Chapter 271

When the news of the riot being quelled reached Lake Heart Town, Paul was still a little bit unbelievable.

It's over? It was so easy to settle?

Paul had already prepared for the worst: peasants from all over the country rose up in rebellion, overthrowing his "brutal" rule in an instant, and he ran to the neighboring ally's territory to take refuge in disgrace.

Chief of Staff Schroeder saw the look on the count's face and coughed lightly.

"Well, Lord Count, please allow me to report the specific process to you."

He now didn't understand what the lord was worried about these two days. Isn't it just a group of rioters?

The so-called "specific process" in Schroeder's mouth was also very simple:

Each unit sealed the intersection, and after the ultimatum from Lake Heart Town, they immediately entered the riot area to restore order. Other places were just small fights, nothing more than hooligans taking advantage of the chaos. Only the riots in the Fabe Village area formed a scale, and the largest local landlord's house was breached and all the property was looted. The mob also occupied the yard and tried to resist stubbornly, trying to force the lord's mansion to pardon their crimes and recognize their ownership of the looted property through tough means.

The loyal and brave naval officers and soldiers certainly didn't buy it. After the ultimatum was rejected, the sailors immediately launched an attack and suppressed all the mobs in the yard in just one hour.

"That's it, Count."

"What are our casualties?"

"Six people were slightly injured by slingshots, and one person sprained his foot when climbing over the wall."

"No one died?"

"No one died."

"What about the other side? ... That group of [mobs]."

"23 dead and 30 injured."

Paul relaxed all over, he lay back on the chair, closed his eyes and exhaled: "To be honest, Schroeder, I didn't expect things to go so smoothly."

"Count, you have to know that the gap in strength between the enemy and us is very large. The other side is just a group of unorganized and undisciplined villagers. When the sailors climbed over the wall, the mob The people did try to organize resistance, but after the bayonets stabbed several people in the front, the rest of them scattered, some running around like headless flies, or lying on the ground with their heads in their hands and their butts sticking out, trembling. The navy sent a small team to block the back door, so they were all captured by us. "

"What should we do next?"

"You are the lord, it all depends on your opinion."

"Let Cecil find out the cause and effect of this riot first."

...

After receiving Paul's order, Cecil immediately started to interrogate the prisoners. After several days and nights of torture, the people in Lake Heart Town found out the cause of the riot.

The cause was that the tax farmer Baden privately set up the [war tax]. The salt farmers, whose livelihoods were increasingly difficult due to the establishment of the salt field, could not afford the additional taxes at all, so they clashed with the tax collectors sent by Baden. Due to the long-standing resentment, the conflict quickly escalated. The salt farmers, blinded by anger, went directly to Fabe Village where Baden was located, and finally turned into a riot.

Baden's private establishment of the war tax can be confirmed, because several servants of the Baden family who were rescued from the salt farmers - the people he sent to collect taxes, all confessed to it.

"This damn landlord!"

Paul cursed in front of Cecil in a language he could not understand.

"My lord, what did you say just now?"

Cecil asked cautiously, and it can be seen that the Count is very angry now.

"Ah, it's okay, go on."

"What's strange is that the mob confessed everything else, but no one admitted that they had anything to do with the attack on the salt field, nor did they admit that they had anything to do with the riots in other places."

"Oh?" Paul tapped his fingers lightly on the table, "What do you think?"

Cecil replied: "Lord, they are probably not lying. I separated them and interrogated them one by one. I don't think this mob has the ability to unify their statements so quickly."

Paul nodded: "Yeah, I think so too."

Cecil continued He continued: "During that period, there were several riots of varying degrees. According to the investigation, it seems that someone was specifically spreading the news about Fabe Village and inciting people from other places. Many people took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters."

Paul was very angry: "How could these people do this? Am I not good enough to them as a lord?"

"My lord, don't rush to reflect on yourself. Considering that the salt field was also attacked, it is obvious..."

Paul suddenly interrupted him as if he had discovered a new continent: "I understand, Cecil!"

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

Cecil held back what he was going to say next and looked at Paul.

Paul stood up and said anxiously: "Conspiracy! Isn't it clear? Cecil, this is the conspiracy!"

Cecil's eyes widened, and he "tried" to make a surprised expression: "Conspiracy? What do you mean?"

Paul explained: "Someone must be behind all this. Considering that we are at war with the usurper Maltz Kent, it is very likely that he is behind the scenes, deliberately provoking my subjects to cause trouble. And that [Secret Society] is not impossible."

The intelligence director "suddenly realized" and slapped his thigh: "So that's it, Lord Earl, you are still as wise as ever..."

Paul sat down again indignantly: "This is too shameless, too despicable, too vulgar! They can't beat us on the battlefield, so they do small tricks behind our backs. I despise such people the most."

Cecil said: "My Lord Earl, as long as you nod your head and agree, I can use their own way to treat them."

Paul snorted, "I don't bother to use such despicable means. Schroeder!"

Hearing the lord calling his name, the chief of staff sitting next to him immediately responded: "Yes, my Lord Earl."

"Draw up a new battle plan immediately. I want the front-line troops to resume the attack immediately, send new troops to support them, and defeat the opponent with fair means."

The old knight calmed down "My Lord, I know you are angry right now, but I still want to advise you not to act on impulse. We don't know if similar riots will happen again, so we should keep the troops at home in the near future. The two battalions in the newly occupied area should make maintaining local order their top priority. After all, it was the Kent family's territory before, and it is much easier for them to do anything there than in other areas. And...it is not certain that the Kent family did this."

"Damn it!"

Paul slammed the table hard and yelled at the intelligence director: "Call that Baden guy over here, I want to have a good discussion with this landlord about his so-called [war tax]!"