Black Iron’s Glory

Chapter 419: Hall of Procedure

In the western district of Port Cobichous there is a large shack with stone structure, which is the Nikanca Hall under the direct administration of Tyrsim. In the event of a conflict between the basically ruling Nikancha communities, the elders and chiefs of the communities will be gathered in this Hall to negotiate a settlement. And the governor and governor of the former administration tolerated the Nikancas owning this chamber, mainly because of the convenience of sending them down hard labour and imposing headtaxes.

“Are you saying that every time a head tax is levied on Nikancas who formerly lived under the direct administration is sent here to inform the Nikancas' chiefs and elders, how much is it going to cost to let their own colonies distribute it or replace it with supplies? ”

Claude stepped out of the carriage and gauged with interest this rugged and humble shack, standing beside the old man, the governor and governors, who sent Claude to lobby for his loyalty to Prince Hansburg.

Unexpectedly, Claude's elder messenger was spared from arrest for not signing an affidavit of allegiance to the Great Prince when officers and soldiers commanding the Legion of Thunder were taken under three direct administrations.

Claude was strange, thinking that the old messenger was the heart of the governor of Tyrussim, and only after questioning him did he realize that the old man was just an idle player, mixed with the governor to feed his family by running errands.

He and the Governor were classmates in China, but immigrated to the direct government very early, not so well mixed up, he could only say that he would help people to settle their bills and eat. Two years ago, he went to the docks to find work, accidentally crashed the Governor's carriage, almost got beaten up, fortunately recognized by the Governor as a classmate in the country before he was spared a whip.

There is nothing to be said, all graduated from one country, one Fei Huang Tengda, one impoverished landing, the Governor is merciful and leaves him running errands in the house. He hugged the Governor's thigh for his own gain. Because the mouth was smooth, the Governor entrusted him with the task of persuading the rest of the generals in the war zone, whenever it was amusing and comforting to hear.

As a result, he unfortunately ran into Claude, slapped a tooth by a big man, and saw three direct jurisdictions guarding the armament with a hard blow. He was then tied up to march with his horses, beneath the walls of the inner city of Port Cobichous, and then became a messenger to help Claude deliver ultimatums to the governor and governors.

After the capture of the governors and governors of the three direct governorates, the old man lost his livelihood and ran straight to Claude with secrets he knew of. Claude really lacks a head snake, and the old man talks, so he stays with him for a while to help. The elders and chiefs of the three direct administrations of Nikancha gathered for the meeting, thanks to the fact that the old man ran before and after and worked for a month before completing it.

“Yes, Your Excellency, it is.” The old man answered respectfully: "The head tax levied in the Kingdom is actually insignificant for the inhabitants of the Kingdom, who also pay only one sonar a year. But each of these Nikanchas handed over about one riazo a year. Since there is no population registration, all three jurisdictions are calculated in terms of one million people, requiring the Nikancas of the three jurisdictions to hand over one million riazos or their equivalent each year..."

“How much did you say? A million riazos?” Claude was so stunned that his head tax had multiplied tenfold, and a million riasos was equivalent to 100,000 silver tall, 20,000 gold kroner, how could these Nikancas afford this huge sum?

“No, I don't think there's more than 2,000 gold kroner in all three direct jurisdictions on the tax register. How come there's so much tax?” Claude feels this number is very unreliable.

“Your Excellency, these Nikanths are very wealthy, but you just don't know it. Otherwise, how could those places in previous years have been so keen to sweep away Nikancha colonies, mainly because of the speed with which they could earn money?” The old man explains: "The majority of the Nikancas here in Port Cobichous are indeed poor people, eating all the time, just mixed up every day. The rich ones are the elders and chiefs of the colonies, they use the youth of their colonies to get more money than the young labor of the docks, so this head tax falls on them...

On the face of it, the elders and chiefs of these colonies pay one head tax per person per year for the people they colonize, but each month they can earn three or four sonars from the people they colonize, counting how much they earn. Those Nikanchas scattered throughout the Territory are richer than those gathered outside the port of Cobichous, who have their own territory to hunt, fish, grow grazing and harvest herbs to extract mineral resources. The former Governor and Governor had always suspected that the Nikanchas had a few small gold and silver mines in their hands, which unfortunately could not be detected.

