Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

"Now I'm going to arrange a task for you, and everyone's life and death will be closely related to each of you. If each of you tries your best to complete the task, but the final result is still a failure, then I, Haven Ambside I am willing to bear all the crimes. But before the result is announced, you must swear to obey me, and treat every order of mine with the rigorous attitude of a bachelor's scholar - I will not let you do things that violate the law and morality, nor will you Injury to your dignity and lives."

Isrit was the first to swear. She raised her two fingers and said, "I have sworn to be loyal to you a long time ago." Then came Violet and Hyacinth. The housekeeper hesitated for a moment, and then swore the oath.Fan Deli swears when he sees the big butler, and he follows up.Zhe Lite thought for the longest time, and the serious expression on her face made Hai Wen almost forget her past humor.But she finally swore.

"Smiley Ranger, what about you?" Haiwen asked the last person.

The smiling cat raised its eyebrows and stared at him, saying: "The oath of a ranger is different from that of ordinary people. Once you swear, you should defend it with your life."

"Others are no less important than you." Haven looked at Isrit, who nodded and saluted, and said, "A wife should give everything for her husband."

The smiling cat let out a muffled moan, "I'll make sure, it's not against morality, right?"

"Yes."

The smiling cat withdrew its smile, and said solemnly: "If it conflicts with morality, I will not obey your order; on this premise, I am willing to obey your order-oh, you have to pay."

"Okay." Haven nodded.In this way, the whole team is initially united. "Everyone, life and death is a matter of life and death. If it succeeds, Yema Town will surely prosper in the future, and everyone will gain fame and fortune; if it doesn't work, I will break up the team and separate families, and everyone will take the severance pay and go away." He glanced at everyone. Eyes, making sure that everyone is looking at him, said immediately:

"I will now arrange what you have to do—first of all, Steward Dreyer!"

"Yes!" Although the housekeeper was lying on the bed, his eyes were shining brightly, "Just give me orders."

"Now the land around Yema Town is controlled by major farmers. There are thirteen big landowners in this area. I want you to sort out the court files and find out all the old rotten millet about these landowners. As much as you want. No deliberate falsification is allowed, and everything must be certified.”

"Obey, my lord!" The butler said with a sneer, "I just love to do such immoral things."

"Vandry Garcia!"

"Here!" the fat man in the cashier said quickly.

"You first send five hundred gold coins to Charles. Then inform my brother, Gelmon Ambside, to quietly transfer the rest of the family property to the iron treasury of the Duke of the Bayland, and then buy a few fast horses. Come on. In addition, during this period of time, the big and small affairs in the house are up to you to decide, but what you do every night must be truthfully reported to Manager Delaire. Do you understand?"

Fatty's face turned pale when he heard this order, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.This guy is not stupid, he can obviously guess Hai Wen's intentions.Hai Wen stared at him, and said, "You swore that those who are disloyal will be punished severely according to the law and reason - did you hear my order clearly?"

The fat man nodded in shock, "Yes, my lord, I will definitely obey."

"Very good, the next ones—Gerette, Isrit, Hyacinth, and Violet. The four of you are together, I have a task to arrange."

Zerette said: "Please tell me, Lord Haiwen."

Haiwen pondered a little, and said, "Gerita, you have lived in the forest for a long time, and you are also a forest witch. You should know all kinds of plants, right? Do you understand the crops?"

"The Witch of the Woods knows everything, my lord," she said with the corners of her lips curled up.

"Okay." Haven asked Israite again, "Israet, your family is a farmer, so you should know how to farm and buy and sell food."

"Yes, my lord." She said with a wry smile, "I don't know anything else."

"That's it, Zhe Lite, Isrit, you go to inspect the wetlands in the southeast of Mustang Town and the wasteland in the northeast of Mustang Ridge. You need to know the annual output of the local farmers, the way they cultivate, and the crops they grow Type, market price... If you can think of any information, please come back to me to investigate together. Hyacinth, Violet, you two will take care of Madam." Hearing this, the two maids saluted immediately, expressing that they would definitely take care of it lady.

