Probably didn't expect the so-called punishment to be so lightly, the hunter siblings didn't react for a while after hearing Gawain's words, until Gawain repeated his question again, and the red-nosed Tom nodded stunned: "Can you...... My sister and I can find other settlements. ”

Homeless people wander from territory to territory, often with no regularity in their movements, walking in places they don't know about, and dying in places they don't know, but in general, there is a certain area where they can stay.

These ranges were usually found in the barren mountains and wilderness between the various noble domains, and this large area of land north of the White Water River, east of the Tanzanian mines, and south of Kant's realm was such a place.

A large number of refugees from the Condor Territory, the Carol Territory and many scattered villages and towns in the northwest wandered to this area along the course of the rivers and mountain forests, and they could have migrated to the slightly richer central region, but in the last two years, the poor harvest in the central and southern regions of the kingdom has led to a shortage of food stocks in various places, although many places have eased up this year, but the nobles of the local region are still strictly guarding against the outcasts, and the nobles of the central region are even more like thieves and robbers So for these homeless people, all roads to the central region have been blocked, and they can only wander to the mountains and forests to the south.

According to cursory information, there are thousands of starving homeless people scattered across the forests and wilderness, and since most of the displaced people have migrated along the same route (or even from the same place), the settlements formed by these homeless people maintain a certain degree of connection with each other - although the connection is extremely loose, it is like a net, once you have one node in hand, you can follow the line to catch the whole net.

It has been more than half a month since the Byron knights spread the news in the southern region through his underground channels, and some of the information about Cecil's collection of refugees must have entered the ears of these homeless people, but these poor people have long lost faith in the nobles - before the frost moon fell, almost every few days there would be mercenary slave traps sent by the nobles to capture them, so it was almost impossible to make these people so easy to believe that there was a noble family in the world willing to accept and protect them amicably.

But it would be much easier to recruit the homeless if there was a group of displaced people, a group of displaced people who had fled with them, who had lived in the wilderness for months or even a year or two like them, and who had been living in the wilderness for months or even a year or two, running from settlement to settlement.

Gawain plans to select a group of people with more flexible minds, bolder hearts, and more credible words from the dozens of displaced people in front of him to be guides and messengers, and rely on their persuasive power to attract the homeless to settle down in Cecil.

The Frost Moon is coming to an end, and the Fog Moon will officially enter winter when it begins, so it is important to complete as many placements as possible before more people die of starvation.

The red-nosed teenager in front of him (maybe an adult?) But he is too thin) Although he is a little reckless, he is not small, and his eyes are not as completely numb as most poor people, so he can serve as such a messenger.

"The Cecil family is restoring order in this land, and before the cold moon falls this year, all homeless people who wander in this mountain forest and the nearby wasteland can report to the Cecil family and become permanent, legal lords of this land," Gawain looked at the young man in front of him, and at the same time said to everyone next to him, he deliberately emphasized that all this should only be effective before the "cold moon" came, but he didn't really want to set this limit, but to make this matter more believable, And make the people in front of them feel a sense of pressure and urgency, "In order to let all those in need receive the news in time, I want you—and other capable people to go and find those displaced people who are hiding, and I will send soldiers to escort you to ensure that you can complete these tasks alive." ”

Tom's eyes widened as he listened to all this, while Gawain turned to the southern refugees who were withered and numb in their expressions except for nervousness: "I know that you were all honest people, law-abiding and hard-working people, but your lord has abandoned you, and all the nobles of the entire South have abandoned you, and there is no family, no land, and you can only wander in the wilderness, relying on grass roots, tree bark, and even moss and rats to fill your stomachs, and even so, The minions of the nobles are still taking you captive, mutilating you, and even hunting you here! But, from this day onwards, you stand on the land of the Cecil family, and from this day on I am your lord! You can live freely and safely on the land of the House of Cecil, and you must tell those you know who are suffering together in the wilderness, that they know that there is a place to settle down! ”

A little bit of brilliance finally emerged from those cloudy and numb eyes.

After all, they are still human beings, and they still have hearts.

Gawain didn't expect these sluggish hungry people to cheer in response, he took a half step back after saying what he was about to say, and seeing that Wright had already released the Holy Light treatment on all the wounded, he turned to look at Knight Philip: "Give some of the excess food to these people - otherwise it will be difficult for them to get to the territory in their state." Also, send a soldier on a fast horse back and tell Hetty the news so that she can get ready. ”

Distributing food after inspirational speeches is always the most effective way to go, especially in this day and age.

