Iron Powder and Spellcasters Chapter 132

   Chapter 132 Funerals and Militia

  The first night the boys dug the grave. Right in the cemetery of Wolftown Church, next to the rest of the old Dussac's resting place.

   At this moment, these young people who were born and grew up after their parents moved here are standing behind the tomb with shovels, waiting to add soil back.

   A few pine boards and an iron nail are the coffin of the old hunter. Winters, Girard, and two other old Dussacs carried the coffin all the way to the cemetery.

   They put the coffin beside the tomb and stepped aside. There were unexpectedly many people who came to see Ralph farewell, not only the Dusa people, but also some villagers from Hedong and Hexi villages also appeared at the funeral. There were even Protestants who made a special trip from Nanxin and Beixin villages far from the town center.

  When the villagers of the other four villages paid their respects to Bell, Winters learned that the hunter Ralph was also a veterinarian, herbalist and forest rescuer.

   Priest Anthony, who was wearing a full black sacrificial robe, presided over the ceremony in person. He held the Gospel in his hand and recited the scriptures in large cadences. He led the people attending the funeral to pray and recited the Catholic funeral prayer.

   Having spent a long time with Ralph, Winters never considered the venerable hunter to be Catholic, much less his son. The hunters do not attend Sunday services, nor do they have any religious objects at home.

   But when the old hunter rested, a Catholic funeral was held for him, which made those who knew the inside story really do not know how to feel.

   Having finished the prayer, Priest Anthony looked around and asked, "Anyone want to say something?"

  Gillard was about to speak when Sergey stepped out of the crowd and stood in front of the coffin. It was too late to stop him.

  Gillard Mitchell's heart rose to his throat.

  It should be noted that only half of the disputes and fights between the Dusa people are because of spirits, and the other half is because of the custom of "speaking a few words" at funerals.

   Funerals and the deceased are considered sacred by the Dusa people, who do not have a tradition of only picking up good words.

   With great respect for death, the mourners will say what they have in their hearts in front of the coffin, and will not hide any real thoughts.

The consequence of    outspokenness is often a big fight, followed by the hot-tempered Dussac raising his fists, and even escalating to knife-on-slash, drawn guns and more funerals in individual cases.

  Gillard is most worried now that Sergey can't help but say something inappropriate, no matter whether any quarrel or anyone gets hurt is the last thing he wants to see.

   "Ralph Platov, the second son of the old Yeermo, you don't need me to introduce him to know him." No matter where he went, Dussac, who was proud of his chest, was gone, and the old man's eyes were full of tears.

Sergey choked and said: "Yermonovich is our old buddy, and Dussak, who is old enough on the field, has worked with him together. We cut peasants and northerners side by side. He was sent to the south to kill the rebels and fight Hedman. I have never seen anyone who could shoot arrows better than him... In the battle at Shitang Ferry, I don't know how many Dussacs died. My horse was stuck to death, I was stabbed in the thigh by a rebel spearman, and I would have died there if Yermonovich hadn't carried me out on his back."

   As he spoke, the old man was already weeping. The expressions of the villagers in other villages were more subtle, but many old Dussacs had secretly wiped away tears.

Sergey's son Vashka ran out to help Sergey, and the old man insisted on finishing his words: "We old buddies, one less death. I regret it! I regret that I didn't understand it before! I regret it! Yermono Vicky is a real hero, a real Dussack. We used to exclude him, we didn't let him into the village, we are kings and eight eggs! But he has paid his debts, and he should be written off anyway. . Dussac's son should also be Dussac, Ralfnovich should also be Dussac, I'm done! Whoever disagrees, I'll be waiting for you at home!"

After    "said a few words", the old Sergey shook off his son's hand and strode back to where he was standing. Winters noticed that the other villagers had no idea what the old man said later, but the Dusa were obviously surprised.

   It seems that because Sergei's speech was too shocking, no other Dusa people "said a few words", but a few villagers from the other four villages talked about the old hunter's kindness to them and their gratitude.

   After this final process, the coffin of the old hunter was lowered into the tomb. The little hunter Bell cried and threw the first handful of soil, and then shovel after shovel of soil sprinkled on Ralph's coffin.

  The grave of the old hunter was gradually filled up, some people could not help crying out in a low voice, and Winters was also very sad.

  The left arm of the old hunter was barely sewn onto the corpse with needle and thread. Because the body was "too incomplete", no woman dared to move the needle, and Winters and Kaman had to do it.

