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Text Chapter 40: Demons dancing wildly

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    Du Ze used the past half hour to dress himself up - not only did he not take off the bombed-out dress that was full of holes and stained with blood, nor did he clean the dust and stains on his body, he also  He ruffled his hair and wiped his dirty hands on his neck and chin.  He simply washed his face and acted as if he was in a hurry and had no time to fully maintain personal hygiene. The expression on his face also contained a bit of disguised fear and uneasiness - he looked like a man who had just been assassinated.  , a frightened, helpless and aristocratic young man who exposed his fear.

    Since the new armor has not been completed yet, Yulia is still wearing the tattered chain armor.  She also wore some outfits that made her look more low-key, which seemed to match Du Ze's appearance.  She didn't like the original ornately decorated scabbard, so she replaced the Guardian Sword with an ordinary cowhide scabbard, so it looked inconspicuous.

    Noting that the new lord had entered the banquet hall, most of the first people to surround him were lower-status civilian merchants or craftsmen.  Although they looked down on the new lord who seemed too weak in their hearts, they still chatted with the new lord enthusiastically.

    Being proud of their status, those really important guests deliberately slowed down their pace and tacitly distanced themselves from those guests with lower status, forming two distinct classes.

    Du Ze plays his role.  He talked politely with the lower-status guests, as if he was in urgent need of any help, which made many people feel a little flattered, and secretly marveled at the eagerness of the new lord during the conversation.  He seemed really eager to win over anyone to help him become the rightful lord.

    After continuing to chat with the lower-status guests for a while, Du Ze walked towards the really important guests. At this time, most of the latter were no longer optimistic about this noble young man who was too attentive to low-status people - according to the rules that ordinary nobles would abide by.  In banquet etiquette, hosts often only deal politely with those who have limited value, and leave most of the time to those more important guests.

    Du Ze's current appearance is not consistent with his previous appearance, but the last time most people in the banquet hall saw him was four years or more ago, so this somewhat deliberate attitude did not arouse  How many people are suspicious.

    "Mr. Barnett! I've heard of you a long time ago." When talking to the chubby mayor, Du Ze also used the title 'sir'.  "Your contribution to the town of Varsha and the viscounty is obvious to all."

    "That is my duty, my lord."

    Mayor Barnett has no modesty at all.  In his opinion, as long as the young new lord does not want to cause a civil strife, he must continue to serve as the mayor of Vasha Town.  What's more, if those people's plan succeeds, it is still unknown whether the young man in front of him can become a lord or even survive.  He had very limited respect for the young man, and it was clear in his tone.

    Du Ze remembered the mayor¡¯s face and continued to play his role.  He greeted the guests one by one, announced the start of the banquet, and used an almost pleading tone to hope that the guests would support him.

    According to the law, the replacement of the lord originally required the presence of the nominal ruler of the Principality of Junshan - Grand Duke Junshan - or his envoy, personally announcing the successor as the legal heir, and witnessing the entire process of the lord's replacement.  Only a lord can be considered a legal lord.  As the nobles of the Duke of Junshan continued to expand their strength in the war, the Duke of Junshan's control over the local nobles also weakened year by year.  Although they are still nominally vassals of the Duke of Junshan, many areas are already in a de facto state of semi-government and are basically out of the control of the Duke of Junshan.

    Located in a remote area at the junction of the human world and the orc world, the Viscounty of Rosen has maintained a relatively neutral position within the principality since its establishment.  Its lords are neither very constrained by the Junshan Principality nor very willing to participate in the factional struggles within the Principality.  The geographical environment surrounded by mountains also makes it particularly isolated geographically, and its relationship with other areas is not close.

    Rather than being part of the Junshan Principality, the Viscounty of Rosen is more like a small country within a country.  It has almost achieved complete success in economic, political and military aspects.

    It takes a group of brave border guardians to fight against the harassment of the orcs, and considering the internal neutrality policy that Viscount Rosen has maintained throughout the generations, Grand Duke Junshan tolerates the existence of this uncontrolled area.

    "I hope, I hope, everyone can enjoy this banquet." Du Ze deliberately made himself look nervous.  "I think if you don't have any objections, that is to say, if, if everyone agrees, then??Please hold up your glass and celebrate the succession of the new lord and the new Viscount Lawson!  "

    "Before I congratulate you on becoming the lord, I have a small question! Sir!" Seizing this good opportunity to speak, Mayor Barnett stood up from his seat.  "As you know, I am the mayor of Washa Town, Barnett. I have been the mayor of Washa Town for the past nine and a half years." Worried that the young new lord did not remember his name,  He introduced himself again.  "On behalf of the citizens of Wasa Town, I appeal to you! Our life is really difficult and we urgently need your attention!"

    In order to attract more people¡¯s attention, Mayor Barnett left his seat and walked to the center of the banquet hall.  He looked at Du Ze, who was sitting on the main seat, with a hint of subtle ridicule in his expression.

