Chapter 353: Chaos in the Territory

"As the population of the territory grows, public order has indeed become a problem."

On the road, Luoning rode his warhorse and, accompanied by Wilson, arrived at Sanfang Town.

This town, formed by the merger of the original Qingzhu Village, Ziguo Village, and Huitu Village, now had over twelve thousand people.

Among them, the immigrant population accounted for nearly 92%.

"Hong Knight was originally focused entirely on sericulture, but faced with one conflict after another, he had to lead a team to handle them. Later, after Master Mage Aierlong found out, he had Knight Ruige lead men to be stationed in Huitu Village."

Luoning's brows furrowed slightly.

Faced with a surging population, the number of guards in the territory had not kept up in time, so it was normal for a period of chaos to occur.

However, these disturbances were limited to the lower classes; not to mention a noble like Luoning, even ordinary Professional Knights like Zhuweite were rarely affected.

"What did they break out into conflict over?"

Luoning asked: "Fighting over food? Fighting over housing?"

"Many small conflicts are like that."

Wilson explained: "But one large conflict involving over a hundred people was because two groups were forming gangs and fighting over territory."

Luoning found it somewhat hard to understand.

The entire Wubei Territory was his; what territory were these people fighting over?

Moreover, they had organized a large-scale conflict of over a hundred people, so there must have been bloodshed.

He became interested, "Give me a detailed account of this conflict."

Through Wilson's introduction, Luoning understood the sequence of events.

First, these people were all from Weijinsi's group; after interrogation, it was discovered that the ringleaders were criminals who had been serving time in prison.

After arriving in Wubei Territory, seeing that the officials here were easy to talk to and didn't care much as long as the work was finished, they began to "recruit lackeys."

Once they had many lackeys, they used threats and intimidation to obtain more comfortable and spacious housing, and there were even cases of them seizing women.

In the end, the two groups couldn't stand each other, and a conflict broke out, which was what made Hong and the others react.

Although this matter was quickly suppressed, Aierlong did not execute the ringleaders; instead, after they were whipped, he split them up and assigned them to other towns, placing them under strict supervision.

"As expected of a great physician with the Light Attribute."

Luoning sighed: "Aierlong is still too kind."

"During the time you were away, Master Mage Aierlong saved quite a few people. There were those who were injured and dying while clearing wasteland, and women who had difficult labors; everyone loves and respects him."

"Saving people is a good thing, but kindness toward the wicked is cruelty toward those ordinary people who behave themselves."

While speaking, they arrived at the square of Huitu Village, where a group of people could be seen training from afar.

As the location of the Kaolin Mine, this place gathered the largest labor force in Sanfang Town, so its defense was also the most critical.

"My Lord, that is Knight Ruige Huoji; he and Ximu are training the Huitu Village guard unit together."

Wilson was pointing at a middle-aged man with short brown hair, a tall and sturdy build, and a somewhat weathered complexion.

It was said that his ancestors were Honorary Knights who had been enfeoffed, but now he had fallen on hard times.

Luoning dismounted and walked over; as one of the few Bronze Knights in the territory, he had come specifically to see him.

"Ruige Huoji."

The sudden shout interrupted the people's training.

The weathered middle-aged knight turned his face, somewhat puzzled as to who was calling his name, but when he saw Luoning, he did not recognize the face.

Just then, Ximu shouted excitedly: "My Lord, you have returned!"

At this moment, Ruige noticed Luoning's hair color, and somewhat excitedly yet very cautiously, he came forward, "My Lord, please give your orders."

He had come to Wubei Territory because he heard they were short of men and believed there was an opportunity here to restore his family's glory.

It was just that, having fallen on hard times by middle age, he did not have the composure of people like Lisi or Yousefu when facing a noble.

Luoning scanned the thirty or forty guards nearby, "How is the training going?"

"Following Ximu's suggestion, we are using the method you used to train the discipline of this group of guards, and the progress is quite good now."

Ximu added: "We practice discipline in the morning, and close-quarters combat and sword fighting in the afternoon."

Luoning nodded, signaling for the two to lead the team in a demonstration.

