In the afternoon, Victor's motorcade had arrived at the outskirts of Blinol.

The last month of the water season is the season of heavy snowfall. The entire city and the surrounding wilderness have been covered with silver. The thick snow makes most creatures huddle in their warm nests and are reluctant to move, but

It's a completely different story in Blinall.

Before entering the royal capital, there was no snow on the wide road. Many young men wearing sheepskin coats carrying brooms and shovels were patrolling on both sides of the road. Whenever they found anything wrong with the road, they would

It will be repaired in time.

"There are so many people." Alice leaned against the window and couldn't help but sigh.

Victor took a look and found that there were actually not many people there, but compared to the western territories where even the roads were covered with snow, there were indeed people here.

"Have you never been to the Royal Capital?" Victor put his arm around Alice's slender waist and casually lowered the thick curtains. The carriage was comfortable and warm, but with the windows open on a snowy day, it was still a bit uncomfortable.

Victor felt a biting chill.

Alina came over and said, "This is our first time in the royal capital. When the family moved westward, they passed through the Duke of Wellington."

"Blinall is very prosperous and densely populated, with more than 60,000 registered residents and at least 100,000 undocumented freedmen, which is more than the total population of Centaur Hills. The mayor of Blinall is most worried

What's happening is large-scale population migration. As long as the refugees pass by the royal capital, most of them are unwilling to leave." Victor took the hot coffee from Judy's hand and took a sip.

"Judy, have you been to the Royal Capital?" Victor smiled at Judy.

Judy hesitated for a moment and said softly: "Been here. That was a long time ago."

"Victor, are you familiar with Blinol?" Alina asked beside her.

"I have lived in Blinol for 6 years...but I have never really known this city." As he said that, Victor rang the bell, and not long after, the voice of Guards Captain Gru

A voice sounded outside the car window: "Sir, what are your orders?"

"Inform Knight Sheen in front that we go through the south gate." Victor said.

"Yes." Gru responded and ran towards the front of the motorcade.

After the convoy entered the central part of the kingdom, Knight Sheen of the Royal Capital's Internal Affairs Office led his team of knights to take over from Count Eliot and began to take charge of the security work. He did not refuse Victor's request.

The motorcade turned south at a fork in the road. Judy asked in surprise: "Dear, why don't you take the west gate?"

"Sister Judy, is there any difference?" Alice asked curiously. Along the way, the three women shared a carriage and served the same man. They had already become sisters.

Judy smiled softly and explained: "The north gate of Blinol connects to the Kite Castle, and usually only the army can pass through. The west gate leads directly to the inner city, and is the main gateway for the royal family and nobles to enter and exit. The east gate connects to the outer city and can be used for transportation.

Caravans can pass through. Anyone can go through the south gate, but... from there, you have to pass through the shanty towns of free people."

"Only by entering through the west gate can we see the whole picture of Blinol." Victor said.

The motorcade moved forward slowly. Two-quarters of an hour later, the sounds outside the car gradually became noisy. Victor opened the car window and saw that the motorcade was already driving on the road in the shanty town.

Shanty towns are residential areas for refugees. They have always been dirty, messy, and poor places. Fortunately, it is covered with heavy snow and freezing cold. The convoy can't smell any peculiar smell while driving in the shanty towns. There are low shanties one after another.

Wrapped in white snow, it actually looked elegant and clean. The residents of the shanty town saw the aristocratic motorcade approaching from a distance. The bold and clever ones hurriedly cleared the road, maintained order, and flattered Victor's carriage. The timid and cautious ones hid behind the scenes.

Behind the shack, they looked far away. When the motorcade had gone away, they gathered together in twos and threes and discussed something with each other. A dozen ignorant children followed the motorcade, curious to see what was going on, but they were soon shouted down by adults.

end.

In fact, there were only a few people watching the noble carriage. Victor found that there were relief points set up by the church at regular intervals, and most people were busy queuing up to receive alms from the church.

