"But it's not time to collect taxes yet, my lord." A farmer cried miserably.
The bobcat grimaced, "Because of the carrion invasion, it's a struggle to protect you, and we need more supplies. If you have a problem with that, we can help you go to hell."
Felder had given him the task of collecting taxes, and it didn't matter if he was recognized, he could just loot.
Anyway, it's not our Nightfall Collar's people, who knows who.
Of course, it's still the safest way to collect taxes, after all, the slaves' fighting strength is very weak, and in case of a conflict with the militia, accidents are highly likely to occur.
"Pay! Pay the tax in full!" The village chief gritted his teeth, and immediately let the people lead out the livestock to hand over the grain, at the same time, he also revealed a pleasing expression, "The maiden that the baron wants, I'll offer it together."
Maiden?
The bobcat frowned, Baron Feld hadn't mentioned this situation, and it was clearly what the Bull Baron wanted.
The slave guard at the side just wanted to open his mouth to refuse, and was immediately stopped by the bobcat, if this is refused, won't it be revealed?
"OK, bring them all back."
Soon, Oxhorn Village boiled over, like boiling water poured into an ants' nest.
Two cows, four sheep, a number of chickens and ducks, five large carts of grain, currency totaling seven gold coins, twenty-three silver coins, as well as fifty copper coins, the entire village looked like it had been scraped hard by a bone-scraping knife, and everywhere was filled with cries and pleas. The wealth that had been accumulated for a year disappeared by half overnight.
"Nobles are so scary." The bobcat secretly smacked his lips, he too could only become a slave because he had no money to pay taxes.
As for whether the villagers had tax evasion or not, it didn't matter, it was a benefit that was picked up anyway.
"I go, so many livestock?"
Fielder was still directing the slaves to carry the ordnance and magic props, he was in another bunker, he found the fog repelling lamps that the bearded officer had his heart set on, a total of three, and a large number of magical potions, mostly for healing wounds, the total value was incalculable, it wouldn't be less than 200 gold coins anyway.
With such a large harvest, Field still gasped in shock when he saw the taxes brought back by the bobcat.
Feld himself didn't expect that a small village could actually have so much tax revenue, the estimated tax rate was frighteningly high. Bobcat just raided a village, twenty people actually couldn't take it.
There were even cows and sheep, so it seemed that he was in the Cursed Land, and he was not worried about not having meat to eat for a short period of time.
The only thing that made Feld feel bad was that he had actually looted a village.
"Don't be a saint, live." Fielder knocked himself on the head, the advanced moral concepts of China did not work well in the medieval world where the weak were the strong.
He himself could barely survive, why did he care so much. Only by living can one make a difference. Besides, the Night Shade Territory is located in front of the Bull Territory, becoming a buffer place, these "support", is their own deserved.
Feeding their own people was the first priority!
"Very well, everyone gets a silver coin." Fielder smiled and encouraged the bobcats, decisively generous at the expense of others, "As long as you gather one gold coin and hand it over to me, I'll return your freedom and become a free citizen of the Night Shade Territory."
The slaves let out a tsunami of cheers, they truly felt hope.
"My lord, let's go collect taxes from the other villages!" After receiving Fielder's "incentive money", the bobcat's motivation instantly came up, his eyes were glowing, and he decisively stood up to Fielder's stance, his previous sympathy was all thrown into the trash can.
The villagers of Bull Collar are being raided, why should we, the people of Nightfall Collar, sympathize?
Fielder waved his fist and said, ''Of course, ruthlessly explode their gold coins! Try to finish collecting them tomorrow morning, we're in a bit of a hurry, go do it, keep pretending to be Bull Collar guards to collect taxes and I'll give you a reward."
But it had to be fast, the other cities of the empire, weren't cowards like Richard, they would soon notice the crisis in the Bulls' Collar and send an army to destroy the corruption, they couldn't afford to be caught by them themselves.
"Uh, my lord, and this little girl." The bobcat pulled in a little girl in plain robes, probably around twelve years old.
Do I look like a weird uncle! I can't believe I abducted a loli to me!
Fielder's brain went down for a second, wanting to open his mouth to curse, but looking at the bobcat's scowling expression, he immediately suppressed his fire and inquired, "What's the situation, why did you bring a child back?"
"It was offered to the Bull Baron by the villagers, I figured it wasn't a good thing and didn't want to cause any trouble. But in order not to be suspected by the villagers, so I brought it back privately, please be reprimanded by your lordship."
"There is no punishment, you are resourceful, Bobcat, and the Guard will be led by you from now on." Feld was glad he was patient enough.
The little girl was nothing special, just a bit cleaner looking, Feld casually asked a couple questions and took the little girl in. She already knew Fielder's bottom line, putting it back was impossible, and if she did, it was probably not good for the little girl either.
Early the next morning, the gentle sunlight sprinkled down, Ashina listened to the large group of chickens, ducks and cows outside, fluttering her eyelashes slightly, and yawning lazily.
The fatigue from yesterday's battle disappeared, and Ashina only felt extremely sweet sleep, with the fluffy cushion underneath her, and the faint scent of gardenia, not something that could be experienced in a wet and cold iron cage.
"Ai, it's a good thing Lord chose me to be the Chosen One, Lord Feld is really tops."
The two slender legs rubbed against each other, making a seductive "clattering" sound, she really wanted to sleep for another hour, but Ashina quickly got up because Feld had said that she was going to enter the Gray Mist this morning.
"How was your rest last night?" Feld almost didn't tense up when he saw the lightly matured royal sister running at him, her rabbit bumping around mischievously, "No need to run so fast, I'm still planning my course of action."
"Well rested, you're busy, Lord Lord."
Ashena nodded plausibly, standing obediently to the side and waiting.
The Northern Province was huge, including the Nightshade Territory, which originally had rich cities and villages that were now corrupted and filled with monsters. At the heart of the Nightfall Collar was a large, once prosperous manor that belonged to a female baron: Sophia Starry Night, whose Starry Night City was within view of the large manor.
"With my current power, trying to build my own castle out of thin air is completely out of the question. The best way is to nibble down the grand manor and then use it as a base to slowly recover Starry Night City."
The map in Fielder's hand was still the version from seven years ago.
Back then, many pioneering knights, fantasizing about recapturing the northern provinces, took their slaves and vassals and went to pioneer with high aspirations, but as a result, very few escaped and returned, and those who stayed in the northern realm forever undoubtedly all became monsters.
"Maybe it's even a BOSS or something, it's really causing me as much trouble as possible." Fielder silently spat, "So, the strategic plan is wonderful, but the risks involved, definitely makes one's head spin."