Chapter 414 - 413: Vision Beyond History

As the most crucial step in restructuring the order of the southern borders, the administrative construction and renovation project of the Hosman Territory (Hosman City) is a top priority for Gawain. Even amidst the exceptionally busy affairs across the territory, he prioritizes handling intelligence in this regard.

And the apprentices, carefully selected and rigorously tested by Aunt Heidi, did not disappoint Gawain.

In the study of the feudal lord’s mansion, Aunt Heidi, who came to report work early in the morning, brought intelligence just delivered to the territory by the messenger: "Ancestor, this is a report from the Hosman Territory — that young man named Daidalos has already begun to survey the land and population of the Hosman Region. At the same time, the working group has taken control of the remaining knights and retainers in the Hosman Region and begun to take over the manor lands originally belonging to the Earl of Hosman. Currently, all aspects of the work are progressing smoothly."

"A competent young man... I recall you had high hopes for him," Gawain said while taking the report handed over by Aunt Heidi, reading it and nodding, "Hmm... methodical, he doesn’t seem to have made any rash mistakes."

"He’s a Hosman native, familiar with the local situation — that was one of the reasons he was chosen initially," Aunt Heidi said with a hint of pride on her face, as almost all the young generation of administrative officials in the Administrative Office were her apprentices, and Daidalos’s success also meant her success. Yet, amidst her pride, she showed a hint of worry, "But the situation there is very complicated. The Hosman Family is an old and powerful family; their influence on the territory is profound. Even locals familiar with the situation find it difficult to start, and to be honest... although things are going smoothly now, I genuinely can’t be sure how long that will last."

Gawain raised an eyebrow: "You seem a bit uneasy?"

"A family that has ruled for hundreds of years has a profound influence on its territory. Their rule has become part of the local people’s lives, and even if the lord is gone, the inertia left by the old lord is everywhere among the residents... it was extremely difficult to reform the Kant territory back then, and now Daidalos and the others are facing a count’s territory..."

Gawain was rather calm about this, speaking unhurriedly: "Traditional aristocratic rule is almost devoid of order; in my view, their ’management’ of the territory equals no management at all. Establishing the initial order in such disorder is indeed a difficult task. But from another perspective— precisely because there was no original order, even a slight improvement will be a tremendous boost for the entire territory, and such a substantial boost will easily inspire the confidence of the more insightful among the populace, leading them to begin supporting the new decrees.

"The new administrative officials in the Hosman Region are currently in this phase. If they can powerfully control the initial situation of implementing new decrees and get influential people in the territory to actively support them, then the subsequent construction will enter a virtuous cycle..."

Seeing Aunt Heidi with a thoughtful expression, Gawain further stated: "You might want to remind the administrative officials there to find ways to persuade, encourage, or even bribe a group of influential ’mid-level people’ in the territory, such as big merchants, well-known scholars, and other respected individuals. Let them benefit from the new decrees and set an example to further implement the decrees. Additionally, you can establish more role models among the ordinary people, making those who actively respond to Cecil laws and comply with management become prosperous and wealthy. People are quite pragmatic; posting numerous notices in the square is not as effective as letting them see the benefits firsthand."

"I understand..." Aunt Heidi nodded happily, "Ancestor, thank you for your guidance."

Gawain nodded, but he didn’t consider his advice anything significant—he merely read some books in his previous life, and while being a satellite spirit, he watched countless live action documentaries of civilizational evolution, allowing him to casually speak of some experiential knowledge. But these things aren’t profound; with Aunt Heidi’s intelligence and the experience she accumulated during the Kant territory’s reform, she could come up with similar ideas after pondering for a day or two upon her return.

Even if she doesn’t ponder, those administrative officials dispatched to the Hosman Region would likely think of solutions in this regard once they encounter these practical issues—being selected means they possess the corresponding abilities. The people of this world are never short of wisdom; they merely lack some experience.

"Actually, compared to the difficulties and troubles, the poor ’governance’ capabilities of traditional aristocrats have left us with quite a few conveniences," while almost finishing the report, Gawain suddenly shook his head and said, then muttered in a low voice, "Pity it’s a double-edged sword..."

"Convenience?" Aunt Heidi briefly couldn’t follow the ancestor’s train of thought—in fact, she often couldn’t keep up with the ancestor’s pace, and she was used to it, "Which aspect are you referring to?"

"Cohesion and self-identification. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the newly acquired territories’ populace, when adapting to the restructuring under the Cecil Order, only ever resist the new decrees, not the new rulers."

Aunt Heidi slightly furrowed her brow; she seemed still unable to grasp the crux of Gawain’s words.

