The messenger sent by Count Luoweng only took two days to pass the orders to collect taxes and raise materials to various territories and villages under the Count.

The people complained about this and said a lot, but the armed soldiers of Count Luoweng were not vegetarians. After many farmers who took the lead in carrying taxes were beaten to death, most of them began to hand over money and supplies obediently with resentment and anger.

The village of Esbai is located in the northeast corner of the Count Loon, next to the Rhine River, and the other side of the river is the village of Fold. This village belongs to Baron Quinier.

Since the messenger crossed the Rhine from the southernmost Brockhofer Ferry, Esbai was almost one of the last villages to receive the news.

Although the tax collector and his infamous armed tax collectors had not received this yet, the villagers had already heard the wind from the travelers and merchants passing north.

Today's sky is gloomy and covered with dark clouds. The villagers with common sense know that a spring rain is coming.

However, the brutal village chief Du Deng still asked them to farm in the fields, because the weather would change at any time, and it would not be too late for them to hide when it started to rain.

Village chief Du Deng is a middle-aged man with a mustache and a shrewd and cruel face. Adam, the thug who is inseparable from him, is his nephew. Adam is strong and has a whip in his hand. He has always advocated talking with his fists, which has made the villagers who have suffered so much in the past dare to be angry but not speak.

The spring thunder rolled and the wind began to grow. The villagers were not at all concerned about working, but were worried about whether they would be soaked into a chicken that would cause illness after a while.

"Ervin, how long will this last?"

In the fields, several men in dirty old corsets were ploughing the ground while chatting. The man called Erwin looked a little old. Although he was not rich in clothes, he was quite prestigious among these farmers, judging from everyone's attitude towards him.

"I don't know. We have paid the last quarter tax on the Virgin Festival not long ago, and we can be said to be penniless. Now, those stupid nobles are tight on the front line, but they have put their abacus on us and have to impose another war tax. My God, I don't know how to spend this year after I hand over my only food and piglets in captivity." Elvin said worriedly.

"This is not the worst," said the young man who asked the question, lowered his voice and whispered. "There is a rumor that our lord, Baron Quinier, has been captured. Think about it, where will his ransom come from?"

"Oh no! This damn idiot, incompetent trash," Elvin was excited and couldn't help but curse, but suddenly realized something, looked around and confirmed that Duden and Adam were not nearby, and then said, "Don't doubt, we will bear heavier taxes, damn!"

"Wait, since he has been defeated and captured, will my stupid brother who follows him also have to pay a ransom to come back?" An old farmer wearing a brown turban next to him felt palpitations.

He knew that unless his younger brother encountered misfortune, his hard-working family would have to spend a lot of more money.

"Yes, Eria. I can't believe I will say this, I hope it's just a rumor, and all the Barons are safe and not captured." Erwin shook his head bitterly. At this time, the raindrops began to fall, and the farmers put on their hoods or straw hats, carried their farm tools and ran quickly to the village.

Not long after the afternoon, the rain stopped.

Du Deng kicked the door door with the vicious Adam, causing the farmers to return to work. Most of them obediently picked up the farm tools under his tyranny. A few days ago, little John just muttered and complained a few times before Adam beat him up, and he is still lying on the straw mat.

If Baron Quinnier was in the territory, he naturally did not agree with this management method that harmed his "property" if he had a disagreement.

However, there are no tigers in the mountains, and the monkeys are called kings. Now the baron is on the war, and the village chief Du Deng, who is appointed by him, will say whatever he says.

At this moment, with Adam's follower, the farmers who went to the fields outside the village had no power to complain, and their faces showed a look of hatred. This was the only way for them to express their dissatisfaction.

The farmers began to bend down to work again. After Adam walked away, a villager spat at his back: "It's something that can be dependent on people."

"We can't continue like this anymore. Maybe we can find Krieg in the forest!"

"Krieg? I haven't seen that guy for a long time," Elvin touched his head and said while thinking about memories in his mind. "He is still in trouble now. Baron Quinier sent the sheriff to the forest with his soldiers to search for him, and at the same time gave orders that every resident in the territory has an obligation to arrest him when he sees Krieg."

"Hey, if anyone really did this when he saw Krieg, I don't think even God would forgive him!" the young man said with a smile.

Krieg, a loner but friendly weirdo, or mountaineer. Villagers generally call it the Timberwolve Krieg.

In fact, five years ago, Krieg's identity was just a foreigner who moved to Esbai Village and returned home with a caravan who returned home. He didn't know what happened to his hometown, and he never mentioned it to the villagers.

He has the characteristics of the Celtics in the distant Brittany Mountains and his woodworking skills are outstanding.

He was very smart and spent a year learning the local language, but he always had a strong Brittany flavor when speaking. The villagers thought he was a good person, and he chose to be silent more, but his face always had a honest smile, which made people unable to help but be kind to him when they saw him. This is not easy for a foreigner.

