I'm not a lord

Chapter 267 The War of the Wilderness Ends
When it came to ruling the barbarians, Lynn always started by taking control of the clan chiefs and other high-ranking officials.

The social structure of the wilderness people was very primitive, and tribal rule was deeply ingrained in their minds.

Lynn only needs to keep a firm grip on the chieftains and leaders to maintain control over the entire tribe.

Even the chieftains of the Lowland and High Cliff tribes, who had long since submitted, still enjoyed extremely high privileges within their tribes and received various preferential treatments from Lynn.

Take Old Soward of the Lowlands as an example. He actually managed nearly two thousand wastelanders at Manor No. 7 in White Bear County, with a large number of wives and children around him. All the necessary expenses were directly covered by the income from the manor.

His eldest son, Soward the Younger, commanded seven hundred barbarian archers and became an important general under Lynn's command;
His two daughters, Mira and Millie, entered Lynn's court one after another, receiving the best educational environment and living resources, and were also entrusted with important responsibilities.

Lynn was very generous to Old So, the chief of the first tribe to come to him, with the aim of achieving something similar to 'spending a fortune to buy a horse's bones'.

Although the old Hafdan of the Gaoya tribe who came to seek refuge later also received preferential treatment, his various benefits were reduced. His eldest son, the young Hafdan, is still in charge of mining iron ore in the deep mountains west of Chixi County.

However, Lynn still accepted old Hafdan's twin daughters and recently gave a batch of places in the High Cliffs' enlightenment school, which can be regarded as a reassurance to the High Cliffs.

There is no such thing as loyalty without a reason in this world.

Lynn went to great lengths to ensure the loyalty of these two tribes, and in the future he even planned to personally seduce women from the wilderness.

Since the lord is so good at enduring hardship, there are bound to be endless 'hardships' waiting for him.

The effect of this approach was remarkable. After the two tribes, with more than 10,000 people, submitted, they did not cause any major trouble. They were not only hardworking and law-abiding, but also provided a steady stream of high-quality soldiers for the territory.

Integrating the wilderness people into the territory is a long and arduous task.

Lynn would naturally not allow the wilderness people to remain in the tribal stage for too long.

In Manor No. 7 of White Bear County, where the local people live in a slum, several outstanding graduates from the official school have already taken up their posts.

These young officials, who understand the language of the wild people, will gradually take over the governance of the wild people and eventually consolidate that power in Lynn's hands.

They also shoulder the important mission of spreading the common language of the continent to the wasteland people, and would take time to open an open-air school in the manor to teach the common language to the wasteland children.

Furthermore, Lynn had already clearly stipulated that only wastelanders who were proficient in the Common Language could hold positions in the bureaucratic system.

The same applies to the military. Wilderness soldiers who do not understand the common language can only rise to the rank of company commander in charge of fifty men. If they want to be promoted further, they also need to overcome the language barrier.

In the countryside, Lynn also encouraged the Wilderness to intermarry with the Rui people, and any family that united the two tribes would be exempt from a certain amount of tax for the next three years.

With a multi-pronged approach, the original, primitive language of the wild people will naturally disappear over time.

This is what is known as 'changing customs and habits'.

Given the current situation in White Bear County, it's only a matter of time before Lynn conquers the remaining seven tribes.

If he pursues them relentlessly, he will capture most of the more than 60,000 invaders.

But a new problem arose: how to resettle these tens of thousands of people.

The local Rui people in Baihe Territory are only this size. It would be strange if such a large foreign population suddenly poured in; it would be difficult to avoid problems.

The very task of procuring winter supplies such as food and clothing is a major challenge.

Although Lynn had prepared a contingency plan in advance, she still found it difficult to actually handle the situation.

On the night he arrived in Baixiong County, he summoned a group of tribal leaders among the prisoners and set conditions, demanding that they swear allegiance.

Compared to the two tribes that voluntarily surrendered, the conquered tribes naturally received significantly different treatment.

“I can forgive your crime of violating my territory, spare your lives, and give you food, houses, clothing, and other necessities. In exchange, you must give me all your power and grovel at my feet to pledge allegiance to me.”

That being said, for practical reasons, Lynn will still retain some of the privileges of these tribal chiefs and use them to manage the tens of thousands of newly recruited barbarians.

However, he will take advantage of the great victory to disperse these tens of thousands of deserters and then resettle them in his territory.

For example, the lowlands of Old Soward should have no problem taking in two thousand barbarians.

