The recovery month has arrived.
The long and cold winter in the northern part of the mainland has finally left this land with reluctance. Although its residual power is still daunting, the warming temperature and the few days of sunny and warm days still make people feel hopeful. At least in Cecil's domain, the word "hope" is no longer an elegant word for upper-class people to express their feelings after dinner, but a real thing that ordinary people can look forward to.
A baby was born in the days when the earth had just returned to spring.
In the "West End Factory Apartment" that was just completed this winter, a young newly promoted father entertained neighbors and friends who came to visit. The small living room was crowded with guests carrying gifts. There were only some teas and rough snacks to be entertained, but the guests obviously didn't care about it. I'm afraid few people would have thought that these people were a group of homeless people who didn't know each other just a few months ago wilderness refugees.
They wandered in the wilderness, settled in Cecil Land, met in the buffer camp, became acquainted when building houses, and finally became friends in the factory. It is a very meaningful thing for one of them to become a father in a warm home.
And at this moment, someone among the people standing at the door suddenly shouted: "The lord is here!"
People were amazed, but the lord really came. The tall figure soon appeared at the door, and everyone was familiar with this figure.
Gao Wen quickly saw in the crowd that the young and newly promoted father's appearance of being immersed in joy could not be concealed from others. He walked forward quickly, and reached out his hand to stop the panicked man who wanted to salute: "Today is You don't need to salute the day you bring hope to this land. Is mother and child safe?"
"Yes... yes Lord Lord..." The young man was obviously nervous, but excited with joy, he stuttered and rubbed his hands together, "Everything is safe, everything is safe..."
Gao Wen smiled gently: "Can I see that child?"
"Of course, of course..."
The newborn baby and the young mother were all in the quiet and undisturbed inner room. Although there were many visitors, only a few people had visited them. Gawain should be the most special one among the visitors who came today.
Due to the popularity of the new magic net, the system that uses magic power to drive the heater and heat the entire building through the heat conduction duct is now a standard configuration for new houses in the territory, and this apartment building completed in winter is no exception. A warm and constant temperature house is the key guarantee for the safety of mother and child. Otherwise, giving birth in winter will be a life-and-death difficulty that most ordinary mothers must face.
In the warm inner room, Gawain saw the baby in swaddling clothes.
It was a healthy boy, wrinkled and still unable to open his eyes, sleeping peacefully at the moment.
An apprentice pharmacist is here to take care of postpartum women and babies. This is not some itinerant witch or "doctor" who can only fool people, but one of the apprentices trained by Pittman himself. Although there are no real druids among Pittman's apprentices, at least these apprentices are professionals in the fields of pharmacy, medicine and surgery that do not require magical talents.
Looking at the baby in the swaddle, Gawain smiled.
It's the first newborn on the Territory It's hardly surprising that the first baby was born here almost a year after the Territory was built.
Because the people on this land were either the 800 refugees who survived from the old Cecil Territory, or they were purchased serfs and slaves, or they were refugees gathered from the wilderness. Needless to say, serfs and slaves, The slave trader never sold a pregnant slave girl, and the refugee and vagrant had the most turbulent ordeal in which...
It is rare that any pregnant women or fetuses survived.
The child in front of him is lucky. If his parents hadn't found a place to settle down in time, it would be very difficult for him to be born in this world safely.
His parents were the first refugees to immigrate here. The young father now works in the rune foundry, and his mother is a female worker in the textile factory.
"Does the child have a name?" Gao Wen turned his head and asked the young father who followed into the house.
"Not yet..." The young father grabbed his hand, looked away from Gao Wen more than once, and landed on his child's face, he showed a bit of a straightforward smile, "We originally wanted to name him casually. , but... But I went to school, I want to ask the teachers in the school to help name the child... A name given by a learned person can make the child smarter, and I will definitely recognize words faster than me in the future... "
Gao Wen couldn't help laughing, because of the innocent and innocent thoughts of this young father, but he also felt a little relieved: this person who was originally illiterate now at least knows that it is good for his children to read.
Then he shook his head: "In this case, I will come up with a name, and his name will be Aurs."
In the lingua franca of this world, this pronunciation means "hope".
The young father was stunned for a moment before he realized what had happened. He saluted immediately: "Thank you for giving this child the name!"
Then he muttered to himself: "Today... what a good day, what a good day..."
