"He didn't die, did he?"
Paul asked, looking at Baden who was frothing at the mouth and fell to the ground.
After careful inspection, the guard replied, "My lord, he is not dead yet, he just fainted."
"Take it out, don't leave it here to be an eyesore."
"Yes!"
Paul squinted his eyes and carefully recalled what happened just now.
The punishment of Baden is a test to see what attitude this representative figure in Local Gentry has towards his lord's authority.
The result was unexpectedly good, and the local snake fainted directly. In Paul's opinion, this meant that Baden knew that he could not resist the punishment from the lord.
What was the situation like a year ago? Pirates invaded and beat the old lord to death. Then there were ruffians and road bullies running rampant, causing traffic jams. Lord's Manor's decrees could only circulate around Lakeheart Town.
Paul thought to himself that if he had punished such a big landowner at that time, Baden would never be so frightened and would even "bargain" with himself.
He defeated the pirates of Northwest Bay, showed his strong financial resources to develop industry and commerce, dared to fight against the powerful Kent Family, and the famous Battle of Biduo Fort in the northwest, and once again restored the authority of the lord in Arda Earl Territory.
This forces those Local Gentrys who have held rural power for generations to have to treat orders from their lords with caution.
Large landowners like Baden and Tax Farmer are simply de facto lords on their own territory. In addition to contracting taxes, before Paul established Farmers' Association and Military Service Station, all Lord's Manor's corvee, military service and other matters had to go through their hands.
Baden's reaction gave Paul a further idea - to completely abolish the Tax Farmer system under his own rule. He had already had this idea, and he wanted to abolish it immediately at last year's year-end meeting, but was dissuaded by Chief Steward Ford.
"You must act calmly. It is really inappropriate to make such a decision now!"
When Paul brought it up again at the meeting, Chief Steward Ford once again tried to dissuade Paul.
"Why, Baden is also a prominent landowner in Arda. People like this have surrendered. Who else dares to disobey my decree?"
"That's because you punished only Baden."
Chief Steward Ford stroked his beard and analyzed slowly. "As the saying goes, a big tree attracts wind. With Baden's family wealth, I don't know how many people are secretly jealous. He was unlucky because of his crime. Others will only applaud or even add insult to injury. But if you just issue a decree and wipe out all Tax Farmer has been abolished, and the collective interests of all of them will be leveraged. They will jump over the wall in a hurry. In this sensitive period when we are at war with the Kent Family, Arda can only reduce one thing internally, otherwise it will give external enemies an opportunity."
Paul was dissatisfied. "Now that Lord's Manor has a large number of troops, do they dare to rebel? I think only one battalion can deter them."
Chief of Staff Schroeder coughed, "Uh... Lord Greiman, in this matter... With all due respect, I don't think the current military is very reliable..."
"What do you mean, Schroeder? You have also seen how excellent the army we have trained is."
Paul looked directly at Chief of Staff. Alarda Army was his greatest pride. Except for a small setback when fighting pirates at the beginning of its establishment, it had never let him down. Schroeder's words were simply pouring cold water on him.
"Sir, I'm not talking about combat effectiveness."
Chief of Staff said cautiously, "Lord Greiman, according to your request, when an officer of the Alarda Army is selected and promoted, his knowledge is an extremely important reference factor, and in our army... those children of real civilian families They can hardly even write their own names before joining the army, and they only begin to receive basic reading and writing education after joining the army. This leads to the fact that most of our officers are children of the Local Gentry family. You know, children from rich families always have an advantage in education than children from poor families."
"So?" Paul already understood what Schroeder meant, and reality poured cold water on him again.
Schroeder looked at him. "The bigger the family, the stronger the family concept. I think it is difficult for the grassroots officers to guarantee their loyalty to you when it comes to abolishing Tax Farmer. In the worst case scenario... they will do some irrational things under the instigation of the family."
"In addition, I would like to remind you that the abolition plan you proposed before is also included in this. It should not be rushed."
Paul was a little frustrated. Schroeder was right. He himself also remembered a saying from his previous life, "He who has the same desires wins." Even if those officers would not directly resist him because of their oaths, would they still work for him as before when facing the enemy? Can such an army still be invincible?
"Is there no other way?" Paul was very depressed. Since he succeeded to the throne, he felt that there were various constraints on everything he did. He had to consider this and that. In fact, it seems that he has never done anything that can truly be called social change since time travel, which really damages the reputation of a time traveler.
"Please at least wait until the number of officers from civilian backgrounds reaches a certain ratio before you launch your reform plan. This ratio... I recommend no less than three-fifths. But... this will take time. Considering the need to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, we still have to rely on officers from wealthy families, and Greiman Military Academy's formal education has just begun."
"I hope you will gradually expand the proportion of civilians among students in the future."
"Yes, sir, I will pay attention to this in the future. But I also want to say that it is not appropriate to let children from poor families hold all positions. As a lord, you must maintain a good balance."
"I know this."
Next, Paul asked the two about their next course of action. According to the established plan, the army would divert Kent Family's attention, and then the navy's warships would sail upstream along Ves River to open up a "second battlefield." Now a riot has disrupted the plan.
Both Chief Steward Ford and Schroeder Chief of Staff suggested focusing on internal stability for now. No one can say whether a second riot will occur.
The final decision was that the two battalions commanded by Bryce would continue to be stationed in the newly occupied areas, and the troops still remaining in Arda and Bairdin, including the navy and army, would be dispersed and stationed in various places to suppress any disturbance immediately.
An efficient communication system must be established. The current method of relying on fast horses and birds to deliver urgent messages is neither timely nor reliable, and is not conducive to his control of the two earls' territories.
Paul remembered the "Raise Flag Signal Station" plan that he had put on hold for a long time.