Before dark, just after Sean had dinner, Morris came to the castle and handed a list to Sean.

There are twenty people on this list, all of which were carefully selected by Morris.

Including Morris and his ten trainee knights, there were eleven people in total, and the other nine were selected from the militia and insiders of the castle. These were all smart and quick-responsive guys.

After reading this list, Sean frowned and said, "All ten trainee knights participated in training, wouldn't there be no one to patrol the territory?"

Morris said: "Lord is too worried. These ten trainee knights have a little understanding of crossbow shooting skills. As long as I tell them the skills of crossbow operation, they will get started soon. As for practice, you can take time. The remaining nine civilian shooters need a lot of practice time because they have not been exposed to such weapons."

Sean nodded, "Just make arrangements."

Morris smiled and said, "Although these crossbows are powerful, they are very simple to operate. With a little training, these militia can fight in actual combat."

Sean sighed, "The sooner the better. At present, no one knows when the Fanged Thieves will appear."

Speaking of this, he seemed to have thought of something and suddenly reminded: "When training tomorrow, remember to clear the surrounding area of ​​the training ground, and there are no people involved in the idleness and irrelevant people, so it is strictly forbidden to approach."

Morris knew that the Lord did not want to leak the news, so he nodded quickly and said, "This is how I arranged the training in the afternoon. Except for the twenty of us, outsiders did not know anything, and even Kukochi didn't know what was going on."

"You think very thoughtful."

Sean agreed: "In addition to rushing to train, the people who inspect the territory and borders cannot relax. If there are any abnormal signs, report to me as soon as possible."

"Okay, Lord Lord."

"It's getting late, so you can go back early to rest. You've been busy these days."

"Yes, Lord Lord!" Morris saluted and left.

Just before he stepped out of the room, Sean suddenly said, "Oh, by the way, tomorrow, the people participating in the training will be provided by the castle."

"If this is the case, it would be the best. I think they will definitely praise the Lord."

Morris smiled, then went downstairs in a good mood.

As soon as I walked out of the castle gate, I saw the government official Kukochi, who looked like a thin monkey, coming over with a sad face.

After seeing Morris, Kukoc was stunned for a moment, then showed a hypocritical smile, "What a coincidence, I didn't expect to meet Knight Morris!"

Morris snorted coldly and ignored him.

This guy probably came to persuade the lord to take refuge in the Graystone Castle again.

He really doesn't like this hypocritical and greedy guy.

Seeing Morris ignoring his existence and passing by directly, Kukochi's cross-eyed eyes almost flew out.

"Being a knight is so rude, a reckless man with a strong limb is really annoying!"

Kukoc stared at Morris's burly back, cursed in his heart, then adjusted his emotions and quickly entered the castle.

Sean saw Morris away, and just sat down for a while, Kukochi's knocking sound came from outside.

"Lord!"

"Come in!"

Sean looked at Kukochi who was pushing the door and said, "Come here so late, is there something wrong?"

Kukochi smiled awkwardly and said, "Lord, it's about territorial taxation."

Sean frowned, "Have the tax revenue not collected this year?"

Kukochi nodded and sighed: "The harvest this year is bleak, and the cold winter is approaching. If many serfs in the territory pay the annual tax, it is estimated that the remaining food will be difficult for them to survive this winter."

When Shawn heard this, he felt a little upset.

The problems facing the Black Hawk Territory are not only the problems of thieves, but also various food shortages.

But then again, although this government official was a little greedy and afraid of death, he did his best to manage the territory, not only knew how to consider the lord, but also for the serfs.

Thinking of this, Sean said slowly: "If we don't collect annual taxes, how can we support our knights, war horses, and ourselves? It's the end of the year, our Black Hawk Town will have to pay a territorial tax to Snow Wolf City. For example, you and the two government officials under you need to pay compensation every month, will you work for me for free?"

Kukochi's face turned red and he said embarrassedly: "I mean to delay the affiliated tax of Snow Wolf City and reduce part of the annual tax of serfs. Otherwise, those serfs will not survive and they will sooner or later escape to the Greystone Fort."

"The development of the territory cannot be separated from serfs. If the population of Blackhawk Town is getting smaller and smaller, then the fiscal revenue of our territory will become smaller and smaller. What's more important is that these serfs know that the Baron of Graystone Castle and the Blackhawk Territory are in opposition, and the Blackhawk Territory is full of thieves every winter. If you escape there, you will not be expelled. Instead, you have greater hope of living..."

