Any soldier, as long as they were ambitious, had a dream of becoming a general.
It was just that the First Princess preferred to think of them as a direct, lethal force, and liked them to protect her castle.
Roland, on the other hand, thought differently.
He believed that spirits and ideas could be spread.
The sheep led by the lion would be brave, and similarly, the generals and soldiers loyal to the First Princess would slowly become loyal to the First Princess.
Of course, there was a premise that the general's thinking wouldn't change, and when a person's status and identity changed, their thinking would slowly change as well. This was an uncertain factor.
No one dared to guarantee that someone would be loyal to someone forever.
It was just that Roland didn't need the general to be loyal to the First Princess for a lifetime, just a few years.
A few years, as long as the news didn't leak, would be enough for Roland to build the base of the floating city.
After a moment of stunned silence, the middle-aged soldier looked at Roland, who had a faint smile on his face, and after a moment of silence, his expression struggled, and finally became solemn. He said, "Of course we're willing, all one hundred of our brothers are willing."
Roland nodded. "Then it's very simple. You're all very strong, I can see that, so … I don't care what method you use, as long as you don't hurt the innocent, don't let the whole city fall into chaos, and put Judson and the other five under house arrest. Although they want to kill me, they were promoted by the First Princess before, after all, and I have to give her some face no matter what."
"I understand." The middle-aged man's eyes were bright, burning with a raging flame called ambition. "And after house arrest?"
"Do I still need to teach you?" Roland said matter-of-factly. "Of course, take over their men, and then listen to the orders of me and the First Princess."
The middle-aged soldier held back his excitement, suppressing his slightly trembling body.
He licked his somewhat dry lower lip and once again knelt on one knee. "I will always be loyal to Mr. Roland, loyal to Her Highness the First Princess, and this heart will never change."
Roland nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, go do it, and when it's successful, tell me your name."
The middle-aged man's heart skipped a beat, and he understood what Roland meant: If you don't succeed, don't come back.
But in fact, this was just the wrong result of the ambitious overthinking of the superior.
Roland simply didn't want to waste any more time and let them act early.
The middle-aged soldier, overthinking, looked solemn and a bit nervous as he led his brothers out of the castle.
It was already evening, and when Roland entered the main hall of the castle, several maids immediately served dinner that had been prepared.
A few candles were lit on the long black dining table. The castle made of giant rocks was cool during the day, but it was especially warm at night.
After all, rocks had a property — absorbing heat during the day and releasing heat at night.
After all, rocks had a property — they absorbed heat during the day and released heat at night.
Very soon, the tax officer came in from outside, together with a few fat middle-aged men. They stood next to Roland, looking a little panicked.
On as possible, they. as the as possible, as, as, they, as, they, they., a as. as as as as as as of as they, they, of of as of as as possible.
After all, who would think about something that wasn't a threat all day?
So, when this group of people moved, they were surprised to discover that they had underestimated the power of the First Princess.
They had also underestimated the determination of this temporary lord who had descended from nowhere.
"Have a seat," Roland said as he gently pushed the dinner aside.
Only the tax officer cautiously pulled out a chair and sat down, while the other merchants remained standing.
They were big merchants, very rich.
But in front of the nobles, in front of absolute power, their money couldn't make them stand straighter, nor could it guarantee their lives and the safety of their families.
Seeing that they were shaking like frightened quails, Roland didn't force them, then said, "I'm not here to kill people, nor do I want to change the environment and structure here. But some people don't want me to stay, so I can only strike first. As long as you don't oppose me, things will be easy. "
No one dared to speak, including the tax officer, who didn't dare to look at Roland.
The dual identities of a temporary lord and a mage brought about a considerable deterrence.
"It seems that you welcome me very much." Roland laughed self-deprecatingly and continued, "Tax officer, I want you to do your job and collect as much tax as possible in this city, and I'll send more people to you. Remember, we don't collect more taxes, but we can't let others evade them either. If someone refuses to pay, or pays less and dares to resist, you have the right to arrest them directly. If they are too fierce and dare to resist, you can come to me, and I'll back you up. "
A lot of materials were needed to build a floating city, and without stable funds to buy magic materials, the construction progress would definitely be greatly affected.
So Roland's second order of business was to ensure the steady development of tax revenue.
