Claude thought he had gotten used to the barbaric ways of this world after transmigrating here, but now he knew what true barbarism and ignorance meant.
"… Your Excellency Marshal, the count is complete. There are more than 1300 items that belong to Marcharin Town found in this tribe. Many of the items registered as looted still have bloodstains on them.
We even found a public item from the town hall that had the Machaalin nightingale engraved on it.
As for the people from Machaalin who were taken away by the bandits, we also found their whereabouts, but … "
Mason Hughes paused for a moment and said sadly, "The women are still alive. The men in the tribe need to vent their lust on them so they can give birth to more children for the tribe.
But the men, the young and strong, are still alive. They were treated as slaves.
The older ones, as well as the old ones who were captured, were all killed a few days before they came to the tribe because the tribe needed their skulls to make wine bowls … "
A few days ago, a small town called Machaalin near the Likumada Hills in Canas was raided by bandits. By the time Thundercrash's troops arrived, the bandits had already left.
Machaalin Town was in ruins. Less than half of the three thousand people in the town survived. Including those killed by the bandits, there were still around four hundred people missing.
There was no doubt that they were taken away by the bandits.
Claude was enraged. How dare they! That was like messing with the ruler of the land.
He immediately mobilized his best men to investigate and after half a month of searching, they found the medium-sized tribe with close to ten thousand people.
After a battle that wasn't too intense, they paid the price of three dead and close to a hundred injured. A line of light cavalry managed to take over the tribe's temporary camp.
When Claude first received the list of missing people from Machaalin Town, he found it strange that there were old men in their fifties or sixties on the list. Did the bandits lack love from a young age and purposely abduct the old to make them their fathers?
Now that he heard the report from his aide, Mason Hughes, he understood that the reason the bandits abducted the old men was to make human skull bowls.
"I remember there are many peddlers and merchants in Northbay who sell daily necessities. This tribe can easily exchange their wool and cattle for these bowls. They're not expensive and they look exquisite.
Why would they do something so cruel and use the skulls of the old men as human skull bowls? "asked a high-ranking staff officer.
"I've interrogated some of the captives. They said it's a tribal tradition," Mason Hughes replied.
Mason Hughes replied, "The nomadic tribes of the Great Plains of Canas believe that the older a person is, the more intelligent they are. That's why they kill the dying elders in their tribe and use their skulls as bowls to drink wine.
They felt that by doing so, the old man's wisdom would flow into their stomachs along with the wine, making them smarter and smarter until they completely inherited the old man's wisdom.
However, they don't have that many old men in their tribe waiting to be killed. So, the nomads like to rob the old men from other tribes and towns.
They also need the old men alive when they make the human skull bowls. They believe that the pain of sawing through the old men's skulls will condense the wisdom of the old men in their skulls. "
"Disgusting, cruel, ignorant, and barbaric tradition. They think they don't need to learn anything by doing this. Do they think they can easily obtain the wisdom of others?
How disgusting! "Another senior combat staff officer standing at the side scolded angrily.
"Actually, not all the nomads of the Great Plains of Canas have such a cruel tradition.
The Kemido tribe was one of the first to be civilized. They had established the most basic elementary education in the commercial district of the North Bay, the mining district of the Likumada Hills and the agricultural district of the Beaumaris Grand Duke Castle. There were also some semi-civilized tribes that had settled down in the grasslands. They had abandoned these ignorant and ancient customs …
Only the nomadic tribes that have maintained their nomadic traditions would persist in such a disgusting tradition.
They believe that the settled tribes are traitors to the wolf god and that grassland wolves should roam around. Only watchdogs would stay in one place.
That's why they don't see the settled tribes as their own. Instead, they see them as enemies. They will strike when the time comes and they won't be soft-hearted, "explained Mason Hughes, who had read quite a bit of information.
Claude stood up and walked out of the tent. He smiled at the high-ranking officers beside him. "Back then, the chief of the Kemido tribe, Jamiad Dorbagi Kemido, traveled half of Freia with a caravan when he was young and gained a lot of knowledge. When he returned to the tribe as chief, he started a great reform and made Kemido the largest tribe in Nasri.
"At the same time, three generations of Grand Dukes of Canas spent 60 years to civilize the people of Kemido into civilized people like us. They are no longer barbarians.
"We are now the new conquerors and occupiers of this region. However, we don't have 60 years to civilize these barbarians, so we can only respect and empathize with the traditions of these primitive people.
Mason Hughes! "
"Lord Marshal, I'm here. Please give me your instructions!"
