The suggestion put forward by Byron made everyone present a little confused, especially Hetty. She asked directly: "Buy slaves at a price of 30% of the market price? And in the form of issuing mercenary commissions? How could anyone be willing to do this? Accept? Not to mention the abnormally low price, the mercenaries' remuneration may have to be taken out of this 30%... This is a loss-making business for those mercenaries."
Facing this question, Byron just said lightly: "So we have to add an additional one: slavery and contract are not required."
Heidi and Rebecca looked at each other, and Amber had already understood that the half-elf thief was about to say something, but she didn't expect that it was Gawain who spoke before her: "In this case, the mercenaries will capture the refugees and make them slaves." Sell money."
Amber glanced at Gao Wen in surprise, as if she didn't expect the duke to know about such a thing, while Knight Byron nodded in surprise: "A strong man with complete slavery contract procedures and a clear Serfs or slave laborers usually need 20 to 30 small silver coins inlaid with flowers, or 16 or 17 silver shield coins, and the biggest cost is actually their slave status. Because they have their identity records, they must Buying from formal channels, in addition to buying the slave itself, the slave owner, the lord's tax officer, the local church, the slave market, and even the "slave labor association" formed by the rogues will also take a cut in the middle layer by layer. It is several times or even ten times the price, but refugees... refugees do not need to pay, no one will protect them, and they do not have any identity information, and their disappearance or death will not attract any attention."
Speaking of this, Byron paused for a while, as if to give Hetty and Rebecca some time to think, and then continued: "Under normal circumstances, nobles will not buy slaves without slavery contracts, because such slaves are both Without the guarantee of birth, it will appear that the nobles are stingy, poor and of low taste, and once this kind of slave is killed or taken away by other slave owners, there is no way to get compensation. But even so, there will still be people who send out to buy cheap undocumented slaves The entrustment is a kind of default black rule, which actually refers to... refugees."
Hetty clutched her chest. Although she was already a model among nobles who were close to commoners, she had never been in touch with the deepest dark truth: "How could such a thing happen?"
"Not only are there, but they are found every year and everywhere, ma'am," said Knight Byron in a deep voice, "in some immoral mercenary circles, this kind of refugees are called 'long-legged money'. They even secretly circulated the gathering point shelters of refugees as paid information, staring at those displaced people like sharks and hyenas, just waiting for anyone who wants to buy cheap undocumented slaves, usually in large quantities, and they will rush in. "
Rebecca subconsciously clenched the iron staff in her hand, her knuckles were even a little white from the force, she said in a low voice as if she was talking to herself: "Mercenaries... I listened to their stories in the tavern, and listened to their stories. Stories about exterminating robbers, killing monsters, and exploring in ancient castles and secret places, I thought that was the life of a mercenary, but... "
"Master Viscount, when you are in the tavern, the mercenaries in the tavern are no longer mercenaries." Knight Byron gave Rebecca a deep look, "Not all mercenaries will do what I just said. What you said is indeed the life of some mercenaries, but there is also a point that the hands of mercenaries are destined to be unclean, it's just a matter of how much evil they do."
Then the middle-aged knight raised his head and looked at Gao Wen: "My lord, what do you mean? Regarding the release of the commission..."
Gawain looked at the knight with a half-smile, and the other party told everyone the darkest truths. In fact, the subtext was already obvious, but he didn't want to expose this half-way knight who seemed to have a past. : "I'm not going to save the money."
Both Hetty and Rebecca were visibly relieved.
"We are not short of money. The gold and silver in the treasury are enough for the entire territory to spend for a long time, but if we save money by promoting evil, the debts on our souls will not be so easy to redeem," Gao Wen He said unhurriedly, "Just follow the normal process, go to the neighboring territories to post notices and send people to read them out, negotiate with the nobles who can get on the line, rent chariots and horses to prepare dry food, and if you buy serfs, follow the normal channels. Buy, don't be stingy with money, I have only one request: Make sure that everyone who is about to come to this land understands one thing: no matter what they have done before, they must obey the laws here."
Byron stroked his chest and bowed his head: "This is their duty."
Gao Wen nodded: "You are good at dealing with people in this field, so this matter is fully entrusted to you. If you need any money, you can go to Hetty to collect it, but you must have a clear account and plan. In addition, if If you have a channel, it’s best to find out where the refugees gather.”
Since the infrastructure work is on the right track and there is some leeway in terms of manpower, the coin minting work in the territory has started on a small scale. A few days ago, Gao Wen designed and ordered people to mint the first few coins, and sent these coins to the nearby Tanzania Town and in several other more distant towns, notarized among merchants and nobles, the coins are now available.
After Byron and the others left, only Gawain and Amber were left in the tent. The latter kept looking Gawain up and down with weird eyes, making Gawain feel uncomfortable: "What are you looking at?"
