Chapter 647 Political Affairs Officer of the Occupied Territory
Perhaps realizing that he spoke too coldly to Phoenix, Lord Galvin adjusted his mood and started talking again.
"Child, forgive me. Looking at your cousin Flanders like this, I really don't know how to answer you." Lord Galvin's tone was serious, but his attitude was obviously much gentler.
"No, father, don't say that." Phoenix comforted: "As your son, I can't share your worries, I'm very ashamed."
7
Hearing what Phoenix said, Lord Galvin was very relieved, with tears in his eyes. Then he patted his son on the shoulder and said happily: "You have finally grown up!"
Phoenix looked at his father, the corner of his mouth raised slightly. He is no longer as demanding on himself as he used to be, and he is always worried, which makes Phoenix happy. Because in his opinion, this is his father's recognition of himself.
In the battle for succession, Phoenix watched his father help Flanders, just to restore the family's honor and status.
Phoenix was encouraged. He is no longer the businessman who only focused on managing his territory a few years ago, nor is he the down-and-out nobleman who was ostracized and ridiculed by other court nobles. The battle for succession ended with Flanders' victory, but it was also the beginning of the Galvin family's revival. Thinking of this, Phoenix couldn't restrain his inner excitement, and he also felt a little more sincere admiration for his elderly father.
The assassination of Flanders dealt a heavy blow to the Otto family that ruled the county. Flanders's two sons were still young and unable to govern. As a result, Lord Galvin, who is also a bloodline of the Otto family, naturally became an important figure in assisting the new king and stabilizing the situation in the country.
As the only son of Lord Galvin, Phoenix naturally also carries the great trust of Flanders on his shoulders.
After a while, Lord Galvin spoke again.
Phoenix, now that your cousin Flanders is critically ill, and the new king of the court has not yet grown up, the important task of maintaining the rule of the country falls on you and my son."
Phoenix did not know what Flanders had placed in his father, but his father's words made him feel that the burden on him was much heavier.
"Father, what do you mean?"
Galvin lowered his voice and whispered into Phoenix's ear: "There are many people here, and when I get to the right place, I will tell you everything~"
Phoenix nodded slightly and stopped asking.
The northern part of the Po River Plain is dotted with villages and towns of all sizes. The fertile wheat fields nearby extend to the edge of gentle hills. The three or five farmers who were working with their heads down glanced at the long team from time to time and pointed without showing a trace of panic.
Because it can be seen from the "rangers" who patrol back and forth between the village manor and the military fort market town that they come from the same place - the valley north of Rock Castle on the Lombardy border.
After the Lombards got over their initial panic, they discovered that this group of barbarians who ran out of the mountains on the northern border were not as vicious as the lords said. On the contrary, the lords who led the Lombards to fight against the barbarians were slaughtered and their wealth was looted. Even those who survived were used as war slaves by the occupying army and punished with hard labor.
Although the valuable belongings and most of the food in the people's homes were taken away by the barbarians, they left behind the family's rations,
They would not starve to death. Except for a few disobedient people who were beheaded, most people survived.
Since then, the northerners stayed. As long as the Lombards swore allegiance to the Earl of Wales in the northern valley, landless refugees could obtain land, and bankrupt farmers could return to their original places and take back their land from the lords.
What is even more incredible to the Lombards is that in the first two years, the harvested grain only needs to pay a quarter of the original grain tax, and in the third year it begins to grow to half of the original grain tax. From now on, the food tax will not exceed one-half of the original tax. In years of poor harvest, the food tax will be reduced accordingly to ensure the basic survival of the people in the territory.
If farmers have excess grain, they can resell it to the government at market prices to increase income. In addition, grain shops are strictly prohibited from hoarding more than the specified amount of grain. Once discovered, grain merchants will be punished accordingly according to the ban issued by the government. In this way, even if there is a famine, the people will not be unable to fill their stomachs.
Coupled with the enlightened policy of the northern count, the Lombards living in villages and manors on the Po River plains flocked to him one after another. In the past, the wealthy gentry who oppressed the people were either executed or punished as war slaves. Only a few of them fled to the south.
The Po River Plain is now peaceful, and the bandits who often broke into the village and castle manor, burned, killed and looted (a way for the lords to obtain wealth) have disappeared. The "rangers" who shuttled back and forth in the village fortresses and the soldiers stationed at various passways greatly improved the security of the Po River Plain.
Now, although the northerners occupy the Po River plain, the people who have been squeezed by the lords and gentry of this land do not mind. Because in their view, it doesn't matter who rules the land. What matters is that they can own a piece of land and fill their families' stomachs.
