Chapter 268：

When the news that the riot was quelled reached Huxin Town, Paul was still a little bit unbelievable.

Finished? So easy to settle?

Paul had already prepared for the worst: peasants from all over the country revolted and overthrew his "brutal" rule in an instant, and fled to the ally's territory next door to seek refuge in desperation.

Chief of Staff Schroeder coughed lightly when he saw the look on the earl's face.

"Cough, Lord Earl, please allow me to report the specific process to you."

He still doesn't understand what the lord has been worrying about these two days, isn't he just a bunch of rioters?

The so-called [specific process] in Schroeder's mouth is also very simple:

All the troops sealed the intersection and waited for the ultimatum from Huxin Town, and immediately drove into the riot area to restore order. Other places are all small troubles, nothing more than local hooligans taking advantage of the troubled waters to fish. Only the riots in Fabei Village took shape. The home of the largest local landlord was broken into and all his belongings were looted. The mob also occupied the courtyard and planned to resist, trying to force the lord's palace to pardon their crimes and recognize their ownership of the looted property through strong means.

Of course, the loyal and brave naval officers and soldiers did not accept this. After the ultimatum was rejected, the sailors immediately launched an attack, and it took only an hour to suppress all the mobs in the yard.

"That's it, my lord."

"What about our casualties?"

"Six people were slightly injured by the sling, and one person sprained his foot when climbing over the wall."

"No one sacrificed?"

"Nobody sacrificed."

"Where's the other party? ... It's the gang of [mobs]."

"23 dead and 30 wounded."

Paul's whole body relaxed. He lay back on the back of the chair, closed his eyes and exhaled: "To be honest, Schroeder, I didn't expect things to go so smoothly."

"Count, you have to know that there is a huge gap in strength between the enemy and us. The opponent is just a group of unorganized and undisciplined villagers. When the sailors climbed over the courtyard wall, the mob did not try to organize resistance , but when the bayonet stabbed a few people who rushed to the front to death, the rest of the people scattered, or ran around like headless flies, or lay on the ground with their heads on the ground and their buttocks shaking. A small team was sent to block the back door, so they were all captured by us."

"What should we do next?"

"You are the lord, it all depends on what you mean."

"Let Cecil figure out the cause and effect of this riot first."

…

After receiving Paul's order, Cecil immediately began to interrogate the prisoners. After several days and nights of continuous torture, everyone in Huxin Town found out the cause of the riot.

The reason is that Baden, the taxpayer, set up the [War Tax] privately, and because of the establishment of the salt farm, the salt people, whose livelihood was increasingly difficult, could not bear the new tax, so they clashed with the tax collector sent by Baden However, due to the resentment accumulated for a long time, the conflict quickly escalated. The salt people who were dazed by anger went directly to Fabei Village where Baden was located, and finally turned into a riot.

The fact that Baden set up the war tax privately can be confirmed, because the servants of the Baden family who were rescued from the salt people-the people he sent to collect the tax, all confessed to this.

"This **** old rich landlord!"

In front of Cecil, Paul cursed in a language he didn't understand.

"My lord, what did you just say?"

Cecil asked cautiously, it could be seen that the Earl was very angry now.

"Ah, it's okay, you continue talking."

"It's strange that the mob confessed everything else, but no one admitted that they had anything to do with the attack on the saltworks, nor did they admit that they had something to do with the riots elsewhere."

"Oh?" Paul tapped his fingers lightly on the table, "What do you think?"

Cecil replied: "My lord, there is a high probability that they are not lying. I isolated them and interrogated them one by one. I don't think this group of rabble has the ability to unify their caliber so quickly."

Paul nodded: "Well, I think so too."

Cecil continued: "Several riots of varying degrees occurred during that period of time. According to the investigation, it seems that someone was specifically spreading the matter in Fabe Village, instigating people in other places, and many people took the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. "

Paul was very resentful: "How can these people be like this, isn't my lord not good enough for them?"

"My lord, don't be in a hurry to introspect. The saltworks were also attacked. It's obvious..."

Paul suddenly interrupted him as if he had discovered a new world: "I see, Cecil!"

Cecil held back what he was about to say and looked at Paul.

Paul stood up and said anxiously: "Conspiracy! Don't you know? Cecil, this is a conspiracy!"

Cecil's eyes widened, and he "tried" to make a surprised expression: "Conspiracy? What do you mean?"

Paul explained: "Someone must be manipulating all this behind the scenes ~ www.novelhall.com ~ Thinking that we are at war with the usurper Maltz Kent, it is very likely that he is playing tricks behind the scenes, deliberately provoking my leader The people cause trouble. There is also the [Secret Law Society], it is not impossible."

The intelligence chief "suddenly realized", and slapped his thigh: "I see, Lord Earl, you are still as wise as ever..."

Paul sat down again indignantly: "This is really shameless, despicable, and indecent! If you can't beat us on the battlefield, you just make small moves behind your back. I despise this kind of person the most."

Cecil said: "My lord, as long as you nod your head and agree, I can use my own way to treat this person."

Paul snorted, "I don't bother to use such obscene means. Schroeder!"

Hearing the lord calling his name, the chief of staff sitting beside him immediately responded, "Yes, Lord Earl."

"Immediately draw up a new battle plan. I want the troops on the front line to resume their offensive immediately, send new troops to support them, and use dignified means to defeat the opponent."

The old knight calmly replied: "My lord, I know you are getting angry right now, but I still want to advise you not to act on your temper. We don't know if similar riots will happen again, so we will keep our troops at home in the near future. The two battalions in the newly occupied area should maintain local order as the top priority. After all, it was previously the territory of the Kent family. It is much more convenient for them to do things there than in other areas. And... this matter is still uncertain It was the Kents."

"damn it!"

Paul hammered the table hard, and shouted at the intelligence chief: "Call that Baden, I want to study his so-called [war tax] with this landlord!"