Take the ride to dominate the game

Chapter 94 Taxes

Arthur performed exceptionally steadily, switching off his sword with left and right hands, and after dozens of chops, the cavalry in the western region were pierced by them.

He didn't care whether he killed the enemy or not, Ma Ke, Patrick, Angai and others behind him would make up the knife.

The current situation is that the more than 700 cavalry in Hejian followed Arthur who took the lead and divided the cavalry in the western region into two parts.

There are about 1000 people on the north side where Rocky, the coach of the western border, is, and there are more than [-] people on the south side.

"Excellent!" Arthur shouted, "Patrick, Marco, Raymond, you take all the river cavalry to besiege the 500 people in the south."

"Angai, Wager and your men, let's attack and kill the commander of the Western Cavalry."

"Okay!" Patrick said briskly.

Among the cavalry present, most came from Haijiang City, and letting Patrick and others lead the team can boost morale.

So they who had just completed the charge turned around and headed for the target.

For Arthur's week, there were 18 people in total, including Anguy, two Dornish men, Wag, and the backbone of the blood troupe.Led by the golden-armored giant horse, they charged towards the western soldiers on the north side who had turned back.

"The enemy commander is that Rocky." An Gai shouted suddenly.

As a sharpshooter, his eyesight was naturally astonishing, and he recognized Amory Lodge wearing a helmet from a long distance away.

"Old enemy!" Arthur swung his knife and pointed at Rocky, "I let him run away at Mummer's Beach last time, this time I'm going to wring his head off and use it as a chamber pot."

in front of them.

"Lord Tywin will reward the knight who killed the golden armored giant horse with a thousand golden dragons." Rocky shouted casually, raising his sword and charging.

This was naturally a lie, Duke Tywin could not have expected Arthur to appear here, it was just that Rocky said it casually in order to boost morale.

It's just that if he really killed this person, Duke Tywin would not be stingy.

These people are full-time cavalrymen of the Lannister family, and their monthly salary is only in silver stags, and one golden dragon is enough to exchange for 210 silver stags.

A golden dragon is a very distant thing to them, and a thousand is already beyond the range they can count on their fingers.

But after they converted the countless Silver Deer and Qingting Island fine wine, big-ass gouran workers, and beautiful full-body plate armor according to their preferences, more than 1000 people looked at Arthur with some eyes different.

That's the walking treasure boy.

"Come on!"

"My golden dragon!"

The entire Western Region soldiers suddenly boiled.

Seeing that the morale was available, Rocky was immediately overjoyed. While waving his hands to call the cavalry behind to charge forward, he tightened the reins to slow down the speed of the horse under his crotch.

In this way, it was not him who rushed to the front.

It's a pity that Arthur has already locked him.

"Rocky, do you still recognize me?" Arthur led his men straight to the central army.

"Up, up, up, up, all up." Amory ignored him and directed his own soldiers to pile up beside Arthur.

With 1000 people, he could be squeezed to death.

Stimulated by the golden dragon, the entire cavalry in the western region was extremely brave.

Arthur's charge was immediately delayed, and a steady stream of enemies rushed towards him.

The difference between a dozen people and more than 1000 people was quickly revealed. Arthur's surroundings had been completely covered by people from the West.

There are people on the left and people on the right. The wall of people is so tight that the distant skyline cannot be seen.

Half an hour passed.

Although the soldiers from the Western Territory could only go through one round in Arthur's hands, after many rounds, a pile of corpses was piled up around Arthur and the others.

Human corpses, headed and headless, horse corpses, panting and dead, all piled together and crowded them.

Beside Hejian God of War, there were only five people left, including An Gai and Wa Ge.

An Gai's hundreds of arrows have all been shot, and he now holds a half-handed sword to fend off the enemy.

Wag and the others stood directly on the pile of corpses, and their mounts had already been buried underneath.

Fortunately, the Chitu was tall enough to carry Arthur without being squeezed by the corpse.

"Where are you, Arthur?" came a voice from outside.

It seems that Patrick, Ma Ke and the others finished the 500 people on the south side and came back to rescue them.

"Here." Stuttering head Wag was quick to respond and responded directly.

"I saw it, rush inside and kill a way for me."

Rocky was instructing the western cavalry to get off their horses and climb up the pile of corpses to fight Arthur, when he suddenly noticed that the river cavalry was charging again, he quickly instructed the soldiers around him to block them.

"If not, my lord, let's withdraw."

"That's right, there's another 300 new force over there, plus this invincible Arthur, we can't please you today."

It's just that the soldiers cherish life very much and don't want to die.

Amory glanced at Arthur who was still stabbing one person, and then looked at Harrenhal from a distance.

"Withdraw, retreat." He said weakly.

Although the great achievement is in front of you, your life is still more important.

What makes him better than the dead Mountain is that he knows that he has to slip when he should.

