After explaining the administrative integration plan, Roland picked up his teacup and slowly took a few sips, waiting for everyone to digest it.
A large number of people were needed to maintain the daily operation of an area. Before the literacy rate was raised, it was inevitable to pull in the nobles. After all, most of them had received primary education and were slightly involved in management. If there were outstanding people, he did not mind sending them out to manage a city, or even a territory, similar to the mayors and governors of later generations.
After a few minutes, Roland began to explain the next problem.
That was to fight crime.
In his "New Order" concept, there was no place for Black Street organizations in the city, and everyone could find a job that could support them without robbing others. If it was a highly developed modern city, he was not sure that he could do this, because the population of tens of millions of people and the saturation of low-level positions would lead to a large number of unemployed people. But in the Western Region, including Longsong Stronghold and the entire suburban territory, there were only sixty to seventy thousand people, and the infrastructure was still a blank. As long as they were willing to work, there was no need to worry about not having a job.
"How much do you know about the Rats?"
"Do you mean... the Black Street Rats?" Rennes Medde coughed twice. "I have dealt with them."
"What kind of dealings?" Roland asked with interest.
"This..." Rennes seemed a little embarrassed. "I used to be the leader of the Inferno Gang, and I competed with several other Rat gangs for territory."
"Pfft." Several people on the scene could not help but burst out laughing.
Roland was also surprised for a moment. A second son of the Count was actually a Rat? And the Inferno Gang... this name was too unstylish. He began to doubt whether this person was really the son of Count Medde.
"Your Highness, the truth is," Pérot explained. "A few years ago, the Black Street forces in the dock area were very rampant. Almost every day, civilians and foreign merchants were killed, but the patrols turned a blind eye. Sir Rennes could not stand it anymore, so he took his guards to the refugee area to win over a group of people, and drove the Rats out of the dock area. At that time, he also wrote letters about the daily battle and sent them to me, who was far away in King's City. In his letter, he said that this was a great battle, no less than the battle against the demonic beasts, so I think … "
"Pérot, stop it," Rennes said shyly. "I was just bored at the time, so I was looking for some fun to kill time."
So that's how it is. This is probably a "feat" done by a noble who was passionate about the game of Knight during his middle school years. Roland thought. For the second son of the Elk, who loved fighting since childhood, there was nothing more exciting than having a group of subordinates behind him. Although it was not like commanding an army of thousands of men and horses, when two groups of people fought, it was not bad at all.
"What about this gang now?"
"Uh, I don't know." Rennes scratched the back of his head. "Ever since I joined the Hermes defense line to fight against the real demonic beasts, I haven't contacted that group of people."
Roland nodded. "In fact, I intend to eradicate all the Rats in Stronghold, so that every civilian can live a stable life."
"Your Highness, with all due respect," Rennes said hesitantly, "I'm afraid … I can't do that."
"Why?" He frowned. "I have the First Army. Are the Rats more difficult to deal with than the noble Knight?"
"That's not the case." Roland seemed to be choosing his words carefully. "They are weak and timid, lack weapons and armor, and don't know how to fight in a battle formation. They can't even withstand a single blow from the Knight, but … if you deal with them according to the way you deal with rebels, whether they were Rats or not, I'm afraid that there will be only a few civilians left in Stronghold."
"You mean …"
"Rats and civilians are constantly changing, Your Highness," Rennes replied respectfully. "When the harvest is bad and the Months of Demons are long, many civilians have to do what the Rats do to survive. This is also the reason why most lords allow Black Street to exist. Compared to starving civilians, it's better to let them fight among themselves. "
Roland's face darkened. He did not expect the Rats to appear in this way. "What about their organizers?"
"These people are habitual criminals. Some of them are supported by the local nobles, and some are exiled criminals from other places."
"Very well, I don't think any of you are raising rats." The prince glanced around the long table with a cold face, and the nobles all lowered their heads. "But it doesn't matter if you are, as long as you cooperate with me in the clean-up operation from today onwards, I can let bygones be bygones." He paused and then looked at Rene. "I have a task for you."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"In the next month, I will focus on cracking down on all crimes in Stronghold, and you need to cooperate with the First Army to eliminate the leaders of the gangs in Black Street and completely disintegrate all the Rats. As for the specific measures, I will arrange for someone to inform you. "
"Your Highness, what about the members? Without the food provided by the organization, it will be difficult for them to survive the Months of Demons." Rennes said worriedly, "Plus this year's Months of Demons came earlier, the number of these people may be more than in previous years."
"I will ask Pérot to open the warehouse and continue to provide food until the end of the Months of Demons."
"Your Highness, you can't do that!"
"You will only make them worse if you feed them!"
"That's right. I'm afraid everyone in the city will become beggars!"
Hearing this, the nobles all spoke up to stop him.
Roland banged the table hard. "I've decided. You don't have to say anything more!"
He felt that the biggest difference between himself and the nobles was that they always assumed the worst of the people, thinking that the people were lazy, ignorant, incompetent, despicable, greedy, and hopeless. But he was very clear about the power of the people. This group seemed stupid, but in fact, only by giving them the right guidance and setting an example could they become the backbone of this world. If the people were as useless as the nobles thought, how could they change the whole world again and again?
In fact, spending energy on the people was the most worthwhile investment. Even the tiniest change could bring him amazing returns.
"Finally, we need to publicize the decree as soon as possible." Roland looked at Pérot. "You have experience in this, so continue to expand it. If the people can't understand the notice, find someone to read it. The content is everything we talked about today."
"Everything?" The latter was startled. "Even the plan to clean up the Rats?"
"That's right, including the news of the opening of the warehouse." He looked around at the crowd again. "Let me first teach you a prerequisite for a qualified City Hall operation, which is to inform the people of the policy in advance, answer their questions, and listen to their feedback. In this way, the policy will not become a piece of paper."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
