Reborn: Imperial Officer Promotion Guide

The next day, Hull, Ling and Goliath were in the carriage, enduring the bumpy ride.

As usual, Hull was reading a book, but he caught a peculiar look out of the corner of his eye.

"……What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Ling smiled and shook her head.

"..."

"Hehe..." Ling accidentally laughed again and quickly covered her mouth.

"What's wrong? Is there anything funny? Just tell me if you have something to say."

Hull couldn't concentrate on reading after being disturbed like this, so he simply put the book aside.

"So there is a good side to this as well?" Ling smiled.

"What?" Hull looked puzzled.

"It was yesterday. In the end, you still allowed my foster mother to continue meeting with Mr. Sandval."

"It turns out that pretending to be so cold-blooded and heartless is actually a lie. Isn't there a good side to it?"

Hull also smiled bitterly, he knew there must be a misunderstanding here.

"You tsundere..." Ling still refused to stop.

"Ling, are you out of your mind? I didn't intend to forbid them to meet. This has nothing to do with what you said to me."

"what?"

Hull put his hands together and looked into Ling's eyes.

"Remember this, if you want to control someone, you can't just rely on the whip. You have to give them some sweet treats when necessary. I allowed them to meet only to improve their work efficiency. Don't get me wrong."

"Ah!?" Ling was obviously a little surprised, but Hull was too lazy to explain more to him.

"Instead of talking nonsense to me, why not stick your head out and take a look outside. Find out what kind of territory you need to govern next."

Amidst the endless wheat fields, the carriage was leisurely moving along the cobblestone road.

Along the way, merchants walked side by side with workers in gorgeous uniforms, and energetic farmers worked in the fields.

The stone houses with red bricks and white walls stretch out, looking like oil paintings under the sunlight.

"Wow...! Is this our territory? It really feels like a Feng Shui treasure land!"

Ling leaned out of the window, letting the sweet smell of soil and grass blow into the carriage with the wind.

He breathed in the fresh air outside the car window happily, muttering to himself while feeling the breeze.

"...No, this is not our territory."

"Eh? Then why do you want me to check this territory?"

"The territory here is adjacent to my territory. In order to prevent an attack from unfriendly neighbors, it is best to check the terrain nearby in advance."

"Why are you always like this? Are you suffering from paranoia? Do you want me to find a better doctor for you?"

Ignoring Ling's surprised expression, Hull also stuck his head out to observe the nearby territory.

The territory he was granted was located in the Kraken region of Westerland in the Empire.

It's about a day and a half away from the imperial capital, and we estimate we should be there in a few dozen minutes.

The territories entrusted to the newly appointed lower nobles were generally "regions" below the level of "lord".

The upper nobles directly ruled an entire "territory".

Nominally, it is a superior-subordinate relationship.

The "regions" under the "territory" need to pay taxes to the superior nobles on a regular basis.

Therefore, the tax quota for people living in the area has become very strict.

It is a structure in which the upper nobles exploit the lower nobles, and the lower nobles exploit the people in the territory.

Therefore, the tax collection ratio in each region will be slightly different.

It is very difficult to determine the tax payment ratio in a region.

Not only the tax payment to the higher nobles should be considered, but also the income situation of the local area should be taken into consideration.

If the payment is too little, the higher nobles will be dissatisfied, tax collection will begin, and even war may break out.

If too much is paid, the pressure on the people in the region will increase, and there will be no extra wealth to build the territory and maintain normal expenses in the territory.

As the carriage moved forward for a few dozen minutes, the surrounding scenery began to change.

Hull stared at the farmers who were sweating profusely working in the fields with his dark eyes.

Most of them were pale and thin, and their clothes were tattered. A child of seven or eight years old clumsily carried the wheat that was several times bigger than his body on his back, as if he was carrying a mountain.

This is not an isolated case.

The carriage drove on for a few more minutes, and more and more ragged farmers were seen along the way.

Many of them are in their sixties or seventies, with gray hair and due to lack of nutrition, their ribs are clearly visible under the rags.

Almost everyone's cheeks were sunken and their faces were dirty.

Like bamboo poles covered with dirty human skin.