"Letting those mercenaries who only care about money to catch refugees and send them over is obviously much less troublesome and labor-saving than sending people yourself to conduct publicity and search, and to prepare dry food for horses and horses. I thought you would definitely choose A more practical solution, haven't you always said that you are a pragmatist?"
"I'm indeed a pragmatist, but I'm not a villain. I can imagine how those mercenaries will capture refugees as slaves. I can imagine how many people will be killed on the spot in the process. ?How many people will be separated? How many people will die of starvation and disease during the rough 'transportation' of those mercenaries? Even though I deliberately emphasized in the commission that the health of the 'slaves' must be guaranteed, how many people do you think? Do mercenaries really listen? And these things may not be done by me, but I prompted them, which violates my code of conduct."
"But do you know, even if you don't do it, someone else is doing it. The stingy farmers and black mines will find mercenaries to buy undocumented slaves every year. The amount they buy is enough to fill your small camp for several years. Second-rate."
"So I'm going to destroy this status quo and build a new order. Not only my own actions must follow these guidelines, but every piece of land I build must follow these guidelines, whether they are slave owners, mercenaries, or ruffians Scoundrels, bandits and profiteers, or hereditary aristocratic professional powerhouses, they all have to do the same. I don’t do evil and they don’t allow it.”
Amber opened her mouth, looked at Gao Wen in astonishment, and said after a while: "You speak loudly...but why are you so obsessed with protecting the weak? Is it really because of those so-called 'classic aristocratic virtues' or 'chivalry'? "
"No, it's just basic morality."
Amber insisted on picking something wrong as if she was deliberately angry: "You are so naive, how can you change so much by yourself? You must know that in this world, the law of the jungle is the rule, and it is morality for the strong to override the weak. "
Gawain looked at Amber, and suddenly couldn't help laughing: "That's right, the strong prey on the weak. This is indeed the rule of this world, even the rule of nature. The strong should make rules, and the weak can only obey."
Amber blinked: "Then you..."
Gao Wen's smile became even more irresistible: "So, haven't I already started to formulate the rules?"
Amber: "...you can still operate like this!?"
At the same moment, Veronica was staying in her prayer room on the White Oak, which had sailed away from Cecilland and was sailing on the Whitewater River.
She is still dressed in a simple white nun dress, her light golden hair is draped softly behind her head, without any extravagant decorations, she kneels in front of the statue of the God of Holy Light, with her hands folded on her chest, imitating the holy emblem There was an image of two intersecting rays of holy light, and filled with light elements hovering and dancing around her, like translucent little angels surrounding her, guarding this extremely devout follower of the holy light.
She prayed devoutly, so that the light gradually shrouded the statue of the God of Holy Light whose face was blurred and could not be distinguished with the naked eye. After finishing a prayer, she opened her eyes and looked at the burning fire in front of the statue. Big candles.
The flame of the thick candle jumped a few times, suddenly changed from orange yellow to pure white, and the flame expanded several times at once, turning into a beam of pure flame. The flame shivered and contracted, gradually forming the image of an old man .
The old man was sitting on a chair. Although he looked dignified, he was obviously old and weak. If there were any believers of the God of Holy Light here, they would probably recognize at first sight that this was the current Holy Light. The supreme ruler of the church, Pope Saint Ivan III.
Veronica lowered her head slightly: "Your Majesty the Pope."
From the flame came the slightly distorted voice of the Pope: "My child favored by the Holy Light, have you returned?"
"Yes, I have left Cecil Territory, and now the fleet should be approaching the mouth of the Dorgon River."
"Is everything going well on this trip? Is that Gawain Cecil the enemy of our lord?"
Veronica pondered for two seconds, and replied softly: "Everything is going well, Gawain Cecil is indeed the legend seven hundred years ago, not a ghost who stole the body of a hero and lived in the world. He speaks freely under the light, and is a man of noble character."
"Then, that's good. I have heard the voice of the Lord frequently in recent years. He wants me to teach the righteous way of the Holy Light to the world. It is really a matter of concern that Gawain Cecil is recovering at this time. But now that you have confirmed that he is not the enemy of the Lord, then I am much more at ease."
Veronica folded her hands and bowed her head deeply: "The righteous way of my lord will surely spread throughout the world."
The candle is gradually burning out, and the power of the divine spell is coming to an end, the voice from the flame becomes weaker: "Come back as soon as possible, don't delay on the road, in case the dirty world affects your pure holy light, come back To the Cathedral of the Holy Light…”
The flame died, the candle was only a few pale ashes, and the pope's breath was far from the place.
Veronica waited for a few more seconds before slowly standing up and quietly staring at the statue of the God of Holy Light.
She spoke softly, as if talking to herself:
"That's an unbeliever, isn't he?"
"Yeah, not only has no faith, but also contradicts the way of the Holy Light."
"He just seems to be against the gods, not the light..."
"In short, it is neither a servant of the Holy Light nor a minion of darkness."
"very funny… "
"very funny."