Chapter 44 Interview with a Political Officer
With the addition of more than twenty servants, Hillwood Castle began to operate normally.
Ronin's daily life was temporarily freed from the hustle and bustle and anxiety, and he began to spend more time practising swordsmanship and magic.
The next morning, with the help of his maid Bella, Roning put on the formal clothes he brought from Wushan Castle.
The maid, Bella, behaved very reservedly and didn't even dare to raise her head.
Although she had received training from Chahar, this was her first time practising on a lord, so she was inevitably a little confused.
Luo Ning didn't show anything unusual on the surface, but he still felt weird inside when he saw a woman dressing and serving him so closely.
He wanted to do it himself, but unfortunately, he didn't know how to make this kind of court-collared clothing.
"Don't worry, Bella, you can just relax."
Luo Ning reminded: "We have plenty of time."
"Yes, yes, sir!"
Bella responded in a low voice, her face flushed red, her fingers were a little out of control when she was fiddling with the court collar, and her body seemed to be getting weaker and weaker due to the tension.
Fortunately, the clothes were almost put on, and after smoothing out a few corners of the clothes, the maid Bella could finally breathe.
She completed her first service successfully.
Luo Ning looked down at his outfit. The gorgeous outfit and his tall figure made him look quite handsome.
"Good job, Bella!"
The maid blushed and lowered her head, "Thank you for the compliment, Master. Bella will do better next time!"
"I look forward to it."
Roning said as he walked out of the locker room.
Outside, the butler Galen was waiting there: "Master, Chahar has brought the applicants for the position of political officer to the lobby of the outer castle."
"Then let's go over there."
As Luo Ning walked, he asked, "How many people came in total?"
Gallon replied, "Three in total."
"Only three?"
Hearing this number, Roning didn't know what to say for a moment.
Galen explained, "At dawn, more than a dozen people came to the castle. They all wanted to become your political officers. However, after being screened by Butler Chahar, some of those with less ability were eliminated, and finally, only three were left."
After leaving the inner castle, Roning came to the outer castle hall, which was a relatively spacious wooden house, usually only used by Chahar or McKen.
For example, it was here that the butler taught the new employees etiquette last night.
When Luo Ning entered the room, Chahar came up to him and said, "Master, these are the three people I have initially selected."
When the three men saw Roning coming, they immediately bowed and greeted the lord.
Looking at their saluting movements, Roning could tell that these three people were free people and not serfs. After all, the latter had to kneel when they saw their lord.
"I'm glad you responded to Shanlinbao's recruitment."
Luo Ning walked up to it and sat down, then got straight to the point: "But I only need one political officer, so I need to choose one from the three of you."
All three of them were a little nervous, but they were all ready to run for election.
"Let's start with you."
Luo Ning pointed to the middle-aged man on the far left, "The remaining two people go out first, one at a time."
The man who was chosen to stay became nervous. He knew that the real test had begun.
"Two residents are arguing over a fat duck. They both claim the duck is theirs, and both sides have gathered a few friends. A small conflict involving more than a dozen people has occurred."
Luo Ning asked the question he had prepared, "If you were the government official of Shanlin Town, how would you handle this matter?"
"Well..."
The man was stunned. He seemed not to have expected Roning to ask such a question. His head was buzzing for a moment and he didn't know what he was thinking.
In his heart, he kept shouting to wake up and answer the question, but he just didn't know how to answer.
As the silence lengthened, his palms, forehead, and back became covered in sweat, and his breathing became rapid.
After waiting for dozens of seconds without receiving a response, Luo Ning couldn't help but ask again: "Tell me, how will you deal with it?"
"I, I, I don't know..."
The man sat down on the ground, his voice trembling.
Luo Ning was completely speechless.
Even if this person can't answer the question, he doesn't have to sit on the ground in fear. Is his mental quality so poor?
"Next." He waved his hand.
Chahar quickly ran over, pulled up the applicant, who was slumped on the ground, and helped him out of the hall.
Faced with the same question, the second person was calmer.
"Sir, you are the lord of Shanlin Town. Everything here belongs to you, including the property of the people and even themselves. So I think it is unreasonable for them to rob the ownership of a duck because this duck belongs to you!"
The man answered in a resounding voice, "So, I will catch the duck they stole and send it to the castle. This way, their dispute can be resolved, and the matter can be properly settled."
Luo Ning stroked his chin and thought for a while. "What you said makes some sense. Let's go down and wait for notification. Chahar, let the third person in."
