I'm not a lord

Chapter 201 Cutting the Trouble with a Quick Sword

One of Lynn's core objectives in occupying Three Rivers was to acquire talent within the city, especially in the field of handicrafts.

He sat in the main seat, and through the panel, he could clearly see the attribute values ​​floating around the city representatives.

In White River Territory, Eric, the strongest blacksmith who can forge plate armor, has three-star attributes and two excellent traits that can assist in forging.

But Lynn glanced around and found that there were at least a handful of skilled craftspeople with a rating of three stars or higher, covering multiple industries such as forging, casting, and leather.

These were just the representatives from various handicraft guilds who came to the banquet; they must have had many more skilled craftsmen under their command.

It can only be said that Sanhe City truly lives up to its reputation as a major city, with abundant human resources.

Lynn established the Confederation of Handicrafts to make these talented people work for him and produce according to his needs.

He can choose not to serve as mayor, or he can continue to tolerate the city's parliamentary rule.

But he must hold onto the position of president; he must never let anyone else have it.

The main reason is that Lynn needs these skilled craftsmen to 'monetize' his advanced technology.

All kinds of advanced armor and weapons can only be made with the help of craftsmen.

The limited number of artisans in Baihe Territory was simply insufficient to meet Lynn's ever-growing and terrifying demands.

More than half a year has passed since last autumn, and Eric's armor workshop has only provided Lynn with less than a hundred sets of plate armor and plate suits.

It was still not enough to cover the 150 cavalrymen under the command of the second brother, Hugh.

With such meager production, when will Lynn be able to build a true steel torrent?

The overwhelming result of the cavalry duel in the western suburbs was enough to demonstrate the enormous advantage of advanced armor.

Once the cavalry is equipped, the infantry will also need to replace their old chainmail with advanced armor.

After killing Count Blackwood and capturing a large number of warhorses, he no longer lacks warhorses, but his shortage of armor is infinite.

But if the artisans don't become "one of us," how can Lynn pass on his advanced techniques to them?

Moreover, imparting technical skills is only the first step; he also needs to ensure standardized production.

This means ensuring that the armor produced meets the established specifications and that all parts are interchangeable.

This refers to what is known as specialization, standardization, and scaling up.

Therefore, it is necessary to establish a general association that can integrate various handicraft industries.

After hearing his request, all the representatives below the stage fell silent.

They were afraid that the city's handicrafts would lose their independence and become vassals of the lord, just like the artisans in the territory.

With the decline of handicrafts, commerce is bound to be affected, and no one can escape it.

But the delegates didn't dare to resist.

Right outside the military tent where the banquet was being held, two thousand of Lynn's troops were stationed.

As the tent quieted down, the delegates could clearly hear the soldiers' deafening cheers celebrating their victory.

Such a terrifying army was enough to raze the still turbulent city of Three Rivers to the ground, just as the city of Koren had been recently annihilated by the Duke of the Swamp.

Moreover, they are about to be 'kept' by Lynn.

The citizens desperately needed cheap food from Baihe Territory to save their lives, and all sectors of the city also needed cheap raw materials and a vast market from Baihe Territory.

If you're being kept by a sugar daddy, how can you talk about having an independent personality or complete autonomy? Isn't that just ridiculous?

They were unwilling to accept Lynn's excessive demands.

The tradition of self-governance in Sanhe City has lasted for more than a hundred years.

To rashly establish a guild of handicrafts and then accept a lord as its president is, if not unconventional, certainly heretical.

These representatives could easily imagine the anger of the city's residents when they learned the news.

It's not impossible that unrest could break out again.

Since the citizens were able to help Lynn overthrow the original city council, they could naturally also overthrow the new city council that Lynn supported.

However, Lynn was naturally prepared.

He had prepared two plans, one soft and one hard, and was not afraid that the representatives and city residents would not comply.

After a brief silence, Lynn broke it:

“In addition to establishing the Handicraft Guild, I also want to reorganize the city council. The twenty council seats will remain unchanged, but the church seats will be abolished and both will be given to the Handicraft Guild.”

As soon as he finished speaking, several city representatives from the craft guilds immediately showed delight.

Due to its unique geographical location, Sanhe City has always been dominated by merchants.

