Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 132

2021-01-23

Chapter 132 Funerals and Militia

On the first night, the young men dug their graves. In the cemetery of the Wolf Sect Protecting Hall, next to the rest of the old Dussack.

At this moment, these youngsters, who were born and raised after their parents moved here, are standing behind the tomb with shovels, waiting to add soil back.

A few pine boards and an iron nail are the old hunter's coffin. Winters, Girard, and two other old Dussacs carried the coffin all the way to the cemetery.

They put the coffin on the edge of the tomb and stepped aside. There were unexpectedly many people who came to see Ralph farewell, not only the Dusa people, but also some villagers from Hedong and Hexi villages also appeared at the funeral. There were even Protestants who made a special trip from Nanxin and Beixin villages far from the town center.

When the villagers of the other four villages paid their respects to Bell, Winters learned that the hunter Ralph was also a veterinarian, herbalist and forest rescuer. grace.

Anthony Priest, who wore a full black sacrificial robe, presided over the ceremony himself. He held the Gospel and recited the scriptures in large cadences, leading the people attending the funeral to pray, and reciting the Catholic funeral prayer again. .

Having spent a lot of time with Ralph, Winters never considered the venerable hunter to be Catholic, much less his son. The hunter father and son do not attend Sunday services, nor do they have any religious items at home.

But when the old hunter was laid to rest, a Catholic funeral was held for him, which made those who knew the inside story really do not know how to feel.

Anthony priest finished the prayer, he looked around all around, and asked, "Does anyone want to say a few words?"

Gillard was about to speak, Shelly Gai stepped out of the crowd and stood in front of the coffin. It was too late to stop him.

Gillard Mitchell's heart jumped to his throat.

It should be noted that only half of the disputes and fights between the Dusa people are because of spirits, and the other half is because of the custom of "speaking a few words" at funerals.

Funerals and the dead are considered sacred by the Dusa, who do not have a tradition of only picking up good words.

With great respect for death, the mourners will say what they have in mind in front of the coffin, and will not hide any real thoughts.

The consequence of being outspoken is often a big fight, and then the hot-tempered Dussac will move his fists, and in individual cases, it will even escalate to slashing with knives, shooting each other with guns, and more. many funerals.

Gillard is most worried now that Sergey can't help but say something inappropriate, no matter whether any quarrel or anyone gets hurt is the last thing he wants to see.

"Ralph Platov, the second son of the old Yeermo, you don't need me to introduce him to know him." No matter where he went, Dussac, who was proud and his chest up, was gone, old fogey There were tears in his eyes.

Sergey choked and said: "Yermonovich is our Old Brothers, and Dussak, who is old enough on the field, has worked with him. We chop crops side by side. Guy and people from the North were sent to the south together to kill the rebels and fight Hedman. I have never seen someone who could shoot arrows better than him... In the battle at Shitang Ferry, I don't know how many Dusa died. K. My horse was stabbed to death, my thigh was stabbed in a hole by a rebel spearman, and I would have died there if it wasn't for Yermonovich to carry me out."

With that, the old man was already weeping. The expressions of the villagers in other villages were more subtle, but many old Dussacs had secretly wiped away tears.

Sergey's son Ralph ran out to help Sergey, and old fogey insisted on finishing his words: "We Old Brothers, one less death. I regret it! I regret not seeing it before. I understand! I regret it! Yermanovich is a real hero, a real Dussack. We used to exclude him, we did not let him into the village, we are kings and eight eggs! But he has paid The debt should be written off no matter what. Dussac's son should also be Dussac, and Ralfnovich should also be Dussac, my words are over! Whoever disagrees, I am waiting for you at home!"

After "saying a few words", the old Sergey shook off his son's hand and strode back to where he was standing. Winters noticed that the other villagers didn't feel anything about the latter part of the old fogey, but the Dusa were clearly surprised.

It seems that because Sergey's speech was too shocking, no other Dusa people "said a few words", but a few villagers from the other four villages talked about the old hunter's kindness to them and their gratitude.

After this final process, the old hunter's coffin was lowered into the tomb. The little hunter Bell cried and threw the first handful of soil, and then shovel after shovel of soil sprinkled on Ralph's coffin.

The grave of the old hunter was gradually filled up, some people could not help but cry out in a low voice, and Winters was also very sad.

