Chapter 132 Rich Hebron

The lord's hall in Hebron is no worse than Lothar's in Yogurtsburg.

The towering circular dome, spacious living room, luxurious floor tiles, and exquisite reliefs are simply a paradise compared to the castles of rural lords in Western Europe.

The two Ax Guards had already walked along the winding staircase to the second floor to replace Lothar's giant heraldic flag.

This flag is juxtaposed with another Jerusalem cross flag, with a double-headed eagle designed by Lothar himself, fluttering its wings.

Lothar couldn't help but feel a strong sense of accomplishment.

Count of Transjordan!

This is already many times more noble than the title of Earl of Aargau, right? No matter what, Werner would never have imagined that the second son of his family would have made such an achievement, right?

Lothar sat down on the throne belonging to the lord in the center of the hall.

He tapped the gilded armrest.

After some time, he planned to summon Mallus over so that he could open up the well-equipped ironworks workshop.

Sego's iron mine is not far from Hebron or Jorgelusburg, so there is no need to transfer it again.

Due to the size of the territory, even if Yogurtsburg had a Hussars barracks and a Varangian Guards barracks, the center of gravity of his palace and rule must be in Hebron.

The cavalry's lance is still in Hans's hands, and Lothar has no plans to use this epic item to unlock the cavalry's barracks for the time being.

Actual combat has proven that the effect of this thing is still very powerful. If paired with the 20% bonus of all attributes of "Jeanne" Knight Flower, it will be extremely terrifying.

How much property he currently has under his control will only be known after Andreas, the new clothing officer, and Leonard's liaison here are connected.

But even if he doesn't have a single fiefdom, once he deprives the land of those powerful pagans, he can still entrust it to the winged cavalry under his command and make them all knights.

When the time comes, a hundred winged cavalry will be recruited and they will have an invincible effect on the battlefield.

Fringilla wanted to move forward.

Jeanne stopped her: "Let the adults be intoxicated by themselves. If you want to please others, you can't just stick to it."

Fringilla was a little unconvinced and said, "You know better than me?"

Jeanne's face stiffened: "At least I know better than you!"

Fringilla was still unconvinced: "Don't think I'm young. I'm actually eight hundred years old. I've just been asleep for a longer time. What haven't I seen?"

Jeanne smiled and said: "I don't know how experienced you are, but I'm young, really quite young."

The good impression Fulin had accumulated towards Jeanne disappeared in an instant, but she was a little afraid of Jeanne and did not dare to give people nicknames like she did to Prajna, so she could only sulk.

At this time, Andreas presented a book: "Sir, the gold book of the Hebron territory is already here. The tax collector of Baron Leonard promised that they will only take away the money that originally belonged to Count Leonard." The chattels, the deeds of all the real estate, and the keys to the mansion and estate have all been sorted and placed."

The golden book is not made of gold, just like the golden seal edict is not made of gold.

Lothar opened the book and muttered something: "Fourteen manors, three grape plantations, two wineries, twelve wind mills, two churches, and two bridges."

These are assets that can be entrusted to knights as fiefs.

They all belong to the category of real estate and can generate continuous income. For example, every old farmer has to pay a certain share of grain when he uses a mill.

Manors like Constance are not included, because they are located within the city and can only meet living conditions.

It is impossible to maintain the food and clothing of a knight, and the need to replace armor and horses.

The so-called tithe tax cannot really summarize all the taxes a farmer needs to pay.

Lothar frowned, put down the gold book and said, "It's much less than I thought."

Andreas explained: "Baron Leonard is not very good at managing the territory. Many properties and lands have been sold to local pagan tycoons in exchange for wealth."

"Ha, that's understandable."

Leonard was obviously a model of militarism. When he was at his craziest, he once organized an army of up to 8,000 men, no less powerful than the Regent Raymond.

In terms of wealth, the County of Transjordan cannot be compared with Raymond, who occupies the entire County of Tripoli.

Not to mention anything else, the County of Tripoli does not need to contribute any wealth to the Kingdom. It is only nominally surrendered to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which is unmatched by the County of Transjordan.

Either the former is a county, while the latter can only be called a county.

"But to be honest, with Leonard's hatred for the pagans, I didn't expect that he wouldn't kill all the local tycoons of these pagans and plunder their wealth."

Lothar was teasing, but she knew in her heart that Leonard was just reckless, but he was by no means a complete idiot.

Otherwise, he would not have been one of the biggest contributors to the Battle of Mengisa. In addition, he also pioneered the genius strategy of "boating on dry land" (note).

Although Lothar is opposed to the tax package system, he must also admit that the tax package system has a great advantage, that is, it can receive the most money at the minimum cost.

Even if the unruly people rebel due to tyranny, it is still the business of the tax collector, which is equivalent to the full amount of real assets, and does not need to bear any obligations to the land or the "unruly people".