    "The tax rate you set - oh, by the way, the tax rate set by the previous lord, your brother, is too high! This has seriously affected the living standards of citizens and normal trade activities.  !" Raising his voice and waving his arms vigorously, Mayor Barnett tried his best to attract the attention of others.  "I want to ask you to reduce taxes to appease the dissatisfaction of the citizens!"

    "Wellhow much do you think we should reduce?" Du Ze's reaction was completely like that of an aristocratic young man who was not familiar with government affairs.

    "One-tenth! I mean, the current tax rates are outrageously high. In order to appease the dissatisfaction of the citizens, I propose to reduce all tax rates to one-tenth of the original!"

    No matter how you look at it, Mayor Barnett¡¯s behavior does not look like asking for a tax reduction, but more like a provocation containing a threat.  In the history of the Viscounty of Rosen, no lord has ever lowered the tax rate so drastically.  Although that can make the lives of citizens better in a short period of time, at this tax rate, the lord does not even have enough money to support his own servants, let alone support the army used to protect the viscounty from foreign enemies.  .

    No normal mayor would behave like this.  He was obviously forcing Du Ze to refuse his request, and then naturally took the opportunity to call on others to oppose the new lord.  Among the other guests, several men with loud voices loudly agreed with Mayor Barnett's views and called on some people who could benefit from the tax rate adjustment to join them.

    This is not about tax rate adjustment.  This is about whether Du Ze has the ability to suppress those who want to openly oppose him and whether he has the ability to control the situation.

    ¡°Watch your tongue, fat pig!¡±

    To Du Ze¡¯s expectation, the first person to speak out to support him was Knight Angus, who had been intimidated by Dark Warrior No. 2. As the chief knight of the Rosen family, he attended the banquet with other knights.

    "You should be careful with your tongue! Do you want to prove that the gentleman you are loyal to is a tyrant who uses force to threaten ordinary people to submit to his power?" Having received assurances from those people, Mayor Barnett had no scruples.  He wanted to anger the new lord.  "No one would support such a tyrant, right?" He turned to the others.  "We all know that this gentleman who wants to become a lord is a kind-hearted man who cares about the livelihood of his people, right?"

    Du Ze thought about it for a while.  He is not considering whether tax cuts are really needed, but when to close the net.  In the end, he decided to continue to tolerate this offense, wait for more people who opposed him to appear, and then kill them all.

    ¡°I will consider your proposal on tax cuts.¡± His answer surprised many people.  "Do you have any other requests?"

    "I hope you can give us permission to expand the town police force! The current number of the police force is too small to effectively fight against banditry!" Mayor Barnett made an even more excessive request.  "I hope you can lift the ban that members of the police force can only be citizens, and allow us to recruit unlimited members from farmers to solve the increasingly serious public security problems!"

    Unlike knights and professional soldiers, the garrison is not under the direct control of the lord, but belongs to the town to which they belong - in other words, if an ambitious and capable mayor appears, they will be the mayor's personal armed forces -  The garrison is usually responsible for the security of the town, and is also responsible for protecting the town when the enemy attacks, so it has certain combat capabilities.  Their equipment, training, and commissions are not paid for by the lord, and they are not under the lord's command.

    If the request to reduce the tax rate to one-tenth is a provocation, the request to expand the garrison in this way is a direct threat to the lord's right to rule.  By limiting the number and identity of its members, the lord can effectively control the size of the garrison so that it cannot form a threatening team and cannot militarily confront the army directly under its jurisdiction.  The result of allowing the garrison to expand its members indefinitely is to form an uncontrolled and threatening armed force in the territory, which is harmful to the lord's rule.Beneficial.

    "Does anyone else agree with his point of view? Please stand up. I want to know how many people support this point of view." Du Ze's statement caused an uproar.  It seems that he really wants to agree to the unlimited expansion of the police force.

    Perhaps they felt that the new lord was easy to bully, perhaps they had reached some kind of consensus with Mayor Barnett secretly, or perhaps they were trying to gain more benefits from it. After a moment of silence, more than a dozen people stood up.  Got up, and someone else walked up to Mayor Barnett.  A fat middle-aged man with a similar build to Mayor Barnett toasted the former with a glass of wine.  "I think the status of citizens is too low!" Someone shouted in the noise: "I propose to establish a citizen supervision group to assist the lord in handling government affairs!"

    "I agree!" another person shouted: "I propose that our good mayor be the leader of the supervision group! - He is definitely the most suitable candidate!"

    "Sad."

    Looking at the somewhat chaotic scene in the banquet hall, Du Ze smiled and turned to look at Yulia sitting next to him.  At this time, Yulia's expression was very indignant, as if she couldn't help but want to teach those bastards who offended the lord personally.  "That's why I do this." He pointed to the people who were shouting in the center of the banquet hall.  "Now, 'The time has come'."

    ;

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