Merciful Lord Hudson

The caravan moved forward slowly, Hudson sat in the carriage, petting the bear and enjoying the creaking sounds the carriage made as it moved.

The road was as bumpy as ever, and the convoy had to stop frequently to level the road in order to ensure its smooth passage. But these little incidents did not affect Hudson's good mood at all.

After spending several months in fear and trembling, Hudson finally had a piece of land of his own, and now everything seemed pleasing to him.

"Get out of here!"

"You bunch of fools, carrying a few broken pieces of wood, you dare to try and rob someone? If you've offended the great Lord Hudson, you'll be in for a world of trouble..."

Hearing the sounds coming from ahead, Hudson got off the carriage with a heart full of anger. How dare someone rob him? It was as if they were taking advantage of his weak knife.

After getting off the carriage, Hudson realized something was wrong. The so-called robbery was nothing but a farce; the people who acted were more like refugees than robbers.

The soldiers mainly reprimanded the crowd instead of indiscriminately killing people. This was because the crowd blocking the road consisted mostly of the elderly, women, and children, with very few able-bodied men, who were hardly bandits.

"Tom, what's going on?"

"Who are they?"

Why were you stopping the convoy?

Hudson asked three questions in a row, and just as Tom was about to answer, the crowd opposite him spoke up first, "Your Excellency Lord Hudson, we are all subjects of Alphonse."

Unfortunately, we were caught in the ravages of war, our food was all looted, and now we can't find our lord, so..."

"Enough, I know everything you want to know! Alphonse has met with a tragic end, his entire family perished at the hands of the Rebel Army."

The new lord comes from the north and should arrive in about a month, or at the latest, three months. He will then make arrangements for you.

Hudson said, feigning indifference.

The first statement about Alphonse's entire family suffering a tragedy is true, but the second statement is pure fabrication. When the Northern Nobles will arrive is something we'll only know when they do.

Nobility is not only an honor, but also a responsibility. Unlike those idle personnel who can take up their posts at any time, nobles serving in the military on the frontier, even if they have been granted fiefs, must first complete a handover with a replacement before they can leave.

If war breaks out, things will be even worse. Whether one can leave alive is uncertain. Even members of prominent families cannot shirk their responsibilities during a war.

Upon hearing the devastating news, the crowd quickly descended into chaos. Their faces turned ashen, as if the sky had fallen. Two elderly men even fainted.

Having always depended on Alphonse for survival, they never even considered how they would live without their lord.

Serfs basically had no private property; all their means of production belonged to the noble lords. Consequently, the noble lords were also responsible for their food, clothing, shelter, and even their birth, aging, illness, and death.

The nobles' food and wealth have been stolen, and the people have only managed to survive by eating wild vegetables, grass roots, and tree bark.

Let alone three months, they wouldn't last even a month. By the time the new lord arrives, it will probably be difficult to even collect their corpses.

Seeing the crowd weeping and wailing, Tom, who had just lost face in front of Hudson, hurriedly stepped forward and scolded them, "Merciful Lord Hudson has already told you, so hurry up and make way!"

Perhaps intimidated by the gleaming broadsword, or perhaps out of a natural fear of the nobles, the terrified crowd, carrying the two unconscious old men, silently made way.

Having confirmed that they were not remnants of the Rebel Army, the benevolent Lord Hudson, moved by compassion, generously said, "Considering your loyalty to Alphonse, I will not hold it against you."

Tom, leave each of them a pound of bread. Whether they survive or not is up to fate.

"Fine, what can I do? I'm too kind-hearted! If you want to leave, then follow the caravan! As long as you make it to my territory alive, I'll take you in as my subjects."

After saying this, Hudson got into the carriage without looking back. A nobleman should act like a nobleman; treating serfs with servility will only frighten them.

Despite wanting to bring these low-quality laborers under control, the aristocracy still needed to maintain their superior attitude.

By leaving the choice to these refugees, even if word gets out, people will only say he is kind, not criticize him for seizing other people's land.

These people were all refugees who fled with the famine, so even if a new lord arrived, it wouldn't be good to get entangled in this issue.

Once back in the carriage, Hudson's mind began to race again. The war had drastically reduced the population of the two counties, but some lucky ones had still managed to survive.

The fact that the people of the native nobles cannot be touched does not mean that the people of the outsiders cannot be touched either. As long as people are lured over, they become his people.

