Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 241 The Millstone
What does it feel like when the sun in the sky changes?
The answer is simple: if it's the same as the sun before, then there's no sensation.

The citizens of Gervadane were like that.

Everyone watched in a daze as some people left the city and others entered.

According to the most widely circulated and logically sound version of events, the story unfolded as follows:

The garrison commander went out of the city to suppress bandits and died;

Bandits entered the city, looted indiscriminately, and chaos ensued;

The newly arrived captain drove away the bandits and became the new garrison commander. That's good.

The "new garrison" deliberately did not correct this perception; instead, it reinforced it.

Because Winters' strategy towards Gevordan was simply to "stay put".

He could only command four regular officers—Moritz and Juan were not under his command.

He had no more than two dozen men under his command who could read and write.

Winters knew very well that he was neither capable of taking over Gévordine, nor did he have the will or the need to.

All he wants is stability and to avoid causing trouble.

The downside of the "stay as is" strategy is that it "doesn't feel anything".

The citizens of Gevordan felt nothing and naturally did not identify with the new regime.

We still need to eat bread, work, and keep the shop open.

Things are the same as before, everyone lives in peace and continues with their lives.

Not only did the citizens of Jervodan not feel anything, but the sixteen towns of Tiepong County also did not feel anything.

The farmers and townspeople in the eight southern towns still knew some of the news, but the eight northern towns were completely unaware that Ghevordan had a new owner.

However, after discussing it with the group of six, Winters decided to inform everyone anyway.

……

Tiefeng County, Qingfeng Town, Shibi Village.

Three cavalrymen sped into the center of the village, the lead cavalryman holding aloft a green flag, signifying that he had brought an important message.

Following the familiar procedure, the three cavalrymen first found the village chief, rang the bell, and gathered the villagers.

Many villagers, seeing the cavalry charge into the village, had already taken refuge in the forests surrounding the village.

Finding them all will require considerable effort.

The leading cavalryman wasted no time. Seeing dozens of people arrive at the village square, he found a horse-drawn carriage, got on, and read the proclamation to the villagers of Shibi Village.

After reading it, he posted the notice on the notice board in the village square, then mounted his horse and rode off to the next village.

After the cavalry left, the farmers who had fled into the forest gradually returned to the village.

They gathered in the village square, looking at the notice on the bulletin board.

The newly posted notices are exceptionally large, with a single sheet of paper taking up half of the notice board.

Each letter written on it was also exceptionally large, as if afraid that the reader might misread it.

In the lower right corner of the notice was a huge lacquer mark, the meaning of which even the most ignorant villager understood: whoever dared to tear it down would be killed.

The few literate people in the village squeezed in front of the notice and squinted as they read it aloud to the others.

……

Winters originally did not intend to write a notice because he felt that farmers would not be able to read it and it would be useless to write one.

“You’re mistaken,” Bard explained with a smile. “Most farmers can’t read, but there are always people in the village who can, and they can read it to others. The leaflets with the doctrine printed on them were one of the important ways the Calais Vinaya Pitaka recruited believers back then. Don’t worry, they’ll know what’s written on the notices.”

Winters then drafted a notice himself.

After reading it, Bard laughed even harder: "This kind of grammar can't be used. There are literate people in the village, but they can only understand the general idea."

"I have used the simplest syntax possible."

“Writing notices is no easy task; it has to be written to a standard that even an eight-year-old can understand.” Bud’s smile widened. “It has to be concise and get to the point. Otherwise, you’ll forget everything before you even finish listening. Ideally, it should also rhyme, like a nursery rhyme that’s easy to remember.”

Andrei, standing to the side, stammered, "I've thought of a good one."

"what?"

Andrei cleared his throat: "Eat his mother's food! Wear his mother's clothes! When the blood wolf comes, we won't pay taxes!"

"No taxes!" Winters crumpled up the toilet paper and threw it at Andrei. "If you don't pay taxes, what will you eat!"

"Political promises are meant to be broken, aren't they?" Andrei said nonchalantly. "If we really manage to take Maplestone City, will anyone dare to ask us why we have to pay taxes?"

"Alright, stop provoking him." Bard knew that the problem actually lay with "Blood Wolf."

Winters felt wronged, truly wronged.

He never called himself "Blood Man" or "Blood Wolf," nor was he the kind of soldier who took pride in terrifying nicknames.