Of the twenty seats in the council, there were usually two seats for the craft guilds, two seats for the church, one or two seats for the militia, and the remaining ten or so seats were basically owned by the various merchant guilds.

Just by looking at the distribution of seats, one can see how powerful the merchants are in Sanhe City.

Lynn aims to shift the balance of power within Three Rivers by redistributing seats, thus dividing the already divided factions of merchants and artisans.

At the same time, Lynn can also demonstrate his sincerity to the craftsmen, making them willingly accept the establishment of the head office.

The merchant representatives didn't have much of an opinion on this; two seats were nothing compared to the merchants' dominant position in Sanhe City.

But what Lynn said next made all the representatives present completely uneasy.

"I believe that the craftsmen's guilds and artisans are the cornerstone of Three Rivers City. If it weren't for the artisans' valiant resistance, Three Rivers City would not have been able to escape the tyranny of the traitor Lothair."

Therefore, four seats are still far from enough to match the artisans' outstanding contributions to the city.

Lynn stopped abruptly, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense.

The representatives below the stage all looked at him, each with a nervous expression.

The artisan representatives were nervous with excitement, while the merchant representatives were nervous with fear.

Lynn didn't keep them hanging for long, and soon calmly announced the parliamentary restructuring plan:

“I want to double the number of seats in the Craftsmen’s Guild, not four, but eight. Starting tonight, the Craftsmen’s Guild will have a full eight seats in the City Council.”

This was not a solicitation of opinions, but a forceful order, which instantly shifted the delegates' attention from establishing a general assembly to the reorganization of the parliament.

The artisan representatives were all excited upon hearing this, and some even clapped their hands in approval.

The business representatives mostly pursed their lips.

A quick calculation makes it clear: of the twenty seats, eight are occupied by the handicraft guilds.

Aside from the established positions held by the mayor, militia, and other powerful figures, the future Sanhe City will inevitably be a place where artisans and merchants are evenly matched.

From that time on, the era in which merchants held overwhelming power was gone forever.

They could no longer suppress the interests of the craft guilds, nor could they pass on the extra urban expenses to the artisans.

This is the effect Lynn wanted.

Suppress merchants and promote artisans.

He saw it clearly: in Sanhe City, only artisans possessed the core technologies, and only artisans controlled the vast majority of the city's armed forces. Whether it was the militia or the civilian armed forces spontaneously formed by various guilds, those of artisan background had an overwhelming numerical advantage.

With their strong support, Lynn will be able to firmly control Three Rivers City.

As for the merchants, so be it if they are offended.

They are few in number and lack core technology. Apart from having some external connections, all they have is money.

It was precisely because of these two points that the merchant class gradually gained dominance in the city, and most mayors came from merchant guilds.

For example, former mayor Jürgen's primary job was still the head of the fur guild; mayor was just a side job for him.

But in Lynn's view, as long as Three Rivers City can produce a continuous supply of various goods, the merchants will have no choice but to stay in the city for the sake of profit.

Whether they were merchants or artisans, they were merely tools he used at will.

It's just a mere tool; who would dare disobey it?
Next, Lynn pulled out the parliamentary reorganization plan he had drafted long ago and immediately designated the new members of parliament.

The new mayor, Leon, automatically took a seat, the militia leader, Quinno, and one of his captains each took a seat, and the craftsmen's guild took eight seats.

The merchants' guild occupied the remaining nine seats, including Marcel, a grain merchant who had risen to prominence.

After reorganizing the parliament, Lynn also ordered the parliament to unanimously pass a resolution to 'establish a guild of handicrafts'.

According to this resolution, Lynn himself will serve as the lifetime president of the Craftsmen's Guild, with unlimited term and unlimited power.

However, he cannot stay in the city for long periods of time.

Therefore, he appointed the presidents of the brewing guild and the blacksmith guild as the executive vice presidents of the general association, responsible for handling the daily affairs of the general association.

This can be seen as a concession to the artisans, so that they would not be too resistant to this new institution.

Through long-term observation of Three Rivers City, Lynn has firmly grasped the core contradictions within the city.

While leveraging his overwhelming victory to forcefully implement new policies, he did not forget to win over one faction while suppressing another.

In just one night, he swiftly and decisively transformed Sanhe City into the city he desired.

