Cecil collar, in the lord's study.
The recent population immigration report was sent to Gao Wen's desk, and Gao Wen carefully looked at every number on it, with a particularly devoted look on his face.
The situation was not much different from what he had expected. After the recovery month came, a new wave of immigration began, and this time, the number of refugees who moved into the Cecil Territory far exceeded the number of serfs and slaves purchased.
The news of Cecil Territory's acceptance of refugees has spread and spread throughout the autumn and winter, and now it has spread to every corner of the southern border. Even the most ill-informed common people know that the pioneering territory next to the Dark Mountains is approaching Unconditionally absorbing foreign population, and anyone on that land has the opportunity to obtain land, housing and freeman status. During the whole frosty moon stage of last year, Gawain spared no effort to promote this matter, and now he finally saw the effect.
Byron Knight released a large number of employment news in the southern border through his own mercenary channel back then, and fulfilled every transaction, so those businessmen who operated ships and convoys tasted the sweetness in the process, and also established a strong relationship with Cecil Territory. Enough trust, so the work of receiving refugees has entered a state of a virtuous circle.
Now there is no need for Byron Knights to take the initiative to send people around. There are fixed "immigrant caravans" running between various territories and doing this "new business". Those who are bold and careful and have a good relationship with mercenaries Caravan owners can find displaced people in various places or those who want to go to Cecil Territory for various reasons. These merchants hold the license issued by the Duke of Cecil and transport these people to Cecil Territory for free. Then, according to the number of people transported, they received payment from the government affairs office, and even some mercenaries put down their swords, bought a few caravans and started a similar business to collect refugees and immigrants and send them to Cecil Territory. a job...
During this process, Gao Wen took action to rectify several acts of audacity that did not abide by the law, and executed a group of criminals who tried to traffic people or abuse immigrants. The concept of Cecil's strict laws was imprinted in the minds of those businessmen and mercenaries.
Compared with the increase in the number of immigrants, what makes Gao Wen more happy is the optimization of the occupational structure of the new immigrants. Last year, those who moved into Cecil Territory were basically slaves and wanderers without any skills, like craftsmen and scholars. Under normal circumstances, most people would never be reduced to the situation of homelessness and slavery, so this kind of technical talents are all "poached" at a high price, but among the recent batches of immigrant population , there have been skilled craftsmen who voluntarily moved into the territory. The appearance of these people means one thing: the attraction of Cecil Territory is increasing.
People have stubborn suspicions and prejudices about this land at the foot of the Dark Mountains. This is difficult to change in a short period of time, but Cecil Territory has indeed established a firm foothold here, and it has a special place for technical talents. Driven by generous treatment and sufficient interests, people's suspicions and prejudices will give way.
At the end of winter, Lord Cecil City had a population of more than 14,000. For this era, this is already a population that can be called a "medium-sized city". In the Cecil Territory leading industrialization, these populations still have a lot of loopholes in establishing an industrial system, but now, with the increasing number of immigrant population and the continuous optimization of the immigration structure, Gao Wen's population has always been troubled. The problem finally began to gradually ease.
Putting down the report document in his hand, Gao Wen exhaled in relief, then stood up and prepared to move his body, but just as he was about to stand up, the window of the study room opened automatically, and a gust of cold wind blew into the room.
Gao Wen raised his hand and knocked on the air: "Can't you come in through the door once in a while?"
Amber's figure emerged following this brain collapse, and the half-elf lady covered her head and looked at Gawain with dissatisfaction: "Why do you Cecils like to knock people's heads? Two days ago I was joking with Rebecca and she wants to hit me on the head with a stick, can't you leave some good ancestral teachings for future generations?"
"Knocking on people's heads is not an ancestral motto I left behind, knights are stronger than mages," Gawain glanced at this guy, "tell me, what's going on, you should be wandering around the city fishing at this hour. "
"I was patrolling the territory for you!" Amber retorted with staring eyes, then raised her finger and pointed in the direction of the dock area, "A new boat has arrived at the dock, with a group of people on board who want to settle here... but The situation is a bit complicated, and the people at the registration office can't make up their minds, so I'll come to you."
"Is it an immigrant ship?" Gao Wen frowned, not knowing what to report about this kind of thing, "As long as it is not a vicious infectious disease patient, a few types of criminals that are prohibited from being accepted, and people who have been trafficked here, they can be directly registered and sent to the buffer camp." No? And even for the three situations I just mentioned, there should be corresponding regulations."
"The new situation," Amber spread her hands, "it's a heretic persecuted by religion..."
Gao Wen: "... huh?"
Soon, he and Amber came to the dock area in the north of the city. On the brand-new, cement-paved pier area, he saw soldiers maintaining order, the ship owner explaining the situation to the soldiers, and those frowning and emaciated men. Newcomers.
