Chapter 682, Duke Meeting
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"That's right, Ryan, your hunch is right. Something is really wrong." Francois nodded, and the father-in-law looked at his son-in-law who was standing in front of the sand table and his daughter who had just walked in from the outside, his face He showed a thoughtful expression: "This is also the focus of our debate."
"That is, even if there is a slight mistake in strategy and insufficient preparation, it is still very abnormal for Kislev to lose more than 20,000 people." Lawn also nodded, and the regent of the kingdom walked to the sand table: " We were arguing before, because according to Voroshilov's style of play, he was just too aggressive and believed too much in the power of the bear cavalry, but in general, with superior forces and a large number of firearms, this There are still many doubts about how the battle ended like this.”
"There are too many casualties." Ryan looked at the military flag on the sand table: "I think I can understand why Voroshilov insisted on fighting. The reason is very simple. During the attack on Ostrosk, Kislev has already Losing more than 10,000 people, paying such a huge price, if you just wiped out more than 1,000 barbarians and took down a fortress, there is no way to explain it, so instead of giving up like this, it is better to go all out, even if you pay a huge price. To drive these barbarians out of the troll kingdom, at least after this battle, the Belson Forest people will definitely not dare to cross the mountains casually."
"Yes, that's right." Bohemond nodded, and the Red Dragon Duke frowned all the time: "But the problem is, no matter how we deduce it, how can we underestimate Voroshilov's commanding ability and overestimate the barbarian's tactical level? However, it is still impossible for Kislev's army to suffer more than 20,000 casualties, which is too much, and this army is the elite left behind by the former Tsar Boris-Bokha! It is unimaginable to lose everything like this!"
"So there can only be two explanations. The first is that Kislev lied about the casualties. The second is that those northern barbarians who believe in chaos have become stronger." Ryan nodded. He understood what Francois and others said. The implication is: "Kislev has no reason to lie about such a high number of casualties. The only explanation is that the northern barbarians have become stronger. They have received the blessing of the evil gods. The mortal world is blowing, and the Kurgans, Huns, Mongols, and Norscans are all making preparations, waiting for a true Eternal God of Chaos to lead them south."
"No, it's impossible!" Adehad, the Duke of Lyonnaise, said loudly: "Impossible, the Great Jihad has only been over 160 years! The last Chaos Eternal God Chosen 'Anointed' Isa Kuval Only died for a few years? How could a new Eternal God Chosen be born so soon?"
"Nothing is impossible." The wrinkles on Boderick's face, the Duke of Boldrow, were all crowded together: "Don't forget, there is no concept of time in the realm of chaos. To become the Eternal God's Chosen, maybe there won't be one Eternal God's Chosen in hundreds of years, maybe two will appear in ten years, Adehad, don't use rationality and common sense to extrapolate chaos."
"Sorry, the northern coast of Lyonnaise has been infested by Norscan longships recently. If it wasn't for that relative of yours who brought a whole pirate fleet to plunder the Norscan coast all day long, plundering a large amount of gold and silver ore, Lyon Nasai may have already become a mess." Duke Aldehad is only fifty years old this year,
He was considered young among the dukes, and he was holding his head with a headache: "I want to say, these pirates are indeed generous, but every time they dock, I have to worry about security issues."
"You mean Salt Grudge, right? Arianaza-Salt Grudge was never my relative, never was, she's just... the daughter of Sea God Mananen!" Boderick yelled dissatisfied. The ten-year-old old prince became angry when he thought of this incident: "I just received an oracle, Mannan's will let me introduce her to you."
"Oh, that's right, Mannan, that damned sea god, impregnated the wife of a Norscan barbarian chieftain." Bohemond also said dissatisfiedly: "The whole kingdom is the most precious place for you Bordeaux." Xin Mannan, if you want me to say, that female pirate is not worthy of trust, she is only out for revenge, God knows if she will turn her head and target us if her revenge is over?"
"Oh, dear Bohemond, have we killed all those Norscans just one day?" Boderick laughed at Bohemond's short-sightedness: "One day, the salt grudge I'm too happy to kill all the Norscans."
