Chapter 12: The Sacred Ten Households System

"Since I have been in the High Castle for many years, I don't know you all very well, so now I would like you to introduce yourselves. Each of you should introduce your origin, name, occupation and family. Let's start with you!"

The rain stopped for a while in the morning of the day after Pentecost.

Standing in front of the hunter's hut, Horn put his hands on his waist, holding a long sword in his right hand, and shouted energetically to the villagers present.

The villager who was pointed out was shocked and forcibly dragged his timid wife and son forward.

"My name is Bivil, I'm 29 years old, I'm a farmer, this is my wife Rachel, and these are my two sons, Bivil Jr. and Dazov Jr."

Picking up a crude reed pen, Horn wrote the name on a piece of birch bark.

In the rural system of the Holy Aiel Empire, Gongbu Nong represented semi-serfs.

They were on the taxpayer rolls, could own private property, and were not bought, sold, manipulated, or lynched like serfs.

But the public farmers had to rent the lord's land and had to complete agricultural labor tasks.

Throwing him a wooden sign with two scratches on it, Horn said without even looking up: "Go over there and stand behind the board with the same pattern as the sign in your hand. Hurry up."

Bivell took the whole family to the designated position. Little Dazov curiously reached out to touch the wooden sign, but was slapped down by his mother.

"Okay, next one." Horn finished recording and shouted again.

A sturdy man in a black cotton vest came up. He took off his woolen hat, touched his wife's thin back, bowed and said:
"Merciful Saint Grandson, my name is Rector Tieshui, I am 35 years old, an armed farmer, and I own a blacksmith shop at home. This is my wife Solmi, and we have no children."

After looking at Recdo a few more times, Horn continued to make notes on the birch bark.

The armed peasants were the rich peasant class in the imperial feudal rural system. Most of them were small and medium-sized landlords and rich peasants. They did not need to pay any taxes, but only needed to provide their own weapons and serve in the military.

However, since the end of the Hundred Years' War, most armed peasants no longer go to the battlefield, but instead pay shield taxes, which the lords can use to recruit mercenaries.

But they are still the lackeys of the lords and belong to the middle-level managers in the rural order.

Throwing him a wooden sign with four marks carved on it, Horn raised his head and said, "Okay, next one."

"Your Excellency, I introduced myself yesterday. My name is Jieshka, I am 31 years old, a refugee, I have no family, I used to be a mercenary, and now I mainly work as a bricklayer."

Horn remembered this one-eyed man with good eyesight. He should be the leader of the refugees nearby.

Refugees are a special group that emerged after the empire promulgated the Fugitive Slave Act.

These people often lived in groups and moved around in the wild to avoid being captured by slave hunters.

They would not stay in one place for long, and would make a living by doing odd jobs, begging, or even stealing and robbing. Over time, they became refugees.

Horn pulled out a wooden sign with only one scratch on it and threw it to him.

"Next!"

Horn spent half the morning registering and allocating tasks for this group of villagers.

There are a total of 221 villagers living on this hill, including 39 armed farmers with 6 people, 44 public farmers with 22 people, and 137 refugees with 11 people.

On one side of the cabin, four wooden boards were erected in advance, each with a different pattern on it, and behind the boards stood people holding wooden signs with the same pattern.

There are about 8 to 10 households behind each wooden board. The villagers who know each other chat with each other, while those who are not familiar with each other sit down separately.

They looked left, right, and everywhere, still somewhat confused as to what was going on.

After stringing the birch bark together with a leather rope, Horn turned and walked towards the villagers.

Clearing his throat, Horn stepped onto a large rock in front of the villagers and opened his arms: "Fellow believers, lambs, I have something to say, please listen carefully.

As the Holy Father said, demons and snakes are rampant in the modern world. You are proud of defeating the devil Barnett, right? But there are so many devils, Barnett is just one of them, and the rest are countless.

Think about it, even the knights have turned into devils. Doesn’t this prove that the devil is around us?
Maybe everyone here is not a devil now, but what if someone is tempted by a devil in the future? What should we do then?

Although I have my mother's protection, you don't. So, in order to prevent this from happening, I propose that we implement the Sacred Ten Households System."