The High Cliff tribe of Old Hafdan could be freed from the mining business and replaced with a large number of captives to replace the thousands of miners from the High Cliff tribe.

Each county in the Baihe region can be allocated a varying number of reclaimed landowners based on the scale of the land reclamation, which can greatly enrich the local labor force and allow for the reclamation of more arable land in the following year.

Besides Baihe Territory, the western suburbs of Sanhe City and the recently conquered Tuanliu County can also be used to settle the wasteland people.

Especially in the western suburbs of Sanhe City, where more than 10,000 serfs had just been relocated, there was plenty of fertile farmland available for distribution.

Incidentally, the western suburbs of Sanhe City have been designated as a county-level administrative unit by Lynn, called West Suburbs County, and Old Albert has been appointed as the county magistrate. The current permanent population is about 12,000.

In order to persuade the captured chieftains of the wilderness more quickly, Lynn specially transferred some elders from both the Lowlands and High Cliffs tribes.

It is obviously more efficient to let the deserters persuade the deserters.

Both of these families had actually benefited from the policy dividends, and after the elders got used to the affluent life in Baihe Territory, they naturally became subservient to Lynn.

Under the explanation and persuasion of these elders, the tribal chiefs, who were already disheveled, naturally prostrated themselves before Lynn and swore allegiance.

Some chieftains eager for advancement even went so far as to lick Lynn's shoes, the highest form of submission from the wastelanders to those in power.

That night, the lights in White Bear Castle stayed on all night.

Soldiers kept bringing groups of captive deserters to report for duty.

After handing over the prisoners and tallying the military merits, the soldiers ate a quick bite and then turned north overnight to continue capturing captives of the desert people.

These are all walking military merits and rewards, how could the soldiers not be enthusiastic?
Moreover, White Bear County was in great chaos at this time. Hidden refugees could be found in many remote farmhouses or stables, and the soldiers wished they could conduct a carpet search of the entire county.

The most eye-catching were the four thousand warriors from the Rift Valley tribe that Karula brought.

This once invincible force, which had swept across the wasteland, had been captured and, under Carula's leadership, swore an oath of allegiance to Lynn.

Originally, everyone believed that the goddess of war would succeed Augusta as the leader of the tribe.

But when they saw Karula kneel down before Lynn, the once proud warriors of the Rift Valley had no choice but to follow suit and pledge their loyalty to their new master.

Someone who can make the God of War willingly pledge allegiance must be even more powerful than the God himself.

And I've heard that Lord Lynn will even provide delicious rye porridge, so what more can I say? Just kneel down!
As for the food, it wasn't stingy. By the latter half of the night, nearly ten thousand barbarian prisoners had gathered outside the White Bear County castle, and most of the fifteen thousand barbarian warriors who had invaded White Bear County had been captured.

To appease the prisoners, Albert organized the cooks overnight to set up large pots and cook wheat porridge for them.

After finishing their wheat porridge, the prisoners sat on the ground in small groups, back to back, and fell asleep.

When it gets light tomorrow, Lynn's army will escort the deserters south in batches.

These displaced people will be relocated to new homes prepared for them in various locations according to the predetermined plan.

Next year, under the guidance of officials, they will learn to cultivate the land and use about 80% of their income to repay the lord's kindness.

Farmland, houses, food, seeds, and clothing all have costs, and Lynn never does business at a loss.

However, given the current level of agricultural development in Baihe Territory, even with an 80% tax rate, the living conditions of the wasteland dwellers would be far better than if they remained on the wasteland.

Some of the relatively strong male deserters would also be conscripted into the army to serve their master on the battlefield.

As for the wives, children, and elderly of these more than 10,000 male deserters, Lynn has already sent people to capture them.

That towering Centaur Mountain range will block the way home for the elderly, children, the sick, the disabled, and pregnant women.

Joseph, the fourth son, has already landed in the northern forest by water. With the help of soldiers from both the lowlands and the high cliffs, he will surely be able to bring back most of the wasteland people.

It's early November now, and Lynn estimates that it will be at least December before all tens of thousands of deserters can be settled.

This is also the last major task for Baihe Territory this year. Only by properly settling the deserters can the local officials have a peaceful New Year.

The following day at noon, Old Six Timo arrived in White Bear County with a group of new school graduates and began to escort the deserters in batches in cooperation with the army.

The granaries in the counties along the way were piled high with this year's taxes, and the houses were all ready-made, so feeding these destitute people was not a problem.

Lynn hosted a small banquet inside the castle for his three brothers, the second, fifth, and sixth.

