Chapter 386: Household Knight
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Hobert noticed that after three consecutive days of household registration, he had used both kindness and power, but he had only digested one-sixth to one-fifth of the potion.
This was even after every subject had seen him and received food from him in person.
Hobert sighed inwardly: Bestowing favors is indeed not the best way to establish rule. Most of the time, this approach only adds icing to the cake.
Only by demonstrating one's power can a rule that is acknowledged by the people be most easily established.
Of course, this is not to say that bestowing favors is useless. It is not a good thing if "martial virtue" goes too far, but there is no need to bestow favors frequently. Occasional favors can highlight the lord's benevolence.
Thinking of this, Hobert suddenly smiled: If it were someone else, they would have to go through constant trial and error to master how to be a lord without guidance. But I am different. I only need to combine the actual situation with the actions of past emperors, and I can often find a reference.
After 4 PM, under the guidance of three teachers, the clerks finished their statistics.
Hobert sat in his study, reading very carefully. The three teachers who came to submit the statistics stood nervously in front of Hobert's desk, like students who had failed an exam.
Hobert turned the pages one by one. Although the final statistical report was a bit messy, the information he needed was clearly presented to him.
Currently, there are a total of 3367 people in the territory, which is seven or eight hundred more than Hobert expected.
On the last day, some clerks registered at the front, and some clerks made forms in the room, so that the forms were always enough.
Among them, there are more than a thousand young adults. Hobert roughly estimated that during non-farming seasons, his limit is to mobilize 1200 young adults for labor and 300 women to provide logistical support.
The manpower that can be mobilized has far exceeded Hobert's expectations.
Then the preliminary preparations can begin. As soon as the design drawings are out, construction will begin immediately!
Hobert said to the three teachers: "Basically, it has met my requirements."
The three teachers finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Hobert said to the male teacher who had been the most active and contributed the most in the past week or so: "Your name is Conrad, right? Would you like to stay and work in the Lord's Manor? I am going to set up a 'Household Registration Knight' position to manage household registration matters for me.
"In the future, all newborns and household registration changes will be under the jurisdiction of the Household Registration Knight, who will enjoy the relevant treatment of a knight, but without a fief. He will only receive a salary from the Lord's Manor and will be equipped with four subordinates.
"In the future, if any project needs to be carried out in the territory, the Household Registration Knight will have to mobilize the young adults in the town and villages."
Conrad immediately agreed excitedly. Even without a fief, this was considered entering politics and directly serving the lord.
Although another male teacher was a little unconvinced, he did not dare to show it in front of the lord. Moreover, Conrad did do more and was more responsible than him.
Then, Hobert appointed the female teacher as the principal, which made the male teacher even more unconvinced, but he found that he did not dare to object under the Duke's gaze.
Not only that, Hobert also reprimanded the male teacher who was procrastinating and had an extremely improper attitude.
The male teacher was sweating profusely and quickly knelt down to beg for mercy.
However, Hobert did not punish him, only told him to calm down and be a teacher. When there was a need for clerks in the future, he would be asked to come to the Lord's Manor again. As long as he performed well, he would also be given a errand.
After a combination of kindness and power, Hobert ended his work for the day.
During dinner, Hobert said at the table: "There may be some guests coming tonight, you'd better not go out."
Starting on Thursday afternoon, Hobert had discovered three villagers who had disguised themselves to register.
They thought they were hiding very well, even smearing their faces and wearing ragged clothes, but Hobert still noticed that their necks were relatively clean, and they were obviously not used to the local Feynapotter attire.
Helen was slightly stunned, carefully chewing on Hobert's words.
Fors, on the other hand, frowned, wondering why guests would come at night. Then she understood that this "guest" was an adjective, meant for Helen to hear.
Fors asked: "Do you need me to find helpers to help?"
She could call Xio to help.
Hobert shook his head: "I can handle it myself."
Helen was stunned: She can summon helpers?
Hobert also told Philip and Seel: "No matter what sounds you hear, don't go to my yard."
After dinner, Hobert returned to his study and said to Fors: "I estimate that the mercenaries from Backlund have arrived. You'd better go back to Backlund temporarily to avoid them."
Fors smiled: "This may also be one of the tests for me."
Hobert knew that this would be the result. He handed Fors a revolver: "Its ability is to fire bullets that make it difficult for opponents to concentrate. The negative effect is that it is easy to hear some maddening whispers.
"Be careful."
He knew that the mercenaries' main target was himself, and even if Fors stayed, there would not be too much danger.
Fors took the pistol and nodded seriously.
At night, Hobert turned off the lights as usual, but he did not sleep. Instead, he held the Tang knife and sat cross-legged on the bed to wait.
In the second half of the night, his spirituality sensed someone climbing into the yard.
Thump~
Almost as soon as Hobert noticed, the door was immediately kicked open, and two people wearing Loen-style knight uniforms immediately raised their guns towards Hobert's bed.
The entire tactical action from entering the yard to entering the door to attacking was very clean and neat.
But the moment they raised their guns, they were attracted by the murals on the wall. They almost simultaneously exclaimed: "What a beautiful scenery!"
The monster immediately appeared and sent out a curse.
The mercenary who came in first immediately said: "Distort!"
He twisted the curse onto the chair next to him, and the chair immediately shattered.
Hobert judged that this should be a "Baron of Corruption."
The two men fired repeatedly, killing the monster, but they had completely lost their previous advantage.
The monster disappeared, and Hobert's knife was also close.
Fortunately, the two people who served as the vanguard were very skilled and immediately separated to avoid Hobert's attack.
But Hobert reached out and grabbed at the same time as he attacked. The second mercenary who entered the door immediately stayed there, as if he had forgotten to dodge.
"Distort..." Before the "Baron of Corruption" could use "Distortion", Hobert had cleanly cut off the mercenary's head.
The "Baron of Corruption" was secretly shocked. His comrade was a Sequence 7! He was killed just like that! Hobert was much more powerful than the information they had gathered.
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