Chapter 685: Chapter 425: The Most Important Thing
The enactment of the new tax law swept across the Tilaimei Plain like an invisible hurricane.
The William Family, having gleaned details of the new tax law from familiar nobles the day after its implementation and ascertained there were no plots hidden within, also headed toward the designated tax and peasant serf collection point in Intuo City with over a hundred of their family’s serfs in tow.
The Great Knight Jack mounted his tall black steed at the forefront, leading the way, with two family members who were also riding horses on either side to assist in escorting the serfs.
Their Family wasn’t large, just a small Knight Family.
So the number of serfs wasn’t large either, just over a hundred, who at the moment followed the three knights, faces blank with confusion.
Tax decrees, as well as the new Lord of Tilaimei, were too distant for these toiling serfs.
Following the pollution of the farmlands, they had all been kept in pigsty-like straw sheds, completely uninformed about what was happening outside.
It wasn’t until today, when Jack brought the other two knights from the William Family, that they finally saw daylight again, yet Jack merely had them follow without offering explanations.
Now this group of serfs was still completely in the dark about their situation.
"Sir Jack, are you also on your way to pay the new taxes?"
En route, the William Family ran into a new contingent.
"Lord Wulun, I did not expect to encounter you here," Jack nodded and said with a smile.
The newcomer was the Mac Family’s Great Knight, slightly more powerful than their William Family but only by a bit, still just a Knight Family.
"After dealing with these serfs, does the William Family plan to leave the Tilaimei Plain?" inquired Wulun.
"Just dealing with the serfs plainly." Jack shook his head, "The taxes must be paid sooner or later, every extra day we keep them, we waste a day’s worth of food."
"That’s true, as long as the farmlands can’t be recovered, these serfs must be driven away eventually," nodded Wulun.
"Alas, the serfs are a minor issue, the farmlands are the foundation of our existence," Jack sighed and asked, "Do you think there’s really no way to restore those farmlands?"
"I don’t know..." Wulun shook his head and tightened the reins in his hand, then paused and added, "But I’m afraid the chances are slim... Sir Jack, have you heard about that news?"
Jack glanced around and spoke in a low voice, "Are you talking about the news that the Wizards of the Supreme Council have given up on saving these farmlands?"
"Yes..." Wulun nodded softly and then suddenly asked, "Do you think the new Lord of Tilaimei might be able to save those farmlands?"
"He might be able to," Jack’s eyes held hope, although he had heard those rumors, he still harbored hope in his heart.
For most of the nobles of the Tilaimei Plain, their main source of income was the annual yield of their fields.
Now that the farmlands were utterly destroyed, many nobles with meager savings had already gone bankrupt, and if it were not for at least having knights in their families, they probably would have fallen in status on the spot.
"Perhaps..." Wulun sighed and after a pause added, "I don’t know why, but I always feel that the Lord of Tilaimei might be able to save those farmlands."
"A possibility of saving the farmlands? Just now didn’t you think there was little hope for the restoration of the farmlands..."
"Though I said that, but you see the decrees recently issued by the Lord of Tilaimei—serfs can’t be expelled, they must be brought when paying taxes, and expelled at designated places," Wulun said.
Upon hearing this, Jack’s face also revealed a contemplative expression as he slowly said, "Is the Lord of Tilamei trying hard to preserve these serfs?"
"Exactly." Wulun nodded and further stated, "Think about it, the Lord of Tilaimei is paying such a high price to keep these serfs; it can’t be all out of kindness... There must be a need for these serfs later on, that’s why he would do this."
"But that news has proven to be true, the Wizards of the Supreme Council have already given up saving the polluted farmlands," Jack said hesitantly.
"The Lord of Tilaimei also comes from the Supreme Council and is likewise a powerful Wizard... Anyway, our Family doesn’t plan to leave the Tilaimei Plain for now, and we’ve only expelled eighty percent of the serfs this time," Wulun said.
Jack didn’t respond, but instead fell into silent contemplation.
In fact, there were not a few nobles who thought like Wulun; consecutive decrees from Colin had instead given them a mysterious new confidence.
...
The tax collection point in Intuo City was a vast square.
Looking around, the place was packed with a crowd of serfs brought by the nobles coming to pay taxes, completely jam-packed.
An Advanced Wizard Apprentice hovered in mid-air, maintaining order.
Jack queued up obediently at the back with the serfs.
"Old Henry, what do you think the lord is bringing us here for?"
The dark-skinned serf Baron whispered to the middle-aged man beside him with a lined face, also carefully glancing ahead at Knight Jack.
Fortunately, the square was so noisy that Jack seemed not to have noticed, or perhaps he didn’t plan to bother with their whispering.
"I don’t know," Old Henry wiped the sweat from his forehead, and after confirming Jack didn’t seem to mind them, he shook his head in response.
"I overheard Sir Jack talking to another lord on the road; it seemed like they mentioned something about paying taxes," Baron recalled cautiously, lowering his voice even more.
"Forget about these things, Baron! Matters of the lords are not for you and me to speculate about. If we’re caught eavesdropping, you’ll suffer for it!" Old Henry advised in a low voice.