Chapter 113 Gao Wen's Morality

This suggestion made by Byron made everyone present a little puzzled, especially Hetty, she asked directly: "Buy slaves at 30% of the market price? And in the form of issuing mercenary commissions? How could anyone be willing to do so? Accept? Not to mention the abnormally low price, the mercenary's remuneration may have to be drawn from this 30%... This is completely a loss-making business for those mercenaries."

Faced with this question, Byron just said lightly: "So we have to add an extra: no slave status and contract are required."

Heidi and Rebecca looked at each other, and Amber already understood that the half-elf thief was about to say something, but she didn't expect Gawain to speak before her: "In this case, the mercenaries will kidnap the homeless as slaves. sell for money."

Amber glanced at Gawain in surprise, as if he did not expect the duke to understand such a thing, while Knight Byron nodded in surprise: "A sturdy, complete slave contract procedure, clear Serfs or slave laborers usually need twenty to thirty small silver coins inlaid with flowers, or sixteen or seventeen silver shield coins, and the biggest cost of them is actually their slave status. Because they have an identity book, they must Buying from formal channels, in addition to purchasing the money from the slaves themselves, the slave owners, the lord's tax collector, the local church, the slave market, and even the 'slave labor association' formed by the rogues will also take a cut of the middle layer. It is several times or even ten times the price, but refugees... refugees do not need costs, no one will protect them, they do not have any identity information, and their disappearance or death will not cause any concern.”

Having said this, Byron paused, as if to give Hettie and Rebecca some time to think, and then continued: "Under normal circumstances, nobles would not buy slaves without a slave contract, because such slaves are both Without the guarantee of birth, the nobles will appear stingy, poor and of low taste, and once such slaves are killed or captured by other slave owners, they will not be able to get compensation. But even so, there will still be people who buy cheap and stateless slaves. The entrustment of - this is a default black rule, which actually refers to... refugees."

Heidi clutched her chest. Although she was already a model of the nobles who were very close to the commoners, she had never come into contact with the deepest dark truth: "How could such a thing even exist?"

"Not only there, but every year, everywhere, ma'am," said Knight Byron in a low voice, "in some immoral mercenary circles, this kind of refugee is called 'Long-legged money', and they They even circulate refugee gathering point shelters as paid intelligence, staring at the displaced people like sharks and hyenas, just waiting for someone to buy cheap, stateless slaves—often in bulk—they will be swarmed.”

Rebecca subconsciously clenched the iron staff in her hand, and her knuckles even turned white due to the force. She whispered as if to herself: "Mercenary... I listened to their stories in the tavern. The stories of them exterminating robbers, killing monsters, and exploring in ancient castles and secret realms, I thought that was the life of mercenaries, but..."

"Lord Viscount,

When you are in the tavern, the mercenaries in the tavern are not mercenaries," Knight Byron gave Rebecca a deep look, "Not all mercenaries do what I just said, you said Those of the mercenaries are indeed part of the life of mercenaries, but there is one more point - the hands of mercenaries are destined to be unclean, and it is nothing more than a question of how much evil they do. "

Then the middle-aged knight raised his head and looked at Gawain: "Sir, what do you mean? Regarding the release of the commission..."

Gawain looked at the knight with a half-smiling smile. The other party said the darkest faces that really corresponded to everyone. In fact, the subtext was already obvious, but he didn't want to expose the half-passenger who seemed to have a lot of past. : "I'm not going to save this money."

Heidi and Rebecca were obviously relieved.

"We are not short of money. The gold and silver in the treasury is enough for the entire territory to be used for a long time, but if we save money in a way that encourages evil, the debt to our souls will not be so easy to redeem," Gawain said. He said unhurriedly, "Just follow the normal process, go to the nearby territory to post a notice and send someone to read it, go to negotiate with the nobles who can get on the line, rent a cart and horse 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: to make sure that everyone who is coming to this land understands one thing: no matter what they have done before, they must obey the laws here."

Byron stroked his chest and lowered his head: "This is their duty."

Gawain nodded: "You are good at dealing with people in this area, so this matter is entirely up to you. You can go to Hetty to support it if you need it, but you must have clear accounts and support plans. In addition, if If you have a channel, it is best to find out where the refugees gather."

Since the infrastructure work is on the right track, there is also some surplus in manpower, and the coinage work in the territory has been carried out on a small scale. Gawain designed and ordered the first few coins to be minted a few days ago, and sent these coins to the nearby town of Tanzania. As well as in several other distant towns, notarizations were made with merchants and nobles, and the currencies are now ready for use.

