Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 240

2021-02-06

Chapter 240 Changing the Day
After Winters entered the city, Andre took him there as soon as possible Look at the warehouse.

"Reverdan is so fat and oily!" Andrei smiled and rode straight to the barracks with Winters: "Now we have everything!"

There are also Lots of dried blood, but the bodies have been cleaned up.

The grain depot is in the corner of the barracks, and a yard is surrounded by the corner of the wall.

Andre kicked open the door of the grain depot, and the board houses and grain enclosures that were widely separated appeared in front of Winters.

Winters haven't seen so much food in a long time. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still quite shocked.

Andre said with a bright face: "I checked, the grains and wheat are divided into half, and they are both this year. Not bad?"

"It's good, I'm happy, and a little bit. I'm not happy." Winters looked at the grain depot with complicated eyes: "With this grain, we don't have to be hungry or full. But we also have to know that these are all stolen from farmers."

"Why do you think so much? It's in our hands, it's ours!" Andrei burst out laughing, took Winters' shoulders, and said smugly: "And the vault! The weapons store! Let's! In the end, it's better in the city! The countryside can't compare!"

After seeing the grain depot, Andre was excited to take Winters to check the vault and the weapons depot.

Wealth will be concentrated in the city, and it is incomparable to robbing a grain cart a thousand times in terms of capturing Revodan alone.

“Where’s Bud?” Winters asked.

"Laoba is in the archives, I don't know what he's doing. It's all waste paper, what's there to care about?" Andre disagreed, he pulled Winters: "Let's go! Let's go and see. Armory!"

Say Bud, and Bud will be there.

He walked into the grain depot with a scroll, and when he saw both of them were there, he asked with a smile, "How is it? How is the grain depot?"

"Okay! Great!" Andrei laughed.

"I'll bring you a better thing." Bud handed the scroll to Winters: "Better than ten or a hundred grain depots. I'd say, in Gervodin. Other seizures plus one piece are not as valuable as such a thing."

"What?" Winters took the scroll.

"Since the establishment of Iron Peak County, all records of land transfer, tax payment and population migration in the past 30 years." A few smiles appeared in Bud's eyes: "All."

Winters unfolded the scroll. He was holding a list of all the archives and dossiers at the Revodan garrison. The list seemed to be endless.

"The land deed requires three-phase verification. The archives of each town are stored in the town office, and many of them have been destroyed. The land purchaser has a land deed, but it is not enough to be used, and it is not credible! Only Gervoudan The file is the most reliable record." Bud's voice trembled.

The title deed of Wolf Town has been reduced to ashes along with the old town hall, and the title deeds of other towns have also been lost.

The deeds in the hands of land purchasers are difficult to count and can be forged, but the deeds of Gervodan will never be wrong.

Hearing Bud's words, even Andre looked thoughtful.

“Having them, we can know where there are owners and where there are no owners; we can count acres and distribute our fields; and we can re-plan Heaven and Earth as we want!” Budd With red eyes, he asked Winters: "Don't you want to smash this fucking world? This is your first cornerstone."

"No, you're wrong." Winters held Bud. And Andre's arm: "It's ours."

...

At noon, Captain Montagne entered the city.

In the afternoon, the [committee] of Gervodin was "invited" to the city hall by the ferocious soldiers.

There are 21 municipal councillors in the district of Gervoudin, 12 from the city and 9 from outside the city.

The complete Gervoudan includes both the urban area and the surrounding villages.

Some farmers whose land is relatively close to the urban area even go out to farm during the day and return to the city to sleep at night.

Although these farmers are not "citizens" in the general sense, they also have the citizenship of Gervodin.

In addition, because Gervoudan now has a city wall - although it is very low, she can also be called "city", not just "city".

The city councillors trembling with fear came to the town hall, and they were ready to be fiercely killed by the bandits.

But what they saw was a kind young officer: broad shoulders, big hands, a wide mouth and a high nose, his eyes were always smiling, and he looked very honest.

The young officer named "Bud" won the trust and goodwill of the city councilors almost immediately.

Lieutenant Bud patiently explained the policy to the city commissioners.

One word - don't move.

No levies, no apportionments, and no oath of allegiance to city councilors and citizens.

What the Rewodan station did in the past, the new station will do.

As much tax as the old stationed station collects, the new stationed station will charge as much tax, but some unreasonable tax items will be removed as appropriate.

