King
Chapter 70 - 70 69 Kind Master Hudson_1

70: Chapter 69, Kind Master Hudson_1 70: Chapter 69, Kind Master Hudson_1 The caravan swayed leisurely forward, with Hudson sitting in the carriage, stroking a bear and appreciating the “creak, creak…” sound it made as it traveled.

The road was as bumpy as ever, often having to stop to smooth it out to ensure the smooth passage of the carriage.

But these minor interruptions could not dampen Hudson’s good mood.

Having been on edge for several months, he finally had a territory of his own.

Hudson was pleased with everything he saw.

“Get lost!”

“You bunch of fools, brandishing a few pieces of rotten wood, daring to rob others.

If you offend the great Master Hudson, you will surely…”

Hearing the voices ahead, Hudson got off the carriage with rage.

Someone dared to rob him.

It was simply despising the sharpness of his blade.

As Hudson got off the carriage, he noticed that something was wrong.

This so-called robbery was purely a farce.

These people were more like refugees than bandits.

The soldiers mainly reprimanded them, rather than going on a killing spree.

The crowd blocking the road was mostly composed of the old, weak, women, and children, with very few able-bodied men.

They simply didn’t look like typical bandits.

“Tom, what’s going on?”

“Who are these people?”

“Why are they blocking the caravan?”

Hudson asked three questions in succession.

Just as Tom was about to answer, someone from the crowd spoke first, “Honorable Master Hudson, we are all domain people of Viscount Alphonse.

Unfortunately, we were hit by a military disaster, our food was plundered, and now we cannot find our lord, so…”

“Enough, I know what you want to ask!

Viscount Alphonse, unfortunately, met with disaster, his entire family fell at the hands of the Rebel Army.

The new lord comes from the Northland, quickly speaking, he could arrive within a month, and at the slowest, no more than three.

By the time he will naturally arrange for you all.”

Hudson said with a look of indifference.

The part about Viscount Alphonse and his entire family meeting with disaster was true, but the later part was purely nonsense.

When the nobles of the North could arrive, they would only know when they arrived.

Nobility is not only glory, but also responsibility.

Unlike these idle folk who could take up any job at any time, the nobles holding military positions on the frontier, even if they were granted territories, would have to complete the handover with the replacements before they could leave.

If a war or conflict erupted, that would be even worse.

Whether they could leave alive or not was an unknown.

Even if they were offspring of major clans, they couldn’t desert in the middle of a war.

Upon hearing the terrible news, the crowd quickly plunged into chaos, with looks of despair on their faces as if the sky was falling, two elderly men even fainted straight away.

They, who had always relied on Viscount Alphonse for survival, had never thought about how to live without their lord.

Serfs basically had no private property, all the tools of production belonged to the Noble Lord.

Accordingly, the cost of food, clothing, shelter, and burial were all the responsibility of the Noble Lord.

Since all the Noble Lord’s food and goods had been stolen, the people could only barely survive by eating wild vegetables, roots, and bark.

Not to mention three months, even if it was just one month they wouldn’t be able to endure it.

By the time the new lord arrived, it would probably be difficult to even recover their corpses.

Seeing the crowd crying non-stop, Tom, who had just lost face in front of Hudson, quickly stepped forward to yell, “The merciful Master Hudson has already told you, now get out of the way immediately!”

Maybe out of fear of the gleaming broadsword, or perhaps a natural fear of the nobility, the frightened crowd, carrying the two who had fainted, silently cleared the way.

Assured that these were not remnants of the Rebel Army, the compassionate Master Hudson’s sympathy was aroused.

He graciously said, “In consideration of your loyalty to Viscount Alphonse, I won’t hold this against you.

Tom, leave a pound of bread for each of them.

Whether you can survive or not, it’s up to your fate.

Never mind, who can say that I am not kind-hearted!

If you want to leave with us, just follow behind the caravan!

As long as you arrive alive in my territory, I will take you in as domain people.”

After saying this, Hudson got back in the carriage without looking back.

A noble should behave like a noble.

Being too friendly to serfs would only scare them.

Despite wanting to gather these subpar laborers, one must maintain a noble’s lofty attitude.

Leaving the choice to these refugees, even if word got out, people would only say that he was kind, not that he was snatching other people’s domain people.

These people had left as refugees, even if the new lord arrived, it wouldn’t be easy to argue over this matter.

