On the 32nd of August, the Flying Fish of the Kingdom of Dawn arrived at Syrovas Island. The voyage from Oxhorn Bay to Syrovas Island took a total of seventeen days. This was the first time they had traveled by sea, and they didn't know much about the sea. For safety's sake, they retracted the sails every night. Old Jack said that if the sailors were familiar with the route, it would only take ten days at most to travel from Oxhorn Bay to Syrovas Island with the speed of the Flying Fish of the Kingdom of Dawn.
Syrovas Island was the only large island along the coast of the Andinac Kingdom. It was about three hundred miles from the coast, and it would take a day for a ship to go there and back. In terms of the size of the island, Syrovas Island could be divided into one count and three viscounts. Unfortunately, Syrovas Island was a dead volcanic island. Two-thirds of the island's area was made up of volcanic mountains, forests, sandy beaches, and not much arable land.
According to the information Laurist had given when he accepted the second prince's conferment, Syrovas Island had less than five thousand inhabitants. There were three villages and a small town called White Bird Town. Due to the inconvenience of sea transportation, the nobles of the former Crimson Empire and the current Andinac Kingdom regarded Silovas Island as a remote and desolate place. There had even been cases of nobles refusing to accept the title of fief on Silovas Island.
After the end of the empire's civil war, the third prince who established the Andinac Kingdom was worried that the second prince, who had outstanding military achievements, would threaten the eldest prince's position as the crown prince. He didn't want the Andinac Kingdom to experience another civil war like the struggle for the throne. At the same time, he misjudged the overall situation. He thought that there wouldn't be a major war, and that the kingdoms and duchies that had split from the empire would be in a state of peace for a long time. Everyone needed time to recuperate and heal from the wounds of war.
Based on this judgment, the third prince chose the eldest prince, who handled affairs calmly, to take over the throne in the future. He stripped the second prince of his military power, who was a threat to the eldest prince's position as the crown prince. He also disbanded the White Lion Legion, which supported the second prince, and sent the neutral Gale Legion to the Meline Duchy to help Grand Duke Meline resist the invasion of the Iberian army led by the second prince.
In the end, the third prince conferred the entire island of Syrovas as a prince's territory, making it the hereditary territory of the second prince. The second prince was ordered to go to Syrovas and was not allowed to leave without his summons. This was almost equivalent to exile. In the opinion of the third prince, with him personally guiding His First Highness on how to handle the kingdom's affairs, and without the threat of the second prince, his eldest son should be able to smoothly inherit the throne in the future and ensure the political stability of the Andinac Kingdom.
But what the Third Prince did not expect was that he would be ambushed by the assassins sent by the First Prince and the Second Prince. Caught off guard, he was hit by a poisonous arrow, and when he was finally rescued, he was paralyzed in bed. The First Prince, who was supposed to be steady in handling matters, was actually extremely weak. The nobles of the Andinac Kingdom, who had seen through the truth, joined forces to oppress the Andinac Royal Family and divide the territories under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family. The situation in the Andinac Kingdom deteriorated and became unstable.
The second prince, who had lost his military power, could only stay on Syrovas and worry. He was helpless in the face of the situation of the kingdom and the predicament of the royal family. At this moment, the second prince received news that a large convoy had entered the kingdom's territory. This convoy also had a powerful armed escort force. At present, this convoy was already in a standoff with the allied forces of the kingdom's nobles in the Greenfield Plains.
The second prince left Syrovas by ship that very night, hoping to rush to the battlefield to mediate between the two parties and obtain some benefits for himself. But what he did not expect was that while he was still on the road, he received news of the battle in the Greenfield Plains. The convoy, which was half the size of the Greenfield Plains, had utterly defeated the allied forces of the nobles. They even hanged all the lords who had joined the allied forces and intended to rob the convoy along the way. Their territories were razed to the ground …
The most important news was that this convoy was flying the flag of the Norton family. It was said that this convoy belonged to the Bear Family of the North, and they were heading north to return to their territory. The female knight by the second prince's side was his lover, Norton Kriya, from the Norton family. So the second prince entered the convoy's camp that very night. Using his lover's family ties and the standard equipment left behind by the disbanded White Lion Legion, he successfully convinced Fatty Shi, Bofinger, and the others who were leading the convoy back to the north. They reached an agreement to help him ascend to the throne. Then, he used the powerful convoy to purge the nobles of the entire Andinac Kingdom, turning the situation around in one fell swoop.
