In the lord's castle of Lakeheart Town, a meeting was going on, attended by Government Affairs Council people and high-level officials of the army.
"My Lord Earl, this trip south has been fruitful!"
Hansel proudly reported his achievements. He returned to Lakeheart Town a few days ago. As soon as he came back, he immediately got into the mood and started the resettlement work of new recruits and refugees without stopping.
"In addition to the refugees, this time we also recruited 56 talents from various professions, including blacksmiths, teachers, Alchemist, healers, etc..."
Before he could finish speaking, Paul clapped his hands.
"Well done, Hansel, I didn't expect you to find so many people willing to come to the northwest. I thought people in the south thought our place was a poor place."
Hansel said with a smile, "Lord Earl, as long as you search carefully, you will always be able to find it. There are always people who are not living as they wish and want to try their luck..."
"Okay, okay, let Chief Steward Ford make detailed arrangements for the positions of these people. Let's talk about the refugees first."
Paul interrupted Hansel's introduction. After hearing what he said, it seemed that anyone willing to come here seemed like Luther who had been eliminated by his own industry. Forget it, he didn't need any masters for the time being, as long as he could work.
"How many refugees have arrived in our territory now?"
Hansel calculated in his mind and immediately replied, "According to the latest statistical report, a total of 421 refugees have arrived Arda."
"Will there be a follow-up?"
"Of course, Lord Earl, and there will be a lot of them. The more than 500 people I mentioned before were just the latest number before I left, but the several Reception Station we have set up are still continuing to house them, and refugees will be sent to Northwest Bay in a steady stream."
"I'm very surprised. Didn't Kingdom Army and the rebels confront each other in the Thorn Fortress area? How did these refugees get here?"
This time Schroeder answered his question.
"Sir, Thorn Fortress is not designed to completely block north-south traffic. Refugees can easily bypass it."
"Then what's the point of building this fortress? Can't the enemy easily get around it?"
"Many fortresses on the plains are not used to completely isolate traffic. Take the Thorn Fortress as an example. It can station a full 50,000 troops and store enough food and grass for 50,000 horses for a year. There are many roads near the fortress that connect the north and south, but they are all in It is within the reach of its troops. The army is not a refugee. If the soldiers want to fight with peace of mind, the food and drink supply cannot be stopped. If the army rashly bypasses it and attacks directly to the rear of the fortress, it will face the risk of the supply line being cut off at any time."
Paul suddenly realized. "That's it."
He continued to ask Hansel about the refugees, "Have all the refugees who have arrived been resettled?"
Hansel raised his lips and said, "Sir, you can rest assured that they have been arranged to live in temporary official residences in the south of the town, which is enough to spend this winter comfortably. After such a long period of wandering, these people are now in paradise. Everyone is praising your kindness, Lord Count. In a word, the entire refugee resettlement work is being carried out efficiently and peacefully."
Paul was about to nod habitually when a voice that ruined the atmosphere sounded, although it sounded pleasant.
"Efficient and peaceful? Baron Abbott, efficient may be barely considered, but the word peaceful is really not relevant at all."
The speaker was Miss Female Advisor "Betty Diaz", and now she was looking at Hansel with a sarcastic look.
Paul asked inexplicably, "What happened?"
Could it be that Hansel has offended this young lady? Hansel immediately replied, "Nothing happened, Lord Earl, as I just said, the entire refugee resettlement work is proceeding efficiently and peacefully."
But he obviously lacked confidence.
The consultant stood up and said in a bad tone, "Earl Greiman, do you know how your Mr. Agriculture Director treats the refugees?"
"How to treat it?"
Irene said angrily, "The information I received is that the reception staff were very rude to the refugees. They beat and scolded them at every turn, and randomly discarded or burned their belongings. These refugees left their homes and finally escaped from the battlefield. They traveled all the way to this place and had to face difficulties. Baron Abbott went too far."
Hansel immediately defended himself. "Diaz Miss, this group of refugees is described as 'unorganized and undisciplined' in a sentence that the Earl once said. They were noisy and chaotic when they were being examined, in order to complete the entire process as quickly as possible. So that they can settle down as soon as possible - this is also for their own good. The Militias have to go out in person to maintain order. Church how they line up, it is inevitable and understandable for a little unpleasant thing to happen during this period."
"As for their belongings, Father in Heaven, they don't have any belongings. They are nothing more than a pair of shabby clothes. Many of the clothes can't withstand washing and rot directly, so they have to be discarded. And didn't we give out new clothes? They are many times better than their original ones."
The consultant lady was obviously dissatisfied with his explanation, and the two started arguing with each other.
"You two! You two!"
Paul's head was spinning, and he repeatedly motioned to the two of them to stop first.
After finally letting the argument stop, Paul said, "Diaz Miss makes sense. These refugees are already very pitiful. We can't add to their suffering. Hansel——"
Hansel stood up immediately. "Yes, Lord, please give me your instructions."
Paul said in an official tone, "In the future, we should not treat those who are about to become the subjects of my rule roughly, but we should let them feel the warmth of home and the care of brothers and sisters, do you understand?"
However, when Female Advisor's eyes were not on him, he secretly glanced at Hansel.
Hansel was secretly happy in his heart: Earl Greiman supported me - at least tacitly approved of it. Besides, the tone of his words just now, hehe, it doesn't hurt.
He immediately said, "Yes, Lord Earl, I will inform the Affairs Officers in charge of the containment work when I get back, and ask them to pay attention to their attitude in future work."
Irene showed an expression of victory on his face and gave Paul a sweet smile, which made his heart flutter.
In fact, Irene is so dissatisfied with Hansel, apart from his own sympathy, there is another important reason.
In the bottom of her heart, she believed that the reason why these refugees left their homes and fled everywhere was due to the war between the Royal Family and the rebels. As a member of the Royal Family, she wanted to do her best to make their lives better so as to alleviate her own guilt.
Of course, she couldn't express this reason now.