Chapter 284 Refugee Issue
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As the locust plague invaded, refugees began to pile up outside Raven's territory. The fence that had been erected before played a role, and the constant patrolling Eagle Army ensured the security of the territory. .
However, concentrating a large number of refugees on the border is not a long-term solution after all, and everyone in Eagle City has become busy around this issue.
Denise is one of them.
As Raven's aunt, she has a separate study room of her own.
This is only the third day since she returned, and she has already begun to diligently deal with various trivial matters, not only the refugee issue, but also the affairs of the Meng'en City Chamber of Commerce that have been left behind during this period.
The personal maid Angel brought Denise a cup of hot tea, and then stood respectfully aside, ready to be dispatched at any time.
Looking at her mistress, An Qi couldn't help but feel curious.
When they were in Meng City, the businessmen privately gave Denise the nickname "Iron Lady", describing her as resolute in speaking and acting, decisive in her methods, and even her words were sonorous and powerful.
But today this iron lady seems to be much softer.
Although he was leaning on the table as before, the corners of his mouth were inadvertently raised, revealing a faint smile.
There is still a bright look in her eyes, which represents Denise's abundant energy and clear thinking, but there seems to be a little bit more of a different flavor in the brightness, and people will be attracted by it once they take a look. Infected by a relaxed mood.
The most eye-catching thing is her outfit.
Although generally following the consistent dressing style, the smart short coat and tight high-necked long skirt are inviolable.
But there is a soft and beautiful light yellow ribbon around the neck, and it is also tied with a generous peony knot.
"An Qi, hand me document No. 3." Denise suddenly spoke, her voice soft.
An Qi accepted the order and picked up a document from the bookshelf: "Madam, this is what you want..."
Before he finished speaking, the door suddenly opened, and Weston rushed in recklessly, bumping into An Qi.
With a sound, the files were scattered all over the floor.
Vesidon quickly stretched out his hand to support An Qi, and then helped clean up the scattered documents on the ground without even daring to raise his head.
But the expected storm did not come.
Denise clicked her tongue with slight dissatisfaction: "Don't be stunned, just hand the things to me after you finish packing."
"Ah, okay." Vesdon was stunned for a moment, then placed the compiled documents in front of Denise, feeling a little strange in his heart.
If in the past, let alone recklessly causing trouble, even if the walking posture was wrong, you would be scolded. How could you be let off so lightly today?
“If you have anything to do, please tell me.” Denise took the document and scanned the data on it: “Don’t disturb my work.”
“Oh, that’s right.” Weisidong came back to his senses and said: "Brother, we need someone over there. A detailed report, estimating how much food can be transferred from Meng'en City Chamber of Commerce after the locust plague."
" Got it." Denise didn't raise her head: "Sit aside for a while and wait. I’ve calculated it, you can send it directly.”
After hearing this, Vesdon picked a chair and sat down, looking at An Qi with questioning eyes. An Qi responded with a shrug, obviously not sure why Denise had such a change.
It’s a good thing anyway, and Vesdon doesn’t intend to delve into it.
After waiting for about half an hour, Vesdon came to the conference room with the data calculated by Denise.
Leaven took the document, glanced at it, and motioned for Vesdon to sit down.
Handing the document to Fiona, Raven looked at Old Gordon: "Continue."
"Yes, sir." Old Gordon coughed: "As mentioned above, the refugees are now mainly concentrated outside the southeastern border of the Ek Territory, and there is a tendency to continue to penetrate northwest along the edge of the territory."
"What about the quantity?" Raven asked.
"The total number of people is no less than 30,000." Old Gordon said with a grimace: "Although the fence can keep them out, if they are left alone, riots are likely to occur."
Lei Wen nodded slowly and looked at Weisidong: "You How do you think we should deal with it?"
Vesidon did not expect that this problem would fall on him, and thought for a while: "...Then just follow the previous method of making wheat porridge and gray bread for them. A place for temporary relief.”
Regarding this answer, Raven was noncommittal and rubbed his chin to think about it.
Seeing Raven's reaction, Vesdon was a little embarrassed. He leaned close to Fiona and asked in a low voice: "Did I just say something wrong?"
Fiona He didn't say anything, he just wrote the words "locust" and "time" on the paper.
Vesdon frowned at first, then slowly relaxed.
Locusts are no different from other natural disasters, and this locust plague is especially serious.