Sitting back in the carriage again, Hudson’s mind began to race.

The war had resulted in a significant reduction in the population of the two counties, but there were still some lucky ones who managed to keep their lives.

He couldn’t touch the native nobles’ domain people, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t touch the domain people of these outsiders.

As long as he could coax them over, they would become his domain people.

Although there were few able-bodied men among them, and most were women and children, they were still laborers after all.

Mining was indeed a bit taxing, but there were few issues when it came to lighting fires, cooking, and doing miscellaneous farm work.

Especially so for the eligible women among them, who could be married off to the bachelors in the army to boost morale.

Having made his decision, Hudson immediately summoned his assistant knights, delegating to them the task of persuasion.

Only the youths who had learned from him over the last few months were capable of such a nuanced task.

The rest of the soldiers were essentially taciturn.

They could be sent into battle and kill, but manipulating the hearts of people was truly challenging.

This was the result of Hudson’s own doing.

Before setting out, he had specifically chosen a group of honest and simple soldiers from his territories for easier command.

On the battlefield, these men had proven to be effective.

They followed Hudson’s commands without question and were easy to manage.

This had influenced the joined serf soldiers as well.

Especially after Hudson introduced collective punishment and executed a few troublemakers as a show of power, everyone fell in line.

They had been so preoccupied with waging war that he had not given it much thought.

It was not until now that Hudson realized the lack of talented individuals under his command.

Poaching talent?

As this idea was taking root, he decisively snuffed it out.

Those who could be poached likely lacked the talent he needed, and he could not afford to poach those with talent.

Not only was there a talent shortage in Hudson’s ranks, but almost all minor nobles were also troubled by the same problem.

Due to knowledge being highly monopolized, talent was concentrated in higher society.

Everyone was a noble, hence not easily swayed by petty rewards.

Seek help from the clan?

One could think about it, but as an adult, one should know that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Even siblings must settle their accounts, not to mention other clan members.

The two unfortunate youths of Wharton County were a perfect example.

The amount of assistance they received now would result in a substantial debt of gratitude in the future.

If their generation could not repay it, the next would have to.

If something unforeseen happened, their successors would have to repay the debt.

Let’s not even mention that the Kingdom encourages loyalty to one’s land.

The extra allocation of Life Essence for deceased nobles, presumably, would now be paid out as wages.

Everything came with a price.

The unwritten rule of equivalent exchange was one of the key reasons why the loosely structured Koslow Clan could maintain its centrality.

Those unwilling to rack up debts of gratitude should refrain from asking for favors, otherwise, one would end up friendless.

The major nobles could offer future prospects to their subordinates, but Hudson lacked even that privilege.

Unable to offer them what they wanted most, he could only rely on paying them more.

As long as the money was good, talent could still be found.

Among those living in the big cities, some talented free citizens would be willing to work for money.

However, it was regrettable that the talents recruited this way would usually only work on a contractual basis, leaving for better opportunities whenever possible.

Among them, those who betrayed their employers for the sake of personal gain were not few, making their loyalty questionable.

As a fledgling entrepreneur, Hudson felt that loyalty was more important than ability.

In his former peaceful world, a betrayal would only cost one some wealth.

But in the Continent of Aslante, betrayal could cost one’s life.

Before he was capable of mitigating risks, Hudson was not planning to take any.

If there was no talent available, he’d have to cultivate it himself.

After all, all he had was a Baron’s Territory, which was under the most primitive form of feudal rule.

There weren’t many complicated matters to handle, so with some diligence, he could manage it himself.

…

Under Hudson’s careful manipulation, news of the power change happening at the higher levels quickly spread among the refugees.

However, there were a few minor discrepancies.

The appointment of noble from the Northland was misinterpreted as their being relocated to the northern border to live alongside the ruthless orcs.

Thanks to the long-standing propaganda from the Alpha Kingdom, in the eyes of the average citizen, orcs were viewed as even more terrifying than devils.

This caused widespread panic among them.

In such times, the smart “refugees” would propose leaving the territory to seek refuge with a kind lord.

The old lord and all his family were dead, and the new lord had yet to accept their allegiance, so leaving could not be seen as treasonous.

The slow-moving convoy of carts soon attracted the attention of passing refugees.

For no reason other than the fact that kind Master Hudson was distributing grain.

Every day at mealtime, food would be distributed promptly.

Although it was only enough to stave off hunger, it was enough to convince them to keep following.