Ch.144Refugee (4)

After that, the content my father shared with me, who had eagerly taken the bait of a regular shipping route, was as follows.

Currently, efforts are being made to establish a logistics network to accelerate the development project in Baron Collant’s territory, and if I were to accept the refugee accommodation proposal, they would be willing to allocate several merchant vessels from this logistics network specifically for transport.

Honestly, to someone who knows nothing, it might seem like a foolish attempt to bring in potentially unstable elements just for a few ships, but in reality, those few ships hold value that simply cannot be expressed as “just” anything.

After all, regardless of the era, the most common method of transporting goods in the world remains water transport using ships.

Even on Earth, in the modern age where trains, trucks, and even airplanes have emerged, the vast majority of global logistics is still dominated by ships—that is, water transport using seas and rivers.

If that’s the case in an age where we can fly through the sky, what about this world where civilization is characterized by medieval and Renaissance levels of development?

A means of transport that can repeatedly carry hundreds of times more cargo than carts, at a speed several times faster than those carts.

By its nature, while it cannot be used in inland regions where ships cannot pass, the efficiency of water transport is absolutely overwhelming in any other environment.

As mentioned earlier, water transport is essentially useless without sufficient water for ships to navigate, but conversely, this means that if there is even a proper river, it can provide transportation capabilities incomparable to carts.

In other words, the introduction of such a water transport distribution network to a village inevitably brings growth with it.

Honestly, even if ships just happen to pass by nearby during the reorganization of the territory’s logistics network, that alone is enough for a pioneer village to seriously benefit and develop rapidly.

Being incorporated into part of a logistics network, which can be considered the bloodline of a large-scale economic network, brings an influx of population and capital. Especially since the area around this pioneer village was specifically chosen by my father as an ideal place for people to live.

Fertile and vast plains, abundant water, nearby forests, and rich resource supply points. Blessed with an environment where rock salt, clay, stone, and most common resources can be acquired if one looks for them.

Honestly, if security stabilizes and there’s sufficient population influx, it’s enough to develop rapidly by cultivating the wide, fertile plains for farming and extracting resources.

Moreover, in this situation, they were offering to assign several cargo ships as part of our village’s assets, making it a proposal I simply couldn’t refuse.

Anyway, after I succumbed to the overwhelming compensation of not only supplies for 73 people but also integration into the village’s water transport logistics network and accepted my father’s proposal.

“—Therefore, from now on, you will settle and live in the pioneer village of Lord Alzar!!”

“”””””””””…..””””””””””

For the past few days, I had been visiting the shacks and tents built with the supplies we provided near the village, and boldly proclaimed this to the people (refugees) living there in their shabby clothes.

Of course, no matter how confidently I made this declaration, what meaning would the words of a high-ranking person who suddenly appeared have to these people?

So, while they remained silent with bewildered expressions, an elderly man who could be considered their leader stepped forward and cautiously spoke.

“….So, we can live in the village?”

“That’s right. But you know well that we cannot hastily admit you, don’t you?”

“….Yes, I understand.”

By the standards of this harsh world, baseless kindness is the worst way to shorten one’s lifespan, and thus they too did not seem to think they could join the village without any conditions.

In fact, strictly speaking, I wouldn’t have accepted them either if my father hadn’t set separate conditions.

“So, I’ll set one condition. Currently, our village is implementing a policy of distributing a certain area of farmland to adults over 15 years old, but….”

When I mentioned the distribution of farmland, most of them, being farmers, naturally widened their eyes and showed various reactions.

Some were delighted, thinking they could receive such benefits if they joined the village, while others looked at me with suspicious expressions, thinking there must be some ulterior motive.

Some simply expressed admiration for my proposal, while others showed anxiety, not knowing what kind of proposal I would make….

“Therefore, I hereby declare.”

So, I set forth several conditions for them to settle in the village.

“First, you will not officially join the village until spring next year. It’s like a temporary membership… of sorts.”

The first thing I proposed was that they could only officially become members of the village by next spring, and until then, they would spend a kind of internship period to assess their suitability for the village.

In reality, this wasn’t a particularly harsh condition, and considering the benefits provided in territorial life, the truth is that it’s not unreasonable to say that most people would endure even a year.

In pre-modern society, owning land is itself a privilege of a successful life, and especially getting it without any conditions just by residing in the village can be considered an enormous benefit.

Therefore, in this peculiar situation where most were looking at me with expressions of understanding, I immediately proceeded to the next point.

“Now, during this temporary membership period, instead of doing separate work, you must participate in labor service five days a week.”

The next thing I brought up was what they would be doing while staying in the village.

In other words, I intended to resolve their tax or similar obligations through five days of labor service per week.

“Ah, of course, appropriate compensation will be provided. The intensity of the labor will also be adjusted to some extent.”

Of course, I added that to nurture talent that could work diligently in the village for a long time, and only then did the somewhat ambiguous atmosphere quickly cool down.

“….Five days a week?”

“Well, if there are days off, it wouldn’t be bad….”

Unpaid five-day labor would be close to an implicit declaration to flee, but five days of labor service with compensation and provided accommodation is actually not bad.

Many territories impose five-day mandatory labor service on serfs, and how many lords are there who exploit free farmers without paying a penny despite them being legally free?

“And naturally, immediate expulsion if you don’t follow the rules.”

Having noticed that the response to my voice wasn’t too bad, I emphasized this by demanding strict control and obedience from them, but….

“By all means!”

“We’ll gladly do so!”

“Ah, long live Lord Alzar!!”

“””””Long live!!!”””””

Despite the fact that I had essentially set more than two seasons of slave labor as a condition for settling in the village, the refugees’ reaction was surprisingly not bad, and even showed enthusiasm.

This was because these refugees were more likely to understand how difficult it is for outsiders to settle in a rural village.

Such conditions might sound harsh to city people regardless of the era, but in any age, such remote rural areas inevitably become closed, isolated societies.

To be frank, even in modern society with the development of the internet and SNS causing an information explosion, you still need to pay a considerable sum in rural development funds or the like if you want to return to farming in the countryside.

Well, this is actually reasonable from the perspective of extracting costs for installing basic infrastructure in rural areas, but as with all things human, this too is a justification that’s too easily abused.

Even in modern times, this is the situation, but the countryside of this era, which is at least hundreds of times more isolated, is no joke—in many cases, it’s a den of bandits.

Aren’t there those who plunder and murder passing travelers who seem vulnerable, while hiding their true nature before those who don’t seem easy targets?

Even in modern Earth, rural areas are situations where various crimes openly occur due to their characteristic as closed societies, and this isn’t much different in the current age of violence and barbarism.

In short, society has a closed structure that’s considered a hotbed of crime, making it extraordinarily difficult for outsiders to become part of that society….

This was the fundamental reason why these 73 villagers cheered despite the harsh conditions I had set.

To put it bluntly, the very fact that a rural village was accepting refugees was in itself salvation for these people.

Oh, of course, separate from that, I did conduct a light check for cultists on all of them.