If the refugees are not provided with shelter and only food is provided, not only will they not be able to be rescued, but they will become food for locusts.
Moreover, the last refugee outbreak occurred after the riots caused by the Death Hand Order. The time was concentrated in winter and spring, and there was still a large area of undeveloped land in Raven's territory.
As long as the refugees survive, they can immediately invest in land reclamation and production to earn food rations for themselves.
It is midsummer now, and when the locust plague passes, it may be late autumn or even winter, and the refugees may still not be able to find work by then.
Raising them for a while cannot last a lifetime.
Fiona thought about it and said: "Master, last year we provided a batch of grain to Earl Jonah. Although this year's harvest has been completed, the losses are also very large. Now there are less than 30 million pounds in the warehouse."< br>
“Even if we include the estimated 6 million pounds transferred by the Meng’en City Chamber of Commerce, it is already the limit to feed the 120,000 people in the territory. If we let these refugees in again, even if we save more, there will be a large food gap."
"So I suggest that we strictly guard the border and not let any refugees in. If necessary... use troops. "Eagle Army."
Fiona didn't say clearly what she was using the Eagle Army for, but everyone present understood what she meant.
Leaven asked Old Gordon again: "What about you, what do you think?"
Old Gordon pushed up his monocle: "Master, I don't think we can let these refugees in. Now that the locust plague is coming, people are panicking. Not to mention the food they consume, the chaos they bring is enough to collapse the security of our territory. "
"However, we cannot let them die outside our border."
"After all, you are the Sheriff of Xuefeng County, and now you are on alert No. 3. District Supervisor, if you leave the refugees alone, some people may take advantage of it and use it as an excuse to attack you."
"So, I think it is better to let the Eagle Army be sent out to 'guide'. These refugees went elsewhere and called on the nobles of the five counties to take them in."
Hearing what Old Gordon said, Vesdon looked at Fiona again and shuddered in his heart.
This pair of grandfather and grandson wearing glasses are really more vicious than the other.
Fiona clearly planned to watch the refugees die, and Old Gordon was even more powerful. Not only did he want the refugees to die, but he also thought they didn't die fast enough.
The refugees must have been extremely weak and starved to death by reaching this point. Now to "guide" them on a long journey is simply to kill with a soft knife.
But Weston also had to admit that Old Gordon's method was indeed skillful and sophisticated. It not only solved the refugee problem, but also made the nobles of the five northwest counties have no position to blame the Griffith family.
The most exciting thing among them, in Vesdon's opinion, was his elder brother's reaction, which gradually made him understand the essence of being a noble.
He let his subordinates come up with all the evil ideas, all he had to do was act helpless and go with the flow. But Raven's reaction next made Vesdon's speculation come to nothing.
"What you two said makes sense, but it is fundamentally wrong." Raven looked around the three of them and said slowly: "I asked you to think of a solution, not a solution. What should we do about the refugees themselves, but on the premise of hosting them?”
After saying this, everyone fell silent and looked at Raven in shock.
"Master, cherishing life is indeed a noble virtue." Old Gordon advised: "Allow me to say something that is not pleasant to the ear."
"The so-called glory of the nobility has been abandoned long ago. If it hadn't been like this, there wouldn't have been so many refugees outside our territory."
"For the sake of the stability of the territory, please... give it some thought." .”
Raven raised a smile and suddenly changed a seemingly unrelated topic: "Gordon, do you still remember what the Griffith family was like five years ago?"
Old Gordon He was stunned for a moment, and then recalled the original situation.
Donald ruined the Griffith family to pieces, and then passed away. The originally huge Eagle Territory was only left with a small piece of land like Eagle Town.
It was so fragile that when faced with a group of more than a dozen horse thieves, they had to use the castle as bait to annihilate them.
The warehouse is so empty that rats are running around, and none of the armor and equipment is useful.
Looking at Old Gordon falling into memories, Raven said: "If Viscount John hadn't come to our aid and returned Goldsmith Town, the Griffith family would not be what it is now. Achievement."
"So." Raven slapped the table hard.
“Everyone is actually a whole. The misfortune of others is your misfortune. Don’t think for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for you.”
Old Gordon was speechless, Fiona nodded slowly, and Vesdon seemed to understand.
Leaven continued: "And population is a resource. Only with enough people can the territory develop rapidly."
"Now, I need you to tell me how many we can receive. Refugee?”
