Use foreign lands to conquer the whole of Europe

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: The Darkest Age

It is said to be repairing the old castle, but it is actually rebuilding - because the castle of the Grand Duke Bird was almost destroyed by the latter when he fought with Slade.

As a lord, his subordinates and servants are naturally indispensable.And to arrange a good place for everyone, the amount of work is not trivial.

Slade had to use extremely strong means to summon strong men to build the castle on a large scale, and stipulated that every farmer who arrived in Kent had to report his address and name immediately. If he dared to report late or conceal the report, he would be punished. Throw out the barrier and give these troublemakers a little "little curse shock".

The requisitioned people can only hurry on the road.

They don't have horses like knights. Most of them will choose to go with people from the same village. On the way on foot, they will meet more "like-minded" partners.

When they finally flooded into Kent, they were often disheveled and smelly, and the dry food they brought from home had already deteriorated, making them look like refugees.

However, such scenes have been repeatedly staged in just a few months.

Because that's what Slade did: catch the young men after the village fields were plowed, and put them back when the crops were harvested, so they wouldn't interfere with the farming.

Gloskland has always implemented a simple two-field system, that is, the cultivated land is divided into two parts, namely spring cultivated land and autumn cultivated land.

After each piece of farmland is harvested, it will be stopped for another year to restore the fertility of the land.

When it was the turn of autumn plowing, since it was plowing once a year, it was only a round trip, which was still acceptable.

But when it's the turn of the spring plowing year, which is two plowing years a year, it will be miserable.

The crops planted in spring can be harvested before autumn, and new crops must be planted in autumn to wait for the next year's harvest.

The farmers jumped back and forth between returning home to farm and going to work in Kent. The round trip was long and exhausting, and many people even collapsed halfway.

Even so, Slade didn't show any compassion, and even added a tax in kind to the residence tax and poll tax, collecting food mainly meat, eggs and milk supplemented by grains from all regions.

Because Kent cannot support such a large population.

However, the food is not handed out for free.

After working diligently for a week, all the farmers were dumbfounded—they worked so hard, and what they got in return was barely enough wages, like sending beggars.

This is something that the Hazeta family, who ruled Glosk for half a year, has never done before, and it is also unimaginable.

What's more, they are using the money they earn to buy their own things.

Some people even saw the special markings when buying eggs and recognized them on the spot as eggs from their own hens!
Under such oppression, people were furious, thinking that Slade didn't think of them as human beings at all, and even the horses in the castle were better off than them!

Excessive labor and taxes have already made people feel distracted, but what happened after the release is even more unbelievable.

At Slade's request, many farmers who could not pay the tax had to donate their family members or themselves to the lord in exchange for the qualification to continue living in Glosk.

Of these donated people, only a small number were taken as serfs in Slade and lost their freedom, while most of them were missing, and their bodies were never found.

Various versions of rumors are flying around, describing this strange new lord as a cannibalistic, tyrannical monster.

The people who once lived under the rule of Grand Duke Bird were poor but lived very peacefully.

The more they miss the past, the more they hate the present when they see no hope.

The anger of the masses quickly swept across the collar with the momentum of a prairie fire.Soon several overwhelmed villages banded together to raise the banner of rebellion, demanding that Slade reduce taxes and return their families.

They thought that Slade hadn't yet gained a firm foothold, and that he was stretched both in terms of military strength and financial resources, so he would definitely not choose to confront the rebels head-on.

Besides, even if the rebellion fails, the population of Gloskland is not large, so how can they connect several villages together?
But Slade really did.

At that time, the Knights had not yet formed, with only three members, and the old lord's soldiers were killed by her until there were only more than 20 soldiers left, and they were all thrown to guard the castle.

She took the only two cronies around her and embarked on this bloody journey.

All the men in the five main rebel villages, as well as the old subordinates of the Grand Duke who participated in it, were slaughtered by her, leaving only women and children under the age of three.

The largest rebellion in the past 50 years came to an end in just ten days.

The three returned to the castle swaggeringly with all the plundered property, and no one was injured.

After that, no one dared to defy Slade openly.However, due to the shortage of labor force due to the sharp drop in the population of Glosk, it took five full years for the castle repair work to be completed, which was twice as long as expected...

And these five years were called "the darkest age" by the people of Glosk.As those people passed away one after another, this memory was also buried in the soil, and few people mentioned it.

Angie, who was lying on the roof, heard these "brilliant achievements", his eyelids twitched.

