Chapter 681: Chapter 423 Enactment of Laws_2
The ones attending this meeting were those he trusted most: Atbolde, Lillian, and Shelley.
"Such a decree can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause," Atbolde shook his head and said.
"That’s why it is only a temporary measure," Colin answered, pausing before continuing, "My ultimate goal is to gradually take over these serfs."
Atbolde raised his eyebrows.
Lillian looked puzzled and asked subconsciously,
"Do you intend to support these serfs yourself, junior brother?"
Colin nodded slightly, "Population is the most important resource."
"It sounds like you have some kind of plan," Atbolde said.
While the population is important, in this world, most people do not consider ordinary individuals to be such a significant resource.
Wizards are the truly valuable resources, ordinary people are but grains of sand born alongside gold, and no one cares about them.
Colin nodded again and glanced at Shelley before speaking,
"The Tilaimei Plain cannot lose those serfs, and Shelley and I are tackling the difficult issue of farm pollution. If the farmland is restored, but there are not enough serfs to cultivate it, that would be a disaster all the same."
"Do you have confidence in solving the pollution of the farmland?" Atbolde was taken aback for a moment.
After following Colin here, he had carefully learned about the Tilaimei Plain, especially in terms of farm pollution.
It was a unique form of pollution that even the wizards sent by the Supreme Council specifically to address the issue had declared insolvable.
"The confidence isn’t strong, but there’s hope," Colin answered, "And even if we can’t ultimately restore those farmlands, I still have ways to settle those serfs and even keep the Tilaimei Plain thriving."
Colin said calmly.
The content of his words, however, could be described as presumptuous.
But whether he was certain or not, as the Lord of Tilamei, he had to at least be confident.
If even he had no confidence, then who else could? The Tilaimei Plain would inevitably decline.
However, to tell the truth, Colin did indeed have ample confidence to save the entire Tilaimei Plain.
Even if the farmland’s pollution could not be solved in the end, he could certainly use those serfs, relying on his experiences from his previous life, to attempt to advance the process of industrialization.
Although many rules of this world are different from those in his previous life, such as electricity, which is always brutal and chaotic, difficult to tame and use,
At least in this world, it is still possible to boil water, and steam power is obviously feasible.
The existence of witchcraft causes this world to subconsciously overlook the great power contained within humble steam.
People are keen on pursuing the ultimate personal power, expecting to resolve all problems with it, while neglecting the power of the masses.
Especially with the external threat of Divine beings, wizards usually focus their research on witchcraft towards offensive and Defensive Witchcraft.
Like the laudably practical Wall Building Skill Shelley mentioned in the Extreme North, most wizards would only disregard it with disdain.
But Colin is different, his experiences from his previous life taught him that ordinary people coming together can create miracles not inferior to witchcraft!
Indeed, Colin’s steady voice, combined with his confident demeanor, eased Atbolde’s expression, prompting him not to say anything more.
If it were anyone else making such bold claims, he might have scoffed at them.
But for Colin, for this student who had repeatedly created miracles, Atbolde had no doubt about the truthfulness of his words.
If Colin said he had certain confidence, then all that was needed was to believe!
Lillian, too, was attracted by the confidence in Colin’s speech, involuntarily taking a few extra glances, her heartbeat slightly quickening.
It felt like only a few years had passed, and her junior brother had unknowingly grown into such a reliable figure...
"Have you thought through the specific content of the decree?" Shelley asked with a trace of admiration in her eyes, pausing before speaking.
"The detailed content is not yet finalized, but the main direction is two points," Colin answered.
"First, temporarily restrict the nobles from evicting serfs," he said. "Second, gradually take serfs off their hands."
"The key issue now is how to feed this group of serfs."
The four people in the conference room fell into deep thought.
Colin knew all too well that it was impossible to completely prohibit the nobles from driving away the serfs, so he ultimately needed to receive these serfs and support them.
He had thought about relying on himself and various royal families to take care of the displaced serfs, providing them with simple housing and daily food.
But the Tilaimei Plain was vast, and the scale of the serfs was enormous.
Even if he didn’t provide housing and only supplied the bare minimum food for daily consumption, the cost would still be astronomical.
Although, after becoming a Councilman, Colin had received a wealth of valuable gifts, and with the support of various royal families, he should be able to temporarily afford the consumption of these serfs.
But this was obviously the last resort, as no one knew how long it would take for those fields to return to normal...
’Is there any way to make those nobles bleed a little?’
With this thought, Colin suddenly had an idea, and after organizing his language, he said:
"For the nobles, especially those preparing to leave the Tilaimei Plain, their current request is the eviction of serfs. I can limit this behavior with legislation, but I can’t eradicate it."
"However, if I intentionally create a loophole behind the stringent laws, such as—after they pay a special ’Serf Eviction Tax,’ their act of evicting serfs will no longer be illegal."
"This particular tax, in combination with the previous ordinance to prohibit the eviction of serfs, can achieve the goal of restricting nobles from arbitrarily evicting serfs and gather some resources to support the wandering serfs."
"What do you think?"
After careful thought for a moment, the three people nodded in unison.
It was unrealistic to expect those nobles to support serfs for nothing, and Colin’s ultimate goal was not that.
His fundamental aim was to gradually take control of most of the serfs on the Tilaimei Plain, and even the land itself.
So these two pieces of legislation were clearly the best choice at the moment.
"To collect taxes, we’ll need to consider the exact amount carefully; if it’s too high, those nobles would probably prefer to continue supporting those serfs." Atbolde continued.
"Yes, and introducing new taxes is not an easy task; certainly more difficult than enacting legislation," Colin nodded.
For a Councilman, introducing an ordinary piece of legislation in the controlled territory is simple.
As long as it isn’t particularly against common sense, it usually won’t violate the regulations set by the Supreme Council and can be implemented immediately without scrutiny.
But implementing a new tax law is not so easy.
A large part of this is because the taxation of the territory is basically linked to the Councilman’s income.
So, to prevent Councilmen from abusing power for personal gain, the Supreme Council has formulated strict regulations and examination mechanisms for this area.
In the time that followed, Colin called Jennifer and Joe over, and the six of them discussed the details of the two pieces of legislation, especially the specific amount of the newly introduced Serf Eviction Tax.
After finalizing some details and producing the first draft of the legislation, Colin immediately sent it for review to the Supreme Council through his Councilman Badge.
The first ordinance restricting nobles from evicting serfs was affirmed by the Council in just a moment.
Colin also implemented it across the entire Tilaimei Plain without delay.
The ordinance stipulated that nobles were limited in the number of serfs they could drive away per year, including those who died accidentally, based on the proportion of serfs they owned, with the maximum not exceeding ten persons; otherwise, it would be a violation of the law, with punishment up to the death penalty.
The new tax ordnance, however, did not pass the review as quickly.
Colin included it under the Public Safety Tax, with the rationale that it was to deal with the chaos and threats that the wandering serfs might bring; all tax revenue would be used on the settlement of the serfs.
During the waiting period for review, Colin was not idle; through Chasai Commerce, he had the Communication Ring Towers of the seven kingdoms repaired and even added a few more in some key cities.
This was the key to connecting the entire Tilaimei Plain; he couldn’t always rely on flying there with Silver Stream.
During this period, the first enacted ordinance also gradually began to show its impact.