I'm not a lord

Chapter 335 Redrawing the Noble Ranks
When someone leaves, someone else will naturally arrive.

Today, Baixiong County, the northernmost part of Baihe Territory, welcomed a group of people from other places.

These guests were so important that Albert Jr., who was then the county magistrate, had to personally come to the dock to greet them.

To ensure the safety of his guests, he even brought along fifty local militia members.

A galley ship docked at the pier, and a group of soldiers disembarked. The officer in charge greeted little Albert warmly as soon as he stepped off the ship.

These soldiers were all veterans who had come from the White Bear Army. Some of the outstanding soldiers had even been promoted to high positions such as company commander or battalion commander in the army.

After exchanging pleasantries, the officer put on a serious face and said to young Albert:
"From now on, these people on the ship will be under the responsibility of your White Bear County. The lord's intention is to have them all return to the most basic status of farmers. You should allocate farmland to them according to the land area of ​​each farmer's family. Also, do not give them any chance to escape."

Albert replied just as seriously, "Understood. I have arranged accommodations and farmland for them, and all the necessary living supplies have been prepared. They will not starve, and I will never let them leave White Bear County."

He then looked at the oar-powered sailboat behind the officer and saw several young men and women being escorted out of the cabin by soldiers.

These people were none other than the former Duke of the Marshland, Olge, along with his relatives and maids.

Is this Shirokuma Prefecture? Is this the place where I will spend the rest of my life?
Olger gripped the ship's railing and gazed into the distance, finding the scenery before him no different from the surrounding estates of Golden Deer Castle.

After a period of adjustment and reflection, he is now quite at peace and has basically accepted the fall from duke to commoner.

But a deep-seated hatred remained buried in his heart, one he could never forget.

He remembered it clearly: it was late at night, and he had fallen into a deep sleep under the gentle comfort of his maid, but was suddenly awakened from his sleep.

Before he could even react, he was dragged off the bed by several burly men, then blindfolded, gagged, and bound hand and foot before being sent out of Golden Deer Fortress.

When he saw the light again, he saw only the dim candlelight in the enemy's camp.

At that moment, Olger realized that he had been completely betrayed by the trio led by Count Gae.

For their own power and interests, the three counts chose to betray him, the duke, and even tied him up and handed him over to Lynn.

What happened next was like an unspeakable nightmare for Olger.

He was imprisoned alone in a dark and damp military camp, guarded around the clock by a large number of fully armed soldiers.

He was terrified, terrified of being killed by Lynn.

After all, his mother and brother had died because of Lynn, and he wore the title of 'Duke of the Swamp,' a noble title that countless people dreamed of.

Only one person can wear this title; the North can only have one Marsh Duke at a time.

Org's nightmare did not come true this time. Although he did not see Lynn in person, he did not beg Lynn for a chance to live.

But he received Lynn's promise that he was entitled to continue living, but from now on he would continue his life as an ordinary civilian.

Olger must have been resentful about this, but what choice did he have?

For a nobleman like him who was born into wealth and privilege, losing his political life usually meant death; being able to save his life was already considered lucky.

Orge did not believe he was responsible for the fall of Golden Deer Castle.

From his perspective, he was merely Lothair's second son, not the first in line to the duchy, and had not received a ducal education from a young age.

If his father and brothers had not died tragically one after another, the title of duke would never have fallen into his hands.

When he inherited the title of Duke amidst chaos, he faced unprecedented internal and external troubles.

Outside, Lynn was relentlessly besieging Golden Deer Castle; inside, old ministers like Earl Gae were sidelining him as duke, even secretly negotiating peace with the enemy.

What Olger inherited was nothing more than an empty title.

He did not inherit a genuine army and power, so naturally he should not bear the corresponding responsibilities and obligations.

As Olger prepared to disembark, his maid stepped forward, clung tightly to his arm, and asked anxiously, "My lord, are we no longer allowed to return to Golden Deer Castle?"

The maid volunteered to accompany Olger in his 'exile' to White Bear County, and the two had already entered into a secret marriage on the ship.

