There were still many nobles in the Kingdom of Florence who were against Suhlen and publicly declared that they did not recognize Suhlen's throne. Previously, Suhlen did not have the time to deal with them because of his limited military strength. However, these people became more and more troublesome.
The few Suhlen families in the north had already been annihilated by Marquis Suhlen's army. With a legendary warrior like Marquis Savoy in charge, those rebellious nobles were no match for him. In less than a month, two rebellious nobles had already been killed. Their territories would be taken back, and their property would be divided equally between Suhlen and Marquis Savoy.
After Suhlen mobilized grass-roots officials from the northern town, San Filto City began to reform the tax system. Suhlen abolished many taxes in kind, such as the tax on firewood and tithes, and even the tit tax. The tit tax was also known as the poll tax. In the Kingdom of Florence, everyone in the kingdom, regardless of gender, had to pay the poll tax. Men had to pay ten copper nars a month, women had to pay eight, and children over the age of five had to pay five copper nars a month until they reached adulthood.
After all these taxes were abolished, only agricultural taxes were levied on ordinary farmers. The agricultural tax was collected at 40% per mu of farmland, which was much lighter than the previous tax in the Kingdom of Florence. Originally, the tax in the Kingdom of Florence was only 30%. However, there were many other miscellaneous taxes that had to be paid. In the end, the tax was almost equivalent to 80% of the land tax.
This was far more than the 40% tax set by Suhlen. Suhlen also learned that these taxes would not be handed over to the national treasury. Instead, they would be distributed by various parties. In the end, only about 10% of the tax would be left.
As for the business tax, it was even more. In the past, the big nobles had little or no tax, but for ordinary caravans, the tax had been increased several times. As a result, the merchants were forced to constantly lean towards the nobles.
The decrease in the number of merchants also led to the decrease in the business tax. Suhlen had already decided that the business tax rate would be the same for both the nobles and the ordinary merchants. This was tantamount to harming the interests of the nobles. Blocking one's path to wealth was akin to murdering one's parents. The nobles were obviously very dissatisfied with Suhlen's forceful tax collection.
However, the reality was that they didn't dare to take any action. Suhlen's current strength wasn't something they could resist. Those who dared to take action had already been eliminated by Suhlen. Therefore, even if the remaining nobles were dissatisfied, they could only accept it obediently. After all, they would only lose a portion of their wealth if they accepted it. If they dared to resist, Suhlen wouldn't show any mercy. Since he ascended the throne, he had killed dozens of nobles.
The nobles who were killed would have their noble titles revoked and their land and fiefs confiscated. Suhlen obtained a large amount of land through this method. Then, he rented these lands to the landless poor. These lands belonged to Suhlen. After the land was rented to the poor, he would collect 10% of the harvest as rent, 40% as tax, and the remaining 50% for them to live on.
After the land was rented out, almost all of the poor in San Filto City disappeared. The entire city became more prosperous and lively.
After the tax reform, the tax revenue of San Filto City increased several times. This way, Suhlen had enough money to build a bigger army. After the completion of the army, Su Lun also took in several cities around San Filto. Then, he transformed these cities according to San Filto City.
This was originally the territory of the royal family, so the transformation was easier. Moreover, with the army sent by Suhlen and the nobles of San Filto City as an example, the transformation of these cities was quite smooth. The officials in these cities were all gathered and sent to the prison in San Filto City to receive ideological education and reform. After the reform, they would continue to hold their previous positions.
At the same time, Suhlen also trained these people in management to improve their abilities. Suhlen also sent some of the grass-roots officials from Northern Town City to become officials. In addition to handling various government affairs, these officials also supervised the original officials.
After completing the ideological education of the officials, Suhlen let them implement the new tax system. At the same time, Suhlen also started the sanitation management of several cities. Now, all of the nobles in the Kingdom of Florence knew that the new king was obsessed with cleanliness and had high requirements for the sanitation of all cities.
In addition to this, he liked to demolish the slums. When demolishing the slums, he also got rid of all the gangs and bandits. These jobs required a lot of money and military support. The two legions formed in San Filto City were separated and sent to the surrounding cities. With these legions, all kinds of systems could be implemented smoothly.
Suhlen began to form more legions. Because of the establishment of the barracks, the training speed of the army increased a lot. It only took two months for the ordinary people to be trained into qualified soldiers.
