor will also be protected by me. Of course, the premise is that you cannot evade taxes. ”
Xu Lai did not promise to give Watanabe a large amount of wealth. He only promised to give Watanabe the treatment of a villager and forget all the past.
However, this is not a high reward. , but made Watanabe believe that Xu Lai was serious about his promise.
If he could survive in his own village, Watanabe would not become a horse thief.
Therefore, Watanabe. He simply gritted his teeth and asked Xu Lai: "Then I dare to ask Mr. Hero how you plan to collect taxes? What about Lord Ani's taxes? ”
Xu Lai smiled slightly, knowing that Watanabe had actually agreed in his heart, so he simply stopped teasing him, stuffed the leg of lamb into Watanabe's hand and said with a smile:
"Eat it, your answer makes me very happy." Satisfied.”
Watanabe was greedy for this leg of lamb, but he didn’t dare to eat it after taking it. After all, he didn’t really agree, in case he said the wrong thing and ate it again. He must punish himself for the hero's leg of mutton.
Xu Lai asked: "So, how much tax did you have to pay in your original village?"
Watanabe said: "Theoretically, we are all serfs of Count Aini. According to imperial law, serfs had to pay 70% of all harvests to their nobles as a tax, which was also known as the 73% tax.
There are seven knights and three serfs.
However, the noble master also needs the support of the people below, so under normal circumstances, the noble master only takes 50%, and the rest is given to the knights below.
Due to the war, the taxes in our village have been increased. 50% of all harvests are handed over to the noble lord, 20% is handed over to the knight lord who belongs to us, and the last 10% is given to the village chief. "
Xu Lai was stunned when he heard this. He could have guessed that taxes in such an ancient society were extremely heavy, but he didn't expect them to be so heavy and exaggerated.
"Aren't they afraid of the peasants' rebellion? "Xu Lai shouted directly.
Watanabe looked at Xu Lai doubtfully and said in confusion: "Those are all knights. If you stand there alone, the whole village will not be harmed at all. Are you crazy for rebelling?"
(End of this chapter)