Chapter 186: Return to Bianshu Town
Duke Eddie’s property was finally emptied out. Owen prepared to take the Border Guards back to Bianshu Town first, while the People’s Army, led by Viscount Jarvis, went back by land.
At the dock, Kuros and others came to see Owen off.
“Owen, I didn’t expect you to issue that decree before you returned, and to eradicate Yiguan. This makes it a bit difficult for me.”
Judging from Kuros’s tone, there seemed to be a hint of complaint.
“How?”
Owen feigned surprise as he looked at Kuros and asked.
“Do you also want to buy a female slave from Yiguan?”
“What?! Brother, are you that kind of person too?”
Asked his sister Xinya in surprise.
“No, no, there’s no way your brother could be that kind of person.”
Kuros quickly denied.
“It’s just that Yiguan had good private connections with many nobles, and that was suddenly abolished. Some people are already dissatisfied.”
“Tch!!”
Owen snorted coldly at this, then said.
“Let them go to the Hong Kong Coliseum and find willing women to play with. I have already issued a decree strictly prohibiting the forced prostitution of women.”
“That’s right! I totally agree with Owen’s approach this time.”
Xinya blushed slightly and agreed.
“They obviously don’t want to, how can you force them to do…that kind of thing!”
In fact, Owen issued this decree not only to protect women, but also to prepare for the comprehensive promotion of abolition in the future.
The existence of Yiguan is closely related to slavery, because the women imprisoned in the dungeon are actually slaves. Most of them were captured and sent in, and only a few were bought with money.
Having learned so much from Winston, Owen has fully realized that production activities under slavery are extremely inefficient.
Slaves worked more out of fear of the whip in the hands of the slave owners. All the income from their labor belonged to the slave owners, and they could only get some food to ensure their survival.
This kind of passive labor is impossible to be proactive and is a serious waste of human resources.
Slavery is undoubtedly an obstacle to industrialized production and must be eliminated.
That being said, if Owen were to forcefully push through the abolition law now, he would certainly be met with strong opposition from all the nobles, facing immense resistance and most likely failing.
Therefore, Owen had to dismantle slavery bit by bit, and abolishing Yiguan was just a small step.
Yiguan was only a small part of the existence of slavery. Banning it only hit a small part of the slave trade, while the trade of labor slaves such as serfs could still proceed normally.
In this way, the nobles might be somewhat dissatisfied, but they would not oppose it fiercely.
Every once in a while thereafter, Owen would issue new laws to shake the tree of slavery little by little.
When the time is finally ripe, he will face much less resistance when he fully implements the abolition law.
As for those women who voluntarily engage in prostitution, most of them are forced to do so by life rather than by choice.
If they can’t find a suitable job and don’t do this kind of work at the Hong Kong Coliseum, how do they support themselves?
Therefore, providing more employment opportunities for women can also reduce the number of places like the Hong Kong Coliseum to a certain extent.
There is so much that Owen needs to do if he wants his subjects to live a good life.
“Kuros.”
Thinking of this, Owen stepped forward and whispered in Kuros’s ear.
“This is also a difficult hurdle that must be overcome in order to grow the cake. I hope you can strictly implement my decree.”
“I understand.”
Kuros nodded.
“I will suppress their dissatisfaction and manage Dongsheng Fortress well.”
“Well, Dongsheng Fortress is left to you.”
Owen took a few steps back and said goodbye.
“Then I’ll board the ship and return. I’ll also take the two officials from the fortress’s city hall with me.”
The purpose of taking away the two officials from the Dongsheng Fortress City Hall was to let them learn the management model of the Bianshu Town City Hall.
After the two have learned it, they will be sent back to reorganize the fortress’s city hall to ensure that the administrative management models of the two places are consistent.
“Understood.”
Kuros said goodbye.
“Then goodbye, Owen.”
“Goodbye…”
Xinya was a little reluctant.
Owen boarded the ship first, and the rest of the group soon followed.
After going up, the two officials from the fortress administration office looked at this strange cement ship curiously. After all, it was completely different from the common wooden sailing ships.
Watching the Border Guard gradually disappear into the distance, Kuros suddenly turned to Xiniya and said.
“Sister, I see Owen is often accompanied by two beauties who are as beautiful as you. If you don’t take action now, you may not have another chance.”
“Kuros Youm, what are you talking about!”
Xinya raised her foot and kicked Kuros’s calf.
“Ouch! Why did you kick me?”
Kuros’ eyes widened.
“Brother, I was just reminding you kindly.”
“Hmph! I’ll teach you how to talk nonsense!”
After saying this, Xinya turned around and went back angrily.
After arriving at Bianshu Town, Owen immediately returned to his castle.
Although the lord’s castle of Dongsheng Fortress is luxurious and grand, it does not feel as free and easy to live in as this small castle. After all, he has lived here since he was a child.
As soon as he returned, Owen called Clive over and asked him to report on the recent situation in the town and the amount of treasure received.
“My Lord Marquis, you are finally back…”
Owen waved his hand impatiently, not wanting to listen to Clive’s polite words, and got straight to the point.
“Have you properly accommodated the craftsmen who came from Dongsheng Fortress in recent days?”
“Everything has been settled.”
Clive naturally understood what Owen meant. He immediately took out a stack of papers from his pocket and began to report the situation in detail.
“As of yesterday, a total of seventy-six craftsmen have reported from Dongsheng Fortress. We have provided them and their families with accommodation and assigned them to the Ministry of Industry or the Ministry of Construction according to their types. Viru and Jita will arrange their work.”
“Very good.”
Owen nodded with satisfaction and then asked.
“Have you finished counting the Duke’s property that was shipped back?”
“Hey-hey.”
When asked this, Clive couldn’t help but smile the kind of smile that only a profiteer would have, a kind of happy smile that looked very cunning.
“My Lord Marquis, the financial resources of a duke are truly exaggerated.”
He sorted out the papers in his hand and found a statistical data table.
“I organized the people from the Ministry of Finance to work for two nights, and all they did was count and verify the number of coins. Converted into gold coins, the total is over 72,000. I’ve been dealing with money for so long, and I’ve never seen so much.”
That was because the Bianshu town was too poor in the past, and the past is hard to recall.
In short, Owen is no longer short of money, and the funding problem for developing the town has finally been solved.
“The other things haven’t been counted yet, right?”
He asked again.
“Yes,”
Clive explained truthfully.
“Those gemstones, jewelry, artifacts, and magic stones need to be converted to market prices to calculate their approximate value. This is a rather complex task and is still in progress.”