Chapter 255

The small town of Butuya is the capital of the Earldom of Berdin. Last September, Earl Garnard, who ruled Berdin, encountered a vassal rebellion, but the lord's ally, Earl Graman of neighboring Arda, personally led the army to crush the ambitions of the four traitors in one fell swoop. The battle took place outside Butuya. Many people heard a rumbling sound, and then Butuya changed hands.

Since then, the Arda army has taken over the city. The two lords, who are ally brothers, have reached an agreement that the government council of Arda will take charge of the government affairs of the two territories.

Perhaps some people will have the idea that "Berdin was annexed by Arda", but most of the Berdin people did not have a bad feeling about it at the beginning. Anyway, they are all destined to work and pay taxes. Isn't it the same no matter who becomes the lord?

But gradually, more and more people feel that Berdin is different from before.

First, a group of government officials were sent from the lake town. With the cooperation of the garrisoned Alda army, a "severe crackdown" was carried out. A large number of ruffians were arrested and sent to work in the mines.

Then a large number of exorbitant taxes were abolished. The official statement was that the previous exorbitant taxes were secretly set up by the former chief government official Angelo, one of the vassals who participated in the rebellion, behind the back of Count Garnard, and Count Garnard and his deceased father were deceived by this bad seed.

Now the residents of Butuya are very happy. In the past, they had to pay taxes for marriage, funerals, bringing more things in and out of the city gate, etc. ... Even if the beard was a little longer, it had to pay taxes. Although the taxes paid each time would not empty your pockets, it was too many. Now it's good, and you can finally have more money on hand.

After the new administrative system was established, merchants and wealthy families of all sizes ran to the lord's mansion. The news that came out was that they wanted to revitalize industry and commerce and vigorously develop trade.

Afterwards, a recruitment notice was posted in the city, saying that a factory was going to be opened. The salary offered was very attractive, attracting many people to sign up.

The iron and coal mines under the name of the Garnard family also expanded their production scale and absorbed a large wave of labor.

Due to the tax reform, the small town of Butuya gradually began to attract foreign merchants. They brought a wealth of foreign goods and took away local specialties such as canned food and paper from Bailding. In fact, they cannot be said to be local specialties, because Alda next door also produces these things, but obviously the production capacity there cannot meet the needs of these foreign merchants.

With the abundance of foreign goods, competition between similar goods has led to a decrease in prices, which has brought the quality of life of Butuya residents to a higher level.

The above changes are always welcomed by the people.

There are also a few changes that make people uncomfortable. For example, a series of new regulations that people think are too broad, especially littering and urinating and defecating in public will be severely punished. A large number of people in the city have suffered a lot because of such bans.

But overall, the changes are moving in a good direction.

…

In the hall of Lord Bayerding’s mansion, two people were sitting at a large table enjoying dinner.

Sitting in the main seat was the Lord Bayerding, Count Myron Garnard, and sitting next to him was Baron Andrew, who had just returned to the territory recently and was the only vassal of the Garnard family.

Last year, Baron Andrew led Bayerding’s armed forces to the south to defend the king and joined the team of Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine to fight against the rebels. Because of his outstanding performance in the battle to recapture the capital, he and his soldiers were left behind when the granary caught fire and the king’s army was disbanded.

When Lake Heart Town just took over Bayerding, it was not very strong in control and was very worried that the baron who had been on the battlefield would cause trouble after returning with his troops, so under Paul’s "instructions", Myron wrote a letter to Baron Andrew.

The letter briefly mentioned the rebellion of the four shameless vassals, and emphasized that this rebellion was simply a joke and would be crushed in less than half a day, so Andrew did not have to worry at all. At the end of the letter, Myron also asked him to assist the royal family in the name of the lord until the rebellion was settled, in order to show the loyalty of the Garnad family to the royal family.

Andrew then understood that when Angelo and others strongly recommended him to lead the troops south, they were probably trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain, so that he, a vassal loyal to the Garnad family, would lead the Garnad family soldiers far away, so that these conspirators would be able to take action.

So should he continue to stay under the princess or go back to protect the master? Andrew struggled in his heart. He had a lot of ambitions in his heart and was eager to establish achievements on the battlefield, but when the master was in danger, he was not around, which made him feel very guilty. Although the rebellion had been crushed with the help of the Earl's brothers, it was inevitable that something would happen in the future.

After thinking it over, Andrew decided to stay for the time being. He was unwilling to return to the Northwest Bay after he had just made his mark.

After meeting Hansel, who came to the capital to do business, Andrew put down the burden in his heart. According to the description of the royal representative, the earl had been living a comfortable life recently and he didn't need to worry about it at all.

However, just as he was about to go south with the princess to quell the rebellion, news came from the northwest that the Kent family had started fighting with the anti-Kent alliance, and Bayerdin joined the anti-Kent alliance with Alda.

Andrew naturally knew what kind of people the Kent family was, and he couldn't help but worry about his hometown and his master.

Last time, when Angelo and his men rebelled, he felt that he had failed in his duty. The news of the renewed war in the Northwest Bay made him feel restless.

So the baron bid farewell to the princess and set out on the road home with his Bairdin soldiers.

After returning to Bairdin, he found that Paul Grammy next door did not only help his ally to crush the rebellion...

...

Myron and Andrew ate in silence. Neither of them was a talkative person. The atmosphere in the hall was always dull.

"Lord Earl!"

No mistake, one post, one content, one book, one bar!

Andrew suddenly raised his head and looked at his master.

"What's the matter?"

"After I came back, I felt that there were many things that were not right."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Andrew paused and said, "It is very inappropriate to let Arda's [Administrative Council] lead the two places. Lord Earl, please forgive me for my harsh words. What is the difference between the current situation and making you a vassal of the Graman family?"

"Anything else?"

"There is also the issue of our Bayerding's defense. Let the soldiers from other territories guard your own territory. Can you sleep at night?"

When he said this, Andrew opened his eyes wide and looked unbelievable.