"...It's so tragic." Ling's eyes flashed with pity and she covered her mouth with one hand.

She had never expected that the situation in Hull Territory would be so bad.

The hardship and poverty of the people also exceeded Hull's expectations.

"Yeah." Hull couldn't help but agree.

This is the Kraken area.

Most of the fields that should have been fertile were barren, and the farmers' sunken eyes showed no hope at all.

Beyond the farmland were swamps and thorns, and the stench blew into the carriage with the wind, causing even Goliath to frown.

The Kraken region is adjacent to the imperial capital and is the easternmost region of Western Westerland.

Only two hundred miles away, it has become desolate like this, and the farmers are still living in poverty as if they were in the war years.

This was not caused by a natural disaster, but was entirely man-made.

——The nobles’ plan.

Eighteen years ago, a plague of unknown cause broke out in this area.

Therefore, the nobles near the imperial capital made a surprising decision at the Senate meeting held in the center.

In order to prevent the disease from spreading in their own territory and to protect their own property from loss.

The nobles near the imperial capital gathered all the infected patients in this Kraken area and sealed it off.

In less than half a year, the Kraken region became a veritable place where toxins spread.

A large number of the original people died, and the patients who moved there could only wait to die because they could not get timely treatment.

As farmers fell one by one, the remaining people did not dare to risk going to the fields to farm, and then large numbers of fields became barren.

The fields that had been reclaimed with great effort and financial resources were swallowed up by the swamp again, and the poisonous vines that were not controlled spread wildly and submerged the limited cultivated land.

After that, even though the epidemic receded and the blockade was lifted, the Kraken region retained its reputation as a place where poison was rampant.

The poor castle in the region also became a "place of exile" for the lower-class nobles.

The fallen upper nobles, the unemployed lower nobles, and the nobles whose original territories were taken away as punishment for their crimes were deliberately transferred to this barren land.

They became the masters of Hanshi City from generation to generation.

For the common people here, they have to serve those incompetent nobles generation after generation.

The carriage passed through the fields and finally saw the town.

The walls, which were originally built to prevent invasion by robbers and enemies, are now in a dilapidated state, with broken bricks and tiles scattered everywhere.

No manpower was allocated to repair it, probably because there was nothing valuable inside that could be taken away.

In this land, there are not even highway robbers to be found, let alone bandit nests.

Anyone who had the ability to leave had already left, and those who remained were mostly the elderly, the weak, the sick, or the homeless.

"This is really too much..." Hull frowned and muttered to himself.

He could fully foresee what kind of dilapidated state the town would be in behind these rotten walls.

"Yes." Ling nodded. This place was not even as good as the Valley of Ashes which was in a state of war.

At least there is an orphanage in my hometown, but here even adults can hardly survive.

Hull obtained a noble title and owned his own territory.

As Hull's nominal sister, he is naturally the owner of this territory.

Witnessing such a tragic situation, the little girl couldn't bear it and just wanted to find a way to help the people in this land escape poverty.

Ling thought of the countless things he should do as a lord.

If I were to list them one by one, I could probably write down dozens of them.

But the first thing to do must be to reduce the living pressure of the people in the territory.

Even if it's just a little bit, some taxes must be exempted.

"Teacher! Let's change all this! Giving merchants some tax exemptions will definitely attract traveling caravans to stay."

"At the same time, some labor services and agricultural taxes can be exempted. This will not only reduce the burden on farmers, but also allow abandoned farmland to be replanted."

"That's right! We have to start opening up new land. The poison ivy and swamps must be treated quickly. If we can attract more outsiders, this land will definitely become rich!"

“We must execute it quickly!”

Hull ignored the bell and just counted on his fingers as if he was calculating something.

"The tax that needs to be paid to the upper nobles is two gold royals, so we must squeeze at least three gold royals from this group of people to have a surplus."

"Ah? How can they gather three gold dragons?!"

"Then increase taxes. Is that hard to understand?"

Ling opened her mouth wide: "Add...add taxes?!"

Hull glanced at Ling and answered in a calm tone.

"Of course, if we don't raise taxes, how can we do things without money?"