After gaining control of the Andinac Kingdom, the second prince recalled the Gale Legion and reorganized the Royal Guards. Then, he used the large number of refugees in Andinac to trick the convoy northbound. He threw the burden of the refugees to the convoy northbound while he trained his troops to stabilize the kingdom's situation and restore agricultural production.
At that time, the convoy northbound was blocked by powerful enemies in front and faced with a food crisis behind. They were trapped at the border and unable to move. The situation was dire. If Laurist had not rushed to the convoy northbound, it was likely that the convoy would have fallen apart after a while. There would have been no other way but to fill a bloody path with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
After Laurist rushed to the convoy to take charge of the situation, he saw through the second prince's plan to use the convoy. In order to win Laurist over, the second prince conferred Laurist the title of Earl and raised the Norton family's status. He also gave Laurist the hereditary territory of Silovas Island as compensation.
Then, Laurist led the convoy to smuggle across Egret Lake, attacked the Bread Hill Military Camp at night, besieged the Lejidana Fortress, opened up the road to the north, swept through the Madras Duchy, and occupied Kebo on a snowy night. Finally, the convoy northbound was brought back to the north. The second prince also cooperated with Laurist, forcing the Lejidana Fortress's Iron Guard Army to surrender and occupying the Madras Duchy's Yungshandla Province.
After Laurist led the family convoy northbound, the second prince built a mountain road fortress as a defensive barrier to defend the Yungshandla Province. He also used the Madras Duchy's largest commercial city, Vanades City, to cause internal strife between the Madras Duchy's Seamount Army and the Iberian Kingdom's reinforcements led by the second prince. The two sides fought, successfully avoiding the danger of being attacked on both sides.
Then, the second prince gathered his forces to resist the invasion of the Redelis Kingdom's 70,000 strong army led by the eldest prince. He first ordered the Gale Legion to resist, causing the eldest prince to lose more than half of his 70,000 strong army with heavy casualties. Then, he ambushed the eldest prince's remaining 30,000 elite troops at Flowing Water Creek, trapping and annihilating them, forcing the eldest prince to disguise himself as a refugee and escape.
After the battle at Flowing Water Creek, the second prince led his army to counterattack the Redelis Kingdom, forcing the eldest prince to sign a treaty and cede two provinces to the Andinac Kingdom. After returning to the army, the Madras Duchy, who had fought with the second prince, sent people to sue for peace. They ceded Yungshandla Province to the Andinac Kingdom, causing the Andinac Kingdom to become the kingdom with the largest territory after the division of the former Christen Empire. Their strength greatly increased, and the second prince became famous as a new generation's God of War.
Now that five years had passed, Laurist had finally stabilized the northern lands and greatly developed his family's territory. This was the first time he had come to this new territory that had been granted to him, Cilovas Island.
The dock of Cilovas Island was set up on the shore of its only town, White Bird Town. A slightly curved wooden bridge extended nearly 100 meters into the sea, and next to it was a pure white beach. The seawater was clear and blue.
What surprised Laurist was that there were seven or eight ships anchored on both sides of the wooden bridge. Some of them were richly decorated, and the flags fluttering on the ships were clearly the insignia of the noble families. It seemed that Cilovas Island wasn't as remote and rarely visited as the rumors said.
Without a small boat to pilot it, the town by the sea did not make a sound at the arrival of the Kingdom of Dawn's Flying Fish. Even the people who ran out from the dock to watch the commotion did not appear.
The Flying Fish of the Dawn had already retracted the white sails on three of its masts. It slowly approached the wooden bridge using only the longitudinal sails at the front and back. When it was close enough, a few sailors jumped onto the wooden bridge and caught the rope that was thrown over. They pulled the Flying Fish of the Dawn over and tied it to the wooden pier by the side of the wooden bridge.
Laurist instructed, "Wilson, leave half of the sailors to watch the ship. Dolus, leave five steel crossbow shooters on the ship to guard it. I feel that this White Bird Town is a little strange. Why is there not a single person at the dock? The rest of you, follow me into the town to see what's going on. "
Soon, Laurist found out that it wasn't that there was no one in White Bird Town. Instead, everyone was gathered in the central square of the town. Two to three thousand people squeezed into the small square tightly. Occasionally, there would be noises and protests.
Laurist patted the shoulder of a man in his forties or fifties who was dressed like a sailor and asked, "Friend, can you tell me what's going on here?"
