Then the farmers who came to the city to attend the market discovered that this guild had something interesting!
Here you can find iron farm tools that look sturdy and durable, high-quality grains with full grains, and poultry such as chickens and ducks that are suitable for small farmers to raise, and the prices are acceptable.
In addition, there are many new farm tools that the locals have never seen before. The guild not only sells them, but also provides free training to teach you how to use these new things.
But what surprised and puzzled the farmers the most was that this guild could actually register members, had a rating system very similar to that of mercenaries, with occupational divisions and four membership levels.
However, most people just take a look and have no intention of registering.
In addition to farmers, local businessmen are also paying attention to the newly established farmers' association. Many people are not optimistic about the prospects of this new organization, and even have malicious intentions, hoping to see the governor mess up once.
Those who had this idea were mainly local grain merchants and farm tool merchants, because in their opinion, the establishment of this farmers' association actually "infringed" on their interests.
You have to know that the Farmers' Association is a semi-official organization, backed by the Governor's Office. Dick even directly transferred the annual land tax collection task from the private army to the Farmers' Association.
Yes! Before this, the tax collection work after the autumn harvest every year was carried out by the private army of the Governor's Office. The Governor would temporarily appoint a tax collection commissioner to lead the army to the countryside to collect grain. The scene was not much different from the style of the Japanese raiding the countryside.
The reason why the governor needs to temporarily appoint the tax commissioner every year, rather than setting up a corresponding official position and assigning a dedicated person to be in charge for a long time, is mainly because it is a lucrative job. If the lord or governor is not in charge personally, then let the bureaucrats take turns to "have a good time", otherwise it will not be conducive to "unity".
The result is that every commissioner will think about making full use of this rare opportunity to make a fortune for themselves, and they all rush to be the first.
But Dick is different from the previous governors. He treats Laguge as his own territory and wants to govern and develop it well. Naturally, he will not follow this old practice.
He set up this farmers' association and the liaison system that is being transformed into a post office in order to strengthen the Governor's Office's grassroots management capabilities over local villages.
Since the Farmers' Association collected taxes on behalf of the Governor-General's Office, it naturally obtained priority in purchasing grain.
This is a privilege specially set up by the feudal lord to ensure his own interests. That is, before the lord completes the taxation of the farmers, all grain merchants in the territory are not allowed to purchase, and even if they have money, they have to stand back.
Dick used this reasonable and legal privilege to allow the Farmers' Association to collect taxes while also using the "guide price" provided by the Governor's Office to purchase the surplus grain that farmers and farmers were preparing to sell for cash.
This guide price will be formulated with reference to grain sales prices across the empire, and will be adjusted accordingly every year based on grain price fluctuations to ensure that farmers are not harmed by low grain prices. At the same time, most of the surplus grain will be kept in the hands of the Governor's Office, which can also be used to stabilize local grain prices.
It can be said that with the establishment of the Farmers’ Association, it is basically impossible for grain merchants to use the “big bucket in, small bucket out” strategy of buying low and selling high, unless they have their own farms and play this trick on themselves.
The same is true for farm implement merchants. Farmers are not fools. After seeing the farm implements sold by the farmers' association, they naturally have reference objects and more choices. If you want to sell your farm implements at a higher price than the farmers' association, you have to work hard on the quality. If the quality cannot compare, you have to lower the price.
Dick did not mean to deny these merchants a way to survive, but he wanted them to be more cautious in their business. However, for many merchants, making less money meant losing money, so they were resentful of Dick but dared not speak out.
But there are also some businessmen who wisely choose to stand on Dick's side, not only because they fear the power represented by the Governor's Office, but also because they see real business opportunities.
These merchants discovered that with the presence of supervised tax officials, significantly improved guide prices, and land reclamation policies supported by the Governor's Office, as long as there were no natural disasters or man-made disasters in the next few years, the income of local civilians in Laguge would definitely increase significantly, and their purchasing power would also increase along with it.
Although the imperial capital is the only one in the empire in terms of purchasing power, and the masters in other places are not as rich as those in the imperial capital, the waters in the imperial capital are also deep. Many merchants do not want to do business in the imperial capital, but they do not have the strength and connections.
Therefore, if Laguge can really become prosperous under Dick's governance, many businessmen will be happy to see it happen even if they do not fully support this new strong-handed governor.