Without changing the house number and the Public Area Point, the official external name of the "Montagne gang" is [(new) Resident Station].

If they can stay in Gervoudin for a long time, the [New] who wants to be crowned in front of the [Garrison] will soon be omitted.

City members breathed a sigh of relief.

They have a wealthy family and a stable life, and the most feared thing is "chaos".

It's a mess, but there's nothing left.

Gevodan was a semi-autonomous city for a long time, and the garrison station only did three things: collecting taxes, selling land, and killing unsightly bandits.

And Gervoudan is very small, the population will exceed 500 households. City councilors only meet once a week, and they discuss trivial matters.

According to what Lieutenant Bud said, it means that the garrison is still the garrison, but it has been replaced by another group of people.

Although Major Ronald and the others were involuntarily laid off, it had no impact on the lives of others.

Seeing that Lieutenant Bud was so talkative, the blacksmith and city commissar [Shoy], who has always been known for his boldness, asked: "Lord Lieutenant, Ronald was before... No, Ronald gang! They..."

"It doesn't have to be this way!" Bud interrupted the other party with a smile: "We and Major Ronald are a family, but there is a little difference, just continue to call Major Ronald. I'm not a lieutenant either. Sir, you can call me Lieutenant or Lieutenant Bud."

"Okay, okay." Although the other party was smiling, Shaoyi's knees trembled involuntarily.

He braced oneself and continued: "Lt. Bud, Major Ronald forced the Gervodin security team to join the army. Without the security team, all the bad guys came out, and there was no stealing or robbery. People control, you can see if you can..."

"Please rest assured, we have already considered it. Security, the garrison will take care of it first. The former guards will be screened first, and they will be released if there is no problem. The city hall is still in charge of the public security."

The big stone in the hearts of the ruling committee members fell, and many people were worried about the blacksmith Shao Yi just now.

There are only twenty members of the Gervoudan Guards, all of whom are in the city, so it doesn't matter if they let them go - this is the result of the discussion of the six-member group.

"Just say it directly." Bud smiled and said to the blacksmith Shao Yi: "Although Major Ronald forced the city guard to join the army, he also arrested the security, and he was very good at it. Okay. As soon as we come, it's not going to work."

The hearts of everyone put down, and they suddenly raised their throats.

"No no..." Shao Yi's head shook like a windmill.

Bud smiled and looked towards the members of the city council: "This is a fact, what can't I say? The new station is not there, I just want to be honest with everyone."

With a smile on his face, he said amazingly: "I know, you want to ask us for [the city treasury]."

All the city councilors stopped breathing.

……

The warehouse in the garrison and the warehouse in Gervoudin are two different things, just as the garrison and the city hall are two different teams.

But the irascible Lieutenant Don Juan didn't care so much. When he saw the warehouse, he looked for the key first.

According to the original plan, all the Revodan warehouses should be emptied.

But Juan and Moritz decided to change the backup plan, and all the warehouses were sealed and kept under close watch.

......

Bud kindly comforted everyone: "I know, the members want to ask for the city treasury, but they dare not speak. You are afraid that we are killing without blinking an eye, I’m afraid we won’t be able to save face and take revenge in secret, and I’m afraid of making things clear that there is no room for negotiation. I can promise you that the above will not happen. We are a garrison, not a bandit.” Lieutenant De's eyes are calm, his tone is sincere, not fake, slightly relaxed.

Since meeting Lieutenant Bud, their hearts have been like waves, rising and falling.

It was Shao Yi who dared to speak softly: "We really want to ask about the city treasury, but we have no intention of asking..."

"Let's be frank and honest, there's nothing we can't talk about. Yes, it's easy to talk." Bud's voice was mellow and low, and everyone was comfortable listening, but his words sounded the opposite: "I can tell you perfectly clear here, the arsenal, we will stay. The grain depot. , we will stay too. We need weapons and food.”

The city councilors could not hide their disappointment, because Gervoudan spent a lot of public money on the arsenal and food storage.

After ruthless burst the bubble of hope, everyone accepted the reality easily.

After all, the other party is... how could it be possible to return the weapons and food?
"The arsenal and grain depot are in a special situation, I hope everyone will understand. But the Revodan treasury..." Bud changed the subject and said with a smile: "The station will be returned to everyone in its entirety, ensuring that every single piece of silver will be saved. Not a lot."

