vstars Chapter 513: Controlling Peasants to the Land
Chapter 513: Controlling Peasants to the Land
Inside the Helmingen Palace, sunlight shines through the tall windows onto the smooth marble floor.
John sat on a gorgeous chair, holding a newspaper with the fragrance of ink in his hands, frowning slightly, and muttering to himself:
"Hey, when did I say that?"
The newspaper was called "The Voice of Helderland" and was founded at the suggestion of Spy Minister Wesker and was mainly sold to foreigners.
The purpose is to allow foreign countries to understand the real situation inside Helderland under the general background of the Holy Kingdom of Helderland's strict border control.
John initially approved of this move, believing it to be an effective means of external propaganda. After all, propaganda is also a means of ideological attack, and being able to change other people's minds with words is much more powerful than using swords and guns.
However, he recently noticed a strange phenomenon.
Every time a major event is reported in the newspaper, there is always a sentence like "St. John said so-and-so" that appears at the end for some unknown reason.
John was full of doubts, he didn't even remember when he said these words.
What made him feel even more puzzled was that some abrupt words would often pop up in it, such as "the people of a country must have enough food and clothing, a house to live in, etc."
John knew that these contents might be intended to satirize the current situation of other countries, but he had never thought of becoming the "General of Cao County".
"Go tell the editor-in-chief of the Helderland Voice newspaper not to publish those sarcastic remarks about foreign countries in the newspaper in the future."
John put down the newspaper and spoke seriously to the civil servant beside him.
"They are not stupid. We are going to trade with them now. If we make the relationship so tense, it will not be good for trade."
You know, now that Helderland's export trade has established diplomatic relations with the countries in the Southwest Peninsula, it has built a huge trade network covering all the countries in the French Royal Palace.
With the strong promotion of the Helderland Chamber of Commerce, wooden products, iron utensils, and even some cold weapons produced by the Forest Territory have received extremely high praise abroad.
These products are not only of high quality but also in sufficient supply.
A set of Helderland wooden furniture has become a standard for comparison among the citizens of Midland, just like the three major items of Midland. People feel embarrassed to go out without it.
While John was thinking about trade matters, he told his servants to deal with the newspaper matter.
After finishing the work, he began to carefully review the documents submitted by various provinces.
John's attention was drawn when he saw the report sent by the Governor of the Norwegian Province.
The report mentioned that in some villages under his jurisdiction in the province of Norwegian, village officials convened the villagers to form village councils.
The village council made a unique decision to concentrate all the arable land, farm tools and oxen in the village together and have some of the villagers work on the land.
After the harvest, the profits are divided according to the proportion of land.
Other villagers can go to the city to find work without worry. After all, there are many job opportunities in the city and the pay is quite generous.
"That's good."
John murmured softly, with a hint of approval on his face. This system already looks like a medieval commune.
At present, with the unremitting efforts of village officials and priests sent from all over the country, various advanced agricultural tools have come into being.
The use of these agricultural tools directly shortened the villagers' working hours, allowing them to no longer be bound by their small piece of land and have more opportunities to pursue a better life.
"Well, it seems that other provinces should also pay attention to the practice of Norwegian Province."
John said to himself.
"We can organize some officials to go to the Norwegian province to study and promote this successful experience."
He walked to the desk, picked up a pen, and wrote on a piece of paper about organizing officials to inspect the village model in the Norwegian province. At the end, he concluded:
"Today, most people are no longer pursuing food and clothing, but a better life. We need to free villagers from the shackles of land while vigorously developing villages and towns to prevent excessive population loss in villages and towns."
……
Inside the council hall of the Yoda Empire's imperial capital, the air was so heavy that it was almost suffocating.
Under the tall dome, on both sides of the long conference table, noble councillors were arguing angrily or anxiously, and the air was filled with anxiety and uneasiness.
"These unruly people should be firmly controlled on the land!"
A noble congressman slammed the table and stood up, his face flushed red, and his voice echoed in the hall like thunder.
"Now the army and the manors need people everywhere. Without them, who will protect the country and provide us with food?"
"No, after the war, most of the serfs ran away."
Another noble shook his head, his tone helpless:
"Didn't you see? Helderland next door sent us another batch of refugees. These people ran away immediately after being sent to the border. We couldn't keep them at all."
"Then send the army after them! If they're dead, we'll find their bodies!"
The noble who slammed the table roared, with a fierce light flashing in his eyes.
"A bunch of unruly people should stay on the farmland where they belong and work themselves to death!"
"Send troops?"
Another noble sneered.
"The border war is tense right now. All the troops that can fight have been dispatched to fight. The ones in the territory are either private soldiers or peasants. The escaped slaves are all very smart. How many can we catch with just these people?"
“Increase taxes?”
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Yes, whatever makes money."
The nobleman sneered.
"Brothels, casinos, opium dens, these places have not yet been taxed, so we are now in a good position to fill the gap."
"And the priests."
He looked at everyone, a cunning glint in his eyes.
"Don't priests make a lot of money? Let's guarantee their indulgences - those who buy indulgences can be forgiven of some of their sins. The more they buy, the more sins they can be forgiven. Then, let the church and us share the profits. How about that?"
"What do you say, Speaker?"
He finally looked at the Speaker of the Parliament, Count Castori, who was sitting in the upper seat, with flattery and expectation in his eyes.
Count Castori sat in a high-backed chair and pondered for a moment.
Ever since they broke into the imperial capital and established the Parliament of Nobles to keep the country running, he had been elected as the Speaker of the Parliament because of his decisive killing methods, as well as his large number of soldiers, money, and vast territory.
However, now that the empire was in turmoil, serfs were leaving, and tax revenues were plummeting, he had to consider more practical means.
To put it bluntly, the nobles' proposal is to squeeze more benefits from those within the system or those who are dependent on the system.
Rich businessmen, priests, brothels, casinos... these people are either rich or powerful, but no matter what, they cannot escape the clutches of the nobles.
As long as they don't rebel or challenge the rule of the nobles, there will be no problem.
"So be it."
Count Castori nodded slowly, his voice low and majestic, "Go and draw up a legal document for me to see, and implement it as soon as possible."
"Yes, Speaker!" Everyone saluted, excitement gleaming in their eyes.
Inside the council chamber, the quarrels gradually died down, replaced by an eerie silence.
The nobles looked at each other, with the corners of their mouths slightly raised, as if they had already seen the huge amount of money flowing into their pockets.