Otto didn't think there was anything wrong with what Baron Charlie said. In fact, the taxes borne by ordinary farmers during this period were indeed too heavy.
For a long time, peasant uprisings caused by excessive taxes have actually occurred one after another across Western Europe.
The reason why it didn't have much impact was mainly because the aristocracy had a professional violent class - knights.
A well-equipped knight, with just a dozen soldiers, can easily defeat thousands of civilians with insufficient weapons.
In this way, even a small lord can easily deal with the threat of peasant uprisings. Not to mention developing like a spark that starts a prairie fire in the East, it cannot even replicate the power of the slave uprising in Rome.
Although it is basically impossible for peasant uprisings to shake the rule, Otto does not want to increase taxes on farmers. Not only does he not increase taxes, he also wants to reduce them.
Although Aargauen can be considered a relatively affluent area in Switzerland, after all, the overall terrain is still dominated by plateaus. The plateau is naturally inferior to the Great Plains in terms of agriculture. It is impossible to make the territory rich and powerful by following the path of agricultural development.
.
Taking the road of handicraft industry is probably not possible. After all, Switzerland is resource-scarce. Although there are many mountains, mineral resources are still extremely scarce. It is a completely unfettered area.
Therefore, the only path we can take is to rely on location advantages to develop business.
However, the development of business requires primitive accumulation, and where does the capital for primitive accumulation come from? Naturally, it cannot be exploited from farmers.
They are all poor people and can't squeeze out any profit. They must be looking for someone who has money.
"I understand what Master Otto means, but if we block the road to collect business taxes, will those merchants change their route and not pass through our territory?" Through Otto's explanation, Baron Charlie already understood what Otto wanted to do.
, raised his own questions.
When the previous two Counts of Aargau were in urgent need of funds to repay their debts, it was not that they had never thought about caravans. However, after considering various factors, they only dared to collect a symbolic toll and did not dare to actually carry out the caravan.
of business tax.
After all, the territory also needs the traffic of caravans to bring their own supplies. If people don’t pass through Allgäu after detouring, they will lose an external source of supplies. In the situation of Allgäu, it is impossible to do so.
To be self-sufficient, not to mention the shortage of spices and salt, was enough for the two Counts of Aargau to give up this idea.
But Otto had obviously thought about this problem and said with a smile:
"I have considered this. Businessmen coming from the east who want to enter the West Francia region cannot avoid our territory no matter what, unless they want to go north and encounter bandits in the mountains.
As for the Italian merchants in the south, not many took this trade route. They had already passed the Alps, so there was little possibility of taking a detour.
Besides, the commercial tax we charge is not high. If the tax is thirty to one, those merchants will recognize it with gritted teeth. If we have more specialties in our territory by then, merchants can come to buy them, and we can be more secure.
If they are safe within the territory, then I believe there will be many businessmen willing to pay taxes.
Besides, do you think we are the only ones who are greedy for those businessmen to make money? As long as our territory starts collecting taxes, will the lords next door, big and small, be able to sit still? As long as they follow suit, haha, I believe they will definitely be more greedy and charge higher taxes.
If there is no tax, the caravan will still choose to transit through our territory."
Baron Charlie opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but felt that any words he said were pale.
Otto was right. He knew even better than Otto how greedy those nobles were. The reason why no one attacked the passing caravan was simply because no one wanted to be the first.
And once someone takes the lead, they will definitely be unscrupulous. If they charge thirty taxes for one person? If they don't charge ten taxes for one person, they will not be worthy of the noble title of those people.
"Now that Master Otto has thought it through, I will naturally follow your instructions. Since the territory is so large, where does Master Otto want to set up checkpoints?"
Otto waved his hand, and Gent on the side took out Otto's hand-drawn map, stretched out his hands, opened it, and displayed it in front of everyone.
Fortunately, Otto's painting skills are good. Although there is no such thing as a scale, everyone can still understand where it is at a glance.
"Don't worry about the dangerous terrain in the northeast. There is the New Castle more than ten miles away. Just leave it to Wade." Otto pointed at the large gap next to the Jura Mountains.
Wade glanced at the map, silently remembered it, and wrote it down.
"These two are relatively important locations in the west. It is best to build a small wooden or earthen camp to block them. After that, it is the locations of these roads that need to be monitored by people.
What remains is the place where tolls were collected before. These two places need to be strengthened.
Baron Charlie, I will give you one hundred of Wade's castle guards, and then you can recruit some militiamen, which should be enough."
Otto quickly clicked on multiple locations on the map, then turned to look at Baron Charlie.
"Your Excellency, Baron, do you understand? Are there any difficulties? Just tell Bud if you need any supplies, and I will let him cooperate with your work."
Baron Charlie frowned slightly. He had just been appointed as the commander of the new army, and he was sent to collect taxes before his butt was even hot. What did this mean?
"Master Otto, I don't have any problem. It's just the two hundred newly recruited soldiers... I'm thinking, should I take them with me to collect taxes?"
When Baron Charlie said this, Otto realized what the other party was worried about and immediately told him to relax. This did not mean depriving him of his military power. The two hundred new troops were still under his control.
His job is to set up all the checkpoints for collecting commercial taxes. After that, the tax collection work will no longer be under his control. He will come back and lead the new army with peace of mind. He is going to cooperate with Baron Dillon to clear out the bandits around the territory and make arrangements by the way.
Territory patrol work.
The plan to clear out the bandits was planned before, but the injury of Count Argau disrupted the plan. As for the patrolling of the territory, since commercial taxes have to be collected, the security of the territory must be guaranteed, at least.
I have to do something about it.
At this time, Baron Charlie had no doubts and happily accepted the task. What he was most worried about was being squeezed out by Otto and becoming a marginal figure in the territory. Now that he had proved that he was overthinking, there was no hesitation and he followed.
Otto, do your best.
After settling the tax collection matter, Otto returned to his room, returned to his room overnight, and began to write his first decree as the leader of the Aargau Territory.
The next day, more than a dozen cavalrymen filed out of the old castle and spread Otto's will throughout the Allgäu Territory.