On the contrary, the small countries around it did not suffer much damage because they had three big countries standing in front of them, and their total population remained over 10 million.
The expeditionary force's current manpower is far from enough to manage these more than 20 million people. What they need to do now is to find some local people to organize the army and management, and each of them will manage their own towns according to the new rules formulated by the expeditionary force.
With the clones all being high-level knights, this is not difficult to do. After all, in some remote places, they don't even know magic, and there aren't many high-level knights even in big towns. It's completely enough!
…
Town of Guana Creek.
With the end of the battle between the expeditionary force and Volu, local residents gradually returned to their original homes.
Today, the sun is shining and the weather is just right.
People on the street were walking in groups of three or five, and several adventurers in the tavern were chatting about various gossips.
"Have you heard? The Kingdom of Yalan is gone. Now it's replaced by another group, the Expeditionary Force!"
"Hey, I know. I heard that the expeditionary force defeated the Demon King, so they plan to build another kingdom in Yalan!"
"Demon King? I remember the Demon King was defeated by the Black Dog Mercenaries, right? Where did this Demon King come from?"
"All that happened a long time ago. Let me tell you something new. The war in Yalan broke out because the Black Dog Mercenaries started a war with Yalan. They also claimed to establish a kingdom of servants and suppress Her Majesty the Queen..."
In the adventurer's tavern, a bearded and scarred adventurer took a sip of wine and spoke loudly.
"Oh my god, is it so exciting?"
"That's right, but there's something even more exciting. I heard that the Servant Kingdom advocates for freedom of depravity, which means you can do whatever you want, and you can have fun with women as you please, and you can do it together..."
"Hehehe, that's great, how can we join the Servant Kingdom? I want to go!" Several wretched thugs immediately burst into laughter.
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but smile at each other, and they were obviously a little moved. However, some female adventurers in the tavern cursed the hooligan inwardly, but they also listened to the bearded man's words secretly, wondering whether they should find a place to avoid this so-called Servant Kingdom.
There was a female knight who was quietly wiping her sword and snorted in her heart, obviously disdainful of such a kingdom.
"Don't even think about it. The Servant Kingdom was wiped out long ago, and now it's replaced by a force called the Expeditionary Force. But don't think the Servant Kingdom is a good thing. The so-called freedom of depravity they offer only to their own people, not to outsiders."
"Besides, if it really attacks, it will be your own wives and children who will suffer. Also, don't even think about joining them if you can't defeat them. They follow the strategy of killing all the men and taking all the women away. You guys might be slaughtered before you even get close!"
This sentence was obviously said to the crowd in the tavern who were making a fuss. Everyone fell silent after hearing it, and a few thugs also stopped talking.
At this time, someone asked about the expeditionary force.
"Uncle Ham, what do you think of this expeditionary force? I heard they were talking about freedom and the like. Isn't that the same as serving the kingdom?"
Ham was stunned for a moment, then continued to take a sip of wine. Seeing that the wine was gone, he didn't say anything and just looked at his glass.
Seeing this, the people on the side immediately understood what was going on and quickly brought a glass of good wine and placed it respectfully in front of Ham.
Ham smiled upon seeing this, and drank most of the glass in one gulp before continuing.
"The expeditionary force is different from serving the kingdom. They advocate freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law!"
"What do these mean?"
Someone asked a question.
"I can't quite explain it, but according to their explanation, everyone is equal. Simply put, it doesn't matter if you're a king, a noble, or a slave, you're all the same. There's no distinction between high and low."
"Moreover, they advocate ruling the country by law, which means that no one can violate the laws. No matter who you are, even if you are the earl's son, if you break the law you will be arrested and punished, even if it is one of their own people who breaks the law..."
"It feels like it's just empty talk. Who would make such a rule? And they're punishing their own people!"
Someone immediately questioned it.
"I'm not entirely sure, but it seems like they've already been doing this in the royal city. Several nobles were captured and executed, and there were even crowds of people watching!"
"Of course, these are not the main points. I heard that the expeditionary force seems to have set new taxes. Do you want to guess how much they are going to collect?"
Ham changed the subject and immediately attracted the attention of everyone present. After all, no matter what the law was, no matter whether it was good or not, everyone had gone through it. Taxation was still the most practical, especially for some businessmen and farmers who drank in the tavern.
"There are many categories of taxes, covering all aspects. I can't remember them all, but one thing is certain: all agricultural taxes will be exempted for the next three years, and after that, only one tenth will be collected!"
Everyone present suddenly burst into cheers.
"What are you all yelling about? This is for the farmers, not you. Merchants still need to pay taxes. I heard it's 30%. Adventurers pay taxes based on their income. Anything over 1,000 gold coins a month is taxed 1%."
"It's not much, but I don't know if there will be additional surcharges. I don't want to add a little here and a little there and end up with more than before." Someone asked worriedly.
But Ham didn't know this either, so these things could only wait and see how things developed in the future.
Maybe their lives will be better, maybe they will be worse.
Soon after, the clone assigned to Guana Creek Town arrived.
For this small town, the gears of fate began to turn!
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