Xiao Chen stood at the door of the conference room and straightened his collar. Unconsciously, he hadn't worn this shirt and jacket for a long time. He reached for his waist and touched nothing. The Spark Sword that always accompanied him was not hanging on his body, which made him feel a little awkward. He knew that he was not going to face an enemy, but he was more difficult to deal with than an enemy.
"Are you feeling wild and not used to it?" There were footsteps behind me. It was Luo Ling.
"I just feel that the world is changing too fast, and I am a little dazed. Also, I don't know what they will think." Xiao Chen smiled and looked back. Luo Ling was not wearing the wizard robe, but a cashmere sweater and jeans. The school corridor behind him made him feel as if he had returned to the original world.
"More than 4,000 slaves didn't scare you, so what are you afraid of now? A bunch of old men?" Luo Ling walked forward, opened the door, turned around and said to him, "Stand up straight."
Xiao Chen walked into the room and found that most of the committee members had already arrived. This was an expanded meeting, and an auditorium was used. Not only the group leaders of each group were there, but also many deputy group leaders and backbones. For example, Chen Hansheng sat behind Chu Ying, the head of the business group, and winked at Xiao Chen.
In addition, the alchemist Morey sat in the seat of the technology group, the dwarf engineer Farrell belonged to the industrial group, the indigenous business representative Xiluo sat next to Chen Hansheng, and on the other side of Chen Hansheng sat Kalanda. And the wild mage Andrew also sat together in a decent manner, and he was obviously fatter than when he was captured. This guy actually wore a shirt and a tie. I don't know where the school people got him the clothes from.
Xiao Chen thought, maybe he should listen to the locals' views on slaves. These guys joined the school in various ways and got along well. Except for the leather armor on Kalanda that was somewhat out of place in the environment and Farrell who was too short, the others looked like foreigners of that era.
More people came in one after another, and soon the conference room that could accommodate more than a hundred people was half full. The last person to come in was the committee chairman Guo Qian. After Guo Qian entered the room, he stood at the podium and announced the start of the meeting.
There was no electric light, but the sunlight was still bright. The light shone in from the side, illuminating half of Guo Qian's face and also illuminating his slightly furrowed brows.
"Yesterday, I held three meetings with the team leaders and got a general understanding of the basic situation of the caravan bringing back more than 4,000 slaves." Guo Qian paused, "Everyone had a lot of reactions. There were also different opinions on how to deal with the current situation. I invited everyone here today to come together, hoping to brainstorm."
Xiao Chen sighed secretly when he heard this. He had participated in the first three meetings as a party involved, and there were more reactions. Some pointed fingers at him and said he was playing the piano, some said he was ambitious, and of course there were also supporters, but they would also add that they were not careful. For these people, the slaves now placed at the foot of the Black Mountain were simply a time bomb. As for the slave placement plan, the leaders of the committee each had their own opinions and could not reach a conclusion, so this expanded meeting was held.
Perhaps it would be better if someone had the final say at this time? Xiao Chen glanced at Guo Qian.
"My uncle is still too cautious." Luo Ling whispered beside him, "Academics have too many ideas and can't make up their minds."
"You are not an academic either, Associate Professor Luo." Xiao Chen asked back.
"I'm still young and there's still hope." Luo Ling rolled her eyes at him.
Everyone on the field spoke in turn, and some even started a heated debate. However, Xiao Chen, the person involved, was distracted for some reason. He looked out the window, and scenes from the slave camp appeared before his eyes.
Shouting businessman
Miserable slave
Riots
Blood-stained barracks
Fierce Battle
Giant Tree Man
…
A feeling of injustice welled up in his heart. What did I do wrong? Whether it was to build up strength for the school or to give slaves a new life, what was wrong with that
At this moment, the passionate voice of the speaker brought him back to reality. Xiao Chen looked carefully and found that it was Chu Ying, the leader of the business team.
"… So, bringing slaves back like this will cause trouble. We must consider the attitudes of the surrounding forces. How can the masters behind the slave traders let it go after so much wealth was robbed out of thin air? It is even more unreasonable to raid the other party's team. You have already confirmed your crime before they even started. Isn't this handing the handle to the other party? Can such a big thing be covered up?" The thin middle-aged man looked around the audience and found that not many people responded to his point of view. He had to change his tone. "Be kind to others. I have said many times that we are new here and we should make friends with others! I advocate reconciliation with the slave traders, returning the people, or paying a sum of money to buy them out."