For example, if Lothar planned to kill the tax collectors, he would have to spend his own money to support a group of tax collectors. The tax collectors must also have a guard to prevent the people from being armed to resist the tax.

Not to mention, tax collectors can also be greedy for money.

If Lothar controlled not a small earldom, but a large empire like the Song Dynasty, I am afraid that not only would the remote areas not be able to collect taxes, but the ministers would report famines, and the nomads would plunder, but they would be able to take advantage of Lothar's pockets. , squeeze out a disaster relief fund or military pay.

Moreover, tax collectors are far better at squeezing every copper coin and every grain of grain from the hands of the people than the tax collectors who are outsiders.

"Tsk, that's it. The tax that Hebron can collect every year is 8,000 sulades. If you include the additional Saladin tax, the unbeliever tax, the tolls of pilgrims, and the unwillingness to perform military service The shield tax, the penalty-free tax paid by criminals, extortion of Jewish merchants, and devaluation of the currency. No wonder Earl Raymond is willing to compromise with them."

Hebron is simply too wealthy.

Not to mention that Leonard originally owned the two core fiefdoms of Montreal and Kaleborg.

No wonder Leonard was able to maintain a generous and luxurious palace life while also having a standing army of up to 3,000 capable of fighting.

"Sir, some powerful pagans in the city have arrived outside the palace. They hope to see you."

"Let's go and see these powerful pagans who are still thriving under Leonard's hands."

It was still early and not many people came, only a dozen or so.

They stood at the foot of the steps outside the Lord's Hall. When they saw Lothar, they took the initiative to kiss the heraldic ring on Lothar's finger using Frankish etiquette, and put on a flattering smile on their faces.

"You are so handsome. I am honored to have the opportunity to meet you."

"Praise be to you, great Count Lothar."

They flattered.

Then, he took out a stack of receipts.

Lothar glanced at it and didn't reach out to pick it up. She just frowned: "What is this?"

A Jewish businessman said with a smile: "Sir, this is the document for the loan from Lord Leonard to us."

Lothar sneered: "I'm not blind. What I want to say is, why did you give me these things?"

A bearded Saracen said with a smile on his face: "Sir, according to the laws of our Franks, since you have inherited the title and territory of Count Leonard, you will naturally inherit the debts of Count Leonard and us. relation."

Sure enough, there is a pit!

Lothar glanced at the dressmaker, Andreas, meaning: See what you did?

Andreas immediately stepped forward with a pale face, and first introduced himself: "I am the Earl's court dressmaker. Andreas, when you first met, you brought up the dispute over money. It is simply disrespectful to pollute the ears of my lord."

These people immediately looked horrified and apologized quickly.

Andreas snorted: "You have to know that Leonard of Chatillon was only deprived of his title of count and the territory of Hebron. He did not die suddenly or die of illness. Since he is still alive, he owes you He should naturally be responsible for the money."

"According to the Salic inheritance law of our Franks, if Hebron is inherited from Leonard according to the inheritance law, he will naturally inherit his debt relationship with you, but the premise of all this is that Lei Nad Nader is dead!"

Andreas was decisive.

These turbaned people are powerful and look embarrassed: "But sir, how dare we go to Kaleburg to find Lord Leonard to ask for our money?"

I can fuck your mother!

Lothar scolded her in her heart, but her face was filled with a warm smile: "It doesn't matter, Baron Leonard's tax collector here has not had time to leave the city, I will immediately send my patrol officer to lead the hussar company to collect the debts owed to you. The money will be recovered.”

There was a hint of surprise on their faces: "Thank you so much. You are really a generous and magnanimous lord as the legend says."

They thought that this new earl was so easy to talk to, and his future life would definitely be much easier than under that violent guy Leonard.

Little did he know that Lothar had already regarded the money in their pockets as his own!

He is not asking for money back for these people at all, but for himself!

As Ulm left with these "creditors", the smile on Lothar's face immediately disappeared: "Oh, these dogs, they are afraid of Leonard, but not afraid of me. Good people should be shot." Pointing?"

Andreas: "?"

"It doesn't matter, it's just a joke."

Lothar began to understand why the French King persecuted the Knights Templar on unfounded charges.

The reason is simple: If you can’t solve the debt, just solve the creditor!

"Andreas, call Model here, and immediately send ax guards and city defenders to guard the door. Next, except for those knights and nobles who have fought alongside me, I will not receive anyone else."

(Dry land boating - refers to Leonard's strategy of transporting ships from land to the Red Sea by rolling logs and other methods, and launching surprise attacks on the two holy sites of Zoroastrianism. This strategy was successful for a time, but although it failed in the end, it also plundered A lot of wealth. Popular on the Internet because the Ottomans also used this strategy when they attacked Constantinople)