[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence":3,"chapter-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-218":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Warlord: Starting with Daily Intelligence",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2338681,4572,"Chapter 218: High-Quality Serf Source!","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-218",218,"\u003Cp>“My lord, let this servant help you dress!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, let this servant help you wash and freshen up!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Maid Caroline dressed Gervas, while Maid Freya wrung out the towel and washed his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As her slender hand gently wiped his face, a faint, peculiar fragrance drifted into his nostrils.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This fragrance, Gervas had smelled many times before—it came from Freya’s hands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was pleasant, light, and soothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas thought she had the scent of a Fragrant Concubine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Caroline also had it, but Caroline was, after all, the “home flower.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How could she compare to this “wild flower” who only visited for ten days or so?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good, good! Maid Freya, your washing pressure is just right today!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the towel was removed, Gervas nodded in satisfaction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He remembered the two previous threats he’d issued were precisely because Freya had washed his face with too much force.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about me, my lord?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Gervas praise Freya, Caroline naturally felt displeased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Caroline, you’re already in your maid’s uniform—do you really need me to spell it out? Only new maids deserve proper rewards!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas’s method needed no explanation; a single sentence made Caroline glow with delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But maids couldn’t be coddled—they dared to compete for favor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still, Caroline, when your master speaks, servants must not interrupt. Have you forgotten?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah! My lord, Caroline knows she’s wrong!” Caroline startled, instantly adopting a pitiful expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Knowing you’re wrong is enough? If apologies worked, what need would there be for the Noble Council?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then… then what will you do to me?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Do I really have to say it?” Gervas glared.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Caroline’s shapely frame trembled. “Then… then let my lord punish me with a few more slaps today…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Slap! Slap!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Freya: “….”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Freya was used to it—this punishment occurred daily between master and servant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She could only silently curse the nobility of the human race as utterly shameless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But she feared Gervas might use the same method on her, so she stood mute beside them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After washing and breakfast, Gervas listened to the administrative reports from Old John and Thomas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Finally, Gervas spoke: “Thomas, I’ve received word that from today onward, Stormhold will receive many refugees from the wastelands.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go and prepare—designate open spaces in the town square for them to set up stalls, and coordinate with the guards to maintain order.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, provide them free cool water. Oh, and add a loaf of black bread the size of a fist—call it Stormhold’s care for the wasteland refugees.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for their trade taxes, charge them two in ten—the standard rate for regular commerce.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Upon hearing Gervas’s orders, Thomas stood stunned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though Stormhold had grown increasingly wealthy under their lord’s leadership,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>it had not grown so wealthy as to hand out free black bread to refugees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the wasteland refugees were countless—if everyone came for free bread, how could they possibly manage?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, providing space and water I understand, but giving them free black bread is too merciful!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They’re refugees. In other domains, not dragging them straight to the gallows is mercy enough—and you’re only charging them two-tenths trade tax!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So I wonder if the free bread might be omitted, lest word spread and refugees flood Stormhold just to take advantage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having worked with Gervas, Thomas and the other administrators now understood:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Voicing opinions directly to their lord would not invite punishment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, if their suggestions proved sound, they might even be rewarded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Thomas now dared to voice his thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>True to form, Gervas did not grow angry at his rebuttal—he explained: “Thomas, according to my knowledge, the nearest refugee gathering point near the kingdom’s border is at least half a day’s journey away—and that’s rare.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Most take one or two days to reach the border, traveling in groups, only dispersing once they arrive to trade.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So no one will trek all that way just for a fist-sized loaf of bread—we needn’t fear them coming daily.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, Thomas, do you know what Stormhold most lacks right now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What did it lack most?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas pondered briefly, then ventured cautiously: “My lord, I believe Stormhold currently lacks money and troops.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a safe answer—every noble domain lacked these two things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas paid it no mind: “Correct, both are lacking—but fundamentally, Stormhold currently lacks population.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Our border territory has always been vast but sparsely populated, and Stormhold even more so.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I now control a domain one and a half times larger than a viceroy’s land in the kingdom’s heartland, yet I have fewer subjects than a typical baron’s domain in the interior.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To earn more money and raise more troops, we need a constant influx of population.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“With more people, tax revenue increases, more soldiers can be recruited, and even infrastructure development accelerates.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Buying slaves for this purpose is like trying to fill a well with a cup of water—these refugees are our best target.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By letting these refugees feel my mercy as their lord, and witness Stormhold’s prosperity, we increase the likelihood they’ll choose to settle here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And these refugees, once turned into serfs, have one major advantage: they are almost all strong and fit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In the chaotic, deadly wastelands, the weak and sickly have long been eliminated.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas listened, dumbfounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had never imagined his lord thought so deeply and clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To other nobles, these refugees were worthless—perhaps even the source of chaos.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet in his lord’s description, they became the finest source of serfs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it made perfect sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For one thing, these refugees surely possessed survival skills—hunting, farming, anything to stay alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, without skill or strength, they’d have starved long ago in the wastelands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So their only real flaw might be their lack of discipline—they might not be obedient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their lord had tamed even the savages—these refugees would be no problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My lord, you are a wise and far-sighted noble—I deeply admire you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough. Go carry it out. Remember—treat them kindly, so they feel no rejection or discrimination.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, my lord! This servant will complete this task flawlessly!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thomas, the civil administrator, departed, his face brimming with energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gervas then gave Old John a few more instructions, telling him to prepare weapons and supplies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were for responding to the little mermaid Waga’s plea for aid.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he headed toward the falconry on the castle’s western side.\u003C\u002Fp>",1052,"2026-06-20T22:44:02.338Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","8a6c9b64ea015a502d459a96ff53f545d029802ffb3362412cb5a4d9aa48707f","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-219","warlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-chapter-217",521,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwarlord-starting-with-daily-intelligence-cover.jpg"]