A few days ago, a local Lombard squire who ostensibly belonged to the northerners secretly gathered various forces to prepare for rebellion, but was exposed by a once oppressed citizen of the territory. All the squires were hanged, and all their land was confiscated. Afterwards, the territorial citizen was awarded an acre of land for his meritorious service. This incident attracted many people to follow suit, and for a while, those nails hidden in the dark were pulled out one by one by local soldiers maintaining law and order.
Not only that, the captured "rebels" were also taken to various market towns, villages and forts for public display, and a few unlucky guys were stoned to death by the angry residents. Those who escaped death were sent to the gallows after the parade. After death, their heads were chopped off and hung on pillars along the "border".
Hate's military-civilian policy of "using Lombard soldiers to rule the Lombard people, and using the Lombard people to poach Lombard hostile forces" has achieved astonishing results.
The person who played an important role in this was the political officer Ian who came out of the Valley School. Ian was personally selected by Art as the chief official in charge of the government affairs in the occupied areas.
As one of the few political officers in the valley with a lot of knowledge, Ian not only speaks Lombardy, but also has made certain achievements in tax collection, government management, and cartography.
At the beginning, the government planned to send him to Bona City in the western border of Sithorne as a local tax officer to be in charge of tax collection. But before leaving, he was asked by Art to go to Lombardy. Under the coordination of the government governor Old Cooper, Ian agreed to go to Lombardy to help manage the corresponding government affairs in the occupied area.
Soon after arriving in Lombardy, Ian was appointed by Art as the administrative officer of the occupied area because of his outstanding abilities, responsible for all local affairs except military affairs. In addition, in order to facilitate the administration of the army, he was also awarded the position of Captain of the Garrison of the Regiment of Wales. This honor is much higher than that of his colleagues who came out of Valley School at the same time. Because of this incident, Ian was quite proud for a few days.
Following the battle outside Santia, most of the Po River plain became the territory of the Province of Wales. Now that the two warring parties were in a state of confrontation at Solonborg, this gave Ian the opportunity to conduct a detailed statistics on the situation in the newly occupied area. In the plains north of the Po River, a garrison camp built on the top of the hills on both sides was divided into two parts by the commercial road connecting the north and the south. The commercial road was cut off by a huge stone arch. The giant iron-clad oak door was tall and thick. The dark color of the fort gate and the fort wall made of dark gray boulders make this military fort a bit more mysterious.
On the forty-foot high fort wall stood six spear-wielding guards wearing half-body plate armor, motionless. The fort wall connects the pointed sentry towers on the gentle hills on the left and right sides. Two crossbowmen are placed in the sentry tower, paying attention to all the movements in the surrounding area.
The garrison camp behind the sentry tower stands on the top of the mountain and is used for garrisoning troops. The weapons depot and granary are located on the ground floor of the camp. The suspended part between the two camps is the Lord's Hall, which is the living and office space of the garrison commander.
There are more than ten manor villages of various sizes scattered around the military fort, with more than 500 residents. The open space outside the fort gate in the south is the free market here.
More than a month ago, after the fall of the Rock Castle on the northern border, the Lombard soldiers stationed here were on alert, preparing to rely on this military stronghold to temporarily withstand the attack of the Burgundy army and buy time for the arrival of reinforcements.
But contrary to the expectations of the garrison soldiers, the Burangdians did not send troops to attack here. Instead, they bypassed the military fort from the wheat field not far away and went straight to the south.
Looking at the long queue of people and horses walking through the wheat fields, the garrison commander could do nothing but pray.
Not long after, news of the defeat of the Lombard Guards in the south came back. The Lombard baron who was responsible for garrisoning here did not hesitate to lead his soldiers to surrender without a fight, handing over this military castle with less than a hundred troops to the Burangdians. He also wrote a letter asking his family to send someone to pay 100,000 pfennigs to redeem himself. Now, this military fort under the jurisdiction of the occupied territory government has regained its vitality. The free market outside the city not only doubled in size, but its opening hours also changed from one day a week to three days a week. Of course, the taxes that must be paid on transactions that occur in the market cannot be less.
The tax collector sitting at the wooden table outside the fort gate holds a quill. After his assistant inspects the goods carried by the traders, he registers them and collects business taxes.
In just one morning, the tax collector recorded more than a thousand pfennigs on the parchment. If there is a big episode, this number will more than quintuple.
Under the management of the Government Affairs Government of the occupied areas, every military fort market town with a population of more than 500 people will have a tax collector to manage taxes and pay them every half month. At that time, special personnel will go to verify the collection and return it to the Welsh Provincial Government.
As the political officer responsible for the jurisdiction of the occupied territories, Ian often traveled to these military forts, towns and villages and manors to verify whether the local officials strictly implemented the government's prohibitions. Any violation will be dealt with strictly in accordance with the laws promulgated by the Government Affairs Office.
Today, Ian came here for inspection. But when he walked out of the official room, the bell on the military castle tower suddenly rang -