Faced with the same problem, the third person also remained relatively calm.
After a brief thought, the man gave his answer, "Sir, if I were a political official, I would solve this matter in several steps."
Luo Ning motioned for the other party to continue.
"First, I will notify the castle guards to arrest all of these troublemakers."
"In the second step, I will try to judge them and determine who the duck belongs to."
"In the third step, I will punish this group of people. The impostor will be convicted of a serious crime and sentenced to caning and a fine. I will impose hard labour and a fine on his accomplices."
"As for the other party, I will punish them with a warning, hard labour or even a fine, depending on the cause and severity of the conflict."
After this conversation, even Chahar, who was standing aside, looked at the other party with admiration. If nothing unexpected happens, this person must be the political officer.
Luo Ning was obviously very satisfied with this answer.
"Tell me, how would you judge them and decide who owns this duck?"
The man pondered again and said, "The impostor is obviously a pariah. We don't need to show mercy to such a person. I will use verbal warnings and flogging warnings in exchange for his honest confession."
Luo Ning was not satisfied with this answer. "This way, the duck's real owner might be hurt by mistake."
"But I cleared his name."
The man said very firmly: "I believe he will be grateful to me in the end."
Luo Ning shook his head. "I agree with your previous answer, but I don't agree with your way of judging. If the duck's owner is afraid of your threats and is forced to admit it, then you are indulging the impostor."
Hearing this comment, the applicant's face turned pale. Being denied by the Baron, there should be no hope, right?
"I'm sorry, sir, I disappoint you."
He bowed slightly, "Maybe there is a better way, but I'm sorry I haven't thought of it."
"Then I'll have time to think about it later."
Luo Ning raised the corners of his mouth slightly and stood up slowly. "Tell me your name."
The people below were stunned at first and then showed surprise.
He thought he was eliminated in the last second, but he didn't expect that he would pass in the next second.
"Sir, I am Wilson!"
"Congratulations, Wilson. From now on, you will be the government official of Hillwood Town. I will pay you ten copper coins a day. I hope you will serve me well."
Although the other party's answers did not all match Luo Ning's ideas, the fact that he was able to answer the first few steps showed that he had a certain degree of logic and organization.
And facing two people...
The first one is, needless to say, the psychological quality is too poor. If you encounter a big thing, I am afraid you will not have any opinion;
Second, the other party's answer seemed to be a loophole, not to mention that Luo Ning would snatch someone else's duck because of this matter. That would only weaken his positive image.
So when there were only three people to choose from, Ronin chose the third one.
"Thank you for your recognition!"
Wilson knelt on one knee and said excitedly: "Wilson will do his best to help you govern Shanlin Town!"
Wilson couldn't even imagine getting a salary of 10 copper coins a day in this remote place.
Applying for the position of civil servant this time is the most important choice in his life.
Luo Ning raised his hand and motioned for the other party to stand up.
"Then the first task I give you is to conduct a census of Hillwood Town."
Luo Ning began to assign the first task, "I want you to count the gender, age, occupation, and speciality of each person in the family and register them."
"Also, craftsman, you need to pay special attention to me!"
Understanding the population structure of Shanlin Town can not only help Luo Ning carry out subsequent construction but is also a key step in achieving the [Prosperous Population] achievement.
To achieve this achievement, the territory's population must reach three thousand and be registered.
Even if there aren't so many people in Hillwood Town now, a census is imperative.
"master..."
Chahar hesitated beside him.
"Just say whatever you want to say, Chahar."
The new butler expressed his concerns, "Master, there are only 83 pieces of parchment in the castle. Isn't it a bit of a waste to use them to record people's information?"
Parchment was not cheap. A page of 40 lines costs about ten copper coins.
If you buy in large quantities, it will be a considerable expense.
As the new butler, Chahar was the first to think of the issue of parchment consumption, which means he has officially entered the role of butler, which is good.
"Your concerns are justified."
Luo Ning nodded slightly, but he had to do the population registration.
"There aren't many people in this town, so even if we count all of them, they probably won't consume much. And I'm going to Herdsman City in a couple of days, so I can just make some more purchases then."
The matter of parchment made Roning think of a technology - papermaking.
Only by producing cheap paper can information be disseminated more conveniently, thus enriching the various "design" talents in the territory.
In addition to liquor, papermaking technology seems to be able to be applied to Shanlin Town.
"But we can't rush this matter. We can first figure out the production method and then promote it when the time is right."
We must also have the ability to protect the things we invent.