Imperial Crown.

Chapter 178 Raven's Punishment

(Added for the angry [especially want to take advantage of])
Viscount John was a loyal and honest elder after all, and he did not specifically pick out the old, weak, sick or disabled among these 20,000 serfs.

Although it was obvious that they had been through a lot of hardship, most of the people were skinny and pale, with ragged clothes, as dirty as if they had rolled in the mud, and they didn't even have shoes, but at least they were much better than the batch of serfs that had been purchased from the Fox family.

At least their hands weren't pierced.

Otherwise, in this hot summer, who knows how many people will die from infection and complications.

To accept 20,000 people at once, Raven would of course need to go there personally.

Raven did not try to play the role of loving his people like his own children; that was not popular in this era.

If he really held the serfs' hands and asked about their lives and well-being, everyone from serfs to nobles would think that Raven was an idiot.

He brought Eric and some new recruits who had received a certain level of training and appeared in front of the 20,000 serfs.

The effect is surprisingly good.

When two thousand soldiers wearing hideous masks appeared before their eyes, the serfs, who were originally in a state of confusion, gradually quieted down and dared not even to breathe.

He ordered people to set up a stage and Raven passed down the order, asking the serfs to elect someone to be in charge and prepare to publicize their policies.

After all, there were more than 20,000 people. Without any amplification equipment, even if Raven shouted himself hoarse, there was no way that everyone could hear him clearly.

Maybe when Raven said "egg", it would become "gangegg" when it was passed from the front row to the back row.

When the order was passed down, after a while, about fifty serfs came out. After Eric streamlined them again, there were only a dozen people. They went up to the stage together and knelt on the ground when they saw Raven.

Raven glanced at the group of people and asked calmly, "Who among you has the final say?"

These serfs looked at each other, and finally most people's eyes fell on an old man.

He was one of the few serfs who wore shoes. His clothes were dirty and worn but neat. His gray beard hung down to his chest, and he even had a slight scholarly air.

"What's your name?" Raven asked.

"Jonathan, Lord Baron."

"You don't look like a serf."

"I can read and I once served as a clerical attendant to a knight, but I have always been a serf." Zhunasheng's attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, and he was very calm. He did not seem to consider himself a subject of Raven, and there was a hint of confrontation in his mood.

Because during this period of time, Zhu Nasheng had been experiencing terrible things.

He was originally the clerical attendant of the Knight and was about to obtain the status of a free man, but at this moment, the Cult of the Hand of Death attacked!

The Knight put up a heroic resistance, but was eventually killed by the Skeleton. Junason was working in the castle at the time, and he hid himself in the kitchen stove, thus barely escaping the disaster.

The skeleton soldiers left, but the suffering did not end.

He finally organized some serfs to protect themselves, but they encountered the noble troops who came to support the Slater family. They swept away all the food they had collected. They had to go into the deep mountains and forests, hunt under the threat of monsters, and take some rations from the field mouse holes.

At that time, the weather was freezing cold, and there was a lack of food and clothing. It was a hellish memory that Zhu Nasheng would never forget.

Afterwards, the Death Hand Cult was finally pacified, and their territory had a new owner. Zhu Nasheng originally thought that he would usher in a new life of peace and tranquility, but he did not expect to be separated and transferred to the Eagle Territory!
Oh my god, Eagle Leader!

Xuefeng County itself is the most marginal of the five northwestern counties, and Xiongying Territory is on the border of Xuefeng County, hundreds of miles away!
For Zhu Nasheng, who had never left his hometown, this was simply asking him to survive in the wild!
Zhu Nasheng had heard from merchants that the winters in Xiongying Territory were extremely cold, and many people froze to death every year!
At first, Zhu Nasheng was skeptical, but two months of trekking made him more certain of it.

All he saw along the way was desolation and ruin, which could not be compared with his hometown at all.

It's over, it's all over.

He no longer has the possibility of becoming a free man, and his sons and grandsons will continue to be slaves for a lifetime or several lifetimes, living a life without seeing tomorrow. He himself has lost his ability to work and will surely freeze to death or starve to death in the winter!
And in his opinion, the "culprit" of all this is Raven.

That's why he has this attitude towards Raven. What fear does a dying man have?