And Estherite hurriedly said: "No, I don't need someone to take care of me, I..."

Haiwen raised his hand to interrupt her, and said solemnly: "I think you need it."

Estelle choked on his tone, nodded and said, "Yes, my lord."

At this time, the forest witch said: "My lord, it's outrageous for us women to run around. It's too inconvenient to go out to do business. Can you get me a man?"

Gerrit's request was beyond his expectations. Haiwen thought that the forest witch had great powers and could handle everything by herself. "Do you still need a man?" he asked.

"Need." Gellite spread her hands, the lower half of her face was joking, but her eyes were sternly staring at Haven, "What do you think a forest witch is? Although I know poison, what happened to me..." She rolled her eyes, "I am also very troublesome for robbers and the like."

No one is stupid in Ganqing, everyone can see it.Haiwen frowned and said, "I will send someone to escort you—Dreyer, do we have any available guards?"

"You can use the bastard." Dreyer said, "the old bastard Dals, a mercenary who gambled and owed people to be castrated. He has been in our guard for many years and used to do some dirty things for us. .”

Haiwen had this person in his mind, but he questioned it: "This kind of person's character is trustworthy?"

Dreyer said: "First, he is an eunuch and will not do anything wrong to the ladies; second, if he betrays us, he will lose his job in the future; third, his case is in our hands; Fourth, he has a biological sister who is now married to your younger brother and is a tenant farmer, so this is a hostage."

"hostage?"

"My lord, morality and honor alone can't restrain your subordinates, we still have to use some tricks." When he said this, the smiling cat let out a strange dry laugh.

Haiwen nodded and said: "Honor is necessary, and means are also indispensable; we can treat cronies with less or no means, but when dealing with distrustful people, means are necessary."

Dreyer said approvingly: "You are really flexible, my lord."

"Then it's settled, Dreyer, you arrange someone to escort Gellette and the others. You need to be responsible for their safety." He asked Gellette, "Is this okay?"

"Yes." Geralte replied, "I thank the butler in advance."

"You are welcome, Mrs. Witch, this is a matter of duty." Dreyer said.

The issue of family members and female relatives was resolved, and Haiwen continued to give the next order: "Smiley cat!"

"Say, let's listen."

"You take my documents and go get out the guards and inspectors, and pick some people who you think can be used..."

"Then I don't think there is any." The smiling cat said with a smile.

"If you don't have one, you will forcefully train a group of them. These people will be led by you. The name is the mayor's law enforcement team for the time being. We will change the name and expand the number of recruits in the future..."

"I'm too lazy to care about people!" Smiley Cat spread his hands, and then spread four fat fingers like a cat, "Eat, drink, fight, fuck big girls—only these four, nothing else."

"You just need to check for me and build the team. You don't need to manage, you are the instructor, you have to teach them how to fight-you have no problem with that?"

The smiling cat smiled "hehe" and said, "Remember to pay more."

"If you get things done well, I won't treat you badly." Hai Wen took out a pen from his pocket, wrote an official document to Smiley Cat on the spot, and said, "I'll go to the town council hall with you in the afternoon, There is the official seal of the mayor there. After the seal is stamped, you immediately gather the guards and inspectors, and then appoint people to handle the affairs."

"Good lord."

All tasks have been assigned.Hai Wen said: "Everyone, time is tight, start working as soon as possible. If you need anything, just tell me, don't bother our housekeeper—the meeting is over!"

After saying that, everyone dispersed, and Haiwen was stopped by Gellite as soon as she went out. She pulled him to the corner of the corridor, and after making sure that there was no one around, she said to Haiwen:

"Haven Ambleside, what do you mean?"

"Can't you guess it?" Haiwen said with a wry smile.

"I want to hear from you."

"Okay." Haiwen said, "What investigations, research, these are secondary tasks, even a cover. In fact, I want you to take these girls to a safe place. If something happens to me, you You have to take them away."

"The most I can do is turn them into witches, and the result is that they won't be able to marry for the rest of their lives..." She gritted her teeth and muttered, "Just like me."

