Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 167 The Great Ocean of People's War

The news that Frost Maple Ridge is preparing to recruit troops is not particularly surprising to Karen Lepage:

After all, Fenghuangtai, which has a working population of several hundred, except for the militiamen who work normally on weekdays, currently maintains a standing force of only 30 to [-] people.

——In the stable and harmonious western border of the empire, an army of 30 to [-] people is still enough to maintain the law and order of the territory, but in the treacherous land of broken souls, this poor number of soldiers seems a bit stretched:

You must know that the traditional wasteland forces such as the bandit cottages can even reach more than 80.00% of the combat population-of course, they do not consider daily production issues like the noble territory Shuangfengling, they are all direct Just plunder caravans for a living.

Therefore, Karen believes that Frostmapped Ridge's strategy of expanding its military power is completely correct:
The way of survival in the land of cracked souls is like an arms race with no winners. Once the strength is not enough, it will only end up in the wilderness.

However, what puzzled the female village owner was that according to the greedy performance of the lord's previous land grabbing from the Luna Village, the financial situation of this emerging territory does not seem to be healthy;
Having one more soldier is not as simple as laying out an extra bed, not to mention equipment, military pay and unexpected expenses, just a big mouth waiting to be fed every day, is enough to make any poor lord shed tears looking at his withered money bag ;
Where did Shuangfengling, which was supposed to be impoverished, get the capital to hire recruits?
Karen Le Pegg immediately became vigilant, for fear that the lord wanted to intensify the exploitation of Luna Village: Although she cared about her subordinates, the female village owner who was already a zombie slave could not resist her master. any order of...

Seeing Karen's tense expression, Xia Houyan thought for a while and understood what this zombie girl was afraid of.

He smiled, waved his hands and said:

"Karen, don't worry, your bandit suppression corps still has missions in the west of the wilderness. We, Shuangfengling, can solve the troubles in the east by ourselves, and we won't take the villagers of Luna Village one by one!"

Karen nodded dubiously.

"However, one thing that must be determined is where to recruit soldiers from." Mayor Joel bent his fingers and tapped on the table twice.

"The south bank of the Lionheart River." The answer Karen gave without hesitation was exactly the same as the plan envisioned by the senior officials of Shuangfengling.

This is also because Shuangfengling, with its awkward geographical location, does not really have many viable options.

The Land of Cracking Soul is a desolate land of death. Except for Shuangfeng Ridge, there are basically no decent settlements in the eastern region. The lord can't run to the gates of the major cottages in the Dust Mountain Range and give the cottages The gangsters here post job advertisements, right?
And when it comes to human settlements, the north bank of the Lionheart River is basically the territory of the Grand Duke of Houston. Although Shuangfengling, which has dealt a heavy blow to the "Pride of the South", has a tendency to burst with self-confidence, but ran to other people's private land to fight tigers must still be unwise;

As for going further south, you have to cross the arcane spire defense line before you encounter a town with a large number of residents——

——The only problem is that this has already reached the territory of the demons, and the settlements are all populated by demons who are not of my race...

After all the calculations, the only reliable place to recruit soldiers is the small towns on the south bank of the Lionheart River.

As early as when he visited Huafang Town, Xia Houyan had already planned to recruit people from these tax havens. Now that he has gone to Dragon Bone Peak to get rich suddenly, it is reasonable to continue to implement this idea.

"If possible, you can not only recruit combatants." Mayor Joel added enthusiastically, "The territory is still relatively lacking in various talents. If there are good craftsmen, tailors or gardeners in these small towns Yes, they can also be recruited to the Phoenix Terrace."

In order to build a basic manufacturing system, Shuangfengling has sent people to the south bank of the Lion Heart River several times to purchase supplies:

According to the report from the purchasing team, although these human settlements in the northern part of the wilderness lack material resources, there are many crouching tigers, hidden dragons who broke the law and offended people in the hinterland of the empire, and came here because they couldn't pay taxes. It is enough to make any senior HR suffer from tachycardia and die suddenly at the work station.

According to Mayor Joel's opinion, Shuangfengling has a lot of money now, so it's better to just raise the grass and hunt the rabbits. While expanding the army, we should also strengthen the talent pool of the artisan group and the agricultural group:
In this era when the head count is roughly equal to productivity, as long as Shuangfengling wants to expand its power in the wasteland, it is doomed to find a way to increase the population size of the territory.