March and April of the water season are the seasons with the most abundant rain and snow. Farmers who have been busy all year will stay at home and spend the most leisurely two months of the year. But for those free people who make a living by working

It is said that these two months, when there is no work to do and the weather is cold, are the most difficult times. Fortunately, the church carries out relief and charity at this time every year to help the working free people survive the severe cold. This kind of relief activity has been

It is called Hanji.

Cold relief is only for those free people without status. No matter they are poor or rich, they can receive alms. As a rule, each person is given half a piece of black bread every day, and a small piece of bacon every ten days. Those who are old, weak, women and children who do not have cold clothes

You can get a sheepskin jacket. Of course, the cold-weather clothing will eventually be returned to the church. Most civilians will never appropriate the church's property. If the temporarily distributed clothing is stolen or lost, they will also find ways to compensate the church for its losses. As for those who dare to

People who use crooked ideas will be beaten to death by believers without the help of the paladin.

The cold charity was still going on, and the queue of free people was long. Those who had received alms first half-knelt in the snow to give thanks. After receiving the black bread, they thanked the church attendants profusely. Their faces were filled with joy.

Wearing a happy smile. This kind of joy from the heart is very contagious. The church attendants and paladins in charge of alms also showed sincere smiles. They would touch the children’s little heads, support the old people’s arms, and be polite.

Greeting women, or patting a young man on the shoulder, joking with each other, and laughing happily.

"The charity of the church is admirable. Victor, when we go to the cathedral to pray, please donate more money." Judy said softly, and the warm scene in front of her made her a little touched.

Victor smiled. Although the nobles were arrogant, they also had compassion, but they only stayed on the surface of church charity and could not see the deeper things.

It is a fact that the church protects the common people, but as a military group and a charitable organization that relies on faith, the church also inevitably inhibits the development of the common people. The free people outside Blinol have to rely on relief to survive the winter after working hard for a year.

There must be reasons for the church. If civilian believers are the foundation for the church's survival, then hunger, war, and cold have become important conditions for the church to harvest faith and grow in strength.

Victor is a bystander, but there is no need to preach loudly. His biggest problem now is that he has risen too quickly and has too few vassals. In the absence of a ruling foundation, the freedmen group in Randall's territory will develop faster and be captured by the church.

The greater the possibility of fruition, including the freemen's caravan. Victor observed the lives of the freemen just to find a suitable solution.

"Judy, do the Buryats count the population of free people in their territory?" Victor asked.

"This... I only know that the registered population of the family is about 60,000... No one has ever counted those refugees. When the ant plague broke out, they all ran away." A look appeared on Judy's face.

With a faint blush, she rarely interfered with the government affairs of the territory, let alone the affairs of the free people.

"Dear, what is the registered population?" Alina couldn't help but ask,

Seeing that Alice had also raised her ears, Victor asked strangely: "Didn't you learn how to manage territory in Black Castle?"

The twin sisters shook their heads at the same time, their expressions a little unnatural. They are personal maids prepared by the York family to win over the great knights. They can have children and manage the castle, but they cannot interfere in the internal affairs of the territory, otherwise the York family will be counterproductive.

However, Alina and Alice clearly felt that Victor preferred capable helpers, but their talents in this area were not as good as Lilia's.

"The registered population is what the church refers to. Regardless of whether there is a disaster in the territory, the lords of various places must also ensure the livelihood of the registered people, and the church will be responsible for the relief work of the non-registered population. Generally speaking, the children of vassals and subjects' families

They are all the registered population of the territory, and the rest of the free people are refugees. The refugees come today and leave tomorrow, and even the church has no way of counting the specific number." Judy rolled her eyes at Victor charmingly, and the question just now was a bit confusing.

Make things difficult for her.

Victor said nonchalantly: "The number of refugees is indeed difficult to count. When a disaster occurs, the lord must protect the registered people, and the church's clergy will organize the evacuation of the refugees. As far as I know, the registered population of Cambis is

900,000, the number of refugees is at least more than 500,000, maybe far more."

"So many people?! What about us, Randall?" Alice asked.