The old hunter's left arm was barely sewn onto the corpse with needle and thread. Because the body was "too incomplete", no woman dared to move the needle, and Winters and Kaman had to do it.

Following the blood trail, militiamen who arrived later found the giant lion and lion cubs dead in a cave. Apart from this, they also found half a fresh corpse, and... the head of the Rostov family's youngest son.

And some rags, but that doesn't matter.

It can be concluded that this is also a man-eating lion. Dusa Village was not attacked by one wild beast that night, but by two wild beasts.

Teleqing, the son of a horse, fought against the giant bear in order to protect the horse herd, but lost. When he was finally found, his internal organs had been eaten, which was in line with the habits of bears.

And the man and woman who met in the woods unfortunately became the prey of giant lion. The giant lion dragged and ate the girl, and then killed the boy who came after him.

This explains Ralph until now's doubts: Why does the ominous beast have to eat the horse meat, but he still wants to start with the couple in Dusa?

On the day the old hunter and giant lion perish together, giant lion had actually killed a villager in Beixin Village and dragged the body back to the lair to enjoy - the half of the body that the militiamen found.

Ralph immediately set out to search after learning that a girl in Beixin Village had gone into the mountains to chop firewood and failed to return. When he found the traces of giant beast, he asked his son to go to the second lieutenant in the township for help, and he himself continued to follow the traces.

What happened next took everyone by surprise.

Identified by the experienced and knowledgeable Reid cultivator, the giant lion that died at the hands of the old hunter was probably the legendary "cave lion".

This giant lion is named after it was found on the cave paintings, as well as ivory statues and clay sculptures to support its existence.

But the problem is that the frescoes and sculptures that record the cave lions were all created by prehistoric human beings. Textual theologians even believe that the creation time of those frescoes may be longer than the time when the Tower of Babel was built. forward.

So even the Rhett cultivator who traveled the world would not dare to conclude that the thing is the so-called "cave lion", because no one has ever seen what a cave lion looks like. This giant beast is not even documented in the historical records.

If that thing is really a cave lion, then this species is at least thousands or even tens of thousands of years old, which is unimaginable.

But the old alms-cultivator was sure of one thing: that thing was no ordinary lion. Of all the people in Wolf Town, only Rhett cultivator has seen a live lion -- claiming to be.

The old cultivator insisted that ordinary lionesses do not look like this, nor are they so big. He had never seen such a giant lion in either the East or the West. I am afraid that only the giant lion of Nemia in the Twelve Trials of Titan in ancient mythology would have such a size.

Winters had only seen the lion on the flag, and the old Dussacs had seen it on the flag of the enemy. No one else had even seen a drawing of a lion, let alone a live one.

So the Red cultivator has absolute authority. Even if others are skeptical, they can only accept the old cultivator's explanation.

The old cultivator wrote a letter to some naturalist scholar, and sent it to the church of Gervodin, and sent it out through the channel of the church. But exactly when the reply will be received, no one knows.

The troublesome means of communication reminded Winters where he was now—after living in Wolftown for a while, he almost forgot that this was the edge of the "civilized world".

Winters also took this opportunity to send a letter to the family, which is also the church channel of Reid cultivator. The letter itself was a message, and he was careful not to write too much, just asking how the family was doing.

But the research work is not urgent, and there is another heavy thing pressing on the hearts of the people of Wolf Town: Why would such a giant beast go to this small place in Langtun Town?

And Winters thought further: It was a lioness with cubs.

This means... at least one male lion remains.

Even back to the giant bear, it must have at least a father and a mother, right?
Are there more giant beasts in the depths of the forest, where human beings have not yet stepped, and in the majestic mountains below the Golden Peak?

is it possible that these two encounters are just the beginning?
Winters shuddered at the thought. He suddenly realized that although the two ominous beasts were slaughtered, the wolf town militia could not be disbanded. Not only can it not be disbanded, but the training of the militia must be normalized.

And also set up an arsenal and buy some "real weapons". In this way, when a similar situation is encountered again, the people of Wolf Town will no longer have to use javelins and sabres to deal with the ancient beasts.

Otherwise, when he leaves this post, in the event of another beast disaster, it will be very difficult for Mayor Mitchell, a man over fifty years old, to completely reorganize the militia.

even more how to deal with this beast disaster, the old hunter Ralph is already not in. Where can people in this frontier town go to find another sorcerer officer?

