After all this trouble, Lorraine found sadly that she had never been so busy as now.
Even in the siege of Maple Leaf Danlin, facing the 70,000 elite troops of Almohad, we worked hard every day and could only lie in a simple command post and sleep for two days in a big cloak in the cold wind.
It took three hours, but Lorraine didn't feel as hard as now.
Tax matters are not only important, but also extremely cumbersome.
Lorraine has to spend a lot of energy on this every day, because it is related to whether her annual allocation of one million can be properly allocated.
Only when the tax collection is completed beautifully and the Finance Department of Ruman City successfully signs and accepts it, can Lorraine's allocation for the next year be smoothly received and written off on time.
You know, no matter what era it is, the level of corruption and perversion of the law by civil servants is extremely high. In the splendid Ming Dynasty, there was even a professional term to refer to this situation - drifting away. (Corruption is not called corruption.
, to use another word, it suddenly changed from black income to normal income. I have to sincerely admire those officials who are proficient in Confucianism.)
If it weren't for the good relationship between Baron Rocund and Lorraine, even with his status as the adulterer of Her Royal Highness the Princess, the officials below would still be able to use all kinds of fair and just excuses to get rid of him.
It took more than half a year after the funding was approved.
Even if Catherine went to investigate those excuses herself, it would be impossible to find out any problems.
Therefore, Lorraine had to sit in person and direct from the center.
Generally speaking, humans around cities are doing better.
As long as the tax collectors come to visit, although everyone keeps crying about poverty, they will more or less give back some money. In places a little further away, where the government's control is weak, the money will be a little less.
The most troublesome ones are the elves and dwarves who have opened several acres of wasteland by themselves.
Those country bumpkins only believe in a simple truth: I opened the ownerless wasteland myself, and worked hard with my face to the loess and my back to the sky, digging mountains and rocks, mining and forging iron. A drop of sweat fell to the ground and broke into eight petals. I earned my hard-earned money through my own labor.
Come on, why should I pay you?
Even though the tax collectors kept talking, saying, "In the whole world, everything is the land of the king, and on the shore of the land, it is the ministers of the king", but these guys just don't understand.
And once they are pushed into a hurry, these unscrupulous people will grab the tax collectors and demand righteous and stern criticism.
For example, the Father God, the Mother God, the Ancestor God, the Earth, etc., and a series of other great gods who would have been hiding out for a while have made their debut one after another.
These great gods are compassionate, noble, invincible and so on. The most important thing is that they will not jump down from the atmosphere and ask people on the ground to collect taxes.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter what god you are, the earth was not created by your Ruman Empire. Why do you charge yourself for things made by others? I’ll just leave you with one sentence: No tax, no life. If it doesn’t work, let’s go to the Governor’s Mansion.
Commentary before?
Even though they are all country bumpkins, at this time, they have all transformed into theologians with profound knowledge. They talk about the past and the present, point to the heavens and the earth, and debate endlessly.
Not to mention those tax collectors, even those under Lorraine, who were known to be the most outstanding, the loudest, howling beasts, could only hold their teeth tightly and grin.
Lorraine is different from the Marquis of Maleton. The Marquis of Maleton is a standard soldier. Those who evade taxes dare to resist, but the Marquis of Maleton will confront them head-on and will not explain their reasons.
If you don't take the initiative to pay taxes patriotically, then we will let you "take the initiative".
Therefore, those foreigners often came to the Governor's Mansion to seek an explanation from the Governor.
And in front of everyone, no matter how shameless the Marquis of Maleton is, he can't clean them all up. He still has to talk to them about the law and reason. After two or three times, the Marquis of Maleton will get bored, otherwise he won't go there.
The emperor asked for troops to move all those guys to the central area.
Lorraine, on the other hand, held a special meeting before the taxation work began, emphasizing to Greitan and other tax officials, "We have to reason with them."
At the meeting, Young Master Leo, the future head of the empire, made a profound speech with a sense of ownership - Leo jumped on the chair, waved his musket, and shouted, "I drive this mountain, I build this tree."