The city councilors exhales one breath saying for a long time, their taut cheeks and frowning brows also relax.

The treasury is still there, very good, very contented.

Bard continued: "As for the rebuilt city guards, the garrison will provide them with weapons and training free of charge. Make sure they can take up their policing duties."

Heard At Bud's words, all twenty-one city councillors were delighted.

After all, I only promised to return people, but not weapons. I think the city hall will have to pay for the guards to buy equipment.

But now Lieutenant Bud has promised to provide weapons to the guards, and you don't need to pay extra, just give it to the arsenal.

"Not only that." Before Budd finished speaking, he announced with a smile: "For the storage of the Revodan arsenal and grain depot, the station will also pay a discount. We will never snatch the precious property of the citizens for nothing!"

The blacksmith Shao Yi stood up suddenly and slapped his hands vigorously.

Other city councilors quickly or slowly stood up and applauded along with Shao Yi.

There was loud applause in the city hall, as if there were hundreds of people in a warm meeting.

…

The six-man group—Winters, Budd, Andre, Mason, Juan, and Moritz—has been carefully discussed: food and weapons impossible also , but the money can be paid back.

Winters is not short of money, not only is he not short of money, he has two tons of gold buried on the great wasteland.

With the current situation in Tiefeng County, there is no way to buy food and weapons even with gold and silver.

So the six-member group decided to simply "purchase" the arsenal and grain depot from the City Hall.

The price is up for debate, but as long as it's not too much, the city hall will happily accept a little loss.

No one knows better than the Winters: stealing money can irritate a city more than death.

With mutual trust achieved through equal transactions, Gervoudan will be able to stabilize.

What the Sixers want most is "stability", and no one wants to see Gervoudan catch fire.

They also don't plan to take over Gervoudan completely. As long as the tax is paid according to the amount, Gervoudan will continue to be autonomous.

Bard has obtained all the archives of the Revodan station and is sorting it out.

The six-member group knows exactly how much tax Revodan should pay and when, and they are not afraid of the municipal committee's "bullying".

......

Bud raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.

Suddenly the town hall was quiet again.

"There is still good news in the station, let me tell you here!" Bud continued to announce: "The grinding wheel tax in Tiefeng County will be written off from now on! There is no need to pay it again! Everyone can be free Use and make grinding discs!”

The city councillors cheered and applauded again.

But they're just cheering, not really slapping like before.

Because they have status, status and property, the grinding wheel tax is not a real pain for them.

Wheel tax, that is, a tax on grinding discs.

People don't eat wheat, but people eat flour, so sooner or later wheat has to walk on the mill.

Then the taxation of millstones became the choice of the ruler as it should be by rights.

In the feudal era of Palato, serfs, tenant farmers and even people had to go to the mills designated by the lords to grind flour, and paid different amounts of flour for this.

Possessing a grinding wheel is a crime: the first offense is five lashes, the second offense is forced labor, and the third offense is to chop off the arm;
Those who steal the grinding wheel are directly hanged.

The reduced weight goes into the miller's pocket as "waste" and then goes to the lord's pocket.

In a different day, after entering the Republican era, the [mill monopoly] was banned as a legacy of feudalism.

So the Palatine Republic changed to a tax on grinding discs - each one was paid semi-annually.

In addition, localities strictly limit the number of craftsmen allowed to manufacture grinding discs, ensuring that each grinding disc is registered.

The grinding wheel tax is the most hated and most helpless tax for people who are still struggling to survive.

Bud, who announced the lifting of the mill duty, smiled contentedly and sincerely.

Later, he announced another major event:
"This weekend!" Bud's smile grew brighter: "The station will be [publicly tried] criminals in the city square, I hope you all The gentleman sets an example, does his job, and invites every citizen of Gervoudan to participate."

The smiles of the municipal councilors froze on their faces.

 …

The meeting ended, and the city councilors said goodbye to each other and went home.

But less than half an hour later, the twelve city council members reunited again at the tobacconist [Priskin's] house.

The crowd was sitting around old Priskin, and you and I were talking about today's events.

Old Priskin was sixty-four years old, and his body was still very strong.

It's just that he had a serious illness at the beginning of the year, so he resigned as a city councillor.