The next year, he took care of all the carpentry work in the village and became familiar with the villagers. This year, he met his wife, they fell in love, and finally held a wedding. The life of this poor man who had nothing when he arrived in the village had improved significantly and his life had brightened.

But the good times don't last long.

One day, a militiaman from a village who was born into a gangster and gangster got drunk in a tavern. He was hungry and thirsty, wandering around the village like crazy, looking for a lonely "prey". He bumped into Krig's wife who was carrying a bucket and pounced on her like a hungry wolf.

She was a loyal woman and would never allow herself to be molested by this disgusting alcoholic, so she resisted wildly and shouted for help.

The drunkard's patience was exhausted. He was anxious and afraid. He didn't know what he was thinking, but he actually took out a dagger and killed the poor woman.

The villagers who arrived after hearing the sound were shocked. Krieg was in great pain. What everyone did not expect was that the gentle and kind man instantly took off the axe from his waist that he usually used to work as a carpenter and chopped the head of the drunkard militia who was slumped on the ground into two petals.

He knew that doing this was wrong in the local law and would be captured by the lord, so he took advantage of the chaos to go home to pack up his things and flee to the forest in the south of the village.

The villagers had no objection to Krieg killing the drunkard militia, but instead applauded. Apart from the village chief Duden and Adam, this drunkard militia was their cousin.

This is not surprising. Only those who have been intimate with the village chief Du Deng have the courage to know the law but have the confidence to escape legal sanctions.

Sure enough, Duden ran to Baron Quinnier to cry, distorting the facts with ignorance. Krieg became a hateful alcoholic in his mouth, and the militia became an innocent victim.

So the sheriff received an order to take the hounds and armed soldiers to the forest to arrest Krieg.

However, the sheriff and the soldiers found nothing in the forest, and even the hound's keen nose failed this time. They had to accept this frustration and returned home to accept the baron's anger - they could not catch the Celtic Houyi in the forest.

As time passed, the villagers thought Krieg had either died in the woods or joined the bandits, and sighed secretly.

However, one day, when the hunters in the village entered the forest to hunt, they found a small-scale bandit stronghold behind the valley, but the bandits wearing dark clothes had become corpses and fell to the ground.

A man with this long brown hair and a wildly growing beard was barking by the campfire in the middle of the stronghold. The hunter recognized him as Krieg. Krieg also gave him a piece of roasted venison.

Since then, the reputation of the Timberwolf Crieg has spread completely in the nearby villages. Baron Quinier is very angry. He does not want to see his subordinates regarding a caught fugitive as an idol of worship, so he sent sheriffs and more soldiers into the forest to search, but still find nothing.

Recently, before Baron Quinier set out, Crieg was charged with murder, poaching, and smuggling, and was once again hunted by sheriffs and soldiers who were tired of it, but the result was obvious - at present, even a bird's hair was not caught.

"I hope nothing happened to him." Erwin sighed.

At this time, the sound of horse hooves came from outside the village. Some curious farmers stopped their energy and supported themselves to look into the distance. The thing that everyone was most worried about happened - the damn tax collector came with armed soldiers.

Duden, Adam, and two militiamen and armed soldiers who helped the evil, drove all the villagers to the open space in the middle of the village like driving chickens. Some villagers were frightened and trembled.

"By God's grace, the rulers of Count Loon informed the people living on this land that the war tax imposed must be paid, and anyone who dares to disobey the rules will be severely punished! Hildewad announced."

The tax collector riding a black war horse held a sealed parchment paper and made every word clearly convey it. The elite cavalry behind him made every villager tremble and fearful.

The villagers were forced to go home and take out the few rations left and the copper coins they had saved up with great effort. The seeds of hatred for the Count were planted in everyone's heart.

The crisp sound of copper coins being placed in large iron bowls continued. Not just money, the villagers lined up with various supplies to pay taxes, while the tax officials wrote and recorded "rustling" on the parchment paper.

The poor man who could not pay the tax was beaten and kicked by armed soldiers in the name of tax resistance. After the tax officer found out that he could not pay the tax, the village chief Du Deng recorded his name, and the poor man would double the tax he had to pay next quarter.

The tax collector didn't care at all about what these "untouchables" in his eyes thought of. How hard and difficult their lives were. He only cared about whether the taxes and materials were in place.

When the last bag of grain, the last box of cashiers containing copper coins and poultry locked in wooden cages were loaded on a carriage caravan, the tax collector who was drinking red wine satisfactorily covered the leather wine bag with bottle plugs and tied them back to his waist, and stepped on the horse.

"Driving~"

The armed soldiers left the village of Esbai with heavy carriages and caravans and followed the tax collectors and cavalry in front of them and set out on the road to return to the south.
Chapter completed!