Although there were few able-bodied men among them, and most of them were women and children, they were still a source of labor.

Mining was a bit of a stretch, but it wasn't too much of a problem to cook, do odd jobs, and farm.

In particular, eligible women could be married off to bachelors in the army to stabilize morale.

Having made his decision, Hudson immediately summoned his Knight Squire and assigned them the task of deceiving people.

This kind of technical skill could only be done by the group of teenagers who had been learning from him for a few months. The rest of the soldiers were mostly quiet and reserved. They were passable in fighting the enemy, but inspiring morale was really too difficult for them.

It was all Hudson's own doing. Before setting off, in order to facilitate command, he specially selected a group of honest and simple soldiers from his territory.

On the battlefield, this group did perform quite well. Hudson was a man of his word, with few of his own ideas, making him easy to manage.

Given this general environment, the serf soldiers who joined later were also affected. Especially after Hudson implemented the Guilt by Association and executed a few troublesome individuals to establish his authority, those who had ideas lost their will.

They were so busy fighting that they didn't have time to think about anything else. As a result, Hudson only now realized that he lacked the talent he needed.

Poaching someone?

The idea had barely formed in his mind when he decisively extinguished it. Those who could poach people lacked the ability, and those who could afford it couldn't afford the cost of poaching them.

It wasn't just Hudson who lacked talent; almost all the minor nobles faced the problem of a shortage of talent.

The high degree of monopoly on knowledge has led to the concentration of talent in the upper class. Everyone here is an aristocrat; they cannot be swayed by a paltry sum.

Ask your clansmen for help?

Just think about it. As adults, we should know there's no such thing as a free lunch. Even close brothers have to keep clear accounts, let alone relatives.

Those two unfortunate kids in White County are a case in point; the more help they receive from various factions now, the greater the debt of gratitude they will have to repay in the future.

Even if this generation can't repay the debt, the next generation will have to continue paying it off. In case of unforeseen circumstances, their heirs will have to repay it.

Putting aside other things, the kingdom encourages those who are responsible for defending the land, provides care for nobles who died in battle, and has specially increased the quota for exchanging Life Essence, which has probably already been paid out as wages.

The give-and-take relationship, where effort and reward are equal, is one of the key reasons why the loosely organized Coslo Family has been able to maintain its cohesion for so long.

If you don't want to accumulate debts by relying on favors, then don't easily ask for help, or you'll end up with no friends.

High-ranking nobles can at least offer empty promises to their subordinates, but the Hudson don't even have that luxury. If they can't give people what they truly want, then they can only rely on spending money.

As long as the money is right, there will still be talented people. Among the free citizens living in big cities, there are also some talented individuals who are willing to accept employment for money.

Unfortunately, the talent recruited with money usually only works short-term jobs and will leave as soon as a better opportunity comes along.

Among them, quite a few betrayed their original owners for personal gain, making their loyalty truly worrisome.

As an early-stage entrepreneur, Hudson felt that loyalty was more important than ability.

In the peaceful world of my previous life, being betrayed by subordinates would at most result in a loss of money; but on the Aslant Continent, being betrayed by subordinates could cost you your life.

Hudson was not prepared to take any risks until he had the capacity to withstand them. If there was no talent available, he would cultivate it himself.

Anyway, his territory is just a baronial domain, still under the most primitive feudal rule, without so many messy and trivial matters. If he works hard, he can manage on his own.

Under Hudson's deliberate manipulation, the power shift at the top quickly spread throughout the refugee community. Only the details changed slightly.

Originally, the Northern Nobles came to take up their posts, but now the new lord is taking them to the Northern Frontier to live alongside the cruel Beastfolk.

Thanks to the long-term propaganda of the Alpha Kingdom, Beastfolk are seen as creatures more terrifying than devils in the minds of ordinary people, causing widespread panic.

At such times, clever "refugees" would suggest leaving their territory to seek refuge with a benevolent lord.

Since the old lord's entire family had died and the new lord had not yet accepted their allegiance, leaving them could not be considered a betrayal.

The convoy, moving at a snail's pace, soon attracted refugees along the way. There was no other reason than the benevolent Lord Hudson distributing provisions.

Food was distributed promptly at mealtimes every day. Although they could only eat until they were about 70-80% full, it was enough to make them determined to keep up.