Only then did the villagers realize they had been deceived!
What fertile land? It's just a thin layer of soil. They shouldn't believe in any so-called benevolent nobles!
Even though the villagers were furious, for the nobles, nothing was more important than what they would have for breakfast.
So when the entire village, having been deceived, angrily went to reason with them, the castle, which had once allowed them to enter without a care in the world, now ruthlessly shut them out!
Not only were they refused entry, but behind the magnificent, heavy gates, the castle's steward revealed his disgusted and ugly face. "The Earl did grant you the land, and you show no gratitude, which is one thing, but I suppose the Earl is magnanimous and won't hold it against you. However, don't forget one thing: you and the Earl signed a written agreement—we are going to collect that ten percent of the harvest!"
The last syllable still lingered in the air, but outside the door, there was already a deathly silence.
To their utter surprise, before they could even get a proper explanation, they were then asked to hand over 10% of their harvest!
Almost instantly, with a loud "boom," the villagers outside the door erupted into chaos.
How could we tolerate this? This is simply taking their lives!
Many villagers rushed forward without thinking, attempting to climb over the magnificent gate with their bare hands. However, after taking only a small step closer, the angry villagers were attacked by magic and were violently thrown back several meters.
Seeing this, the butler inside snorted coldly, "I advise you to go back as soon as possible and not waste your time here!"
Before he could finish speaking, he didn't look at the door again and left with his hands behind his back.
Separated by a large gate, the inside was empty, while the outside was packed with impoverished and weathered villagers.
Are we just going to leave like this?
Everyone knows that leaving means compromise, but what can we do by standing here?
There's really nothing we can do.
As the sun rose and set, and night began to fall, the gate remained empty, just as before. Gradually, stars began to twinkle in the night sky. The villagers, who had stubbornly waited, finally succumbed to time, leaving in twos and threes, heads bowed in dejection…
In just one night, news of what happened quickly spread throughout the entire capital. Unlike the commoners who secretly rejoiced upon hearing the news, many nobles were immediately inspired by this reversal—why didn't they think of doing the same thing?
Although it was frustrating to be a step behind and no longer be able to do this near the capital, the good thing was that the news had not spread widely—except for the area around the capital, where everyone knew about it, other places were still completely unaware.
To avoid missing out on even a bowl of soup, many nobles immediately took action, sending their entourages away from the capital overnight to prepare for a hefty harvest elsewhere.
It was the greed of these nobles that caused a man-made disaster, which was originally only near the capital, to sweep across the entire empire. Many commoners lost their homes and families as a result. It was after witnessing such a disaster that those commoners who survived became extremely vigilant.
No matter who they are or what their status is, if they are asked to mention anything even remotely related to farmland, their first reaction is to refuse to believe it.
This is why Miller planned to distribute the harvested grain to the villagers.
It's not that they would gladly accept the farmland simply because he offered it to them.
The lesson learned from the past is still fresh in their minds, so how could they possibly believe that Miller would be so kind? Perhaps he would give it to them one minute and then leave this good piece of land to decay the next.
This is not the outcome Miller wanted to see.
Rather than ending up like this, it would have been better not to give it to them in the first place!
However, to be fair, what Alger said earlier... made some sense.
Miller pondered for a moment, then suddenly looked up and gave Alger a slightly appreciative look. "You're absolutely right."
Alger was completely bewildered by what he saw, utterly confused.
If my memory serves me right, what he just said seemed to be just asking... right?
Miller: "We should definitely share some of the food with the church members."
Admittedly, this was something Miller had overlooked before.
He forgot that while he considered the church and Viscount Duke to be no threat, that did not mean the same was true for the villagers.
Not wanting his hard-earned achievements to be ruined by these two, Miller ultimately decided to share some of the food with the local church.
As for why it wasn't given to Viscount Duke?
Needless to say, Viscount Duke is no match for him!
To be honest, Alger was a little surprised.
He had only asked a simple question, but he didn't know what had touched Bishop Miller and made him change his mind.
This was completely impossible before!
Despite finding it unbelievable, this did not stop Alger from immediately carrying out Miller's instructions.
Within hours of his conversation with Miller, Alger had located all the relevant personnel.
As Miller had anticipated, when Alger told the village chief that there was a good piece of land to be given to them free of charge, the chief's expression was not one of ecstatic joy. Instead, he froze, then trembled, and collapsed as if all his strength had been drained.
"Sir, we...we don't..." The village chief swallowed hard before gritting his teeth and uttering the rest of his sentence, "We don't need to!"
These four words almost drained the village chief of his last bit of strength. As soon as he finished speaking, he collapsed to the ground, his arms as limp as noodles, unable to support him at all.
If he was envious of the neighboring village for getting free land from Viscount Duke back then, he's now just as terrified!
You can't be afraid!
Looking at the lives of people in the neighboring village now, if he were to lose his mind and agree to this teaching assistant's request, then the fate of their village would be right before their eyes!
This year has already been tough enough; we can't let them suffer the loss of their families!
The village chief's mind went through the miserable lives of the neighboring village again and again. Although he knew that his resistance was insignificant in the eyes of the upper class, he still gritted his teeth and persevered.
From his vantage point, Alger couldn't see the village chief's expression, but from his uncontrollable trembling, he knew he was afraid.
If you're afraid, why reject him so decisively?
Alger didn't understand, even though Bishop Miller had explained the reason to him.
Deeply ingrained ideas cannot be changed overnight. Although he did not say "commoners are all ignorant" as bluntly as other nobles, his thoughts never changed.
The common people are just ignorant!
Why were they deceived? It's because they saw the benefits and accepted them blindly without thinking.
You'll get scammed once, and you'll get scammed twice!
Even three or four times...
But—Alger lowered his eyes slightly and focused his gaze on the village chief.
In his eyes, the village chief, who was lying on the ground and couldn't get up, was an ordinary commoner and a cowardly man, yet such a person still had the courage to refuse him.
Alger couldn't quite describe the feeling; it seemed that at this moment, some deeply ingrained idea had begun to waver.
He sighed silently.
Even though he somewhat understood what Bishop Miller meant, he still couldn't treat ordinary people the way Miller did.
"Get up." Alger's voice was no different from usual, aloof and indifferent.
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