"Okay, stop arguing." Ryan finally spoke, and he said to Bohemond: "No matter what you say, the enemy of the enemy is a friend. Irenasa - the hatred of salt water has destroyed North along the way all these years There are more than twenty coastal fishing villages and strongholds. From this point alone, the benefits she brings to us are far greater than the disadvantages. Boderick is right, even if it is Charlemagne and the savior Ludwig Hey, at most it is to attack and destroy the coastal villages and ports of Norsca, and no army dares to go deep into the interior of Norsca, and the Norscans can't kill them all."
"I agree with Ryan's proposal, that is, since the Norscans can't be wiped out, let the female pirate do her best to plunder and destroy." Lawn also agreed with Ryan's opinion, and the regent of the kingdom looked at the table. The sand table said to everyone: "At present, our information is still limited. No matter how we guess, the result of this winter war is like this. After so long deduction, we have almost forgotten the purpose of coming here."
"Oh, yes, that's right." Bohemond said as if waking up from a dream, "I forgot that we came here to ask Ryan about the serf household redemption system."
"That's right, Ryan, you can always surprise us." Lawn sat down, his eyes filled with reminiscence and sentimentality: "Do you still remember the scene when we met on Scarville Mountain?"
"Of course, I still remember that I finally killed a four-armed bull demon and was seriously injured, and you were riding an elf horse that made me drool. I really wanted to rob you." Ryan said with a smile.
"You are such a bastard." Lawn smiled, and did not say again: "A great bastard."
"Thanks for the compliment." Ryan and Suria looked at each other and smiled. Duke Mousilon coughed a few times and said to several dukes: "I know that you have many questions and opinions about the serf household registration and redemption system. Come at one o'clock."
"Okay." Except for Francois, several dukes were waiting for this. After hearing Ryan's words, everyone nodded. Suria, as the hostess, clapped her hands. The sand table was carried away, and everyone took their seats one after another.
"Now, let's talk about the issue of the serf household registration redemption system." Ryan took Suria to sit down, and the remaining five dukes sat down in turn, among which Duke Boderick was the most eager to try, while Duke Adehad had a full face It’s all unspeakable. The expressions of the Duke of Lawn and the Duke of Berhemond couldn’t help but look forward and hesitated. As for François, the old guy sat proudly next to Suria, and he also didn’t want to talk. Ryan felt that the old man People are probably thinking about how much more money they can have in their coffers.
There was a temporary silence in the conference hall, and finally, as Ryan expected, Boderick, the Duke of Boldro, was the first to ask: "Lane, I have read your serf household registration and redemption system, and I think there is no problem. I also plan to start experimenting with this system in Bordereau, when will you send someone to guide us?"
"Anytime, as long as you need." Ryan nodded, and he said with a smile: "If Lord Boderick is really worried, you can ask Fedmond to come to my territory to observe it."
"Very good, when I go back after the meeting, I'll let Fedmond come over immediately." Bo Derick was eager to try.
Suria is wearing a classic black lace-up dress with ginger candy wood grain brown fragrance, black velvet thick pantyhose and knee high heels. It is normal for the Duke of Dro to be so interested in the serf household redemption system.
The Principality of Boldro is one of the smallest principalities in the Kingdom of Britannia. The total area is only equivalent to the area when Ryan just recovered Musillon and has not yet taken back the old territory of Musillon in the south of Lyonnaise. Slightly larger, and due to historical reasons, the Duke of Bordeaux has always believed in the Sea God Mannan and the Fairy of the Lake at the same time. The fairy of the lake, while in the coastal area, Sea God Mananen obviously occupies more beliefs. Although the knights of the Sea God also follow the way of chivalry, they are not as rigid as Britannia. The land of Litania ends where the river water turns into sea water. There are not many Poseidon knights who have land, but they have always obtained huge benefits from the sea.
Therefore, Bordereau was the most commercialized and industrialized area in Britannia before the arrival of Ryan, and the Mannen Dry Dock was also the only port in the entire Knight Kingdom that was capable of manufacturing large artillery warships.
More people, less land, developed commerce and industry, plus since the arrival of Ryan, Bordello and Marienburg have opened up trade routes, and have all opened up with the high elves, the Ash Legion, the lizardmen, and Estalia The trade routes and the huge dividends brought by trade have allowed many sailors on the Boldero pier to accumulate a lot of wealth, and the vault of the Duke of Boldro is also full of gold.
Similarly, not long after Ryan came to Britannia, he made the Duke of Boldero a key target for the simple reason that the Poseidon fleet owned by Boderick is the only blue-water navy in Brittania. .