But for some reason, his nicknames became increasingly worse and more widely spread, becoming increasingly bizarre.

Captain Speyer once admonished him, "If you don't want to have an unpleasant nickname for the rest of your life, stop doing such foolish things."

He didn't take those words to heart at the time, but now he deeply regrets it.

On the third day after he entered the city, the various guilds of Gévord suddenly donated a large sum of money.

Winters was initially delighted, leaving behind the troubles outside the city to come into the city and personally thank the guild leaders.

Until one of them let slip that all the money was "gifts to Lord Blood Wolf".

Upon hearing this, Winters' expression immediately changed.

The person who spoke was so timid that he was so frightened that he lost control of his bladder on the spot.

In the end, it was Bard who cleaned up the mess for "Lord Blood Wolf" and afterwards gave Winters a good lecture.

In short, the last thing Winters wanted to hear was the word "blood wolf".

“But this slogan is pretty good.” Bard smiled and took the pen and paper: “Let’s change it to [Eat his mother, wear his mother, no taxes this autumn].”

……

Yegeni "Big Eyes," who lives at the western end of Shibi Village, carefully stayed in the forest for a while longer.

He only left the woods after confirming that the cavalrymen carrying the green flag had not returned, which is why he returned to the village quite late.

When he arrived at the village square, he found the villagers gathered there, chatting in small groups.

The notice has been read aloud, and it has been read several times.

"What happened? What did they say?" Big-eyed Yeggenny hurriedly found his neighbor—the fisherman and farmer [Ilya].
“I didn’t quite understand either,” said fisherman Ilya, scratching the back of his head. “It seems like the garrison in the city got a new master.”

"Has the village chief been changed?" "No."

"Has the town mayor been replaced?"

"nor."

"Hey, what does the chirping of birds and the promotion of the master have to do with us peasants?" Yegenni spat.

The farmers who remained in Shibi Village were all self-employed. They had land and houses, and could not simply flee like farmhands or tenant farmers.

In peaceful times, the lives of self-sufficient farmers were far better than those of the true bottom of rural society—the landless peasants.

They could raise pigs, cattle, sheep, and even horses. They had meat to eat from time to time, and surplus grain to brew their own liquor.

And now, they are just struggling to survive.

But this doesn't mean they willingly endure exploitation; they simply can't escape it.

"The new magistrate is quite good; he's exempted us from the grain tax this autumn," Ilya muttered. "Eat his mother's food, wear his mother's clothes, and don't have to pay grain this autumn."

"Screw it!" Yegeni's big eyes widened even more: "It's almost time to plant winter wheat! Autumn, my foot! Besides, didn't the city send a grain requisition team down to harvest our wheat a while ago?"

Another farmer [Pushian] chimed in, "The new master also said he wanted to suppress the bandits."

"Which magistrate doesn't say he wants to suppress bandits? But which one has actually done anything about it? The bandits still bully us, don't they?" Yegenni became angrier as he spoke, and he stomped his foot angrily: "Damn it! What kind of bullshit new magistrates are they? They're all the same old pair of pants, just with the crotch facing backwards! Fuck!"

Although Yegeni's words were vulgar, they touched on the painful memories of several farmers around him.

Bandits, taxes, and war—farmers toiled to make a living by farming, yet they suffered oppression year after year.

In Shibi Village alone, several self-sufficient farming families have been driven to desperation and forced to flee their homes. It is unknown whether they joined the army, became bandits, or died.

The surrounding farmers remained silent.

"Oh, right. The new master said that from now on, there will be no more [millstone tax]!" Ilya happily told his neighbors, "Grind as much as you want, sweep as much as you want, whoever wants to build one can build one!"

Yenigan was stunned, because he really did have a hand-cranked millstone at home.

"Really?"

"It really is! It's written on the notice!"

After standing there for a while, Yenigan finally spoke: "That newcomer is a good gentleman."

……

Winters' strategy was not only to leave Gervordan "unmoved," but also to leave the rural areas "unmoved."

“Things were too chaotic for a while,” Winters explained to the others. “Everyone missed their old life and craved security. So we’ll stabilize Iron Peak County first, and if we can leave it alone, we’ll leave it alone.”

