NOVEL WEB
Chapter 261: War Tax
Kevin, holding the tax payment his family owed, left his house reluctantly. He had barely walked a few steps before reaching the village center where the tax collection point was set up.
A large crowd had already gathered there, and on a hastily erected platform, someone was shouting loudly.
“Fellow villagers, this time, in addition to the usual poll tax, we have to pay an additional type of tax?”
The crowd erupted in uproar.
“Why do we have to pay an extra tax?”
“This is too much, we don’t have much money as it is.” “They are driving us to desperation!”
The villagers were agitated and expressed their discontent.
“That’s right! That’s right! Listen to me, let me explain!”
The tax collector shouted, finally managing to quieten the crowd.
“Are we not at war with the usurpers? Once the war starts, gold coins flow out like water. The soldiers at the front need food and drink, their weapons need sharpening, their armor needs repairing, all of which cost money!”
“So, the additional tax is called the ‘War Tax’! It will be discontinued once the war is over. But as long as the war continues, we have to pay it! Life is hard for everyone, Lord Baden understands this, so he mercifully set the war tax to 20 copper coins per person.”
“20 copper coins! Are you trying to bleed us dry?”
Kevin shouted in the crowd, “We won’t pay!”
“Right, my family can’t afford that much! We won’t pay either!”
“We won’t pay! Paying will starve us to death!”
Under his lead, more and more people voiced their refusal to pay the tax.
“How can you be like this? This is a decree personally ordered by Lord Baden.”
As soon as they heard Lord Baden’s name, the villagers’ spirits dampened.
Lord Baden was a well-known large landowner in the area, many considered him as the tax officer appointed by the lord, representing the lord’s authority. However, Kevin knew that this Lord Baden was merely a “village tax contractor.”
Kevin stepped onto the platform: “Lord Baden’s personal orders don’t matter. Only the lord can decide to introduce a new tax. I ask you, do you have a decree from the lord’s manor to prove it?”
“Decree from the lord’s manor?”
Several of Baden’s servants were taken aback by the question, clearly not having such a document.
Seeing his opponents speechless, Kevin scoffed and shouted to the villagers: “Fellow villagers, if they can’t produce a decree from the lord’s manor, then Baden is imposing an arbitrary tax, and we can report him to the lord.”
The crowd began to stir.
“Ridiculous! Nonsense! Utterly absurd!”
Several of Baden’s servants panicked and immediately retaliated.
“Lord Baden’s word represents the will of the lord! He is the representative of the lord’s manor here!”
Kevin questioned: “Has the lord agreed to his tax increase?”
“If Lord Baden says so, then surely the lord has agreed!”
“We must see the decree!”
“You illiterates wouldn’t understand it even if we showed you the decree.”
“Fortunately, I do recognize some characters, please bring it out!”
“You… you must not resist paying your taxes!”
Seeing Baden’s servants stutter and fail to produce the decree Kevin mentioned, the villagers’ emotions grew increasingly agitated.
“Vampires! Vampires!”
“Get out of our village!”
Led by someone, trash started being thrown at the servants.
“You rebellious lot, just you wait!”
The servants of the Baden family glared hatefully at Kevin, the instigator, and fled in a panic amidst the villagers’ jeering, even abandoning the collection of the poll tax.
…
In a large estate, landlord Baden was leisurely chatting with a few fellow gentry friends, laughter echoing occasionally.
His steward burst in, looking distraught, “My lord, there’s trouble!”
Baden, portly in stature, frowned, “Don’t be so flustered! What could it be, has the sky fallen?”
“It’s about collecting taxes… there was some trouble.”
With a raise of his hand, Baden silenced his steward.
“Gentlemen, please continue your discussions here, I’ll be right back. You! Come with me.”
Baden excused himself to his guests and led the servant into another room.
“Speak! What happened?”
“The new ‘War Tax’, the villagers demand to see a decree from the lord’s manor before paying.”
“That’s simple, isn’t it? Just get someone who’s good with ink to forge a document to fool them.”
“But, my lord, that’s risky. There seems to be someone knowledgeable in that village. If they realize the lord’s decree is forged by us, then…”
The steward, somewhat afraid, gestured at his neck, miming a beheading.
“Humph! It was your idea, and now you’re scared like this!”
“Err… I didn’t expect those illiterate villagers to question it.”
“What about the poll tax? How much did we collect?”
“Err… the villagers were quite agitated, and they got scared and ran back here.”
“Worthless! Trash! Get those people out of my sight immediately, I never want to see them again.”
Baden vented his anger.
Finally, he instructed:
“Send another team to the village immediately, with more sticks and cudgels. Give a good lesson to those who dare resist paying tax. Humph, I refuse to believe these peasants won’t obey!”
“Yes, my lord!”
The steward left.
Ever since the new lord took over and started an “Agricultural Reform,” Baden had been harboring resentment.
His family owned not only the officially registered farmland in the lord’s manor but had also secretly encroached on a lot of public land.
Public land, owned directly by the lord, could be used by commoners for minor activities like gathering firewood or occasional grazing. Still, large-scale cultivation was not allowed unless purchased from the lord, requiring registration in the manor. Once registered, taxes must be paid based on area or yield to the manor, and a tenth of the produce given to the church.
But cultivating secretly on public land meant no taxes and keeping all the produce.
Not only Baden’s family, but many gentry landlords had been doing this for generations, with previous lords turning a blind eye.
Unexpectedly, last year, Minister of Agriculture Hansel began promoting “Land Integration,” first undertaking a survey of cultivated land.
Hansel personally visited various places, exposing vast swathes of encroached public land. After consulting with the current lord, a crackdown on this issue began.
For those who admitted to encroaching, paying a fine triple the land’s value made the land theirs, with future taxes due. Those unable to pay triple were fined once the value, and the land was reclaimed.
Some unclaimed encroached lands were simply taken back.
During this process, Baden’s family suffered massive property losses and hefty fines.
The aggrieved Lord Baden constantly pondered how to recoup his losses. His steward suggested exploiting his position as a tax contractor and levy a “War Tax” under the pretext of the recent war between two lords in the Northwest Bay.