So the remaining western border soldiers were gathered by the messengers, and then quickly retreated westward.

Those who can live up to now have full life-saving ability, so within a dozen or so breaths, hundreds of people evacuated cleanly.

Dead bodies, wounded, and ownerless horses are all ignored.

"I-Finally beat him away." Wagga said with a bitter face, "Master, I have to pay more."

Arthur wiped the blood from his face and looked back at the goatee man.

This man is still alive.

Arthur's idea was to use up the backbone of the blood troupe through the battle, and then send his own people to take over the command of the blood troupe.

I just didn't expect Wager to be able to live like this.

He is worthy of being a veteran who has been tested in the mercenary war on the Essos continent, and he has experienced many battles.

"Okay, you can add it. Seeing that you have worked so hard these few times, the members of the blood theater troupe who came this time will be paid 45 gold dragons each. Excluding the five that have been paid, the rest will be [-] gold dragons each." It will be paid in a few days."

This time, thirteen blood troupe backbones participated in the battle, and now only two are alive.

Wagga was overjoyed and laughed straight away.

Arthur shook his head at his heartless attitude, expressing helplessness, and then said to the Dornishmen:

"Your commission has also been increased to fifty gold dragons just like theirs. The salaries of the twelve Dornish soldiers who died in the battle will be led by you two."

The only Dornishmen left alive were Anguy and a pikeman named Dutch.

"That's not necessary, you killed the Magic Mountain, this kindness is enough." Dach said.

Arthur waved his hand, "It's better for the golden dragon to settle the matter. When the war is over, you can find a way to send it to their families."

That's it for the commission.

Patrick commanded the cavalry in Haijiang City to dismount and remove the corpse so that Chitu could come out.

"Your performance this time is not as good as before." Patrick said to Arthur.

There were more than 700 western cavalry who escaped, and Arthur, Wag, Angai and others killed more than 200 people together.

"I'm surrounded, and there's nothing I can do." The lord of the Moulin Rouge jumped onto the pile of corpses and walked down first.

Maybe it was because he was hungry, and the smell of blood made him feel uncomfortable.

After paying the price of more than 400 people, the Hejian cavalry wiped out more than [-] enemy troops.

Naturally, the task of cleaning the battlefield was handed over to the residents of Heron Town not far away.

Thousands of cavalry suits can be obtained here, and Arthur is reluctant to throw them here.

Although the equipment of the soldiers who died in the battle in Hejian would be taken back by their lord, the equipment of the soldiers in the western region fell into his hands.

There is a shortage of horses, and human armor can be equipped for infantry. When cavalry is formed in the future, saddles and stirrups will also come in handy.

……

Six days later, Harrenhal Burning King Tower, a certain room.

"At this time when the great war has started and the refugees are scattered, I think that, as the actual controller of Harrenhal, it is very necessary for you to make a fortune."

Hayley, a little girl from King's Landing, stood in front of Arthur and expressed her point of view.

"Twelve thousand people have already entered Harrenhal. We can collect some food from every refugee who enters the castle as a tax, and then wait for them to finish eating the food they brought, and exchange the collected food for The coppers on them until they are squeezed out."

Arthur sat behind the huge desk and looked up at her.

"Just appointed you as the logistics supervisor, you are very good."

A day ago, the Moulin Rouge recruits who landed from Ruby Beach on the Trident River arrived at Harrenhal, and Hayley who volunteered to come with them.

Since Arthur's subordinates really couldn't find a few capable people, Hai Li, who could count addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within a few hundred, seemed to be a high-quality talent.

So Arthur, who actually controlled Harrenhal, made her the logistics supervisor, responsible for managing materials and logistics.

"What you said makes sense, but I would never do it." Arthur shook his head, rejecting her proposal.

"Why?" Haili was puzzled, "This can multiply your wealth several times."

"Taxes are collected, but people's hearts are scattered in exchange. Money gathers and people disperse, and wealth disperses and people gather. This is an eternal truth."

Arthur would not be tempted by such petty gains.

"But in this case, isn't it reasonable to collect taxes? In the king's land, if the commoners kill a chicken, they have to give the lord a fat chicken leg." Hai Li insisted on her point of view.

She is determined to persuade Lord Arthur, so that his wealth will increase a lot.

This taxation method is common, but not fixed.

Moulin Rouge, Arthur's territory, did not have this kind of temporary tax before. It only collected tax in kind during the harvest season every year, and collected currency tax for handicraft workshops every quarter.

Most of the taxes in kind come from wheat, fruits and vegetables, etc. Every year, the original owner's father and manager Amber take the family soldiers to nine villages to collect them.

And it is not a fixed amount of tax, but a tenth of the harvest of the year.

Although clarifying the harvest of each farmer makes the tax work much more complicated, it also reduces the burden on farmers.

This is also one of the sources of the original owner's father's good reputation.