At the same time, at the Governor's Mansion, Dick was receiving a very special "visitor".
After nightfall yesterday, the other party came to the castle gate in a mysterious manner wearing a cloak and said that he had important matters to discuss and needed to meet the Governor in secret.
But it happened that Dick was not in the city yesterday, but went out to visit his master who was practicing in the mountains, so Tia, who stayed behind, asked someone to "invite" this mysterious guest into the castle first, and met with him in the capacity of the governor's confidential secretary. For safety reasons, White (Bai Qiangdai) took the initiative to serve as her guard.
However, in response to Tia's question, the other party insisted on waiting until he met the Governor in person.
Although Tia saw greed and cunning in the other person's eyes, she also saw that he had no intention of killing her, and his strength was not strong either, so she arranged a small room for him to stay in the castle first, and then arranged for him to meet the Governor when he returned the next day.
So when Dick, who had just returned at noon, heard that a guy who was obviously not a good person wanted to see him, he only thought about it for a moment and vaguely guessed the other party's identity.
"You...are from the mountains in the west, right?"
As soon as the two sides met, Dick just asked a tentative question and saw a look of shock on the other party's face, which was equivalent to tacit agreement.
"You don't look like a farmer. You're a trained... Blood Wolf Gang member, right? The pagans of the Deer Head Gang are not your type."
"I admire your foresight, Governor! I am indeed a member of the Blood Wolf Gang."
"Tell me, why are you here with me?"
"My little one...wants to turn from darkness to light!"
"Oh! How much do you want?"
When Dick heard the words "abandon the dark and join the light", he knew that the person in front of him must be a traitor who wanted to sell his boss for a good price, so he didn't bother to talk nonsense and asked the other party directly how much he wanted.
The traitor didn't expect the governor to be so direct and generous in spending money, which made him feel a little at a loss.
So subconsciously, he forgot about bargaining and directly quoted his expected price.
"Five, five hundred!"
"No problem. I'll give you 500 as a deposit, and another 500 after the deal is done. But let's get this straight to the point. I don't trust you, so I won't use you. If you help me defeat the Blood Wolf Gang, I'll forgive your sins and you leave Laguge. One thousand gold coins will be enough for you to live a carefree life for the rest of your life. How do you say that?"
"Okay, it's a deal."
Dick gave the thousand gold coins without hesitation and drafted the amnesty document in person.
Dick could tell that the man in front of him was probably a small leader in the Blood Wolf Gang, but as long as he wasn't a wanted criminal with a photo on the wanted list, Dick didn't even need to ask the Duke for permission to pardon such a person.
And one thousand gold coins sounds like a lot, but if it can help him take down the Blood Wolf Gang more easily, it is still worth the money.
The traitor was also very excited, secretly praising himself for making the right move.
When he learned about the demise of the Vulture Gang, he had already begun to think about becoming a traitor. A few days ago, in the lobby of the mountain stronghold, he accepted the task of assassinating the governor with a proud look on his face. He also boasted in front of the boss Woluf that he was "an expert in this field" just to take the opportunity to go down the mountain and into the city.
As a result, Woluf was really fooled by him and thought he had made a mistake.
Because Woluf had heard some rumors about assassins, saying that truly powerful assassins would deliberately not practice martial arts in order to better hide themselves.
Before going up the mountain to become a bandit, Erwuzai worked as a swindler for a while, so his acting skills are indeed quite good, and he performed with the confidence and composure of a top master.
Then this guy entered the city, first found an opportunity to kill the bandit brothers who came with him, and then went directly to the Governor's Office to "turn himself in."
The author says:
Author's words: I got up late and my head hurts.
041. Novice-level siege tutorial level
To be honest, if Dick just wanted to take down the Blood Wolf Gang, he didn't actually need this traitor.
The ninja team's previous reconnaissance work had been very complete. They had a clear understanding of the location of the Blood Wolf Gang's stronghold and the deployment of outer sentry posts. Dick was still very confident in his private army.
But the traitor did bring two very useful pieces of information.
First, there is a secret passage leading directly into the mountain village.
Second, the bandit leader Woluf has close ties with the pirate groups in the north, especially the Sea Tiger Gang. Woluf and their second-in-command are cousins.
