Chapter 271
Chapter 271.
When the news of the riot being quelled reached Lakewood, Paul still had a little bit of disbelief.
Finished? So easily put down?
Paul was prepared for the worst: peasants from all over the world would rise up and overthrow his “brutal” rule in no time, and he himself would run away to seek refuge in the next ally’s territory.
The chief of staff, Schroeder, saw the look on the count’s face and coughed softly.
“Ahem, Your Excellency the Count, please allow me to report the exact process to you.”
He now doesn’t even understand what the lord is worried about in the past two days, isn’t it just a group of chaotic people?
The so-called [specific process] in Schroeder’s mouth is also very simple:
Each troop puts a letter at the intersection and waits until after the ultimatum from the lake center town, and then immediately drives into the riot area to restore order. The other places are all small fights, nothing more than the ground hooligans taking advantage of the chaos to fish in the water. Only the riot in the area of Faber Village formed a scale, and the home of the largest local landowner was attacked and plundered of its belongings. The mob also occupied the courtyard and intended to resist, trying to force the lord’s house to pardon their crimes and recognize their ownership of the plundered property through forceful means.
Loyal and brave naval officers did not accept this, and after the ultimatum was rejected, the sailors immediately sent out an attack, which took only an hour to suppress the mob in the yard.
“That’s it, Lord Earl.”
“How are our casualties?”
“Six men were slightly wounded by the catapults, and one sprained his foot while going over the wall.”
“No one was sacrificed?”
“No one was sacrificed.”
“What about the other side? …… is the gang [mob].”
“Twenty-three dead, 30 wounded.”
Paul’s entire body relaxed as he leaned back in his chair and exhaled with his eyes closed, “Honestly, Schroeder, I didn’t expect things to go this well.”
“Count man, you have to know that the difference in strength between the enemy and us is is huge, and the other side is only not much more than a bunch of unorganized and undisciplined townspeople. When the sailors tumbled over the courtyard wall, it’s not like the mob didn’t try to organize resistance, but when the bayonets stabbed a few of those who rushed to the forefront, the rest of them dispersed in a flurry of activity, either scurrying around like headless flies, or clutching their heads and lying down on the ground in a pouting state, shivering. The Navy sent a small detachment to block the back door, so they were all captured by us.”
“What should we do next?”
“You’re the lord, it’s all up to you.”
“Let Cecil figure out the cause and effect of this riot first.”
……
After receiving Paul’s order, Cecil immediately started the interrogation of the captives, and after several consecutive days and nights of torture, the people of Lakewood Town figured out the cause of this riot.
The reason is that the tax collector Baden set up the [war tax] privately, and because of the establishment of the salt farm led to the livelihood of the salt people increasingly difficult to afford the new tax, so with Baden sent the tax collector clashed, due to the resentment accumulated for a long time, the conflict soon escalated, the anger of the salt people went directly to Baden’s village of Faber, and finally evolved into a riot.
The fact that Baden had set up a war tax on his own was confirmed, as several servants of the Baden family, who were rescued from the salters and sent out by him to collect the tax, all confessed to the crime.
“That damned landlord!”
Paul cursed in Cecil’s face in a language he did not understand. “My lord, what did you just say?”
Cecil asked cautiously, seeing that Lord Earl was now angry.
“Ah, it’s nothing, go on.”
“It’s strange that the mobs have confessed to everything else, but just about no one has admitted to having anything to do with the attack on the saltworks, or the riots elsewhere.”
“Oh?” Paul’s fingers tapped on the table, “What do you think?”
Cecil replied, “My lord, the odds are that they are not lying, I’ve isolated them and arraigned them one by one, I don’t think this rabble has the ability to unify their voices so quickly.”
Paul nods, “Well, I think so too.”
Cecil continued, “There were several disturbances of varying degrees of intensity during that time frame. Based on the investigation, it seems that someone was specifically spreading the word about Faber Village, encouraging people elsewhere, and quite a few people took advantage of the opportunity to fish in troubled waters.”
Paul was indignant, “How can these people be like this, am I not good enough for them as a lord?”
“My lord don’t rush to introspection first, linking to the fact that the salt farm was also attacked, it’s obvious ……”
Paul suddenly interrupted as if he had discovered a new continent, “I see, Cecil!”
Cecil held back what he was about to say next and looked at Paul.
Paul stood up and said anxiously, “Conspiracy! Isn’t that clear? Cecil, this is a conspiracy!”
Cecil’s eyes widened as he “tried” to look surprised, “A conspiracy? What do you mean?”
Paul explained, “There must be someone behind the scenes manipulating all of this, and considering that we are in the middle of a war with the usurper Maltz Kent, it’s very likely that he’s the one behind it, intentionally provoking my lords into trouble. There’s also that [Secret Society], it’s not impossible.”
The intelligence chief “suddenly realized” and slapped his thighs, “So that’s how it is, Lord Earl, you are as wise as ever ……”
Paul indignantly resumed his seat, “This is too shameless, too despicable, too nasty! We can’t beat us on the battlefield, so we make small moves behind our backs, I despise this kind of person the most.”
Cecil said, “Lord Earl, as long as you nod your head in agreement, I can use the same way as his people.”
Paul grunted, “I don’t care to use such underhanded tactics. Schroeder!”
Hearing the lord call his name, the chief of staff sitting on the side immediately responded, “Yes, Lord Earl.”
“Immediately draw up a new battle plan, I want the troops on the front line to immediately resume their attack, send new troops to support them, and beat the other side with honorable means.”
The old knight calmly replied, “Lord Earl, I know that you are angry at the moment, but I still have to advise you that it’s better not to get carried away. We don’t know if similar riots will happen again, so it’s better to keep our troops at home for the near future, and the two battalions located in the newly occupied area should even make maintaining the local order their first priority, after all, it was the Kent family’s territory before, and it’s much more convenient for them to get into something there than in other areas. And …… this matter is still not sure that it is the Kent family’s doing.”
“Damn it!”
Paul vigorously hammered the table and yelled at the intelligence chief, “Call that what’s-his-name Baden over, I’m going to have a good look at his so-called [War Tax] with this landlord!”
(End of chapter)