Timo, the youngest of the six brothers, was particularly excited to see his older brothers. After clinking glasses with Andre, the fifth brother, he said enviously.
"Fifth Brother, I heard that you have made a great contribution this time. I have also heard many barbarian prisoners talking about you. In their words, you are comparable to the God of War!"

Andrei indeed left a deep psychological scar on the barbarians who besieged the manor. He held the manor for two days, and countless barbarian warriors died at his hands. The barbarians' attacks were ineffective against him, and anyone who saw him would be terrified.

"There's nothing to brag about; it's just armor my older brother gave me." Andrei said modestly, but his nose was practically pointing to the sky.

Lynn took a sip of his drink and said with a smile, "Keep that plate armor. No need to repair it. If any barbarians cause trouble in the future, just put on the plate armor, ride your horse around, and I guarantee those barbarians will be scared like rabbits."

Andrei replied with a shameless grin, "Then you'll have to give me a new set, brother. That plate armor has dozens of dents, and it's almost unwearable."

Plate armor is not truly invincible; even bone arrows can cause dents and gaps if hit too many times.

Moreover, the biggest disadvantage of plate armor is that it is difficult to repair. Even if the dents and gaps are repaired, its defensive performance will be greatly reduced.

If there are too many battle damages, then it will basically have to be scrapped and replaced with a new one.

Plate armor avoids this problem; if a plate is damaged, only one plate needs to be replaced.

Currently, Lynn only plans to equip officers of company commander rank and above, as well as cavalry, with most soldiers ultimately being equipped with easy-to-maintain plate armor.

This is mainly because the production cycle of plate armor is too long and the production cost is too high, so even someone as wealthy as Lynn cannot afford to equip it in large quantities.

In response to Andrei's request, Lynn waved his hand and said, "No problem, I'll have Eric forge a set for you later."

After the small luncheon, Lynn held a grand banquet in the castle that evening to entertain the chieftains and leaders of the various tribes.

Of the seven tribes that attacked this time, apart from Augusta of the Rift Valley tribe who was trampled to death by Karula, the chieftains of four of the remaining six tribes have been captured and brought to the castle.

Whether voluntarily or under duress, these patriarchs could only swear allegiance to Lynn.

Lynn generously pardoned them from the death penalty and promised them a series of preferential policies.

Of course, these preferential policies are one or two levels lower than those given to Old Hafdan of the High Cliffs.

However, a sensible clan chief has already expressed his willingness to offer his daughter or a beauty from the clan to the great Earl, only seeking further understanding.

For the sake of harmony between the two tribes, Lynn had no choice but to reluctantly accept it.

Anyway, he has a palace in all six counties of Baihe, so these women from the wilderness can study in the palace for a period of time.

Over the next two weeks, batches of desert women and children were brought to Baixiong County by the army.

In the final count, Lynn gained a population of just over 50,000 in this war.

Of the remaining 10,000-plus people, after deducting those who died in battle and on the way, nearly 10,000 people should have escaped back to the wilderness.

Lynn did not insist on the group of people who fled back to the wasteland.

With tens of thousands fewer people, the resources in the wasteland will be quite abundant.

In twenty or thirty years, it is estimated that another forty or fifty thousand people will multiply on the wasteland.

Of course, Lynn will send people to the wasteland next spring to recruit people, and it would be best to relocate all the wasteland people to White River Territory in advance.

With the land resources of Baihe Territory, supporting a population of over one million would be no problem at all.

While dealing with the wastelanders, Lynn did not neglect his concerns about the situation in the North.

These past two weeks, clerk Victor has been working extremely hard.

He had to record the beginning and end of the war between the barbarians, be in charge of the court's correspondence, and compile and summarize the intelligence sent from all sides. He was so busy that he was like a spinning top, never stopping from morning to night.

Early in the morning, he began reporting to Lynn on the current situation of the various forces in the North:
"My lord, Lothair and Otto have been clashing in the Crown Territory. Lothair is currently in a slight advantage, but these are all small-scale battles involving a little over a thousand people. Both of them are quite cautious, and it seems that neither side is prepared to fight to the death."

However, Otto III's sphere of influence had already expanded westward by over a hundred kilometers, and he distributed the newly conquered lands and people among the southern nobles, leading more local nobles to side with the Duke of the Swamps.

After listening to the intelligence, Lynn pondered for a moment and then concluded: "These two will have a decisive battle this year, and neither of them will be able to wait until next spring."

(End of this chapter)