The tax officer nodded heavily, then wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and said, "Yes, Mr. Roland."
"As for you …" Roland looked at the merchants and found that their bodies were still shaking, so he smiled and said, "Don't be so afraid, as long as you pay enough taxes, I won't make things difficult for you."
As soon as these words came out, the merchants' bodies trembled even more.
Roland was stunned for a moment, then sighed helplessly. "Sure enough, merchants die for money."
He understood that this group of merchants had probably evaded taxes. When the butler invited them over, these people were already thinking about it and worried that this was a Feast at Hongmen. But when Roland saw that they were talking about taxes, they immediately thought that they had been exposed. Now that they were talking about "dying for money," they were so scared that they thought that Roland was going to kill a typical example to establish his authority.
There were even two fat merchants who had water stains on their crotches.
"This is my first day here. As long as you don't think about driving me away, I won't do anything to you." Roland thought for a moment and continued, "But tax evasion is illegal after all, and I can't just let it go. I've decided to give us a chance. Within three days, go to the tax officer, pay all the taxes, and pay a penalty of 20% of the taxes."
Roland patted the table lightly, and with a smack, the group of merchants was so frightened that they all subconsciously shrank their necks.
"That's my decision, who agrees and who objects?"
No one dared to make a sound.
For some reason, although Roland's last question sounded very gentle, without any negative emotions in it, after they heard it, they felt a chill run down their backs, as if a cold wind was blowing hard at their waist and kidneys.
Cold sweat trickled down their backs, and their waist was sore and painful, but no one dared to move.
"Very good. Let's put aside taxes for now. "
All the merchants heaved a sigh of relief when they heard this.
Roland put a few pieces of paper on the table, then the butler picked up the paper and gave a copy to all the merchants.
"I'm a Mage, and I need a lot of materials to study magic." Roland's gaze stopped on the tax officer for a moment and he said, "And you, help me keep an eye out for these magic materials. If you find them, help me buy them back. I'll buy all the magic materials on this list at 15% of the market price. I want both quantity and quality. "
Hearing that Roland wanted them to help buy the goods, these merchants were much more relaxed.
They now felt that Roland didn't seem to have much malice toward them, nor did he have that kind of condescending attitude.
Feeling that they had taken a walk in hell, these merchants naturally didn't dare to argue with Roland, and they all said that they would help Roland find all the magic materials on this piece of paper.
Having the butler send the merchants away, Roland said to the tax officer who was still sitting, "The money to buy the magic materials will be withdrawn from the tax, but don't let this affect the development of Motasos. Also, how much tax does the territory collect every month? You have to make a list of the income and expenditure for me, understand?"
The tax officer nodded quickly.
After the tax officer left, the middle-aged soldier returned. He and the other elite soldiers easily captured five military officers and brought them to the main hall.
During the arrest, some troops saw that their leader was captured and tried to resist, but they were suppressed before they could do anything.
Looking at the five military officers who were tightly tied up, Roland was quite satisfied.
These hundred elites were as strong as he had imagined.
At this moment, Judson's eyes were bloodshot and crimson as he stared at Roland and roared, "Roland, how dare you do this. If I die, the capital will definitely send someone to kill you too. Let me go, and I'll leave on my own."
For Judson, the identity of the royal bloodline might be the last protective charm.
Once used, there would be no more.
But living was much better than becoming a pile of dirt.
"Send them to prison. Remember, their food can't be too bad. They have to be raised white and tender to sell for a good price," Roland said with a smile. "If someone comes to ransom them, each person will have to pay a hundred gold coins to take them away, or they'll have to go to prison for two or three years."
Several elite soldiers immediately stepped forward and dragged away the five military officers who had little ability to resist. Along the way, Judson's extremely angry curses could be heard.
Roland looked at the middle-aged soldier. "Well done, and fast. Now you can tell me your name."
"Fauci Doyle," the middle-aged man said in fear and trepidation.
"Fauci, take your men and fully take over the 'property' left behind by those five men." Roland stared into the middle-aged man's eyes, as if trying to see through his nature. "Remember, I still say the same thing, the more you work, the more you get."
Fauci felt that Roland's eyes were a bit frightening and immediately lowered his head, not daring to meet Roland's gaze.
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