Victor smiled and said nothing, but he was very depressed in his heart. Randall's registered population was less than 2,000, and the remaining more than 7,000 people were refugees. This was a manifestation of the Randall family's lack of background, and it was not even as good as a

Hereditary barony.

Seeing that Victor had no intention of answering, the three women did not ask further questions. The motorcade continued to move forward, and the surrounding scene was different. Many shops appeared on both sides of the road, and two-story wooden buildings replaced the low sheds.

Among them was a small blue-brick building. The pedestrians on the road looked and dressed much better than the people in front of them. When they saw Victor's motorcade, they took off their hats and paid tribute, looking extremely well-educated.

Judy stared at her watery almond eyes and said in disbelief: "Is this really a shanty town?"

"Is it more prosperous than the business district of Yehliu City?" Victor continued: "There are very few nobles involved in the world of free people, and we don't know much about them. However, there are also smart and stupid ones among them.

There are also many outstanding merchants, craftsmen and artists, both hard-working and lazy. Some people will naturally be very rich, and may be richer than many vassals. Therefore, if we make good use of the refugees, they will make our territory more prosperous.

More prosperous."

Judy was thoughtful. Victor asked Yehliu City to recall the population and absorb the refugees. She did not say anything, but she still felt a little resistant in her heart. Today, after seeing the prosperous side of the Blinol shantytown, Judy began to re-examine her own life.

concept.

The York family cannot directly intervene in the Buryat territory, and Victor does not have enough talents to control the situation in Yeliu City. He can only influence the Buryat family's decision-making from top to bottom through Judy,

Implement plans for commercial corridors and population absorption.

Although it is not something that happens overnight for a noble lady who grew up in fine clothes to change her mind, as long as she is willing to cooperate sincerely, absorb refugees and manage the territory according to the agreement between the two parties, she can save a lot of trouble. This is why Victor leads Judy

Reasons to visit shantytowns.

Three-quarters of an hour later, the convoy finally entered the west gate. The guards at the city gate had already received the notification. When they saw the Sheen Knight Team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they immediately moved out of the way.

The layout of the outer city of Blinol was basically similar to that of Blackcastle Town. Victor was very familiar with it. He lost interest after looking at it for a while. Only Sister Alina watched the scenery outside the car with great interest.

The outer city is very large, but fortunately the roads are wide and orderly. Even so, it took the convoy two quarters of an hour to reach the gate of the inner city. After Victor was dressed neatly, he took his woman and got off the carriage.

Seeing the convoy turning towards the stables in the outer city, Alice couldn't help but ask: "Are we going to walk?"

"Ai Li...Oh, beautiful lady, of course you don't have to walk. However, the roads in the inner city are relatively narrow, so you need to change carriages here." Knight Sheen really couldn't tell the difference between the two sisters, who had exactly the same figure and appearance.

Hua couldn't figure out who was who, so he had to arrange a special carriage in embarrassment.

Blinol's special carriage is small and exquisite, and can only accommodate three people at most. Sisters Victor and Alina shared one, and Judy was alone. After the carriage pulled by the pony entered the inner city, Alina

Only then did the sisters understand why they had to change cars.

The streets in the inner city are only 5 meters wide, and the bluestone pavement is very smooth, with deep ruts worn by the passing wheels. The carriages they rode drove on these ruts. The houses on both sides of the road were covered with gray concrete.

Yanjian looks very grand, but a bit crowded. Pedestrians rarely greet the convoy, and only when they make eye contact, they will slightly nod.

Seeing Sister Alina nodding frequently and the smiles on her faces stiffening, Victor couldn't help laughing and said: "Stop looking both ways, are you tired? There are very few nobles riding special carriages in the inner city.

Because I have to keep nodding my head in greeting."

"How do the nobles of the royal capital usually travel?" Alina asked.

"The great nobles will ride in closed carriages, from earl to below..." Victor sighed, "There are as many barons as dogs, and viscounts are everywhere."

"...Pfft." Sister Alina leaned her head on Victor's shoulder respectively, laughing so hard.
To be continued...