Gillard received Girard's approval and strong support after Winters informed Gillard of the above ideas. Mayor Gillard Mitchell not only supports the normalization of the militia, but also strongly recommends the formation of a formal security guard in Langtun Township.

For a town, sheriffs and sheriffs are essential law enforcement forces. Sheriffs are generally full-time, and members of the guard can be full-time or part-time, depending on the size and budget of the town.

The situation in Wolf Town is embarrassing. Say it is a town, its permanent population is less than ten people, there are only two dirt roads, one horizontal and one vertical, and there is no city wall.

By the way, in Common Language the word townspeople/citizens [Burger] is an extension of the word city wall [Burg], and townspeople/citizens are people who live in the city wall.

There is nothing in Langtun Town in Gervoudan City, but it is indeed a "town" in the legal sense. It's just that, before Winters took office, it had neither sheriffs nor members of the peace.

So when Gillard served as both mayor and resident officer, the town government had almost no law enforcement capabilities.

Even if it's just to deal with trivial matters like "the lumberjack and the villagers fight", Gillard has to personally dispatch with a saber, or he has to go to Dusa Village to find his old subordinates help.

And in fact, "lumberjacks and villagers fight" and this kind of shit is still very frequent, almost once a week, and the old Mayor Mitchell is getting tired of it.

Even Winters, who had just arrived on the job, met once. Several youngsters in Hedong Village were beaten with bloody nose and swollen face. At that time, Winters was busy preparing for the beast disaster, and after admonishing both sides, they both let go.

Gillard Mitchell was eager to establish a formal security guard in order to realize his desire to make Wolftown a truly prosperous town.

In his opinion, the security guard can be used, but not without. Only by ensuring public security can attract more people to live in the town center. Guard members are preferably full-time, part-time is fine.

Mayor Mitchell also offered to help Winters with the budget. The town directly pays to arm and hire a security team.

The power of the officers stationed in the new reclaimed land is great, as is the power of the mayor. The Palatine Council only collects taxes. As long as the taxes are paid, it doesn't matter. The mayor has almost the power of an imperial tax collector.

Not only that, because all property rights belong to the army, the people of the newly reclaimed land have to pay taxes for almost everything. You have to pay taxes for getting firewood in the mountains, you have to pay taxes for fishing in the river, you have to pay taxes for setting up nets to catch birds, and so on. And these taxes are in addition to the basic agricultural tax and poll tax.

For example, a family of hunters, in addition to paying the poll tax and road tax, they also have to pay tax for hunting in the mountains. They need to provide eight deer skins and eight fox skins as hunting tax every year, or It is to pay three large Silver Coins.

Besides, the Mitchell family has a small boat, so whether Gilard Mitchell is fishing or not, he has to pay the fishing tax.

These additional taxes are paid annually, and some of them are mandatory, such as the firewood tax. Even if the farmer burns only his own straw for a whole year, he has to pay the tax, which has become a poll tax in disguise.

Winters couldn't believe his ears when he heard Rhett cultivator gossip about these "excessive taxes." Because the taxation of Plato's new land is completely different from that of Veneta, it can even be said to be the difference between Heaven and Earth.

The ruling class of the Veneta Republic is almost free-range for the rural areas. Merchant Republic in the bones is good at plotting against , and is used to weighing everything on a scale, seeing everything as a business.

What a commercial republic needs is currency, real gold, white silver, and precious metals that can be traded. apart from this, the republic also needs manpower and material supplies to maintain the trade fleet and city handicrafts.

What farmers lack most is precious metals, and small households can't save much money. Transactions between farmers are carried out on a "barter" basis all the year round. The smallest small Silver Coins are too "face value" for farmers and have to be cut into smaller pieces to be used in rural areas - aka "silver coins".

So in the eyes of the rulers of the Veneta Republic: the cost of scraping money from the peasants is simply too high. For every Silver Coin scraped from a peasant, two Silver Coins are spent on the standing army responsible for suppressing the peasants.

What a loss! Too bad! This is a business that is sure to lose money to my grandma's house!
Moreover, frequent peasant rebellions will destroy the supply of materials and manpower to the city.