These Nikancha colonies took some good gold and silver ore as a human head tax, valued at nearly 3,000 gold kroner, in previous years and last year. Tax collectors, however, mortgaged only 2,000 gold kroner. Both the Governor and the Governor sent inquiries as to where the gold and silver ore came from, and the elders and chiefs of the Nikancas inferred that they had exchanged supplies with the indigenous Etat tribes in the Obenmuk Mountains for a turnover tax. Heard it was the Etat tribe in the Obenmuk Mountains, and neither the Governor nor the Governor were interested.

In addition, with regard to the head taxes collected from the Nikanchas, the three jurisdictions actually paid about 2,000 gold kroner, also according to a head tax of Sunar, a resident of the Kingdom. The remainder are divided into two parts, most of which are divided equally among the governors and governors of the three direct jurisdictions, each of whom can be divided into 2500 gold kroner a year, while the smaller part is distributed to the officials operating below, each earning more than a dozen gold kroner on the basis of his position, while the larger part can be divided into dozens or even a hundred gold kroner. ”

Claude suddenly felt a little sorry that if these Nikanths were sent to the Nikanths in the northern part of Port Vibato, there would be no head tax. But think about it. Compared to the troubles caused by these Nikans, it would be better to send them all out clean in order to leave the three million Nikans behind for the sake of 20,000 gold kroner.

“By the way, Za, what was that?” Claude pointed at the old man and said.

“General, my name is Zacharathon.” The old man burst into tears and the honorable General finally remembered my name. Though I only remember one word, it's also a lot of progress, usually it's called me to feed or whoever's...

“All right, Zacharathon, are the elders and chiefs of the three Nikancha communities coming?” Claude asked.

The old man answered with great respect: "Your Excellency, it is impossible for all the elders and chiefs of the three Nikancha communities under the direct authority to come here, and we have notified only twenty-seven colonized chiefs and elders with more than 3,000 people. You don't know that there are hundreds of Nikantha colonies in the three jurisdictions, all under a thousand people and around a hundred people. If the elders and chiefs of these colonies were to come, there would be no place for them.

All we have to do is notify these 27 people of the big Nikanca gathering of over 3,000 people. They will naturally help us notify the protagonists of their little colonies. Just as they distribute taxes, a large colony is divided into five or six thousand gold kroner, which they then distribute to their client colony when they return. Those colonies will collect taxes in the amount of tens to hundreds of gold kroner, depending on the number of people... "

“Now that the 27 Nikantha elders and chiefs have arrived, let's go in.” Claude nodded.

“First of all, Your Excellency, Captain McJackie has checked the perimeter and set up a perimeter.” Old man Zacharathon bowed his hand respectfully and asked Claude to go first.

Four guards had been placed in front of the wooden door in the proceedings hall, and Claude had come to pay a quick salute and opened the wooden door, and the noise had come from within.

This hall is not as big as it looks out there, probably because it separates a few small rooms. Claude thought the lobby was just two or three tavern lobbies, barely accommodating nearly a hundred people. The hall was a little dim, and the lighting performance of the building was not very good, with several fire basins lit in the middle, crowded around the basin, some laughing out loud, some grilling meat, and some odors.

“General Claude is here! Silence!” Old man Zacharathon took two steps forward, shouting out loud at the elders and chiefs of the crowded Nikancha crowd by the fire basin.

The crowd calmed down and all eyes turned to Claude. Old man Zacharathon dragged a chair from somewhere, wiped it with his sleeve, and invited Claude to sit down.

Claude waved, and then looked at the elders and chiefs of the Nikancas. The light in the room was not very good, especially in the light of the flames burning in the fire, and Claude felt that the faces of these brown-red skinned Nikancas in front of him all looked alike, and it was really hard to tell who was who, apart from the different beards.

“I am Lieutenant Commander of the Overseas Territories, Lieutenant General Claude. Viscount Han Field.” Claude introduced himself first, and old man Zacharathon said that the Nikanchas were in awe of officials, and the bigger the position, the more honest they were. Sure enough, Claude reported his position, and there was no whispering.

“Now that Mormali, Tirsim and Arturas are under our theatre jurisdiction, that is, Nikanca in these three theatres are under our theatre control! Bringing all the elders and chiefs of the three largest Nikancha communities under your direct authority here today, I have something to tell you..."

“General, do you want to collect taxes? Just say how much you want…” Someone below asks.

“Uhh...” Claude was a little stunned when asked, and he got angry. Does it look like a tax collector? That's ridiculous!

“Bastard! Shut up. You think the General's here to collect your money? Just put your ears up and listen to His Excellency the General.” Old man Zacharathon jumped up beside him, pointing at the crowd and shouting.