On the other side, in the Blood Wolf Gang’s lair, the bandit leader Woluf was still waiting for news.
After the assassins left, Woluf, who had calmed down a little, felt a little uneasy, so he sent a second group of men to the city to gather information.
A few days later, the second group of brothers brought back shocking news that the new governor was suspected of being assassinated!
Three nights ago, many people in the town heard loud noises coming from the castle, saw flickering flames and columns of smoke rising to the sky against the flames. The next day, the castle was put under martial law, and the private soldiers who were originally on vacation in the town were urgently recalled to the barracks. Even the vigilante group was mobilized to block all intersections in the town and conduct strict inspections on pedestrians.
Soon after, rumors began to spread in the town that an assassin had sneaked into the castle to assassinate him. Although the two assassins were killed on the spot, the governor was also seriously injured. The doctors in the clinic were helpless and had to urgently send people to the mainland to invite a priest.
The cavalry team that hurried out of the city two days ago was specifically there to do this.
The two brothers in the second group had heard these rumors and believed them halfway. Then, two bodies quietly appeared on the shelf at the entrance of the town. One was burnt black and its original appearance could not be seen, while the other was someone they knew.
It was the brother that Woluf had sent to assist the assassin.
Just like that, the two younger brothers, who had believed it 100% or even 90% of the time, hurried out of the city and rushed back to the mountain stronghold to report this great "good news" to their boss.
"It's done? Really!"
Upon hearing that the Governor was in critical condition, although Woluf felt sorry that the other party was not killed on the spot, he also felt that even if the guy didn't die, he would definitely be scared after this wave.
As for the two assassins who were killed by mistake, it was no wonder that Woluf did not feel sad for their sacrifice for a moment, and even thought it was better this way, otherwise when that guy came back, he would definitely reward and promote him in order to win the support of the people. Woluf was reluctant to spend his money, and was even more worried that this guy would threaten his dominance in the Blood Wolf Gang in the future.
So death is better. He and the Governor perished together, which was the perfect ending he would be most happy to see!
However, just as Woluf was about to open champagne to celebrate, he didn't know that Governor Dick, who was rumored to be dying, was about to sneak into his lair through the "back ditch".
Intelligence fraud is also part of the tactics. Don’t blame me, it’s just that you don’t know how to play it!
At this time, in the dark and narrow tunnel, Dick was walking in the front of the team holding a staff that cast illumination magic, while the traitor was following closely beside him.
To be honest, when they first left the city, Erwuzai thought that the young governor was here to supervise the battle. However, when they arrived at the entrance of the cave, the other party followed the team into the tunnel without saying a word and even forced him to go along.
The traitor was a little reluctant at first, thinking that he only needed to lead the person to the entrance and the 1,000 gold coins would be his. But Dick actually asked him to follow for a while. The reason was, what if there was a fork in the road? It would be inappropriate for you, the guide, not to follow along, right?
So the traitor was taken into the tunnel, shoulder to shoulder with the governor. He could clearly feel that many eyes were staring at him. If he made any rash move, he might be pierced by thousands of arrows.
Fortunately, the journey was relatively safe and sound. We only found a few traps and mechanisms, and some of them were not activated.
According to the introduction of the traitor, this secret tunnel was a retreat prepared by Woluf for himself. Once the stronghold was breached, he could escape from the stronghold through this road. And the preset traps in the cave were prepared by him to delay the pursuers, and the trip ropes would be hung only when he was running.
The exit of the tunnel was located at the riverside. Woluf prepared a small boat for himself and went downstream into a fjord. He seemed to be planning to take the water route to join his cousin who was a pirate.
Unfortunately, he never had the chance to use this escape tunnel.
Soon, this elite force led by Dick arrived at the end of the tunnel and saw a closed secret door in front of them.
The door could not be opened from their side without destroying it.
Seeing that they had arrived at the designated location, Dick took out an expensive magic pocket watch from his pocket. He didn't have this thing originally, it was a gift from a wealthy businessman at the annual meeting.
During the anti-bandit campaign in late winter, they seized another magic pocket watch from a bandit's hideout in the eastern forest area. As a result, the two magic pocket watches became tactical props for the two teams to control time when they were divided into two groups for battle.