Damn, if you want to live in the Ruman Empire, you have to keep the tax money. Orcs don’t pay taxes in their territory, so why don’t they go somewhere else? If you rebel against them, you’ll still have to pay~!”
Such a speech, which was filled with the central ideas of the great "Social Contract" by the thinkers Jean Jacques and Rousseau, was concise, comprehensive and profound, and immediately won unanimous praise from the tax workers attending the meeting.
Everyone was so excited that tears filled their eyes. They all stood up and clapped for five minutes. Then they all expressed that they must pass on Mr. Leo’s speech and mobilize taxpayers and taxpayers to carry out study and practice work and deepen their understanding of the matter.
Carrying out the plan and praising Young Duke Leo is indeed the hope of the Ruman Empire, and represents the glorious future of the Empire's continuous progress and continuous victory.
Since Leo conveyed the spirit of taxation, the majority of staff working on the front line of the tax system have heard the good news.
You know, in the past, everyone had to work extremely hard when collecting taxes every year. They had to work hard to popularize legal knowledge to those country bumpkins.
As glorious imperial tax collectors, we all strictly abide by the tax collector's instruction manual. Once urged, twice scolded, three times robbed, and four times refused, this is the time to open the beef steakhouse.
A large amount of public administrative resources are wasted on those who stubbornly refuse to pay taxes. It seriously delays everyone's great opportunity to eat and drink with public funds, go to the sauna, personally observe the public sentiment, and mingle with the people.
But now, as long as His Highness Leo's words are conveyed intact, and the chains in their hands are shaken, most taxpayers will obediently pay the taxes, and then add with full of complaints: "No.
Are you just charging protection money? If you had spoken so thoroughly, wouldn’t it have been over earlier?”
What's more, at the same time, Lorraine also fully learned from the advanced experience of the U.S. Federal Department of Taxation and promulgated the "Land Development Incentive Regulations."
Through the careful preaching of the tax officers, those bumpkins knew that if they did not pay taxes, not only would they not be able to get the previous development bonuses, but the newly developed land would also be taken away. Therefore, they could only pay the money obediently.
Therefore, through everyone's concerted efforts, this year's taxation work, although trivial, was still very smooth. At least there were no more anti-tax demonstrations.
In the final analysis, it is actually the people of Nai'an who have learned well. They all know that our Governor of Lorraine has a dark heart and a strong backing, and is not easy to mess with.
Moreover, there have been rumors that the Governor of Lorraine scraped the land, but he has always been a master of scraping land like "the sky is three feet high and the earth is seven minutes thin. A quail looks for peas in its belly and an ant peels fur under its armpit."
Everyone was also prepared to do a lot of blood. Now they didn't expect that the old man's looting didn't seem to be too powerful. On the contrary, everyone was secretly lucky, so they didn't dare to provoke him anymore. They were afraid of making him angry.
Scraping up the ground seriously.
At the same time, the integration of the orc tribes was also going on.
The Aquitaine people completely surrendered to Lorraine and chose to annex unconditionally. This made Lord Lorraine determined to solve the problem of the orcs on the border once and for all.
Now that the two parties have reached an agreement, the next important thing is the implementation. At the beginning of the implementation stage, the two parties do not understand each other, and the big shots who can make decisions are all in Nidel City. If anything happens to the human group, they must move quickly.
Please ask Lorraine for instructions. The orcs must also find Galba to come forward.
In the first two days, there were several conflicts between the two sides, and several cannon fodders were killed.
In order to stabilize the overall situation, Lorraine had no choice but to leave the messy work at hand to Catherine and Adele, took Galba and other personnel, and set off at starry night, changing horses without changing people all the way to the important southern town of Croni.
.
Lorraine hurriedly went south, not only to recruit the orcs. General Larry had reminded Lorraine that at this time, there were already wars on the border, and the "autumn hunting" of the orcs had officially begun, and the two sides were fighting in full swing.
when.