"It's said that when the nomadic tribes conquer the weaker tribes, they kill all the elderly and men taller than the wheels and only take the young women and children with them. Is there such a tradition?"
Claude asked with narrowed eyes as he looked at the temporary camp of the nomadic tribes not far away. The battle there had already ended. Thundercrash's light cavalry were herding the captives together and some were dismounting to finish off the enemy corpses on the ground.
"Yes, Lord Marshal.
The nomadic tribes all have such a tradition. They only capture those who are useful to them. The young women will bear them children and when they grow up, they will become loyal warriors of the tribe. As they are smaller than the wheels, they won't remember the hatred of their tribe.
As for the children who are older than the wheel, they will remember the hatred of the extermination of their clan and the murder of their parents. Adopting them is equivalent to planting the seeds of rebellion for the future of the tribe, so it's better to kill them all … "Adjutant Mason Hughes hurriedly explained. This was all recorded in the documents.
"Very well. As newcomers to the plains, we have to respect the traditions of these nomadic tribes.
Pass down the order. Deal with the captives according to their traditions. Behead all the men taller than the wheels. No, execute them by shooting. That will make us seem more civilized.
As for the young women and children, bring them back to the victims of Machalin Town as compensation for their misfortune, "Claude ordered coldly.
"Oh … Lord Marshal, I …" Mason Hughes seemed like he wanted to say something, but when he saw Claude's expression, he snapped out of it. "Yes, Lord Marshal!"
The atmosphere was a little tense. After all, Claude had just given a cruel order. It was hard for the high-ranking officers to believe that Claude was someone who treated captives well.
Claude had always been one to treat captives well. During the colonial war, he once said that it was the duty of soldiers to fight to the death in battle.
But after the battle was over, as the victors, they had to be lenient towards the losers. They were just doing their duty as soldiers.
But when they thought about Mason Hughes' report of the skulls and wine bowls found in the tents, the high-ranking officers understood why Claude gave the order.
It was simple. To deal with barbarism and ignorance, one had to be more vicious and cruel than they appeared to be in order to strike fear into the hearts of the nomadic tribes.
Otherwise, their leniency would only be seen as weakness. They wouldn't remember their magnanimity and would only see them as easy targets to bully and deceive.
"I find it strange. Why would the nomadic tribes come here and attack Machalin Town?
According to the survivors, they haven't been robbed by bandits for more than 30 years, so they weren't prepared at all, "asked a high-ranking officer.
Claude turned around. "I can answer that. You'll understand when you look at the map. The Great Plains of Canas is like a green scar on the upper right corner of the map.
It's actually not much smaller than the Nasrian Kingdom.
The reason Canas is called a duchy and not a kingdom is because Grand Duke Canas only controls the coastal zone and the upper right corner of the plains. He doesn't control the depths and inner parts of the plains.
In the depths of the prairie, there were countless nomadic tribes.
Grand Duke Canas' deal with them was to organize caravans every year to trade with the nomadic tribes for daily necessities. In return, the nomadic tribes would promise not to attack the lands under Grand Duke Canas' jurisdiction.
But after Grand Duke Canas escaped, the deal was nullified.
That was why this tribe came to the area. They believed that Grand Duke Canas had gone back on his word, so they raided Machalin Town as revenge.
Looks like we'll have to increase our surveillance and security around the areas under our jurisdiction. I believe there will be more nomadic tribes like this coming from the depths of the plains.
If he didn't teach them a few harsh lessons, these barbarians would never put down the saber in their hands.
Only by making these grassland barbarians feel fear and heartache will they raise the white flag and ask us to trade and negotiate with us … "
"But Lord Marshal, the bandits we have to face aren't just the nomadic tribes.
What's more troublesome are the old subordinates of Grand Duke Canas. They're hiding among the people and ambushing our soldiers who are alone. We can't find these bandits hiding in the shadows … "Another senior advisor said.
"We have to take things one at a time," Claude said, "That's a different kind of battlefield. It's not suitable for us soldiers.
Even though the bandits hiding in the shadows are more difficult to deal with compared to the nomadic tribes, it doesn't mean we don't have a solution.
Thundercrash has been reorganizing our forces in Northbay recently. We've tightened security and traffic control. Didn't the reports of the bandits disappear in an instant?
The reason is simple. Firstly, the bandits' spies can't send out any information due to the increased security and traffic control. The bandits on the outskirts can't get any information and can only continue hiding.
Secondly, these small groups of bandits are afraid of our current strength and do not dare to launch an attack.