   Following the blood trail, the militiamen who came later found the dead giant lion and lion cubs in a cave. In addition to this, they also found half a fresh corpse, and... the head of the Rostovs' youngest son.

   And some rags, but that doesn't matter.

  It can be concluded that this is also a man-eating lion. The village of Dusa was not attacked by one beast that night, but by two beasts.

  Teleqing, the son of the horse, fought against the giant bear in order to protect the horse herd, but lost. When he was finally found, his internal organs had been eaten up, which was in line with the habits of bears.

   And the man and woman who met in the woods unfortunately became the prey of the giant lion. The giant lion dragged and devoured the girl, and then killed the boy who came after him.

   This explains Ralph's long-standing doubts: Why does the beast have to eat the horse meat, yet he still wants to attack the couple in Dusa Village?

On the day when the old hunter and the giant lion perished together, the giant lion had actually killed a villager in Beixin Village and dragged the body back to the lair to enjoy—that is, the half body that the militiamen found.

   After learning that a girl in Beixin Village went into the mountains to cut firewood and did not return, Ralph immediately set out to search. When he found the traces of the giant beast, he asked his son to go to the second lieutenant stationed in the town for help, and he continued to follow the traces.

What happened after    caught everyone by surprise.

   The well-informed friar Rhett identified that the giant lion that died at the hands of the old hunter was probably the legendary "cave lion".

   This giant lion is named after it was found on the murals in the cave, and there are also ivory statues and clay sculptures to prove its existence.

   But the problem is that the frescoes and sculptures recording the cave lions were all created by prehistoric humans, and textual theologians even believe that the creation time of those frescoes may be earlier than the time when the Tower of Babel was built.

   So even Brother Rhett, who has traveled around the world, dare not conclude that the thing is the so-called "cave lion", because no one has seen what a cave lion looks like. This behemoth is not even recorded in the historical records.

  If that thing is really a cave lion, then this species is at least thousands or even tens of thousands of years old, which is unimaginable.

   But the old friar was sure of one thing: that thing was no ordinary lion. Among all the people in Wolf Town, only Brother Rhett has seen a live lion - claiming to be.

  The old monk insisted that ordinary lionesses do not look like this, nor are they so big. Whether in the East or the West, he had never seen such a giant lion. I am afraid that only the giant Nemian lion in the Twelve Trials of Hercules in ancient mythology has such a size.

   Winters had only seen the image of the lion on the flag, and the old Dussacs had also seen it on the flag of the enemy. No one else had even seen a drawing of a lion, let alone a live one.

   Therefore, Brother Reid has absolute authority. Even if others are skeptical, they can only accept the explanation of the old monk.

  The old friars wrote letters to some naturalists, and they sent them to the Cathedral of Gervoudin on a business trip, and sent them out through the channel of the church. But exactly when the reply will be received, no one knows.

  The troublesome communication method reminds Winters where he is now - after living in Wolftown for a while, he has almost forgotten that this is the edge of the "civilized world".

   Winters also took this opportunity to send a letter to his family, which was also the church channel of Brother Reid. The letter itself was a message, and he was careful not to write too much, just asking how the family was doing.

   But the research work is not urgent, and there is another heavy thing pressing on the hearts of the people of Wolf Town: such a giant beast, why did it go to this small place in Langtun Town?

   And Winters thought further: it was a lioness with cubs.

   That means… at least one male lion still exists.

   Even going back to the giant bear, it must at least have a father and mother, right?

   Could it be that there are more giant beasts in the depths of the forest, where human beings have not yet been able to set foot, and in the majestic mountains under the golden top?

   Could it be that these two encounters were just the beginning?

   Thinking of this, Winters couldn't help shivering. He suddenly realized that although the two beasts were slaughtered, the wolf town militia could not be disbanded. Not only can it not be disbanded, but the training of the militia must be normalized.

   And also set up an arsenal and buy some "real weapons". In this way, when a similar situation is encountered again, the people of Wolf Town will no longer have to use javelins and sabres to deal with the ancient beasts.

  Otherwise, when he leaves this post, in the event of another beast disaster, it will be very difficult for Mayor Mitchell, who is over 50 years old, to completely reorganize the militia.

   Not to mention, the great hero who dealt with this beast disaster, the old hunter Ralph, is no longer there. Where can the people of this frontier town go to find another spellcaster officer?

