Mage? Spell Engineer!

When Rorschach met His Majesty Albert, he was wearing a military uniform similar to a formal dress, and the decorations symbolizing glory were hung as if they were free.

Do you want to be a medal king? Rorschach was not particularly comfortable with the king's uniform. In the past, this lover and patron of art, especially opera, would not dress like this, but this also shows the tension in Byrne's country.

"Master Rorschach, the development speed of your trading company and factory is really impressive. Is there any magic that can be used in business?" The king first made a joke to the young people who came to see him.

Why, you think my sheep are fat and you want to slaughter them? Luo Xia was a little alert. He wanted to carry forward the spirit of humility and prudence, and quickly answered: "Your Majesty, you are wrong."

Albert jumped to the next topic: "The training of the Sky Knight has achieved initial results, and I am very satisfied. So can you?"

Luo Xia bowed slightly again: "Your Majesty, you are so complimentary."

"." The king coughed and reorganized his words: "The preparations for the new army's armaments can be completed within two months. It is really fast."

"Your Majesty, you are so complimentary."

"." Can you still talk properly? When the old king faced the little rogue, he could only go directly to the topic of the meeting: "Master Rorschach, the Sky Knights have been patrolling the border recently and found that more and more refugees are entering our country from Valois, and the southern towns are unsettled. Can you mobilize Settlement part of its workshops and trading companies? "

In the turbulent beginning of the Holy Kingdom, the exile of the nobles was the main issue. Nowadays, due to food shortages and wars in the kingdom, more and more capable civilians are making money. In other cases, the imperial army passed through the border like locusts and ran out of food, forcing local residents to leave their homes and flee.

There are three disadvantages for the refugees in the northern part of the Holy Kingdom:

Istany is across the sea, so I won’t go; there’s also a food shortage in the south of the kingdom, so I won’t go; and the countries in the south of the mainland are too far away, so I won’t go.

So a group of people from Ulala traveled across mountains and rivers and chose the seemingly peaceful and prosperous Kingdom of Bain.

At first, there were sporadic beggars with foreign accents in border towns and rural areas, and later they appeared in groups. Some even had horse-drawn carriages, and some knew how to do paperwork. When they came up, they begged the city hall for protection. They took gold, silver and jewelry to redeem a small piece of land and Byrne's citizenship rights.

Up to now, when the Sky Knight was patrolling, he discovered that there were groups of refugees moving into Byrne in the forests and fields of the south. According to reports from local city halls, the total number of refugees who have arrived and those who have not yet arrived is probably tens of thousands.

The border troops only controlled these refugees, but did not expel them all. The reason is simple. Currently, Byrne has two legions that have been incorporated into the Imperial Army, and a new legion has been formed. The weather has warmed up, and spring plowing is coming next, so labor shortages can be foreseen.

Therefore, after the king and ministers judged that there was no shortage of food in the country, they wanted to eat the people they sent to their doorsteps.

In theory, these refugees are a relatively high-quality labor force - they move long distances in a state of hunger, eliminating many old and weak people, and the population structure is "healthy"; they have no citizenship rights after entering Byrne, and they are cheap enough.

Unfortunately, in theory, the main difficulty is how to manage and organize these people and transform them from negative assets into controllable human resources. The biggest problem for refugees is that they cannot quickly integrate into Byrne's civil society. Differences in culture and beliefs bring about conflicts. Conflicts between locals and outsiders will greatly threaten the stability of the kingdom and increase the cost of public security.

What the court is interested in now is Rorschach's attempt at the steel factory: he turned a large number of farmers into workers. These landless people did not immediately become small citizens in the towns, but were crowded and placed in board houses at high density, forming a The collective population whose food and clothing expenses are all controlled and semi-controlled by the company produces industrial products with high efficiency.