"Don't forget to register the child as a resident and get an identity card," Gao Wen smiled and helped the bewildered man up. He had already abolished the custom of commoners prostrating when they saw nobles, but people habitually bowed or even knelt down. But it is not so easy to ban, these can only be done slowly, "In addition, you can report to the Resident Affairs Department of the Government Affairs Office in three days and receive a daily necessities, including rations and cloth, tonics, and commonly used medicines."
The young father obviously didn't expect that the addition of the family would receive a "reward", and hurriedly saluted to express his gratitude: "Thank you for your generous reward!"
"This is not a reward. Remember, a reward is not the same as a government subsidy," Gao Wen emphasized. "This is an administrative system, and it is the law at this stage. Within ten years from today, all families with newborn babies in the territory will receive You can get a subsidy from the Office of Government Affairs, which is to reward you for your contribution to the population of the territory. After ten years... the Office of Government Affairs will judge whether to continue this subsidy according to the situation."
The people in the room listened to Gao Wen's words half-understood. They may not fully understand all the meaning and significance of this "system", but they can definitely understand the parts that are related to their own interests, and that's enough .
After Gao Wen returned to the lord's mansion, he immediately called Hetty and asked her to arrange the "newborn rewards and subsidies". After everything was arranged, he sat in his large chair and began to plan Territory development route after the end of winter.
The territory has been successfully cultivated, foreign business has also earned a lot of wealth, and the military defense is improving day by day. Under the premise of having no worries about food, clothing and safety, the baby boom will soon come.
But it takes a long time for a baby to grow into a labor force, so in a short period of time, the population growth of the Cecil Territory still has to rely on two parts, one part is to continue to buy slaves and gradually liberate them as free people, and the other part is to continue to recruit refugees.
In addition, Cecil's current population actually has an additional huge increase from the residents of Kant Land, as well as the large number of farms and villages attached to Kant Land, as well as the large number of idle people in the hilly land in the east.
These populations are now the legal subjects of Cecil, but they must first accept the "education" of Cecil's law and order.
Fortunately, "education" did not start in spring.
Throughout the past winter, Gao Wen has been subtly influencing Kant Land. His real rule over that land is not limited to sending soldiers to maintain order, build roads, and commercial occupation. The rules of Kant were gradually transferred to the Kant area: at first, the craftsmen who came to Cecil to earn a living were asked to abide by the rules of Cecil, and then they used these craftsmen as a breakthrough to carry out various construction projects in Kant towns. The small factories, shopping streets, and refurbished residential blocks brought Kant people a source of income in winter and a better standard of living, as well as a new way of life. Then, soldiers were stationed to maintain law and order in the new block, constantly Propaganda, and Padrik came forward to "unify the mind" of the more famous people in the area...
Today, in the towns under the direct control of Viscount Kant, the residents have gradually become accustomed to accepting Cecil's order, but Gawain still has to solve a problem: Kant's original knight class.
Those who control the surrounding villages, wilderness development points, and garrison points are the old knights of Kant Land.
These knights, the tail end of the Ansu land aristocracy system, are the far-end extension of the feudal lords. Although they have no legislative power, no independent lord claims, and many privileges and honors of the formal aristocratic class, they are still the old , Ansu aristocratic system components.
Jurisprudentially, these knights should now be loyal to Gawain Cecil, but they have not yet sworn oath, even if they have sworn allegiance to Gawain Cecil himself, they have not yet pledged allegiance to Cecil's "order".
As long as they exist for a day and still use the old order to control the land and population in their hands, then the land and population in their hands cannot become parts of Cecil's magical industrialization.
"Call Philip Cavalier," Gawain said to the air beside him, tilting his head slightly, "Go and come back quickly."
There was a slight wave of breath in the air that appeared and disappeared, and the next moment Amber's voice came from outside the window: "Got it! I'm just... Oh, why is there a mousetrap on the courtyard wall!"
Hearing the noise coming from outside the window, Gao Wen smiled in relief.
Not to mention the courtyard wall, there are mousetraps on the top of every street lamp along the entire road starting from the Lord's Mansion...
Not long after, Knight Philip appeared in front of Gawain.
There was also Amber grinning at Gao Wen with various funny expressions.
Gawain ignored the half-elf girl who was making fun of her, and looked at Philip, "It's time for us to think about the old knights in Kant."
As a role model for young knights, Philip immediately thought of the procedure that should be followed at this moment: "Should we summon them to swear allegiance?"
"It's not just about swearing allegiance," Gawain smiled, looking into Philip's eyes, "Actually, I've always been curious about one thing... how do you think about the new rules I've imposed?"