"Golden Deer Fort no longer belongs to me; our home from now on will be in White Bear County."

Olger finally sighed, then instructed, "Also, don't call me 'Sir' anymore. I'm no longer a nobleman. Just call me Olger."

Since he did not initially have a claim to the dukedom, his mother repeatedly taught him to try to get used to a simple life.

After all, if his brother László were still alive, he would have left Golden Deer Castle after he came of age and spent the rest of his life at the estate his father had arranged.

Therefore, Olger is now able to accept his new life more calmly.

A pastoral idyll, doesn't that sound nice? At least you can still survive, right?

Moreover, with a lovely girl by his side, he won't be too lonely in the days to come.

At this thought, Olger even felt a little grateful to Lynn.

But soon, he started cursing.

"Where is my steward? Where are my serfs? Why must I till the land myself?"

"No, what is this manure? Why should a former duke like me personally stir up excrement with a fork? Don't I have any dignity?"

"That damned Lynn not only didn't give me a steward or serfs, but he also assigned me dozens of acres of wasteland. How long will it take to reclaim it before I can harvest any grain?"

When Olger started farming himself, he realized just how different the idyllic pastoral life in reality was from the idyllic pastoral life he had imagined—it was a difference even greater than the difference between a person and a dog.

However, this had little to do with Lynn; it was arranged by Albert Jr., the county magistrate of White Bear County.

Little Albert's thinking is in line with Lynn's; White Bear County, as the model county of the entire territory, has never tolerated lazy people.

Let alone a fallen duke, even a former king would have to work if he were exiled to White Bear County!
Albert Jr. immediately allocated fifty acres of wasteland to Olger and asked him to complete the initial reclamation before the following spring.

Anyway, the county government's free meals will only last until next autumn harvest. If Org doesn't get a harvest, he will go hungry next winter!

However, young Albert was quite 'reasonable'; he knew that Olger had neither property nor experience.

Therefore, he specially provided Olger with housing and farm tools, and also gave him a batch of livestock, including goslings, lambs, and draft horses, free of charge. He even thoughtfully arranged for a local village head to be Olger's farming instructor. However, Olger could only manage two days before giving up, and on the third day he simply stopped working and didn't go to the fields at all.

The local headman who was in charge of teaching him farming immediately went to complain to little Albert.

"What? You mean that kid didn't go to the fields yesterday? That won't do! Tomorrow morning, take a few men to his house. Even if you have to drag him, drag him to the fields. If he doesn't clear the land, what will he eat next year?"

Upon hearing that Olger was slacking off, young Albert immediately instructed the farm manager to use force.

The next day, several burly men stormed into Olger's house without warning and forcibly dragged him out of the warm embrace of a maid.

"Kid, the county magistrate ordered us to watch you work. If you slack off and don't clear the land, you'll starve to death next year!"

Org experienced the nightmare of being forcibly controlled by several burly men again, but this time he felt both pain and pleasure.

After he had finished cultivating and clearing a small patch of wasteland under the watchful eyes of the burly men, he looked back and found that the crookedly plowed black farmland possessed a unique beauty.

After that, Olger was finally able to take the initiative to clear land; he had probably truly resigned himself to his fate.

Compared to Org, who was 'exiled' to White Bear County and left with almost nothing, Count Gae and his companions, who had become traitors, were much luckier.

These court nobles who betrayed their former lords were able to retain some of their private property, and although their titles were reduced to second-class honorary barons, it was still better than being stripped of their titles and reduced to commoners.

However, Gae and the others were still not free. Lynn had assigned them vacant officer positions, and they had to come to Golden Deer Castle on time every workday.

This could also be considered a form of surveillance by Lynn, since they were once high-ranking officers of the Duke of the Marsh and wielded considerable influence within the court cavalry.

As for the once-renowned court cavalry of the North, this cavalry force has been completely wiped out by Lynn.

The most elite soldiers were assigned to the cavalry corps, while the less capable ones were assigned to infantry or light cavalry attached to the infantry corps. The old, weak, sick, and disabled were all dismissed and sent home.