She didn't know how to describe this lord who was too powerful to be considered a human being.And in terms of force value, she even "experienced it personally" as a party involved.

Oh, and she was even "donated" to the Lord's victims because the family couldn't pay the taxes.

It turned out that she was not eating melons in the field, but the melons themselves.

As for Slade's actions, the rationale behind them is simple: if you want to maintain long-term rule, you must either have a stable heart or be ruthless.

Obviously, she chose the latter.It's just too cruel for the people living on this land.

After all, the lord can "choose" the people, but the people have no other choice, especially in this cursed world, even fleeing.

Just when Anji had mixed feelings in his heart, the atmosphere of fear spread rapidly in the cramped wooden house below.

Except for the old village chief, the oldest of these villagers is only in his 40s, so naturally he doesn't know these old things.

At this moment, they really realized how terrifying and powerful the lord who ruled Glosk was.

"The past is exactly the same as the present! History is unfolding, but it has changed from building castles to recruiting soldiers!"

Angie was a little confused by Locke's gnashing of teeth: recruitment?when?
Could it be that when the three of them came back this time, they just ran into the muzzle of the gun?

She couldn't help but recall the murderous looks from the villagers when she "borrowed" something.

"There are only [-] households in Ande Kofi Village now, but they want eight soldiers!"

This sentence awakened everyone.The emotion of fear is slowly disappearing, replaced by anger.They spoke to each other, angrily denouncing Slade's various atrocities.

It's no wonder, after all, there are only a few men of the right age in the village, and most of these people in the house will have to be arrested. If it's a matter of personal concern, they can't sit still.

Seeing that the emotions were almost exaggerated, Berg put on a dignified posture and shouted loudly:

"Everyone! The failure of those people in the past was because they didn't have enough power. Now, the Commoran leader is willing to lend you their power."

"The great and benevolent Lord Grabak Stavor will keep you safe. You will have a more stable and happier future!"

The powerful and thick voice came from this middle-aged man with a strong physique, and it possessed a convincing magic power.

The well-informed village chief Havok was not easily incited.He stared at Berg with his experienced eyes, and after thinking for a moment, he slowly opened his mouth and said:

"The current taxation is much lighter than in the past, and Glosk's economy is slowly improving. Even if he is recruited into the army, he will be given a corresponding salary. What reason do we have to take risks and go to yours?" Kind sir'?"

Feeling the other party's vigilant gaze, Berg couldn't help sneering:
"Even if you are timid and dare not resist, you will never be able to save enough tax money for the next spring harvest! At this time, it is the best choice to cooperate with the Comoran collar!"

Berg did not give up, but continued to incite everyone's emotions.He is not a reckless person, he has already done his homework before coming to shoulder the mission.

Unable to pay taxes means they can only hand over their closest family members, or even themselves.

The conscription this time is just adding another fire to this pile of firewood.

It is better to resist than to panic all day long.

If you want to resist, you need enough strength.

However, not to mention that they didn't even have decent weapons, and even reinforcements were nowhere to be found.The other villages on Glosk's territory are not as desolate as Ande Kofi's. Who would want to go through the muddy water?

The group of people 50 years ago is not dead yet.Those bloody past stories that have been circulated among this group of people are sharp knives hanging over the heads of this group of people who are about to make a move, making them always remind themselves with trepidation that they cannot do any rebellious actions.

In this way, only with the help of external forces can they save their lives in the Grosk Territory, which is completely dominated by fear.

The atmosphere in the room became tense again.Looking at the struggling people, Berg once again gained confidence and issued an ultimatum:

"This will be your last chance to get rid of your fears. Slade's control over Glosk is weakening. What happened in Grand Village is the best proof!"

　Writing and writing has become a [-]-character chapter,

　　Because I am afraid that the writing is not detailed enough, you will feel that the logic does not make sense when you look at it.

　　I don’t dare to write in too much detail, which will affect the reading experience, and I have to intersperse some relaxed sentences in it...

　　Before the release, the plot of this chapter was greatly changed, it seems more reasonable, and the pace is faster.

　　(Self-inflicted crimes, you can't live!)
　　These few chapters are too mind-blowing and critical, so I wrote them very slowly.
　　Fortunately, it's almost the weekend, and I can code words wholeheartedly without delaying the progress.

　　Finally, thank Xiao Xu for the recommendation ticket~
　　


(End of this chapter)