Arthur walked into NER Town amidst the welcome of the mayor and hundreds of residents.
The fat mayor named Larking was indeed a shrewd fellow. He not only personally led people to welcome him, but also specially organized hundreds of residents to welcome him at the gate of the town.
And under Larking's deliberate publicity, Arthur's deeds had already spread throughout the town. His lord was a hero who assassinated the orc prince, and the joy and respect on the faces of every resident were from the heart.
For the first time, Arthur felt elated. It turned out that being a noble and a lord could really make people addicted!
NER Town belonged to the king before, and there was no lord, so there was no lord's mansion for the time being. Arthur and Jose and other entourage were invited to the town hall by Mayor Larking.
The entire town's territory now belongs to Arthur, and Arthur can choose any place he likes to build the Viscount's Mansion. Before the Viscount's Mansion was built, he could only temporarily live in the town hall. The sensible Larking vacated his room and gave it to Arthur.
After a warm reception, Larking sent away the welcoming guests, settled the accompanying soldiers, and came to Arthur's room alone.
The key point is just beginning now, and before that, Arthur was satisfied with everything Larking did.
Larking poured a cup of tea for Arthur and himself, and then began to introduce the situation of Fuel Town to Arthur in detail, from population, land, mines to local customs and etiquette, each item was described in detail.
Arthur listened quietly without making any comments in the middle.
"It's getting late, I won't disturb the Viscount's rest. Tomorrow I will take you around the town. If you choose a satisfactory place, I can organize people to build a mansion for you. The taxes collected in the town in the past two years, minus the necessary expenses, are more than 600 gold coins, enough to build a very impressive Viscount's mansion for you." Larking said before getting up and leaving.
Arthur looked at Larking with a smile and didn't say anything.
Larking was suddenly embarrassed, not knowing whether he should get up and leave.
"Before this, I was ready to let you continue to serve as the mayor, but unfortunately you lied in the end." Arthur said lightly.
"My Lord Viscount, I didn't lie a single word before." Larking explained hurriedly.
"Then tell me, how much tax should a medium-sized viscount ship have in a year? How much is the town of Fuel?" Arthur hit the nail on the head.
Arthur, who was born as a mercenary, was extremely sensitive to money. When His Majesty Stacey gave him the viscount's fiefdom, he calculated how many gold coins he could earn in a year.
In the Kingdom of Isaac, for civilians, five or six gold coins can meet the living needs of an ordinary family for a year, and a family with an income of ten gold coins a year is already a wealthy family. For nobles, a knight without a fiefdom can earn 20 to 30 gold coins a year, and a baron with a village fiefdom can earn about 100 gold coins a year.
And for nobles at the level of viscount, depending on the size and poverty of the fiefdom, there will be tax revenues of 700 to 2,000 to 3,000 gold coins a year. Arthur's territory is medium-sized, with mines, inns, and businesses. It is estimated that the annual tax revenue will not be much less than 2,000 gold coins. Even if the salaries of public officials in the town and necessary expenses are deducted, the annual surplus income will not be less than 1,000 gold coins.
It has been more than a year and a half since Arthur was officially conferred the title of Viscount Jiang. Larking said that the town's income is only more than 600 gold coins, which is obviously a big problem.
Larking's sweat immediately flowed down, "I will bring all the account books for the past two years. I dare not touch a penny of the territory income since you were conferred."
Arthur waved his hand, "I don't want to look at the account books, I just want an explanation, why the income of my territory is less than that of other viscounts."
Larking immediately looked embarrassed.
"Since you don't have a reasonable explanation, I can only check it myself." Arthur's voice has become a little cold.
Latin wiped the sweat off his head, "My Lord, the territory's income has indeed decreased significantly in the past two years. I didn't dare to tell you because I didn't want you to get into trouble when you first arrived in the territory."
"It seems that you are kind-hearted? Give me an explanation first, and I will naturally judge whether to cause this trouble."
Latin breathed a sigh of relief and began to speak slowly: "There is a small iron mine in our Fuel Town. Although the output is not high, the iron ore produced is of high quality. The products produced by several weapon shops and merchants in the town are also in this area. It is quite famous, and the town's tax revenue is more than 2,000 gold coins every year. Our Fuel Town is next to Earl Milne's territory. All the iron ore and iron products sold to inland areas must pass through Earl Milne's territory. The Earl imposed an additional tax on us, and the things sold from the Earl's territory to the town were also taxed. After the two layers of taxes, there was not much left for the town to collect. "
"Oh?" Arthur was quite surprised. He thought that larking had colluded with his subordinates to embezzle, but he didn't expect that there was such a connection.
"Has Earl Milne always levied taxes on Fuel Town?"
Larking hesitated, "No, it was not until the king officially conferred the town to you that he began to collect taxes from the town?"
Arthur frowned slightly, it seemed that the other party was deliberately coming for him.
"Such a thing that is not in line with the rules of the kingdom, you let them collect taxes on the town's industries?" Arthur asked.
Larking looked bitter, "I once visited the Earl, but he refused to see me because I was too weak. I also went to the city of Guru, which I previously governed, to complain, but the City Lord's Mansion said that after the territory was granted to you, it would be a dispute between nobles and no longer under the jurisdiction of the City Lord's Mansion. Several businesses in the town have also united to resist, but Earl Milne has 500 private soldiers, and our town's security team has less than 50 people. Armed resistance is like hitting a stone with an egg."
Arthur tapped the armrest of the chair with his fingers and said nothing.
The Kingdom of Isaac stipulates that noble lords with fiefs can raise private armies. The kingdom stipulates the maximum number of soldiers that nobles at all levels can raise. As long as the nobles can afford it, the kingdom will not interfere with how many they raise. For example, the four field armies of 100,000 people under the four dukes of the kingdom are semi-private armies. The first-level marquis can raise a maximum of 5,000 private soldiers, the first-level earl can raise a thousand private soldiers, the first-level viscount can raise 200 private soldiers, and the first-level baron can only raise a maximum of 20 people.
Nobles are allowed to raise private armies to maintain public order in their territories and to fight foreign wars. Nobles are obliged to send troops to participate in the war, and the military pay and weapons and equipment are all borne by the nobles themselves. For example, in the previous war between the two tribes, half of the 200,000 inland reinforcements were guards from major cities, and the other half were private armies of nobles.
Larking summoned up his courage and continued, "I think there must be some misunderstanding here. Now that you have taken office, I suggest that you visit Earl Milne in person with gifts. If the misunderstanding is cleared up, the matter may be resolved."
Arthur suddenly looked up and smiled, "Make a detailed list of the taxes Milne has levied on my land in the past two years, and I will take it to visit him."