The villagers listened timidly.

No one dares to speak.

William then continued, "As a lord, I have the obligation to protect you, so I will recruit guards in the village, provide food and accommodation, and training!"

The villagers' eyes lit up, and some young men were ready to provide food and accommodation, which attracted many people in this era, especially those families with a small land but a large population.

Recruiting guards is something William wanted to do very early on. After all, you can't always let a baron take the lead, even if he wants to take action in the entire formation!

But this matter is not urgent, you can take it slowly, it is not what he is desperate to do.

"Same, if you have obligations, you have power!" William's words spread throughout the place. The villagers knew that the highlight was coming, and they cheered up and listened attentively, "As your lord, as the sole owner of the land, mountains, rivers, forests, and swamps, I have the right to charge a reasonable fee for the protection I provide!"

"Dear Baron Decas, your request is as normal and reasonable as a person wants to eat. I would like to ask how much do you plan to charge?" From the right, there was a slightly obese middle-aged villager in the middle of the third row, asking William.

"Tell me your name." The courage of those who dared to eat the first crab is worthy of encouragement. A hint of praise flashed in William's eyes, and he looked at him and said.

"Adams, the noble Baron Decas, my name is Carl Adams, and everyone here calls me Mill Adams!" Feeling the eyes of William and the nearby villagers, the only miller in the village was a little excited and said, he liked this conspicuous feeling.

"Very good, Adams! But I have a reminder that if you want to express your opinion, then you should raise your hand before you speak, and you can only speak when I agree."

After William said this, Adams' smile on his face froze, and sneering came from nearby villagers.

"Then, Adams, go back. Then raise your hand to ask." William said unhappily. He had to instill this new habit of behavior into his subordinates. He didn't want a bunch of people to rush to express their opinions every time he had a meeting to discuss!

"Yes." Adams retreated and raised his hand again.

William looked at all the villagers and said majesticly, "It's not just Adams, but everyone else is the same! If you want to express your opinions, I will naturally welcome you, but raise your hand first!"

Old John behind William was anxious, thinking that William was too approachable and would make these untouchables lose their due respect. However, it was difficult to talk to William at this time, so he could only wait to talk to William in the future.

Old Gret in the team also smiled secretly and thought to himself, Old Gret has seen so many masters, this new master is really a different lord!

After William inspected all the villagers, his eyes were on the awkward Adams again, and he praised him first, "Adams, you are the bravest person I have seen today!"

Adams was stunned at first, then his lips were opened to both sides, his eyes narrowed into a slit, "Thank you, Mr. Baron for your praise! Thank you, Mr. Baron for your praise!"

William chuckled, his expression became serious again, and he said seriously, "Now, I will answer your question. If you ask me how much I charge, I think 40% of the harvest is a reasonable range!"

As soon as the words were finished, all the villagers were silent, looking at William with a look of shock and despair.

William frowned involuntarily. In his opinion, the 40% value is still relatively low. Many lords collect more than this land rent, not to mention that they also charge other taxes. Their lords have worked hard all year round and can get one-third of the harvest.

Could it be that no one had collected taxes before, and now when it comes to tax collection, everyone has opinions?

Sure enough, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but it is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality!

If this is true... a trace of flame rose in William's heart.

He paused and said, "I want to reiterate that 40% of what I collect is not only your land rent, but also your tax on cutting trees in the forest and fishing in the water. Except for commercial tax, other taxes are all in it!"

Old John was anxious and couldn't help but shout, "Sir Baron, you don't need to be polite to them!"

"Old John, I naturally have my considerations." William said without looking back.

Old John had no choice but to shut his mouth helplessly and looked at the unfamiliar people below who were still showing dissatisfaction!

"What? Do you think it's low? Maybe I should keep it higher." William was a little tired, and he had no one under his command, so he could only say such things himself.

The villagers in the team couldn't help but whisper, and the sounds were superimposed, just like in the evening, a large group of mosquitoes gathered together, and the sound of flapping their wings made people feel annoyed!

William shouted loudly, overshadowing everyone's voice, "Old John, please see who is talking? Pull it out and whip it ten times, and fine it a silver coin of franc!"

As soon as he said that, no villager dared to speak, and the whole place fell into a strange silence.

Old John has no place to use it again.

After pausing, there was only an old man in the village team who raised his hand tremblingly.

"You said!" William pointed to the old man and said.

"Thank you, Lord Baron! I am Gret, Old Gret, and everyone in the village asked me to send a message to Gret." The old man introduced himself first.

"Yes." William nodded in doubt.

"Sir Baron, you see, our lives are already so difficult. If you add this heavy burden, I think our entire village will not be able to survive this winter. Sir Baron, do you want to get a territory that no one can farm for you? So, I sincerely, on behalf of everyone in the village of Nisse, I beg you to lower the taxes!"

The other villages in Nisse nodded in agreement and looked at William with hopeful eyes.

"Are you damn untouchables, are you threatening the lord?" At this time, Old John stood up and scolded everyone.

William remained silent.

This itself is an affirmation of Old John's behavior.

Old Gret waved his hand and said, "Master John, we never mean this. We respect and welcome us more than anyone else! However, there are thousands of huge rocks pressing on the shoulders of Nisse Village, and we are no longer able to bear it. A gentle thatch will make the whole village die!"

"Unpardon, put away your quibbling! None of your attempts will succeed in front of Old John." Old John thought Old Gret was lying to him.

"Master John, I can prove that what Old Gret said is true! We are really powerless to bear such a high rent." Adams interrupted and sweared authentically.

Old John screamed, "Uncle, you did not raise your hand to speak, violated the lord's laws! You will be whipped and fined!"

Adams's face was stunned.

At this time, William frowned and blocked Old John's actions. Then he looked at Old Grett and his tone became calm and said, "I'm very strange! I hope you can give me an answer!"

"I must speak out!" Old Gret bowed.

"Well! As far as I know, 40% of the land rent is at the lowest level in the entire principality, and I also include so many taxes. Compared with the 40% of the land rent I set, the tax collected by other lords will only be higher, not less, 50% or 60% is not uncommon, and even 70% is there."

"Since they can survive, why can't you?"

William’s question is very similar to what his school teachers often criticized students in his previous life, “Why can XXX and XX do it, why can’t you do it?”

"Is it really not possible, or why?" William's words were already filled with murderous intent.

Old Gret smiled bitterly, "Sir, the harvest moon is coming soon, and the frost moon is coming soon!"

"oh."

"In the moon of frost, heavy snow covers the forests and swamps, food will become scarce! And the terrifying creatures living deep in the forest will come out to feed, and the small village of Nisse is the first place they bear the brunt of."

"What terrifying creature?" William asked in his heart.

"Wolf pack! And the lizardmen in the swamp?" Old Gret hesitated for a moment and then said.

The villagers all looked sad, as if they were thinking of unhappy past events.

"Lizardman?" This was something William didn't know, and he turned around and looked at Old John.

Old John also looked unaware.

William looked at Old Gret again and said, "Tell me about the Lizardman."

"Yes, Baron Decas." Old Gret responded, "The Lizardman is a humanoid creature living in the Shadow Swamp. He looks like a big lizard with sharp fangs on his mouth and a thick layer of scales. They also use some simple weapons, and are extremely numerous."

"Whenever heavy snow falls, lizardmen in the Shadow Swamp flock to find food everywhere. We humans are their recipes, and my father died under their fangs back then."

"This is actually something like this!" William suddenly realized. No wonder this shadow swamp was like a thorn between the Golden Rose Kingdom and the Duchy of Fadil for so many years, but no country has completely conquered it!
Chapter completed!