Chapter 477 Relieved
Captain Miles could guess why the title deed and IOU were not taken away by the undead.
After all, he had spent a few days in the New City Hall and had some understanding of the policies of the Undead regime...especially the land policy, which the outside world was most afraid of, considered incredible and absolutely unacceptable.
In any territory conquered by the undead, except for the land owned by the church, all other land will be transferred from private to public and become the property of the local government. From the lords (including the two great lords Charlie Rex and Coulson O'Neill) to the common people, no one is allowed to own private land.
All individuals or groups can only obtain the right to use a piece of land through legal transactions, transfers, donations, etc.; and this right of use is not only subject to time limits, but also to usage regulations - for example, land designated as farmland is not allowed to be used to build houses, manors, or factories.
Captain Miles was well aware that this kind of outrageous land policy would inevitably lead to a frenzied backlash from the feudal nobles... However, the local nobles who implemented this public land policy had already been harmed enough that they did not have the energy to fight back.
As for whether civilians accept this land policy - that is not a big problem.
Miles was a member of the Night Watch after all, and he was well aware of the tricks of the nobles... Even if he did not have any class consciousness subjectively, he understood one thing very well: without the incitement, organization, unified voice, and money of the big landowners (nobles), it would be difficult for the common people to carry out any decent resistance.
There are not many fools who are willing to risk their lives to help others fight for their future unless it is absolutely necessary; the civilians are just short-sighted, not really stupid.
After sorting out the pros and cons, Captain Miles shook his head, carried the box to the living room, and stuffed all the papers inside into the fireplace.
Once the new city hall's land decree was issued, these old-time property deeds and land titles became no different from waste paper; as for the IOUs, Bud's family had kidnapped them all, and his owner probably wouldn't be able to escape, so there was no need to keep them.
But if these things were picked up by someone with ulterior motives, they might have other intentions, such as committing fraud before the new city hall policy was released... Captain Miles thought it would be better to destroy them.
When Captain Miles burned a box of waste paper and walked out of the big house, the farm workers outside all looked at him eagerly.
Captain Miles thought about it and decided to disclose his identity to calm people's hearts. He said in a deep voice: "I am Miles, the night watchman of Creek City. Farmer Bud violated the Rhine Constitution and was ordered by the New City Hall to be arrested. The undead are just carrying out the arrest mission."
More than 40 farm workers from several villages were stunned.
"...After that, an agent from the new city hall will come to take over the farm and announce the punishment for the Bud family." Captain Miles paused, raised his voice, and said loudly and forcefully, "According to the policy of the new city hall, the houses and lands that Bud took from the local villagers by trickery and robbery will be returned to the original owners; the debts owed to Bud by the local villagers, whether actively or passively, will be cancelled."
The crowd exploded, and all the farm workers rushed towards Captain Miles with excitement, disbelief and expectation.
"Is that true, sir?"
“Can my family’s land really be returned to me?”
"My son was tricked by Bud's manservant into playing cards and lost a lot of money. Can that be ignored?"
Captain Miles could understand these people's feelings . Bud Farm was operated in an almost zero-cost model. The wages paid to the workers were often recovered by Bud through various means, and always in multiples.
Captain Miles was full of sympathy for the people who had to live with such despicable neighbors, and he patiently explained: "Don't worry, ma'am, the decree of the new city hall has actually been announced in the city, but it has not yet spread. Illegal income is not protected...Gambling debts are not legal debts, so of course they don't count, but your son can't gamble anymore. This is expressly prohibited by the new city hall..."
After introducing the policies of the new city hall in plain language that even the ignorant villagers could understand, Captain Miles decided not to leave immediately. He asked the farm workers to return to their own village and call all the villagers to divide the spoils...well, divide up the inheritance of Bud Farm.
The town's operators did not follow the undead to seal off the farm on the spot, probably meaning that they would let the locals take advantage of the situation.
But the operators in the town probably didn't expect how good this black-hearted bastard Bard was at making money - he had been robbed by the undead, who took away all the valuables and all the large livestock (cows, horses, and sheep), but he still had a lot of money left.
Captain Miles glanced at the packed barns and couldn't help but worry about what kind of trouble would arise if the local villagers were allowed to divide the grain among themselves.
Captain Miles hurriedly distributed the food, fabrics, poultry such as chickens and geese, furniture, farm tools and other valuables that had slipped through the fingers of the undead. He said goodbye to the villagers who enthusiastically invited him to have lunch, and hurried to the next investigation site - the background investigation of the corporal he was in charge of was not yet completed.
It was not until the second half of the night that Captain Miles, who had been running around all day, dragged his tired feet and rushed to the town of Wilkie under the moonlight to spend the night.
As soon as they arrived near the town gate, Captain Miles forgave the "negligence" of the operators assigned to the town...
“…It’s not easy for you guys either.”
With difficulty, Captain Miles turned his eyes away from the thousands of hungry cattle and sheep (and a few horses) that filled the temporary cattle and horse market outside the town, and looked at the operator in charge of the town's work with sympathy.
The operator who had just pulled a cart of fodder over wiped the sweat running down his chin. The mud on his hands covered half of his face. He panted and smiled bitterly, "We can't help it. The Undead are just too efficient... We robbed six farms and four cult strongholds in half a day , and we didn't even have time to recruit temporary workers. Come on, I won't talk to you anymore. I have to hurry and get the fodder."
