British hegemon

Chapter 46 Inheritance Tax

The first floor of the Baron's mansion is the heart of the ruling power of the entire Isle of Arran.

Baron John convened meetings, held banquets, issued decrees, tried lawsuits, and collected taxes here. The work of a lord governing his territory in this era was not actually complicated.

The small room on the inside of the first-floor hall served as Baron John's study, living room, and office.

The capable-looking steward held a piece of parchment covered in writing and briefly told Roger about the spoils of the Arran Island army's expedition.

As expected, they were discussing the distribution of the spoils of war.

The expedition to Arun Island against the English ended in defeat, with more than half of the soldiers lost. Naturally, they also failed to bring back much of the weapons, armor, supplies, and provisions they had brought with them or captured.

The warhorses and mules they brought, along with the dozen or so horses and mules they had seized on the peninsula, were all lost on the way of their escape. Even Baron John's expensive, tall warhorse had to be abandoned by the enemy when they were hastily boarding the ship to flee.

We also have to consider the two ships captured by enemy vessels and the spoils they carried, which resulted in almost a total loss.

The loss of weapons, armor, ships, and warhorses was what pained Baron John the most. After all, recruiting soldiers in Scotland, where the land was barren and human life was cheap, was not difficult, but weapons, armor, warhorses, and ships were not easy to obtain.

The only saving grace was that the largest Kirk-class ship, HMS Baron, broke through the encirclement of English ships and returned to the Isle of Arran, under the desperate cover of HMS White Sail and Noel.

The White Sail and the Noor were mainly used for transporting troops, while the gold and silver artifacts, furs, livestock, grain and goods looted on the west coast of Galloway, along with most of the money from smuggling trade south to Ireland, were on the Baron.

Even after offsetting the losses, it was still a crushing defeat, so Baron John remained depressed, and his pale face at the funeral was now flushed again.

"Milk House Manor suffered the biggest losses this time, so it should logically get a larger share of the spoils."

Such statements are usually followed by a turning point.

Baron John coughed a few times and then said, "However, since the army has suffered a crushing defeat, I must stabilize morale and maintain the Campbell family's rule over Arlen Island. Therefore, I will prioritize distributing the spoils of war to the other knights and soldiers who accompanied me on this campaign, to ensure their loyalty and trust in the Campbell family."

"Aran Island belongs to the Campbell family, and you and Louis are also members of the Campbell family." At this point, Baron John suddenly paused, recalling how he had slapped Roger out of the mansion just last month and even declared that he would not acknowledge Roger's "Campbell" identity.

However, Roger only had fragmented and vague memories of that incident and did not feel anything unusual about it.

Seeing that Roger did not react excessively, Baron John continued, "The land at Milk House Manor is fertile, and you will not lack food this year, so the harvested grain will not be distributed to you."

"The lords have suffered great losses this time. They need a lot of gold and silver to compensate the soldiers and purchase warhorses and weapons. We have plundered some gold and silver from Galloway, and we must give them priority."

"We didn't capture many weapons and armor from the English; most of them were lost during the evacuation, so we can't give you any of them."

Roger listened quietly without saying a word.

"However, the nine pounds and five shillings that the White Sail earned on this voyage south are on the Baron, and I will return all of that money to you. I will also give you five plowshares, twenty sets of farm implements, two bags of wool (Note 1), and ten sheep. That wool alone is worth about seven or eight pounds."

Seven or eight pounds is indeed a huge sum of money for ordinary people, equivalent to three to five years' income. For Roger personally, it might also be considered a considerable fortune.

But with two knights, two sergeants, three peasant soldiers, almost all the weapons and armor, plus three horses and a ship, such a huge loss was only exchanged for that little bit of stuff, so Roger didn't want to argue anymore.

Perhaps feeling he had been treated too unfairly, Baron John's tone was so weak and feeble when he said this.

Seeing that Roger didn't speak, Baron John took it as a tacit agreement and quickly changed the subject.

"I heard from Old One-Armed that you killed Ulf and led men to wipe out the pirates in the north of the island?"

Roger's lips twitched slightly.

"Ulf and his pirate crew are my men," Baron John said softly.

Roger couldn't help but raise his eyes.

