Steel, gunpowder, and spellcasters

Chapter 467 Rekindling the Spark (Prologue)

The "infighting among rebels" that many of the newly reclaimed land "gentlemen" had anticipated did not occur.

What shuttled between the Iron Peak County Army and the Thunder Group County Army were not cannonballs and lead bullets, but messengers carrying emerald green flags.

Richard Mason, who was stationed in Maplestone, took the initiative to send beer brewed from freshly harvested barley to the troops stationed in Rayqun County and Boundary County on the county border.

Colonel Skull then symbolically gifted the captain a pure white horse.

From then on, Richard Mason rode the white horse given to him by the colonel every day between the siege camp in the suburbs and the city hall in the city.

As a result, the hearts of the citizens of Maplestone City, which had been in their throats, gradually calmed down, and the tense atmosphere within the newly reclaimed land also eased.

However, Colonel Skull and Lieutenant Colonel Matthias did not readily accept the proposal to jointly manage Maplestone City. Instead, they solemnly stated that they needed to communicate with Colonel Geza before giving a reply.

However, with the absence of officers stationed in various towns in the newly reclaimed lands and the deterioration of public security, the postal relay system once established by the Newly Reclaimed Land Army Corps had long since become ineffective.

Although each army has set up a small relay system in its own controlled area, it will immediately revert to the inefficient mode of "one person and three horses running the whole way" when it needs to communicate with the outside world.

For distances that can be covered in a single day, this method of communication is not too inconvenient.

However, if you want to send a letter to a more distant place—such as Mirror Lake County—the time cost will increase exponentially.

Moreover, reliability will be severely reduced, and there may even be situations where "messengers that set off later return first".

More importantly, ever since the division of troops in Hegu Village, letters sent to the Baishan County Army have never been returned.

For security reasons, after receiving the letter, Colonel Gaisa would only send the messenger away with a receipt confirming that the letter had been delivered, and would never allow the messenger to take a reply letter with him along the way.

A recent letter from the Baishan County army reported that they had successfully crossed the Snake Marsh and were advancing towards Bazenaur.

Winters was keeping a close eye on everything happening in Mirrorlake County, but he had no patience to wait for the outcome of the "communication".

After Bard led a large group of accounting students to Artemis and Pierre presented the last seven keys to the city gates of Vaughan, the Iron Peak County army, which had rested briefly, set to move again. Clad cavalry escorted civilians to various parts of Vaughan to check land registers and maps; loyal and reliable infantry, in companies, took over checkpoints and outposts along the main roads.

A proclamation of peace, jointly signed by the tribunals, was sent throughout the county, and even the notice boards in the most remote villages had at least one copy posted.

The part concerning taxation, in particular, won the hearts of all the people of Vaughan.

The reason is simple: the "governing council" announced that, effective immediately, all taxes in Vaughan County, regardless of type or amount, will be levied according to the standards set two years ago.

Moreover, the "ruling committee" has made a special exception for farmers, allowing them to wait until after the autumn harvest to pay this year's poll tax and land tax together.

Upon learning that all the special taxes imposed after the Battle of the Great Wilderness had been abolished in one fell swoop, farmers, merchants, and artisans in Vaughan County were overjoyed and spread the news far and wide.

Before this, the people of Vaughan County had only felt fear and disgust when they uttered the term "blood wolf."

Now, at least they will add the honorific "Your Excellency".

With the army of "Lord Blood Wolf" taking full control of the checkpoints and outposts in Vaughan County and hunting down bandits within the territory, transportation within Vaughan County began to resume.

Daring merchants drove their carriages over the high walls, trying to be the first to get a piece of the pie before anyone else.

For ordinary people, traveling alone is no longer a terrible thing—at least it is no longer a suicidal act.

With the harvest, transportation restored, and people's hearts at peace, it seems as if the "good" days of the past have returned.

But no one knows how long these "good" days will last.

[(Raises hand) This doesn't count as a chapter, nor is it included in the debt list, and it's not part of the weekly three-chapter update goal. This week's update is currently 0/3 (。_。)]
[Thanks to reader [13th Lamb] for the patronage!]

[Thank you to all the readers for your collections, reading, subscriptions, recommendations, monthly tickets, donations, and comments. Thank you everyone!]


(End of this chapter)