Gawain wasn’t surprised at this, instead patiently explaining: "Traditional aristocrats, when governing their territories, almost never consider the emotions of their residents or the development of areas such as culture, economy, or law within the territory. In fact, the only thing they consider is taxation. For the territory, the lord is just the biggest landlord, so the residents, as ’tenants’, never have a sense of belonging or identification with such governance. Moreover, since the lord’s decrees are often filled with errors and contradictions, the residents’ lives also lack stability, leading to a lack of cohesion among the people in traditional aristocratic lands.

"The people growing up in such a ’governance’ structure lack a sense of nationality and statehood... Hmm, explaining this concept to you now might be too abstract; you can understand it simply as they don’t care who their lord is, nor where this lord comes from. They don’t even care if this country exists, or whether the King is an Anzu or a person from the Typhon Empire.

"And in this state of ’not caring’, we avoided a major hassle in taking over the southern borders—even though we defeated more than forty aristocrats, the populace originally under those aristocrats’ rule showed almost no resistance towards me, the new lord... they seemed to very casually accept the fact that the southern borders had a change in rulers."

Aunt Heidi understood everything Gawain said up to this point, but she seemed a bit puzzled: "Isn’t this normal? And it is precisely because of this that we can take over the southern borders..."

Gawain shook his head: "Though that may be true, if one day another enemy invades the southern borders, and our people remain indifferent, that would be problematic."

Aunt Heidi’s expression became subtle, and after a moment, she hesitantly said: "So, you mean to make the people more loyal to the leader..."

"No, that’s not enough," Gawain continued shaking his head, "Kings are not eternal, no matter how great they are, the same goes for making people loyal to a family, a lineage—it has no meaning. We should shape something more enduring, stronger, something that people can spontaneously identify with and defend..."

Aunt Heidi stared absentmindedly at Gawain. She seemed to see a strange passion on her ancestor’s face, an emotion she rarely witnessed in him. She vaguely realized that her ancestor, who had risen from the coffin, might have another deep and farsighted idea brewing, and she could even faintly sense the thread of this idea. She couldn’t help but speak: "Do you have a new plan?"

Gawain did not indulge too deeply in his emotions. After Aunt Heidi spoke, he took a deep breath and slowly said: "This is not something that can be achieved in one day, or even in one or two generations... But perhaps we should leave something for our descendants..."

Upon hearing "descendants," Aunt Heidi blinked: "What do you want to leave for Rebecca?"

"Ahem... I didn’t mean that... you’ve spoiled the mood I painstakingly built up," Gawain coughed awkwardly and then waved his hand, "I mean, we should allow ’Cecil Clan’ to transcend the meaning of mere residents, let it become a greater concept..."

At this point, Gawain suddenly changed the topic and asked: "Speaking of which, I’ve recently started hearing a rather popular saying—’Become a glorious Cecil Citizen.’ Have you heard of it?"

"Yes, I’ve heard of it," Aunt Heidi nodded, "This phrase was said by Scholar Godwin Orlando in a commentary article from two issues ago. Back then, the special edition reported the great defeat of the Noble Coalition Army and the significant victory of the Cecil Legion. Mister Godwin suggested those Noble Coalition Army to bind themselves quickly so they could soon undergo Cecil enlightenment transformation—’Become a glorious Cecil Citizen’. Later, this phrase became popular, and people in the territory seem quite proud of it. Moreover, those responsible for receiving prisoners and assigning labor reform tasks would say this phrase when sending the Noble Coalition Army prisoners to labor camps... It has become an unwritten rule."

"That scholar is quite a talent... It was definitely the right decision to go through great efforts to keep him," Gawain couldn’t help but lament, followed by a feeling of relief, "This is a good start... I’ll have to have a proper talk with Godwin when I get the chance. We should properly utilize the guiding function of newspaper propaganda."

Subsequently, Gawain learned from Aunt Heidi about the recent situations of various pioneering points along the White River. After understanding everything, he let out a long breath: "Good, although it’s not easy, everything is developing in the direction we anticipated..."

After saying that, he couldn’t help but glance at Aunt Heidi again: "Speaking of which, you haven’t rested for quite a long time... The work at the Administrative Office can be a bit more leisurely for the moment. Pick a day to give yourself a vacation... Don’t tell me your dark circles this time aren’t drawn on?"

Aunt Heidi’s face immediately flushed: "...Ancestor, you haven’t forgotten?"

"The impression was too deep, I just didn’t expect you could do something like that... I’ve always thought only Amber could pull off such a trick."

Aunt Heidi became even more embarrassed, but before she could speak, the study window was suddenly opened by someone.

A series of crackling sounds came from outside the window.

Gawain turned back in surprise, only to find that outside the window was not Amber, but Kamel—this arcane master was floating outside the window, his whole body emitting a bright blue light, looking slightly more inflated than usual.

Gawain was dumbfounded: "I also didn’t expect Kamel to pull off such a trick... I’ve always thought only Amber could manage something like this..."

Then he heard Kamel excitedly say from outside the window: "Leader, I have a major breakthrough!"

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