"The lord is coming! The lord is coming!"
Soon someone noticed that Gao Wen's figure of two meters high was indeed eye-catching everywhere, and the crowd gathered to watch immediately backed away while saluting. Gao Wen walked to the center of the incident. A look at the "heretic immigrant" who is in a state of unease.
There are more than 20 of them, including men, women, and several children. They are dressed in different clothes, some are wearing ordinary burlap clothes, and some are wearing woolen coats that are quite high-end in this era. But in general, the clothes of these people should be regarded as the middle or upper class among the civilians.
And these people who should have lived a carefree life obviously went through a long and not very comfortable journey. Their faces were pale and haggard, their hair was messy and greasy, their cheeks were sunken and shivering in the cold wind. They looked at the people around them. His eyes showed panic and fear, especially when he saw Gao Wen. This was a manifestation of long-term mental tension and constant worry about life and death.
Seeing the situation of these people, and thinking of what Amber told him on the road, Gao Wen guessed what happened to these people. At the same time, these "refugees" also knelt down and saluted after confirming the status of the nobles in front of them. , the boss of the boat with a big beard in a brown coat also knelt down and said, "My lord, I just send these people over."
Gao Wen raised his hand, and stopped the boss of the boat who was about to start arguing and fooling around: "Let's all stand up first. Where do these people come from?"
The refugees stood up, and the captain of the boat also stood up nervously, bowing in front of Gao Wen: "Master, it's from the Holy Spirit Plain."
"It's such a short journey..." Gao Wen frowned, "What's the matter with the so-called exiled heretics?"
"It's too serious to say that, my lord," the boss of the boat said hurriedly, "These people ran out because someone in their local church practiced sorcery. They were afraid of being implicated and didn't dare to stay in their hometown... "
Gawain nodded, looked at those trembling people, and pointed to one of them: "Tell me, what's going on."
"I... we didn't do anything, but those priests said we were the... pawns of the heretics, robbed our house... the house, and kicked us out..." Gawain chose a simple-looking man An honest and strong man, he stuttered, and he didn't know whether he couldn't help being nervous in the face of the big nobles or he was born like this, "We are arresting people everywhere, burning...burning people, too...too..."
"Hey, stop talking, you stammering, you're dirtying the lord's ears!" A woman next to the man interrupted him. The woman was nervous and bowed to Gawain, "Master, we They are all honest and responsible civilians who farm or do some small business at home... "
"Who judged that you are the minions of the cult?" Gawain directly interrupted these people who couldn't even describe their own situation clearly, and asked a straightforward question, "Which church's pastor? What basis do they make judgments?"
"It's... the pastors of the Church of the Holy Light," a man in a wool coat said, "Last winter, several families in the city were kidnapped by cultists, and the bodies were only found a few days later. Later, the priests of the Church of the Holy Light And the knights found the cultists hiding in the city, and after burning those cultists to death, they began to search the whole city... They said that only the Holy Light can discern the cultists hiding among ordinary people, so what they said everyone letter."
Gao Wen slowly frowned while listening.
Amber leaned close to him, stood on tiptoe and whispered, "Hey, let me tell you, there might be trouble getting these people in..."
Gao Wen remained expressionless: "Trouble?"
"The priests of the Holy Light Sect are very difficult to deal with," Amber muttered, "and they have sharper noses than dogs, and they like to associate everything with evil, heresy, etc. You put these by the Holy Light People who are expelled from the sect come in, maybe they will make use of it."
"This kind of trouble doesn't matter," Gao Wen said casually, "The Church of the Holy Light has their censorship, and I have my own censorship. If you are in Cecil, you must follow Cecil's rules. Review these people according to the prescribed procedures. Call Pittman to see if there is really a magical reaction on them, and if there is no problem, just send them to the buffer camp."
Gao Wen did not believe in the "heretical judgment" made by the Church of the Holy Light, especially after hearing the experience of these people, but he would not blindly believe these refugees because of doubts about the Church of the Holy Light, so he Will confirm the identity of these people before releasing them into the city. Pittman was able to identify the breath of the fallen druid's magic. So far, the little old man's judgment is still very accurate. He can confirm whether these people are believers of the Death of All Things, and if they are the eternal sleepers...
That would be even simpler, Gao Wen went back to the Internet to see if there were any unfamiliar IPs around him.
As for the sons of the storm... Gao Wen thinks there is no need to worry, those guys have completely withdrawn from the land, and now they are fighting with the deep-sea salted fish spirits in full swing.
And if they weren't members of the three major dark sects mentioned above, the remaining weak cult members would basically be unable to hide from the cross-examination and observation procedures in the buffer camp.