Herald of Steel

Chapter 773 Lapitus and the People (Part-2)

Even since Lapitus became aware his wife was a princess, he always felt a bit inferior to her, knowing she was nobility and he was not.

But now, finally, they could be said to belong to the same social strata.

A shordar (baron) of a superpower like Adhania and an illegitimate princess of a small country like Tibias was actually not a bad match.

'I knew siding with him was the right choice,' Lapitus hence happily hummed.

While the crowd hearing they were free to practice their faith let out another sigh of relief.

Given that Adhania was largely a theocracy, they had assumed that they would either be given the option to convert or be burnt at the stake.

That was how Adhania had expanded to its current size after all. 

And this was also the main reason Tibian tended to hate Adhania and resist them so much.

They saw themselves as the last bastion of their culture.

But given Alexander was not an Adhanaian, he saw no reason to dump the religion on them.

In fact, he would actively prevent from worshipping Ramuh, for that would only benefit Ptolomy.

As for his own religion of Gaia, well Alexander had plans to make people accept it without resorting to violence.

"Benevolent Pasha!"

"May the ancestral spirits bless you."

"Long live Captain Lapitus."

Hearing the promise of safeguards of their culture, many such cheers resounded out of the crowd, adding much of Lapitus's confidence in continuing in his speech.

Originally Lapitus felt afraid and ashamed to come in front of them, especially so soon after the atrocities.

But given his current reception, with a great nod, he began again, 

"The Great Pasha furthermore has agreed to take my one and only daughter Fabiyana as his concubine."

"And as a gesture of favor to her has asked her to choose any gift she would like."

"My daughter chose nothing for herself, but asked only of him to favor you- the people of Thesalie!" 

"The benevolent lord has gifted the city three years of tax exemption!"

Lapitus's last words were shouted out, and 

"Woohhooooooo!

No sooner had they left his mouth, the crowd erupted into a joyous chorus, jumping on their feet, clapping and whistling.

Their cheer was much larger than even when Alexander promised to give them cash, for nothing got the people going like tax exemptions.

And soon many chants began to waft out, glorifying both Alexander and Lapitus.

And this time, both the volume and sincerity appeared to reach its peak.

Seeing and hearing the crowd praise his names like so, Lapitus felt a sense of elation he had yet to experience.

It was truly magnificent and swept up by the crowd, he began to pump his hands and make other gestures to stimulate the crowd. 

While Alexander kept a light smile externally but half sneered in his heart.

There was a reason why Alexander did not declare this particular promise himself, even though he could have taken all the credit himself.

One was because he wanted to show that he rewarded those that sided with him.

So the peerage he presented Lapitus with was his way to reward the man materialistically.

While allowing him to make those two announcements let him earn favor with the populace who was likely very dissatisfied with him.

Alexander hoped that by seeing this, other potential defectors would not be burdened between choosing Alexander and the people.

He wanted to show by following him they could have both.

Of course, in reality, only a few defector would get as favorable treatment as Lapitus.

After all, Lapitus was the first one to come to him and Alexander planned to show him as an example, as a role model.

He could never be the norm.

Hence the generosity he showed to Lapitus was largely out of propaganda purposes, to make the people spread Lapitus's story of success, of the correctness of his move, and the adoration of the people that brought it.

There was also another reason behind it.

And that had got to do with what Lady Felicia wanted.

She wanted Alexander to kill Lapitus and hand the city over to her to rule.

But aside from the inherent distrust he had for the woman, the biggest problem was that the people would not buy it.

Anyone would be able to guess how Lady Felicia got that job.

Which is why Alexander made Lapitus bring up his daughter and attribute the whole tax exemption to Fabiyana, his concubine.

This relationship would make any subsequent story he could to tell a far easier sell.

Alexander even considered that no matter if he eliminated Lapitus or Lady Felicia since Fabiyana would be always with him, he could put whoever he liked in the place.

Hence the half sneer in his heart.

Alexander was pretty proud of this move if he said so himself, having come up with it after a few days of thinking.

Unaware of such deadly machinations going on inside the head of the man who just made him a noble, Lapitus then moved on to his topic of the speech.

And it was the grimest.

He was even worried that all the favors he managed to earn would wash away after saying this.

But he knew he had to recite it anyway, as talking about such stuff was not suitable for a pasha like Alexander. 

"And for my last favor to the people of the city, all prisoners captured in the war will be available to be ransomed."

"Lord Pasha wanted to initially place the ransom at the standard rate of 10,000 libras per solder, and 30,000 to 50,000 libras for officers."

"But in his benevolence he has decided to half them, so you can free your relatives for only 5,000 libras."

Lapitus claimed so with as much alacrity as possible, but this happy news did get the roaring cheer one would expect.

Because for most these people be it 10,000 or 5,000 libras, they were both equally unattainable. 

Now, Alexander's decreased price was really generous.

Given that 1 ropal equaled 2 libra, Alexander was offering these good, strong men for only 2,500 ropals, which was half their market value- 5,000 ropals.

But the fact was most common citizens did not have even that much money, even if they had not been robbed blinded just now.

Perhaps those wealthy individuals who stored their money in the temple could afford it, as the soldiers were strictly forbidden to sack those.

But those were only a small fraction, and even many among them might not have enough.

And in that case, Alexander really had no way to help.

These men waged war against him and he would not just let them go. 

That discounted price was already the limit of his benevolence. 

And even to get that, Alexander had to engage in several rounds of negotiations with the slave traders.

The two of them in total had captured 15,000 to 20,000 men and it was estimated that after the sacking perhaps at best 5,000 men would be liberated while others would be taken are prisoners of war.

As for these prisoners of war, Alexander planned to buy them from the slave traders at market price, letting those merchants profit, and then use the labor in his industries.

As for for how long, this was revealed by Lapitus's subsequent declaration,

"But even if you cannot buy them, worry not. For they will be still working here or in Zanzan.

They will not be sold to any other places."

"You can even go visit them once a month."

"And such is my lord's benevolence that he has even promised to free them after five years of service if they show good behavior."

"Glory to him!"

Lapitus really was a quick learner when it came to boot licking and his declaration did bring much need glow back to the crowd, with many joining their new lord in his cheer.

Alexander spotted many smiles blooming too, for when one was captured and made into a slave, he usually lost any and all contact with his family, being sold to any master who lived god knew where.

And this was perhaps a bigger heartbreak for them than the loss of freedom.

Thus Alexander's promise was truly a godsend for all those gathered.

After all, everyone here had lost someone in his war, and so who knows, perhaps they were still alive.

With this declaration, Lapitus's speech reached its final point and this was the thing he was most dreading.

Lapitus even suspected Alexander passed this pot to him because he did not want to dirty himself.

But he knew he had do it.

"And lastly, those who have been taken slaves by the soldiers will be put up for auction one week from now."

"Please try to gather your funds by then."

"That is all."

 Lapitus was very short and quick in saying these words finishing in a single breath and getting off the stage immediately, for he knew the people would be averse to this news.

Though this was standard practice for the time.

When an army sacked the city, they would usually forcibly take a lot of citizens as slaves, and then sell them in auctions for a profit.

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