You know, many earls and viscounts in the Hejian Land set a certain amount of grain to harvest in order to save trouble, and only collect this amount every year.

As for the tax in the handicraft workshop, it is collected through the ferry in He'an Village. The village head, Jess, is responsible for registering the quantity and price of the handmade products transported from the ferry, and then summarizing it every quarter, according to ten percent of the market price of the goods. One-fifth charge once.

After thinking about it, Arthur still had to make it clear to the little girl, so that she wouldn't give up.

"You know why Northerners love to say the North never forgets?" he asked Hayley.

"I don't know, maybe they have a good memory." The little girl shook her head.

"No." Arthur raised his right index finger and shook it, "One is because of the extremely low tax rate in the north, one for thirty, which commoner would not be grateful for the generosity of the Stark family?"

The entire continent of Westeros, except for the northern border, is basically taxed at one tenth. Although it does not seem high, considering that winter can sometimes last for several years, plus some voluntary labor for the lord, the taxation is still very heavy. .

To be worthy is to let the civilians live decently in the long summer and be able to eat enough in the winter.

There are two reasons why the tax rate in the north is so low: the long winter and the sparse population.

The former requires that the northern nobles cannot collect high taxes, otherwise the common people will starve to death in winter, and sometimes arouse civil uprisings; the latter greatly increases the cost of tax collection.

Because the tax collectors and soldiers sent by various castles can eat a lot of food on the road.

Arthur held out the second finger of his right hand.

"The second is because of the generosity of the vassals of the Wolf family. The Manderly family in White Harbor used to be from the Reach. After being defeated by their neighbors, they fled to the northern border. So the Stark family waved their hands, and an earldom I gave it to his family, although it meant to guard against the Bolton family, but the generosity of the Wolf family can be seen."

The family name of the Mandalay family evolved from the Mande River in the Reach.

"With these two points, one satisfies the commoners, and the other satisfies the nobles. How can the Stark family not be supported by the northerners?"

"Now is the time when people are panicking. I ruined my previous reputation for a small profit. Isn't that too short-sighted? You think so!"

Arthur explained the reasoning to her and sent her away.

Hailey curtseyed, "Thank you for your teaching."

Then turned and left the room.

Immediately afterwards, Dickon and Bill, who were training the new army in the Hundred Hearth Hall, walked in.

Bill was one of the 97 mercenaries hired by Arthur in King's Landing City. He was elected as the leader by his peers and was responsible for communicating with the benefactor.

When the new army was sent by the captains of the Red Fork River, the 97 mercenaries from King's Landing City and the remaining 64 mercenaries from the blood troupe were also sent over.

On the territory of the Moulin Rouge, there are 160 mercenaries and 34 family soldiers from the Reach, as well as strong farmers who have been selected in the ongoing screening work.

Eleven days ago, when Arthur led people down the river from Riverrun, he demolished all the bridges on the Red Fork River.

In addition, most of the large ships and small boats on the south bank were brought to the north bank, so it was impossible for Tywin's army to cross the river all at once.

So the North Shore is relatively safe.

For these people, maintaining order and repelling small groups of enemy troops is enough.

Most of the soldiers in Raventree City are also in Riverrun, so they don't have time to trouble Moulin Rouge. Of course, they probably don't dare to fight against the God of War in the river now.

"Master Arthur, here I come." Dickon came in and greeted him.

Bill, who was in his thirties, followed behind him. He took a quick look around the room before nodding to the benefactor.

Arthur said: "I came to you two because I want you to compose two military songs for the new army."

"Military song?" Dickon wondered, "I've never learned that."

"It's not for you two to make it up, it's for you two to watch and be responsible for this matter. Among the refugees who have taken refuge in the castle, there are always a few people who love to sing. Let them make it up. After I read it, you will be responsible for letting the new soldiers sing a few songs every day." Over and over," Arthur explained.

Bill was surprised by this military song, and asked, "Sir, do you have any requests?"

Arthur thought for a while and said, "I'll make up the title of the song, and they will make it up. The four-beat version will do. The name of the song is: Arthur's order is heard in everyone's ears. We only listen to General Arthur's order. So let me review the lyrics."

The new army is different from the borrowed guest soldiers. This is the basis for Arthur to fight for the world in the future, and he has to take care of all the details.

Using this kind of lyrics with strong hints can subtly influence the psychology of the soldiers of the new army.

To put it another way, it is to put a ideological stamp on it.

"Interesting." A smile appeared on Dickon's serious long face, "This is the first time I've heard of this kind of military song."

Bill nodded in agreement, "Me too, but we'll get this done."

Arthur waved his hand and let the two leave.

Next, he has to discuss with Patrick, Marco, Raymond, Wag, Angai and others how to keep Shili City.

PS: Ask for a recommendation ticket and ask for a monthly ticket.

(End of this chapter)