Chapter 270：

"He didn't hang up?"

Paul looked at Baden who was foaming at the mouth and fell to the ground and asked.

After a careful inspection, the guard replied: "My lord, he's not dead yet, he just passed out."

"Drag it out, don't stay here to block your eyes."

"Yes!"

Paul narrowed his eyes, recalling what happened just now.

The punishment of Baden was a test to see what attitude this representative figure of the landowners and squires had towards his lord's authority.

The result was unexpectedly good, the snake directly passed out. In Paul's view, this showed that Barden knew that he could not resist the punishment from the lord.

What was the situation a year ago, the pirates invaded and beat the old lord to death, and then the gangsters ran rampant and the traffic was blocked, so that the government orders of the lord's mansion could only be circulated around Huxin Town,

Paul thought to himself that if he had punished such a big landlord by himself at that time, Baden would definitely not be frightened like this, and would even "bargain" with himself.

Suppressing the pirates in the Northwest Gulf, displaying the strong financial resources of the development of industry and commerce, daring to fight against the powerful Kent family, and the Battle of Bidowburg, which became famous in the Northwest, once again restored the lord's authority in the Earl of Arda.

This made those landlords and gentry who had held power in the countryside for generations had to be cautious when facing orders from the lords.

A big landlord and taxpayer like Baden is simply a de facto lord on his own territory. In addition to contracting taxes, before Paul established the peasant association and military service station, all the corvee and military service of the lord's mansion Everything goes through their hands,

Baden's reaction gave Paul a further idea - to completely abolish the taxpayer system under his rule. He has had this idea for a long time, and he wanted to abolish it immediately at last year's year-end meeting, but was dissuaded by Ford's manager.

…

"You must act calmly, it is really inappropriate to make such a decision now!"

When Paul raised it again at the meeting, Ford's supervisor tried to dissuade Paul again.

"Why, Baden is also one of the most famous landlords in Arda. People like this have surrendered. Who else dares to defy my decree?"

"That's because you only punished Baden."

Manager Ford stroked his beard and slowly analyzed: "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 committing crimes. Others will only applaud and even add insult to injury, but if you The decree abolishes all the taxpayers, and it is the collective interests of all of them that 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, there can be one thing less in Arda Just one less thing, otherwise it will give the external enemy an opportunity to take advantage of."

Paul was dissatisfied: "Now that the Lord's Mansion is heavily armed, do they dare to rebel? I think it only takes one battalion of troops to deter them."

The Chief of Staff Schroeder coughed, "Uh...Master Graeman, on this matter...with all due respect, I don't think the current army is very reliable..."

"What do you mean by that, Schroeder? You have also seen how good the army we have trained is."

Paul stared straight at the chief of staff. The Arda army was his greatest pride. Except for a small setback in the fight against pirates at the beginning of its establishment, it had never let him down. Schroeder’s words were simply Just pouring him a basin of cold water.

"My lord, I don't mean combat power."

The chief of staff said solemnly: "Master Greiman, according to your request, when the officers of the Arda army are selected and promoted, their knowledge is an extremely important reference factor, and in our army...those real civilians The children can hardly even write their own names before enlisting in the army, and they only start to receive basic reading and writing education after enlisting in the army. This leads to the fact that most of our officers are the children of landowners and gentry families, you know, rich families Children from poor families always have an advantage in education than children from poor families.”

"So?" Paul already understood what Schroeder meant, and the 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 those grassroots officers to guarantee their loyalty to you when it comes to abolishing taxpayers. In the worst case...they will Do some irrational things under the bewitchment of the family."

"In addition, I would like to remind you that the abolition of slavery plan you proposed before is also included in this list, and you really can't act too hastily."

Paul was a little frustrated. Schroeder was right. He also remembered a sentence from his previous life, "The one who wants the same desire wins." Even if those officers would not directly resist him because of the **** of the oath, would they still work for him as before when facing the enemy? Could such an army be invincible?

"Is there no other way?" Paul was very depressed. Since he succeeded to the throne, he felt that there were all kinds of constraints in everything he did~ www.novelhall.com~ He had to consider this and that. In fact, since he traveled, it seems that he hasn't done anything that can be called a social change, which really damages the reputation of the time traveler.

"Please wait until at least a certain proportion of civilian-born officers is reached before you start your reform plan. This proportion...I suggest no less than three-fifths. But...it will take time. Considering the need to maintain the combat effectiveness of the army, Right now we have to rely heavily on officers from wealthy families, and formal education at the Gleiman Academy is just beginning."

"I hope you will gradually increase the proportion of civilian children among the students in the future."

"Yes, my lord, I will pay attention to this in the future. But I also want to say that it is not appropriate for children from poor families to take up all the 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 hold the attention of the Kent family, and then the navy's warships would go up the Weiss River to open up the "second battlefield". Now a riot has disrupted the plan.

Both General Manager Ford and Chief of Staff Schroeder suggested that the current focus be on internal stability, and no one can say whether there will be a second riot.

The final decision was that the two battalions under the command of Bryce would continue to be stationed in the newly occupied area, and the armies that remained in Arda and Bairdin—including the navy and army—scattered and stationed in various places, and immediately suppressed any disturbances.

It is necessary to establish an efficient communication system. The current method of relying on fast horses and birds to deliver emergency messages is neither timely nor reliable, and it is too detrimental to his grasp of the two counties.

Paul thought of the "Flag Raising Signal Station" project that he had shelved for a long time.