Haiwen said: "That's better than death. Don't worry too much. If something really happens, I'll be single, and I'll run away on my horse. After that, I'll leave a message at places like the Alchemy Union and the Ranger Hotel. We can meet sooner or later. Besides, we still have pigeons."

"It's easy for you to say, but if the bride listens to this, she will drown you with tears?" Gelieta drew a crying symbol, "You only think about power and money, and you don't want to lose money." Do you think about your family?"

"If I don't care about my family, can I let you take her for refuge? And I'm not doing everything for power and money, I'm doing it for justice!" He growled and said the last two words, "Justice! Whether it is The baron is still the landlord, and these sinners should be punished!"

Chapter 29: New officers take office

Chapter 29: New officers take office

After assigning tasks, Haven asked Dreyer for a list.A few days ago, Haven asked Dreyer to recruit some people, and the requirement was to be as literate as possible and not have any criminal records.Dreyer recruited about a dozen people, and now it's time to hire people.Dreyer has the residences of these people in his hands, and Haven asked his servants to find them all.Wild Horse Town is not big, and after about an hour, everyone gathered in front of the judge's house.

He inspected the men with Smiley Cat.There were a total of ten people who came, all men, including a teenager in his teens and a hunchbacked old man.The smiling cat said: "They are all as thin as monkeys, I don't want any of these people."

"I didn't intend to give it to you either."

Haven said to those people: "Everyone, I need you to work for me in the days to come. I am Haven Ambleside, the current judge and mayor of Mustang Town." Haven showed people The official document, which is the appointment notice given to him by the baron, has legal effect, "Who among you can read the most characters and have the most knowledge?"

No one spoke, and their faces had the numbness typical of Mustang townspeople.Only the boy peeked at the old man and said, "Old Ramon is the most knowledgeable."

Haven looked at the list, and then asked the old man, "Lucoen Ramon?"

"Yes, my lord." He raised his head and said hoarsely.

"Your Excellency is knowledgeable?"

"I dare not, my lord." The old man said, "I just read some books and can read some words."

Hai Wen asked: "You are so old, why are you still applying for this position?"

The old man looked at Haiwen with yellow eyes, pondered for a while, and said, "Because your notice says there is no age limit."

"That's not what I meant, old sir." Haiwen whispered, "I mean, you still come out to work at such an old age? Where are your children?"

The old man didn't speak, but the young man beside him interrupted and said, "They're all dead."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend." Haven took off his hat.

The old man shook his head and said, "It's okay, my lord, if you can enjoy the food, I will be grateful to old Ramon."

Haiwen nodded, then asked the boy, "What's your name?"

The boy smiled, pointed to the old man and said, "He is old Ramon, and I am little Ramon."

"What is your relationship?"

"I'm his student!" The boy showed his white teeth, "I also cook for old Ramon."

Haiwen asked the old man, "Is that so?"

The old man nodded and said, "Yes, I only have him as a student. With this child supporting me, I will not starve to death."

Haiwen continued to ask: "What did you rely on for food before?"

The old man said: "Little Ramon went out to work and exchanged some money, but the money was really not much."

"Not much, not much! Really not much!" Little Ramon said, waving his hands, "Old Ramon was so hungry that he grabbed hard bread with Little Ramon, and ended up losing his teeth, haha!"

Hearing this, the old man buried his face in embarrassment, and said, "My lord! I was so hungry at that time, I... I did grab my student's bread, I..." He said here with tears running down his face , the body trembled, "You are the judge, you should convict me of robbery! I am dead!"

Hearing this, little Ramon panicked and said loudly: "I'm lying! Old Ramon mistook bricks for bread, and that's why he lost his teeth! He didn't take my bread, and my master didn't take my bread!" !"

Haven saw everything in his eyes and said, "Very well, as long as you do it with me, I won't let you continue to starve—the same goes for everyone else!" Old Ramon, little Ramon, Haven was in his heart Remember these two people.

Afterwards, Haiwen brought these people and the smiling cat to the mayor's council hall.According to the rules of the principality, no matter how big or small a town is, there must be a council hall.The mayor should work here, listen to the demands of the people, and govern the town.However, the former mayor of Yema Town was extremely lazy and slack in politics. In the ten years since he took office, he has hardly ever worked in the council hall.So the buildings in the town center here have been abandoned for a long time.