"What a surprise to a friendly country." Xiao Chen was furious and wanted to refute, but he was unexpectedly stopped by Luo Ling.
"how?"
"There are people who can't stand hearing this more than you." Luo Ling said.
As expected, Wang Jiyuan spoke up: "If we had said 'be kind to others' when the bandits came, we probably wouldn't have had the chance to hold a meeting here. The rules of this world are very simple: if our fists are not big enough, we have no right to stay on this land. I don't want to talk about leverage. Can you move the earth by sticking a leverage in the ground? I only talk about control. Whoever reaches out to us, we will cut off his hand. This is called control! It's a good thing that these 4,000 people came. We can expand our strength."
Chu Ying's face was not looking good. At this time, Chang Lin said, "Team Leader Wang, we can't just rely on force. These people can certainly expand our strength, but if the problems they bring are greater than the promotion of strength, then it is worth discussing."
Zhou Xiaoren from the intelligence team nodded and agreed, "… Slaves, you educated people know, they just like riots and uprisings. In ancient times, even an empire couldn't keep an eye on slaves, let alone we only have 700 people? Using a team of 700 to swallow up 4,700 people, haha, that's a minefield."
"People can be reformed and teams can be trained. Our People's Liberation Army has been an expert in this from the beginning. Minefield? Aren't minefields meant to be walked through?" After saying this, Wang Jiyuan leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms across his chest and scanned the entire audience.
The next speaker was the head of the personnel group, Mo Lanxin. This woman, who was over 40 years old, wore a suit and black-framed glasses and looked very serious. "To take all or none, that is extremism! I will just say one thing. The strength of an organization is closely related to the quality of its personnel. I have visited the camp before, and the quality of these slaves is really mixed. Taking in a considerable number of them will only seriously lower the level of our team, which will do us more harm than good. I suggest keeping those who are strong and skilled, and dismissing the rest."
"If your level is not good enough, you can learn. If your quality is not good enough, you can get education. There must be people before there can be talents." Li Mingde, the head of the education group, has neatly combed gray hair and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looking like a typical old professor.
"You have to know that influence is two-way. A black sheep can lead many people astray. By then, I really don't know who will learn from whom." Mo Lanxin insisted on his own opinion.
Li Deming shook his head and said nothing more.
The logistics team leader Bai Yicheng's speech was based on actual data: "... Judging from the current food reserves, these 4,762 people only have enough food for one month. Other daily necessities must also face such problems. And winter is coming. I support expanding the population, but if these survival problems cannot be solved..." Bai Yicheng made a helpless expression to Xiao Chen, "The prospects are worrying."
"Why isn't it easy to solve the problem of food?" the dwarf Farrell said in a muffled voice, his Chinese accent a little strange. "Just treat the slaves as slaves, isn't that enough? Slaves are afraid of laziness, all you have to do is prepare enough whips."
"You can't say that, Uncle Farrell. After all, they are just poor people." Kalanda spoke in the local dialect in a hurry, "But I also think there is always a way to let them survive. In the slave camp, the merchants used the money from renting slaves to support the slaves themselves. If we can give them suitable jobs here, why can't they support themselves?"
"I think what Miss Kalanda said makes sense. As a mage, we have higher goals to pursue. Why waste time on these things?" said the wild mage Andrew. "Every mage tower uses slaves, serfs, and hired workers. However, their lives and deaths are not something the noble mages need to worry about. What does it matter if a few of these people die? There will always be some who survive and can serve us."
"That's not what I meant, and I believe Lord Xiao Chen doesn't mean that either." Kalanda said, glaring at Andrew.
"Oh, I know that Lord Xiao and you are both kind people. So am I. I just said, uh... God of Nature, no, when fate no longer favors someone, we'd better let nature take its course." Andrew said with a flattering smile.
Xiao Chen shook his head and said, "My opinion is very clear. These people should be left behind. As long as we overcome the difficulties, they will be our support for survival here." He suddenly felt a little tired and didn't want to finish the long speech he had prepared. "I think 700 people alone cannot support a civilization."
The meeting lasted for a long time, and in the end there were four opinions: accept in full, not accept, accept in part, and send back to the slave market. After all, this had exhausted all the basic solutions. The opinion of accepting was slightly dominant, but after all the talk, no one was completely convinced.
Looking at the slowly setting sun, Luo Ling, who had been silent, suggested, "Chairman Guo, fellow committee members, I think everyone has expressed what they should express. There is no end to the discussion, and we must come up with a solution quickly."
"What suggestions do you have?" Guo Qian asked.
"vote!"