Chapter 50 Marquis Parker

Ston, Pompey.

This intermediate knight may not be the most accomplished knight among the Pompey family knights who have made a living outside, but in the past hundred years, Stone and Pompey have been the most accomplished knights among the Pompey family knights who have made a living outside.

Especially the ability to make a living outside is very strong.

Because he has been a mercenary, he is very clear about the various situations in the Orange Province. Even if there are some things he is not clear about, he can get some information through his personal network.

Luther entrusted the matter of introducing population this time to Stone and Pompey, and this commission was absolutely correct.

This time, following Stone and Pompey, there were also several knights for escort work, a team of thirty guards, and several scholars responsible for procurement and accounting.

After a long journey for a period of time, Stone, Pompey and his party arrived at the territory of Marquis Parker.

This is a typical marquisate, consisting of several cities, more than a dozen towns, countless villages, and knights.

Whether it is military strength, reputation, or influence, Marquis Parker far exceeds Baron Baron.

But this marquis is still not as powerful as the Earl of Libya, the largest family in Orange.

Because the Earl of Libya's family not only has the strongest territory, power, and military strength in Orange, but also is one of the eight nobles under the first king Michaux.

The Earl of Libya's family reputation also exceeds that of the Marquis of Parker.

It can even be said that the influence and strength of these two families in the entire Orange Province are not at the same level.

By the way, the Marquis of Parker is also a branch of the Prussian royal family and one of the branches of the royal family. This is why the family title of the Marquis of Parker is higher than that of the Earl of Libya.

However, because of the major event in Prussian history, the relationship between the Marquis of Parker's family and the royal family became increasingly alienated, and instead became a real title noble in an alliance with the Earl of Libya.

The Kingdom of Prussia is located in the south of the continent, close to the sea, but because there is still a large area of ​​undeveloped forest in the south, it does not directly border the sea.

The Orange Province is one of the southern territories of the Kingdom of Prussia.

In the entire province, there are 20 to 30 real nobles, who are not subordinate to each other. In name, they are all vassals of the King of Prussia. In fact, the alliance relationship between them is led by the Earl of Libya.

In this large province, some real nobles' territories border on unowned forests, and some real nobles' territories are next to other nobles' territories, leaving no room for development and expansion.

For example, the Pompeii family can directly cut down forests and build farmland. As long as they can attract free people and buy serfs, they can expand the entire territory many times.

Of course, there are still certain risks in cutting down forests, because there are still many monsters in the forest, the harsh environment, and even dragons.

Unless the entire Kingdom of Prussia once again calls on all the nobles in the country to expand southward and carry out the eighth expansion in Prussian history, the entire forest can be developed and the kingdom's power can reach the sea.

However, because of that major event, the prestige of the King of Prussia declined, and the real nobles and the court nobles became two vaguely opposing major forces, so the expansion of the Kingdom of Prussia to the south became a distant prospect.

Without the endless forest as an expansion, the territory of the inland nobles has only one way to develop, that is, to develop business in the entire territory.

However, business development depends on the personal ability of the lord, so the tax revenue of most inland noble territories will not develop for a long time.

Some nobles spend a lot but have low income. In this case, what should we do?

There is only one way.

Collect as many fields as possible in the territory. Bankrupt those free people and increase the number of serfs, because raising serfs is like raising livestock, as long as they are given the minimum level of living materials.

This is a profitable business.

And this is what Marquis Parker did. Because Marquis Parker did everything he could to bankrupt those free people, even assassination, dispatching troops, pretending to be thieves, and clearing the free people in the territory.

Because of Marquis Parker's cruelty, he even got a nickname called "Executioner".

There are many free people who lost their land in the entire territory, and the situation in the entire territory is very depressed and even chaotic.

Thieves and robbers gradually increased.

Even the nobles believed that the governance of the territory like the Marquis of Parker was an important soil for the emergence of rebellion. If there was a rebellion in the Orange Province, then the Marquis of Parker's territory would definitely be one of the sources.

And Stone and Pompey learned about this situation through their intelligence connections, and came to the Marquis of Parker's territory in a dusty manner, for the free people who had lost their land here.

Although the Marquis of Parker had several cities, the main city was Sparta City, with a population of more than 100,000. In the entire Orange Province, this was a large city with the largest scale.

At noon today, under the persecution of the scorching sun, Stone and Pompey Knight hurried to the city with their own men and horses.

In the entire Kingdom of Prussia, most cities had no entry fees. Because those shrewd lords knew that if they wanted to keep the territory prosperous, they had to cancel the entry fee. And the entry tax and other taxes would lead to a decline in commercial activities and cause the city to become increasingly sluggish.

But obviously Marquis Parker was not a shrewd lord. He collected entrance fees in Sparta, and set a series of standards from caravans to civilians, nobles, and travelers.

Stone, Pompey and his party rode tall horses, pulled several cars, and accompanied by a team of guards. They looked like caravans and mercenaries.

The guards responsible for guarding the city gate were treated like mercenaries, and a considerable entrance fee was collected per head.

After paying the toll, Stone, Knight Parker entered Sparta and, relying on the previous layout, went directly to the city lord's mansion in Sparta.

After entering the city, all you see is a languid atmosphere. People with numb faces and sluggish breath who look malnourished and doing nothing on the streets.

Beggars can be seen everywhere.

Stone, Pompey also saw several thieves several times, attacking people on the road, some succeeded, and some were caught.

Those who were caught were miserable.

First a beating, and then a trial in the city lord's mansion.

Because the lords made their own laws, the standards were different. The lighter punishment was imprisonment and flogging, and the heavier punishment was chopping off the hand.

And Stone heard that in the territory of Marquis Parker, thieves would have their right hands chopped off.

In addition, there were traces of feces and urine everywhere in the city, and no one cared. The whole city was filled with a foul smell.

It looked like a country that was about to be destroyed.