Everyone wanted to elect his second son, Priskin Jr., to replace him, but the old man refused, and finally had to give up.

After resigning as city councilman, Priskin Sr.'s health gradually improved.

Although he has resigned, he is still the backbone of the city committee, and everyone else comes to him to discuss things.

"The new little officer named Bud." The blacksmith Shao Yi swallowed hard and sighed: "It's like playing with us like a thread, we will be happy and scared for a while. , completely led by him."

Old Priskin listened carefully to the story, frowned and asked: "That lieutenant Budd, every time he called himself [the station]?"

"Yes." Everyone was nodded, and someone said with a smile: "The rebels entered the city and called themselves the official army, which is really funny."

"Confused!" Old Priskin slapped the table and scolded angrily: "He is not an official, cast aside all considerations for face Be a bandit, robbing, killing and raiding his home, isn't it funny? You? Are you happy?"

The person who said the sarcastic words was startled.

Old Priskin frowned: "They don't want to be officers, we all have to coax them to be; now they want to be officers, we have to support them. Do business and live your life. , what's wrong? Our wealth and wealth are in Revodan, do you still expect them to kill?"

"Then... what kind of public trial meeting." Shao Yi licked his lips and asked: "Are we going to participate? He didn't say who was going to be tried, he just said there was a public trial."

"Why not? Riskin hate iron for not becoming steel: "Hold it! Understand? Put them up high, the higher the better. The higher their posture, the safer Revodan and the safer we are."

Others hear this, silently nodded.

After being quiet for a while, old Priskin asked thoughtfully, "Have you seen the leader known as [Blood Wolf] this time?"

"No." Shao Yi shook his head: "I only saw him from a distance when he entered the city. He was riding a tall horse and wearing an officer's uniform. He was also very young, but he looked quite majestic."

"He It turned out to be the resident officer of Langtun Town?"

"It is said to be."

"The blood of the wolf." Old Priskin chewed on the word and asked the crowd: " The wolf and the blood are both fierce. Who knows how he got this nickname?"

"Wolftown Town." Someone said it for granted.

"No." Old Priskin sneered: "I don't think it's that simple. What's his name?"

"The last name is Montagne, I don't know what it's called." Another answer.

Old Priskin frowned: "Montagne...it's not a Palatine surname."

"Maybe from other provinces?" Shao Yi asked tentatively.

"Go and ask, but be careful." Old Priskin warned repeatedly: "Don't let your malice out, we're just curious about the origin of the nickname Blood Wolf. Can you see what I mean?"

p>

The city councillors were nodded.

Old Priskin thought for a while, then asked: "You didn't see him at the city hall, so where is he now?"

"I know." Shao Yi grabbed He replied: "Listen to my little brother-in-law, that captain named Blood Wolf will only be in town for a short time. Before noon, he will leave town again."

"Out of town. already?" Old Priskin's brows were twisted into a knot: "Where is the city from?"

"North Gate!"

......

Winters had no idea someone was working on him.

Less than an hour into town, he and Andre and Mason Senior led a cavalry out of town again.

The cavalry rushes to Hammerburg with a secret weapon to rendezvous with Juan and Moritz.

Juan and Moritz are besieging Hammerfort.

Hammer Castle and Hammer Castle Town cannot be equated, and Hammer Castle refers specifically to the wooden castle in the center of the town.

"Hammer Castle has surrendered" was actually made up by Winters in order to dampen the morale of Ronald's troops, just like "Sixteen Town Protectors".

He is currently only the protector of Seven Towns, and [Forge Township] has not reached an agreement with him.

Because Forge Township is right next to Gervodin, Winters can't reach that far with his arms.

Captain Epert overcame difficulties and dangers, and finally took the lead in occupying Hammer Fort - Don Juan had no idea that there was such a small unremarkable fort north of Gervoudan.

In order to hide his tracks, he crossed the St. George River by the road in Wangqiao Town.

The Hammer Castle is small and wood, and has fallen into disrepair.

But it's really a fortress, and it's not worth the damage.

So at this moment, the man who was holding a door panel close to the Hammer Fort was the "blood wolf" that Old Priskin was talking about.

"Eper Senior!" Winters shouted, "Come out and surrender!"

There was no sound from the fort.

"The bandit leader Ronald has surrendered! You're the only one left!" Winters reached out from behind the door and waved two flags: "This is his flag, look!"