After Byron and the others left, only Gawain and Amber were left in the tent. The latter kept looking at Gawain with weird eyes, making Gawain uncomfortable: "What are you looking at?"

"Let those mercenaries who only recognize money go to catch the refugees and send them over. Obviously, it is much more convenient and cost-effective than sending people to publicize and search by yourself, and you have to prepare dry food for vehicles and horses. I thought you would definitely choose A more practical solution - haven't you always called yourself a pragmatist?"

"I am indeed a pragmatist, but I am not a villain. What methods will those mercenaries use to 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 the mercenaries? Even though I deliberately emphasized in the commission that the health of the 'slaves' must be guaranteed, how many do you think? Do mercenaries really listen? And these things may not have been done by me, but they were prompted by me, which goes against my code of conduct."

"But do you know that even if you don't do it, someone else is doing it. The stingy farmers and the black mines will find mercenaries to buy undocumented slaves every year. The amount they buy is enough to fill your small camp for several times. Second-rate."

"So I'm going to destroy this status quo and build a new order, not just for myself, but for every piece of land I build, they must follow these rules - whether they are slave owners, mercenaries , local ruffians, robbers and profiteers, or any hereditary aristocratic professional powerhouse. I don't do evil - neither do they."

Amber opened his mouth and looked at Gawain in astonishment, before he spoke for a while: "You speak a lot...but why are you so obsessed with protecting the weak? It's really because of those so-called 'classical noble virtues' or 'chivalry' ?"

"No, it's just basic morality."

Amber seems to be deliberately angry and has to pick out something wrong: "You are so naive, how can you change so much by yourself? You must know that in this world, the law of the weak is the rule, and it is morality for the strong to override the weak. "

Gawain looked at Amber, and suddenly couldn't help laughing: "Yes, the weak eat the strong, this is indeed the rule of this world, even the rule of nature. The strong should make rules, and the weak only have to obey."

Amber blinked: "Then you..."

Gawain's smile was even more unstoppable: "So haven't I already started to make rules?"

Amber: "...you can still do this!?"

At the same moment, Veronica was staying in her prayer room on the White Oak, which was far away from Cecil's Land and was sailing on the Whitewater River.

She was still dressed in a simple white nun's dress, her pale golden hair was draped softly behind her head, without any extravagant decoration, she knelt in front of the statue of the God of Light, with her hands folded on her chest, imitating the holy emblem The image of the two holy lights intersected, and the full light elements circled and danced around her, like translucent little angels surrounding her, guarding this devout believer of the holy light.

She prayed devoutly to let the light gradually shroud the statue of the God of Light, whose face was blurred and could not be distinguished with the naked eye. When the prayer was over, she opened her eyes and looked at the burning in front of the statue. Thick candles.

The flame of the thick candle jumped a few times, and suddenly changed from orange to pure white. The flame also expanded several times and turned into a pure flame. The flame shook and contracted, gradually forming the image of an old man. .

The old man was sitting on a chair. Although he looked majestic, he was obviously old and weak. If any believer of the God of Light was here, he would probably recognize at first sight that this is the current Holy Light. The supreme ruler of the Church, Pope St. Ivan III.

Veronica lowered her head slightly: "Your Majesty the Pope."

From the flames came the Pope's slightly distorted voice: "Child favored by the Holy Light, have you returned?"

"Yes, I have left Cecil's 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 an enemy of our Lord?"

Veronica pondered for two seconds, then replied softly: "Everything is going well, Gawain Cecil is indeed the legend 700 years ago, not the ghost who stole the hero's body and survived in the world. He speaks freely under the light, and is a man of noble character."

"Then, that's good. I have heard the Lord's voice frequently in recent years. He wants me to teach the Holy Light's righteous way to the world, and Gawain Cecil's recovery at this time is really a matter of concern. But now that you have confirmed that he is not the enemy of the Lord, I am much more relieved."

Veronica folded her hands and bowed her head deeply: "My Lord's righteous path will surely spread throughout the world."

The candle is gradually burning out, the power of the magic has also come to an end, and 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 Light..."

The flame was gone, the candles were only pale ashes, and the Pope's breath was far from the place.

Veronica waited for a few more seconds before standing up slowly and quietly staring at the statue of the God of Light.

She spoke softly, as if to herself:

"That's actually an unbeliever, isn't it?"

"Yes, not only has no faith, but also contradicts the way of the Holy Light."

"He seems to be contradicting God, not the Light..."

"In short, it is neither a servant of the Holy Light nor a minion of darkness."

"very funny……"

"It was fun." js3v3