Therefore, the taxation in the rural areas of the Republic of Veneta is mainly based on in-kind taxes, and the supervising government only collects taxes on an annual basis and suppresses bandits (because bandits will rob the caravans on the road, which is very bad for business. ).

All the wealth of the Venerable Merchant Republic of Veneta is in cities, cities and cities.

Cities are the key. As long as cities can continuously obtain supplies of materials and manpower, will farmers live or die? Archon Veneta didn't really care.

But because of this, the peasant tax in the Veneta Republic is also the lowest among the republics, and the peasants just need to pay a fixed amount of grain every year.

Other times? Don't do anything, just fend for yourself. [Note: But the peasants of the Republic of Veneta also do not enjoy any civil rights, such as not being able to carry weapons in the city. ]
"Isn't this the other way around? Can this be tolerated?" Winters said to the old cultivator in disbelief: "If this tax was imposed on the Veneta peasants, Hailan City would be betrayed. The bandit is on fire."

"Boy, what do you think Dusak is for? Every town in the new land has a Dusak village, why do you think the Palatine Council should Exhausted to arrange this? Why is Dusa's Gerard Mitchell to be the mayor of this town?" Rhett cultivator squinted and smiled patted Winters' shoulders: "You! Too young, too simple."

"Uh...is it possible that Dussack Is it specially used to suppress farmers?" Winters was almost shocked and incoherent: "But I think the relationship between Dusa Village in Wolf Town and other villages is OK?"

"Is it OK?" The old cultivator asked with a smile, "Is it really okay? Boy, I will say that you have a dull sense of politics, but you still don't believe it. If you apply your martial arts skills to politics, you can still be considered a talent."

"Okay... can...?" Winters was also asked hesitantly, and he thought about it carefully: "The two Protestant villages are indeed less friendly to the Dusa people, and the other two villages are not friendly to the Dusa people. It’s a little subtle now that I think about it.”

The old cultivator laughed heartily: “That’s right, politics is very delicate. Do you know what the other four villages are called behind the scenes?”

"Isn't it called Dusa Village?"

"Wrong, they are called 'Tatar' village. Tatars, barbarians, devour raw meat and fowl." The begging cultivator recited a few ancient prose around his head: "Do you understand?"

"Um..." Winters didn't know how to answer for a while.

"The relationship between several villages in Wolf Tun is actually quite good." Reid cultivator chuckled and took a nice sip of Mitchell's home-brewed wine: "Gillard Rice Although Cheer looks rude, he has great intelligence may appear to be stupidity, and he knows how to be lenient. Several other villages do not pay taxes but also fish and hunt rabbits. He just pretends not to see them. He also turned a blind eye on the corners of the land.

The Mitchell family also has a 'good helper', so the relationship between the villages is naturally more relaxed. The new land is like a wolf village. Such a small town is plentiful and easily available, some people are lenient and some are strict. I have traveled to every small town in the new reclaimed land, and when it comes to places that are too harsh, I have also seen the massacre in Tucun. Too! The tyranny is as fierce as a tiger, from the Far East to the Near East to here, the world is as big as it is."

I love writing settings, and writing settings makes me happy.

The two words citizen [Burger] and city wall [Burg] are German stalks. The etymology I see is very interesting. The English hamburger [Hamburger] comes from the German Hamburg [Hamburg], and the German The city of Hamburg is composed of [Ham+Burg], which means [Ham with the protection of the city wall], and the mayor [Burgermeister] is a simple and rude "citizen master".

Because I wanted to adjust my schedule, I went to bed happily at 12 o'clock last night. I have been writing this chapter for a whole day, so I don't know whether this chapter should be considered yesterday or today. I should try to write a little more in each chapter to pay off the debt.

Thanks to the book friends who have voted for recommendation before;
Thanks to Shuyoutian lens, 54 months, Wu is Xiaogao, thank you all;
Thanks to book friends Wu is Xiaogao, Calm gray past, the yellow rabbit of the Hua Family, book friend 20181010005850390, Behere370, Jiang Xue Diao Weng, a certain uncle of the ideal 30th month, 54 months, Tian lens, book friend 20191007064305842, makun, front of the moon and night, smoke and clouds, Recommended tickets for Masked Knight Powder, thank you all.

I have an impression of every book friend who voted for the recommendation. I am really grateful for the recommendation.

(end of this chapter)