After the uproar over the second decree died down, Su Qin issued his third decree.
"Gulltown will be exempt from taxes for one year. I am also recruiting one hundred soldiers at a monthly wage of three silver coins. Refugees will not be accepted for now. You can go back and tell your family and friends. Come to the square this afternoon to register!"
One simple statement, and he left! He left without the slightest hesitation.
Escorted by twenty personal guards, Su Qin left the crowd, boarded his carriage, and headed for the lord's castle estate.
He still needed to sort through the former lord's assets. Naturally, there was no hard currency such as gold coins left. No one would turn down gold coins.
Leaving a few civil officials in the square would suffice. He did not need to handle everything himself.
Luke and Nack followed on either side of the carriage. They were now Su Qin's squires.
Meanwhile, the crowd in Gull Square-merchants, commoners, and small landowners alike-were cheering.
Su Qin had promised them a year without taxes! No noble had ever done that before.
To nobles, the inhabitants were all private property! Even a tax rate of sixty percent was considered good!
As it happened, Gulltown's former official tax rate had been forty percent, and forty percent of what was collected still had to be handed over to the noble's liege.
A year's respite from taxes could save many lives!
Su Qin's name spread throughout Gulltown along with the news! It even reached the Eyrie and Featherwood, the territory directly under the king of Westeros across the water.
Everyone would hear this curious story: in a small town in Runestone Territory in the Kingdom of the Vale, a baron had waived a year's taxes.
To nobles, it was a joke. To commoners...
It was a lifeline!
In times like these, even gold coins were sometimes less useful than a reputation.
Sitting in his carriage, Su Qin summoned the system in his mind.
"System, open the territory panel!"
A screen that only Su Qin could see appeared before him, displaying a large map and several menus.
The menu had five sections: [World map, Summoning, Shop, Faith, Storage]!
Su Qin opened [World map] first.
On the map, Gulltown was merely a castle icon representing a settlement.
Crab Bay lay south of Gulltown, and Runestone lay to the east. Everything else was shrouded in fog.
Curious, Su Qin clicked on [Gull Territory], and information about Gulltown immediately appeared.
[Gull Territory: Level 1 town] [Jurisdiction: Gulltown, Augustus Castle, Keir Keep, Aite Keep] [Lord: Su Qin, House sigil: Undecided] [House population: 1] [Population (within the protective range of the four castles): 5,000, approximately 3,000 adults, approximately 1,000 children, 500 elderly (including 500 vagrants] [Resources: Redwood forest, smithy, fishing harbor, farms] [Taxes: (40+25) gold/month (lord's properties + residents' taxes)] [Food income: 2,000+3,600 units/year (taxes + estate production)] [Technology: Gull Territory's technology is at the late medieval, early Renaissance level] [Gull Territory culture: Westerosi Andal culture] [Available cultural conversion: Han! Many benefits after conversion] [Han civilization: A chance to recruit red (epic) civilizations. System criteria for successful conversion: the people identify culturally with Chinese characters and religiously with the Dragon God!] [Army: Spearmen, iron-armored personal guards: 20/20, squires: 2]
Closing the system, Su Qin began considering what to do next.
Westeros? That sounds familiar...
Suddenly, Su Qin shuddered. He remembered!
"Westeros! Game of Thrones!"
Su Qin's body trembled.
He remembered many things, many houses.
"House Targaryen, House Stark, House Baratheon, House Lannister-the four great houses contending for supremacy!"
"House Tully, Highgarden, Sunspear! The four great houses of the Iron Islands!"
"House Arryn, the house pulling the strings behind the scenes!"
"The Great Other!"
"The Seven!"
"The Lord of Light!"
"The Many-Faced God!"
So many gods.
I need more information!
After pondering for a moment, Su Qin thought it over and called outside, "Nack, do you know the name of the Duke of the Vale?"
The slightly plump Nack heard his lord addressing him. They already acknowledged Su Qin as their lord.
Nack immediately replied, "Of course, my lord. I've heard it many times in taverns. The Duke of the Vale is Duke Geda Arryn."
"Geda Arryn?"
"Never heard of him!" Su Qin muttered.
Then he asked another question. "How many princes and princesses does Duke Geda Arryn have?"
Nack continued, "Lord Su Qin, Lord Gelda has one prince and one princess. The prince is named Slot Arryn, and the princess is named Elys Arryn."