At this time, there were still about fifteen minutes before the battle plan began, so Dick asked everyone to rest for a while and make final preparations for the upcoming sudden battle.
According to the plan, the invading force and the main force outside the mountain stronghold will start the attack at the same time, letting the Blood Wolf Gang experience the sandwich situation of being sandwiched from the front and back.
In addition, according to the information provided by the traitor, there are also hostages in the Blood Wolf Gang's mountain stronghold, and there are quite a few of them, about 300 to 400 people, many of whom are half-grown children. Because this group of bastards has a close relationship with the pirates in the north, they have joined forces to engage in the ugly slave trade.
Most of these hostages are local mountain people, but their origins are very complicated. Some were captured from the foot of the mountain, some were abducted from the wild village, and some were "bought" by the bandits.
Most of the people in Yemin Village are poor people who hide in the mountains to avoid heavy taxes. Although some of them choose to rely on bandits, there are also some who can be won over.
The origins of these hostages in the bandits' hands can be said to be a good reference for Dick to identify the composition of these savage villages.
Soon, it’s time to take action!
Dick stretched out his hand and pressed it on the stone door, silently chanting a spell to use weathering, which is a kind of earth magic that can turn solid rocks into loose sand. But when using the spell, the magician needs to maintain contact with the target so that the magic power can be more efficiently infused into the rock.
This magic was developed by magicians during the ancient war period to deal with city walls, but these magicians soon discovered that how to get close to the enemy's city wall alive was much more difficult than the magic itself.
But now we are fighting in stealth mode, so this trick is really useful.
After a short while, the heavy stone door silently shattered into pieces.
"Soldiers, follow me!"
As soon as the door opened, Dick raised his arms and shouted in a low voice, but the first one to rush in was Joel, who moved as fast as lightning.
Joel did not participate in the previous anti-bandit campaign in the eastern forest area, but stayed in the castle to assist Tia with clerical work. The large amount of documents made her a little irritated, so she took the initiative to volunteer for this campaign, with the intention of finding a chance to vent.
At this time in the mountain stronghold, Woluf gathered his men and announced a "sad news" that their brother who volunteered to assassinate the governor unfortunately died after succeeding.
In front of everyone, Woluf mourned his "good brother" with tears in his eyes. After that, he did not forget to ask someone to bring out the wine and raised his glass to toast his good brother.
Then everyone saw a beautiful black-haired beauty with a great figure kicking open the door of the boss' bedroom and rushing out.
Seeing the bad guys gathered together, Yoel was stunned for a moment.
The members of the Blood Wolf Gang were equally confused when they saw her.
Woluf didn't know why this strange woman came out of his room, and the younger brothers were shocked that the boss actually had a mistress. But then, a group of armored men came out of the boss's room, and everyone woke up from their dreams.
"It's the noble army!"
The same exclamation was heard almost simultaneously inside and outside the village.
Although the Blood Wolf Gang's stronghold was also built on a hillside, it was not as steep as the Vulture Gang's Ghost Crying Peak. Four infantry teams of fifty people directly launched an attack from the front with shields in formation.
Except for a few centurions who had practiced martial arts, most of the soldiers were ordinary people, and the bandits guarding the stronghold were even worse, because the leaders who had some strength were all called by the boss to hold a "memorial service".
"…So the Governor said that this is a rare opportunity for actual combat, giving our people the chance to fight a novice-level siege battle."
Behind the front line, Hei Qiangdai smiled and talked about the Governor's intention this time with the staff who came over for "battlefield observation".
When the honest knight John heard about the "practicing siege warfare", he felt that something was wrong. What did it mean for the garrison to practice siege warfare? But after thinking about it, he felt that there was nothing wrong.
When the empire goes to war abroad, it will issue conscription orders to the noble fiefdoms in the neighboring areas. As one of the fiefdoms of the Best family, Laguge will have to send troops whenever there is a war in the north. At that time, there will inevitably be sieges, so letting the soldiers practice in this low-difficulty village in advance is indeed a good choice.
Since the command system, which was not very efficient to begin with, had been wiped out due to Yoel's great activity, the remaining men were leaderless, and they all became a little overwhelmed when they saw the regular army shield formation slowly pressing up the hillside like four giant iron turtles.