Claude looked at Old Man Zacharathon and the old man hurriedly shut his mouth to make amends.

“He's right, I'm not here to collect taxes, I'm not in charge of collecting taxes.” Claude goes on to say, "I would like to tell you that in the mountainous northern coastal areas of our port of Vibato administration, your fellow Nikantha people have built an independent nation there. They are currently seizing the hinterland colonies of the Kingdom of Hicks, occupying a large area..."

“Boom," said the elders and chiefs of the Nikantha sitting together almost jumped, which was amazing news. The Nikanchas had always wanted to build their own country, but in overseas jurisdictions they had no chance or possibility of doing so.

Although it has been a long time since the Nikancas of the north have established their country, it has been almost two years. However, due to the separation of theatres of war, the Nikancas of the three territories did not receive any information at all, not even the Nikancas, who were miners in the Anfiston territories, did not know of the newly independent Nikanca State in the northern part of Port Vibato.

This is mainly because the war zone did not take that Nikan country seriously at all, and Claude had encouraged the Nikans to wage armed violence to build their own country only to disrupt the Kingdom of Hicks. Besides, it would always be better for the Nikancas to annex the hinterland colonies of the Kingdom of Hicks than for the war zones to send troops to sweep them up. Because the interior colonies of the Kingdom of Hicks are more than four overseas territories combined, and are basically wilderness and hilly, there is no way for battlefields to consume troops and time there.

After seizing the colonial county of Port Vibato and making it the eighth overseas direct jurisdiction of the kingdom, the theatre decided to make the northern Nikancha nation a barrier to overseas direct jurisdiction. At the same time, let the Nikancas take over the hinterland colonies of the Kingdom of Hicks. Then all they will have to deal with in the war zone is threats from the sea, which will greatly help and facilitate the security of the war zone overseas territories...

“General, is this news true?” An old Nikantha with a white beard was very excited to ask Claude.

“This is the elder of the Gorgonite colony, Charlie, who is home to over 4,000 people and lives on the western beach of Manledo Town.” Old man Zacharathon introduced Claude next door.

“Elder Charlie, the news is true. Claude was kind enough to say to the old Nikan:" You didn't know that none of the Nikan colonies remained there, mainly under Cromwell and Beringana, because of the war, so the news remained isolated north of the Dorinibara River.

Now, however, the Nikancha nation has submitted a request for assistance to our theatre and hopes to relocate all the Nikancha communities in the Overseas Territories to them. They said that the Nikancha nation they had established was the home of all Nikanchas, where any Nikancha could live in freedom and happiness.

Our theatre has agreed to their request, and in half a month their messenger will be here in the hope of persuading you to relocate to their country. When you have something to ask, ask the Messenger directly, and our battlefield will help you to relocate and ship you from the shore free of charge, which will reduce your journey by half. ”

Sometimes Claude really admired the brains of his teenager companion, Bok Al, who sent a hawk to General Albert in the town of Port Vibato asking if sending three million Nikanchas from the three jurisdictions to the Nikancha Nation in the north would have any negative impact. As a result, Albert left the matter in the hands of Boquer, the arms dealer with the Nikanca nation.

Claude then received a message from Boquer's hawk, opening it to his surprise, and Boquer actually leveraged the three million Nikanths for business, exchanging large mineral resources and gold and silver reserves from the Nikanths.

In his letter, Bok Al explained why he had done so, since the total number of Nikantha countries in the north was less than two million, and nearly 10,000 were killed and injured in the attack on the hinterland colonies of the Kingdom of Hicks. After all, there are many inland colonies in the Kingdom of Hicks, where mineral development firms operate, armed with poverty-stricken villains and private mineguard slaves of nobility.

The newly established Nykancha State has no problem with widowhood, but the Nykanchas who have just learned to carry firearms have paid a heavy toll in casualties. So far, the occupation of only one third of the hinterland colonies has been somewhat weak, and there is no way to continue the attack. They are in dire need of follow-on troops and additional populations, as well as support for the supply of weapons and ammunition equipment and food.

So there was nothing wrong with the talks between Bok Al and the Nikans, and they were overjoyed to hear that the theatre was willing to relocate the ruling Nikans to their country. Bok Al seized the opportunity to claim substantial mineral resources and gold and silver as a reward for abandoning these Nikan colonies as a theatre of battle, while allowing the Nikan State envoys to persuade the three ruling Nikans to settle north.