Celestial Mage

Chapter 122 Good Days Are Ahead (34)

'It's worth it~'

Rosen sat in a newly bought carriage, left the city from the south gate of Silvermoon Castle, went all the way south, and rushed to his jazz territory along a muddy country road.

He didn't intend to pay attention to the territory, but the news of Crescent Town made him think of something that might happen in the future.

Rosen had a vague feeling that if Fubos failed to handle this matter and disappointed the count, then this matter might fall on Chapolet.

And if Uncle Chapolei goes to Crescent Town, he will definitely come to him for help.

Given his current status, of course he could find a reason to shirk, but he wasn't going to shirk.

In Baima Town, he said that he would greatly repay Chapolei's kindness.

As a gentleman of credibility, if you don't say anything, you will do it.

Another consideration is that if something goes wrong in Xinyue Town, it will be the center of a storm, which is very dangerous, but if it is done well, it can also use the power of the storm to soar into the sky.

At that time, not to mention his status, he also helped the earl solve the big problem.With Earl's character, he will definitely reward him vigorously.

Since you plan to speculate again, you will naturally make arrangements in advance.

One of them is to be familiar with the lord's affairs.

But now, he felt that he had underestimated the difficulty of going to the countryside.

Although the new carriage also uses Thurrow suspension, the road conditions on the country roads are really bad. There are pits here and hurdles there. If you go a little faster, you will be unbearable.

"The road is really rough."

This is still in the plains, if it is in the mountains, it is even more impossible to go.

It can also be foreseen that the newly bought carriage will have to be overhauled when they return to Silvermoon Castle this trip.

Fortunately, the road is not far away, 15 miles in a straight line, and about 30 miles after a detour.

Starting at 7:[-] in the morning, passing through the fields in the southern suburbs, and then bypassing the red leaf hills less than [-] meters high, there is another large plain with extremely gentle ups and downs.

Along the riverside path of a small river less than 10 meters wide, walk all the way for 3 miles, and you will arrive at a crossroad. In the middle of the road, there is a dilapidated road sign covered with mold, indicating that turning right is Philander Village .

Seeing that he was about to reach the ground, Rosen asked the coachman, "Joy, have you heard of Philander Village before?"

Joey is a coachman hired in the city, in his 30s, honest and honest.

He smiled honestly: "I've heard about it. It used to be very good, so there are quite a lot of people in the village. But in recent years, it's no longer possible. Many people have only one pair of trousers in their families. Whoever goes out wears them."

Rosen was stunned: "I remember that the village is full of free people, how could they be so poor?"

"I heard that it's because the river in the village is blocked, and the water often rises. When it rises, the way out is submerged. It also likes to flood the crops. It can rise more than a dozen times a year."

"Is it the river outside?"

Rosen pointed to the small river beside the road.

"Yes, just this one. You see, there was a light rain last night, and the river has risen so much. If it rains more, it will rise again."

Rosen turned his head to look at the river, and found that the water was really rushing and yellow, and the river surface was less than half a meter away from the shore.

"Isn't anyone thinking of widening the river or building embankments?"

"Of course it has been done. But to do it well, you need a lot of money for tools and materials. Who can afford that?"

"It used to be better, but in recent years, the masters of Silvermoon Castle don't care about the life and death of the farmers. They only know how to collect. Master, I am talking too much!"

Rosen waved his hand: "No problem."

Soon, the carriage drove through a section of road that was almost muddy. Several times, the wheels got stuck in the mud.

If Rosen hadn't cast a spell to lift the carriage out, the carriage wouldn't be able to leave.

This matter made him very painful, he felt that he was not a knight in a carriage, but a force carrying a carriage.

After finally passing through this section of muddy land, a big tree was seen far ahead. The crown of the big tree stretched out, covering a thousand square meters of land.

With the trunk of the big tree as the center, there are circles of thatched shacks. There are more than a dozen circles in total, about 367 or so, corresponding to the [-] households in the data.

It was almost noon at this time, but there was no smoke from cooking in any of the sheds.

Rosen asked, "Doesn't the village eat lunch?"

Joey shrugged: "It should be something to eat, like some cold potatoes or something."

"But I will definitely not burn firewood. There is a lot of rain in spring, and the firewood is not good for firewood. In addition, firewood has to be cut on the mountain, and the quantity is limited, so we have to save it."

Rosen understood.

Think about it, too, there is only one pair of pants, why would you want to light a fire and eat hot food?

After the carriage entered the village, a bunch of bare-bottomed children emerged from some corner, and they ran after the carriage curiously and fearfully.

Rosen took a look and found that no boys or girls had any clothes.