After hearing him say it, Sean thought deeply for a moment, feeling that he was worried, so he nodded and said, "Okay, let's do what you said."

Seeing that Sean agreed with his proposal, Kukoc was very happy.

He looked at Sean and said hesitantly: "Lord, the Fangs Thieves may invade our territory at any time. You said we..."

"Don't mention this matter again in the future!"

Sean said expressionlessly, "Mr. Kukochi, we won't go anywhere this winter. Also, don't have the idea of ​​running away at any time. According to the contract you signed with the territory before, you will have to work in Blackhawk Town for three years. During this period, you can't go anywhere without my consent. If you dare to escape privately, I will cut off your head."

Speaking of this, Sean stared at him coldly, "Even if you escape into the Graystone Castle, Baron Sabi dared not to accommodate you. According to the Treaty of Protection of the Principal Lords, the knights and government officials will be sentenced to death for treason!"

Upon hearing this, Kukochi couldn't help but tremble.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, tried to squeeze out a flattering smile, and said, "Lord, I, Kukochi, will definitely fulfill the spirit of the contract and swear allegiance to Baron Sean to the death."

"That's the best!"

Sean said lightly: "If nothing is wrong, you can go down first."

"Good night, my respected Lord!" Kukoc saluted respectfully, and then left carefully.

Looking at Kukoc's back as he left, Sean thought secretly.

It has to be said that in this world, the contract system does protect the interests and authority of the lords and nobles.

Like many territories, most knights and government officials, and they and the lords, are in employment relations.

The employment period is usually at least three years.

After the two parties reach a price agreement, they will sign a contract under the witness of the church justice teacher, and then the lord pays a part of the signing fee, and pays according to the contract for the rest of the month. After the contract is completed, the lord will also pay some contract completion fee.

When paying wages every month, you need to go to the church under the witness of the Justice Teacher to avoid lying or causing unnecessary disputes.

After signing the contract, within the specified period, no matter the knight or the government personnel, they must swear allegiance to the lord.

Although the lords do not have the right to decide their life and death, once they betray the lords or turn against them, the lords have the right to punish them for death.

At the same time, in the entire Tulip Principality, any territory, no matter how conflicts and hatred there are between the two sides, must cooperate in the pursuit and capture, and shall not be taken privately, otherwise, it will be an enemy of the entire Principality.

Of course, if the lord violates the contract, or goes bankrupt and has no money to pay the remuneration, then they can appeal to the church, terminate the contract and restore their freedom under the judgement of the Justice Master.

As for those fleeing serfs, the Principality enacted a special protection law for them.

For example, if serfs leave their territory and flee into cities directly under the principality, and are not recovered for more than a day, they are free people. Whether they can survive or whether they will sell themselves to the serf market again is another matter.

As for escaping into other territories as serfs, usually, the territories mainly abide by the principles and expelled these serfs who entered the territory privately back to their original territory.

But most serfs fled into hostile lords, so those serfs who fled to the Greystone Fort in Black Hawk territory basically would not come back unless they came back voluntarily.

The Principality also turned a blind eye to the serfs' escape. It was useless for Sean to complain.

In the words of the Grand Duke of Tulip, the serfs fled the territory because the lords failed in their rule. If they were given a full meal, no serf would risk beheading their heads and leave the place they had worked hard to manage.

Thinking of this, Sean sighed deeply.

What kind of world is this? It is like medieval Europe, but it doesn’t look like it.

According to his memory of the previous life, although the church in medieval Europe had great influence, it was far from reaching the level of creation of the Divine God in this world.

The Creation God in this world almost monopolizes cultural communication, medical care and paper printing.

If you are injured and sick, you will either spend money to go to the church to seek treatment for clergy or bleed yourself. If you dare to find a witch doctor without authorization, then wait for the verdict.

If you read and read, you can only go to church.

If you buy paper, you can only go to the church.

To become a noble lord, you must also have a church and be blessed by the bishop.

Basically, in every territory, whether remote or bitter, there are churches and justice teachers.

They are almost omnipresent and control the political classes in various countries and territories through various methods, which makes them always stand high and look down on the royal power change and the world pattern of this continent.

Not to mention anything else, Tulip Grand Duke was not independent from the Lion Kingdom because he received the support of the Red Robe Archbishop, and established Tulip Principality.

In the future, if your Black Hawk territory wants to grow and grow, the Creation God Cult is a hurdle that is difficult to overcome, and sooner or later there will be conflicts and conflicts between the two sides.

Because he doesn't want to be a puppet controlled by the church.
Chapter completed!