"Baron, you look very young." Zhu Nasheng glanced at the army and said, "We will all be your subjects. It is not a sign of maturity to show off one's power to one's subjects."

"Besides, you've gone to so much trouble to set up the stage. It's really a waste of time. Instead of wasting time, you might as well provide us with some food and water. What we need is not words, but real things."

"Every moment you delay is a loss of your fortune."

A cloud of dark clouds gathered between Raven's brows, and even with his shrewdness, his breathing began to become heavy. Zhu Nasheng's words were no different from pointing at his nose and scolding him!
At this time, Simon came to Raven and whispered, "Baron, I asked before. Junasheng has some prestige among these serfs. During the migration, he also helped the escorting knights to gather the team. He was called the 'sage'."

"I heard that during the escort process, he repeatedly spread negative emotions about you, which caused many serfs to believe that you brought them to hell."

Raven's brows furrowed even tighter, and he looked at Zhu Nasheng with murderous eyes.

This Zhu Nasheng gained prestige by stepping on me!

Zhu Nasheng looked at Raven calmly, not caring about his own life or death. He looked like the upright person who died to advise the emperor in a TV drama!
Raven became even angrier.

You are a loyal minister, then what am I, a tyrant! ?
The dozen or so elected serf leaders nearby looked at Zhu Nasheng with a look of...admiration! ?

"Ha!" Raven was so angry that he laughed. He stood up and kicked Zhu Nasheng in the chest. Although he used less force, Zhu Nasheng still fell headfirst onto the platform.

This kick was like kicking a hornet's nest. More than a dozen refugee leaders nearby came forward to support Zhu Nasheng. The serfs who had begun to calm down even became a little confused!

Raven shouted, "My personal soldiers, and the First Battalion, repeat my words. Shout them out when I say anything!"

"Yes! Lord Baron!"

Raven took a deep breath, stood on the high platform, and shouted loudly from above: "I am Raven, Raven Ota Griffith, and from today on, I am your lord!"

"Originally, I came to greet you with good intentions, because you are about to join my territory and become a part of this thriving territory."

"But your 'sage' Junasheng insulted my character and questioned my decisions, as if I were an extremely harsh lord!"

"Originally, I prepared housing, medicine, clothes, shoes and socks for you, and even prepared to pay you wages, but now it seems that you don't deserve my kindness!"

At this point, Raven took a deep breath and said loudly: "From today on, you will immediately be involved in the production and construction of the territory. There will be no wages, no holidays, only three meals a day!"

"Half a year. If you can work hard for half a year, you will be able to enjoy the same treatment as my subjects!" Having said this, Raven slowly exhaled and whispered, "Eric, Volaf, Simon, you lead your teams and take these people to the three construction sites."

After speaking, he left without looking back.

Junasheng on the ground sighed.

It seems that Raven is indeed a tyrannical lord!
Before he could continue to sigh, Volaf came up, grabbed him by the collar and threw him off the stage: "You ungrateful old man!"

These were the last words Junasheng heard.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already dark. What lured him awake was the smell of hot wheat. It was a bowl of extremely thick wheat porridge.

"Father, you finally woke up." Junason's son Pip breathed a sigh of relief: "Eat something quickly."

Looking at the bowl of oatmeal in front of him, Zhu Nasheng's throat moved and he cursed in a low voice: "I told you not to show your money when you go out, and you actually went to buy oatmeal!?"

"We didn't buy it," said Pip. "This is the food Baron Raven provided us with!"

Junason was stunned for a moment, and immediately suspected that Pip was lying to him.

This is oatmeal porridge, thick oatmeal porridge. Even in the past, only wealthy serfs could afford it. Now Raven is giving it to people for free?
But the facts told him that Pip was not lying, because many serfs who came with him were drinking porridge, including women and children.

Especially some children, their bellies were full from drinking, but they still held a piece of bread in their hands!
Zhu Nasheng took a look at the oatmeal, but still stretched out his hand to push it away: "Forget it, I'm old, I'd better not waste food. Raven wants you to do heavy physical work, you should eat your fill first!"

"I'm full, father." Pip turned sideways and pointed to a place not far away: "Look, there's still some hot food in the pot over there."

