Chapter 273
Chapter 273.
“He didn’t hang up, did he?”
Paul asked as he looked at Baden, who was foaming at the mouth and collapsing to the ground.
The guard replied after a careful examination, “My lord, he’s not dead, he’s just fainted.”
“Drag him out, don’t stay here and be an eyesore.”
“Yes!”
Paul narrowed his eyes, savoring what had just passed.
The punishment of Baden was a test to see what kind of attitude this representative figure of the landed gentry had towards his lordship’s authority.
The result was surprisingly good, the landed squire fainted straight away, which, in Paul’s opinion, showed that Baden knew that he couldn’t fight against the punishment from his lord.
What was the situation a year ago, the pirates invaded and killed the old lord, and then it was the landlubbers and roadblockers, traffic congestion, so that the decree of the lord’s house can only be around the town of Lakewood.
Paul thought to himself that if it was at that time he punished such a large landowner, Baden would not be scared like this, and would even “bargain” with himself.
The pirates of the Northwest Bay, the development of business and industry to show the strong financial strength, dare to fight against the powerful Kent family, famous Northwest Battle of Biddle Castle, once again restored the authority of the lord in the Count of Alda’s territory.
This makes those landlords and squires who have held the power of the countryside for generations, have to be cautious when facing the orders from the lord.
A large landowner and tax collector like Baden was practically a de facto lord in his own territory. In addition to contracting taxes, before Paul established the Agricultural Society and the Military Service Station, all the affairs of the lord’s house such as corvée and military service had to pass through their hands.
Baden’s reaction gave Paul a further idea – to completely abolish the system of tax-contractors under his rule. It was an idea he’d had for a long time, and he’d wanted to abolish it immediately at last year’s year-end meeting, but had been dissuaded by Chief Steward Ford.
……
“You must act calmly, it is not right to make such a decision now!”
Chief Steward Ford dissuaded Paul once again when he brought it up again at the meeting.
“Why, Baden is also a numbered landowner in Arda, and if a figure like that has succumbed, who else would dare to disobey my decree?”
“That is because it is Baden alone whom you punish.”
Chief Ford strokes his beard and slowly analyzes: “As the saying goes, a tree attracts the wind, with Baden’s family wealth, I don’t know how many people are secretly cynical, he is unlucky because of his offense, other people will only clap their hands or even fall on the well, but if you abolish all of the tax payers with a single decree, that prying will be the collective interest of all of them. They will jump over the wall, and in this sensitive period when we are in a state of war with the Kents, it is better to do as little as possible within Alda, or else we will give our external enemies an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.”
Paul was unconvinced, “Now that the lord’s house is heavily armed, could they dare to rebel? I think just a battalion of troops can deter them.” Schroeder, the chief of staff at the side, coughed, “Uh …… Lord Greiman, in this matter …… with all due respect, I don’t think the current army is very reliable… …”
“What does that mean, Schroeder? You’ve seen how good of an army we’ve trained.”
Paul looked straight at the Chief of Staff, the Arda army was his greatest pride, it had never let him down except for a small setback in the beginning of its existence when it was fighting the pirates, and Schroeder’s comment was just pouring cold water on him.
“My lord, I am not referring to the aspect of combat power.”
The chief of staff said cautiously, “Lord Gleiman, according to your request, when an officer of the Arda army is selected and promoted, the schooling he possesses is an extremely important reference factor, and the sons and daughters of …… those truly civilian families within our army can barely even write their own names before enlisting. It is only after they enlist that they begin to receive a basic education in reading and writing. This leads to the fact that most of our officers are the sons and daughters of landowning gentry families, and as you know, the children of rich families always have an advantage over the children of poor families when it comes to education.”
“So?” Paul had understood what Schroeder meant, and reality poured cold water on him again.
Schroeder looked at him, “The more the big family, the stronger the family concept, I think in the abolition of the tax packers such things, those grassroots officers are very difficult to guarantee loyalty to you, the worst …… situation they will be under the compulsion of the family to do something irrational. ”
“In addition I would also like to remind you that the abolition program you proposed before is also in this category, and it is true that you should not be too hasty.”
Paul was a bit frustrated, Schroeder was right, he himself remembered a saying from his previous life, “The up and down will win.” Even if those officers won’t directly rebel against him because of the binding of the oath, but in the face of the enemy will they still work for him like before, can such an army still be invincible?
“Is there no other way?” Paul was very depressed, since he succeeded the throne, he felt that there were all kinds of constraints in everything, he had to consider this and that. In fact, it seems that since he crossed over, he has not done anything that can really be called social change, which is really detrimental to the prestige of the traveler.
“Please at least wait until the officers of civilian origin reach a certain proportion, you then start your reform program, this proportion …… I suggest no less than three-fifths. But …… this will take time, considering that to maintain the fighting strength of the army, right now we still have to rely on officers from wealthy families, and the formal education at the Graiman Military School has just begun.”
“I hope you will gradually expand the proportion of civilian children among the cadets in the future.”
“Yes my lord, this I will pay attention to in the future. But I’d also like to say that it’s also inappropriate to have children from poor families hold all of the positions, as a lord, you must maintain the balance.”
“This I know.”
Paul next asked the two about the course of action regarding the next step. According to the established plan, the army was to hold the attention of the Kent family, and then the navy’s warships would go up the river Wise to open up a “second battlefield”, but now a riot had disrupted the plan.
Both Chief Steward Ford and Chief of Staff Schroeder recommend focusing on internal stabilization for the time being, as there is no telling if there will be a second riot.
The final decision was that the two battalions under Bryce’s command would remain in the newly occupied areas, while the troops still in Arda and Bärdin – both naval and military – would be dispersed around the country, and would spring into action at the first sign of trouble.
An efficient communication system must be set up, now this kind of relying on fast horses and birds to deliver urgent news is neither timely nor reliable, too unfavorable to his mastery of the two counties’ territories.
Paul remembered the “flag signal station” program that he had put aside for a long time.
(End of chapter)