Of course, this is only a modification of the superstructure.

He also had a more detailed and comprehensive renovation plan for the lower and middle-level craftsmen.

However, this plan takes more time and is more subtle, requiring Lynn to have plenty of patience to implement it step by step.

All of the above are merely 'soft' methods.

After passing the resolutions, Lynn immediately resorted to tough measures.

He directly announced that all the land and population in the western suburbs would be transferred to the Baihe Territory.

From this day forward, what belongs to the city shall belong to the city, and what belongs to the lord shall belong to the lord.

Lynn also used this opportunity to completely monopolize the city's food and supplies.

Dare to disobey? You could starve to death anytime!
At the same time, he will build military camps in the western suburbs and send an army of a thousand men to be stationed there permanently.

This can both monitor the city and protect the safety of the western suburbs.

In fact, if possible, Lynn even wanted to move all the serfs in the western suburbs to White River Territory, leaving only an empty Three Rivers City standing there.

The western suburbs are too flat, with the core area of ​​the Marshland Duchy to the west, and the Mirror Iron Territory to the south separated only by the Tranquil River, making it very vulnerable to attacks from various forces.

In other words, the Marshland Duke was powerful enough, and the special autonomous city status of Three Rivers City was enough to barely maintain the stability of this land.

However, the population in this place is simply too large.

The relocation of seven or eight thousand displaced serfs alone was already putting a strain on the Baihe Territory.

The remaining 10,000 serfs could only be kept in the western suburbs until the harvest of this year's grain was completed.

In addition to seizing land in the western suburbs, Lynn also wanted to interfere with the city's militia.

Quinno remained the hereditary militia commander, a privilege Lynn did not relinquish.

However, he directly took away the power to appoint and dismiss the deputy commander and the two team leaders.

The militia is essentially a combination of police and armed police in Sanhe City, and Lynn's men must be part of it.

Kunno had no objection to this, since he had no power to appoint or dismiss personnel, so it didn't matter who placed people in the militia.

Other members of parliament dared not voice their opinions.

In the past, the Duke of the Marshland did not interfere with personnel appointments and dismissals in Three Rivers mainly because Golden Deer Fortress was more than 500 kilometers away from Three Rivers, making it difficult to control.

But Baihe Territory is just north of Sanhe City, a few hours' boat ride away, so how could Lynn ignore it?

Even the mayor was handpicked by him; appointing a deputy regimental commander or squad leader was nothing to him.

The banquet lasted from dusk until late at night.

Through a combination of persuasion and coercion, Lynn essentially gained control of the lifeline of Three Rivers City.

He provides the city's raw materials, the city's largest market, and has the authority to interfere in the city's core positions and daily defenses.

The autonomous city is still the same autonomous city, but it has largely taken on its original shape.

While his personal needs were being met, the needs of the city representatives were also being met.

Despite the loss of a large number of seats in the Merchant Guild, those seats were originally vacant; the old-era councilors are all locked up in jail right now.

Even if the new councilors, led by businessmen like Marcel, were dissatisfied, they had no choice but to support Lynn's new policies.

Without Lynn, how could they have become members of parliament?

The representatives of the craftsmen's guild were extremely grateful to Lynn.

They jumped from two seats to eight. Let alone forming a general association, they would be willing to offer Lynn their sister or daughter!

In fact, as soon as the banquet ended, a representative secretly passed a small note to Lynn's attendant.

They were all introducing their outstanding female relatives to the lord.

This can be considered a traditional, preserved item.

As someone who enters the arena of power, who doesn't want to advance?

But power, in most cases, is only transmitted through blood, mother-to-child transmission, or sexual intercourse.

Moreover, the pie of power is very limited; arriving too late means getting nothing at all.

Newly rich businessmen, especially those who have just become members of parliament, are even more eager to advance further in the power arena.

Leon has set a good example for them. As long as you can please the lord, you can even rise from a black market merchant to the mayor!
Lynn carefully scanned the stack of small slips of paper passed to him by the servant.

It wasn't that he was lustful, but rather that he needed to establish closer relationships with these urban elites.

The connection between bloodlines is always the most direct and the strongest.

Now that he has occupied Three Rivers City and secured his position as Earl of White River, Lynn has even begun to consider who his wife will be.

(End of this chapter)