Those children, with thin bodies, appear to have big heads.

His body was dirty and muddy, his hair was a mess, and his skin was dark red from the cold, but he didn't know it was cold.

Faces can be seen at the door of various huts and behind the windows.

Those who stand at the door have pants, but those who stand behind the window probably don’t.

I can vaguely hear the buzzing of buzzing, but I can't make out what they are talking about.

The coachman Joey shrank his body in fear: "Master, you have to be careful of these villagers, they are so poor that they dare to do anything."

Rosen also felt a lot of greedy eyes, knowing that he was negligent, and with a thought, a trigger-type resistance force field was maintained on both himself and the coachman.

"Go to the clearing under the tree in the center of the village, the housekeeper I sent should be waiting for me there."

"Okay~"

The carriage drove unhurriedly under the big tree.

This is the center of the village, and the villagers should be a little richer, at least they have clothes on them.

Of course, it's very dilapidated, and it's covered with layers, even layers of patches.

The only decently dressed person in the crowd was the 35-year-old Barbas, a professional housekeeper hired by Rosen with an annuity of 25 crowns.

He was wearing a black butler's short robe, with short, dry hair. He had dark skin and a thin build, but he had a shrewd and capable face.

As soon as the carriage stopped, he ignored the mud on the ground and ran over to greet him, while commanding the villagers loudly.

"Hurry up, spread the prepared leaves and dry grass on the ground, pave a road, and don't let the lord step on the mud on the ground!"

A dozen skinny male villagers in ragged clothes immediately ran up and spread fresh leaves of grass under the carriage, spreading them all the way to the wooden steps of a small two-story wooden building.

After the road was paved, Rosen opened the carriage door and got out of the carriage.

It has to be said that Babas's move made him very satisfied, he really didn't want to step on the mud, and he didn't want to cast spells because of this crap.

Standing on the temporary grass carpet, Rosen looked around at the surrounding villagers.

Just glanced at it, but didn't speak yet.

Babas immediately waved away: "What are you doing around the lord? Back off! Back off! Everyone looks like they are covered in fleas, do you want to pass it on to the lord?"

The villagers immediately stepped back for more than ten meters, and then looked at Rosen timidly, with deep awe in their eyes, but also a trace of longing.

Rosen took a look and understood a little bit, and he was already prepared.

With a thought, some copper krones automatically flew out of the money bag that had been prepared in the carriage, and flew towards each villager, and each of them distributed 20 krones.

"It's your reward, go on."

When the villagers got the reward, they were overjoyed immediately. Regardless of the mud on the ground, they knelt on the ground with a "plop plop plop" and shouted some words of gratitude indiscriminately.

Such as 'Long live the lord, the lord is in good health, and the good lord is safe in life' and so on.

Rosen ignored him, and after rewarding the housekeeper Babas with three silver clarets, he walked into the only wooden house in the village stepping on the grass carpet.

The butler, Babas, was also beaming with joy after receiving the reward. He followed Rosen a few meters away, like a pug, almost wagging his tail.

And the reason why he flattered the lord Rosen so graciously was because he was born in Silvermoon Castle, so he was very aware of Rosen's noble status.

He can decide the future fate of himself and his family with a single sentence. If he slits his fingers a little bigger, the leaked benefits will allow his family to live a decent life without worrying about food and drink.

And if he angered him, he would lose his job at least, or his life at worst.

On the other side, Rosen went to the wooden building and wanted to find a place to sit down, but found that the tables and chairs were all dark, dirty, greasy, and the air was filled with the musty smell of wood.

You can sit, and he is not picky, but the clothes on his body cost him 20 crowns, and they will be ruined if they get greasy.

So, can only stand.

"Babas, you have been here for half a month, do you have a full understanding of the basic situation in the village?"

Babas nodded immediately: "Yes, my lord."

"introduce."

Babas immediately began to introduce the situation of Philander Village in detail.

"Currently, there are 379 households in the village, with a total of 1552 people, including 12 people aged between 50 and 1261, 763 males and 502 females."

Rosen listened carefully: "There are so many men, why?"

"Two reasons. First, some pretty women have married out and left Philander Village. Second, some of them died due to dystocia."

Rosen understood: "Keep talking."

"Based on the current situation in the village, income can only be obtained by selling grain, poultry and livestock meat, and prey in the fields, mountains, and forests."

"In addition, some silk and hemp are grown in the field, which can be spun into linen, but there is no weaving cart in the village, so we can only sell raw hemp."

"To sum it up, if you adopt a loose tax of 4%, you can make a profit of 200 crowns a year. If you use a strict tax of [-]%, you can make more profits, but doing so may cause villagers to flee or even rebel."