After    Winters informed Gillard of the above ideas, Gillard's approval and strong support were obtained. Mayor Gillard Mitchell not only supports the normalization of the militia, but also strongly recommends the formation of a formal security guard in Langtun Township.

   For a town, sheriffs and security guards are essential law enforcement forces. Sheriffs are generally full-time, and members of the guard can be full-time or part-time, depending on the size and budget of the town.

  The situation in Wolf Town is rather embarrassing. It is said that it is a town, its permanent population is less than ten people, there are only two dirt roads, one horizontal and one vertical, and there is no city wall.

  By the way, in the Common Language, the word townspeople/citizens [Burger] is an extension of the word city wall [Burg], and townspeople/citizens are people who live in the city walls.

   Langtun Town in Gervodin City has nothing, but Wolf Town is indeed a “town” in the legal sense. It's just that before Winters took office, it had neither sheriffs nor members of the peace.

   Therefore, when Gillard served as both mayor and resident officer, the town government had almost no law enforcement capability.

   Even if it is just to deal with trivial matters such as "fighting between lumberjacks and villagers", Gillard has to personally dispatch with a saber, otherwise he has to go to Dusa Village to find his old subordinates for help.

   And in fact, "lumberjacks and villagers fight" and this kind of **** is still very frequent, it happens almost once a week, and the old Mayor Mitchell is not tired of it.

   Even Winters, who had just arrived in office, met once, and several young people in Hedong Village were beaten up. At that time, Winters was busy preparing for the beast disaster, and after admonishing both sides, they both let go.

   In order to realize the desire to make Wolftown a truly prosperous town, Gerald Mitchell very much hopes to establish a formal security guard.

   In his opinion, the security guards can be used, but not without. Only by ensuring public security can attract more people to live in the town center. Guard members are preferably full-time, part-time is fine.

   Mayor Mitchell also offered to help Winters with the budget. The town directly pays to arm and hire a security team.

  The power of the officers stationed in the new reclaimed land is great, and the power of the mayor is equally great. The Palatine Council only collects taxes. As long as the taxes are paid, it doesn't matter. The mayor has almost the power of an imperial tax collector.

   Not only that, because all property rights belong to the army, the people of the newly reclaimed land have to pay taxes for almost everything. You have to pay taxes for getting firewood in the mountains, you have to pay taxes for fishing in the river, you have to pay taxes for setting up nets to catch birds, and so on. And these taxes are in addition to the basic agricultural tax and poll tax.

   For example, the hunter family, in addition to paying poll tax and road tax, they also have to pay tax when hunting in the mountains. They need to provide eight deer skins and eight fox skins as hunting tax each year, or pay three large silver coins.

   Besides the Mitchell family, the Mitchell family has a small boat, so whether Gillard Mitchell is fishing or not, he has to pay the fishing tax.

   These additional taxes are paid annually, and some of them are mandatory, such as the firewood tax. Even if the farmer burns only his own straw for a whole year, he has to pay the tax, which has become a poll tax in disguise.

   Hearing Brother Rhett gossip about these "excessive taxes", Winters couldn't believe his ears. Because the taxation of the newly cultivated land in Palato is completely different from that of Veneta, it can even be said to be very different.

  The ruling class of the Veneta Republic is almost free-range for the rural areas. The Merchant Republic is savvy in its bones, and is used to weighing everything on a scale, seeing everything as a business.

  What a commercial republic needs is currency, real gold and silver, precious metals that can be traded. In addition to this, the Republic also needs manpower and material supplies to maintain the trade fleet and urban handicrafts.

   And what farmers lack most is precious metals, and small households can't save much money. Transactions between farmers are carried out on a "barter" basis all the year round. The smallest small silver coins were too "face value" for farmers and had to be cut into smaller pieces to be used in rural areas - "silver coins".

   So in the eyes of the rulers of the Republic of Veneta: the cost of scraping money from peasants is simply too high. For every silver coin scraped from the peasants, two silver coins were spent on the standing army responsible for suppressing the peasants.

   What a shame! Too bad! This is a business that is sure to lose money to my grandma's house!

   Moreover, frequent peasant rebellions will destroy the supply of materials and manpower to the city.

   Therefore, the taxation in the rural areas of the Republic of Veneta is mainly based on tax in kind, and the supervisory government only collects taxes on an annual basis and suppresses bandits (because bandits will rob the caravans on the Guzhi Road, which is very bad for business).