Although he could easily lead the soldiers of Beifeng Duchy to kill the rebels, how could he govern so many territories alone? Therefore, he could only train people and form an army to expand his territory. Although this was a little slow, he had a very good control of the territory.
The cities under Suhlen's control also began to build prisons and barracks. Suhlen couldn't always recruit soldiers in San Filto City. He would also recruit soldiers in other cities and send them to the barracks for training before forming a new army. In these newly formed armies, the soldiers of Beifeng Duchy would also join and serve as the captain of a platoon or above. With this method, Suhlen could quickly control a large number of troops.
Although the combat power of the army was temporarily reduced, after a few clearing of monsters and battles, the strength of these soldiers would quickly increase.
In addition to the rapid growth of the army, the strength of the Embroidered Uniform Guard also began to expand rapidly. In San Filto City, a mansion near the noble district in the north of the city was quietly bought. More than ten soldiers in black uniforms stood on both sides of the gate. There was a plaque hanging on the gate with the words "Embroidered Uniform Guard" written on it.
The gate of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was wide open. From time to time, people would go in and out. In the courtyard, there were officials walking to and fro. There were also warriors dressed in black with swords around their waists and black scarves on their heads hurriedly walking on the road. These were the Embroidered Uniform Guard formed by Suhlen.
A large number of reins were tied to the posts next to the mansion. From time to time, a few horses would gallop in and out of the mansion. On the streets around the mansion, the civilians in the city felt that this mansion was strange. They also didn't know what the Embroidered Uniform Guard did. However, after waiting for a while, the civilians in the surrounding area began to subconsciously leave this place.
There were often many people being chained up in this mansion. They were dragged in by the Embroidered Uniform Guard who emitted a gloomy aura. Cries of agony could often be heard around the mansion.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard was another force in Suhlen. This force wasn't strong in the beginning, but now it was feared by many. The Embroidered Uniform Guard was not only used to gather information, but also to monitor the internal situation.
Suhlen casually flipped through the documents and asked without raising his head, "How's the preparation for the Embroidered Uniform Guard going?"
Hearing Suhlen's words, the Embroidered Uniform Guard beside him immediately replied, "Currently, there are 130 Embroidered Uniform Guard in San Filto City. There are more than 300 spies outside and more than 400 eyes and ears."
"Develop 300 spies. Now in the Kingdom of Florence, these spies are almost the same as ordinary people. San Filto City has the most spies. The other cities have more or less spies. "
The Embroidered Uniform Guard said respectfully.
"I heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been very busy during this period. They have already arrested more than a dozen nobles who secretly colluded with each other."
"Yes, they have all been sent to Zhao Prison."
Suhlen smiled. He was very satisfied with the Embroidered Uniform Guard. "However, the information submitted by the spies must be carefully examined. Try not to make a false case."
The function of the Embroidered Uniform Guard established by Suhlen was actually similar to the Embroidered Uniform Guard during the Ming Dynasty. There were also many differences.
The Embroidered Uniform Guard in his previous life would sometimes fabricate crimes in order to claim rewards. They would do anything to expand the scope of their involvement and create many false and false cases. However, Suhlen was keeping a tight watch on them now. These Embroidered Uniform Guards did not dare to do so.
"Currently, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is doing well. However, you have to remember one thing. This is far from enough. Not only do you have to develop eyes and ears in the northern provinces, but also in the major cities and settlements in the south. The reason I set up the Embroidered Uniform Guard is to patrol the world and monitor the nobles and other people who want to overthrow our rule."
"Other than paying attention to domestic matters, you have to learn more about other countries in the future. I need you to form an intelligence network like a spider web as soon as possible to collect information and transmit information for me."
"Yes, sir. I will speed up the construction." Bain nodded and said.
"By the way, how many eagle nests have we built?"
"Not counting the eagle nests in Northern Town, we have built four eagle nests. However, we are still lacking in hunting eagles and the number of eagle trainers is limited," Bain said awkwardly.
"The eagle nests still need to be built. This is the key to our intelligence network. I will let more people join the eagle trainers."
"Yes, sir!"
"In the future, when we arrest nobles who commit crimes, the Embroidered Uniform Guard can leave one-fifth of the wealth as a development fund. This money can only be used to develop the Embroidered Uniform Guard. You are not allowed to use it for other purposes. I will send people to watch over it."
"Yes, sir!" Bain's face was filled with joy. Although the money could only be used for development, it was still a considerable amount.
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