"in addition."

Rosen listened in silence, waiting for Babas to finish, and he said: "Is there a way to change the status quo?"

Babas hesitated, but nodded anyway.

"Dragging the river, building irrigation canals, filling the roads out of the village, and building a few public charging facilities, such as water mills and textile workshops, should be able to greatly change the situation in Philander Village."

"At that time, the annual tax will also be greatly increased, at least 700 crowns, and 1000 is also possible."

"So, at least how much money do you need?"

"If it is of an ordinary standard, you don't need to pay, and you can exempt from taxes for two years. If you want to upgrade the project specifications and use stone materials for construction, you can exempt from taxes for two years, and there is probably a gap of 1000 crowns."

Fearing that Rosen would get angry after speaking, he lowered his head and explained anxiously.

"Of course, after the money is spent, there will be no need to consider follow-up maintenance for at least 30 years, and it can also perfectly demonstrate the virtue of the lord."

"There is no need to worry about labor, as long as there are enough tools and materials, and a lunch is provided, the villagers can requisition for free."

Rosen has understood
As a lord, he basically doesn't have to do anything. As long as the tax is lighter and he doesn't command blindly, ordinary people in this world can live a good life.

But the status quo is generally as long as you don't die, you will squeeze to death.

And among all the words Babas said, the one that moved his heart the most was the five words 'virtue of the lord'.

Another main purpose of his coming this trip is actually to earn the reputation of this virtue.

Looking at a group of villagers outside the wooden house whose life is worse than that of savages, Rosen said: "Then the tax will be exempted for three years, and the rest can be done as you say."

After a pause, he added: "Water conservancy roads, public facilities, all built with stone."

"Huh?" Babas couldn't believe it.

Rosen didn't want to stay in this dark and damp wooden house anymore, so he walked to the steps outside the door.

"Go and call all the people in the village, and then announce my order."

"Yes, my lord."

Butler Babas happily called for someone to go.

He is happy for many reasons. First, such a big project will definitely bring some profit after his hands.

Of course, I dare not make too much money, after all, the lord is a wise mage.

Second, once Philander Village is done, his life will be much easier in the future.

After running around for a while, the villagers of Philander quickly gathered in the clearing with big trees.

Babas reported softly: "My lord, everyone who has pants has come, men who don't have pants have also come, and a lot of shameless women and children have come. There are about 1300 people in total."

That's a weird description.

Rosen said: "Next, let me say something, and you say something for me."

Shouting loudly is very tiring and hurts the throat, and this rough job has to be done by the subordinates.

"Introduce me first."

Babas let go of his throat and shouted.

"This is the new lord of Philander Village, Sir Rosen de Philander, and also a very powerful divine seal mage. He is highly respected in Silvermoon Castle, and he was killed on the battlefield of Moonlight Town. Hundreds of ice dwarves invaded, and were personally received by the count many times!"

With such an introduction, the villagers looked at Rosen with a lot of awe and a lot less greed.

"Tell me my order."

"The lord said that everyone's life is too hard. He is kind and generous and feels very sad. Therefore, for the next three years, all taxes will be exempted!"

"Let us cheer for the benevolent, generous and generous lord!"

This order is a real great benefit, and the villagers immediately cheered loudly.

"Let's talk about the project."

"The lord also said that the floods in the village are too serious, the roads are too poor, and there are no mills or textile mills. He is going to spend a lot of money to improve the situation!"

"This money is worth a thousand gold coins!"

'Wow~'

The villagers were stunned. This is a huge investment that people can't imagine.

'Putong~Putong~Putong~'

Almost all the villagers knelt down on the muddy ground, loudly praising the new lord with all the good words they could think of.

Rosen waved to the villagers as a response.

At this point, the matter is over, and all that should be known is known.

Rosen was too lazy to stay in this dirty Philander Village, which didn't even have a place to sit.

He looked at Babas: "Let's go, take my car back to Silvermoon Castle, go to the city to hire craftsmen, and then hire some warriors to maintain law and order."

To do a big project, there must be a lot of money. He was a little afraid that his housekeeper would be killed by greedy villagers.

The butler, Barbas, was immediately flattered: "My lord, I can ride back on a horse or a donkey, and I won't dirty your carriage."

Rosen used a 'low-level cleaning technique' on him.

"It's all right now."

Not exactly clean, but at least it wouldn't stain his new carriage.

Barbas straightened his waist immediately, and his face was full of pride, because it was a rare honor for a butler to be able to sit in the lord's carriage.

He couldn't help shouting at the villagers again.

"Villagers of Philander, you have ushered in a truly good lord, good days are ahead!"

(End of this chapter)