The navy has extremely high costs, huge investment, a long time to build an army, and a long payback period. Ryan had no money or energy to build a navy from scratch before. The reason why he chose to win over Boderick is Blue Water. The navy, not to mention the Poseidon fleet and the blessing of the Sea God Mannan.
Over the years, due to the needs of ocean-going trade and security needs, the Seagod fleet has continued to expand. New warships are launched in the Mannan dry dock every month, and there are also huge orders from the Ashes of Fulgrim Legion, making money softly.
Boldro's question was finished, and Ryan signaled that everyone could ask next.
"Lane, your serf household redemption system, I always feel..." Duke Berhemond of Bastogne asked. You are envious of the benefits, but deep down there are many worries: "I always feel that on this issue, you are not thinking about the nobles of the kingdom, but are biased towards the serfs."
"That's right." Ryan admitted generously: "I am indeed partial to the serfs on this issue, but Bohemond, you have also seen the problems before the kingdom and the changes after that, we have been decaying continuously, the kingdom Need to change, the life of serfs needs to be changed, and I am not not protecting your interests, serfs have to pay such a large sum of money to buy their own household registration, which is actually unfair to serfs, but I still want them to pay Isn't this sum of money my compensation to you?"
As soon as this remark came out, the dukes present nodded in agreement. Indeed, they had no reason to strongly oppose it. It was the ransom paid for the serf’s ransom. There are not many knights and nobles with internal affairs capabilities such as Watts, Boderick, and Lawn.
"I also understand what you said." Bohemond still hesitated: "But... I mean, it is indeed good to be rich, but... if one day, all the serfs pay the full ransom and become free citizens , then who will cultivate the land? We can’t cultivate the land, can we?”
"Percy! What kind of unrealistic thoughts are you talking about?" After hearing this, François's face straightened with black lines. The father-in-law didn't wait for Ryan to speak, and said directly: "There are 200,000 serf households in Bastogne. 200,000 households! How many serfs do you think can afford the ransom money? Will it affect farming? Furthermore, if all 200,000 serf households paid enough ransom money, it would be 30 million kroner, 30 million gold Krona, isn't this money enough for your family?"
"But... the money will be spent one day, but the output of the land is unlimited." Bohemond was still struggling: "If one day the money is spent and there are no serfs in the land to cultivate, what will happen to the food? What about the principality?"
"The land is still yours. You can hire people to farm the land, or you can contract it to free people to cultivate it. It's nothing more than a much lower tax rate. You've also seen Ryan's fixed tax reform. The more you work, the more you get. , you don’t have to worry about the land being planted!” Francois then continued: “And you can encourage free people to build new villages and reclaim wasteland, even if these new lands are not yours, the extra tax is Yours!"
"Wait, wait." Ryan stretched out his hand to signal Francois to stop first, and he said to Bohemond with a smile: "Your Excellency Bohemond, let's give an example. Do you know about Derwig's restructuring?"
"Well, I know, His Majesty Ludwig said that everyone has the right to be paid for their labor." Bohemond nodded.
"So is the land in the empire short of people to cultivate it now?" Ryan asked: "Aren't there few people who want to cultivate the land? Why can I get 300,000 immigrants from the empire? Why is Karl Franz still having a headache today? Crowding in Brunswick? Don't the beggars, sailors, handymen, and scavengers in those cities want to farm for a living?"
"I understand, Ryan, you really have it, you convinced me." Bohemond thought carefully for a few minutes, and finally nodded with relief, with a smile on his face: "Okay, I will start preparing to implement it when I go back." the system."
Before the words were finished, the regent of the Kingdom, Lawn, who was sitting opposite Ryan, raised his hand to signal that he had something to say: "Lion, I have a problem too."
"Please." Ryan stretched out his right hand, put his fingers together, and made a gesture of raising his hand.
"We all know that the income from growing commercial crops is definitely higher than that from growing food, such as grapes, sugar cane, rapeseed, and olives." Lawn interlocked his fingers on the table, and he said seriously: "Let the serfs become free." After the free people, they must give priority to the pursuit of income, so it is very likely that most of the free people will grow cash crops, so what about the food?"
"This is indeed a problem." Ryan nodded: "But I also have a way to deal with it."
"How to deal with it?" Lawn asked with interest: "What is it?"
"Overall planning."