The Sacred Ten Household System?
The villagers of Red Mill Village craned their necks and turned to look in both directions. They saw only confusion on their faces. "Master Sheng Sunzi, what does this sacred ten-household system mean? Is it a joint guarantee for the ten households of the citizens?"

"Almost. The so-called sacred ten-household system, based on where you are now, eight to ten households are organized into a group, with ten household heads. Since the corruption of the devil is contagious, if one person becomes a devil, the entire group will be held responsible. Only those who report the devil will not be guilty."

The villagers lowered their heads, rustling like mice, and the backs of their heads swayed like leaves on the water as they whispered in low voices.

"I'm not a devil, why should I be responsible?"

"Anyway, I have a clear conscience..."

"Keep your voice down. This is the instruction from the Saint's grandson. Be careful that the Saint will strike you with lightning."

Seeing the villagers talking, Horn did not stop them. It is better to express your dissatisfaction out loud than to keep it in your heart.

He had no other choice but to establish the Sacred Ten Households System. Given the ignorant and blind understanding of these people, it was too easy to incite them. What happened yesterday was proof of that.

Horn has no base of his own to serve as a tentacles, so he can only use this method to obtain enough information sources to understand the movements of the villagers.

"Of course, this is just a suggestion." Horn put his hands behind his back with a faint smile on his face, "I won't force you to do it. Those who disagree can leave your position now..."

After hearing what Horn said, many people breathed a sigh of relief, straightened their clothes, put on a relaxed smile, and turned around to leave.

"But..." Glancing at the footsteps of the people leaving, Horn smiled and said, "As the saying goes, 'Everyone has his own lord.' If you join ten households, you will be your own lord, and you will automatically get rid of the status of a public farmer."

"You want to stand over here?"

"Okay, I'll stand over here."

The person who had just stood up to leave immediately turned around, switched seats with the person next to him, and sat down again.

"Whether you are an armed peasant, a registered peasant, or even a refugee, as long as ten households join us, we will immediately grant you 50 mu of land! We will add to those who already have it."

He picked up a stack of bark fiefdoms at hand, on which were printed with a radish seal the words "Ordered by the Saint, to serve the cause at all costs, regardless of life or death."

Horn confidently raised five fingers to them, "Don't worry about fulfilling your promise. The church worships my mother as its master. The servants' land naturally belongs to the master. My mother is a virgin goddess, and I am her only son. In the final analysis, the church's land will be mine sooner or later, and I can do whatever I want with it!"

Anyway, I will make a profit after the flood recedes. Where can you find me to pay you back?
Just don't cause any trouble before I escape.

Moreover, in order to obtain enough food from the forest, Horn must improve their discipline and organization.

Otherwise, there will be surprises every day and Horn will have to take care of everything personally, which is not a good solution.

After hearing Horn's words, many villagers' eyes lit up, as if the door to a new world had opened.

"Oh, yes, the Holy Father has no wife, and the Holy Lord is a virgin goddess, so this family will be extinct. No wonder they want to adopt the Holy Grandson as their adopted son."

"So, if the world was created by the Holy Father, then sooner or later the world will belong to our Holy Grandson."

Seeing the villagers' logical decline, Horn did not stop or refute them.

After yesterday's baptism, he began to understand the cognition and thoughts of these villagers.

They are not mentally retarded. On the contrary, their shrewdness was evident when they deceived Jeanne into "borrowing" money.

The blindness and stupidity they display are only due to the limitations of their vision and knowledge, which prevents them from taking actions beyond their cognition.

Morning fungi don't know Hui Shuo, worms don't know Spring and Autumn.

Horn can only communicate within their framework, otherwise there is no communication at all.

Continuing with his classic charlatan smile, Horn clapped his hands proudly and interrupted their discussion: "I have finished speaking. Who of you agrees and who disagrees? Those who agree can just keep silent. Those who disagree, please raise your hands."

Having said this, Horn waited for three to five seconds. The villagers either looked down at the ground or looked at each other.

"In that case, then it's settled. You each elect ten heads of households, and come to me for a meeting after lunch. I'll pay for the food for lunch."

　ps The adaptation is not random. In real European history, there are also refugee problems. For details, see "A Study on the British Refugee Problem in the Early 16th and 17th Centuries"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)