Hiring these Extraordinary Knights wasn't because Horn had more money than he knew what to do with, but because there was indeed a need.

The primary requirement was to combat bandits and deter the Ibe Knights to the south.

From the bloodshed at Joan of Arc Castle to the Battle of Pavia, a series of campaigns completely crushed the main Extraordinary forces in Kush Territory.

The remaining Extraordinary Knights dare not face off directly and can only hold their ground in rural fortresses or engage in guerrilla warfare in the wild.

Horn needed a highly mobile force that could stand against the Extraordinary Knights.

He was originally prepared to head to the mountains to find affordable Mountain Infantry—the North People came to him instead.

This group of Robber Knights weren't numerous, but they moved like the wind, recklessly raiding villages, leaving the Holy Gun Cavalry overwhelmed.

Furthermore, they had to comfort each defiant Knight family.

Most new regimes are inevitably haunted by the phantoms of the previous dynasty in their early stages.

Thus, externally, it seemed as though they were in turmoil, but Horn knew most of it was just an intimidating force.

No matter how things were outside, in this spring planting season, whether they advanced south or west, they had to first organize production and keep Joan of Arc Castle, the big rear base, secure.

Hence, upon entering Joan of Arc Castle and announcing a Believers' Assembly seven days later, the first thing Horn needed to do was settle accounts.

All accountants in Joan of Arc Castle were gathered to start tallying and reconciling the tax records.

The Child Soldiers also contributed significantly—Horn's six months of mathematical training finally yielded some results.

While they couldn't do the accounting independently, assisting the old hands was more than sufficient, a practical learning opportunity.

This massive reconciliation has yet to be completed even today, as Horn sits in the study on the second floor of City Hall, he can still hear the flipping of pages and the manipulation of slide rulers below.

Shaking his head, Horn sat at the desk, pulled out a tax report submitted by Madlan earlier that morning from a shelf beside him.

This tax report was the result of the reconciliation.

It wasn't clear until calculated, and the result was startling.

According to the church's tax records, Langsande County contributes to the Leia Kingdom's annual total tax revenue of around 8,500 to 9,000 gold pounds.

Summarizing and estimating from the records of various knights and Duke Kush himself, the Kush Territory alone levies 25,000 gold pounds annually from citizens, farmers, artisans, and even vagrants.

Deducting 5,000 gold pounds as a domain tax for the Kingdom, three-quarters of the remaining taxes flow into the church and monastery, with one-quarter staying with knights and nobles.

Of the portion flowing into the church, approximately half goes to Holy Seat City—according to the 1443 accounts of Kush Territory, totaling 7,816 gold pounds into Holy Seat City.

For Dane himself, after deducting the markup earned by the intermediate lord, the 1443 income from land and head tax was a mere 979 gold pounds, less than half of his commercial tax revenue.

This situation persisted from when Dane's father took the throne until now.

Over the decades, knights fared slightly better, as they occasionally engaged in conflicts with Black Snake Bay and the Norn people in the south, spent inevitably being incurred during war.

The monastery indeed only invests without spending, initially Horn was curious—money couldn't be eaten, so what was the use of amassing so much?

Not until the monastery and Holy Seat Bank's accounts were sent over did Horn understand how adept the church was at making money.

Simply put, through knight suppression and priest vicious encouragement, they extracted taxes from local commoners that far exceeded reasonable levels.

These taxes were distributed into several parts, but ultimately, the bulk ended up in the hands of the church.

This money, under the guise of donations, purchasing indulgences, organizing funerals, and other holy acts, entered the monastery which then invested in underground industries like gambling dens, brothels, and arenas.

Whenever a craftsman or laborer managed a thriving business through hard work, ruffians would entice them into such underground industries.

When cheated out of their money, with no option but high-interest loans, failing to pay them meant what?

Mortgaging the business to the monastery, then forced by monks into working for free under debts.

The dwarf Harbin was a living example: If Horn hadn't destroyed the creditor, he and Brock would have directly become monastery debt slaves.

Horn speaks with conscience—that only the major monasteries operated this way; smaller monasteries simply did normal lending.

Limited to regular lending and commercial activities, by leverage of tax exemptions and license preemption, they inadvertently drove farmers and small shopkeepers to bankruptcy.

In such a zero-sum game, there must be losses when some benefit.

According to the church's account records, eighty years ago, Kush Territory had over 400 knight families.

Currently, Kush Territory has just over 300 knight families, a reduction of 25% and a drop of nearly 50% in Armed Farmers.

Of the reduced knight families, over half were Kush Knights, a significant amount of Armed Farmers' land fell into the church's hands.

Dane's strength was thus gradually eroded, with land and head taxes declining yearly, and assets continuously being devoured by monasteries.

Horn came to a sudden realization.

No wonder Dane, the old boy, wanted to retreat, having seen that staying was like a slow death.

No wonder citizens sided with Duke Dane, while artisans and laborers sided with Horn—it's clear that citizens rely on the Duke's protection, whereas artisans and laborers are enslaved by the church.

No wonder the farmers were fervent upon hearing Horn drove away the decree company along with the church.

No wonder they could seize so much money from the monastery.

Sitting before the desk, looking at the list submitted yesterday, Horn still felt dizzy.

Yesterday morning, one of the three largest monasteries in Kush Territory was breached by the Black Hat Army.

They ransacked it for an entire day.

The seizure yielded a full 40,000 gold pounds, along with a vast array of gold, silver, jewels, high-end furniture and clothing.

Looting twenty Knight Manors wouldn't earn as much as looting one monastery.

Who could be looted and compare to the earnings from looting bankers?

40,000 gold pounds, in a non-combat state, equivalent to Horn's annual military fiscal expenditure raked in.

This includes the Salvation Army's wages, living expenses, pensions, training, and weaponry among others.

A seven-day purge amassed over 50,000 gold pounds, eighty percent from major monasteries.

Horn conservatively estimated the sums from the two remaining major monasteries to about 50,000 gold pounds combined.

With all those totals combined, Horn managed an over 100,000 gold pound fortune.

This money suffices for wartime expenses, yet Horn stays cognizant that these represent one-time income, water without roots.

To defeat the church and empire, a large rear base must exist, continuously producing manpower and resources.

Ultimately, this money can only serve as startup funds; he cannot possibly continue taxing 25,000 yearly gold pounds from farmers like the church.

After the flood, Langsande County lacks the soil for tax collection.

Horn even had to contribute much money to help locals overcome spring shortages.

The Ibe Knights in Jinhe Town, despite witnessing the fall of Joan of Arc Castle without moving, depended on agricultural output to survive.

Military activities and agriculture alike possessed seasonality—whereas those relying on annuities such as decree companies or Royal Constitution Knights would have no such troubles.

However, Horn estimated they won't wait for long; once March and April's busy farming season ended, even if they didn't assault Horn, he would have to confront them.

"Enough." Putting down the feather pen, Horn yawned, turned and asked Armand, "Have all the populace representatives arrived?"

"All are here, staying at the hotel."

"Tomorrow is the Believers' Assembly, have you prepared the edict?"

"It's ready, waiting for transcribing." Standing up, Armand fetched a stack of blank papers from a drawer and handed it to Horn.

Unfolding the papers, Horn could distinctly see the edict's head formalized in Elven script—

"Holy Country Land Edict"

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