   All the wealth of the Venerable Merchant Republic of Veneta is in city, city and city.

  Cities are the key. As long as the city's energy source continues to obtain supplies of materials and manpower, will farmers live or die? Archon Veneta didn't really care.

   But because of this, the peasant tax in the Veneta Republic is also the lowest among the republics, and the peasants only need to pay a fixed amount of grain every year.

   Other times? Don't do anything, just fend for yourself. [Note: But the peasants of the Republic of Veneta also do not enjoy any civil rights, such as not being able to carry weapons in the city. ]

"Isn't this the other way around? Can this be tolerated?" Winters said to the old begging monk in disbelief: "If this kind of tax was imposed on the Veneta peasants, Seablue City would be attacked by traitors. on."

"Boy, what do you think Dusak is for? There is a Dusak village in every town in the new reclamation. Why do you think the Palatine Council has to go to great lengths to arrange it this way? Why is the Dusa's Gila? De Mitchell is here to be the mayor?" Brother Reid narrowed his eyes and patted Winters on the shoulder with a smile: "You! Too young, too naive [Tooyoung, toosimple]."

   "Uh... Could it be that Dussak is designed to suppress peasants?" Winters was almost shocked to the point of being incoherent: "But I think the relationship between Dussac Village in Wolf Town and several other villages is okay?"

"Is it alright?" The old cultivator asked with a smile, "Is it really alright? Boy, I will say that you have a dull sense of politics, but you still don't believe it. If you apply your martial arts skills to politics, you can still be considered a man. talent."

"Alright... OK...?" Winters was also asked hesitantly, and he thought about it carefully: "The two Protestant villages are indeed relatively unfriendly to the Dusa people, and the attitude of the other two villages is now thinking of it. It's also a little subtle."

   The old monk laughed: "That's right, politics is very delicate. Do you know what the other four villages call Dusa Village behind the scenes?"

   "Isn't it called Dusa Village?"

   "That's wrong, they are called 'Tartar' villages. Tatars, barbarians and blood-drinkers." The old begging monk recited a few ancient words around his head: "Do you understand?"

   "Um..." Winters didn't know how to answer for a while.

"The relationship between several villages in Wolf Village is actually quite good." Brother Reid chuckled and took a sip of Mitchell's house wine: "Gillard Mitchell seems to be He is rude, but he is wise as ignorant, and he knows the way of lenient government. Several other villages do not pay taxes but also fish and hunt rabbits. Close one eye.

  The Mitchell family also has a 'good helper', so the relationship between the villages is naturally more relaxed. As soon as a large number of small towns like Langtun are seized in the newly reclaimed land, some people rule with leniency, while others rule with strictness. I have traveled to every small town in the new reclaimed land. Speaking of places that are too harsh, I have also seen the Tucun massacre! The tyrannical government is as fierce as a tiger, from the Far East to the Near East to this place, the world is as big as it is. "

   I love writing settings, and writing settings makes me happy.

The words citizen [Burger] and city wall [Burg] are German stems, and the etymology I see is very interesting, the English hamburger [Hamburger] comes from the German city of Hamburg [Hamburg], and the German Hamburg city is derived from [Ham+Burg] ], which means [Ham with the protection of the city wall], the mayor [Burgermeister] is a simple and rude "Lord of the Citizens", and it can also be translated as "Master of the Citizens" from the second point.

   Because I wanted to adjust my schedule, I went to bed at 12 o'clock last night. I have been writing this chapter for a whole day, so I don't know whether this chapter should be considered yesterday or today. I should try to write a little more in each chapter to pay off the debt.

   Thanks to the book friends who have voted for recommendation before;

   Thanks to Shuyoutian lens, 54 months, Wu is Xiaogao's recommendation ticket, thank you all;

Thank you to the book friend Wu is Xiao Gao, the calm gray past, the yellow rabbit of the flower gardener, the book friend 20181010005850390, Behere370, Jiang Xue Diao Weng, an uncle of the ideal 30, 54 months, Tian lens, book friend 20191007064305842, makun, moonlit night Recommended tickets for Zhifeng, Yanyunsan, and Kamen Rider Powder, thank you.

   I have an impression of every book friend who voted for the recommendation, and I am really grateful to be able to insist on voting for the recommendation.

   (end of this chapter)

Chapter end