When Haiwen arrived, he saw the Yizheng Hall looming in the center of the square like a ghost house.Mushrooms and moss grew in the corners, and there was a stench of dampness; he looked up and saw that the clock upstairs was rusty, and the clock hadn't been rung since Haven came to Mustang Town.At this moment, several crows were standing on the platform of the clock tower, staring at him with black eyes.

Haven decided to work here in the future, and he wanted to tell the people in Mustang Town that things are different now.He walked up the mossy stairs to the gate.The lock on the door was broken long ago, so he kicked the door open.Then a cloud of dust hit his face, choking him to cough.

When the dust settled, he looked in.The inside of the Yizheng Hall was simply unsightly, the wall skin was peeling off, the floor was covered with dirt and dust, and moss came out of the cracks in the stone walls; there were spider webs in the corners, and there were rats screaming in the corners.

At the end of the road stood the mayor's desk, with some rotting parchment on it.

Haiwen had expected it a long time ago, so he asked his servants to bring shovels, buckets, rags and other things in advance.He ordered: "Everyone, clean up this place as soon as possible. I will use this place tomorrow. If the work can be completed tonight, each person will have five copper coins." , Everyone went to get the tools.

Old Ramon was also going to get the rag, but Haven stopped him and said, "Old man, you are too old, so you don't have to do it."

"I can still work! My lord!" he said, straightening up.

"I didn't say you couldn't do it, but you don't have to do physical work."

"Then what do I do?"

"You command them and make sure they work hard. If someone is lazy, you tell me, he will not get copper coins. In addition, you pick three hardest working people and tell me at night, these three people can get ten copper coins .If someone makes things difficult for you, come and tell me, and I will support you. You will also have five copper coins to take after you are done—remember, honesty is the most important thing. Tell me the truest situation, and I will have my own judgment.” He spoke so loudly that everyone could hear him.

Old Ramon quickly saluted, and said gratefully: "Yes, my lord! You saved my life!"

"That's right!" Haven called Little Ramon over, and then gave him a silver coin, "You go and buy two baskets of bread first, and then buy some fruit wine and meat sauce, and then share them with everyone. These are considered rewards , not included in wages."

"Okay!" Little Ramon's eyes lit up, and he took the money and ran away.

Haven watched the boy leave - if the boy can buy enough things, it will prove his honesty.On the contrary, if there is a lack of weight, Haiwen will kick him out of the team.

He hated liars and embezzlers above all.

Then he dug out the official seal of the mayor from a pile of trash.He was stamping the document for Smiley Cat, and then he was going to pick someone up.But where are the guards and inspectors now?Logically speaking, the captains of these two teams should be on standby in the duty room of the Yizheng Hall at all times. If they go out to patrol, there should also be someone in the duty room for communication.But in fact, the duty room has grown as grass as the Yizheng Hall.

Haiwen had no choice but to ask someone to find the two missing captains.Wild Horse Town is not big, and they were found within an hour. The captain of the guard team was drunk in a tavern, and the captain of the inspector team played cards and gambled money with a few shop assistants under a big tree.Haiwen asked these two people to stand in front of him. The gambler was still obedient and stood in front of him with a puzzled face; while the drunk pointed at his nose and said, "Who are you?"

Chapter 30: The Drunk

Chapter 30: The Drunk

Hai Wen looked at the drunk man. He was indeed wearing the red and white soft armor of the captain of the guard, with two knives pinned to his waist, one long and one short, but his helmet was missing, and his hair was disheveled, like a hooligan.He had a rosacea and small wet eyes, and he stinks of stomach acid and distiller's grains.

"I'm Haven Ambleside, the new mayor."

The drunk frowned, nudged the gambler, and said, "Brother, is he the mayor?"

The gambler—that is, the captain of the inspector team looked embarrassed, "I think he is."

"'You think' he is?" the drunk laughed. "I thought I was a duke! Ha ha ha ha!"