Coma was an ordinary farmer near Satu Mare City. He had a family of five and six acres of land. Although he wasn't very rich, he was living a good life. This year's autumn harvest was over, and the six acres of land had a bountiful harvest. Wheat was piled up in the warehouse, and Coma had also completed the most important work of the year. Now, he just had to wait for the feudal lord to settle the taxes and sell some food in the city. After that, he would rest for the entire winter.
"Coma! Hurry to the village square. The official document is here. " Coma was sitting in front of his house drinking tea when someone ran over hurriedly. He looked up and saw that it was Devas, who lived next door to him.
"Oh, the autumn tax?" Coma nodded. It was about time. He had already prepared for it, so he stood up and followed Devas to the village square. There was a small wooden platform, and Village Chief Eke was speaking on it.
"Everyone is here?" Village Chief Eke looked at the people below. Basically, every household had sent someone, so he nodded and said, "Everyone, I believe you all know why I called you here today. The annual autumn harvest is over, and now it's time to pay the taxes. This year, Satu Mare City, which our West Kerr Village belongs to, is no longer a territory of the empire. Everyone knows that there is a new duke, and the entire Lancaster region has become the Lancaster Duchy. Our village is now part of the Lancaster Duchy's territory, so this year's tax was just decided by the duke. The official document has been sent to Satu Mare, and I just went to take a look."
"Chief, we already know. Just tell us what the tax is," a villager said. A villager said. Every household had been informed of the change of the owner of this place a few days ago. Everyone knew that the boss had become the Duke of Aquitaine, but it had nothing to do with them. They still had to pay taxes every year. Could it be that they didn't have to pay taxes just because the owner had changed?
"Alright, everyone, listen up. This year, the tax set by the duke is … 70%!" The village chief suddenly raised his voice and shouted at the villagers.
"Huh?" The people below were stunned. Did they hear wrongly?
"Yes, I also couldn't believe it the first time I heard it. It's actually 70%. This, this is simply an impossible tax rate. Sir Overlord is really … too … too good to us!" The village chief was so moved that tears streamed down his old face as he spoke.
“70%？ 70%！ Heavens, Sir Lord actually wants to charge us a 70% tax rate! " The villagers also came back to their senses and immediately began to panic. "There are eight people in my family. If we pay 70% tax, won't we starve to death? This … this is simply too awesome! "
"Oh my god, this new lord is too kind. He actually collected a 70% tax rate. Great, my family is going to starve to death. Looks like I'll have to sell my son. Thank you, my lord!" A villager at the side said gratefully.
"70% ah, I have never met such a good lord. Thank the Light God for sending such a kind lord to us."
"Finally, we can't survive anymore. This is great. Ke Ma, did you hear that? It looks like our whole family is going to starve to death this year." Devons said excitedly as he pulled Koma along. They had a large family, and their brothers were generally more fertile. There were a total of 11 of them, and they did not have much land. In previous years, the 15% tax had been a little tight, and this year, there was no way they could survive. This made Devons so excited that he could not control himself.
"That's great, Devons!" Koma also felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He was very happy for his neighbor who wanted his whole family to starve to death. A 70% tax, and his family would not starve to death this year. Although it was not a big deal, Koma was still quite happy. "Fellow villagers, I am so excited to hear this.
I have been the village chief for more than ten years, and you have never seen such an insane tax rate. Furthermore, the empire now requires all the lords to rest and recuperate. We can't charge such a high tax rate. Sir Lord, for the sake of our livelihood, took such a huge risk and collected 70% tax from us. This … this is such a great lord! "Chief Emma said as he patted his chest.
"Long live Sir Lord!" "Long live Sir Lord!"
Without needing the village chief's reminder, the villagers immediately shouted loudly. Devons and Koma immediately followed suit. Everyone was grateful from the bottom of their hearts, and their shouts shook the earth.
"Everyone be quiet, everyone be quiet." Village Chief Emma immediately gestured for everyone to quiet down. Soon, the scene calmed down again. Emma then said, "Everyone, I have decided that in order to thank Sir Lord for his kindness, I will personally go to Sovata City. I hope to personally thank the great Sir Lord."
"Chief, I want to go too!" A villager immediately shouted.
"I want to go too! My family will definitely starve to death this year. Before that, I must thank Sir Lord! "
"I want to go too!" "I want to go!"
"Everyone be quiet!" Emma tapped the ground with his walking stick and said, "I will go. The tax official will be here tomorrow. All of you should prepare here and try to pay the tax as soon as possible. Sir Lord is so good to us, we should not cause trouble for Sir Lord. I will pass on your goodwill to Sir Lord."