The man didn't turn around and scolded with some resentment, "What else could it be? That son of a b * tch Viscount Aslan is here to collect taxes again …"
"Collect taxes?" Laurist was stunned. Wasn't Cilovas Island the Norton Family's new territory? Why would someone come here to collect taxes?
"Speak clearly! Who's here to collect taxes? Who's he collecting taxes for? " This was related to collecting taxes and money. Fatty Shi was already furious. This was the Norton Family's territory, and no one had come to take care of it for five years. Only now did they realize that someone was collecting taxes here. This was no longer as simple as offending the Norton Family. This was practically a slap to the Norton Family's face! He grabbed the man in front of him who was dressed like a sailor and pulled him to the front.
The man was just about to curse out loud, but when he turned around and saw the dozen or so armored family guards beside Laurist, he immediately became speechless. The man who had seen much of the world immediately understood that these people were not people he could afford to offend. He quickly lowered his head and begged for mercy. As long as he knew something, he would definitely tell them everything without hiding anything.
"It's like this. Today, Viscount Aslan brought a small group of soldiers here to collect taxes. Our mayor, Father Hugo, rejected his unreasonable request to increase taxes. Viscount Aslan was so embarrassed that he flew into a rage and wanted to hang Father Hugo in the square and whip him fifty times. The garrison of White Bird Town has already been mobilized, but this time, Viscount Aslan brought a Gold-tier knight with him. Although the garrison had a lot of people, none of them could defeat the knight. Now, both sides are in a stalemate. We all heard the news and came here, hoping to save Father Hugo … "The man quickly explained the reason why there were so many people gathered in the square.
"Isn't this Silovas Island the Norton Family's territory? Why is that Viscount Aslan here to collect taxes? "Shiwald asked.
The man did not look down on Shiwald just because he was young. He explained, "This Viscount Aslan was entrusted by our kingdom's regent, the second prince, to collect taxes."
"Entrusted?" Fatty Shi asked angrily, "This is already the Norton Family's territory. Why did the second prince send people here to collect taxes?"
"This … I'm not sure either. However, I heard that five years ago, when Viscount Aslan first came, he only collected ten percent tithe. The next year, he came to collect twenty percent. He said that the second prince raised the tax rate and wanted to collect the head tax. The third year, he came to collect thirty percent. He said that the second prince wanted to expand the army, so he raised it by ten percent. Other than the head tax, there were also alcohol taxes, dock taxes, and so on. The year before and last year, he collected fifty percent tax, as well as property taxes, transportation taxes, forest taxes, and fishing boat taxes. It was said that these were all collected to unify and revive the Crisen Empire … "The man recalled.
"F * ck!" Fatty Shi was so angry that he was about to explode. Who collected taxes like this? What kind of bullsh * t territory was this?!
"Then why did he come to collect taxes today? Why did the mayor refuse? "Loriste asked.
"This … I'm not sure either. However, from the rumors I heard earlier, it seems that the Norton Family, who has never been to Silovas Island, has a family territory in the north. Because it's too far away, the taxes from that family territory have never been handed over to the second prince. Viscount Aslan has decided to use that to make up for the taxes that the Norton Family hasn't paid over the years. Based on this calculation, all the wealth in our White Bird Town's public treasury isn't enough. Every family owes a huge debt, and I heard that everyone has to pay at least three gold coins to pay off the debt. That's why everyone gathered here. One, they want to save the mayor, and two, they want to protest … "The sailor muttered.
"Hehe, hehe …" Loriste was so angry that he was amused. Very good, they even came up with such a reason to collect taxes. What an eye-opener. For a territory like the north that was separated by an enemy country and not connected to the kingdom, not only could the kingdom not collect taxes, but they would also give subsidies to reward loyalty and chastity.
Loriste was very angry. He didn't know if it was the second prince's idea or Viscount Aslan's own idea. Since he didn't come over to take care of the new territory, the second prince didn't have to specially send someone to collect tithes. He could put it on the accounts first and settle the accumulated taxes when the lord arrived at the new territory. This was the custom between nobles. Loriste believed that the second prince didn't know about this, so this Viscount Aslan was going to suffer.
"Blow our horn and show our flag. We want everyone on Silovas Island to know that the Norton Family is here. Their lord is here!" Loriste turned around and ordered the guards behind him.
"Yes, my lord!"
… …
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