Being spot-checked by the Lord, not only Ruige and Ximu, but everyone was nervous; it was normal for mistakes to happen when nervous.

Luoning did not pursue the matter, but simply offered some encouragement.

Afterward, he tested Ruige's strength.

How to put it—although he was a Bronze Knight, his combat level was not high, at least much weaker than Jialier.

"While training, do not let your own cultivation fall behind," Luoning reminded him.

Ruige felt a bit bitter inside. In the fight just now, he hadn't fully unleashed himself; on one hand, it was the cautious psychology of facing the Lord, and on the other, he was afraid of injuring the Lord.

He just hadn't expected Luoning to easily crush him; it turned out the rumors from the outside were true, without the slightest exaggeration.

Luoning did not know this, but simply offered a few words of encouragement, then said: "I heard from Wilson that the ringleaders of the last gathering and disturbance are still being monitored by you in Huitu Village."

"Yes, My Lord. They are currently assigned to mine in the mining area, and we monitor them every day. If there is any further movement, we will definitely discover it immediately."

"Let's go, take me to see them."

Under the guidance of Ruige and Ximu, Luoning arrived at the Kaolin Mine.

There were many people working here now; after all, the process of making porcelain had many steps, and the first two steps of mining and clay refining were very time-consuming and laborious.

At this time in the mining area, most people were working, and only a small portion were sitting and resting.

Luoning did not exploit the workers like the Bolante Bandit Group; he valued sustainability and did not drain the pond to catch the fish.

As long as these workers could guarantee the completion of their daily workload, appropriate rest was permitted.

Perhaps it was bad timing, or perhaps it was the right time, but those two groups of people resting in threes and fives were pushing each other, attracting many onlookers.

However, they had all heard more or less about the names and backgrounds of the troublemakers, so no one stepped forward to stop them.

Ruige and Ximu, who had rushed over, saw this scene, and their faces turned pale with anger.

Just moments ago, they had guaranteed that there wouldn't be any problems, yet they never expected something to happen so quickly, and for the Lord himself to run right into it.

"Jie'ermu, Mu'er!"

Ruige shouted loudly, unleashing a shockwave of Battle Qi that directly scattered the two groups of people.

"What are you all doing?"

The scattered people scrambled up in a panic, trembling, with not a shred of their previous arrogance and domineering attitude left.

They had two different faces when dealing with ordinary people versus when dealing with the Knights or officials of the territory.

"My Lord!"

Ruige and Ximu looked at Luoning with difficulty, but they did not see much anger on the latter's face.

Luoning let out a cold laugh, "This is what they call a dog unable to change its habit of eating excrement; Aierlong gave you a chance to turn over a new leaf, but unfortunately, you didn't seize it."

Jie'ermu and Mu'er quietly looked up at the young man before them.

They did not recognize Luoning, but judging from this sentence and observing Ruige's attitude, they knew that this young man's status was not ordinary.

Wilson, who was to the side, had already understood Luoning's meaning, "My Lord, are you intending to kill them?"

"Organizing and gathering a crowd to fight, resulting in multiple casualties, is classified as intentional homicide. For crimes with such serious circumstances, the organizers and primary participants must be punished with the death penalty."

Luoning said indifferently, then shook his head and left the mine with a hint of regret.

When there are too many people, it really is not easy to handle.

"Mr. Wilson, what did the Lord mean?"

Ruige watched Luoning's departing back; he had not killed anyone since joining the Wubei Territory, and he had some reservations when it came to such matters.

"The Lord made it very clear; these two who led the disturbance and caused multiple casualties should be executed."

He glanced at Jie'ermu and Mu'er; the opportunity given by the Master Mage was indeed not seized by these two.

"Alright!"

Ruige took a deep breath.

Only then did he realize that this young Lord, who appeared very kind, was actually someone who would kill without batting an eye.

He drew his longsword and walked toward Jie'ermu and Mu'er; the two finally realized that death was descending and hurriedly knelt on the ground to beg for mercy, just like last time.

It was just a pity that this time, the punishment was set by the Lord himself, and no one could change it. (End of this chapter)