But until now this year, there has been no movement, only some harassment by dozens or dozens of orcs, not even a team of hundreds of people.
This kind of tranquility before the war further solidified the news that "the orcs will make big moves".
And the rumors are getting more and more outrageous, like the low pressure before a storm, which makes people breathless.
The people in the south are already a little panicked, and some wealthy and powerful families have begun to transfer their family members to Naider City. The words "Let the leader's mistress leave first" have also been shouted out.
Lorraine now needs to go down and stabilize her heart.
In two nights and two days, Lorraine and his party arrived at the city of Croni very quickly. Even the elite of the Guards, who ran all the way like this, were still in a state of sluggishness.
Not to mention the other people, Lorraine and the others rode on the carriage for two days. Even though the carriage was exquisitely crafted, they were all numb. The old bones of the great shaman Galba were so hanging.
It wasn't scattered anymore, so I slumped down on the chair weakly and kept humming.
Leo, on the other hand, looked very comfortable while holding a large bag of snacks while eating and sleeping. Lorraine looked at the lively Leo and wondered for a moment whether he had suffered from kidney failure recently, but it was just for a moment.
In just a moment, Lorraine quickly firmly believed that the child must have a high quality of sleep.
General Larry was startled when he saw Lorraine and the others in such a dusty state. He thought something big had happened and almost launched an emergency mobilization of the whole city.
Fortunately, Lorraine immediately said something: "Prepare the room. We have to sleep. If there is nothing serious, don't wake me up. All the guards have gone to sleep. The following tasks are more important, so be energetic."
When Nosdarko, the Lord of Cloni City, gave up all the rooms in his residence, Lorraine fell asleep on the bed without taking off her clothes.
The cool breath of autumn drifted into the room. Although it was already dawn, there was still a gray mist floating outside like a sarong.
When Lorraine woke up, she only felt aches all over her body. She mustered up the energy to get up and wash herself, and then convened a meeting early in the morning.
The captains of the Naian Legion and the officers of the city defense army quickly gathered together. Looking at the room full of people with armors and long swords, stubble on their faces and the smell of sweat, Lorraine felt as if he had returned to Maple Leaf.
What it felt like when Dan Lin joined forces.
General Larry said to Lorraine worriedly: "Our reconnaissance team has penetrated nearly three hundred miles into the grassland, and still has not seen any trace of large-scale orcs. Not only that, even a slightly larger tribe
We haven’t encountered them yet. It seems that the news is true, and the orcs have indeed gathered."
The officers below also nodded worriedly. The border guards were most afraid of this kind of situation where the enemy's situation was unknown and they were too passive.
Lorraine could only sigh helplessly. Although Goblin Shajin also followed Lorraine to Croni City, and was about to set off from Croni City to go south to the Orc tribe to find out information, but what help could he do to him? Goblin Shajin
I can't guarantee it myself.
Although Galba is officially a goblin, there is no doubt about his loyalty. Goblin Shajin once said that "loyalty is also a commodity", and he thinks Lorraine can still afford to buy it.
Lorraine looked at the people below looking at him expectantly, shrugged and said, "I can't tell. My staff, the great shaman Galba, thinks there are about 120,000 orcs."
"Hiss", there was a sound of air-conditioning in the conference room. Everyone including General Larry looked at each other in disbelief.
"The piles can even level the city wall." the officer below laughed and muttered.
Lorraine frowned, glared at the man and said sternly: "What? Are you scared?"
The officer stood up with a loud roar and said loudly: "No, sir, but I have to prepare two knives. The orcs' skin is too thick and sharp, otherwise they won't be able to kill them."
The officers below burst out laughing. The Tenth Army of the East has always been arrogant, and even the king of heaven is not afraid of it. Parthia’s most elite Selium cavalry regiment was once known as “the best in the world,” but they were chased and chopped down by them every time.
, the Tenth Army of the East has a slogan: We are not the best in the world, we are dedicated to defeating the best in the world.