These people are in an intermediate and free state between rural and urban populations. They have lost their land and cannot return to farming, herding, and weaving. They also do not have any skills or minimal assets to enable them to operate and establish themselves in the city. The new labor skills mastered by the new city population are highly bound to the factory. They must obey instructions, cooperate with workers, and cooperate with machines to achieve production.

The gentlemen of the palace and city hall don't know what such a group is called, but they are veteran rulers who are keenly aware that the labor force organized in this way is very charming!

They are easier to manage and have higher output than the mud-legged people scattered in the fields. They are also more peaceful than the literate citizens and will not chatter in the palace and city hall.

In the eyes of the king and his ministers, Rorschach was a magician with a golden touch, able to reduce unruly people and old farmers into numbers and humanoid currency. If those refugees were transformed in this way, that would be a beautiful thing! Throwing them into the factory can also isolate them from the local citizens, saving a lot of trouble.

After discussing with the princes and courtiers, Albert made an important condition: "If you can resettle the refugees without breaking out conflicts and turmoil, then I am willing to canonize you as a border count in the name of Lord Byrne and enjoy the glory of a noble." and privilege.”

Byrne once had a border count (a border count is legally equivalent to a marquis), but now it is part of Valois. Albert certainly did not propose it rashly at this time. Presumably other nobles and the city hall have already approved this plan:

The border with Kempson as the capital and all the way to the three-way junction of Bayne-Valois-Imperial was designated as Rorschach's territory, and this unusual and traditional canonization was similar to the gambling agreement in the previous life——

Rorschach was to receive and resettle refugees in the territory. The most harsh thing is that taxes are usually exempted in the first few years of opening up a territory, but the king's conditions are the opposite: the Kempson border earldom needs to turn in twice as much food as the territory's previous years during this summer's harvest, and during the war period Support Bain with the armaments of a legion.

If the above conditions are not fulfilled, Rorschach's fiefdom and title will be taken back.

What is wrong with the standard start of a wizard lord novel is "never had such a wonderful start". If it were a novel, it should start with a little knight, and now there is a chance to become a marquis in one step. If the Merkles in their hometown heard it, they would definitely faint from happiness. A city and a large territory on the border are much better than the manors of the imperial military nobles.

Rorschach's eyes sharpened. He was indeed sure of meeting the excessive conditions proposed by the king after accepting the refugees, but the actual conditions were more than that.

For example, if we examine the envisaged location of the earldom, it is a three-way border. The border earldom will definitely have huge defense pressure. Today they are refugees, but tomorrow they may face a large army. Furthermore, the current armaments are purchased by the kingdom from Rorschach's steel factory. If supplying armaments to a legion becomes an obligation, the profits will in turn turn into losses.

To put it bluntly, military spending is too expensive, and everyone from the palace to the city hall cannot afford it. They want to cut off a piece of "negative assets" and seize titles and bad land from the largest supplier.

"What's your intention, Master Rorschach?" Albert asked with urging. At this critical moment, as long as Rorschach agreed, he found an enemy who could throw the most difficult questions at the moment to this person. Talented people and strangers.

However, Rorschach slowly shook his head. He actually resisted the temptation of "Marquis"!

Luo Xia showed a calm smile: "Your Majesty, I was not born in Bain, and I have no meritorious service. I appreciate your respect, but if I accept the canonization hastily, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public."

No, no, no, we all think this is a good deal! Albert quickly said: "Extraordinary things are done in extraordinary times. In ancient times, the Ludwig family was ordered to resist barbarians and guard the borders, which is why the Byrne Kingdom is today. Now that the situation is complicated and changing, it is the time for you young people to make contributions. "Child Rorschach, where is your drive as a young man? So what are you doing with your budget?

Your Majesty, why do you sound like you are encouraging me to rebel? Rorschach felt that the king was too eager to urge him to jump into the pit, and he even spoke indiscriminately.

Rorschach had no choice but to come up with another idea for the Byrne royal family: "Your Majesty, have you ever heard of what a 'Special Zone' is?"