"Unfortunately, Prince Slot was carried off by a giant eagle while hunting in his younger years and died without an intact corpse! Lord Gelda now has only Her Highness Princess Elys left. Her Highness is the Marquess of Ironoaks."
Su Qin's heart lurched. This is bad. I'm afraid I've transmigrated into an era where I don't know anyone!
Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly asked another question.
"Then, Nack, is there a prince in the Vale named Jon Arryn?"
"Nack, have you heard of Jon Arryn?"
Outside, Nack thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered.
Patting his rather plump head, he replied, "Marquess Jon is the Marquess of Redfort and Duke Gelda's nephew. He's at Redfort, northwest of our Runestone Territory."
Su Qin was dumbfounded and muttered to himself, "This is bad. Jon Arryn is the first male heir, and I've never even heard of Elys Arryn."
Suddenly, Su Qin thought of something.
Although men had priority in inheritance in Westeros, the problem was that queens had existed too.
The key was that Elys had territory! Princesses generally did not have territory.
Having territory gave her a strong claim to the Kingdom of the Vale!!!
Jon and Elys would probably fight for control of the Vale.
Then the Earl of Runestone...
"Looks like he's in Elys's camp." Su Qin gave a bitter smile. He knew the broad course of events.
"Jon will win. Have I boarded a pirate ship?"
But since he was here, he might as well settle in. With the system, he would not necessarily lose!
Then Su Qin opened his own attributes panel.
[Su Qin: Inheritor of Huaxia culture] [Five attributes: Command 10, Politics 10, Intelligence 10, Charisma 10, Martial prowess 20] [Hereditary bloodlines: Yellow Dragon (unawakened), Hercules] [Linkable deity: Dragon God. Detailed faith system will unlock once the real-world territory's culture has converted to Han] [Lifespan: 24/120]
Su Qin was rather surprised, not by his five attributes, but by the linkable deity and the Yellow Dragon bloodline!
This meant gods existed in this world! The existence of gods meant religious conflict was inevitable! It would even be extremely fierce.
He also needed to find a way to summon some talented people and see how to put them to use in the real world.
As Su Qin pondered in his carriage, he soon arrived at the Seagull City castle estate.
Upon entering, he saw Gull Garden. It was enormous!
The surrounding walls rose four meters high, with arrow towers on their inner side. The walkways along the walls should have been fairly wide too!
It was like a miniature fortified town!
Beyond the garden were the stables, soldiers' quarters, and training grounds!
Past another large open space stood the lord's residential castle. Over forty meters tall, it overlooked the entire estate!
Patches of moss dotted the castle, showing its age.
At the castle entrance, several people stood on either side of the doors, with a middle-aged woman in the middle.
Su Qin walked over, and everyone immediately bowed, bending at the waist with both hands together. "Greetings, my lord!"
A chorus of female voices rang out. Not bad!
Su Qin counted exactly eleven people, all women: two middle-aged women and nine young girls. They were not particularly attractive. The pretty ones had long since been taken away by the former lord!
After hesitating briefly, Su Qin said, "Rise, all of you. Go about your duties. Head maid, take me to the study first!"
The maids entered the castle. They needed to clean, wash clothes, and perform other chores.
Then Su Qin entered the castle with Nack and Luke, led by the head maid.
As soon as they entered, they saw a small courtyard with several wells and some decorations, surrounded by buildings.
The lord's residence was in the main keep directly ahead. Su Qin slowly walked inside under the head maid's guidance.
The moment he entered, he saw the rather lavish furnishings: sturdy stone pillars, enormous glass windows, sofas, chairs, a fireplace, and bookshelves. Everything was there.
There were many rooms to the east and west, while the dining room, armory, training room, and other rooms lay to the north. The spaces connected to the sitting room alone covered several thousand square meters.
The head maid led the three of them to the second floor, which was even larger. The corridor was wide enough for four people abreast.
Huge glass windows lined one side of the corridor, while sturdy redwood doors lined the other.
Walking along, Su Qin marveled at the castle. "Now this is true wealth."
Luke and Nack also tilted their heads from time to time, looking at the oil paintings on the walls and the flowerpots on the floor.
Suddenly, the head maid stopped and turned around. "My lord, we've reached the study."
Su Qin looked at the head maid. "Stay outside with Luke and the others for now. You can take turns showing them around the first and second floors. I need to go inside and find a few things!"
The head maid nodded and left with Nack, leaving Luke standing guard outside the room.
Su Qin took out the key, unlocked the door, entered the study, and walked toward the bookshelves.