"The village chief is right." The villagers nodded. If everyone left, the tax official wouldn't be able to find them. Wouldn't this be delaying Sir Lord's tax? Sir Lord was so good to them, they couldn't do this.
"Yes, Chief. We will stay and cooperate with the tax official to pay the tax immediately," the villagers said one after another.
"Good … I will leave today. Tomorrow, my son Selwyn will greet the tax official in my place. Everyone must cooperate well and not cause trouble for Sir Lord. Understood?" Chief Emma urged.
"Don't worry, Chief. We will definitely cooperate well!" The villagers replied one after another.
"Alright, dismissed. I will also prepare to leave," Chief Emma said with a wave of his hand.
The villagers immediately dispersed and went home. They wanted to inform their families of this good news so that they could be happy.
The next day, on the way to West Core Village, the tax official Pavlov had a nervous look on his face as he walked towards West Core Village. He really didn't want to come. This year's tax was simply not collected by humans. Was this a tax collection? This was clearly a robbery. How could the peasants survive if you collected 70% tax? This was definitely a rebellion.
The city lord, Bakwu, had already ordered martial law. When the tax official was sent in the morning, Pavlov, who wasn't supposed to be chosen, was actually chosen. The reason was that his superior had resigned the day before. Of course, his cowardly superior would have run away long ago when faced with this kind of situation. Unfortunately, Pavlov didn't have the time to react. This morning, he was directly appointed by the city lord. Now, there were more than 30 city guards following behind him. They said that they would protect him, but in reality, Pavlov knew that they were afraid that he would run away.
Imagining what would happen today, there would be a lot of angry villagers questioning him about the tax rate. Then, they would be so agitated that they would kill him, the tax collector, and start an uprising. The more Pavlov thought about it, the more scared he became. The more scared he was, the slower he walked. The city guards behind him didn't know what was going on and kept urging Pavlov to hurry up.
After a long time, Pavlov finally arrived at the entrance of West Core Village. This was his first stop. However, Pavlov felt that he wouldn't be able to make it to the next stop. These hundred pounds of tax would definitely be lost here today.
"They're coming, they're coming!" Just as they arrived at the entrance of the village, Pavlov's group was discovered by a few villagers who were waiting for them. The villager who reported the news immediately went to find the acting village chief, Selwyn.
"It's over … it's over …" Pavlov immediately saw a large group of agitated villagers rushing towards them. Pavlov's legs softened, and he almost couldn't stand still.
"What do you want? Stop!" The city guards behind him immediately stepped forward and blocked the villagers.
"Is this the tax official?" The acting village chief, Selwyn, stepped forward and asked.
"This is the tax official, Mr. Pavlov. He's going to West Core Village to collect taxes. You lowly people, why are you blocking his way? Don't you know what kind of crime it is to delay the collection of taxes?" The city guard captain stepped forward and shouted at the villagers.
"Mr. Pavlov, please forgive us!" The villagers were shocked. They immediately knelt down and said in unison to Pavlov, who was in the middle.
"Eh? Why is it different from what I imagined? " On this side, Pavlov was stunned. Shouldn't a few people rush up and tear me into pieces? Why didn't it feel like that was the case? It was the first time that a small official like him was called Lord Pavlov. Pavlov felt quite happy in his heart. Emboldened, Pavlov took a step forward and said, "I am the tax collector Pavlov. You … What are you doing?"
"Mr. Pavlov, I am Selwyn, the son of West Core Village's chief. My father asked me to receive you. It wasn't easy for you to come here. The village has already prepared a banquet, and we're just waiting for you to come. I hope you'll do us the honor," Selwyn said immediately.
"Wine … banquet?" Pavlov didn't understand at all. It was good enough that they didn't tear him into pieces. Preparing a banquet for him? Are you kidding me?
"Yes, sir, please hurry up and enter the village," Selwyn said again.
"That's not right. Why is this guy smiling so happily?" Pavlov didn't know what was going on. He began to let his imagination run wild. "There must be a problem. There must be a problem with this banquet. Could it be that they want to capture me alive? Or that they want to poison us because there are so many people here?"
"Bastard!" Pavlov gathered his courage and stepped forward. "I … I don't have time to drink. Hurry up and pay the taxes. I … I still have to go to the next place."
"Sir, please forgive us!" Selwyn immediately said. "Then please enter the village and rest for a while. We will start paying the taxes immediately."
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