When the "lord" orders the food to be taken out, these people will truly feel that they have returned to "human society" and be convinced that their new "lord" will indeed fill their stomachs, and that they themselves will obey orders and maintain the most basic loyalty. The civilian thinking of this era is so unpretentious and direct, which can be said to be the only kindness Gawain feels in this malevolent world.

At this time, the black-haired girl who had just been treated by Wright suddenly walked over, she grabbed her clothes crampedly and nervously, as if she had something to say, Gao Wen took the initiative to speak when she saw this: "You have something to do with me?" ”

"Yes...... Yes, collar ...... Lord Lord," the black-haired girl seemed a little stumbling as she uttered the word "lord", but she said it smoothly, "Is what you just said true?" ”

"Of course it's true," Gawain laughed, "I have to lie to you?" ”

But what the nobles say is never true.

Joan only dared to think about this sentence in her heart, but what she said was: "Can I go with my brother to find other settlements?" He has leg problems and needs to be taken care of. ”

"I'll arrange a horse or a cart for him if necessary," Gawain had just noticed the problem with the young man's legs, but nodded anyway, "Of course, you can still act with him." ”

The girl bowed her head deeply: "Thank you very much for your kindness. ”

A day later, Gawain and Amber led half of the soldiers and escorted the two mercenaries back to the territory first.

Knight Philip took the remaining half of the soldiers to escort the dozens of "new population" to follow, because the homeless people were weak and many of them had chronic diseases, so Wright also stayed behind to take care of them.

That Holy Light Priest can also take on the fighting power of a berserker by the way......

Gawain was in a very happy mood, although he had only brought back a few dozen new people from this trip, and it was not even as large as the population of a slave ship from Tanzanian Town, but he had successfully established contact with the displaced people in the wilderness north of the White Water River, and the initial trust would develop on the basis of these dozens of people, and he was extremely happy to think of how many laborers were urgently needed in this vast barren land.

Not to mention that most of these exiles are freedmen with some craft, or at least a little knowledge, and their basic quality is higher than that of the slaves they bought, which will reduce the cost of later education.

It was very difficult for serfs to become outcasts - because they were tied to death on the land, and when the famine came, the local nobles would gather their serfs and feed them at the lowest cost until the end of the famine, so as to restore production, while the serfs who tried to escape would be captured and executed, while the freedmen of higher status would lose all their support in this situation and have to flee from their homes.

So sometimes some people joke that in the land of some nobles, the price of freedom is even higher than becoming a serf.

However, Hetty, who was in charge of the internal affairs of the territory, seemed a little worried, and she approached Gawain: "Ancestor, do you really intend to collect all the homeless people in the wilderness on the north bank of the White Water River before the cold moon arrives?" ”

Gawain had already expected Hetty to come to him, and he smiled: "Is there pressure on food?" ”

"Yes – if that information is true, the whole wilderness is now full of refugees, and we're going to have to feed about four thousand people through this winter. After this period of population expansion, the population of the territory is only 2,000, and we will have to feed more than twice the current population of refugees at once. And this is only a secondary problem, after all, food can be bought with money, Tanzania is rich, and willing to sell us food at a low price, this aspect is easy to solve, the real trouble is how to maintain order with so many new people at once - we have finally digested and absorbed those purchased serfs and slave laborers into well-behaved and law-abiding lords, and at this time another 4,000 people rush to come, I am very worried that the fruits of previous efforts will be destroyed - even if those refugees do not mean to destroy. ”

"We've more than doubled the population from eight hundred to two thousand, but order hasn't collapsed," Gawain smiled and looked at Hetty, "so what's there to worry about?" ”

"That's because the previous increase in population arrived before the frost moon - the weather is warm, there are plenty of jobs for those people, they can follow the people to clear the wasteland, to cut wood, to build houses, according to you, there is labor and transformation, and sufficient jobs will be the best way to absorb the new population, but now it is the second month of the frost month, and soon it will enter the snowy and foggy moon, and then the cold moon of dripping water into ice, and then we will have no jobs at this time......"

"Who says there isn't?" Gao Wen smiled even more happily, "Why can't you work in winter, but can only stay at home and consume food?" In fact, it's the opposite...... I still have a bunch of projects to be completed. ”