Throne of the North.

Chapter 30 Military Meeting in the Northern Province

When Ryan returned to the Frozen Territory with food and war horses, Rosen had returned two days earlier and brought back the words of Viscount Dragun.

"make a deal."

These two words meant that the viscount agreed to the war horses and food that Ryan wanted in the letter.

"Yes, this warhorse will be yours from now on."

Ryan patted Rosen's shoulder with satisfaction. Rosen was the only one representing Baron Ryan to meet a viscount. He represented Ryan's face and the Frozen Territory. If his performance was too poor, the viscount would never fully meet his demands, but would bargain like Miles.

Rosen looked very proud. It seemed that Ryan's pat on the shoulder was a great reward?

With food in hand, Ryan finally felt relieved, and the Frozen Territory could finally accelerate its drastic development and transformation.

"When we build the road next year, we can transport the swamp soil from the marshland to the fields to increase the vitality of the farmland. We can also develop orchards in the mountains and forests to the south. Since trees can survive the cold wind, fruit trees should be able to survive as well."

Standing in the future North Garr Castle, Ryan held a hot water bottle made of birch bark in his hand, looking at his territory with satisfaction, watching Brand at the foot of the mountain training hundreds of soldiers.

He was teaching them the basic techniques of combat that he had learned from the Deer Spirit's blessing, which would be very helpful for those soldiers to break through to become Bronze Knights in the future.

Even if that doesn't work, nimble steps can increase a soldier's combat effectiveness on the battlefield.

In the distant mountains, more than a thousand slaves were working hard to cultivate the fields. After Ryan came back, he announced an increase in the number of slaves who could become civilians. The initial ten places would have eighteen months of tax exemption.

As for tax exemption, Ryan doesn't care. As the new baron of the North Wind Province, his territory does not have to pay taxes to the empire for ten years.

Of course, this is a territory that belongs exclusively to the lord himself, and he does not have to pay taxes. The ones who pay taxes are the civilians and some miscellaneous people in the territory.

It’s just that the free people pay taxes to the lord, who then pays it to the empire.

But this can also be considered as a tax on the territory, because the empire's tax-free policy does not fall on the common people. They always have to pay taxes, but the lords simply keep the taxes for themselves during the tax-free period and do not give them to the empire.

Therefore, it all depends on Ryan's mood whether to take this small profit or not. Taxation will only make sense when there are more people in the territory in the future.

Lord, what the lesser nobles really need to give out is offerings.

There are five ranks of nobility: duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron. The noble lords below need to pay tribute to the royal family and the great nobles, which can be regarded as a kind of inheritance of the empire.

Like Ryan, as the lord of the Frozen Territory and a baron, he comes from the Clayton family, and the Clayton family is a family of earls. He needs to give a portion of money to the Clayton family every year. On the one hand, it is to deepen the relationship between the two parties. Although they have separated, they are still a family and stand on one side in the political disputes of the empire.

When there is something to argue about, you can argue about it; when there is nothing to do, you can pretend to be cool.

There is no fixed amount for this offering; it all depends on the wealth of the territory.

Some lords can only take out a few hundred gold coins, while others can squander tens of thousands of gold coins.

Ryan felt that the Clayton family definitely had no intention of taking his money, so he didn't give it to them.

As the lord, Ryan is probably the last one to know what the Frozen Territory was like in the past.

"I also asked Irina to inquire about the news of Earl Clayton, but I'm afraid we can only wait until the beginning of spring every year."

The peace in the Frozen Territory became even more peaceful after having food.

As time went by, the atmosphere in North Wind Province became more and more serious. Many lords had already heard the news that the orcs would go south this year, and the one leading the invasion of North Wind Province was the notorious Black Goat Man.

The Great Northern City.

As the only huge city in the Northern Province, it is home to more than 400,000 civilians. There are thousands of acres of fertile fields outside the city, making it the most fertile place in the Northern Province.

The governor of the North Wind Province is from the family of Earl Winter. This earl was the only earl who won the political struggle and stayed in the North Wind Province after following Grand Duke Meyers to occupy the North Wind Province. Every year, the Winter family earns countless gold coins from the tax revenue from North Wind City alone.

Not to mention, the Winter family also occupied the largest iron and copper mines in the North Wind Province. They even built the Winter family's manor and impregnable fortress deep in the mines.

At this moment, in the Governor's Hall of North Wind City, Earl Winter, who still looked middle-aged, looked at the nobles who had sat down and said:
"Okay, be quiet."

Everyone soon quieted down, and the earl spoke again.

"Have all the nobles from the province arrived here?"

The nobles in the hall looked at each other. The circle of nobles was not large, there were only so many nobles in a province, and everyone knew each other.

They didn't seem to notice who wasn't there.

At this time, Viscount Miles stood up with the help of Christian.

He is not only a viscount, but also the governor of Lingdu County and one of the most powerful nobles in Beifeng Province.

"Reporting to the Governor, the Frozen Territory Baron Ryan Clayton of Lingdu County has not arrived yet. Perhaps he will not come."

When they heard the last name Clayton, many nobles looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes, while some powerful nobles looked at Earl Winter and Viscount Miles, wondering what they were thinking.

"The Tundra Territory is such a shabby place, orcs will starve to death if they try to rob it. What's the point of the Tundra Baron coming?"

The person who spoke was also sitting in the direction of Lingdu County. He was also a middle-aged man, and was another viscount of Lingdu County, Viscount Dragun.

"Arakel, this military meeting is for all nobles in the Northern Wind Province. No one can stay out of it. The orcs are heading south, and as nobles, we should bravely move forward instead of hiding behind others. Otherwise, what are we qualified to be a noble noble?"

Viscount Miles is old but has a loud voice. His words, which have been passed down for hundreds of years, are indeed recognized by many people.

Some people do not participate in the military meeting of the entire province. Do they want to be isolated?

"Hide behind? Among all of you, none of your territories is closer to the orcs than the Tundra Territory, right?"

Dragun is not afraid of Viscount Miles at all, and he also has supporters around him.

As the two viscounts continued to fight, the military meeting that was supposed to discuss how to resist the orcs soon split into two factions.

If someone knows history, it is obvious that these two factions are: one faction is the nobles who once lived in the North Wind Province and defected to the empire, and the other faction is the nobles who moved north from the south of the empire and took root there.

"All right!"

Finally, seeing that no results were achieved, Earl Winter looked at Viscount Miles with dissatisfaction, and then his eyes fell on the other two.

There are three earls in the North Wind Province. These two were once earls of this land. It is impossible for Meyers to kill all the nobles in this land. Everyone is more or less related by marriage.

(End of this chapter)