Baron John nodded calmly. "Why do you think they've lived so long? And why do you think Aran Island has been able to control this area of ​​the west coast?"

"But those guys aren't exactly good people either. They've become increasingly uncontrollable in recent years, so let's just wipe them out."

Baron John continued, "All the gold and silver you plundered from the pirates are yours. Keep one set of armor, three weapons, and the rest, along with what you took from the storeroom when you were suppressing the bandits, all come to my armory."

"As for that pirate ship~"

Baron John glanced at Roger's increasingly grim expression and sighed, "Your family has lost a ship, so the pirate ship is yours."

Roger could ignore the spoils he plundered from Galloway, as they had little to do with him. But everything he and his men had obtained from the pirates was earned with their lives, and he couldn't give it away easily, especially weapons and armor that were essential for survival in chaotic times.

Roger was about to refuse when Baron John immediately raised his hand to stop him.

"I won't take your things for nothing. These weapons and armor are your inheritance tax paid to the lord. After paying these taxes, you will inherit your father's knighthood and become the new lord of Milk House Manor..."

…………

At the port, the Baron still drifted alone, while five or six small fishing boats shuttled back and forth, unloading the spoils captured from the English and transporting them to the nearest coast to the various lords.

Several oxcarts and wheelbarrows also traveled back and forth at the dock, transporting wheat seeds, grains, wine, furs and other items to the Baron's castle.

At the end of the wooden pier, Roger stood waiting. Two hired fishermen, led by Bitterface and Marne, carried five plowshares, twenty sets of farm tools, two bags of wool totaling 728 pounds, and ten sheep that had traveled across the ocean to Arran Island onto a slightly larger Bella boat.

These are the spoils that Baron John allocated to Milk House Estate.

Baron John handed over the money for the southward trade to Roger at the manor, but Baron John intended for the steward to send the farm tools, wool, and livestock to Milk House Estate.

But Roger believed that only what he ate was his own, so despite Baron John's distorted expression, he resolutely hired a ship at a high price and took it off the Baron under the personal inspection of the steward.

As the last bleating sheep was carried and thrown onto the Bella ship by Marne, the expressionless steward, holding a parchment, led a clerk to Roger. "Young Master Roger, everything from the Milk House Manor has been taken. Please sign your name in the ledgers and documents."

I glanced at the parchment; it was covered with dense English and Latin symbols, presented in a simple table format.

The table records the types and quantities of spoils allocated to each participating lord, and finally, the signature. Of course, most of the minor knight lords were illiterate, so they would use a cross or a circle instead of a signature.

Roger carefully took the parchment, examined it closely for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Did you make this form?"

The steward didn't understand what Roger meant by "form" and assumed that Roger didn't approve of the ledger.

Roger was about to inherit the knighthood and the lord's fief, so he naturally dared not offend him. He bowed his head and asked, "Young Master Roger, is there anything wrong? I will correct it immediately."

"Did you make this ledger?" Roger continued to ask.

Perhaps Roger's tone was a bit harsh, or perhaps Roger's established impression on everyone was too bad, the steward thought he was going to take the opportunity to get angry, and actually lowered his head and did not answer.

"I'm asking you, who made this ledger?" Roger raised his voice.

The young clerk behind the steward hesitated before stepping forward and stammered, "Young Master Roger, it was me." He then quickly lowered his head, waiting for Roger's outburst, even though he didn't know why Young Master Roger had suddenly become angry.

"What's your name?" Roger's tone remained calm, yet it made the clerk even more uneasy.

The steward pulled the clerk back to shield him, then stepped forward with a forced smile and said, "Young Master Roger, this fellow is Paul. He's the old clerk's grandson. The old man passed away at the beginning of the year, and the Baron has asked him to take over his grandfather's work, helping to copy letters and do the accounting."

"He's too young and just started as a clerk, so it's inevitable that he'll make mistakes. Please don't blame him."

Roger was unaware that the other party was too afraid of him and thought he was a shy, effeminate young man, which greatly diminished his goodwill towards him.

Without paying any further attention, Roger took the quill from the steward, casually signed his name in Latin, and handed the ledger to the steward.

Roger, watched with puzzled expressions by the two men, boarded the cargo-laden Bella ship and sailed out of the harbor towards Ramrush Bay to the south...

.........