CHAPTER 236: CHAPTER 195: REVIVAL PLAN_2

But he didn’t care about money. In this chaotic world, money was useless. Only martial power could bring him peace of mind.

The speech wasn’t over yet. Lance had the ten soldiers who had accompanied the team come on stage. He distributed rewards of real gold and silver, conferred combat valor upon them, further strengthened their status as soldiers, and granted them honor.

He then extensively eulogized the Guard who had died in battle, invited the deceased’s family on stage for commendation, and once again recited his promise: those who died would receive a subsidy, and their children could study for free.

Empty promises meant nothing; no amount of talk could compare to this gesture. The soldiers were eager to die for their Lord, and the people in the crowd were itching to become soldiers that very second, whether for the benefits or the honor.

But at this time, Lance made a very strange request.

"This afternoon, I will personally hold a cremation ceremony, sending the ashes to the Heroes’ Cemetery. All those who have sacrificed for Hamlet, their names will be inscribed on the stele to become Hamlet’s eternal heroes," he declared.

This statement caused quite a stir. Although Lance had previously instilled in them all sorts of Hamlet’s rules—that everyone who died in Hamlet had to be cremated and then buried in a specific cemetery—it was still a shock.

To reduce resistance, he had used a rather cunning explanation, claiming that burial could lead to the body rotting, which amounted to a Sacrilege Ceremony, and only those purified by flame could find rest.

But how could his few words compete with the Church’s indoctrination over hundreds of years? People are always greedy; after securing safety, they crave even more. Not to mention how hard life was—they inevitably longed for the afterworld.

But Lance didn’t care. The land was full of refugees. The Empire lacked everything except people. If one person wouldn’t do the work, there were plenty who would. Before that, however, he needed to teach them a lesson.

"Sam!" Lance suddenly shouted, his gaze falling upon an inconspicuous middle-aged man in the crowd. He questioned, "Why are you obstructing the construction? Are you trying to restore the Church?"

"I..." Sam was completely taken aback that My Lord would suddenly mention him, and the subsequent question left him at a loss.

He was a devout believer, as his family had been for generations.

When the bandits had arrived, his family was fortunate not to be selected for the militia. Later, by working in the fields, they managed to escape calamity; even their house remained untouched by artillery fire. Their only loss was the two chickens they raised.

Languishing until the arrival of the new Lord, he attributed all his safety to the illumination of the Holy Light, believing it had protected him from all dangers; even when he was on the brink of starvation, someone had brought food to his mouth.

At first, he had been too hungry to be coherent and also feared the Lord’s authority. Now, seeing the Church being transformed was more severe to him than if they had tampered with his own father’s grave!

So he obstructed the construction work, even inciting other former believers to take action together. That steward named Barton had meekly left in his presence. I succeeded in protecting the Church, Sam thought. Surely the Holy Light will grant me even better things in time.

"For disrupting construction, insulting, threatening, and beating the workers, and endangering the peace of Hamlet, I now declare the rights of you and your family as freemen revoked. You are banished to the wilderness," Lance announced.

With labor in abundance, he no longer cared about one or two people. Compared to trying to reform them, it was better to make an example.

He needed to give these troublemakers a little shock.

"Oh, my Holy Light... no..." Sam couldn’t believe it. Shouldn’t I be invited on stage for rewards? Why is this happening? Isn’t banishment to the wilderness as good as death?

"Seize him!" Lance commanded, his face stern.

You’d better pray the Holy Light actually works.

Immediately, men came and dragged away the wailing, disbelieving Sam.

As a Crusader, Reynard was indifferent to this scene. He had believed in the Holy Light for so many years and experienced nothing but bad luck. After disbelieving for just one month, he had found his wife and children and received a promotion and a raise.

It was as the Lord said; everything is built on a material foundation.

Lance scanned a few others. He knew there were several other accomplices initially, but he had use for those people, so he didn’t pursue the matter further.

But the judgment had only just begun.

"Weber! Why did you embezzle the territory’s assets?"

"Paul! Why did you deduct workers’ wages without cause?"

"..."

The individuals he singled out either faced death or grievous injury, as he publicly purged all problems, large and small, before everyone’s eyes.

When Lance set up this makeshift administration, he had anticipated that many people would take advantage of the system’s imperfections.

But he hadn’t expected so many. He had been away for only a month, and already people were falsifying records to pocket the difference. A raid on their homes uncovered over ten Gold Coins.

It might not have seemed like much, but considering an ordinary person earned only three copper coins a day, they wouldn’t accumulate ten Gold Coins even after a whole year of arduous labor.

No wonder past regimes, no matter how strong they started, were quickly brought down by such parasites.

But Lance didn’t care. He would act.

Let’s see whether their necks are tougher or the knife in his hand is sharper—however much they’ve swallowed, they’ll have to spit it all out.

"Cancel all benefits for their family members. Put them to work in agricultural reform. Their children are not to be enrolled in school, nor are they to be officially employed," he declared.

The more generous the previous policies had been, the stronger the deterrence was now.

Now, Hamlet belonged entirely to the public domain. Once the Lord rejected someone, they could forget about eating—they wouldn’t even have the right to drink water.

His authority was thus strengthened, reminding those fellows who the true master of Hamlet was.

「 」

"I have visited Totnes, and I must say, the level of urbanization there is profound, and the commercial atmosphere is rich. There are some aspects worth our learning. However, the primary point we must clarify is that we don’t have such commercial conditions—agriculture is our foundation.

"Therefore, the town’s current top priority is still to reclaim enough farmland. Only with more land can we settle more people. Even if the accommodations are simple, we must quickly ensure these people have somewhere to live and work," he continued.

A map of Hamlet and its surroundings lay before Lance. Surrounding him were several town officials responsible for various tasks.

They weren’t Dismas and the others, but rather individuals who had shown positive results in their work during this period. His earlier unorthodox and bold appointments, though perhaps made out of necessity, had nonetheless unearthed some administrative talent.

Among them were a few locals intimately familiar with the area around Hamlet. Their help was needed to determine the locations for the collective farms.

Now, three farms had been planned. Owing to the uncertainty to the north, Lance preferred not to let people get too close to that area, so the farms were slated for locations south, southwest, and west of Hamlet.

These farms, each planned for a thousand people, along with the land around Hamlet, could support five thousand people and transform the area into a massive granary.

Hamlet itself would concentrate craftsmen, artisans, and technical talents, establishing workshops to refine the outputs from the farms—such as salt production, textile weaving, and blacksmithing.

He planned work-for-relief programs to further advance the town’s renovation, consuming the resources produced—including human labor—and ensuring people had jobs.

Simultaneously, he planned to develop the entertainment industry to recoup some of the wages paid to workers. This involved standardizing existing gambling houses, brothels, and taverns, and introducing new forms of entertainment like theaters, libraries, and bathhouses.

With this as a foundation, they could march north to deal with Elder Gan, head east to reach the great sea, and expand outward to reclaim lost territories. Wouldn’t that be delightful!

Tasks were listed one by one and then allocated to different people to oversee. At the same time, Lance streamlined the previously chaotic personnel system, allowing talented individuals to rise.

For example, Susan, who was originally in charge of bookkeeping, had her responsibilities transferred to Tiffany, who would now manage expenses and income.

Simultaneously, an individual who had performed exceptionally during the Totnes camp period was appointed to take over Walter’s position in farm management.

Barton was relieved of his construction duties, which were handed over to an excellent craftsman who had distinguished himself during the engineering projects.

He rearranged the job positions. All it took was a word from him, yet those individuals saw unprecedented changes in their circumstances.

"I’ve said everything I need to say. Do any of you have opinions?"