On Sunday, a day off, Goatee met Gae at a tavern. The former court count, drinking alone, complained:

“Gai, this title of Second Class Honorary Baron is really unpleasant to hear. A baron is a baron, but they have to add the prefix 'Second Class,' which makes him sound a head shorter than a First Class Baron.”

Gae popped a dark, mushy pork sausage into his mouth, chewing as he asked, "You should be content. It's good enough that you can keep a noble title. Do you know how many First-Class Honorary Barons Lynn has?"

"there's a few?"

Gae took a sip of his drink and replied irritably, "Only four! Getting a second-class baron title is good enough; it's better than nothing!"

The man with the goatee sighed, “You’re right, but I’m still a little unwilling. Think about it, we endured so much infamy, willingly handing over Golden Deer Castle to Lynn, only to receive an even worse title and a position with no power in return. Was this choice really worth it?”

Gae glanced at his companion and sneered, "If you hadn't surrendered, would you still be drinking here? And you'd better stop complaining. If Lynn finds out, tsk tsk, I don't even want to think about the consequences."

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore." The man with the goatee tilted his head back and swallowed his frustration along with his drink.

"My lord, this is the complete list of all those who have received noble titles."

The following morning, clerk Victor handed Lynn a densely packed list.

Incidentally, Victor has now been promoted to Imperial Secretary, but in reality, he is still Lynn's chief secretary, doing the same job as before, just with a more prestigious title.

The so-called aristocratic court was actually similar to the powerful ministers' shogunates in ancient Eastern countries.

Before conquering the Marshlands, Lynn's proper title was Earl of White River, and he was already qualified to establish his own court.

In the East, this would be equivalent to having the privilege of being a "Grand Master of the Palace".

The so-called "fu" here is actually the private staff of powerful ministers, which can be called a shogunate or a hegemonic fu.

When this powerful minister becomes emperor, his personal advisors will naturally also become emperor and become core ministers of the new country.

This is why it was rare for officials in ancient Eastern countries to be granted the privilege of "establishing their own government." If an official dared to have his own private team, his next move was self-evident.

"Hmm." Lynn nodded slightly, then picked up his pen and started drawing circles on the list.

He then handed the list back to Victor and instructed, "When I am crowned, raise these people's titles by two ranks, and prepare the corresponding medals and belts as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." Victor took the list, checking it as he silently praised it.

In his view, the hierarchical title system created by Lynn was simply a genius design.

The Knights of Honor remain unranked, but Dukes, Earls, and Barons are all divided into three ranks, with a Marquis title added between Dukes and Earls.

This changed the original four ranks of Duke, Earl, Baron, and Knight into a total of thirteen ranks.

The benefits of meticulously classifying titles are obvious: it allows for a more accurate categorization of meritorious individuals.

It turns out that the honorary knight can advance directly to the baron rank.

How inappropriate is that?
Now, however, he has been promoted from knight to third-class baron, and the first-class baron no longer goes directly to earl, but to third-class earl.

This gave Lynn, who was bestowed with an honorary title, more room to maneuver, and made his prestigious position in the territory even more unshakeable.

In the past, the path from knight to king only required climbing four steps.

In the newly established Northern Kingdom, however, one must climb a full thirteen steps, which makes the king appear even more dignified.

In Lynn's view, since his army was already fully professionalized, the system of official ranks and titles should also be professionalized.

Once he is crowned, the officers under his command will all have three independent identities: title, rank, and position.

The title was naturally an honorary noble title, representing how much merit the officer had rendered to the king.

Official ranks were also divided into levels, mainly linked to salaries; the higher the official rank, the higher the salary.

The job title refers to the specific duties performed, such as the battalion commander or company commander of a cavalry corps, or the company commander or squad leader of an infantry corps.

Similar reforms will be implemented for civil servants, separating official rank from job title. However, in Lynn's plan, most civil servants will not have honorary noble titles.

This can be considered a form of compensation for the soldiers, after all, they were doing a job that risked their lives.

(End of this chapter)