Don't bang on the carriage if it's not broken. Tiefeng County is still functioning, so don't mess with it. What experience do we have in managing a county? Besides, do we need to teach farmers how to farm?"

However, Winters soon realized that he was talking to a brick wall.

There are currently six people who can participate in the decision-making meetings: Winters himself, Bader, Andre, Mason, Moritz, and Juan.

Juan and Andrei didn't care about any of this; they were sleepy and yawning constantly during meetings.
Lieutenant Colonel Moritz never yawned because he openly dozed off, and since he was the highest-ranking officer among those present, no one could control him.

Mason, on the other hand, was obsessed with his [Horse-drawn Cannon].

During the siege of Hammerhold, the [Marawood Cannon] was a great success, so now the senior is thinking about "where to get two real cannons".

There are definitely no cannons in Tiefeng County, and they can't be bought from outside. We either have to go out and plunder them, or build them ourselves.

Mason is already considering whether to try casting two small cannons first.

Not to mention that Lieutenant Colonel Moritz and Don Juan had ulterior motives.

……

"Do you know what other tasks I have besides collecting your corpses?" Moritz asked Winters.

“I don’t know,” Winters replied, “but I suspect it’s related to your choice of Operation B.”

Moritz then pointed to Andrei and Bader and asked, "Do you know why they didn't go back to Veneta?"

Winters had guessed something, but he didn't want to say it aloud.

“It’s Veneta who wants them to stay here,” Moritz sighed. “Your homeland not only doesn’t want to take you back, but also wants you to stay in Palatour. If you go home, Veneta will only have a few more lieutenants. If you stay in Palatour, Veneta will have many valuable leverage points and informants.”

“Is that so?” Winters asked Andrei.

Andrei nodded, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

“They’re all the same, I’m not surprised.” Winters was numb: “The Paratul don’t treat us like human beings, and the Veneta are pretty much the same.”

“You’ve matured quite a bit,” Moritz said with a smile.

Winters pressed on: "So? You and Senior Juan think my little deal is a great investment opportunity, and if it can grow quickly, it can restrain the New Reclamation Army and even the Red Rose of Kingsburg? That's why you decided to take the backup plan? For Veneta?"

“No, I’m helping you because I’m happy to,” Moritz replied sincerely. “I just prefer Plan B. Since we can wipe out Ronald’s unit in one fell swoop, there’s no need to cause more damage. Why torture him when we can kill him with one blow?”

“No, that’s not it either. I just came to take you back,” Don Juan interjected. “I helped you fight because I was bored anyway. Besides, didn’t you beg me?”

……

Finally, Winters sadly discovered that in the small meeting room, only Bud and he truly cared about the farmers.

The six-person meeting became a mere formality, and in the end, only Bud and Winters discussed the matter.

“That’s right,” Bard agreed. “Don’t bang on the carriage if it’s not broken. With our current capabilities, we simply can’t control the entire Iron Peak County. So, keeping everything as usual is the best approach.”

Therefore, the rural areas of Tiefeng County will also remain "untouched" for the time being.

The downside of not moving is that you lose sensation.

The advantage of not moving is that you don't feel anything.

No one seemed to notice, and life went on as usual, which was exactly the result Winters wanted.

Just because ordinary citizens and self-employed farmers don't feel anything doesn't mean that others don't feel anything.

The number of refugees and disaster victims gathered around Gevodan, along with the prisoners held by Winters, is roughly estimated to be over 20,000 men, women, children, and the elderly.

They have feelings because they have lost everything and are now starving.

Their lives have undergone a dramatic change, which has filled them with deep fear, anxiety, and anger.

The riots on the day the city of Thevordan fell were merely a small release of pressure.

The refugee camps outside the city have become a giant powder keg; a single spark could cause the earth to shake and the sky to collapse.

Winters had to stabilize Iron Peak County no matter what, so he left the city and the countryside untouched, as long as things were stable.

Because he also wanted to "register households and treat all people equally".

[Winters Enters the City—A Myriad of Tasks]
[The previous chapter plus this chapter totals 6,000 words, exceeding today's target. The extra updates yesterday and today were due to the Lunar New Year holiday and the detailed outline; this doesn't reflect my true writing ability. I'm only capable of updating 3,000 words a day, so if I revert to that level later, please understand that I'm "revealing my true colors." Thank you.]
[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments. Thank you everyone!]
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(End of this chapter)