Evil dragon has a warm heart

Chapter 72 - 72 72 Official Framework

?Chapter 72: Chapter 72 Official Framework Chapter 72: Chapter 72 Official Framework Leaving Fluorescent Castle, Russell did not immediately return to his own fief but took a detour to the town instead.

There in the town hall, he met with Bencote, the mayor of Glowing Valley, a middle-aged man around forty with two nice-looking mustaches.

“Mr. Russell, welcome to the town hall,” Bencote said with a perfunctory invitation, “May I ask if there is anything I can help you with?”

As an official of the fief, he was loyal only to Baron Roman and his heir, Roland.

“Mayor Bencote, I would like to invite caravans to Wuyao Snake Manor,” Russell said bluntly, “The manor’s small marketplace is being rebuilt, and henceforth, when caravans come each month, they can sell at Wuyao Snake Manor, and I will exempt them from taxes.”

Merchant tax is a very important tax for a lord, including toll tax, import tax, export tax, and so on.

Every time caravans pass through Glowing Valley, they must pay taxes to Fluorescent Castle.

If they also have to pay a merchant tax to go to Wuyao Snake Manor, clearly it would not be worth it, so Russell could only attract caravans by offering tax exemption—if he did not exempt them, given the geographical location of Wuyao Snake Manor, he likely would not collect any merchant tax at all.

At this stage, Russell only wanted to stimulate consumption within his fief first.

“Tax exemption, if that’s the case, I will have the clerks notify the caravans in the town. Of course, whether the caravans are willing to go there is up to the merchants themselves; I won’t force them to go,” Bencote said.

“Naturally, trade is a matter of mutual consent,” Russell, having achieved his goal, took his leave and departed.

After returning to his fief.

Everyone was busy, Charles bustled about the manor all day, the wildcat sisters were nowhere to be seen, and even Morris, the butler, wasn’t there.

“Mr. Morris has gone to the small marketplace, saying he was going to discuss with Hans the selection of swineherds, horseherds, and fishherds,” Head Maid Leona replied, “He asked me to tell you, sir, that he will be back before dinner starts.”

“I got it,” Russell nodded.

Seeing there was still some time before dinner, he simply took out a magic elixir of boiling battle qi and began training for the knight’s evening classes.

The swordsmanship talent brought by the Sword Butterfly had given him a whole new understanding of “Radiant Swordsmanship Technique.”

But it had not changed his training strategy which remained focused on practicing a single move—to draw battle qi with sword techniques and carve out meridians.

“Each time I swing the sword, the pull on the battle qi is much stronger than before, and the training efficiency has increased by at least fivefold!” Russell noticed carefully, leveraging the subtle differences to quietly calculate the training boost brought about by the Sword Butterfly in his mind.

“Three years!”

“Within three years, I will open up all the meridians in my body and advance to become a Great Knight!” Russell was brimming with ambition as he set this minor goal for himself.

Of course, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and he did not slack off due to the improvement in his training talent, and still swung every move with all his strength, treating each training session like a devout ascetic. He kept at it persistently until the sun set and dinner started.

At the same time.

As if timed perfectly, Charles and the wildcat sisters came together.

Charles adeptly took off his coat and hat, handed them to a manservant, and joined Russell, “Sir, did you find any records of the Bloodfang Fungi at Fluorescent Castle?”

“No, it seems that we need to explore this on our own.”

“Hmm, fortunately, Lone Wolf Lisbon has experience in cultivating Bloodfang Fungi before, we can totally refer to this experience and make further fine-tunings.”

“How are the preparations for tomorrow’s manor meeting?”

“I was just about to report to you.” Charles followed Russell into the dining room and waved to the wildcat sisters behind, “Come in quickly… Sir, today we’ve gone through seven hamlets, and we arranged for the serfs to discuss and elect suitable representatives to attend tomorrow’s manor meeting.”

“What about the framework for the officials?”

“All planned out, and I will write a comprehensive set of regulations tonight. Now I will first give you an overview,” Charles said.