"Ding " With a sound, an arrow was inserted into the door panel.

Captain Eper stuck his head out and yelled in anger, "I'd rather die than surrender!"

"Don't worry! Surrender!" Winters responded.

"[The most vicious swear word of the Platonics]!" Captain Eper shot another arrow.

"If you don't surrender, I'm going to bombard you!" Winters continued to convince people: "Think about it! Don't let your people bury you with you!"

"Who are you scaring?" Captain Epert cursed: "Gervodin doesn't have a cannon! Where did you get the cannon? Come! You blast me to death! I'm waiting for you!"

" Yes!" Winters threw away the door panel and simply turned and walked away.

His attitude made Epel a little uneasy.

Even more disturbed were Eper's men, who peered nervously through the cracks in the wooden wall.

"Senior." Winters went back to Mason: "Epper wants you to shoot him."

"What nonsense with him?" Don Juan on the battlefield Always extremely irritable: "Boom him! Go down two shots, I'll make him surrender!"

"If you can persuade, don't use martial power." Moritz sighed.

Mason Senior was very cautious: "My gun can only shoot shotgun shells, and the damage effect on wooden walls is not very good."

"You he..." Don · Juan suddenly realized that Mason was a senior, forcibly swallowed the swear words: "You don't even need to load the cannonball! When the cannon sounds, the waste inside can scare your pants. The key is to make the sound louder! The caliber needs to be large! It looks like Scary!"

"That's it." Winters laughed: "I'm not calling it out to Eper Senior, but to the soldiers in Hammerfort."

"Then try." Mason also said with a smile: "It takes a lot of effort to bring it here, and it can't make sense without making a few noises."

He greeted Andre: "Come on! Pull the cannon over here!"

Andre heard this and lifted the veil.

He and his cavalry mobilized the horses, dragging four black artillery pieces to slowly approach the Hammer Fort.

From a distance, the caliber of these four artillery pieces is terrifying and terrifying in size.

But up close, they'll reveal their stuffing because they're made of wood.

This is the secret weapon that Winters, Mason and Andre brought from Gervoudan. They were supposed to give the defenders a shot at the most intense siege of Gervoudan, didn't expect the defenders to fight so hard.

Because the gun body is made of wood, it is very light and can keep up with the marching speed of cavalry.

Installed on the carriage, bumped along the way.

Mason was thinking about his [horse-pulling artillery] idea, and this time it was a small experiment.

The four cannons are getting closer and closer to the Hammer Fort.

In order to better deceive the enemy, Winters also had four wooden cannons painted black.

Adding the makeshift gun carriage and the "two hauling horses in a desperately dragging cannon stance" move, it looks really decent.

Epel froze when he saw Winters' men unleash four cannons.

But the more he looked at it, the more strange the opponent's cannon became.

"Fuck!" He yelled, "He lied to us! That's fucking wood!"

The roar of artillery drowned out his scolding.

The four wooden cannons roared one after another, but only one had cannonballs placed in it—scales, broken iron, and other broken pieces of iron.

Although the wooden gun barrel reinforced with iron hoop was shaken out of the crack, it still withstood the internal pressure.

The gunpowder gas propelled the contents of the gun chambers, and flew towards Hammer Fort.

The "cannonball" smashed the outer wall of the Hammer Fort with ping-pong sounds and sawdust flying.

A thunderous roar penetrated the smoke: "Drop! Or die!"

The man in the Hammer Fort pried open the wooden planks nailed to the gate, and ran out rolling and crawling : "Surrender! We surrender! Spare my life!"

Epper drew his sword in desperation and wanted to kill himself.

But the blade stopped at the neck, and he couldn't get it out. The more hesitant, the more unable to do it.

He threw away his sword, sat in the corner, and cried out in grievance.

[This chapter also has a map]
[The grinding wheel tax really existed in history. Forcing serfs and even people to go to designated mills to grind noodles is also something feudal nobles have done]
[Sorry for being late. Because the plot after entering the city is denser. It took some time to sort out the narrative sequence. The current narrative order should be the best]
[This chapter is also a big chapter, 6700 words, the number of words is rather strange, because the emotions are together, so they will not be developed separately, thank you]
[Thank you书友们的收藏、阅读、订阅、推荐票、月票、打赏和评论，谢谢大家]