This intermediate knight may not be the most accomplished knight among all the knights of the Pompeii family who have made a living outside, but in the past hundred years, Stone and Pompeii are both the most accomplished knights of the Pompeii family who have made a living outside.

Especially the ability to make a living outside is very strong.

Because he had been a mercenary, he was very familiar with all the situations in the Orange Province. Even if there were things he was not clear about, he could still obtain some intelligence through his personal network.

Luther entrusted the task of introducing population this time to Stone and Pompey, and this commission was absolutely correct.

This time, following Stone and Pompey were several knights on guard duty, a team of thirty guards, and several scholars in charge of purchasing and accounting.

After a long journey, Stone, Pompey and his party arrived at the territory of Marquis Parker.

This is a typical marquisate, consisting of several cities, a dozen towns, countless villages, and a knight's territory.

Marquis Parker far surpasses Baron Patton in terms of military strength, reputation, and influence.

But this marquis is still not as powerful as the Earl of Libya, the largest family in Orange.

Because the Libyan Earl's Family not only has the most powerful territory, power, and military strength in Orange, but is also one of the eight nobles under the command of the first King Michel.

The Earl of Libya's family prestige also exceeds that of the Marquis of Parker.

It can even be said that the influence and strength of these two families in the entire Orange Province are not on the same level.

By the way, the Marquis of Park is also a branch of the Prussian royal family, which is why the Marquis of Park's family title is higher than the Libyan Earl.

However, due to a major event in Prussian history, the relationship between the Marquis Park family and the royal family became increasingly alienated, and instead they became a de facto noble family in alliance with the Count of Libya.

The Kingdom of Prussia is located in the southern part of the continent, close to the sea, but because there is a large area of ​​uncultivated forest in the south, it does not directly border the sea.

The Province of Orange was one of the southern territories of the Kingdom of Prussia.

In the entire province, there are twenty or thirty nobles with actual titles. They are not subordinate to each other and are nominally vassals of the King of Prussia. In fact, they are in an alliance with each other, and the biggest leader is the Count of Libya.

In this large province, some territories of real nobles bordered on unowned forests, while others were adjacent to the territories of other nobles, leaving no room for development and expansion.

For example, the Pompeii family could directly cut down forests and build farmland. As long as they could attract free people and purchase serfs, they could expand the entire territory many times.

Of course, there are certain risks in deforestation, because there are still many monsters in the forest, the environment is harsh, and there are even dragons.

Unless the entire Kingdom of Prussia once again calls on all the nobles in the country to expand southwards and carry out the eighth expansion in Prussian history, the entire forest can be developed and the kingdom's power can reach the sea.

However, because of that major event, the prestige of the King of Prussia declined, and the practical nobles and the court nobles became two vaguely opposing forces, so the southward expansion of the Kingdom of Prussia became a distant prospect.

Without the endless forest for expansion, the inland nobles had only one way to develop their territories, which was to develop commerce throughout the entire territory.

However, things like commercial development depend on the personal ability of the lord, so in most of the inland noble territories, tax revenue will not develop for a long time.

Some nobles have high expenses but low income. In this case, what should they do?

There is only one way.

This is a very profitable business.

And that's what Marquis Parker did. Because Marquis Parker would do whatever it took to bankrupt the freemen, even assassinating them, sending out troops, pretending to be thieves, and clearing out the freemen in the territory.

Because of Marquis Parker's cruelty, he even got a nickname, "The Executioner".

There are a huge number of freemen who have lost their land in the entire territory, and the situation in the entire territory is extremely depressed and even chaotic.

The number of thieves and robbers is gradually increasing.

Even the nobles believed that the governed territories like the Marquis of Parker's were an important breeding ground for rebellion. If a rebellion broke out in the Province of Orange, the Marquis of Parker's territory would definitely be one of the sources.

Stone and Pompey learned about this situation through their intelligence connections, and they traveled all the way to the Marquis of Parker's territory for the free people who had lost their land.

Although Marquis Parker owns several cities, the main city is Sparta, which has a population of over 100,000. It is one of the largest cities in the entire Orange Province.

This noon, under the scorching sun, Stone, the Knight of Pompeii, hurriedly came into the city with his men.

Throughout the Kingdom of Prussia, most cities had no entrance fee. This was because those shrewd lords knew that if they wanted to keep their territories prosperous, they had to abolish the entrance fee. However, these taxes would lead to a decline in commercial activities and cause the city to decline.

But it was obvious that Marquis Parker was not a shrewd lord. He collected entrance fees in the city of Sparta and set a series of standards for everyone from caravans to civilians, nobles, and travelers.

Stone, Pompey and his entourage rode on tall horses, pulled several carts, and were accompanied by a team of guards. They looked like a caravan and also like mercenaries.

The guards responsible for guarding the city gate were treated like mercenaries and were charged a considerable entrance fee per person.

After paying the toll, Knights Stone and Parker entered the city of Sparta, and relying on the previous layout, they went directly to the mayor's residence in Sparta.

After entering the city, all I saw was a languid atmosphere. People with numb faces and languid breaths, looking malnourished, were walking around the streets doing nothing.

Beggars can be seen everywhere.

In Stone and Pompeii, they saw several thieves several times, attacking people on the road. Some of them succeeded, while others were caught.

Those who are caught will be in trouble.

He was first severely beaten and then tried in the city lord's residence.

Because the lords made their own laws, the standards were different. The lighter punishments were imprisonment and flogging, while the heavier punishments were chopping off of one's hands.

And Stone heard that in the territory of Marquis Parker, thieves would have their right hands chopped off.

In addition, there are traces of feces and urine everywhere in the city, and no one cares, and the whole city is filled with a foul smell.

It looks like the country is about to be destroyed.

(End of this chapter)