In the Western Continent, war is a constant theme. Some have calculated that in the two thousand years of recorded history in the Western Continent, there has been war for almost two-thirds of the time, and half of those wars were large-scale wars that swept across almost the entire continent. And beneath the years of war lies the blood and tears of countless refugees.
Therefore, the ordinary people of the Western Continent naturally evolved many skills to adapt to their status as refugees and ways to deal with them.
Chaotic times are tough, but we must survive.
The most crucial point is that refugees need to gather together, much like seasonally migrating herbivores. This makes them more effective at dealing with fleeing soldiers and bandits, who are like jackals. When they encounter villages and towns, they are more adept at plundering food. Even if conflict breaks out, they can rely on their numbers to defeat their opponents. Therefore, more and more refugees evolved to move across the western continent like locusts, making this their only way to survive.
But all of this changed at the foot of Pas.
At dawn, long lines formed at the soup kitchens outside the city of Paz, with countless refugees jostling and pushing their way through with broken bowls and basins to grab the porridge. But this porridge wasn't free; after receiving it, the men were taken by the army to build houses and repair the castle. The women were called to cultivate wasteland or wash clothes. The children were gathered together and forced to study writing and arithmetic day and night.
The adult migrants were overjoyed. They had food to eat, their own houses and land, although they still had to build these things up little by little themselves. At least they had something to look forward to. Moreover, there were people to look after their children, and they could even read and write. It was truly a paradise for migrants.
However, this beautiful scene did not exist from the beginning.
After Yunzhe returned to Perth, he handed his blueprints to Andrew, leaving him in charge of everything. However, the refugees were incredibly difficult to control. Many would grab the porridge and food and then run away, showing no intention of working whatsoever. Andrew initially didn't want to use force, but by dinnertime, even more refugees began to follow suit, and even fewer were willing to work. The first day's situation was utterly disastrous, completely exceeding Andrew's expectations.
Upon seeing this, Newton, who had been in a very bad mood, instantly perked up. Although he dared not show too much joy, everyone could see that he was as if he had come back to life.
Andrew and his group were very anxious about how to control these refugees, but for various reasons, they didn't tell Yun Zhe and his team about the trouble they were facing. However, Andrew, Serena, and their advisors spent the entire night thinking but couldn't come up with a solution that satisfied everyone. They argued all night, and finally, an exhausted Serena waved her hand, agreeing to compromise first. She told Andrew to go ask Yun Zhe the next day; if Andrew didn't want to go, she would condescend to go herself. Andrew, of course, wouldn't let Serena go. So, the next day, Andrew went to see Yun Zhe.
Yun Zhe thought for a long time, about an hour. He then had Andrew fence off an open space and erect a black wooden board. He then announced to the refugees that their children would be forced to study every day. When distributing porridge, he directly sent troops to gather all the children aged five to ten inside the fence. The refugees initially resisted and struggled, crying and screaming pitifully. Serena, watching from the castle, frowned deeply. However, the porridge was too delicious, and the soldiers didn't harm the children. After a fierce internal struggle, they decisively abandoned their children and rushed to the porridge stall. After finishing the porridge, they suddenly realized that their children had been taken into custody, and it seemed impossible to get them back today. The soldiers rushed into the crowd, not arresting anyone, but kindly reminding the refugee parents that if they didn't work hard, they wouldn't see their children again tomorrow, nor would they get any porridge.
Many displaced people yielded and picked up tools, but others were outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, agreeing verbally but slacking off while working. Even more die-hards refused to work, threatening to storm the city and loot if the porridge wasn't continued. They also soberly reminded those who were working not to become slaves to the Paz family, and not to forget their status as free citizens because of a small favor.
So on the third day, Andrew really only distributed porridge to those who were working. Those who had no food naturally tried to grab it, leading to a fierce protest. They held up banners that read "Human Rights and Freedom" and shouted slogans such as, "We can choose not to work, but you must give us porridge," "Work is freedom, giving porridge is a human right," and "You can't use human rights to blackmail freedom." As a result, they were all captured and brutally beaten by the soldiers, and the leaders, a dozen or so, were beheaded and their heads hung on the side of the city wall.
On the fourth day, the situation improved considerably. The migrants who had initially worked were now able to move into the makeshift shelters they had built themselves, and had even received land deeds personally issued by Andrew, who repeatedly reminded them, "As long as you build the makeshift shelters and cultivate enough land, you can obtain this land deed. And if you don't want it anymore, you can sell it." This greatly motivated the migrants; they no longer felt that Paz was using them for his own benefit, but that they could genuinely benefit from their work. The migrants' enthusiasm was ignited, leading many to work until they were exhausted that day, forcing Andrew to call a doctor to treat them.
On the fifth day, everything finally got back on track. Andrew began compiling a list of family members and started making work arrangements.
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