After unloading the feed, the operator drove away in a hurry in the carriage.
Captain Miles silently watched the carriage drive into the town, then turned his gaze elsewhere.
The cattle and horse market was about the size of two civic squares and was guarded by only a dozen militiamen.
The two militiamen who helped unload the feed quickly spread the grass among the cattle, and then quickly picked up the shovel, pushed the wooden flatbed cart, and went into the herd to shovel the manure...
Thousands of cattle and sheep can be eaten and pooped. Captain Miles glanced at the edge of the cattle and horse market and saw a small mountain of dung piles...
Captain Miles withdrew his gaze, pinched his nose and strode into the town.
Although he is happy to help, this kind of favor... is still a bit reluctant.
The town of Wilkie is relatively close to Creek City, and the town has sufficient electricity, with street lights on both main roads.
Walking along the road to the town hall, Miles silently forgave the town staff for their "slackness" at work - the town hall was almost becoming a temporary prison, and almost all the rooms had been converted into cells; from a long distance away, he could hear the prisoners' cursing, wailing, crying, screaming and threatening sounds... the noise was even louder than the cattle and horse market outside the town.
The people responsible for detaining and guarding these hundreds of prisoners and extracting their confessions... are still only one operator and a dozen militiamen.
"Captain Miles, are you busy investigating around here? You've been working hard." The sweaty operator took some time out to meet Miles and said apologetically, "There are no vacant rooms in the town hall, but the family hotel next door should still be open..."
"——No, you've worked hard." Miles laughed dryly, "Don't worry, I'm not that tired yet... You guys seem to need help here?"
The operator's eyes lit up, and without saying a word, he pulled Miles towards the town government building, as if afraid that he would go back on his word. "It's great that you're willing to help. I'm sorry to hear that the undead brought back a very important clue. To prevent the news from leaking out, we have to quickly get confessions from those diehards..."
Captain Miles was caught off guard and had to endure the whole night.
When it was almost dawn, among the core members of the Whisperer sect captured by the undead, one guy who could not bear it any longer finally gave in and confessed.
The operator with red eyes staggered out of the interrogation room with the organized confession in his hand, assigned the task of arresting people to the ever-energetic undead, then staggered back and called Captain Miles to have breakfast.
Due to the shortage of manpower, the Logistics Department did not have time to dispatch personnel to Wilkie Town, and the operators and militiamen on the outpost could only bring their own dry food - a packet of Tarantan instant noodles per person, plus a small package of pickles produced by Innadelli.
After breakfast at the foot of the mountain, the agent had to take a few militiamen to prepare breakfast for the prisoners - bulk (boxed, with only noodles but no seasoning packets) instant noodles cooked in a big pot, plus side dishes such as radishes and potatoes bought from vegetable farmers on the street.
The prisoners who were caught and imprisoned in the town hall used to live a fulfilling life. Carrots and potatoes without condiments could not satisfy these people at all. When the operators led the people to deliver the cooked food upstairs, the "masters" and "ladies" who used to live a life of luxury had all kinds of reactions, and they almost spit on the operators' faces.
Captain Miles looked a little annoyed, but the operator looked indifferent.
After breakfast was served, the officers were busy leading the militia to re-separate the prisoners into rooms. Male and female prisoners who were originally detained by family were separated and children under 12 years old were brought out and settled...
When it was almost noon, Captain Miles took advantage of the break to ask the question in his mind: "You are doing the work of several people, don't you have any complaints?"
The operator smiled and did not answer directly. Instead, he mentioned something else: "I am Innaderito, Captain. I used to work for the Bartles family. I had a lot of free time back then."
"You should be able to guess that it's not that there was no work to be done in Innadri at that time, but that at that time - the city hall didn't care about many things." The operator said with sarcasm and bluntness, "The lord, the mayor, and my former boss at that time, all they had to do was maintain good relationships with each other and appear as respectable and dignified as possible in front of others. They didn't bother to worry about anything else."
The operator, who wanted to get back to work after only a few minutes' rest, stood up while rubbing his sore arm and smiled frankly at Captain Miles: "Sometimes I can't help but complain about too few people and too much work, but if I have to go back to the way I used to live, I don't want to. That kind of life is really meaningless... It's better now, at least it can prove that I am still valuable."
"Oh... I'm so sorry to have taken up your whole morning. We should be able to hold on from now on. Go do your thing, Captain."
"...It's okay. I was planning to set off at noon anyway." Captain Miles seemed to have something touched in his heart, and he replied after a while.
Captain Miles was stunned for a moment, and a relieved smile appeared on his face after watching the operator, who had not slept all night but was still energetic, walk out of the room and call on the militia to continue working.
He suddenly understood why Captain Mays had said firmly that "nothing would happen" to him and yet had insisted on getting him to work for the new city hall.
Apparently, Mays was right.
The face of the young soldier who was looking at him with fear yet expectancy flashed through his mind, as well as the smiling faces of the villagers who avoided disputes because of his participation in the distribution… Captain Miles' soul, which had already been cracked and might have been torn apart at any time, seemed to have gained some kind of reassuring power and gradually regained stability.
"All right—get on with the investigation."
Captain Miles patted his thigh, stood up, picked up the box beside him, strode out of the room and stepped into the sunlight.
