Chapter 206: The Age of Firearms
Since those who came to join were not the first batch, there was already a set procedure in place. Therefore, the grassroots administrator in charge of registration worked quickly, and it was soon Charlie’s turn.
“Mr. Charlie, this is your temporary identification.” The grassroots administrator handed a temporary ID made of composite material to Charlie, asking him to keep it safe.
“Because the number of serfs you brought exceeds two hundred, you have two choices.” The grassroots administrator said calmly.
The first was to convert the serfs into five hundred acres of farmland. He could use this to take out a loan to buy tools and hire farmers, becoming a happy farm owner.
The other option was to join the civil service, but for the time being, as a temporary worker, responsible for military colonization.
Charlie chose the second option almost without thinking. He didn’t want to waste the rest of his life farming and collecting rent.
“Mr. Charlie, you have made the right choice. Now we need to conduct a more detailed registration in order to arrange your position, so please answer truthfully.” The grassroots administrator took out another registration book and said to Charlie.
It was Owen’s idea to divide the newcomers. Although the assimilation ability of the level four Town Center was stronger, one thing remained unchanged: the sense of belonging. The stronger the sense of belonging, the faster the assimilation.
For example, for farmers, land is their life. As long as they are given land and houses, it will take less than a month to complete assimilation and become loyal system-converted population.
Next are the commoners. Because they make a living by their crafts, as long as they can live and work in peace and contentment, they will be loyal. With the prosperity of the territory, most of them can be assimilated within one or two months.
The only troublesome ones are those with a little bit of assets, but after giving them land and hiring farmers to work, it won’t take long for them to become addicted to being happy farm owners. After all, ambition will fade in a life of comfort and security. Only the poor are desperate; the rich will not take risks.
But there are always people who are born to dislike a peaceful life and want adventure. Their ambition refuses to beat for a quiet life.
With this mentality, the Town Center will probably not be able to complete assimilation for a year or two, and they will also become unstable factors. Therefore, Owen picked out these people and planned to arrange them at the edge of the territory as the first line of defense.
And they just have ambition, right? Wealth, status, powerโhe can give it all as long as they make enough contributions. This way, it can actually increase their sense of identity and speed up assimilation. It’s killing two birds with one stone.
Charlie, who came out of the Town Center, followed the other party’s suggestion and first took a refreshing hot bath in the bathhouse. Then he had his hair cut and shaved, and changed into a decent, slightly gorgeous military uniform. His whole person was renewed.
Looking at himself in the mirror in the lobby of the bathhouse, Charlie almost didn’t recognize himself. He couldn’t help but put his hand on the sword at his waist, looking even more valiant.
Because of his background, Charlie not only received education in literature, arithmetic, painting, horsemanship, etiquette, etc., but also learned swordsmanship, archery, and command. After all, for the family, an illegitimate son with a blood relationship was very suitable to be cultivated as a confidant, so they were willing to spend money.
As an illegitimate child, if he wanted to stand out, he could only rely on his own ability. Therefore, Charlie had been studying hard since he was a child to master more skills. So his ability was really not bad. Otherwise, his temporary position would not be so high; he was a level three Sir right off the bat.
Owen divided these temporary workers into five levels: slave, armed pioneer, knight, sir, and baron.
Although knight, sir, and baron were just titles, and they were divided into three levels, as long as they made enough contributions, they could be converted to permanent positions.
It was because of this that Charlie was so excited and eager to seize this opportunity.
Coming out of the bathhouse, Charlie followed the signs to the barracks next to the castle.
Seeing the majestic castle, the vast barracks, and the well-trained soldiers, Charlie’s envy was beyond words. His mouth was almost watering.
Not to mention the low-key, luxurious castle full of historical atmosphere, just the four heavily guarded barracks alone made him dizzy.
Now the barracks were integrated into four parts: the infantry camp, the cavalry camp, the archer camp, and the firearm camp.
The first three belonged to traditional arms, while the latter was newly established, and the place where Charlie had to report was the newly built firearm camp.
Coming to the firearm camp and showing his ID, Charlie was allowed to enter the camp. As soon as he entered, he saw a group of bald men lining up under the reprimand of the drill sergeant, but what they were holding in their hands were actually firearms?
These bald men were speculators and gold prospectors who came to the Northland to find opportunities to get rich. They came from all walks of life: farmers who had lost their land, wanted criminals, runaway slaves, and even deserters.
The common point was that they were brave, ruthless, and unwilling to be ordinary. In order to get rich and stand out, they were willing to do anything. They were unstable factors second only to adventurers, so Owen threw them all here for training.
After signing the contract, these people had their heads shaved, were thrown into the river to be washed clean, and then changed into uniform military uniforms. They looked decent, but their unruly eyes and crooked postures all proved that they were a bunch of troublemakers who needed to be beaten up.
The barracks were not a place for you to show your personality, and no one would indulge them, especially an experienced veteran like Howard. With a sneer, he waved his hand. The sturdy soldiers who had been waiting for a long time put down their weapons and went up to give them a good beating, and they immediately became honest.
Charlie had seen this kind of people a lot, so his attention was quickly focused on the firearms in their hands.
Firearms were nothing new. The Empire had equipped soldiers with them on a large scale decades ago, but because they were complex to maintain, had low accuracy, and were prone to exploding, the once-popular firearms quickly disappeared from the army.
But this was not the real reason. The real reason was that an inevitable riot caused unexpected losses to the Empire, and the most critical reason was firearms.
As long as a hunched old farmer could pull the trigger, there was a chance he could kill a fully armed soldier who had undergone years of rigorous training, and this probability increased with the increase in the number of people.
Especially in riots of one hundred thousand people, if they were equipped with enough firearms and artillery, the destructive power they could create was incalculable. Even the solid castles of the nobles could not resist. This was unbearable for the upper rulers, so firearms quickly disappeared from the Empire’s sequence.
However, after all, they had been equipped on a large scale at the beginning, and the structure of firearms was not complicated, so some places still had them. Even exquisitely crafted high-quality firearms became hunting tools favored by nobles.
Charlie had used firearms when he was young. Compared with the exquisite hunting gun exclusively for nobles back then, this firearm seemed much rougher.
The iron barrel was about two feet long, and the muzzle was specially made into an open flared shape. Coupled with the short and thick barrel, it was easier to load ammunition, but this structure also greatly affected the accuracy, range, and power of the bullet. Looking at the barrel matched with the unpolished gunstock, Charlie understood that this gun was completely prepared for cannon fodder.