Zhu Nasheng swallowed his saliva. "This... Raven is openly providing us with food. Isn't he afraid that his own people will be dissatisfied? How can he gain people's trust in this way!?"

Hearing this, Pip laughed bitterly: "Father, you are really wrong this time. Baron Raven does not need to gain trust in this way at all."

"Those who eat here are outsiders like us. The local people have their own canteens and eat much better than us!"

Zhu Nasheng still refused to believe it.

Just as Pip was thinking about how to persuade his father to eat the food, his son, Junassen's grandson, came running back.

The little guy is very smart, with a pair of blinking eyes, and he is very cute.

He ran to Zhu Nasheng and stretched out his hand: "Grandpa, give it to me!"

Suddenly, the aroma of meat entered Zhu Nasheng's nostrils. When he took a closer look, he found that it was a piece of single-sided fried black bread with a piece of roasted bacon on it!

"You went to steal something!?"

The little guy shook his head and said, "No, I just went to the local cafeteria next door. The uncles and aunts there liked me very much, so they brought me a piece. I thought grandpa hadn't eaten yet, so I brought it back for you."

"Hurry up and give it back!" Zhu Nasheng gritted his teeth. "This must be a trap set by Raven. They asked you to bring this thing over. Once I eat it, they will accuse me of stealing and tarnish my reputation. This is really sinister, too sinister!"

"Ah?" The little guy didn't quite understand: "But...but there are still a lot of these things over there."

Zhu Nasheng didn't believe it at all. A group of serfs could eat meat? This was not the right way to deceive people!

Just then, there was a commotion. Zhu Nasheng looked up and saw two strong men carrying several large basins of things his grandson had just brought and placing them outside the porridge shed.

Then a big man shouted, "This is what the cafeteria next door left over today. Come over and get some if you want some!"

This scene immediately attracted the attention of the serfs, and everyone was swallowing their saliva for a moment.

Zhu Nasheng's worldview was shaken like never before - there was still meat left! ?

He stared at every detail, hoping to find a flaw that would prove this was Raven's conspiracy.

But those sturdy men who were carrying the large plates, with their slightly shriveled but extremely powerful bones, dark skin and rough hands, were obviously of serf origin, and there was no way they could be fake.

Did I really blame Raven wrongly?

That night, Zhu Nasheng drank oatmeal porridge and fell into a deep sleep. In the next few days, he regained some energy and began to wander around the construction site every day. He even secretly went to the local canteen several times.

The conclusion left him despairing.

It was true that those locals were serfs, but it was also true that they had meat to eat every night, they had wives, children, families, spare clothes, and even wages!
Wages! Twenty copper coins per person per day!

This led to a circle of vendors spontaneously gathering around the construction site, selling various snacks, drinks, and even women!

This shows that what Raven said in public before was true.

And Zhu Nasheng was the culprit who prevented these 20,000 serfs from getting their wages!
That night, Zhu Nasheng returned to his temporary tent. As he walked along, he felt that the way everyone looked at him had changed. There was no more admiration or respect, but extremely coldness.

He sat in the tent in a daze, staring blankly at the bowl of porridge on the ground.

Just then, a crying sound was heard. He looked up and saw his grandson being dragged on the ground, crying loudly!
"Give it back to me. This is what I want to give to grandpa!"

The man who was dragging the kid slapped his hand, snatched the piece of bread with bacon in his hand, and took a big bite: "Your grandpa? It was your grandpa who asked me to snatch it from you!"

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be doing the same work as others, but without any wages! I wouldn't have meat to eat and wine to drink!"

These words immediately aroused great resonance, and the surrounding serfs joined the team of abuse and accused Zhu Nasheng's grandson.

Zhu Nasheng's name was not mentioned in every sentence, but every sentence could not be separated from him.

Finally, Zhu Nasheng's eyes rolled up, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell backwards to the ground!
I shouldn't have spoken to Baron Raven like that!
Raven was not aware of what had happened to Zhunasheng, and his focus was not on Zhunasheng, because the magic plant seeds he had cultivated before had grown into juveniles and needed to be transplanted.

On this day, when Raven was about to go to the laboratory, he heard a greeting: "Raven."

Looking back, I saw An Nuo standing there quietly:

"I have something to talk to you about."

……

(End of this chapter)