Old Gordon began to look through his notes, while Fiona began to check various data, and finally the two of them looked up almost at the same time.
The grandfather and grandson looked at each other, and it was Fiona who said: "Reporting to the master, there are basically no vacant houses in the territory now, but three of the warehouses built around Eagle Castle are temporarily vacant. If it is slightly modified and squeezed, it can accommodate about 7,000 people. ”
"There is also the abandoned mine in the back of Eagle Castle." Old Gordon added: "Although it is not suitable for long-term living, it can accommodate about 2,000 people just to avoid the locust plague."
Leaven He tapped his fingers on the table: "That's nearly ten thousand people..."
As he spoke, his eyes fell on the map on the table.
This is a map of the five northwest counties, drawn by Simon's air brigade, and now marked with the movements of large swarms of locusts.
Looking from the map, the current locust plague is advancing in two directions.
To the south, it already occupies the southwestern half of Hampshire County; to the north, it appears on the southeastern edge of Savery County.
“There are still 10-15 days at most, and the main force of locusts may come to our territory.” Lei Wen said: “Calculated based on 10 days, regardless of the area, we will build on the original site of Holo Territory. How many people can be accommodated by building a temporary shelter using ordinary stones?”
“In this case…” Old Gordon lowered his head and began to calculate, with the help of Fiona. He quickly raised his head: "If we only mobilize the labor force of Holorland, we can probably build a building to accommodate 6,000 people."
Leaven nodded decisively: "Then order people to implement it immediately, open the border, and start Accept refugees."
"But...Master." Fiona was a little worried: "What about food?"
Our own food reserves are no longer enough. When the locust plague passes, food prices will definitely soar, and even those with money may not be able to buy them.
“Don’t worry about this.” Lei Wen said confidently: “I can certainly find ways to provide food.”
“Are there any other problems?”
“No. ”
“Then do it immediately”
"Yes, sir!"
Old Gordon and Fiona were ordered to retreat, leaving only Raven and Vesdon in the same room.
Raven ignored his younger brother, but stared at the map and fell into deep thought.
These 16,000 people are basically the limit that the territory can safely accept at present. Any more will be a bit powerless.
“Brother.” Vesdon noticed Raven’s confusion and asked, “What Old Gordon said earlier was to call on the nobles of the five northwest counties to accept refugees. Do you want to follow through on it?”
Raven waved his hand and rejected Vesdon's proposal.
If you do not plan to accept refugees, you can still make a call like this.
But now that I have made up my mind to accept it, I cannot do this.
You can't do it after you say it, and you can't say it after you do it. It's also a kind of helplessness.
But it’s rare to be a good person once. If you only do half of it, you always feel uncomfortable in your heart.
"By the way, Ke Jialing!" Raven's eyes lit up.
The Koja Territory of Vesassin had just been harassed by Viscount Broca before. The territory suffered a serious loss of citizens. It was not short of food, but it was short of manpower. Moreover, there must be a large number of vacant houses in the territory. In the end, Suitable for resettling refugees.
Leaven immediately contacted Wessazin through the Skyhawk platform and briefly explained the matter.
Vessasin was overjoyed.
To say that he has lived a miserable life in the past six months or so. Not long after he took back his territory, he was almost exhausted from urging spring plowing. As a result, the food in the ground has not grown well, and locusts are about to come.
There aren’t even enough people to collect it!
Now that the refugees have arrived, it can be said that they have brought back a lot of blood for him. He immediately said that he would discuss with Knight Link and bring people to guide the refugees. At the same time, in addition to empty houses, some temporary shelters would also be built. Overall, about 10,000 people can be diverted away.
This made Raven greatly relieved. 16,000+10,000, which is only a difference of 4,000 from the population of 30,000. With this number, if he works hard, he can also occupy his own territory.
The refugee problem can basically be solved.
"Nobles." Raven sighed, with a teasing voice: "I usually eat, drink and have fun, but when I encounter problems, I can only talk about it... Ha!"
If those nobles hadn't failed to live up to their expectations and couldn't even manage their own territories well, there wouldn't have been so many refugees.
After all, there has been peace for too long. It seems that a Hand of Death incident failed to wake them up, learn to face problems, let alone how to deal with them.
I don’t know if there will be any progress after this locust plague.
However, not all nobles were helpless against the locust plague. In the province of Nord, there was a noble who not only accepted a large number of refugees...
even wanted to solve the plague.
……
(End of this chapter)