Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 402 Public Trial Meeting
Three days later, Harvey held a public trial at the Bell Tower Square in Fengyuan City as scheduled.

In order to explain to the people the unprovoked war they had experienced, Harvey arranged in advance for the municipal administrators who came from the north to take over and announce to the whole city that Duke Ralph and his family had invaded the neighboring lord without any reason. On the other hand, he also ordered the secret police to spread the news in the city to let the residents know that he, the border lord who had occupied Fengyuan City, had taken over the city under the legal banner of "self-defense counterattack."

The bell rang at noon in the huge square, but the number of people gathered here was less than expected. Although Fengyuan City had a much warmer climate than the northern border, the cold weather before the arrival of spring and the generally thin clothing of the local people still hindered their idea of coming to the meeting in large numbers.

But as long as people come, it's fine. Harvey believes that as time goes by, word of mouth among the people will be more effective than having people go door to door to preach.

"Good afternoon, people of Fengyuan City!" Harvey stepped onto the makeshift platform and looked around at the people below. "I am Harvey Floyd, Lord of the North. Most of you probably haven't heard of me."

A secret police officer disguised as an ordinary citizen suddenly shouted, "I know you, esteemed Lord! You are the Lord who took in and treated infected refugees in the border areas when the plague spread throughout the capital!"

As soon as these words were spoken, many people who had personally experienced the terrible plague began to discuss quietly. "The plague potion secretly sold on Fengyuan City's underground black market was rumored to be the work of this lord. Duke Ralph didn't care about our lives, but the neighboring lord sent the medicine to the city... and hey, the price was very low, almost anyone could afford it."

The original purpose of secretly selling epidemic medicines to the surrounding areas was to prevent the spread of the plague and to earn a considerable amount of "export income". However, it is also appropriate to package it as caring for the people now.

Harvey waved his hand and continued, "First, I apologize and express my condolences to the innocent people who suffered personal and, uh, property damage during this battle with Duke Ralph... This was a conspiracy emanating from the capital of Jinhui City. Grand Duke Saint Valen, in order to cling to the Church, insisted on interfering in the conflict with the Union's spellcasters. To this end, he instructed Duke Ralph to repeatedly provoke me. Not only did he detain my caravans and plunder my subjects, he even sent troops to invade my territory... Finally, I could no longer tolerate this and decided to lead my army in a counterattack."

Harvey did not intend to go too deep into the truth of this matter. Compared to his serious public speeches, the general public prefers the "gossip" and "secret rumors" they heard privately, and the channels for disseminating such information happen to be the "propaganda track" that the secret police are good at operating.

Harvey quickly shifted the topic to the main event of the trial of the nobles' crimes.

"During this war, the nobles I captured were all privately interrogated and have confessed to some of their shameless crimes... These include not only their disputes with me, but also the serious crimes they committed against innocent people in Fengyuan City in the past."

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere among the crowd below the stage became noticeably more heated. Although they did not dare to openly accuse the nobles, watching the once high-and-mighty noble lords being tried and punished should be the most popular thing for the people at the bottom of this world.

Harvey handed this part directly to Commander Pierce and the relevant responsible personnel sent by the Pioneer Police Department, and sat on the side of the podium as a spectator.

The outcome of the interrogation had been decided long ago. Duke Ralph's diehard followers were dragged onto the platform one by one, lined up and knelt in front of the people, with stern-faced Northern Army soldiers standing behind them. Pierce stood in front of the alchemical loudspeaker and loudly announced their crimes - crimes ranging from invading neighboring lords without reason, to allowing soldiers to plunder the people, to levying heavy taxes and exploiting the people. It was a textbook example of the aristocracy's oppression and harming of ordinary people in this era.

Under Pierce's superb interrogation skills, even nobles who could not bear the torture confessed every detail of their deeds, such as abducting women and injuring their families on a certain day in a certain month in a certain year, maliciously lowering the price to buy high-quality furs from the people, and refusing to pay debts to a certain store for years by issuing IOUs.

After the soldiers fired their rifles in unison and shot the first batch of nobles who had committed "serious crimes" directly to death in the square, the people finally believed that the foreign lord on the platform really intended to try and execute the nobles and to bring them justice.

"I...I want to expose the crimes of Baron Louis! He...he repeatedly raised the labor tax in the territory during the spring plowing season this year. We had to sell our stored wheat seeds to pay the taxes, and in the end, we couldn't even plant the fields!" "I want to accuse him too! Sir Andrew, yes! He is the deputy captain of Duke Ralph's personal guard. In order to expand his mansion in Fengyuan City, he unreasonably occupied the houses of the surrounding people and demolished our shelters without giving us a penny of compensation!"

"I also want……"

Under deliberate guidance, more and more people began to muster up the courage to stand up and accuse the nobles. Among the more than 70 people who were finally tried, more than a dozen direct descendants of the duke who committed serious crimes were sentenced to death and executed in public. The minor nobles who were resolutely exposed by the people were imprisoned according to the severity of their crimes, waiting to be taken back to the northern frontier territory, where the mines and forests were in urgent need of such high-quality free labor.

After the "stick" performance, it is the "carrot"'s turn.

Harvey returned to his position by the loudspeaker on the platform and cleared his throat, ignoring the bloody execution scene below. "I know there was a lot of unrest in Fengyuan City during this conflict. Some thugs took advantage of the situation to loot, burning down dozens of houses... Of course, my army also blew up many houses during the fighting. The conflict also resulted in the deaths of over thirty civilians."

His tone deepened, and he stroked his chest, bowing slightly to the people below. "Here, as the lord of the border, I apologize to the people of Fengyuan City. The damage the war has brought you is beyond my control, and I feel deeply guilty about it!"

Harvey's words caused another commotion among the people. No one had ever seen a noble lord bowing and apologizing to the people. In this purely feudal country with clear hierarchies, such a scene was simply unheard of and unseen. Many people had expressions of shock and astonishment.

But what Harvey said next was something they never expected.

"No matter what, the damage and losses you've suffered must be duly compensated!" Harvey took a notice from the guards behind him and read it carefully. "The families of innocent people who died in the war will receive a one-time compensation of fifteen gold pounds. Those whose homes were damaged... will have them repaired free of charge within three months. Of course, you can also choose to cash it in and purchase another property."

As for other people whose property was damaged and who were accidentally injured, the Fengyuan City Hall, which is about to be established, will naturally be responsible for verifying compensation and free treatment.

Soon, soldiers came onto the stage carrying a heavy wooden box filled with coins and began to distribute pensions and loss compensation according to the compensation list. When the people saw that the border lord was going to give out money on the spot and that it was not an empty promise at all, the atmosphere immediately became heated, and cheers began to grow louder and louder. More people followed suit and rushed over, surrounding the square.

Secret Police Officer 088 stood behind Harvey and whispered, "Sir, why don't you relocate the people of Fengyuan City back to the northern border? We are currently in dire need of fresh labor..."

Harvey chuckled and shook his head without answering.

Fengyuan City has a population of more than 10,000, and he has never thought of relocating the local people - the terrain here is flat and located in the central part of the principality. If it is managed properly, it will become a "high-quality granary" that can produce a large amount of grain in the future. If the foreign enemies in the north really invade the wasteland, maybe this place will become Harvey's "strategic rear base" in the future.

(End of this chapter)