nycdaug Chapter 18 Tax Increases and Militia Conscription
Chapter 18 Tax Increases and Militia Conscription
The cavalry commander snorted coldly, his tone carrying a hint of seriousness: "Because of those sea savages!"
Those scourges are our mortal enemies. Every year, they sail south in longships to plunder coastal villages, burn fishing boats, and slaughter coastal villagers.
They don't deserve to be called Vanskerry people; they're just a bunch of mad dogs from the North Sea!
"These mad dogs have completely gone mad this year!"
"You probably don't know, but for the past month, they've launched an unusually large-scale invasion of the west coast, plundering and slaughtering dozens of villages along the coast—leaving no one alive, men, women, or children!"
"Now even inland areas like ours, we've discovered pirates..."
The cavalry commander paused, then spoke again in a deep voice:
"My lord, you must expand the city's defenses, organize a military force capable of resisting the pirates' invasion, and, more importantly, guard against that greedy lion from the east taking the opportunity to launch a sneak attack!"
"All of this costs money, and to defend against external enemies, this money naturally needs to be contributed by everyone in the territory!"
"Commander, we are inland, how could pirates..." Old Yar was about to say something more when he was interrupted by the cavalry commander:
"This is the lord's decree, there's no room for negotiation! Unless you decide you don't want to live here anymore!"
Roger listened quietly to everything. When he heard about the pirate invasion, he had a vague sense of foreboding.
Before Rogge and his companions arrived at Broken Amber Village, he had already encountered and detected the pirates' presence deep inland... That was a month ago!
The delivery of government orders, which are usually conveyed by local magistrates or low-ranking knights, was unusual in this instance, as it was delivered by a small private army unit of the lord.
Unless it's an emergency, or this cavalry squad is just passing by and taking a jab at the two villages.
This scourge of pirates is likely to be far more severe than imagined!
……
Before everyone could recover from the shock of the tax increase, the cavalry commander's words dealt another fatal blow to the two village chiefs:
"The second thing!"
To defend against the pirates, the lord ordered that all villages within his territory must conscript militia to the fortress.
The cavalry commander's gaze swept over the two villager yars beside his warhorse, his tone leaving no room for argument:
"Each of your two villages shall recruit forty able-bodied militiamen, who must report to the fortress in one week!"
Everyone must bring their own weapons and equipment; not a single person can be missing, not a single person can be late, and absolutely no elderly, sick, or disabled people can be used to make up the numbers—only able-bodied young men!
"Failure to complete any of these tasks will be treated as disobeying the Lord's military orders!"
"What! So many people!" Old Yar exclaimed.
"Commander, this won't do! In previous years, there were only about ten or twenty people!"
"Our Duanpo Village only has a few dozen able-bodied men. If the lord takes away forty of them, what will happen to the women, children, and the elderly?"
Who will farm the land in the village? Who will fish?
The face of the villager, Yar'orsen, who was standing next to him, also darkened completely. He unusually agreed with old Yar's words.
"Yes, Commander, this won't do! We don't have that many able-bodied men in Gangde Village..."
Gangde Village did have more able-bodied men than Duanpo Village, but not by much. Taking away forty men at once would still be a devastating blow.
"It's only a short-term conscription, and besides, it's the lord's order; there's no room for negotiation!"
The cavalry commander's tone remained unyielding, his face as cold as an ice cellar in winter.
"The pirates are about to reach our doorstep. If you don't want your village to be looted and your families slaughtered, then obey our orders!"
Olsen was no longer as respectful as before, and even tried to argue, "Commander, it is precisely because we need to protect the village that we should leave more able-bodied men in the village, in case..."
"There's no chance of anything going wrong! Your two villages are conveniently located south of the fortress, with rolling mountains to the east and the vast East Lake to the west. With the fortress at the forefront, what manpower do you need to leave to guard the villages?"
"Seven days from now, the lord will see you. If even one of you is missing, the lord will chop off both of your heads and use them as bowls!"
A deathly silence fell over the scene. The two orders—the tax increase and the conscription of militia—weighed down on the hearts of all the villagers in the two villages like two mountains.
The two villages, which had been hostile to each other just moments before, were now filled with confusion and helplessness. Many young people had fear and despair on their faces as they realized that they would most likely be conscripted.
For ordinary people, going to the battlefield is like putting their lives on the line; it's tantamount to personally knocking on the door of death.
Most unscrupulous lords tend to first use civilian troops to deplete the enemy's military strength.
Even more extreme, some of the lords of Evey and Evey III, upon entering the battlefield, immediately ordered their respective territories to launch an attack (of course, this may only be a very small number of lords).
Launching a direct charge often leads to the separation of cavalry and infantry. Infantry composed largely of civilian soldiers are often caught off guard by enemy cavalry and suffer heavy casualties.
……
Seeing that the situation was beyond repair, and listening to the murmurs of discontent from the villagers in the two surrounding villages, Old Yar closed his eyes helplessly.
When he opened his eyes again, old Yar's gaze became firm once more. He took a few steps forward, stood before his warhorse, and looked up into the eyes of the cavalry commander.
"Commander, if every village follows this procedure, Broken Amber Village will obey your orders. In a week, forty able-bodied men from Broken Amber Village will arrive at the fortress on schedule, armed with weapons!"
The next second, old Yar suddenly turned around, his gaze fixed on Osen in Gangde Village.
"The Commander is here, and I must make myself clear!"
"Aosen of Gangde Village has blatantly broken his oath, forcibly seizing the northern tidal flats that have sustained my Duanpo Village for generations. He has repeatedly robbed my village of its fish catch and even assaulted and injured my villagers. This is absolutely true!"
"Now that the Commander is here, I demand that you render a fair judgment!"
Otherwise, even if it comes to the Lord's ears, I, Rolf, will not yield an inch!
Olsen's eyes widened instantly; he hadn't expected that the old man would still hold onto this issue.
"You want me to make a ruling?" the cavalry commander said in a low voice.
"Yes, Commander, since you are here representing the Lord, please make a fair judgment according to our tradition!"
"I demand that Aosen stop encroaching on the neighboring village's land, immediately return all the stolen fish, apologize to my Duanpo village, and compensate the injured villagers for all their medical expenses!"
The cavalry commander also learned some of the inside story: Gondo Village was in the wrong first and had indeed injured the other side's men!
To be honest, he didn't really want to get involved. The lord sent him here only to intimidate, but it didn't seem right to leave the matter unresolved. If things escalated, he wouldn't be able to explain himself when he returned...
If he accepts the judgment, and if the judgment is unfair, especially if it's made in the lord's name, and if the matter is brought to the lord's attention, it will inevitably have a negative impact on him...
For a moment, the cavalry commander fell silent.
"Rolf, do you think the Commander's words don't exist? You're being incredibly shameless!" Olsen shouted angrily, pointing his finger at old Jarl's nose.
Old Yar remained expressionless and said in a deep voice:
"Please make the decision, Your Excellency!"