The Nai'an Legion is a team that has defeated or annihilated the Orcs countless times, the most powerful warriors, and the first warriors of the tribe. After winning many battles, they naturally have a sense of confidence. In addition, they are familiar with the Orcs, even if they hear
There are as many as 120,000 people, but they only find it troublesome, not to say that they are afraid.
What's more, they are guarding their homeland and their relatives. They have no reason to retreat. In order to protect all of this, the Nai'an Legion will fight bravely regardless of sacrifices even when they are at a disadvantage. On the contrary, the orcs often
When encountering resistance, he retreated hastily, and then was chased and killed by the Nai'an army.
Of course Lorraine was very satisfied with the officers' arrogance. She nodded solemnly and said, "Very good."
Then Lorraine took off the sword from his waist, it was still on the conference table with a bang, and said loudly: "This sword is my personal gift. In this battle against the orcs, whoever kills the most orcs, this sword
Whoever it belongs to."
The officer sitting there stared at the gorgeous sword on the table. This was the sword that Lorraine had ripped off in Freetown. Even Catherine rated it as good. It can be seen that the quality of the sword was good. Lorraine had replaced it.
After scabbarding the sword, I always carried it with me.
Lorraine glanced at the officers below and said loudly: "Everyone, step up your investigation and be on guard. This time is different from the past. Reinforcements are expected to arrive within twenty days. No matter whether the orcs come, 120,000 or 200,000, as long as
The old rule, kill them all.
Not only that, after defeating the Orc coalition this time, we will take the initiative to attack the grasslands and expand our territory. The empire will not hesitate to reward you with titles. This is the time for you to achieve your achievements, so don’t let me down."
The eyes of the officers turned red. It is every soldier's dream to open up new territory. As Lorraine said, the Ruman Empire does not hesitate to give rewards, especially these officers. If they seize territory, they will be given money, and they will naturally be promoted.
Needless to say, if you do well, you will get an honorary title. If you are the commander of a legion or the like, no matter how well you do your job, it is possible to inherit it hereditary.
But this kind of opportunity is not easy to come by. Nai'an's border has not moved southward for two hundred years.
Even General Larry became excited. He knew more than the officers below. He knew that if he really wanted to deal with these orcs this time, according to his position and achievements, a hereditary baron would be able to do it.
The officer gasped, stood up with a coax, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "Serve the Empire."
Lorraine nodded with satisfaction. This was what he wanted. Lorraine said loudly: "Go back and tell your people, as long as we kill this group of orcs, we will kill them. Then there will be meat to eat, and there will be
Niupao, if you have money, you can get the land for free. If you do a good job, Niupao and the land will get two shares."
Regardless of the current instability in people's hearts, as long as the officers pass on the message, the soldiers will feel that these orcs are nothing to be afraid of, and there is still territory behind them for us to grab, so they quickly send them to a dead end to grab things.
Humans are such animals. Whether it is aggressiveness or greed, the reason why humans can dominate the continent and drive other races to the edge of the world is because of this greedy driving force.
Galba selected a few clever orcs from the Aquitan tribe, washed off the tattoos on their bodies, and returned to the grassland with the goblin Shajin.
Goblin Shajin brought nothing with him on this trip, except for a whole boatload of salt and gold coins, which were of little use on the prairie. On the contrary, food and salt were in short supply.
Especially salt. Merchants carrying salt are the only ones protected by tribes on the prairie.
Goblin Sha Jin is now like a gambler who puts all his wealth on the gambling table. He will either die or be rich and powerful. The expression on his face alternates between heaven and hell. Lorraine is secretly worried about whether this guy can do it or not.
ah?
The goblin did not forget to remind Lorraine several times of his promise: if he could bring news back from the grassland, Lorraine would appoint him as the deputy general manager of the venture capital company.
Then with a firm expression that was fluttering in the wind, he said goodbye to Lorraine with three turns, and walked towards the vast grassland with a group of armed guards.