"People must be recruited from places like Huafang Town. The only question is, in what name?" Xia Houyan smacked his lips, "Mercenaries? Or citizens?"

Don't think it's just a difference in name, but the meaning is completely different.

If Frost Maple Ridge recruits soldiers in the name of "mercenaries", then it is actually a temporary contract signed with the other party. Frost Maple Ridge will provide them with equipment and remuneration, and the mercenaries will fulfill the contract to help the lord fight the war - once the situation changes , the mercenaries can completely terminate the contract, pat their ass and leave;
However, if the recruited soldiers enter Frost Maple Ridge as "leaders", the meaning is quite different: the lead people are equivalent to signing a lifelong contract with the lord, and they are no longer free citizens, but in Iraq. Under the protection of the Gore family, he became an official citizen of Frost Maple Ridge, with the same status as Master Kobe, Chris and other members of the former Eagle's Rest migration team:
Under the current system of the empire, unless the officials of Xiahou or His Majesty the Emperor allow it, the citizens of the territory must never leave the jurisdiction of the territory without authorization.

"If you are a craftsman, it is better to be naturalized as a citizen. After all, it is beneficial to the long-term development of Shuangfengling." Xia Houyan frowned and muttered, "But military personnel..."

The lord's hesitation is that if he is a mercenary, he can send them to death without any psychological burden, but since he came to this world, his biggest goal is to take the lord's responsibility seriously. If you want to sacrifice It's their own people, so I'm afraid they won't be so generous.

It’s like some smart people who haven’t entered the stock market can’t help but gloat and sneer when watching the stock market plummet and stockholders jump off the building, but when their house prices fall a little bit, they beat their chests and feet as if they were mourning: their own losses are always more painful than others’ misfortunes heart.

The lord felt that if it was purely for the purpose of fighting, it would be good to recruit a group of heroes in the name of mercenaries: I will pay you to work, the swords and guns have no eyes, and the war is ruthless. simple and convenient;

But if you blindly expand the ranks of the leaders, everyone becomes their own people, and the trouble is not just the payment of military salaries: the leaders have weddings and funerals, eating, drinking, and whoring... things like eating, drinking, and messing will all belong to the lord in the end. Adults worry.

The wanton use of mercenaries and foreign legions to protect the lives of their own citizens will always be an indispensable part of the rise of a great power.

Just as the officials of Xiahou were about to make a decision, Mayor Joel suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong?" Xia Houyan looked at the old man curiously.

"A few days ago, when I was counting the books and records of the territory, I happened to read a few books about the land of broken souls. A clerk brought them from the library of Eagle's Rest Castle..." Mayor Joel's spirit seemed to be In a trance, "I seem to remember..."

The old man stayed for a while, and suddenly rushed out of the lord's tent without saying a word.

The cold wind after the snow poured into the room from the lifted tent door, leaving a group of high-ranking officials in a mess in the wind.

"Huh?" The lord looked at Master Laurie very puzzled, "What's going on?"

Master Laurie's face was full of helpless "look at me ass".

"Let you treat these old comrades well!" The lord knocked on the table and said loudly, "Look, is Mayor Joel tired these two days? Is your mind not clear? We have no shortage of territories. Young people, don’t let the old people work hard to do things like sort out the roster and check the account books. It’s also training newcomers! ——Master Donald, Master Kobe, you too, if it’s not a key job, you don’t need to do everything yourself. Wouldn’t it be good to recruit more apprentices to work for you? The body is the capital of the territory’s construction!”

Everyone Lian Dao Lord, what you said is right.

In the end, before Xia Houyan could continue his lecture, Mayor Joel rushed back to the tent in the cold wind.

The old man was holding a dirty, tattered but frighteningly thick old book in his hand, like an old version of Ci Hai that had been placed on the corner of a desk for 30 years.

Everyone, including Karen Lepergue, turned their heads and stared at Old Joel with a piercing gaze.

Mayor Joel raised the huge book in his hand, and showed everyone the gilded title that had been half peeled off the brown cowhide cover.

Xia Houyan squinted his eyes, barely making out what was written on it was "Memorabilia of the Land of Broken Soul".

Everyone thinks that the world is so big that there are no surprises. Even in a poor place like the southern wilderness, where dogs don't come, there are people who write books and biographies for it...

"My lord, listen to this passage..." Mayor Joel struggled to spread out the "Memorabilia of the Land of Broken Soul" on the table, and An Jie, who had just heard the lord's lesson of "respecting the old and loving the young", put it down quickly Teapot, come over and help the handle.