The servants had already begun serving dishes, and Charles began to explain while eating.

Following the basic framework of the Shadowflame Grand Duchy, Wuyao Snake Manor adopted a structure similar to the separation of powers; of course, the lord is the law, which is an unquestionable premise.

Under the authority of the Lord, the officials divided the power into three branches.

“A Chancellor of Records, responsible for the management of all miscellaneous affairs in the territory, a Chief of Public Security, responsible for the security of the territory and defense against Snow Ghosts, and a Court Chief, responsible for adjudicating all disputes within the territory, as well as punishing criminal behavior,”
“Feasible,” Russell expressed his approval.

Charles continued to explain, “Under the Chancellor of Records, there will be one tax officer, one agriculture and livestock officer, one education officer, one foreign affairs officer, and the sanitation officer you specifically instructed us to have… In fact, there are also water conservation officers, construction officers, medical officers, market officers, and so on, but there is no need to establish those positions.”

Russell still nodded, “Feasible.”

“At the same time, under the Chancellor of Records, we will maintain the structure of the hamlet leaders and serf stewards, with the serf stewards reporting to the hamlet leaders, and the hamlet leaders reporting to the Chancellor of Records.”

“Feasible.”

“Under the Chief of Public Security, two Knight squads will be established, one Manor Knight Squad, and one Grotto Ranger Squad; under the Manor Knight Squad, a Security Patrol Team will be formed; and under the Grotto Ranger Squad, a Grotto Patrol Team will be established.”

Charles had obviously put in some effort and spoke very smoothly, “Of course, if necessary, we will also establish the Cordyceps Guard Squad and Agrarian Hamlet Security Squad, which can be affiliated with various hamlet leaders, serving as temporary patrols.”

“Also feasible,” Russell said.

“Lastly, under the Court Chief, there will be one judge, one defense officer, and one escort officer… To be honest, it’s a bit cumbersome. Perhaps we only need one Court Chief, assisted by several clerks to run errands.”

“Let’s establish the framework first. As to whether or not to set up these officials, we can discuss that later,” Russell said.

“As you wish.”

“Leave a deputy position open for each official, but let’s not recruit anyone yet, I will look at the situation and recruit later,” Russell added. His idea was to first set up a team of officials, to familiarize and train them so that once his territory expanded, he would immediately have available officials.

…
The next day, from early morning, Wuyao Snake Manor was as bustling as if it were the Dragon Birth Festival—the Dragon Birth Festival is the birthday of the Shadowflame Great Dragon, akin to New Year’s Day on Earth.

The serfs, taking a rare break from their labor, flocked to the small market.

“It’s been a long time since a manor meeting was held. I remember the last time was twelve years ago when Baron old Mr. Hans was appointed as the manor foreman,” recalled an elderly serf who vaguely remembered the last manor meeting.

“That’s right, so many years have passed in the blink of an eye. The once-young Hans has now become old Hans.”

“I wonder whom the Lord will appoint as officials.”

“It must be Lord Charles.”

“But isn’t Lord Charles a judge? I just got into a fight with Stuttering Bob last week, and Lord Charles fined me three copper coins!”

“That was just temporary, today is the real deal.”

As the serfs gathered, the small market was packed to the brim, and the houses lining the street were squeezed full of people.

The pipe-smoking serfs discussed the officials, praised the Lord, and plotted to raise chickens, ducks, and geese; the women also gathered in small groups, doing odd jobs, be it picking vegetables or washing rice.

The children were the happiest, forming groups and running around.

As the sun climbed higher, suddenly, someone shouted loudly, “The Lord is coming!”

Immediately at the western end of the small market, the serfs bowed down in waves, greeting the Lord as he approached.

At that moment, Russell was riding on a splendid black horse, facing the sunshine, slowly making his way towards the small market along the charcoal-dusted path.

The sunlight shone on his handsome face, as if coating him with a layer of golden brilliance.

That majestic noble presence was so intense that it made it hard for the serfs to open their eyes.

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