vstars Chapter 518 Big Brawl
Chapter 518 Big Brawl
The iron boots stepped heavily on the bluestone slabs, making the window frames of the dilapidated houses on the roadside buzz.
Team after team of mercenaries in black armor walked slowly from the street corner in uniform steps.
They were like a moving black tide, quickly filling the square in front of Padua City Hall.
The orderly footsteps, one after another, like the death knell, echoed in the silent street.
The councillors and clergy stood on the balcony of the town hall, looking down at the mercenaries as they arrived and formed up their formation.
There was a look of praise in their eyes, and they let out sighs from time to time.
Compared with the disciplined and imposing team in front of them, the city defense army, which was usually arrogant and domineering, now looked like bandits and robbers, and was particularly unsightly.
Since the Black Watch Mercenary Company entered the Yoda Empire, it has received wide acclaim from all walks of life.
Not only do they have elite soldiers equipped with sophisticated weapons and equipment, but more importantly, they always stick to their bottom line.
From the moment they accept the contract to the entire process of completing the contract, they only focus on executing the task and never interfere in other matters.
Take the escorts for example. If they were any other mercenary group, they would definitely cause unrest in the villages they passed through. They would often waste a lot of time on trivial matters, and would even rob the villagers of their property, rape women, and kill local residents, causing public outrage.
But the Blackwatch mercenaries were completely different. They set out to escort in the morning and camped outside the village at night. Their only communication with the local people was limited to purchasing necessary supplies.
This high level of self-discipline and professionalism enabled them to quickly establish a good reputation in the Yoda Empire.
Relying on its own powerful strength, the Black Watch Mercenary Company has become famous in the Yoda Empire.
The elders in Padua had naturally heard about it. Seeing the increasingly worsening security situation and more and more complaints from citizens, they decided to sign a one-year security contract with Blackwatch, hoping to use this powerful force to improve the city's security situation.
Min Ze'er also followed Walden to the balcony, quietly watching the mercenaries below.
"No doubt about it. Except for their equipment, they are exactly the same as the Helderran soldiers we saw before."
Min Caier observed carefully and came to a conclusion in his mind.
He felt that the Blackwatch mercenaries were just the Helderan army in a different skin.
I heard that in order to complete the security contract, the Black Watch Mercenary Company dispatched a thousand troops.
After some discussions with the city council, they finally agreed to build a permanent camp on the outskirts of the city to move in.
In addition to maintaining law and order within the city, these mercenaries will also be responsible for road safety around Padua.
With the introduction of the serfdom law by the aristocratic parliament, the original tenant farmers lost their privileges due to heavy debts and harsh legal constraints. Their status plummeted and they became almost like serfs.
This also led to a large number of farmers being unable to bear the oppression and fleeing to the wilderness, where they established various organizations called "shoe clubs".
The "shoe association" here is not a handicraft association for making shoes, but is derived from the cruel reality of today.
If an ordinary person has to walk a long way to reach his destination, along the way he will be robbed of some of his personal belongings by the nobles of each territory he passes through.
When he arrives at his destination after going through untold hardships, he may be so poor that he only has a pair of shoes on his feet.
However, this was already considered good. Some nobles directly captured passing travelers and threw them into jail, asking their families to pay money to redeem them. After the last copper coin was squeezed out of them, the nobles with conscience would release the people directly, while the nobles without conscience would execute them directly.
Their rotting bodies would eventually be dumped directly into the moat to feed the fish.
The nobles were accustomed to this. After all, every floating corpse could scare away a few serfs who were trying to evade taxes.
In addition to treating outsiders in this way, residents within the territory were also treated equally. Taxes such as corvée, land rent, land tax, rent tax, death tax, and protection money were created and increased at will. Even the forests and rivers belonging to public areas were designated as private property of the nobles. The economic situation of the farmers became increasingly worse because they could not cut down trees or fish.
Therefore, the Shoe Society is more like an organization for these fugitives to keep each other warm. The small groups do things like stealing, while the large groups have evolved to the point of robbing passing caravans.
Just as Minzer left the town hall and came to the street, there was suddenly a commotion in the distance, and a large number of citizens began to run around.
There was a chaotic sound of footsteps on the cobblestone road, and the panicked crowd fled in all directions like frightened ants.
A vendor's cart was knocked over and apples rolled all over the ground, but no one bent down to pick them up.
The sharp cries of women pierced the air, the crying of children and the cursing of men mixed together, and the whole street fell into a doomsday-like chaos.
"Beware!"
Just when Min Ze'er didn't know what was happening, Walden suddenly appeared from somewhere and pulled Min Ze'er into an alley nearby, thus preventing Min Ze'er from being swept away by the crowd.
In the alley, Muenzer asked the breathless Walden:
"What's going on over there? Why is the street so chaotic?"
Walden gasped:
"Localist priests joined forces with a nearby shoe club to attack the church and smashed it. Some rioters took advantage of the chaos to loot nearby shops."
His voice was trembling, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing, as if he was still frightened.
Just then, dozens of Blackwatch mercenaries ran quickly outside the alley, apparently going to the church to suppress the mob.
"Didn't the local faction just talk with the French King's Office faction? Why are they fighting again?"
Min Ze'er asked in confusion. The local faction had quarreled over the issue of indulgences before, and Padua, sent by the French Royal Office, even held a meeting to resolve the matter. Why were they fighting again now?
Seeing that Minzer didn't understand, Walden continued:
"Let's just say, you know about tithing, right?"
"Yes, everyone knows it."
Min Caier said so.
"Have you ever heard of the great tithe and the small tithe?"
Min Zeer:?
"It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it. Have you heard of the prayer tax?"
Min Zeer:? ?
"It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it. Have you heard of the church tax?"
Min Caier: ???
Seeing that Walden was about to speak, Minzer spoke first:
"I don't think there will be a tax on Hanukkah."
"You really guessed it right. Not only on the Day of the God of Light, the birthday of the King of Pope, the birthday of Archbishop Yoda, and the birthday of the local bishop, as long as the clergyman has no conscience, he can collect taxes at any time."
"Isn't this nonsense!"
Min Caier was surprised and a little angry:
"How can believers live if they pay so much tax?"
"This is their own business. Those from the Dharma King's Office don't care at all. This is not their home. It's just their workplace. Other people's life or death has nothing to do with them."
"Because of their heavy taxes, many families have been torn apart because they can't pay taxes. Among them may be relatives of clergymen. This is why the localists are making trouble."
"The French King's Office is collecting taxes so recklessly, aren't they afraid of being beaten up by the locals?"
Min Zeer continued to ask.
“The current large-scale taxation only targets farmers and has no impact on citizens, so it is still safe in the city.”
"And they had thought of this a long time ago, otherwise they would have used mercenaries to deal with a few rioters."
As he spoke, outside the alley, a dozen Black Watch mercenaries escorted a large group of people over. It seemed that the riot at the church had been resolved. Min Caier calculated the time and it was probably less than ten minutes.
"Then are we considered the Dharma King's Office faction?"
Min Ze'er suddenly asked at this time, after all, the bishop in their area was from the French Royal Hall faction, what should they do if they were beaten by the local faction when they returned to the town.
"You don't have to worry about that. As long as we don't stand out, we are not a faction of any kind. Whether it's the local area or the French King's Office, the faction members are the bishops, and the clergy below them are at most thugs."
Walden patted Minzer on the shoulder:
"We just need to do our job well."
The noise outside the alley gradually subsided, leaving only sporadic shouting and the creaking sound of wooden doors closing. Walden said this and left the alley with Minzer.