Mayor Joel carefully flipped through the fragile pages of the book, cleared his throat, and read aloud:
"In March of the first year of the Imperial Calendar 730, His Majesty the Emperor issued a Royal Reclamation Order, calling on nobles above the baron to voluntarily move the land of the broken soul to reclaim the wasteland, expand the frontier, and promote the prestige of our country."

Xia Houyan let out a "huh": It seems that the imperial official's attitude towards the land of broken souls has not always been so laissez-faire. At least nearly 300 years ago, the reigning emperor still brought the land of broken souls under his rule. of ideas.

"The year 730..." Master Laurie calculated with his fingers, "I remember that it was a relatively peaceful era. The orcs fell into internal rebellion, and the internal and external pressures faced by the empire should be relatively relaxed."

"People, once you relax, you will find trouble." The lord shrugged, "For example, when you are free, you can write a novel or something."

"However, according to my guess," Master Laurie stroked his beard, "the 'Royal Reclamation Order' 300 years ago should have had no effect, right? The land is still unclaimed land..."

"Yes." Mayor Joel said with a wry smile, "Even if there is a mobilization order from His Majesty the Emperor, which serious noble will leave the stable and rich Central Plains territory and go to the southern wilderness to eat soil?"

Xia Houyan was secretly upset: You said this as if I were an "unscrupulous aristocrat"...

——A certain lord who deviates from the orthodoxy and wantonly uses undead magic, digs graves, robs graves, kills, murders and raises slaves. Obviously, he has not developed enough self-knowledge.

""The Memorabilia of the Land of Broken Soul" records that the few nobles who responded to the emperor's mobilization call and went to the Land of Broken Soul to reclaim wasteland were basically killed by local bandits within a few months. After that, the demons began to invade again In the southern border, the imperial officials have basically never mentioned the matter of land reclamation." Mayor Joel briefly glanced at the pages of the book, and said solemnly, "But this is not the point, the point is... Please listen to the following part--

"In May of the first year of the Imperial Calendar 730, there was a lack of responders to the Royal Reclamation Order. In order to encourage reclamation, His Majesty the Emperor decreed that anyone who successfully established a territory in the Land of Cracked Souls and ruled the wasteland will naturally get the land south of the Lionheart River and west of the Dust Mountain Range. , the east of the Raging Mountains, and the north of the border of the empire's demons are under the jurisdiction of all human citizens; if multiple lords establish territories in this area, the specific population division should be negotiated and reached a consensus and submitted to His Majesty the Emperor for approval."

Xia Houyan was startled in his heart:
"Mayor Joel, what do you mean..."

"My lord, due to the aborted land reclamation plan, the law promulgated by the emperor of the empire to encourage nobles to transfer titles has not been officially cancelled!" Mayor Joel pressed his hands on the pages of the book and said excitedly, " This also means that from the moment the territory of the Phoenix Terrace is completed, all human beings on the land of the cracked soul should be regarded as the leaders of the Igor family from a legal point of view!"

"Grass!" Xia Houyan sat down on the chair and covered his forehead.

"Doesn't this mean that the townspeople on the south bank of the Lionheart River have obtained the qualifications to be the citizens of Shuangfengling without knowing it?" Master Laurie was also shocked.

"Even the bandits in the southern wilderness can be regarded as your 'leaders'..." Karen said dryly.

"Damn!" Xia Houyan was speechless, "They don't listen to me, what kind of leader?"

"The law is the law." Mayor Joel said with a wry smile, "Even if in fact they chopped off your head with a knife, from a legal point of view, you are also their legal lord and there is no conflict."

"Remember to tell me that if I have a child in the future, don't let him study law." Xia Houyan muttered to Master Laurie.

Mayor Joel didn't take the lord's joke seriously, and said seriously:

"Thus, Lord Lord, what you should consider is not to recruit the townspeople as 'mercenaries' or 'leaders', but how many people to 'conscript' from this group of legal 'leaders' to form an army. "

Mayor Joel deliberately pronounced the word "leader" perfectly.

Xia Houyan was completely dumbfounded.

Because according to the regulations of the empire, the lord can unconditionally recruit his own people into the army to fight for himself.

In other words, including the residents of the towns on the South Bank, every human being who can breathe in the wasteland is actually a reserve source of soldiers for Shuangfengling!

The unexpected expansion of the population in his own territory made Xiahou officials feel as if they were about to suffocate.

(End of this chapter)