We can ignore these small groups of bandits for the time being, mainly because they are targeting us, the garrison troops, and not the common people. We can just sit back and wait for them to come to us and use them to train our troops …
Another reason is that this isn't our territory. If things go well in the royal capital and the coast of Canas becomes the territory of us, the dominion nobles, we'll invest in the development and development of the area. When that happens, we'll bring the patrolling police over. They'll be the main force against the bandits and spies hiding among the commoners.
With their help, the bandits won't be able to escape. "
Speaking of the ownership of the territory, three horses galloped over from afar. As they approached, the leading light cavalryman leapt off his horse and handed a small leather bag to the guard in front of him. Then, he led his horse and his two companions towards the stables at the back of the camp.
They needed to replenish feed and clean drinking water for the three horses that had been traveling for a long time.
The guard checked the contents of the bag and walked towards Claude.
Soon, the bag was placed in front of Claude. Inside were two sealed silver cylinders. Opening them, they contained two messenger hawks.
The news from the royal capital arrived just as he was talking about it.
However, Claude was currently fighting bandits on the plains and was three days away from Northbay's Cangpaster.
On the other hand, the royal capital's harriers would first send letters to the capital of Polyvicia in the Nasrian region, where they would then send the letters to Canpaster.
Cangpaster would then send someone to deliver the letter to Claude.
The entire process took around four to five days. In other words, the messenger hawks that Claude was looking at had been sent four to five days ago.
But now that he had tracked down and wiped out the nomadic tribes that robbed and massacred Marcharin Town, he would be able to return in a day. So, he casually looked at the messenger hawk that had just arrived.
The first letter stated that the prime minister, Marquis Blancarte, was informed of the demands of the autonomous region's councilors, military officers and honorary nobles. Bennett had given the map of the Canasian coastal region to the prime minister.
Claude looked at the date marked at the bottom of the letter. Year 601, 28th of the tenth month.
Today was the seventh of the eleventh month. Strange, why did the messenger hawks take four days to arrive?
But when he opened the second tube and took out the letter, he understood that it wasn't a delay on the part of the recipient. Instead, the sender waited for the king and the court to reply to the demands of the region before sending the letter. Furthermore, it was connected to the first letter and sent by the messenger eagle.
The second messenger stated that after three days of closed-door discussion, King Frederik I and the ministers finally agreed to the demands of the autonomous region.
The commercial district of Northbay along the coast of Canas, the mining district of Likumada Hills and the agricultural district of Beaumaris Castle, as well as a part of the Great Plains of Canas, were to be given to the families of the autonomous region's nobles, military officers and councilors.
However, the king said that this was a special case to commend the two corps of the autonomous region for their contributions in unifying the eastern part of Freia.
However, in order to punish the councilors for disobeying the king's orders and dividing up the hereditary lands on their own initiative, the king decided to impose double the land selection fee.
By this messenger, Sir Bennett expressed his resolution to have a showdown with His Majesty at the Great Assembly of the 10th of November.
As the king and the royal court refused to give the autonomous region preferential treatment in terms of land selection and promotion fees, the councilors calculated that they would have to fork out close to a hundred million crowns in order to obtain all the marked hereditary lands in Canas.
None of the councilors were willing to bear such a huge fee. They angrily expressed that the so-called promotion fees and land selection fees were nothing more than extortion and extortion from the kingdom!
Chairman Bennett decided to bring sixty large wooden chests filled with crowns to the court session on the tenth of the eleventh month. He wanted the thirty million crowns to dazzle the eyes of all the nobles and officials attending the court session.
Claude knew very well that Chairman Bennett felt that the king and the ministers wouldn't easily compromise on the two fees, so he had no choice but to make the decision.
Their real goal was to make the region look good. It wasn't that they didn't have the money, but that the price was too ridiculous. No one could afford it, so they didn't want the territory anymore. The 30 million crowns we brought over are for you to see. We'll be taking it back soon.
If there was a difference of ten to twenty million crowns, perhaps the thirty million crowns they brought back would be enough to achieve their goal.
But a difference of more than three times was a little too ridiculous. Even the autonomous region wouldn't be able to fork out such a huge sum.
It seemed that there was no point in thinking about the hereditary lands anymore. If they wanted the coastal region of Canas, they might as well go against the kingdom. Given the kingdom's current military power, they wouldn't dare to go against the autonomous region and start another civil war.
The only problem was, be it the soldiers or citizens of the region, they all saw themselves as Aueran citizens.
No one would be willing to go against the kingdom and start a civil war. There might even be soldiers lying in ambush waiting for an opportunity to shoot a traitor like them.