Chapter 266.
Chapter 266 The Dilemma
When the news of the riot was received, Paul was in a daze.
The stunned expression stayed on his face for as long as half a minute.
“What did I do wrong?”
Reacting, he asked himself this question.
“Earl, this is not the time to ask such a question, please hurry up and gather all the lords to discuss how to suppress it.”
Cecil, the intelligence chief who came to report the news, anxiously advised.
“Uh …… you’re right. Quickly! Help me call all the supervisors of the Council of Government and all the officers of company rank or above who remain in Lakeheart Town to the Lord’s Mansion.”
Cecil answered and left, while Paul was lost in thought and went to the hall to wait for the crowd to arrive.
Since awakening the memories of his previous life, he had always taken it as his duty to promote the progress of this world, inventing all sorts of novelty gadgets, opening workshops, and promoting education, wasn’t it all for the sake of a better life for the people of this land? And judging from his own Lakeheart Town, the lives of the residents were indeed getting better and better.
Why didn’t this kind of thing happen in the neighboring territories, but on him, the “enlightened and progressive” lord.
……
“Rebellion! This is rebellion!”
Hansel was so agitated at the news that he was the first to jump out and shout, “Please send your troops to put the mob down at once.”
Others, including those within Chief Ford, nodded their heads, stating that the first order of business was to send troops to suppress it.
Chief of Staff Schroeder, 2nd Battalion Infantry Commander Claude, and 4th Battalion Infantry Commander Andrews said that the army was at his disposal.
“Gentlemen, please calm down.”
Paul’s mouth said for the others to calm down, but in fact, his heart was panicking.
“Right now everything we know is coming from that Baden guy, it’s not certain if it’s a real riot or not! Maybe …… uh, maybe they just gathered and then that guy named Baden got scared out of his wits and exaggerated on purpose.”
Chief Steward Ford shook his head, “Even so, without the permission and watchful eye of the lord, a large-scale gathering would have been forbidden, dispersing them would have been justified, and the leader would have to be punished.”
Just as they were discussing, a second message arrived, which was delivered by an army carrier pigeon.
“The scouts sent by the Navy have confirmed that the settlements in the village of Faber and its immediate vicinity are ablaze with fire and smoke! There are indeed signs of a large-scale riot, and many rich people’s homes have been looted.”
Schroeder frowned as he read out the contents of the note, the information sent by the Navy confirmed the previous statement.
“Someone at the scene shouted out …… shouted out ……”
Schroeder whispered, “Shouted out the slogan [Down with the Lords].”
“Lord Earl, there is no time to lose, so please make your decision quickly. Mayor Theodore requests your permission for the navy to go and quell the rebellion, and for insurance purposes, please send two more companies of troops over to support them.”
“Uh ……”
At this moment, Paul hesitated, according to his deep-rooted thoughts, the uprising of the people at the bottom had a natural righteousness, and it was too rough to just suppress it indiscriminately.
Moreover, it may be the reason that the thinking is more diffuse, he thought of Qin Ershi, thought of Yang Guang …… thought of countless rulers who were killed by peasant revolts, at first not all a little bit of spark, and then more and more unmanageable up.
Will one’s own hasty choice to suppress it be nailed to the pillar of shame in history later?
“I say, can’t we just send someone to talk to them first? Understand why they are rioting, maybe …… maybe they have some compelling reasons.” Talk? When these words came out, everyone looked at him with an incredulous expression.
Negotiate with the rioters? Was this something a lord should say?
“Cough!” Hansel coughed lightly and asked, “Lord Lord, what should you do if they make some kind of claim, such as tax relief, for those [compelling reasons]?”
Paul thought for a moment and replied, “If the claim is not very excessive, I think I will fulfill them, I have always worked towards being a benevolent lord.”
Hansel said seriously, “No! It must not be so! Once that opening is made, it’s all doom and gloom!”
“Why? Isn’t it normal for the lords to present their wishes and the lord weighs them and decides to grant them or not?”
“That’s in normal times, if they didn’t riot and simply expressed their wishes to you through the usual means, that’s fine, no matter if you grant it or not, the initiative is in your hands and there won’t be any consequences. But now it’s different, they’ve started a riot, and in that context, if you grant their demands, then what will others think of you?”
“What will they think of me?”
“As a lord, you are blackmailable, and can be deceived. No matter what you think in your own heart, others will think that the initiative is on the mob’s side. Then your authority will no longer be solid, and the Lord Earl, who usually seems awe-inspiring and inviolable, will turn out to be honest and obedient after making a scene.”
“This …… isn’t that serious, is it?”
Seeing that Paul was still “obsessed”, Chief Steward Ford also began to persuade: “Lord Earl, Hansel is right. The public is a large group, there are many small groups within them, each of these small groups has their own demands, some are even in conflict with each other, their desires add up to infinity, and what you can give them is ultimately limited. If you satisfy one group, another will pop up. As a lord, you can only give to the people, you can never let them take from you! Therefore, please quell this riot immediately and dispel the delusions in the hearts of the mob, and in turn deter those who are watching from the sidelines and are foolish enough to make a move.”
Schroeder nodded his head in agreement and said, “In this situation, even if the other party’s request is reasonable, it would be inappropriate for you to agree to it, so simply don’t bother to ask, and quell the riot first. My lord, please don’t worry, it’s just some villagers, a few heavily armed knights will be able to disperse them, not to mention our rigorously trained army equipped with musket cannons.”
Paul slightly opened his mouth, he did not expect two usually respected elders to say such “reactionary” words.
Paul thought about it, and finally said: “I order, first, notify all villages and towns to organize the militia, the person in charge of timely grasp of the situation in the area under their jurisdiction, do not slack off. Secondly, deploy two companies of troops to rush over overnight, cooperate with the navy and internal defense forces over there to isolate the riot area, and then ……”
The crowd waited for the lord to say the word [Suppression].
“Then give the people involved in the riot an ultimatum to immediately stop their previous behavior, but no attacking without my order.”
Hansel and the others were about to continue their persuasion when Paul grabbed it:
“Gentlemen, one night, give me one night. I will decide how to proceed in this matter.”
……
On the way out of the lord’s mansion, Hansel discussed what had just happened with Cecil as they walked.
“Have you noticed that the Earl seems to be afraid of something besides worrying about the damage to his reputation for mercy.”
“It seems like that’s right, is it afraid that the army won’t be able to defeat that mob? That’s ridiculous, Lord Schroeder also said that a few knights would be able to disperse them.”
“By the way, Cecil, why haven’t we seen our beautiful Lord Head of Education and Miss Counselor, they are also members of the Council of State, didn’t you inform them?”
“Things like riots are too cruel to women, it’s better not to bother them.”
“Oh? Is that all?”
“Well, I admit it.” Cecil shrugged and said, “I’m afraid that with the character and claims of the two young ladies would interfere with the judgment of the Count-sama.”
“Your fears are justified.”
(End of chapter)