Maximus loudly said, "The lowest rank of tribe members is Reserve Tribe Members. Most of us are born from slaves, so we will not keep slaves in the future. However, if we defeat and capture foreigners or if foreigners voluntarily join our tribe later, they will all be Reserve Tribe Members. Besides ensuring their right to survive, they temporarily do not enjoy other tribal rights. But as long as they work diligently for the tribe for three years, they will become Official Tribe Members of the tribe.
The rank above Reserve Tribe Members is that of ordinary tribe members. The tribe will allocate land to them, and they will enjoy the rights given by the tribe, but they must also fulfill some obligations of citizens, such as serving in the military and paying taxes—"
As Maximus said this, murmuring broke out inside the tent.
Maximus had somewhat anticipated this but pretended to be displeased as he shouted, "Any different opinions? Say them outright, don’t whisper among yourselves!"
The tent was silent for a moment, then Volenus, pushed by those beside him, reluctantly said softly, "Leader, Roman citizens do not pay taxes, and many Greek City-States also do not pay taxes."
"That’s right, Roman citizens do not pay taxes, but Roman province citizens have to pay heavy taxes. Rome uses provincial taxes to support its citizens, making itself stronger. Many Greek City-States may not collect taxes during peacetime, but in the event of war, they impose direct taxes amounting to 20-30% of people’s income, enough to bankrupt many..."
Maximus persuasively said, "When the tribe has a land tax, it has money to buy weapons and armor, can provide free food to starving tribe members during famines, can hire craftsmen and laborers to build roads and bridges, and can pay salaries to the tribe’s officials, rather than expecting them to contribute to the tribe without compensation... Do you think these taxes should be collected?"
"They should be... they should be!..." came the responses from within the tent, eventually converging into a unified voice. Everyone agreed that Maximus had a point, especially with that last line.
"Leader, how much land can us ordinary tribe members be allocated?" Quintus asked the question everyone cared about most.
"Fifty mu!" Maximus replied without hesitation. He had considered this number for a long time, only solidifying it after making a particular decision today.
"Fifty mu!!" A gasp came from inside the tent.
For Quintus and Flanitnus, who were former Roman citizens, the land owned by early citizens of the Roman Republic exceeded fifty mu. But now, the land in Italy had been mostly split up, and the land forcibly allocated by Marius and Sula to their soldiers was generally less than this acreage.
So they were surprised at the amount of land they were to receive. Not to mention people from other places, some of whom had never owned even a mu of land since birth, were completely stunned now: "How big a piece of land is fifty mu?!"
As everyone started to discuss excitedly, Acronis stood up again: "Leader, do we women get land allotted to us?"
"Of course you do, also fifty mu!" Maximus replied without hesitation, "As I’ve said before, the contribution you women have made to the team is evident. It’s only right to allocate land to you, and no one will object. However, for women who join the tribe later or girls born in the tribe, we’ll discuss whether to allocate land to them in the future.
In short, my opinion is that everyone in our team is an ordinary tribe member, and everyone gets fifty mu of land, but taxes must be paid! Children will wait until they are adults to be allocated land; otherwise, giving it to them now would be wasteful since they can’t cultivate it."
Maximus paused and loudly asked, "Does everyone agree with what I said?"
"Agree!!!" everyone yelled in unison.
"Leader, what amount of tax do ordinary tribe members have to pay?" Quintus asked another question that everyone was concerned about.
"Ten percent of their annual land income," Maximus replied.
The group immediately started calculating: is that ten percent tax high or not?
In the end, they all thought it was acceptable.
Seeing this, Maximus intensified his tone and said, "Above ordinary tribe members are Second-class Tribe Members. As long as ordinary citizens kill an enemy in battle, they can be promoted to Second-class citizens and receive an additional ten mu of land—"
Instantly, the tent was in uproar.
Ignoring it, Maximus spoke even louder, "The rank above Second-class Tribe Members is First-class Tribesman. If a Second-class tribesman kills two enemies in frontal battle, they can be promoted to First-class Tribe Members and be allocated another twenty mu of land; a First-class Tribe Member who kills three enemies in frontal combat can be promoted to Knight and can receive another twenty mu of land!"
Maximus paused his speech because the tent had already erupted in excitement: "If you only need to kill six enemies, you can get another fifty mu! A total of one hundred mu, in Italy, only those nobles can own such a large piece of land!"
"Yes, one hundred mu is such a large piece of land! I’m afraid I won’t be able to cultivate it all!"
"One hundred mu of land can produce a lot of grain. By that time, we can hire people with some of the grain to cultivate it!"
"Hey, that’s a good idea!"
Maximus watched everyone’s excited faces and secretly laughed to himself: This is just the beginning, and you’re already overwhelmed; what will happen later?